The people in the conference room took quite a while before they finally accepted the situation as it was.
That was, their president was no longer the original president. He had been completely replaced by an impostor.
Hill frowned. After a while, she looked at Lake Edwin in confusion. "If that's the case, then why let the Supervision—"
She stopped there.
Hill paused again.
Lake Edwin smiled. "Yes, he wants to put on a show."
As long as Lake Edwin's Supervisory Bureau entered the scene, there would be an explanation for the other members of Hydra—for example, Gideon Malick, who had shut himself away in seclusion, or Baron Strucker, who was calmly practicing healthy living.
He could pin the whole matter on Lake Edwin and then directly bring about his grand undertaking.
What?
Pierce had been killed personally by Satan?
Yes.
But that was no different from having a reason or an excuse. No matter how outrageous the excuse was, as long as it was an excuse—one that people could accept, at least somewhat—that was good enough.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Take it easy, Patriot!"
"..."
Lake Edwin looked at Tony Stark, who had slammed his hand on the table and risen to his feet. Tony was already preparing to put on his nano-suit and charge into Washington D.C. Lake Edwin teased him accordingly, then met Tony's questioning gaze. "Although we know the president is just a figurehead, most people don't. Moreover, we'll make sure most people believe that the president is a man with real authority."
There was a reason the federal election system existed.
Even if a minority knew that the president was merely a figurehead, as long as most people didn't know, that minority would preserve the status quo. After all, did they think it