After exchanging knowing glances, the congressmen rose one after another and left the council chamber in small groups, chatting casually as if nothing of consequence had happened.
Moments later, they headed with great enthusiasm to the banquet hall on the top floor, preparing to hold a grand celebration in honor of what they unanimously regarded as a complete victory.
Admittedly, the June 17 Incident had dealt a certain blow to the credibility of the Superhero Council.
But there was no denying one thing—
It had also fully demonstrated the Council's authority.
These days, even insignificant nobodies dared to jump out and attempt blackmail. That alone proved how ignorant they were of reality. A little power, a little noise, and they thought they could overturn the system.
Ridiculous.
Fortunately, this incident provided the Superhero Council with the perfect opportunity to settle similar problems once and for all.
Not only did they have no intention of covering it up, they planned to publicize it extensively.
Only by engraving the name "June 17 Incident" deeply into the collective memory of society could they completely eradicate the dangerous fantasies of those with ulterior motives.
Fear, after all, was the most effective deterrent.
At the same time, this incident served as a stress test—an experiment to probe the public's tolerance and identify how far the Council could go in its next stage of expansion.
The conclusion was clear:
As long as the Super Criminal Alliance exists, the Superhero Council will always appear righteous.
But would the Super Criminal Alliance really be destroyed?
Of course not.
Neither the Superhero Council nor the powerful institutions behind it could allow that alliance to vanish.
Because without villains, who would define justice?
Without criminals, the Council's own actions—its prisons, its labor systems, its coercive authority—would immediately be questioned and labeled for what they truly were.
The Super Criminal Alliance was necessary.
It was a mirror.
A contrast.
A living justification.
And joining it was laughably easy.
There were no thresholds, no trials.
You only had to publicly declare yourself a super criminal—and make a name.
Those who wanted fame, power, or attention but had no stage would naturally drift toward it first. That was why the Alliance always returned, like weeds after a fire—eradicated again and again, yet never truly gone.
As for gaining the Godfather's favor?
As for receiving advanced prosthetic upgrades?
Simple.
Pay.
As long as you had money, Sandra would sell you anything.
The Mishnari Family's weapons stores operated openly in central districts across the country. Their industrial chains stretched through every major city in America.
They weren't even bothering to save face for Congress anymore.
Time passed.
As the bells of the new century rang out, an invisible storm began to sweep through the entire world.
On the surface, everything appeared calm.
But beneath that calm, undercurrents surged violently.
The source of the unrest could be traced back to one unavoidable fact—
The first power rotation of the Superhero Council was approaching.
According to the original agreement, the position of Speaker was supposed to rotate to Homelander.
And whether Homelander was fit to hold that office…
no one was confident.
Under Speaker Xiao's leadership, the Superhero Council had flourished. Affairs were handled with surgical precision, profits maximized, resistance minimized.
The world, at least on the surface, had become more orderly and more prosperous.
In contrast, the Deputy Speaker still felt like an overgrown child.
A weapon.
A hammer.
A thug.
Beyond brute force, few could see anything resembling statesmanship.
And yet, this concern was only the beginning.
Because in recent years, the world itself had begun to change—violently, uncontrollably.
No one knew when it started.
But superpower awakenings began appearing like mushrooms after rain.
In just a few short years, their numbers exploded—multiplying dozens of times over.
Ordinary people awakened overnight.
Old men with white hair.
Children barely able to speak.
Men, women.
Black, white, yellow.
Age, gender, race—none of it mattered.
And the most terrifying part?
These awakenings had nothing to do with Vought.
They were spontaneous.
Uncontrolled.
Unplanned.
This realization sent genuine panic through the executives at Vought, who alone understood the true origins of superhumans.
No matter how desperately they tried to suppress the phenomenon, it was already too late.
Superpowers had broken free like wild horses snapping their reins, spreading unchecked across the globe.
Most of these newly awakened individuals were still weak.
But even so, their physical capabilities were measurably enhanced.
And that was enough.
The Superhero Council was pushed into a corner.
They had no choice but to respond.
First, they raised the threshold for officially becoming a superhero, filtering out those who lacked discipline or control.
Second, they expanded selection and training programs, enforcing strict evaluations to ensure loyalty and quality.
Third—and most importantly—they restructured the system.
Superheroes were divided into combat units and support units, operating in coordinated teams rather than as lone actors.
This reduced risk.
Improved efficiency.
And absorbed some of the growing population pressure.
But it still wasn't enough.
Superhumans continued to increase.
Jobs did not.
Meanwhile, the number of ordinary humans was slowly shrinking.
Tasks became scarcer.
Competition intensified.
Unemployment among superhumans skyrocketed.
And when survival became the issue—
Many made the same choice.
They turned toward the Super Criminal Alliance.
After all, while opportunities within the Superhero Council were tightening, the underground was still wide open.
And the future…
was beginning to demand something more than power.
It demanded a complete personality.
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