A Draw

"Mr. Edgar, Ron and Starlight are very close. Could that perhaps..."

Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Madelyn cautiously offered a suggestion.

"No."

Edgar had been keeping a close watch on Ron's every move. He knew about his relationship with Starlight, but that was not a breakthrough point for controlling Ron.

"We need to maintain the balance skillfully, not make rigid threats that leave no room for retreat."

He raised a finger and wagged it, speaking solemnly.

Never mind whether Ron and Starlight's relationship was truly that deep—using someone close to threaten and control a person would, once employed, be tantamount to pushing them into opposition.

"Madelyn, you're afraid. You've lost your composure."

Edgar stared into her eyes, his voice slightly heavy.

That suggestion just now had been a foolish move.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Faced with his displeasure, Madelyn's voice trembled uneasily.

"What happened today was too shocking. I..."

Beneath her usual friendly exterior, she had always been somewhat afraid of Homelander. Now, that fear had deepened, and Ron—whose temperament she could not read—had been added to the equation.

Not everyone could be like Edgar, who seemed to possess some unknown trump card against superhumans and never panicked, no matter what a superhuman did.

"I know. It's not entirely your fault."

After watching Madelyn for a moment, he, who usually treated others with calm gentleness, shook his head.

A moment later, Edgar considered it and made a decision.

"Time reveals a person's character. Set Ron's matter aside for now. He's been with the company too briefly for us to see much."

"If we truly can't find a way to control him, I'll report it to the board and consider making him part of upper management—perhaps giving him some shares, bringing him onto the board, and making him Honorary President."

Not everyone could be controlled like a puppet. If Ron had no strong desires or major weaknesses, they could only think of another way.

"The board? Honorary President?"

Madelyn was stunned.

She had worked diligently at Vought for over twenty years and had only climbed to vice president. Ron had only been here for a few days, yet he might get the chance to join the board and become Honorary President?

"He's smarter and more rational than Homelander. He's suitable for upper management.

"If Vought's interests are tied to his own, he'll naturally stand on Vought's side."

Edgar pondered aloud.

Binding someone with shared interests, making them part of one's own side, turning a potentially uncontrollable powerful force into one's own strength to safeguard the interests of one's group—this was one of the common methods of capital and the business world.

People protected their own interests. It was human nature.

"In fact, this was once a discarded proposal for how the company could control Homelander forever."

He spread his hands and revealed a secret.

The Vought board had considered it long ago, but the intelligence and personality Homelander displayed after growing up made him wholly unsuitable to become one of the public decision-makers of a business empire, even if he were kept away from the deepest levels of power and secrets.

Besides, if they had a means of controlling him and making him an obedient tool, why elevate him to stand on equal footing with them?

But the newly appeared Ron was different.

"Did a superhuman murder occur in New York yesterday afternoon?"

Madelyn nodded. "Behind a supermarket in District XC, a group of gang members were killed. The traces at the scene indicate it was done by a superhuman.

"The police have been told to close the case as a gang vendetta. The Crime Investigation Department is tracking that superhuman's whereabouts."

"Let Ron in on a little of the company's 'inside information.' Have him deal with this and see whether he's willing."

Edgar ordered sternly.

It was only a minor matter. Black Noir, who had previously specialized in handling such matters for the company, could have taken care of it. But Edgar wanted to use this incident to better understand Ron's character.

At the same time, Vought had many things within it that ordinary people would see as utterly dark. A softhearted person could not become one of the decision-makers of this business empire.

"An Old Captain and a New Member! Internal Conflict Within The Seven?" "Is Homelander Still the Strongest Superhero?" "The Island Battle That Flattened Everything!"

The next day, a sensational piece of news rapidly took over the front pages of major newspapers across America.

Homelander and Dark Star, the newest member of The Seven, had fought on an uninhabited island called Resengoal in the Atlantic Ocean, nearly destroying it.

Every report included photographs of the island after the battle. Everything on its surface had been reduced to dust, as if it had been ravaged by nuclear bombs and hurricanes, leaving people stunned.

"Is this really not the site of a government hydrogen bomb test?"

"They're too powerful! If heroes like this had existed during World War II, the Nazis would have been defeated long ago!"

"Aren't they both members of The Seven? Why did they fight?"

"Vought said it was a friendly spar between teammates."

"Look at these pictures. There are actually such powerful beings among the superheroes protecting us..."

The incident immediately shocked the public and sparked widespread discussion. The battle on the island became a hot topic, with people discussing superheroes, especially Homelander and Dark Star.

"Is this true?"

In the apartment, Starlight stared blankly at the newspaper photograph of the devastated island. Sitting at the dining table, she had just taken a sip of coffee and nearly spat it out as she asked in shock.

"What?"

"You fought the strongest superhero on Earth? Yesterday?"

"Yes." Ron emerged from the bathroom, fresh from a shower and wearing only a simple bathrobe. He wiped his hair and nodded.

"But when I came to see you yesterday, you acted completely normal."

When she had come over yesterday afternoon, she and Ron had gone out for dinner, watched an opera she liked, then returned home at night and fell asleep together in the middle of the night. Everything had been no different from usual.

Yet this morning, she had learned from the newspaper that Ron had fought Homelander in the Atlantic Ocean yesterday morning and nearly sunk an island.

"What did you expect me to look like?

"My face covered in wounds, my hands wrapped in bandages?"

He sat down at the table, cut into an omelet, and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I mean, how can you seem like you don't care about this at all?"

"That was Homelander, the strongest superhero on Earth! You fought him for so long, flattened an island, and didn't suffer so much as a scratch!"

Starlight was completely certain that Ron was uninjured. There was not a single wound on him, and he was full of energy. She had already known that last night.

"It was only a draw. It's not like I won."

Though he was now certain that his strength was no weaker than Homelander's, which reassured him somewhat, it had only been a battle with no winner or loser.

Even if he had won, he was not someone who became overly excited or proud just because he had defeated someone.

Ability Points: 125,000

Ron glanced at the panel and smiled.

If there was anything that made him slightly pleased, it was probably that his Ability Points had increased by seventy or eighty thousand, nearly returning to their previous amount.