Chapter 221: Scream Loudly!

That night, the Vought Group Tower was brightly lit.

Not only was the crisis public relations department working frantically, but all the Vought Group's board members were also mobilized. They were reaching out to leaders of various factions for help or making promises they would never have agreed to before, all in an effort to buy time.

Meanwhile, Stan was busy trying to obtain information on Black Adam from the Department of Defense.

When he finally managed to get partial surveillance footage of the battle between Black Adam and Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher, he was shocked.

No matter how he looked at it, Black Adam was not someone to mess with.

In fact, Black Adam's fighting style was quite similar to that of Homelander; however, with his powers derived from six ancient Egyptian gods, his attributes were different. The key issue was the battle scene between him and Doctor Fate, which led Vought's combat assessment team to give a less-than-optimistic evaluation.

"Report! If Homelander were to face Black Adam one-on-one, multiple simulations indicate that our chances of winning would not exceed 40%." The subordinate dared not mention that even this 40% was overly optimistic and a result of carefully worded estimates.

But Stan Edgar's face showed a strange smile.

This is their limitation. Those in lower positions always think that winning is a must.

However, behind closed doors, Vought's board members had another thought: What if Homelander and his team got taken out? That would work too! Didn’t they say Homelander and his team aren't real heroes? If they all face off against that big bad villain for the sake of real justice, could anyone still claim they aren't true heroes? Even if they die doing it!

Homelander's death might be a significant loss for Vought Group, but it wouldn’t cripple them. As long as Compound V exists, Vought can continue to mass-produce superhumans indefinitely.

The loss would be temporary; the profits, however, would be constant.

Of course, Stan would never voice such a dark thought.

After all, Homelander has super hearing, akin to "super ears." If they provoked him, that lunatic might kill all the board representatives, which wouldn’t be worth it.

At this moment, a secretary suddenly hurried over and whispered something into Stan's ear.

Stan's face darkened. "At a time like this? Those bastards..."

The secretary nervously asked, "Should we stop them?"

"They’re about to go into battle. They need to release some pressure. Let them be."

Meanwhile, in the luxurious hall on the top floor of the tower, which also serves as the common area for The Seven.

The floor-to-ceiling glass windows here originally offered a beautiful view of New York at night, but now they were covered by curtains controlled by an intelligent system.

On the soft and comfortable sofas sat several members of The Seven.

Homelander stood between two sofas, with The Deep on his left and Black Noir on his right.

At this moment, Homelander was far from the noble and righteous image he projected on TV. His eyes were full of malice and cruelty. Standing on a few steps above the ground, arms crossed, he arrogantly gazed down at a wavy-haired blonde woman in a white outfit standing in the center of the room.

"So, you're Starlight?" Homelander raised his chin slightly.

"Yes, that's me." Starlight was also a superhuman with the power to manipulate electricity and light. Unlike the others, she had made her way up through auditions.

"You know about Vought's little troubles recently. However, with me, Homelander, leading the charge, Black Adam is just a waste who can be defeated in one blow." Homelander indeed had the capital to be so domineering and arrogant; his ability to fly alone made most superhumans destined to look up to him their entire lives.

"I believe you. I do!" Fearing she'd be kicked out of The Seven, Starlight quickly nodded.

Homelander's smile slowly widened. That grin sent a chill down her spine. His blue eyes were full of malevolence and deceit, and his slicked-back blonde hair made him look like a devil tempting a mortal: "Good. The Butcher has left The Seven, and we just happen to need a replacement. Now is the time to show your sincerity."

"Sincerity?" Starlight was momentarily stunned and then had a bad feeling. She still sincerely asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Oh, nothing. Just..." The Deep lecherously pulled down his zipper.

Starlight was shocked; she could hardly believe her eyes.

Is this what the superhero team, The Seven, is like?

Is this the true nature of Homelander, who wears the stars and stripes?

Do female heroes have to sacrifice this to join a so-called "justice" organization?

Is The Seven truly an organization that enforces justice?

Or are all those negative rumors about them outside completely true?

But this is a request from Homelander, the leader of The Seven. If I refuse him, does that mean all my efforts so far will have been for nothing?

...

There is something in this world called "sunk cost." The more you invest, the harder it is to give up. It’s like a gacha game where you’ve almost reached the pity pull but run out of resources. Many people at this point choose to grit their teeth and continue spending, rather than letting their prior investment go to waste.

Starlight found herself in just such an awkward, painful, and desperate situation.

She hesitated, while the eyes of the three male antiheroes were fixed sharply on her, as if countless small knives were slicing at her neck.

She was in excruciating pain, on the verge of collapse. She felt that if they continued staring at her, she would succumb.

She could even feel her knees growing weak.

Just then, Homelander sensed something. He turned his head, his eyes sharp: "Damn it! There's a rat in the building!?"

"What is it?" The Deep and Black Noir asked simultaneously.

"You guys carry on; I’ll check it out." Homelander's body suddenly turned into a streak of blue light.

At this moment, in an archive room on the 18th floor of the building, Black Widow, in disguise, had successfully infiltrated and hacked into a computer, rapidly downloading classified documents about Compound V.

Everything was going smoothly. She had hacked into the surveillance system and avoided the guards' line of sight.

However, when the document was half downloaded, she suddenly realized someone was watching her from behind.

Huh!?

Black Widow turned around sharply, her usually cold and indifferent gaze now locking onto another. But as that gaze moved downward to her chest, it turned not only heated but also manically evil.

She wasn't unfamiliar with this feeling—every man who lusted after her body had looked at her like this.

She flashed a professional smile. "This is a misunderstanding, John..."

Unexpectedly, Homelander wasn't buying it at all. His hands moved like lightning, grabbing both of her wrists.

Too fast!

Homelander's movements were completely beyond her reflexes as a mortal.

"No misunderstanding, Miss Spy!" Homelander's smile was full of clear hostility.

"I am..." Black Widow seemed to want to explain, but in reality, she suddenly exerted force at her waist, attempting to use her signature "deadly scissor kick" to subdue him.

Unfortunately... this move was highly effective against ordinary people.

However, her absolute strength was worlds apart from Homelander’s. The legs wrapped around his neck seemed more like flirting than a combat maneuver.

"Oh! Miss Spy, are you this eager? Well, don't mind if I do." Homelander shamelessly pressed down on Black Widow's wrists with one hand while his other hand tore off a large section of her clothes with a ripping sound.

Black Widow knew she was done for. Her only hope was the listening device she carried.

But the next second, with two "pew pew" sounds, laser beams shot from Homelander's eyes, destroying all her hidden listening devices.

Seeing her impending doom, Black Widow finally couldn't help but play her trump card.

She screamed loudly, "Thor! Superman! Batman! Kratos! Somebody save me—!"

It's funny; she never intended for it to work. Shouting this was purely to distract Homelander, hoping to seize a chance to counterattack.

Yet, at that moment, a light shone behind the two of them.

(End of chapter)