Evil Personality, Take Your Position!!!

Vought International possessed vast and bloated film and television resources, and this launch ceremony for their blockbuster superhero film was a direct microcosm of that accumulated power.

Three giant soundstages within the exclusive studio complex had been cleared out to serve as the venue for the ceremony, and the first scene of the day would also be filmed in one of them.

A massive black backdrop spanned dozens of meters, with large posters covering the wall facades. A crowd of Vought executives whose names no one could recall, gold-standard producers, A-list directors, and numerous second- and third-tier superheroes were all in attendance.

The perimeter was tightly surrounded by television stations and dozens of partner entertainment media outlets from across the United States. Broadcast trucks were lined up along the road, and cameramen were broadcasting the event live.

The channel signal continued to spread, transmitting the grandeur of the scene to the rest of the world at an incredible speed.

"Clink."

The wine glass chimed, and Edgar downed the drink in one gulp.

Remaining in Vought Tower, he watched the live broadcast on the television and offered a distant toast with his empty stemmed glass.

He said silently in his heart: Ms. Vought, I wish you every success.

On the screen, Stormfront entered the frame.

The host asked excitedly, "Stormfront, as the special heavyweight guest for this launch ceremony, is there anything you can reveal to us about the plot?"

Stormfront smiled, looking to be in a great mood as she took the microphone and gave a brief statement: "I can only say that this is a film completely different from any superhero movie in the past. It's worth the wait!"

After speaking, she shoved the microphone back to the host and walked quickly into the set.

The host was slightly stunned, but before he could wonder why Stormfront's style was so different from the past, he saw Queen Maeve step out of a car that had pulled up at the end of the red carpet.

And, stepping out with Maeve, was Homelander's son, Ryan.

But, where was Homelander?

Why was it Queen Maeve leading the boy into the venue instead of him?

Wait!

Could it be that Ryan was actually the son of Queen Maeve and Homelander?

The host was almost amused by his own nonsensical thought. He hurried over, thrust the microphone forward, and asked directly, "Maeve, Ryan, where is Homelander?"

Where was Homie?

He was in Vought Tower, locked inside his room.

The live broadcast feed arrived frame by frame, and the sound from the embedded audio-visual system played in sync.

"I just had some simple ideas, and Dad helped me realize them."

"Of course there were disagreements. A lot of the time, I don't understand the weird ideas you adults have, but my dad is very good at explaining things to me."

At this moment, Azu's expression was gentle, and his entire aura was uncharacteristically soft.

His eyes were filled with pride and joy, because the articulate, lovable child standing on the interview stage was his own bloodline, his son.

"Ashley told me that Dad is doing what a superhero should do, so he couldn't come today!"

Azu suddenly frowned. Ashley was lying to Ryan.

"She deserves to die!"

"No, no, that was just a white lie."

"A white lie? Ha, if Ashley can lie to Ryan today, she can tell you a white lie tomorrow."

"Shut up!!"

A roar of extreme irritation erupted in the room.

Simultaneously, with a loud crash, the remote control was smashed into the television screen, causing cracks to spiderweb across it instantly.

Azu's chest heaved violently. He shook his head, seemingly trying to clear the conflicting, incessant thoughts pulling at his mind.

But... he just couldn't!

"When did it start?"

"What?"

"I'm talking about this evil thought of yours. When did it start?"

"I don't know."

"No, you do. It started the moment Ryan rejected your ideas and added his own childish, ridiculous thoughts to the script!"

"Stop talking. Ryan is my son."

"Of course! Ryan is my son too. I'm just telling you that Ryan needs us to protect him. We can't let him stay naive; it will hurt him."

"We should protect him!"

The room fell suddenly silent.

This deathly stillness lasted for a long, long time. The second hand ticked, tick-tock, tick-tock.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the corners of Azu's mouth twitched upward. His stiff body gradually began to move.

He dragged his feet, inching toward the door.

As he passed a mirror, he instinctively paused to admire his own heroic figure.

But the moment his gaze fell upon the glass, he froze.

"You..."

"Me?"

The reflection staring back wore a completely different expression—one of grievance, sorrow, and even... cowardice, looking for all the world like a scrawny, pathetic little boy.

Yet, he felt no such timid emotions within himself, and he clearly hadn't...

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the door was shoved open with great force.

The abrupt sound of the door slamming against the wall startled Azu, who was still caught in the midst of his bizarre situation.

He whipped his head around, glaring in fury.

"Don't kill me! Ryan! It was Ryan who sent me!"

"Ryan?"

Mustering all her courage, Raven blurted out, "My superpower is connecting to the spirit of crows, and those spirits can sense the malice or kindness in others."

"I can use it on myself, or on anyone I designate."

"Ashley's new assistant, she harbors malice toward you. I told Ryan, and he told me to keep it a secret; he wanted to investigate something."

"I don't know what it is, but he just notified me to come here and tell you right now!"

A torrent of words tumbled out of Raven's mouth, rapid-fire and without a single stutter.

Clearly, the girl was terrified out of her wits.

Upon hearing this, Azu stood frozen in place once again.

He tried to recall the face of Ashley's new assistant in his mind, but all he could conjure was a blank void.

Hum—

Heat Vision began to coalesce.

It was obvious that Azu had finally realized something had been wrong with him these past few days.

Not to mention the one-man show he had just performed in his room—he, Homelander, had actually been played by an unknown superpowered individual!

"Don't kill me!!!"

Raven collapsed onto the floor, screaming in sheer terror.

Just then, the Heat Vision Azu had aimed at the girl faltered, and he immediately retracted his gaze to look down at his own chest.

Following that, a cursor indicator appeared.

"Ryan!!"

As Homelander smashed through the glass and vanished in an instant, Mitchell felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her entire body.

"I... I survived."

Tap-tap, tap-tap...

A series of hurried footsteps approached, and before Mitchell could turn to look, the newcomer entered the room.

"Too late?"

Mitchell whipped her head around to see the face of a major figure.

Stan Edgar looked at the disheveled girl on the floor and suddenly let out a wry, shaking laugh. "It was merely an expendable pawn anyway; if the message didn't reach you, so be it."

"Uh... are you, are you also here because Ryan asked for help?"

"Oh? So... you were sent by Ryan! Heh, things have suddenly become interesting."

Edgar spoke lightly, but his smile carried a hint of bitterness.

The beast's chain had been tightened once more, but the one holding the leash was no longer him.

"Truly, one wrong move leads to every move being wrong."