Chapter 112 Ashley, Do You Want to Be President?
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In the cosmic void, Lucas could generate distorted ripples with a casual wave of his hand.
The mass behind his punch was terrifying.
His strength had increased a bit, but it still wasn’t enough.
The second stop was a black hole.
It took Lucas three days to fly to the edge of a distant galaxy, where a medium-mass black hole was located.
These things are a dime a dozen in science documentaries.
But if you asked Lucas to find one, he would truly suffer from a headache.
A black hole is one of the most terrifying entities in the universe; not even light can escape its gravitational pull.
Lucas hovered at the edge of the black hole’s accretion disk, feeling that terrifying tidal force as if it wanted to tear him into strands of elementary particles.
But Lucas’s cells were tough and his genes stable; he could resist even attacks at the atomic level.
The training he needed to do was to move against this gravitational pull and approach the black hole’s event horizon.
This was a dual test of strength and defense.
For every inch he drew closer, the gravitational pull doubled, frantically tugging at every part of his body in an attempt to turn him into an infinitely long noodle.
This thing was a longevity noodle in the truest sense.
Lucas gritted his teeth, his bones creaking like an aging machine.
This suffocating feeling of being on the brink of death was exactly the nourishment the Viltrumite Bloodline needed; the closer one was to death, the more frantically the cells would evolve and upgrade, locking in at their strongest state.
What Lucas needed to do was to get closer to the black hole’s event horizon than Nolan, until his fingertips were almost touching that boundary.
Lucas didn’t even know how long it took to achieve all this.
"Hmm... that’s about enough!"
Lucas took a deep breath, feeling his body become a step stronger, and with a sudden step forward, he used an explosive force exceeding the speed of light to forcibly escape the black hole’s gravitational trap.
(Black holes swallow time and superluminal jumps should cancel each other out, right? I remember Nolan also escaped from the black hole’s event horizon.)
The black hole’s accretion disk distorted for a fleeting moment due to the reaction force of his kick.
Success!
Lucas could clearly feel that his strength had surpassed the original planetary level.
It was just hard to tell how far away he was from the large planetary level.
He needed stronger battles to stimulate further improvement.
Evolution Points: 628,335 / 2,000,000
Six hundred and twenty-eight thousand Evolution Points.
Still not enough.
It was far from two million, so he would just have to save up slowly; anyway, he lived for a very long time and could keep farming Evolution Points in this world of The Boys.
It was just that Lv.6 was clearly the final level.
Once he surpassed this level, what kind of missions would the system issue?
Lucas shook his head; there was no point in thinking about it, as the System wouldn’t talk anyway.
Lucas returned to Earth.
Only half a month had passed in Earth time.
No sooner had Lucas stepped into his office than Soldier Boy came knocking.
This old popsicle was truly accurate at finding people.
"You were on this business trip for quite a while; I’ve pried out the things you wanted."
Soldier Boy slapped a folder of materials onto the table.
"Epstein’s mouth was tougher than I imagined, but he clearly didn’t understand what a Supe is!" Soldier Boy said coldly.
Lucas opened the paper bag and glanced at the contents inside.
It was a dense list of names.
As a proper Supe, Soldier Boy’s work was absolutely top-notch.
In that list, Lucas even recognized a few; it included politicians, judges, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and even a few ’decent’ people who had all visited Little St. James Island.
Some were even financiers; there’s no need to mention what kind of nature that implies.
"What do you plan to do with these people? Extortion could yield the greatest benefits; Vought would possess unshakeable capital!"
Lucas put the list down. "As long as I don’t fall, Vought won’t fall. If I need to choose capital to use as a stepping stone, I have my own candidates. These people should be sent to trial!"
Soldier Boy’s eyes lit up.
"However, we must protect the victims first."
Lucas considered things thoroughly. "I plan to post a public inquiry on my personal website, and at the same time, have The Foundation contact the victims to ask if they are willing to sue the people on the list."
"Has Epstein been assassinated?"
Soldier Boy nodded. "Six Supes broke in, attempting to assassinate the informant, but..."
"Did you kill them?"
"Yes."
"Well done."
Lucas nodded.
"So we cannot make the decision for those victims; they have to agree to it themselves. This kind of thing carries risks."
Soldier Boy turned to find Ashley.
...
Ashley turned pale after reading the list.
Still the ultimate stress-resistance queen.
"Sir... once this list is made public, it might cause massive turmoil."
"Every name on here involves a tangled web of interests. Once exposed, it might just turn all of America... upside down."
She had seen too many PR crises, but the scale of this one far exceeded the scope of a crisis.
With Little St. James Island, they only caught a few ringleaders, and the turmoil that caused was already significant.
But this list really blew the lid off half of America’s establishment.
This is a fucking nuke!!
"Upside down? That’s a good thing!" Lucas said.
"Use your brain and think about it."
Lucas floated to the window with his hands behind his back. "We possess the power. No one in the world is stronger than me, Homelander, or Soldier Boy!"
"And only we are using this power to uphold justice and represent righteousness!"
"Would I be afraid? Some animals deserve to have their bones crushed and be thrown into a furnace to be incinerated into ash!"
"Publish it."
Lucas’s tone was resolute.
Back when he only had eight tons of strength, he might have played along with you.
Now that I can swim through a black hole, why would I indulge these animals?
"Tell the world!"
"Regardless of the outcome the victims choose, whether they decide to sue or remain silent!"
"I will respect their choice."
"But the Guardian never compromises!"
"I will use my own methods to resolve this matter, even if it triggers a top-down purge!"
Lucas clenched his fist slightly, and the window in front of him shattered.
Ashley stared blankly at the man in front of her.
Her inner good personality was once again dominant; she had worked in PR for so many years and handled many dirty affairs, but she could never see through Lucas.
Was he really willing to carry out justice, or was this just another well-planned massive PR stunt?
Regardless of which one it was.
The Guardian was upholding justice.
"I... I understand!" Ashley nodded heavily. "I’ll go arrange it right away!"
Soldier Boy didn’t say a word the entire time.
What can I say?
He had thought that the Guardian daring to shell the Capitol was already a very bold act.
Turns out, that was nothing compared to this.
This guy is about to fuck over half of America’s establishment.
This is a powerful political force; on a global scale, it could stir up turmoil and even trigger unpredictable shocks!
This is what you call a real man!
A real hero!!
Looking at the Guardian at this moment, the old soldier felt as if he had picked up something he had lost.
"Oh, by the way, Ashley!"
Lucas suddenly called out to her and asked a question.
Ashley’s brain crashed on the spot.
"Are you interested in that position in the White House?"
"The... White House?" She turned her head, looking confused. "Sir, are you saying... the PR department is moving to Washington?"
"That should be doable. Our funds have been quite abundant lately; your solo movie had a global box office of 3 billion dollars, already surpassing ’Titanic’..."
"I’m talking about the White House, Ashley!" Lucas emphasized.
"The President of America, that old man with the saggy butt—I’m talking about the seat he sits in. Are you interested?"