On the forecastle deck of the cargo ship, Natasha raised a bottle of beer and lightly clinked it against Neagley's.
Then both of them took a drink.
The sea breeze swept through their hair, making them look carefree and unrestrained.
"So," Natasha asked curiously, "what are you planning to do with your newly made friend in the future, Neagley?"
She did not believe for a second the polite nonsense exchanged between Neagley and Kingpin.
Kingpin was the emperor of New York's underworld. The fact that he had acted so humble, even personally capturing Purple Man and delivering him over, could not simply be explained by fear of their strength alone.
Natasha could easily analyze the kind of man Kingpin was.
A ruthless and determined overlord.
People like him understood how to judge situations.
When facing those weaker than himself, he would reveal cruelty and terrifying dominance without hesitation.
But when facing soone stronger, he could suppress his violent nature and beco refined and courteous instead.
This ti, it was obviously the latter.
When Natasha and Neagley had suddenly barged in to et him, the strength they displayed had definitely shocked Kingpin. He had undoubtedly already begun investigating the forces and people standing behind them.
Unfortunately for him, he had made a mistake.
Whether it was Natasha or Neagley, neither of them was inferior to that old fox built like a brown bear.
More importantly, behind them stood a mountain so massive that even Kingpin, the ruler of the underground world, could neither compare to it nor truly comprehend it.
As for Neagley herself, Natasha was certain she did not take Kingpin seriously at all.
Perhaps in the past he would have been considered an untouchable figure to her.
But now?
He was nothing more than a minor player who could be wiped out casually whenever she wished.
After all, people should not underestimate Neagley just because she was only the head of the Intelligence Departnt.
Her authority was extraordinarily high.
Setting aside her connections with Reacher, Roscoe, and Karla, the resources and power she personally commanded were already far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
Soone like Pierce alone was already more than Kingpin could handle.
Kingpin's organization might have been large, but compared to Hydra, the gap between them was enormous.
Friends? Natasha suspected Neagley had already started viewing Kingpin as a useful piece on the board.
And sure enough, Neagley's answer proved she was right.
Neagley grinned.
"Of course we keep him around. To us, he's just the trigger button for a bomb. At the right mont, he'll bring us quite a pleasant surprise, Natasha."
"Human hearts need comparison and guidance. With a little proper direction, he can beco the perfect chess piece for us to establish a foothold in New York… and eventually throughout Arica."
"That's no small matter, Neagley."
Natasha brushed aside a loose strand of hair blown by the wind, her beautiful green eyes fixed steadily on her companion.
She instantly understood the hidden aning behind Neagley's words.
"Arica?" Neagley let out a cold laugh after taking another heavy swig of beer. Leaning against the railing, she stared off into the distance beyond the massive ship.
"It's already rotten to the core."
"Wall Street. The corporations. Congress. The powerful families. The vampires."
"Racial discrimination. So-called freedom and democracy."
"Their existence has turned life at the bottom into a living hell."
"What I see are slaughterhouses. The sickles held by those people swing down rcilessly the mont soone at the bottom crosses the line. There's no chance to rise up, only despair and death."
"And even after death, they still won't let the bodies rest peacefully. They'll squeeze out every last bit of remaining value before finally throwing them away."
Neagley spoke with brutal honesty.
"This kind of order…"
She paused briefly, her gaze turning colder.
"After all these years of proof, it never should have existed in the first place."
Whether in the past or now, Neagley could clearly feel that her country was steadily marching toward destruction.
Arica might still stand as the strongest nation in the world on the surface, but sooner or later, the rot inside would tear apart that illusion completely.
But before that day ca, how many people would be cut down and sacrificed along the way?
The higher one stood, the more clearly they could see the truth.
In the past, Neagley had lacked the ability to change anything. But now, she believed she did possess that power. Reacher believed it as well, and so did the others around them.
To all of them, this broken order deserved to be rebuilt from the ground up.
There were too many reasons for the world to have rotted this badly.
Neagley had no interest in slowly fixing it piece by piece.
Destroying it entirely and rebuilding from scratch was simpler and far more direct.
"That's surprisingly inspiring," Natasha admitted with a click of her tongue. "Looks like you people have been planning this for quite a while."
She had long suspected that Neagley, Reacher, and the others already had ambitions of their own.
Personally, Natasha did not really mind.
What surprised her was just how enormous those ambitions actually were.
Then, with a strange expression, she asked, "So… have any of you actually asked our dear boss what he thinks about all this?"
Rebuilding an entirely new world order might be possible.
But what about Matthew's own wishes?
Had nobody even thought to ask him?
These subordinates of his were honestly far too motivated.
Natasha felt that if she ever had followers this driven, she would lose sleep from the headaches alone.
"Heh, our boss wouldn't bother with these matters anyway." Neagley shook her head, her expression carrying unmistakable fanaticism.
"The height he stands at and the things he considers are completely different from ours. What he sees is the vast universe beyond this planet."
"He is our leader and our banner."
"We'll clear away every obstacle for him, establish a brand-new order, gather all possible resources together, and lead humanity on Earth into an entirely new era."
"Natasha, this universe is unimaginably vast. So civilizations have existed for billions of years. The three great empires of the galaxy alone are already forces Earth cannot possibly contend against."
"They simply haven't turned their attention toward Earth yet. But if one day they do…"
"And war cos…"
"How are we supposed to resist?"
"We're running out of ti."
Neagley's concerns had never been limited to Arica alone.
Compared to the greater threats waiting out in the universe, Arica itself ant nothing.
Still, she had been born there and raised there. It was her holand.
She did not want the people at the bottom to continue suffering, barely surviving through miserable lives.
If she could change that while also helping gather resources and strengthen their power at the sa ti, then all the better.
As for their dear boss—
he did not need to personally do anything.
All he needed was to continue growing peacefully until the right mont arrived, when they would place a crown upon his head and allow him to quietly stand as a symbol—
the greatest emperor in human history.
Neagley believed that even if Matthew truly ascended such a throne, his personality ant he would still delegate power while enjoying authority.
His ambitions would never stop at rely ruling Earth.
And only soone with that kind of vision, character, and presence was worthy of the loyalty of people like Neagley and Reacher.
"Alright then. Let's work hard together."
Without changing her expression, Natasha clinked her beer bottle against Neagley's again and took another drink while secretly grumbling inwardly.
Truthfully, she agreed with much of what Neagley had said. It was inspiring and strangely persuasive.
But Natasha's own thoughts were sowhat different.
The reason she followed Matthew was because she was grateful to him—
though there was also a tiny part of her feelings that had gradually begun changing into sothing else.
Her thoughts drifted slightly.
If Matthew really did beco so kind of emperor in the future…
wouldn't there also be queens or so massive harem around him?
No. Absolutely not. She couldn't allow her overly ambitious boss to beco completely distracted by beautiful won.
And even if he did beco distracted—
then he should at least be distracted by her.
After all, Matthew was simply too exceptional, too attractive.
Natasha silently thought to herself.
...
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