Conquering the Multiverse Starting with the Black Robe

The "Villain" incident caused quite a stir, shattering the undefeated myth of the seven-man team. Edgar personally gave the order to find the Invisible Man's whereabouts.

Waterta, Crime Analysis Department.

Although it was nearly midnight, the place was still brightly lit.

The office staff were bustling about, the rapid tapping of keyboards and the occasional chatter making the place resemble a noisy vegetable market.

The air was filled with the strong aroma of coffee, and everyone's face was etched with fatigue.

Project leader Annika sat at her desk, a can of Red Bull between her teeth, looking down at a stack of reports.

She had a splitting headache and was completely exhausted, working only by sheer willpower.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open forcefully, startling Annika so much that she dropped her drink can, spilling liquid all over the documents in her hands.

She was furious and was about to explode on the spot.

Looking up, I saw a white man wearing a cloak embroidered with stars and stripes swaggering in. All the noise stopped abruptly, leaving only the clatter of his boots hitting the ground.

Annika plopped back down, pretending to be busy, but out of the corner of her eye she saw the person walking towards her with an air of accusation, and she felt a surge of frustration.

She steeled herself and spun her chair, her eyes meeting Homelander's as she flashed a "surprised" smile. "Homelander! Good evening, sir. Would you like a Red Bull?"

Despite her efforts to remain calm, the woman's voice was still somewhat strained.

Having just finished getting some fresh air, the man from the motherland felt much lighter, but the lingering resentment in his eyes hadn't completely dissipated.

He glanced at the employees who were all silent in the room, and finally fixed his gaze on the woman next to him.

"Have you found the Invisible Man?" he asked, straightening his back and putting his hands behind his back.

Annika's heart skipped a beat, and she carefully chose her words, "Not yet, sir. However, we have already dispatched all our security personnel and, in conjunction with the police, mobilized satellite access for a full-scale search, so..."

"The person with the toughest skin in the world, let's call him that for now," Homelander interrupted her. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone present heard him clearly. "A member of the Seven, a member of America's most powerful superhuman team, and yet he's been taken hostage by a terrorist who popped out of some rat hole. It's utterly ridiculous."

When she saw the man's gaze shift towards her, Annika instinctively leaned back.

"Do you think he's in danger?" Homelander asked.

"Uh..." Annika didn't know how to answer.

"Do you even know?"

A bead of sweat appeared on Annika's forehead. She dared not speak carelessly. "Perhaps I should consult Miss Steviell first?"

"No, no, baby." The motherland pressed down on her hand that was reaching for the landline receiver, and said, word by word, "You don't need to ask her. Just tell me that she's been too tired lately and wants her to rest for a while."

"Um... I'm not sure if I can say it..."

"You…" Homelander's eye twitched slightly, "What's your name?"

"Annika, sir..." Annika was almost in tears.

"Annika," Homelander repeated, "what a beautiful name."

He bent down, leaning closer. "Listen, Annika. I am Homelander. You all know me, no one doesn't love me, I am the symbol of the American people."

"So, I'll do whatever I want."

"Okay?"

After saying that, he forced out a breathtaking smile.

Annika's lips trembled slightly. She lowered her head, not daring to meet his gaze, afraid that a destructive ray would shoot out from those blue eyes at any moment.

Just as she was at a loss, a pop-up notification suddenly appeared on the computer screen next to her.

"What's that?" Homelander's smile faded, his gaze drawn to the particularly eye-catching notice, and he pointed and asked.

Annika rushed to the keyboard, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"It's a distress message from Knight Tyk." She turned her head, her voice filled with surprise. "He's in trouble."

"I'm not so old that my eyesight is failing. Open the attached video file," Homelander commanded, turning her face back towards him.

Time rewinds to the other side of the clock, one minute earlier.

While Rean threatened the Knights of Tyk, Elijah, standing to the side, lowered his eyes and secretly moved his fingers, silently touching the control sensor area hidden under the tray, rubbing it at a specific frequency.

Five seconds later, a distress message that went unnoticed by anyone was sent out.

Robert glanced at the butler again, and only after receiving confirmation from his most trusted man via coded signal did he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

His ability is superhuman perception, and his ability to understand people's psychology is more accurate than a lie detector. This not only gives him extremely strong reasoning ability, but also makes him extremely good at disguising himself—which is why he immediately sensed something was wrong from Rean's tone.

Therefore, even though they were sitting face to face, his little movements didn't catch Rean's attention. Rean just thought he was resignedly sighing.

"Alright, I agree to cooperate with you." The Knight of Tek slumped back on the sofa, making his concession.

"There's an old saying in my hometown, 'A wise man submits to circumstances,' and you've made a wise choice," Rean said with a slight smile.

"You've already put it this way, it seems I have no room to refuse," Robert sighed, half indifference and half in helplessness.

"Facing death, letting go of pride isn't that hard, is it?"

Knight Tyk remained noncommittal, adjusting his posture as if trying to regain some dignity as the host. "Well then, let's talk about the details."

"How much money do you want? How can I give it to you?"

"One hundred million dollars. How about Bitcoin?" Rean asked, sticking to his initial idea. In his previous life, he had seen a lot of hype about this stuff online, claiming it was untraceable and extremely secure.

"One hundred million? That's no small sum. Using cryptocurrency to transfer money is incredibly unprofessional."

I don't mean to mock you, but transferring large sums of Bitcoin will leave a trace on the blockchain, and I don't have much of it on hand. I'm a traditional American and prefer to keep tangible cash in the bank.

"So how much cash flow do you have available right now?" Rean frowned.

Tek Knight laughed again, looking at the young man in front of him as if he were an amateur. "It's a lot, but I can't transfer the money to you. The IRS is much more difficult to deal with than the FBI, especially for someone like me. As soon as there is any abnormality in the account, an agent there will immediately see the bill information."

Rean raised an eyebrow; he truly knew nothing about this. "Then what do you suggest?"

Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Knight Tyk smiled more. "Simple. I can use several offshore tax-avoidance accounts under my name to inject funds under the guise of 'angel investment' or 'private fund investment'."

I'll help you set up a nominal personal fund account, so even if the tax authorities search it, they won't find anything. They'll just be helpless, because it's a legal transaction.

Rean glanced at Hughie, who spread his hands innocently and said, "Don't count on me for this. I'm not a bank employee. The biggest sum of money I've ever handled was the hush money Walter gave me."

He shifted his gaze back and asked, "How long will this take?"

"I have some connections, so we can skip the complicated approval process, but those cross-border signatures take time to process... I think it will take about three days?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Rean and noticed the latter's growing impatience. He quickly changed his words, saying, "If handled properly, it can be done in a day, but I'll have to do it myself."

In reality, it certainly wouldn't take that long; if he wanted, he could finish the matter in a few hours.

Robert glanced at his watch, a hint of anxiety in his eyes. "After all, to launder money like it's nothing, you have to be doing something shady."

Seeing Rean remain silent, Hughie finally offered his opinion, saying weakly, "He's right. If we transfer the money directly, the bank might lock the IP address and freeze the funds for unknown purposes."

Rean glared at him. "Of course I thought of that!"

"I can't wait that long. Why don't you just write me a check? The tax bureau likes to deduct taxes, so let them do it," Rean suggested. After all, it's not his own money being spent, so why should he feel bad about it?

"This..." Robert paused for a moment, feeling sweat starting to break out on his back again. He had been deliberately trying to make things complicated, but he hadn't expected the other person to realize it so quickly.

"You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin..."

Rean looked impatient. He had already realized that Robert was stalling for time and was preparing to teach him a lesson when suddenly, as if he had sensed something, his previously nonchalant expression vanished instantly, and he stood up abruptly.

boom!--

The enormous sonic boom shattered all the glass windows in the living room instantly. A streak of red and blue light descended from the sky like a falling meteorite, violently smashing the ceiling, sending rubble and dust flying down.

Amidst the billowing dust, a bright red cloak fluttered in the wind.

Everyone was thrown to the ground by the shockwave. Robert was overjoyed and, disregarding everything else, scrambled to hide behind the figure standing in the center of the field, clinging to his leg as if he had found a safe haven.

"Homelander! You've finally arrived!"

The man, head held high and chest puffed out, surveyed the ravaged living room before finally settling on the boy who stood firmly in place.

Rean withdrew the energy field covering his body, his gaze becoming more solemn than ever before, and he murmured:

"Homelanders..."