Chương 45

Adam flew back to the van and landed beside it. He opened the side door and climbed in. M. M. was still shaken by what had happened to Raynor. He looked at Adam as soon as he entered.

"Did you find out who did it?" Adam looked back at him and shook his head. M. M. did not ask again. At Vought Tower, Homelander walked into Stan Edgar's office without waiting for permission. Edgar remained seated behind his desk and watched him approach.

"Did you bring Stormfront into the Seven?" Homelander asked.

"Yes," Edgar said calmly.

"Vought brought her in." Homelander's jaw tightened.

"Then listen carefully. From now on, nobody joins my team without my approval." Edgar was about to answer, but Homelander continued before he could speak.

"My contract is getting close to its end. If this happens again, I can leave Vought. You know what that would do to this company." Edgar did not change his expression.

"Who enters the Seven and who leaves it will be decided by Vought. It will not be decided by you." Homelander rose from his chair and stopped directly in front of Edgar's desk. He wanted Edgar to understand how little distance stood between them and what he could do if he chose to cross it. His position carried the threat he wanted Edgar to see, so speaking louder was unnecessary.

"I don't like your tone," Homelander said. Edgar looked up at him.

"And I don't like what you did with Compound V." The anger on Homelander's face paused.

"What are you talking about?"

"You spread Compound V around the world," Edgar said.

"We know you were the one who did it." Homelander stared at Edgar in surprise, unable to answer because he had never expected Vought to discover what he had done. Edgar leaned back in his chair.

"You are under one serious misunderstanding. Vought's most valuable asset has never been Homelander; it has always been Compound V." Homelander stared at Edgar for several seconds, but Edgar held his gaze until Homelander turned and walked out of the office. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Once the door closed, Edgar sat back down and pressed the call button on his desk. Black Noir entered a short time later and stood before him without speaking.

"Find Adam," Edgar said.

"I want a way to contact him as soon as possible. We are bringing him into the Seven. Madelyn's plan will continue even after her death." Black Noir remained still and listened. Edgar knew Homelander would not stop because of one conversation. He would keep pushing for more authority, and the day could come when he tried to place all of Vought under himself.

Homelander still cared about how the public saw him because he wanted the world to believe he was its hero and needed people to cheer whenever cameras faced him. That need gave Vought leverage whenever he ignored an order, but Edgar knew the restraint could disappear. For now, his public image still mattered enough to slow him down. Without that concern, Vought would lose its hold over him.

Vought needed a counterweight in place before that happened, and Edgar did not intend to wait until Homelander was beyond control. His control over Vought had to be stopped before it became complete. Edgar wanted this balance established before Homelander gained more control over the company. That was why Madelyn's plan still mattered. She had intended to use Adam for this purpose, and Edgar saw no reason to abandon the idea after her death. Adam could stand against Homelander.

If Vought placed both men inside the Seven, each would prevent the other from gaining complete control. Each man would have to keep watching the other, which allowed Vought to gain the most from their conflict. Vought did not need Adam to become loyal to Homelander; it only needed Homelander to think about Adam before he acted, while Adam would have to do the same.

Neither man had to cooperate willingly for the arrangement to help the company, because their attention would stay on each other instead of turning fully toward Vought.

"Bring me his contact," Edgar repeated. Black Noir turned and left the office. At the hidden base, the Boys were trying to decide what to do next after Raynor's death took away their government contact. They understood that Vought could come after them again, but every plan sounded worse than the last and nobody could settle on one. Fear showed on their faces. Hughie sat near Frenchie while M. M. stood over the table. Nobody had found a plan they trusted.

Adam suddenly heard movement somewhere beyond the hideout entrance. Adam smiled. Before he said anything, his phone rang. He saw Annie's name and answered immediately.

"Hello?"

"I got it," Annie said.

"I have the Compound V." Adam's smile widened.

"If you wanted to meet me, you didn't need to make up an excuse. Just tell me next time. I'll come to you."

"Adam, I'm serious. I got it." This was the first time Annie had done something like this, and Adam knew she had taken a real risk. He wanted to congratulate her, although the words that came out were not the ones she expected.

"Annie, you were made for doing bad things." On the other end, the pleased look on Annie's face disappeared. She had imagined Adam praising her after she told him. Instead, he had made her success sound like proof that she was suited for crime.

"Do you even know how to give someone a compliment?" she asked. Adam almost laughed.

"That was a compliment."

"It was a terrible one. Fine, we'll meet soon." She ended the call before Adam could answer. He put his phone away and stepped forward. The gate above the hideout stairs opened. Someone began coming down. Hughie and Frenchie moved back and raised their guns toward the entrance. Adam and M. M. stepped in front of them. The man reached the bottom of the stairs and came into view. Butcher looked at all of them.

"Daddy's home."