Chương 89

Edgar shouted from the floor, "Adam, what are you doing?" Adam was not in the mood to listen. He rose without approaching Edgar and walked toward the office entrance instead. Two guards had already rushed through it. The first aimed at Adam and fired three rounds. Adam continued forward because he mistook them for ordinary bullets. The rounds traveled most of the distance without touching him. The moment they reached Adam's face, they exploded. A shock wave struck Adam.

The force pressed against his head from the front and made him stop. Adam covered his head with one palm. These bullets had been made for Supes. A round detonated before touching its target, and the blast carried the impact. That force could neutralize many Supes. Even someone like Homelander could be distracted by it. Adam was different. The blast had not injured him, but it reminded him of something else. His template synchronization had not moved since it had passed forty percent.

Earlier increases had come while he used his powers publicly. Since then, he had spent months building a positive image and becoming more famous. None of it had moved the percentage again.

'Does Superman's synchronization only rise when I act like an antagonist? Or when I take the role of a villain?' Even without another increase, his current synchronization was high. These rounds could not break his skin. A direct blast against his palm would still fail to injure him. The pressure felt no worse than an insect bite. The guards saw that their shots had at least distracted him. Three more entered with automatic rifles loaded with the same ammunition.

Behind them, two others ran toward Edgar to pull him out of the office. One of the rear guards raised his radio.

"Alert, this is a red sign. The core office is under attack. Get Edgar out of here, and move in now." The rifles opened fire. Explosions struck different parts of Adam's body without pause. One burst against his chest, while another struck his shoulder before the next round reached his side. The pressure passed around him each time and tore through the furniture across the office. Adam looked toward Edgar. One extraction guard kept his rifle aimed at Adam and fired while moving.

The second ran behind him, closing the remaining distance to Edgar. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Adam lowered the arm from his head, then swung it forward. The pressure created by the movement struck the incoming rounds. They exploded several feet away from him. Red light fired from Adam's eyes immediately afterward. It crossed the office before either extraction guard reached Edgar and cut both men through the middle.

Adam had not wanted to do that. He still needed to send Vought a message. These people had kept pushing after every warning and had treated his restraint as permission to continue. Adam suspected they might ignore this message as well. He did not know how much fear it would take before they finally understood. Edgar watched the two guards separate in front of him. Fear finally settled inside him. He turned, crawled behind the large sofa meant for one person, and lowered himself out of Adam's sight.

The two halves of each guard struck the floor in different directions before the sofa. The remaining guards fired even faster. Adam vanished from their aim and appeared beside one of the shooters. He seized the man's vest. Adam turned with him and threw him toward the same broken opening he had used to enter the office. The guard flew outside. Edgar's office stood high inside Vought Tower. The force of Adam's throw carried the man away from the building before gravity took him.

He needed a second to understand why the floor had disappeared beneath him. Then he looked down and realized he was falling through open air. His mouth opened in a scream. He struck the ground far below. The fall did not kill him immediately, but it broke many bones. He remained there in pain while his life slowly left him. The others guards still inside stared at the opening in shock. Another figure stepped through behind them. Black Noir wore two bulky silver gloves.

Metallic plates made each glove far larger than a normal fist. Electric sparks moved continuously over their surface, showing that the charge had been built into the weapons. Noir jumped. He drove one sparking fist toward Adam's face. Adam rose sideways through the air, avoiding it with ease. The missed punch continued into a soldier standing nearby. The glove struck the man between his shoulder and waist. Its stored force released the instant it touched him.

The soldier's upper body tore apart instead of being pushed away. The blow sent everything above the soldier's waist across the office in a spray of blood and flesh. His legs fell where he had stood. Adam looked at the glove with surprise.

'Well, I expected them to prepare some countermeasures against Homelander. But this is actually a good weapon.' Two more Supes entered behind Black Noir. Adam recognized the first and became more surprised. It was Supersonic, Annie's childhood friend and former boyfriend. Adam could not attack him as freely as the others. Supersonic was Annie's so-called friend, and Adam would not kill him because of that connection. Nothing, however, placed any pressure on Adam to leave him unharmed.

He could still beat Supersonic. That made two people in this office he would not kill: Supersonic and Edgar. The second arrival was the female archer Adam had encountered before. She carried a modified bow, but its arrows no longer resembled the bone arrows she had used then. Every shaft was thicker now. The front of each arrow had been enlarged, and electric sparks jumped from those heavy tips. Supersonic held a club as thick as his forearm.

One end was heavier than the other, and electricity moved across it as well. Electricity crawled across all three weapons. The glow reflected from their hands and faces. Adam studied the three charged weapons. They had come prepared.