Kick Out That Green-Clad Clown

Madelyn felt a chill run down her spine.

Stared at by those eyes gathering terrifying energy, she felt as if she were facing a merciless, horrifying monster. A suffocating sensation gripped her, and every cell in her body screamed of extreme danger.

"Calm down, calm down."

She recoiled in terror and raised her hands, forcing out an ugly smile as her trembling voice changed the subject.

"It seems I don't need to ask how you got out of that place."

The familiar sight immediately reminded her of Homelander, who would light up his Laser Eyes and kill people at the slightest disagreement. Homelander had simply never shown her such a terrifying side before.

Now she understood that feeling too. She understood why others feared Homelander so deeply.

But the company had examined his cells when he was born. He had been an ordinary person, and his lifespan was shortened. His cells had extremely weak vitality and died quickly after leaving his body. The company had deemed him a failure who had not inherited Homelander's abilities.

So how did he have them now?

"You seem to really hate and reject Homelander?"

Seeing him extinguish his Laser Eyes and sit farther away, Madelyn swallowed and cautiously asked.

She wanted to know whether the young man before her already knew his identity.

"Superheroes seem to be highly sought after out there.

"I want to join The Seven."

Ignoring her question, Ron stood, straightened his clothes, and said coldly, as if he simply wanted to become a superhero.

"The Seven? If the public finds out we hired an eight-year-old child to do dangerous superhero work,

"the company will be in serious trouble."

Madelyn made a joke and gave a dry laugh, trying to turn him down tactfully.

She did not want Ron and Homelander to meet.

If Homelander discovered that she had deceived him and concealed things that were extremely important to him, that savage, man-eating lion would not be so kind to her, his animal trainer.

Screech!

"This isn't a request."

Laser Eyes instantly sliced through the heavy desk not far from them. Items scattered across the floor as he looked at Madelyn with glowing crimson eyes.

Grabbing her by the collar, he effortlessly yanked her from the sofa like a weightless rag doll and pulled her before him. His voice was like a cold wind blowing from Antarctica as he slowly "reminded" her.

"Homelander and I do have one thing in common.

"I never hesitate to use my power to get what I want.

"Even if some people have to die for it!"

"Fine, fine, you can join The Seven!"

Their eyes met at point-blank range. Crimson filled her vision, and beneath the intense threat of death, Madelyn was so frightened she could barely breathe. She hurriedly nodded and yielded.

Seeing Ron's forceful, capricious, and unreadable nature, she immediately understood that nothing else mattered for now. First, she had to stabilize Ron.

Otherwise, no one knew what he might do.

Damn it, another Homelander.

And a younger, more terrifying Homelander whose thoughts were even harder to grasp!

She thought in panic. This was simply awful. There was another giant unstable bomb on Earth.

"I can immediately find an excuse to kick out Starlight, who just joined The Seven."

"No, keep that Starlight."

Walking to the window, Ron gazed over the bustling nightscape outside and looked down at the skyscrapers below.

"Find someone else to kick out."

Starlight was the heroine of the story. Without her, things would be far less entertaining.

"Someone else? Every member of The Seven was selected after the company executives discussed and deliberated over it again and again."

Walking to his side, Madelyn softened her voice as much as possible and carefully tried to persuade him.

"Who do you want to kick out?"

"That green-clad clown."

He looked outside with a blank expression and said mockingly.

"Did your Vought executives add him because his ability to talk to fish lets him perform ocean shows at the company's annual meeting?

"Or because some people like eating his Deep caviar?"

The Seven were modeled after DC's Justice League. Aquaman's presence and usefulness in the Justice League were already low enough.

Deep, this severely downgraded version of Aquaman, was even more useless.

His greatest moment was making a grand entrance and sexually exploiting Starlight. The rest of the time, he was practically a clown.

"Deep? He's very popular with environmentalists, especially marine environmentalists. There are almost no other heroes who can replace him in that regard."

Everyone knew how weak Deep was.

But Vought International prioritized popularity. Regardless of whether an ability was powerful, there were no supervillains in this world, so superheroes did not need particularly strong abilities.

"Isn't the whole line of merchandise your company produces just environmentally polluting trash in the eyes of environmentalists? Who would buy it?"

Ron raised an eyebrow and looked at her as if she were an idiot.

Vought International's main business, aside from the fees it collected for leasing heroes to cities to assist with public security, was selling all kinds of superhero merchandise.

For a commercial company, wasn't popularity supposed to be monetized?

What use was popularity that could not be monetized?

"??"

With an odd expression, Madelyn seemed to have discovered a Blindspot and fell into deep thought.

Deep's merchandise had always sold well. Was it because he was a heavily promoted member of The Seven, or because environmentalists truly adored him?

Everything that happened today felt as beautiful as a dream to Starlight.

From taking part in the auditions, to being selected, to attending the press conference announcing her entry into The Seven, and now being led by one of her childhood idols, Deep, into The Seven's command center.

The massive doors slowly opened. The solemn, majestic hall had pillars and a dome like a temple, while screens on one wall displayed all manner of high-tech data.

It carried both an epic grandeur and a sense of advanced technology.

"Wow."

Stepping into the hall of dreams opening itself before her, Starlight's eyes shone as she let out an excited sigh.

Entering here meant she had officially become a member of The Seven.

"Impressive, right?"

"Look at this. We have two satellites in low Earth orbit. From thousands of miles up, they can clearly read the license plates of fleeing vehicles."

Having just become a senior member and attended Starlight's induction into The Seven, Deep acted mature and confident, like the team leader. With his hands behind his back, he introduced the data on the screen beside them to Starlight.

"No crime can escape these two eyes. They've always been powerful tools in our fight against crime."

"Oh, this place really is..."

Starlight was a little restrained. She cautiously said that the crime-fighting equipment she had used before was a police scanner she bought online for a little over a hundred dollars. Compared with this place, it was like heaven and earth.

"Yes, you won't need to use that anymore."

Deep shook his head with a light smile.

"Oh, and there's the dining room. You have to see the restaurant prepared especially for us later. They hired top chefs, and perhaps I can recommend some of my favorite dishes for you..."

"That seat over there belongs to him, right?"

Halfway through his sentence, Starlight interrupted with a hint of excitement, cautiously pointing toward it.

Beneath the dome stood an inverted V-shaped conference table, like a pair of angel wings spread wide, yet lined with sharp edges.

At the center of the V was only one chair. Everyone else's seats were arranged on either side, as if they were all subordinates of the person sitting in that chair.

"Uh... yes."

"I bet your room was covered in Homelander posters when you were little."

Who else could sit there but Homelander? At the mention of Homelander, a trace of unease and fear flashed across Deep's face as he forced a smile.

"No, actually, Homelander feels like Jesus or something. He's too sacred, too far above everyone else."

Walking to the end of the room, Starlight looked through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows at the night view outside. Like a slightly nervous girl who had just started college, she murmured to herself.

"Actually, when I was little, I did have a poster of you in my room."