King

"Ashley, I want to hold a press conference. Help me arrange it."

Azu stood up and smiled. "Also, have the Costume Team come up. I have time now."

"And plenty of it."

Ashley looked baffled. "Homelander, I don't think now is the time for a press conference. The legal team—"

"Do as I say, dear." Azu's smile was brilliant, but there was not a trace of warmth in his eyes.

After Ashley left for a while, the Costume Team arrived.

After introducing themselves, the team leader cleared his throat. "Esteemed Homelander, we have designed several costume concepts. We hope you'll like them."

Azu nodded. "Show me."

The team leader gestured.

A costume appeared on the command center screen, predominantly silver-white, with feather patterns and a golden cape.

"The first concept: Guardian Angel."

"White represents purity and symbolizes peace—"

Before the team leader could finish, Azu waved a hand. "Next."

The team leader looked somewhat embarrassed, because he had designed that costume.

He had put it first in hopes of winning Azu's favor, only for Azu to reject it before he could even finish.

He could only sit down and look toward a female designer.

The woman stood up, tapped the tablet in her hand, and displayed an image on the screen.

This costume was broadly similar to what Azu was currently wearing.

Blue was still the dominant color, but it boldly discarded several of the original accent colors, retaining only red as decoration.

On the chest was an abstract pattern that looked somewhat like the letter "P."

The arms featured red flame patterns, with part of the flames extending outward in three dimensions and taking the shape of sharp blades.

"This is?" Azu was quite interested when he saw the costume.

"Flame Guardian."

The female designer explained, "Flames symbolize your passion, strength, justice, and sense of mission."

"The flame concept extending along both sides of the arms uses a hardened design and blade-like appearance to display your sharpness, while also implying your spirit of never compromising with evil."

"The chest pattern is an abstraction of the letter P, which is also the first letter of the word 'protection.'"

"That concludes my design concept, sir."

Azu gave a slight nod. "Not bad. Next."

At that moment, a white designer stood up.

He presented a black costume that boldly used golden lines as decoration.

Those golden lines resembled lightning, full of power, while cleverly emphasizing the wearer's athletic physique.

Azu looked at the designer.

The designer immediately said with some excitement, "Esteemed Homelander, please allow me to introduce it."

"Night Lightning!"

"I believe that in this chaotic, evil, sin-filled world, you are the most dazzling, brightest bolt of lightning!"

"The world is pitch-black, and you are the beam of light that tears through chaos and illuminates it!"

"You are the lightning of the night, the final salvation!"

Azu folded his arms across his chest without giving any reaction. "Continue."

After that, the Costume Team displayed several more costumes. One was even green, and the sight of it made Azu's face turn green.

Finally.

Azu said, "I like both Flame Guardian and Night Lightning."

"Have them made."

"However, the letter on the chest of the Flame Guardian set needs to be changed."

The costume designer immediately asked, "Homelander, how would you like it changed?"

"Not P. K!" Azu smiled. "Kiing's K!"

Two hours later.

Azu arrived outside the press conference venue. Just as he was about to enter, he suddenly stopped, then smiled faintly.

At that moment, someone behind him said, "Please wait, Homelander."

Azu turned around and saw Vought's Black CEO, Edgar.

Scanning the surroundings again, he spotted Translucent.

Edgar said gravely, "Can I talk to you?"

Azu glanced at a nearby clock. "You have three minutes."

Edgar looked into the venue. "What do you plan to announce?"

Azu asked in return, "Do I need to report to you?"

Edgar gave a wry smile. "You don't have to report to me, but I can offer some advice."

"Perhaps you don't know that you, and Vought, are currently at the center of public attention."

"If we make one wrong move, we'll be blown into the sky, maybe even into outer space."

Azu spread his hands. "Then I can definitely fly back."

Edgar rubbed his face. "I'll be blunt, Homelander. I hope you cancel this press conference."

"It would be better if we did nothing right now."

"Otherwise, no matter what we do or say—"

"—it will become ammunition for our enemies. They'll use everything to attack us."

Azu patted the CEO on the shoulder. "And I'll crush every enemy."

"Don't worry, my friend."

"Leave everything to me."

"Maybe you should go up to the eighty-eighth floor and make yourself some coffee. Have Angelina brew you a cup. She's very good at it."

After patting him twice more, Azu walked into the venue.

Edgar said nothing and made no attempt to stop him. He simply watched for a while, then turned and left.

The moment Azu entered the venue, countless camera flashes lit up before his eyes.

He calmly walked toward the stage, wearing a perfect smile as he stepped into position amid the flashes.

Azu raised both hands in a pressing-down gesture, and only then did the flashes stop.

He picked up the microphone, tested it, then said, "I bet you people are about to run yourselves ragged."

"Because what I'm about to say will give you a full three days' worth of news."

Laughter rang through the venue.

Then a reporter asked, "Homelander, what do you want to tell us? What do you want to tell the world?"

Azu looked around, then asked, "Is this live?"

"Yes, Homelander. We're broadcasting live."

Azu nodded, faced the cameras, and smiled. "I'm sure everyone has already seen this morning's news."

"It seems our country's Security Bureau is very worried that my team and I will cause unnecessary damage to New York's buildings."

"I can understand their feelings, and to accommodate those feelings, I hereby announce—"

"For the coming period of time, The Seven will suspend all activities."

"Yes."

"From this very second onward."

"The Seven will conduct no rescues and no activities."

"If you run into trouble, everyone, please seek help from the police officers."

"That is all I wanted to say."

He winked at the cameras and left the venue with a smile.

Outside the venue.

Ashley looked as if she had been hit by a petrification spell, standing there dumbfounded.

After a moment, she viciously yanked at her own hair. "I knew it."

"I knew nothing good would happen if he took the initiative to call a press conference!"

"What is he doing?"

"Throwing a childish tantrum?"

"Or declaring war on the Security Bureau?"

At that moment, Ashley's phone rang, but she had no mood to answer it.

The surging barrage of reporters' questions forced her to walk into the venue with gritted teeth.