"What the fuck are you doing?"
After greeting the media, Homelander flew over to the white-clad God on Earth and asked through gritted teeth.
"As you can see, I'm saving people."
The white-clad God on Earth smiled as he spoke.
"Fuck! I'm not fucking blind. I know you're saving people, but you need to understand that some people can be saved, and some people can't!"
Homelander felt a fire of rage burning in his chest.
"So you think I shouldn't save the people on this plane?"
The white-clad God on Earth raised an eyebrow and looked at Homelander as he asked.
"Of course you shouldn't! You shouldn't! You shouldn't!"
Homelander repeated himself angrily three times.
"What if I insist on saving them? What the fuck can you do about it?"
Hearing that, the white-clad God on Earth broke into a sunny smile.
"I..."
As Homelander listened to him, his eyes began to glow red.
"Homelander! The cameras are rolling!"
Queen Maeve looked from Homelander to Free Man and hurriedly spoke up.
"I fucking know! I'll deal with you later!"
Homelander pointed a finger at the white-clad God on Earth's nose and spoke coldly.
"If you want to fight, I'm ready anytime, even now. I could beat the crap out of you with one hand while holding up an island."
The white-clad God on Earth sneered and spoke coldly.
"..."
Homelander's face twisted at that, but in the end, he managed to control himself. He flew in front of the helicopters and put on a sunny smile.
"As you can all see! With Vought, everyone can be saved!"
While the white-clad God on Earth was tied up, Homelander kept playing to the media. He hoped to drown out, as much as possible, the accusations he knew the ignorant people rescued by the white-clad God on Earth would soon hurl at him.
"Homelander, is it true that you raped someone's wife?"
Instead of praise, the reporters greeted Homelander with a string of questions.
"What?"
Homelander was taken aback by the reporter's question.
"Homelander, is it also true that you ambushed the mayor of Barr?"
Another reporter asked, holding out a microphone.
"Huh!?"
This time, Homelander was completely dumbfounded.
"Homelander, is it true that you deliberately crippled people during fights?"
"Homelander, is it true that you like picking on the weak?"
"Homelander, is it true that you discriminate against all ordinary people?"
The reporters fired off question after question before Homelander could react.
"Listen! I don't know where you heard these rumors, but clearly, they're all false! I've always been an honest man."
Homelander's face turned livid as he denied the reporters' claims, even though every word they said was fucking true.
"Please stop asking these ridiculous questions. I'm sure Homelander is an honest man!"
Sweat beaded on Queen Maeve's forehead. She could feel the fury radiating from Homelander beside her. With a grim expression, she spoke to the reporters in a righteous, angry voice.
In truth, Maeve wasn't trying to help Homelander. She was afraid he'd go on a rampage here, and she wanted to save the reporters.
"You heard the lady! Don't make her angry, or I won't be able to stop her."
Hearing Queen Maeve defend him lifted Homelander's spirits. He turned to the reporters and threatened them with a half-joking smile.
"Ha ha... We were just asking..."
The reporters seemed to know exactly where to draw the line. They didn't press him further, but patiently waited for something.
"I know people are always saying that there are no perfect superheroes in this world. But the truth is, there is a perfect superhero in this world. Me!"
Homelander flashed a sunny smile, convinced that he'd addressed the accusations head-on.
"Heh heh..."
The reporters laughed along. They wanted to slap all the hard evidence right in Homelander's face, but they knew it wasn't time yet...
Half an hour later...
The small island, covering three hectares, slowly settled beside the coast. The passengers streamed out of the plane and reached their hands up toward the sky.
Above them, a man in a white bodysuit and a bright red cape floated slowly down through a dazzling blaze of sunlight. The passengers strained to make out his face, even as the sunlight made their eyes sting...
"He's a god! God on Earth!"
One passenger stared at the white figure and murmured.
"Ha ha..."
"Thank you, Free Man! Thank you for saving these passengers!"
Homelander flew toward the stranded passengers on the island, wearing his trademark smile.
"Demon!"
"Murderer!"
"You blood-soaked bastard!"
"You just said you were going to kill me!"
But when Homelander appeared, the cheers he'd imagined never came. Instead, he was met with a chorus of curses.
"We had a deal! I said I'd save all of you. Look, Free Man did save you."
Homelander opened his mouth, trying to explain.
"Bullshit!"
"I heard what you said! You said you were going to kill us!"
"Reporters, Homelander never meant to save us! He was going to kill us!"
A middle-aged woman stepped out from among the passengers, furious. She ignored Homelander's explanation, faced the cameras, and shouted angrily.
"Fuck! Uh, I mean, ma'am, please calm down!"
At the woman's words, Homelander's expression changed. He cared deeply about his image and absolutely wouldn't let it be tarnished.
"Demon! Demon! Demon!"
But the passengers didn't seem interested in hearing him out. Led by a few voices, they joined in to condemn Homelander.
"Fuck!"
Homelander was still doing his best to keep his composure.
"They're crazy! They're a bunch of lunatics. Don't listen to them."
Homelander kept trying to explain himself to the reporters.
"Homelander, please take a look at this video..."
The reporter pointed a camera at Homelander and played a video.
A disheveled, exhausted man with a long beard appeared on screen.
"Yes, Homelander raped my wife! He even got her pregnant! I left the organization years ago and have been looking for a chance to bring Homelander to justice, but got nowhere. The politicians and my superiors all told me to pretend I knew nothing! Fuck! I'm an FBI agent! I've always risked my life for Free Nation, but now my country wants me to stop pursuing a criminal who raped my wife right in front of me?! Is there any justice? Any law?"
The bearded man was Billy Butcher. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like a beast.
"Homelander, listen! I don't give a fuck how strong you are! I believe justice will catch up with you! You fucking son of a bitch!"
Billy Butcher pointed at the camera lens and raised his middle finger.
"And there's this video..."
As the reporter spoke, he played another video.
"He threatened me..."
The man giving a speech in the video was a middle-aged man who'd lost his hair: the mayor of Barr.
"He threatened my whole family!"
"When we didn't obey, he destroyed our plane!"
The mayor spoke with a pained expression.
"Didn't you say the plane had gotten into trouble and Homelander had saved you?"
A reporter asked the mayor.
"No! Homelander didn't save me. Someone else did. Homelander's a beast, a murderer! And the reason I used taxpayers' money to buy a statue of a murderer..."
"I admit I'm guilty! But if I hadn't done it, I would've died..."
The mayor covered his face, his expression pained.
"Then... why are you speaking out now? Aren't you afraid of Homelander?"
The reporter held out a microphone and questioned the mayor.
"I am! I'm terrified! But I believe justice will prevail! Freedom will prevail!"
The mayor shook his head. Of course he was afraid of Homelander—he was fucking terrified. But there was something he feared even more than Homelander.
"Freedom..."
The reporter in the video softly repeated the mayor's words, his tone meaningful.
"And there's this video..."
The reporter standing in front of Homelander spoke and played another video.
"I'm the deputy director of a CIA office. I have enough evidence to prove that Homelander is a killer and a murderer. I'll soon bring him before a military tribunal. Whether they're a superhero or an ordinary person, everyone is protected by the law and subject to its judgment! No one can escape..."
Susan appeared on screen, looking righteous and showing the authority expected of a CIA office director.
"What do you have to say about all this?"
The video ended, but the reporter in front of Homelander was still waiting for an explanation. He pointed the camera at Homelander's face and asked.
"..."
Homelander fell silent. He didn't know what to say.
"Let me make a phone call."
Homelander smiled at the reporter as he spoke.
"Sure..."
The reporter took out his phone and handed it to Homelander.
"Hello! Is that Starlight?"
Yes. In this moment of desperation, the first person Homelander had turned to was Starlight.
"Homelander, look at what the fuck you've done!"
Starlight's furious voice came through the phone.
"Can you make this go away?"
Homelander asked in as gentle a voice as he could manage.
"Come back first! Get ready to stand trial. The company will get you the best lawyer..."
At that moment, Homelander heard the faint sound of a baby coming from Starlight's phone. It was a sound ordinary people would have had trouble hearing, but it jolted every nerve and cell in Homelander's body.
"Go to hell! You cheating bitch! You don't care about me! I don't fucking need you to save me! A lawyer? I don't need a lawyer. I'm Homelander! I'm the strongest! I can do whatever the fuck I want!"
Homelander clutched the phone and roared furiously.
"Homelander, listen, that wasn't me..."
Starlight hadn't finished speaking when Homelander crushed the phone.
"That was my phone..."
The reporter stared at Homelander, who'd crushed his phone, and spoke up.
"You want me to pay you back for it?! Then I'll pay you back!"
Homelander sneered. The ropes binding the demon had now vanished.
"Bzzzz..."
Homelander's eyes flared with heat. The next instant, crimson beams slashed across the sky.
The beams pouring from Homelander's eyes unleashed his fury. He was going to destroy and tear apart everything in front of him!
"And you..."
Homelander turned to look at the passengers on the plane. The next instant, his beams tore the island apart.
It was a massacre! Countless people who didn't escape in time were torn apart by the beams from Homelander's eyes!
"I'm the king of the world!"
Homelander roared. Everyone who defied him would die!
"No! You're not..."
Just as Homelander vented his fury, a voice behind him interrupted.
"Huh!?"
Homelander turned around in surprise. He wanted to see who would dare act so cocky in front of him at a time like this.
Then Homelander saw a muscular man in a white bodysuit, with a large F emblazoned on his chest.
"I am..."
The man in white lowered his voice, sneered, and punched Homelander in the face.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by a sonic boom, Homelander plunged straight into the sea.
Unnoticed by Homelander, the reporters clutching their cameras were still broadcasting everything live.
Before you continue