The Boys: Viltrumite Evolution Panel

Vought Tower. Edgar’s office.

On the dark walnut desk, there was only a laptop and that day’s Wall Street Journal.

The front-page headline read: "Guardian’s So-Called Declaration of Justice: Is It the Return of the Spirit of America, or the Overture to Supe Hegemony?"

Edgar sat behind the desk, watching Lucas prop his size 42 feet right in front of him.

He remained silent for a long time before breaking the silence himself.

"I have always believed that there were only two normal people in this building: one is me, and the other is you."

"But this time, you’ve suddenly dropped a huge task on me."

Lucas lay back, looking quite comfortable.

"Edgar, your blood is as thick as oatmeal. Your private doctor should be taken out and have their head blown off!"

His super vision and Super Hearing could both identify Edgar’s physical condition.

It’s easy to develop these conditions as you get older. High cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high uric acid. In short, the four highs.

"You don’t need to worry about that. Do you know what the most expensive thing in this country is?"

Edgar crossed his hands, trying to communicate with the person opposite him. If it were Homelander, he wouldn’t have said a single word.

"Uh, the president’s virginity?" Lucas thought of an answer at random.

"The president’s virginity is cheaper than my insoles. I’m talking about the truth!"

Edgar stood up and walked to the window.

"In the past 24 hours, Vought’s stock price has risen by 4.2%. Your personal brand valuation has jumped from 1.2 billion to 1.9 billion dollars, and the volume of discussion about you on social media is three times that of Homelander."

"But at the same time..."

Edgar took out his phone and opened a document that had just been sent to him.

"The ACLU (a left-leaning civil rights organization) is preparing a lawsuit against Vought, accusing us of condoning inflammatory remarks made by our Supes."

"Three Democratic senators have jointly requested that the congressional hearing summon you, and a New York Times editorial used the term ’Supe Fascism’."

Edgar put his phone back in his pocket, turned around, and said in a serious tone, "You have created a problem for me, a very expensive problem."

Lucas spread his hands. "The good news is done; what’s the bad news?"

Edgar, who had been deep in thought, was suddenly stumped by Lucas’s remark.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve brought to Vought?"

Edgar was about to categorize Guardian into the same group as Homelander.

"Fine then, I’ll show you something good too."

Lucas opened the data table that Ashley had sent him earlier. "According to this latest statistical data, my approval rating has risen by 12.3% so far, with growth against the trend among young men and middle-aged and elderly white people."

"You should know about the spending power and political influence of these two groups without me saying it, after all, you are a person of color."

"The influence of the Beer Can Association in America is top-tier. The fact that they dared to give me an advertising contract shows that capital doesn’t care about any bullshit fascism at all!"

Lucas sneered disdainfully. "America is a free-trade market where profits come first. As long as people support me, Vought will stand firm!"

Edgar narrowed his eyes slightly. He had to admit that what Guardian just said struck a chord with him. Profits come first. That was indeed true.

"Besides, you’re actually quite happy, right?" Lucas could judge Edgar’s mood through his heartbeat and blood flow rate.

Edgar did not deny it. "The military-industrial complex has had an ambiguous reaction to this. The PR director of Lockheed Martin called me personally last night."

Who is Lockheed Martin? Lucas wasn’t very interested, but mentioning the military-industrial complex, they must be big shots.

"And then? You’re done?"

"They think that a plan Vought proposed earlier, to have Supes participate in defense projects, has some practical feasibility. Their tone is that they are willing to actively discuss it."

Lucas thought about it for a moment and roughly understood what it meant.

"That is to say, you’ve always wanted to shove Supes into the military, and now it’s highly likely to pass, right?"

Edgar tapped the table, his mood clearly quite pleasant, though he wouldn’t show it too obviously. "Yes."

Edgar had to admit that while Guardian’s radical remarks brought huge controversy to Vought, they also earned them bargaining chips.

Vought had spent a long time trying to get Supes into the American defense system, but the military was very resistant to it.

But now, Guardian had won the fanatical support of the veteran community. Don’t look at how miserable this group usually is online; in reality, this is the base that the military’s top brass values the most.

When he went out this morning, he passed a certain avenue where some veterans were marching in the streets, chanting the slogan: "Let Guardian defend America."

The generals at the Pentagon had to reconsider this.

"So, you called me here, surely not just to praise me twice. Give me some benefits at least!" Lucas floated to Edgar’s seat and sat down. "Old man, shine my shoes!"

"Of course." Edgar had no objection to where Lucas sat, as long as he didn’t stand on his head.

"I want you to attend a veteran appreciation event, shake hands with the veterans, take photos, and say a few nice things. Make those who support you even more fanatical, even more teary-eyed, to the point where they can’t wait to kneel and kiss your toes."

Lucas nodded. This request was not excessive; in fact, he had intended to do so anyway.

"Then, you must accept the Beer Association’s speech. Change the content; don’t talk about justice. Talk about the spirit of America, talk about how you defend America’s traditional values... Also, you are not allowed to wear a mustache and raise your arm at a 45° angle on stage!"

Lucas’s eyes lit up. That reminds me!

"And..." "That’s enough."

Lucas interrupted Edgar. If he let him keep talking like this, he would really become an errand boy.

"I agree to the two conditions above, but you also have to give me full authority."

"For what?"

"Vought needs to cooperate with my next step of promotion. The Seven must all stand with me, including Homelander. Lamplighter isn’t dead yet, right? Tell him to stop cosplaying as a security guard in the mental hospital..."

"... The Seven is already a complete mess, and he’s still there being depressed."

A flash of surprise suddenly appeared on Edgar’s eternally stoic, zombie-like face.

"What are you going to do now?"

"You don’t need to worry about that. After it’s done, you can pick any congressional seat you want."

"You must not mess around!" For the first time, Edgar felt a bit flustered.

"Guardian, I don’t like surprises. You are not a god who can do whatever you want!"

Lucas placed his hand on his crotch. "After I finish this, I will be a god!"

...

[Edgar — Mood Change: Unease, Vigilance, Anticipation, Weighing Interests]

[Evolution Points Gained: +14,890]

...

Oh ho, the Chicken Man can get flustered too!