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....
It was as if they had planned it: other than the Seven, scandals erupted for all the other heroes.
Vought was overwheld with the fallout, while Roger stayed at the event, soothing the crowd with a new speech prepared by the company.
He also had to address the issue of Translucent's death during this speech.
Translucent's death couldn't be concealed. Not only had he been absent from the public eye for a long ti.
but soone had provided undeniable proof of his demise. Just before the event started, an insider had leaked Vought's internal discussions on how to handle the news of Translucent's death.
The video, featuring high-ranking Vought executives, beca irrefutable evidence of his passing.
Unable to keep the secret, Vought decided to announce it and plan a grand funeral for Translucent.
Roger was the main person responsible for this funeral, tasked with eulogizing Translucent as a hero who died saving others, despite everyone knowing that wasn't true.
"Vought is really pissed right now," Roger said.
In Kimiko's hideout, Roger and Maeve sat on the sofa, disguised in plain clothes, eating chips and watching TV.
"How did you pull it off?" Maeve asked, holding a chip.
Getting dirt on superheroes wasn't hard, nor was infiltrating the event. Spreading the dirt was simple too. But doing all this while avoiding Vought's suspicion and keeping himself out of the ss was extrely difficult.
Roger had managed to do it all without arousing Vought's suspicion, which puzzled Maeve.
"I... have a few friends," Roger replied with a smile, propping his chin on his hand.
Despite so tension with the Boys, they were perfect tools for this operation. Given a target and told it would severely hurt Vought, they worked tirelessly. Vought's current predicant was largely thanks to their efforts.
Without them, Roger wouldn't have achieved much beyond brute force.
"You have friends outside?" Maeve asked in surprise.
Roger shrugged. "Just t them. I wouldn't call them friends, more like partners with a common goal."
"I see..."
"Did Madelyn question you about Translucent?" Roger asked Maeve suddenly.
Maeve ate another chip. "Yes, she asked about Deep too. She wanted to know if we leaked Translucent's death, but we had an event that day with company caras following us, so we were quickly cleared of suspicion."
Seeing Roger focused on the TV, Maeve asked, "Who's your next target? Another mber of the Seven or... yourself?"
"What?" Roger blinked, then realized she ant blackmail material. "No, of course not."
Using public opinion to tarnish Vought's reputation hinged largely on Holander. Vought and Holander were intertwined, and Vought knew all of Holander's secrets.
If Roger ever fully turned against the company, they wouldn't hesitate to reveal everything about him.
This was Holander's biggest fear: losing his fans and his spotlight. If Roger were truly Holander, Vought's actions would drive him insane, potentially leading to indiscriminate violence. This was sothing Vought might actually want to see.
Foreseeing this, Roger had to prepare. He needed a scapegoat to pin everything on.
Finding a suitable scapegoat was difficult. Maeve and Tek Knight easily believed the split personality story because Holander was unique.
He was the most powerful superhuman, Vought's perfect experint.
No one else had all of Holander's abilities: strength, speed, flight, laser vision, X-ray vision, invulnerable skin... all combined to create Holander. There was no second Holander, making it hard to find a double.
Using the split personality excuse or claiming mind transfer abilities to justify his actions wouldn't work.
Split personality seed plausible but lacked proof. Those familiar with Holander might believe it, but strangers wouldn't.
Mind transfer was also problematic. Not only could Roger not do it, but even if he could, people would fear and shun him, not wanting soone who could take over their body and powers nearby.
Therefore, a scapegoat was crucial.
Buzz, Buzz,
As Roger and Maeve talked, his phone vibrated. Kimiko, engrossed in her studies, looked up at him. Roger patted her head, telling her to continue, then answered Maeve's questioning look.
"It's Deep."
"Is he trying to introduce you to his seafood friends again?"
"You shouldn't say that in front of him. He's fragile..." Roger said helplessly, answering Deep's call.
"Hello?"
"Holander! Help ! I'm in trouble! What should I do?" Deep's panicked voice ca through the phone.
Frowning slightly, Roger asked, "Calm down. Tell slowly. What's going on? Has sothing been exposed?"
Roger hadn't targeted the Seven yet, but reporters had fabricated various rumors about them. So rumors accidentally hit the mark.
If it were just rumors, Vought's PR would handle it, so Deep's panic indicated sothing more serious had been exposed, with concrete evidence.
Sure enough, Deep, still frantic, said, "It's Starlight! She exposed ! She's gone mad!!"
"...Maeve, change the channel," Roger said decisively, switching from a regular news channel to a superhero interview channel.
As soon as they switched, they saw Starlight in an interview room, revealing she had been harassed.
Though she hadn't nad nas yet, coincidentally, there was a rumor about Deep's misconduct circulating.
Putting this together with Starlight's resolute deanor on TV, Roger felt a headache coming on.
...
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