Chapter 90: Let’s film an invincible young hero!
The only way out was to cling to Lucas’s thigh.
Edgar returned the President’s call; this was the first time in his life he had been so arrogant and overbearing.
"Mr. President, please hand over the real culprit and give the public a satisfactory explanation."
"Otherwise..."
"You might as well start preparing your farewell speech early. However, given the current trend, if Guardian runs for the next President, you won’t have much of a chance!"
After hanging up, Edgar leaned back in his chair and picked up a glass of red wine.
Vought had won big!
This was the most glorious moment of his life.
With a wave of his hand, he wired another 100 million dollars into Guardian’s charitable foundation.
It was just a drizzle!
A drop in the bucket!
From this round alone, Vought’s income would be at least several billion dollars.
Worth it!
Too worth it!
...
[Stan Edgar — Emotional State: Calm, sense of control, precise calculation of the future, planning]
[Evolution Points Gained: +8,200]
...
A few days later.
Edgar’s office.
The old fox, for the first time ever, didn’t walk away but instead looked at Lucas’s size 42... or was it 44 feet?
"Why do I feel like your feet have gotten bigger again?"
Edgar’s eyes were like a ruler.
"Do you think so?"
Edgar stood up from behind his desk and stretched his feet out, "Let’s compare."
Lucas seriously compared with him.
The conclusion was that his feet had indeed grown a bit larger.
"You’ve also grown quite a bit taller. Last time you were only half a head taller than me, but this time it’s more than a full head."
Edgar was earnestly discussing height and shoe size with Lucas.
In the past, the old fox would only stiffly issue tasks, like some damn NPC.
"Not bad, not bad, you’ve hit a second growth spurt!"
Lucas guessed it must be because of the leveling up.
Every time he leveled up, his physical body would improve.
"Guardian, the company has decided to increase your salary and benefits tenfold."
"Also..."
Edgar pushed a document over, "This is five percent of Vought’s shares. You just need to sign, and you will be a major shareholder of this company!"
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
Edgar usually wouldn’t make such a decision.
Splitting Vought’s lifeline with an uncontrollable Supe—no matter how excited he was, he wouldn’t lose his head.
Of course, Edgar didn’t want to.
But this was the demand of those big shots.
Only in this way could they prove that Vought and Guardian were deeply bound, and that the money they gave to Vought was effectively given to Guardian.
Money was just a number.
People were the real resource.
The future was very likely to be the world of Supes.
Getting to know a ’President-like’ figure in advance wouldn’t hurt these established big capitalists.
Lucas opened the file and took a look.
Noticing the amount of capital injected, he chuckled.
"Edgar, you really don’t know how to open your mouth wide enough!"
"...Oh? Do you have some business insights as well?"
Edgar became interested.
"A few billion?"
Lucas tossed the file onto the table, "Bullshit! Those masters are loaded. Millions of pounds! Do you know what that concept is? They can afford hundreds of billions, even trillions. You used my name, and in the end, you only asked for this much?"
"Embarrassing! I feel embarrassed for you!"
"Damn it! If you’re asking for money, ask for more!"
Edgar’s hand holding the coffee stopped.
He explained patiently, "Guardian, listen to me first. Even if they give money, there must be a legitimate reason. If they give it begrudgingly, we won’t feel at ease receiving it!"
"Then just find an excuse!" Lucas spread his hands, "That’s so simple. Set up a business project, they invest tons of money into it, and after a transfer, it’ll all be mine!"
"I want to make a movie called ’Invincible’!"
Edgar: "..."
How much do you want for a movie?
At most a billion, right!
Lucas felt Edgar lacked imagination.
"The ’Invincible’ I want to film will star Ryan as the lead. He’s a kid who inherited alien bloodlines. I’ll play his father, an alien overlord who descended to Earth, Omni-Man!"
"The cast must be luxurious! Have all of Vought’s Supes perform!"
Lucas crossed his legs.
"Total budget, let’s call it ten billion dollars."
"I’ll take nine billion for myself."
"Any problems?"
The corner of Edgar’s mouth twitched violently.
Nine... billion?
For a cartoon?
Even money laundering isn’t done this way!
Isn’t this a bit too subtle!
Edgar looked at Lucas’s calm face and finally swallowed all his complaints.
If you can really get ten billion dollars.
Then what else is there to say? Vought is yours!
Who is better at business than you!
"I will... repeat your words to them, word for word."
A few days later.
To Edgar’s shock, those big shots collectively agreed.
Not a single word of bargaining.
They even asked if it was enough.
No, it was ten billion dollars! This wasn’t company valuation; this was cold, hard cash flow!
Ten billion was wired directly into Vought’s account.
Nine billion had to be transferred directly into Lucas’s pocket.
The problem was, the ’Invincible’ project hadn’t even been launched; so far, it was just a title.
Four words, ten billion dollars?
Lucas had additional requirements regarding this money.
Not a single cent of tax could be deducted; it had to be wired to his personal account in full.
The IRS wants to collect taxes?
Eat shit!
"My money will all be used for charity."
"Whoever dares to tax me is adding taxes to the heads of all the people in America."
"I want to see who dares to come knocking."
IRS: "..."
Do you want us to apply for a nuke to blow you to hell!
...
Meanwhile.
Another movie that had long been finished was unearthed.
’Parallel Crisis’
Lucas played a major villain in it.
Wonder Man.
An anti-hero meant to mirror Homelander, a total maniac.
In the movie, Wonder Man was insane, vicious, a total man-child, with a seductive flying posture, pigeon-toed, liked to fly through the air with his hands behind his back, and even loved to drink Mothers Milk.
Lucas portrayed that vibe—bright and shiny on the outside, but twisted on the inside, craving love yet ready to destroy everything at the drop of a hat—with incredible depth.
Queen Maeve and Starlight were the protagonists in the film, joining forces to battle Wonder Man.
In the end, they were both cut down by Wonder Man.
The invincible hand-blade.
The distributor even specifically consulted Vought, "Should we delay the release of this movie? If we release it now, it might affect Guardian’s positive image!"
Lucas waved his hand.
"Release it! Release it boldly!"
"Am I afraid of this?"
"Just say this movie is all metaphor. I’m playing those big capital bosses in America!"
With this nonsensical explanation.
A bunch of people still rushed to analyze it.
There were even many YouTube bloggers who, after watching the movie, immediately wrote 100,000-word scripts, explaining the symbols and metaphors in the film in great detail.
The movie even rode on Lucas’s fame and became an instant global hit.
The box office topped the charts.
The audience laughed as they watched; it turned out that the righteous Guardian could be so crazy and so flamboyant when playing a villain!
The pigeon-toed flying became a meme imitated all over the internet.
What was even better was that this movie also made Queen Maeve and Starlight popular.
The popularity of the two heroines rose with the tide.
...
Night fell.
Midtown Apartment.
Queen Maeve, who had been thoroughly conquered once, was now... a different person.
Extremely cooperative, even taking the initiative.
The Queen Maeve who used to keep a cold face had actually started to compete.
This forced Starlight, the official girlfriend, to get involved as well.
In the end, it all benefited Lucas.
Sleeping in one big bed.
Lucas lay in the middle, with arms around both.
A happy life is just this simple, unadorned, and boring.
...
The night passed without a word.
...
The next day.
Daylight was bright.
Homelander woke up feeling refreshed, pulled open the curtains, picked up his phone, and sent a message to his son.
Ryan replied instantly, which was rare.
"Have you seen Guardian’s recent movie? The acting was simply too spot-on, but Mom won’t let me watch it. Can you take me to the cinema?"
Becca is just too weak!
What’s wrong with a kid watching a movie? Watch it!
Watch it hard!
Homelander replied immediately, "Guardian’s movie, right? Good, Dad will go get tickets right now, we’ll book the whole theater! What flavor of popcorn do you like, Pepsi or Coke?"
"Dad, you’re the best!"
Ryan sent an emoji.
Homelander suddenly felt the world had become bright again!