Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 461 Internal and external cooperation
"You mean 'Superman joins Vought and then can freely accuse A-Train of wrongdoing'?"

Ma Zhaodi retorted, "Do you want to listen to what you're saying?"

“These are the conditions, and they're all written in black and white in the contract,” Douglas replied. “Please consider them carefully.”

Clark turned his head and exchanged a glance with Ma Zhaodi.

"Is that what you mean, that the locomotive can be sacrificed to recruit Superman?" he thought to himself.

Ma Zhaodi's idea went a step further: "Vought knows that Superman and Homelander's abilities and images overlap, but they still intend to recruit Superman, most likely to counterbalance Homelander, or even as an alternative."

Seeing that Ma Zhaodi shook his head slightly, Clark knew his attitude. So he turned to Douglas and said, "What Vought Corporation did was less of an admission of wrongdoing and more of a deal. You don't really have any regrets, do you?"

"I don't like your attitude, and I don't like your philosophy of treating heroic acts as a purely business transaction. You can leave; I won't add anything—"

"Add! Add Walter! Add the Seven Heroes!"

Ma Zhaodi's impassioned and righteous voice suddenly rang out.

"?"

Clark couldn't help but look at Ma Zhaodi, his eyes full of confusion: "Didn't you just imply that we shouldn't have agreed?"

"Just now, now is now."

Looking at the system task panel that had just popped up, Ma Zhaodi decisively rejected his own thoughts from three seconds ago.

【Ding】

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[Internal and external cooperation]

Mission Introduction: In terms of size and power, the Vought Corporation can be considered one of the world's top behemoths. Undoubtedly, they have the ability to spread rumors, distort the truth, and manipulate people's hearts.

No one knows how it suddenly rose to prominence during World War II and grew to its current size, nor does anyone know how much darkness it has to hide. But what is certain is that many so-called "heroes" have done some evil and dirty things for it, and some are about to do the same for it.

Unfortunately, the only ones who dared to challenge Vought were a group of brave, shameless bastards, devoid of morality, principles, and fear, and their fate was destined to be tragic.

This gig comes from a request from two heroes/bastards from the future, one of whom wants someone to join Vought to investigate their dirty secrets from within and help him get on the right track.

"If I could do it all over again, I would want to be a real hero."

The other person hopes that someone can join the former Boys and prevent others from going down the path of madness.

“I know we’re all a bunch of bastards, but the other bastards have a lower moral compass than me, and my family has nothing to do with this. It’s me who’s to blame, not them.”

Note: "The world is divided into black and white. From now on, white is my greatest, and black is your greatest."

"Let's go, take up the post of Wot!" Status: Pending (0%)

Rewards: Advance reward – Perfect and activate your latent superpowers granted by the particle accelerator explosion; Settlement reward – One cubic meter of personal space.

"Finally, finally!"

Ma Zhaodi was almost moved to tears by the reward the system had given him: "The standard feature for every protagonist in every novel, the classic cheat code of infinite flow, the ever-present super accessory, the essential tool for murder, arson, and disposing of corpses—the system space, I've got it!"

He readily accepted the task.

Douglas, beaming with joy, didn't immediately get Superman's signature on the document, but Ma Zhaodi's statement was already a very good start.

"We need to reconsider this agreement. However, regarding the A-Train incident, we cannot help Vought International cover it up—I want you to understand that if Robin doesn't receive the compensation and apology she deserves, then Superman and I will fight your company to the end for justice and the truth."

"This is an utterly absurd argument; it's childish, impulsive, and boring."

This was the consensus of Douglas and the legal team at Vought International, and the talent manager shared the same view: it was naive to think that a Superman and a trivial accident could bring down Vought International.

In terms of public opinion, although Superman gained a lot of goodwill from the public yesterday, he is still a rookie hero who has just started out. He cannot compare with the Seven, who have been in the hero industry for more than ten years.

In terms of violence, Superman could not destroy Vought International, because Homelander is one of the most powerful superheroes to date, while Superman's fighting ability has not been tested further. In addition, the more than two hundred superheroes under Vought International's command can overwhelm Superman in numbers, so Vought International considers itself very safe.

However, they still agreed to Ma Zhaodi's request.

"You can't get carried away in business, and that includes negotiations." This was the answer from Ashley Barrett, the talent manager. Of course, she actually had little power or opinion in the company and was just a yes-man who ran errands. This was just her relaying the original words of Madeline Stivell, the vice president of superhero management.

Madeline's position is indeed crucial; she has the power to make decisions regarding the terms of the contract.

"If Superman is willing to join the Seven, then it's not a big deal if A-Train's approval rating drops a little—according to the technical department's estimates, Superman and Homelander's abilities and strengths are probably very similar. In other words, he can be used to counterbalance Homelander."

Madeline did a good job of weighing the pros and cons: "A deformed, uncontrollable giant baby makes people feel insecure at all. To prevent him from going out of control, Superman is one of the best backup plans at present; moreover, his thoughts are not extreme, his appearance is amazing, and after only one appearance, some New Yorkers have become obsessed with him."

"His core interests are the apology from the locomotive and compensation from the Wot company. These things are insignificant to us. This is the best deal we can make: exchange what I care about for what you care about."

"Moreover, the fact that these two guys can say such things at the negotiating table is enough to prove that they are not very smart and should be quite easy to manipulate."

"If they heard us make such a counter-threat during negotiations, they would definitely think we are not very smart and are quite easy to fool."

In the hotel, Ma Zhaodi explained his plan to Clark.

"Simply put, if you join Vought International, you can save some brainwashed and corrupted superheroes, lead them to do some truly good things, and Vought won't be too wary of you, making it easier for you to investigate the company's shady dealings from within."

"This is called using a counter-strategy."

(End of this chapter)