Starting in The Boys to Become the Ultimate Lifeform.

211. Chapter 211: Risk Always Coexists with Benefit

"Risk always coexists with benefit." Alastair elegantly raised his wine glass, and after making a toasting gesture, he downed the soda inside in one gulp.

However, the next second, his head, along with his body, was directly crushed by an invisible strength, like a watermelon under a hydraulic press. With a bang, viscous blood, mixed with tiny bone fragments, splattered everywhere – on the clean floor, the wall, the dining table, and Stan Edgar's suit and cheek.

"Shit!" Seeing this, even Stan Edgar, who usually didn't curse, couldn't help but let out an expletive.

His gaze subconsciously turned towards the room door behind Alastair's seat, which was slowly being pushed open.

He saw a figure wearing a golden robe, hands hidden in her sleeves, slowly walking out of the room. She wore a pale gold mask, with only two small holes for the eyes. The rest was covered in intricate white patterns. The moment she appeared, she exuded a strong sense of oppression and mystery.

But Stan Edgar, who was used to big scenes, merely wiped away the bloodstain on his face and said in a deep voice, "Killing him will cause a lot of trouble, potentially implicating me, and even Vought International."

"Fox, please clean up the bloodstain here. Don't ruin our guest's appetite." Cindy's voice revealed her gender.

The Fox she mentioned was Alastair's old butler before his death. It seemed the old butler had found a new employer.

"Alastair truly was an arrogant fool. He didn't even know his own Church of the Collective had been secretly taken over by someone else." Stan Edgar said with a grim face.

However, judging by the old butler's hands, trembling uncontrollably from fear, one could guess that the other party must have used violent means to take over the Church of the Collective.

"Mr. Stan Edgar, you might not know me, but I am very familiar with you. The President of Vought International, the mastermind behind all the evil."

The pair of eyes beneath the mask were filled with killing intent, wishing they could crush Stan Edgar to death on the spot.

"...You're a Supe who escaped from Sage Grove?" Although it was a question, Stan Edgar's tone was quite certain. Based on the other party's gaze, the superpower just displayed, and the words spoken, he quickly reached a conclusion.

"You're very smart." Cindy reached out and took off her mask. "That's right, I am one of the experimental subjects of Compound V, Cindy. You should know why I called you here."

"To get rid of Stormfront?"

Stan Edgar's lips curled slightly upwards.

He knew very well that Stormfront, as the administrator of Sage Grove, used management means that could almost be described as inhumane. Since the other party wanted to join The Seven, their purpose was definitely revenge.

Cindy's purpose completely aligned with his plan to counterbalance Stormfront. It was like getting a pillow when you're sleepy. However, the only thing that made him wary was her uncontrollable style of doing things. She was like a second Stormfront, even more reckless than Stormfront.

Seeing the other party remain silent, Stan Edgar continued, "What benefit do I get from letting you join The Seven? After all, putting a bomb that could explode at any moment into the company... I worry that you might give me a painful lesson at some point."

"How about this, let me think about it. I'll give you a reply tonight."

Saying this, Stan Edgar got up and looked at the butler beside him. "Excuse me, where is the washroom?"

"Please follow me." The butler Fox put down the mop in his hand and personally led the way for Stan Edgar.

Five minutes later, Stan Edgar, having taken off his coat, calmly walked out of the washroom. At this moment, he was wiping his hands with tissue paper. "Can I leave now?" Stan Edgar asked.

Cindy looked at Stan Edgar, remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

Stan Edgar walked out of the villa and, escorted by guard personnel, got into the car. Expressionless, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and made a phone call.

After the call ended, he closed his eyes and waved his hand, signaling the driver to start the car.

Just two minutes after the car started, the villa behind it collapsed with a crash. Amidst the rumbling, a plume of thick smoke rose, occasionally illuminated by red laser. Two faint figures moved rapidly through the ruins. Facing the sudden commotion, Stan Edgar's eyelid twitched slightly, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

...

"Emergency broadcast. Just yesterday evening, the Church of the Collective's gathering center was attacked by an unknown Super Terrorist, resulting in sixteen deaths with no survivors so far. Among the deceased was Alastair, the leader of the Church of the Collective, who unfortunately passed away. The cause of the incident is currently unknown. We will continue to monitor this shocking attack incident..."

Inside a villa in the New York Suburbs, Xia Shang, who had just finished breakfast, sat in front of the television and, as usual, turned on the news channel.

Among all the miscellaneous news, only one item caught his attention.

Church of the Collective?

Xia Shang had some impression of this organization. Not long ago, they had sent someone to discuss cooperation with him. He didn't expect them to be destroyed so quickly.

There weren't many forces capable of easily destroying the Church of the Collective.

Although Billy and the others had Starlight joining them, with Starlight's personality and strength, they weren't enough to eradicate the Church of the Collective.

Looking at it this way, the ones who eradicated the Church of the Collective were either a law enforcement department under the United States government, or related to Vought. More accurately, it should be related to The Seven. As for whether it was Black Noir, Homelander, or Stormfront who did it, Xia Shang didn't know. He was currently only focused on whether Doppelganger's operation had begun.

Today, Vought was not only holding a promotional conference for their movie but also announcing A-Train's death and the news of veteran hero Lamplighter joining The Seven at the meeting. However, Ashley Barrett was sufficient to handle these matters. Xia Shang didn't like doing everything himself; that wasn't his personality.

He waited like this until noon, when the panel finally displayed a prompt for ability fusion information.

[Super Strength is fusing, current progress 1%]

"Well done." After seeing the prompt information on the panel, Xia Shang praised Doppelganger with satisfaction. Although the guy didn't look like much, he was unexpectedly reliable at getting things done. No wonder Madelyn Stillwell entrusted him with some important missions.

Beep beep beep!! The mobile phone on the coffee table suddenly rang. Xia Shang picked it up and saw it was Hughie calling. It had been a long time since the guy contacted him. He wondered what Hughie wanted him to do this time by calling.

"It's me."

"Did you see the news about the Church of the Collective being attacked? We were hoping you could help us gather some information about the Church of the Collective."

(end of chapter)