However, amid the bloody storm sweeping the globe, only two places in the world remained untouched.
One was the ancient Eastern nation that had fortified itself like an iron barrel. Its unique censorship mechanisms and ancient secret arts made Skrull infiltration exceedingly difficult, leaving them unable to reach the true inner circles.
The other was Washington, D.C., under V.G.D.'s special protection.
By then, the White House had become a veritable super fortress.
President Ellis leaned comfortably back in his office chair, watching the superheroes patrolling the lawn outside his window as he took a satisfied sip of wine.
Under the president's mandatory executive order, the White House's security force had been entirely replaced by V.G.D.-registered heroes and Vought security personnel.
All Secret Service agents had been pushed out to the perimeter, allowed to handle only traffic control outside.
For this, Congress had paid Vought Group a security fee that could only be described as astronomical.
But President Ellis did not mind in the slightest. After all, it was taxpayer money.
Better yet, Vought Group had been exceptionally "considerate," quietly funneling part of that massive payment back into his private Swiss bank account through several secret offshore companies.
Looking at the long string of extra zeroes in his bank account, Ellis's grin nearly reached his ears.
"God bless the United States, and may He especially bless Homelander." He raised his glass and toasted the empty air.
Even with Homelander absent, Vought Group still projected an absolute sense of security.
He was deeply relieved that he had withstood the pressure from those fools in Congress and the capitalist tycoons from beginning to end, firmly standing on Homelander's side.
"As long as Vought is here, Washington's sky won't come crashing down." He exhaled comfortably.
Yet outside those two places, the rest of the