Conquering the Multiverse Starting with the Black Robe

Edgar maintained his composed demeanor, calmly exhaling a puff of smoke and setting down his cigar. "I know, but this concerns you."

Homelander pursed his lips. "What? A locomotive being murdered in my theme park is supposed to be related to me? Excuse my bluntness, sir, isn't that a bit narrow-minded?"

"This isn't in my patrol report. Edgar, when did you start working as a part-time news commentator? Do you enjoy dragging complete strangers into this?"

Edgar looked at him and said slowly, "The villain and his henchmen, he's targeting our people, first the Black Man, the Invisible Man, now it's the A-Train's turn... Do you know where the villain is right now?"

Homelander frowned, somewhat annoyed by Edgar's accusatory tone. "I think you should ask the criminal analysis department; they know more than I do."

Edgar chuckled. "Interestingly, the people in the Crime Analysis Department told me that Knight Tyx was also murdered last night."

But he's a smart man; he anticipated the danger, so when he felt uneasy, he sent a distress call here. Last night, at least thirty people saw you fly to Tyke Manor.

"Are you doubting me? When I arrived, there was only a pile of ruins; I didn't see any villains."

Homelander stood up, flicked his cloak, and said with a grim expression, "He's cunning, and he can fly, fly very fast, faster than a locomotive."

"Don't think I don't know the truth. He was produced by you in the lab."

Homelander's expression suddenly changed, and he laughed with schadenfreude. "I'd love to see you scrambling around like this, Edgar. As the head of a superhero company, you never care about the superheroes under your command. You just sit at your desk, smoking a Cuban cigar and issuing orders."

"Now you've backfired. You're trying to pin the blame on me and make me clean up your mess, right?"

Edgar stood up expressionlessly, only his lips twitching slightly. "Watch your words, Homelander. The company is facing a crisis; our seven-man team is almost wiped out. As the team leader, you've seriously neglected your duties because of your negligence. I require you to take care of it."

"Demands?" Homelander sneered, approaching the old black man. His tone was relaxed, yet subtly threatening. "I must remind you, my contract with Walter expires at the end of this year. Perhaps I should look for another way to make a living, so I don't have to be bossed around like this."

"What do you think of Walter's shareholders' reaction to this?"

Edgar narrowed his eyes and stood in front of him, under the gaze of Homelander.

Homelander met his gaze without flinching. Although Rean had told him that Edgar possessed some kind of secret weapon that could harm him, he didn't believe Edgar would openly confront him at this critical juncture.

As expected, Edgar eventually backed down. He took a step back, leaned against his desk, and pointed with his cigar to the portrait hanging beside him. "How much do you know about Frederick Waters?"

Homelander asked in confusion, "What did you say?" He knew who Federico Waters was, of course, but he couldn't understand why Edgar had brought him up at this particular moment.

Edgar repeated calmly, emphasizing his words, "Frederic Waters, our highly respected founder."

Homelander glanced at the portrait the cigar was pointing at. "As a younger generation who has never met him, my understanding of him may be one-sided and not deep enough, but I have probably read his autobiography five times."

Edgar smiled with satisfaction. It was a simple conversational technique: by posing a question, he regained control of the conversation. "Not the bullshit we use to fool shareholders, but his real life experiences."

The man from the motherland squinted, "I'm all ears."

"He earned his doctorate in Munich, and his research in genetics was ahead of its time. He began to emerge as a rising star."

So in 1939, Hitler appointed him as the chief physician of the Dachau concentration camp. Of course, this was only a nominal position; behind the scenes, he used "human resources" to conduct inhumane genetic experiments to test and improve the earliest compound, Compound V, through refinement and iteration.

"As early as 1944, he sensed the danger and defected from the Nazis, fleeing to the Allies with his wife and daughters. While Oppenheimer was still testing the atomic bomb, Dr. Wot had already used the first-generation Compound V on the battlefield, creating superhuman beings like 'Soldier Boy' to kill large numbers of Germans. As a result, US President Roosevelt pardoned his crimes."

"His importance is self-evident; he's equivalent to the Einstein of genetics or the Edison of inventors..."

Homelander had had enough. Unimpressed by this blatantly embellished tale of his rise to power, he impatiently waved his hand to interrupt, "This story is certainly inspiring, even if it sounds a bit like 'Versailles.' What are you trying to say, Edgar? What does this have to do with our conversation?"

Edgar didn't answer directly. Instead, he took a puff of his cigar and exhaled smoke into Homelander's face until the man's eye twitched. Only then did he reveal a confident, amiable smile. "What I wanted to say was..."

"If you think we're just a marketing company that runs and manages superheroes, you're mistaken."

"We are not simply a project we run; we are actually a pharmaceutical company, and you are not our most valuable asset."

"Our most valuable asset is Compound V, and you, with your self-righteous cleverness, let it slip away, bringing hidden dangers to the company."

Homelander paused for a moment, but quickly recovered, denying, "I don't understand what you're talking about. The villains were created by Vogbaum, what does that have to do with me?"

Edgar cut to the chase, "You think I don't know how Vogbaum died? You think I don't know who leaked the information that the locomotive was helping to transport Compound V around the world so you could get into the Department of Defense?"

But have you considered the risks of doing this? Could it destroy the entire company?

"I don't like the tone of your voice, sir." Homelander's face darkened completely, his cheeks puffing out. "I really don't like it."

"Is that so? I don't like the FDA knowing about this either, and I especially don't like the public soon finding out the truth."

"While you were busy posing at the Golden Globe Awards, our people were running around cleaning up the mess you left behind."

Homelander pointed at Edgar's nose and roared, "I did this for Walter! For the company! Don't tell me I was doing it for my own selfish gain!"

Edgar's lips curled into a smile. "Of course, that's why you weren't kicked out."

"You think you're irreplaceable in this world? That's what the soldier boy thought too."

Don't take yourself too seriously; you're just an insignificant, failed product.

Homelander's eyes gleamed red as he grabbed Edgar's tie. "Say it again! Try it! Say it again!"

Edgar, however, was not afraid. Instead, his eyes showed pity. "Not only are you flawed in character, short-tempered and irritable, but you also fail as a man and a father."

The red light slowly faded. "What are you talking about? What father?"

"Becca, the woman you raped, remember her?"

A beautiful figure appeared before his eyes, and the heart of the nation trembled slightly. He slowly released his grip, "But... I can't have children like ordinary people!"

Edgar calmly straightened his tie. "Let me guess, Vogbaum told you this? He lied, of course, to protect company assets."

"He lied to me about this too? I have a descendant?" Homelander looked dazed, somewhat at a loss, and took an involuntary step back.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

Edgar stopped keeping her in suspense and began to recount the story in a gentle, conversational tone: "She became pregnant with your child, but under the influence of Compound V, the fetus grew beyond the limits of an ordinary person's body."

Has anyone ever told you that you would cut open your own mother's abdomen when you were about to give birth?

Clearly, Beja didn't want that outcome.

So, having nowhere else to turn, she came to us.

To preserve this rare, unique case of natural childbirth, the Vought Corporation secretly moved her. Vogelbaum and a team of top doctors and scientists took turns caring for her, and ultimately, she survived and gave birth to a boy.

"Eight years have passed, and you know nothing about it."

Homelander froze, his mind blanking at Edgar's words, a mix of emotions churning within him. "You mean... I have an eight-year-old son, my own flesh and blood?"

"Yes, Becca named him Ryan." Edgar nodded slightly. "Your child perfectly inherited all your superpowers, and he is also the world's first naturally conceived superhuman."

Unlike you, he grew up under his mother's care and had a relatively happy childhood, without lacking parental affection.

"As I said, you're so stupid that you believe whatever others say, you lack the ability to judge right and wrong independently, and you don't know how to find answers through subtle clues."

You're like a primitive man, only knowing how to use brute force to seek proof and instill fear in people to achieve your goals, without considering that not everyone is afraid of you and can still manipulate you at will.