One week later.
Ivan personally received Defense Secretary Bob, who had come from afar.
After shaking hands, Ivan led Bob into the conference room. "Welcome to Vought, Mr. Secretary. I heard you came this time because of Ryan."
"As expected of Vought, information travels fast. But this visit isn't only about Ryan."
Bob looked at the handsome young Vought vice president and couldn't help sighing. "This should be our first meeting. I didn't expect President Greevs to be so young. Truly a young talent."
"Thank you. Would you like a cup of coffee, Mr. Secretary?" Ivan walked over to the coffee machine and poured two cups.
"Could I refuse?"
Bob smiled and took the coffee Ivan handed him.
"Looks like Edgar values you highly, otherwise he wouldn't have you negotiate with me."
Value? Maybe. But right now it was more like figuring out how to get rid of him.
Although Ivan thought this, he still pretended to be modest. "That's why I've always respected Mr. Edgar. If he hadn't chosen to promote me back then, I might still be an ordinary security guard under Vought. Of course, being able to open doors for Mr. Bob is also a fine thing."
Even knowing Ivan was joking, Bob couldn't help showing a faint smile.
"Alright, let's get back to the main topic." Bob set down the coffee, his expression gradually becoming serious.
"Regarding the verdict on Ryan's crimes, the court will open the day after tomorrow. Currently there are multiple opinions on the Ryan incident circulating. Some people believe all of this is the kidnappers' fault, that they used Ryan's mother to force him to kill, so Ryan should be found not guilty. But the families of the victims don't think so. After all, it was Ryan who personally killed their wives or husbands."
Being found not guilty was actually possible.
Especially after Butcher's confession video came out, many people on the internet leaned toward the not-guilty theory.
But anyone with feet for a brain knew the U.S. government wouldn't let Vought off so easily. They would definitely take this chance to carve a few slices off Vought and cut out some serious meat.
"I believe the court will deliver the most just verdict." Ivan smiled.
"Of course. They will strictly enforce the letter of the law."
Bob placed both hands in front of his abdomen and said with a smiling face.
As Edgar's "old friend," before coming to Vought he had already spoken with Edgar on the phone and learned of Edgar's determination to protect Ryan.
Because Edgar had to consider Homelander's feelings. If Ryan was really sentenced to five years or longer, Homelander might become even harder to control.
"Because of the frequent superhuman crime incidents recently, the White House has decided to establish a brand-new department, the Office of Superhuman Affairs. We hope to receive Vought's support and assistance." Bob stated the purpose of this visit.
Anything involving superhumans absolutely could not bypass Vought, and Vought held a large group of fanatical fans who held votes. If it blew up, things would get very troublesome.
So he wanted to use the Ryan incident to make Vought compromise.
"Mr. Edgar mentioned it to me. This is a good thing. It can effectively lower the superhuman crime rate. Vought will absolutely give its support. Whatever you need me to help with, just say the word." Ivan acted very enthusiastic.
This negotiation was originally just going through the motions. If there was anything truly important, Edgar wouldn't have handed it to him.
"Besides that, there's also the public security contracts signed between the various state governments across America and Vought that need to be revised.
The students produced by your Godolkin University are priced too high.
The administrators of every state all feel that the annual public security share invested in this is too large and has already caused dissatisfaction among local police departments. So I think a 40% price reduction would be better."
The Godolkin University Bob mentioned was the first superhero university Vought established in 1965, and the only university in the entire United States aimed at teenage superheroes.
Students who ranked high in the university were dispatched by Vought to various cities to handle public security issues.
When Ivan first joined Vought he had once proposed a similar plan to Edgar. Even some of the details were shockingly similar.
Honestly, at the time Edgar thought Ivan was just messing with him, so his expression stayed sour from beginning to end.
Only after confirming that Ivan really didn't know about Godolkin University did he look at him with higher regard.
As for Godolkin University, Ivan only learned about it later. And former members like A-Train, Queen Maeve, The Deep and others had also been students there. Although he still didn't know how The Deep managed to rank first in his class, the university did have a long history.
But compared to Vought's Seven it was far less famous.
Moreover, Godolkin University mainly circulated widely among the teenage group.
Ivan vaguely remembered that in the recent superhero selection tournament there also seemed to be quite a few Godolkin University students participating, but their popularity was generally low, and even fewer made it into the final selection.
However, because of the Ryan incident the teenage superhero selection tournament had also been temporarily suspended.
"Sorry, Mr. Bob, this isn't something I can decide, and a sudden 40% reduction is a bit too much." Ivan shook his head.
"Is 40% a lot? Maybe Vought just isn't working hard enough. If you train a few more qualified candidates you can easily fill the gap caused by this price."
Bob pulled several documents out of his briefcase.
"I came prepared for a prolonged war with Vought this time." At the same time he took out a sandwich and smiled.
The sandwich had been put into his briefcase by Bob's wife when he left home. Bob himself hadn't known about it.
"Looks like Mr. Edgar dumped this hard job on me for a reason." Ivan joked. He hadn't expected that Bob, as the actual Secretary of Defense, would be this easygoing.
In the end, after one hour of negotiation, both sides shook hands satisfied.
"Greevs, you don't act like a young man at all. You should know my bottom line coming here was 30%. I never expected you to cut it straight in half. Edgar will be at ease leaving Vought to you."
"Thank you."
After personally seeing Bob into the car, Ivan prepared to turn back. At that moment he casually caught a glimpse of Butcher hidden in the crowd. It was only for an instant, but Ivan was certain the person under that baseball cap was absolutely Butcher.
On the other side, Butcher hurried back to the car, his brow furrowed into a deep crease. What the hell?
Did Greevs discover him?
Or was it just his own illusion? How could an ordinary person's senses be that sharp?
Buzz buzz buzz!!
The phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
"Mallory. I didn't expect you still remember us poor abandoned bugs. Spit it out. What dirty job are you planning to hand us this time?"
____
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69