Homelander's Press Conference

The press conference began as scheduled.

The first-floor lobby of Vought Tower was packed to the brim.

The buzz surrounding this press conference far exceeded expectations.

Because Vought had never proactively held a press conference about internal restructuring.

For the past few decades, Vought's PR strategy had always been steady.

And now they were going to expose themselves?

Media outlets all across America had caught the scent like sharks.

Lu Heng did not attend.

He was in Queens at the moment.

A superhuman was causing trouble in Flushing, turning three people into glass. Actual glass.

The police swiftly sealed off six surrounding blocks, but they were helpless against the superhuman.

Bullets struck his body and turned into glass.

Even grenades could not subdue him.

The moment the explosive fragments touched his body, they turned into glass shards as well.

The superhuman was even highly resistant to tranquilizer darts.

It was absurdly nasty.

Lu Heng had seen the relevant warning in Vought's mission system yesterday. The glassifying superhuman in Flushing had been under surveillance for a week and could erupt at any time.

He had deliberately timed the operation to coincide with the press conference.

He now stood on a street in Flushing, facing a bald man whose entire body gave off a translucent sheen.

More than a dozen cameras broadcasting live surrounded them.

Vought's media team was on site, livestreaming the entire event.

"Brother, calm down." Lu Heng spread his hands to show he had no intention of attacking.

"Don't come any closer!" the bald man screamed, waving his hands wildly. "Whatever I touch turns into glass. I can't control it! I really didn't mean to do it!"

Lu Heng understood.

For superhumans injected with Compound Five, the timing of their powers awakening was completely unpredictable and beyond their control.

In the original Gen V, Cate had accidentally killed her younger brother, while Marie Moreau had killed her mother.

Many superhumans hurt their family members when their powers first awakened.

It left them desperately starved for love.

Just as Billy had said, Compound Five had long since spread among the public.

More and more superhumans would continue to awaken.

"I know you can't control it." Lu Heng stepped closer, one step at a time.

"But right now, you need to let me help you."

"You can't help me! Nobody can help me!"

The bald man's hand touched a fire hydrant beside him.

The metal hydrant instantly turned into transparent glass, then exploded, blasting out shards and a jet of water at the same time.

The shards shot toward the reporters. Lu Heng flashed forward and blocked them.

The glass fragments struck his suit without leaving so much as a scratch.

But the reporters behind him scattered in terror.

"Quiet!"

Lu Heng's voice was incredibly penetrating.

The entire street fell silent.

He turned to the bald man, his tone softening.

"What's your name?"

"...Matthew."

"Matthew, your power going out of control isn't your fault."

Lu Heng walked up to Matthew and held out his hand.

"It's fine if you touch me. My body won't turn to glass."

Matthew stared at that hand, trembling all over.

"You... you're sure?"

"I'm sure."

A Viltrumite Soldier's cellular structure was stable and unlike any material on Earth.

The essence of the glassifying ability was altering the molecular arrangement of matter, but Viltrum's molecular structure was locked in place and could not be changed by outside forces.

Matthew hesitated for a long time before reaching out and taking Lu Heng's hand.

Nothing happened.

Tears instantly welled up in Matthew's eyes.

"It's okay now." Lu Heng held his hand. "You didn't hurt anyone."

The cameras on site recorded the entire scene.

Guardian had made direct contact with an out-of-control superhuman, emerged completely unharmed, and successfully calmed him down.

Meanwhile.

Vought Tower.

Homelander stood at the podium, surrounded by camera flashes that made him look like a gilded statue.

Handsome from every angle, without a single blind spot.

"Today, I stand here not as the captain of The Seven, but as an American."

He began delivering the heartfelt speech the PR department had written for him.

"The Seven represent more than just power. They represent responsibility, justice, and trust."

"When I discovered that there were members within The Seven who did not meet these standards, I made a difficult but necessary decision."

"Starting today, A-Train and The Deep will officially leave The Seven."

Camera flashes went wild below the stage. Reporters leaped to their feet and began firing questions at Homelander.

This was explosive news worthy of an exclusive.

The Seven kicking out two superheroes in one go was practically unheard of.

And one of them was A-Train.

Homelander had already kicked out Mr. Marathon, and now he was kicking out A-Train too?

Who would replace A-Train? Supersonic?

The media was intensely curious about all of it.

"Homelander! What is the real reason A-Train and The Deep are leaving?"

"Is this related to the video of A-Train taking drugs that has recently been circulating online?"

"How will the vacancies in The Seven be filled? Are you considering Supersonic and other environmentalists?"

Homelander kept smiling as he answered them one by one.

"A-Train and The Deep are both outstanding superhumans, but they haven't been in good condition lately. They aren't suited to remain in a high-intensity team like The Seven."

"This is a decision made out of responsibility to them and to the public."

"As for the vacancies, we are already working with Godolkin University to select a new generation of well-rounded superhumans with excellence in character, intellect, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor."

"The Seven will not grow weaker because of this. They will only grow stronger."

The reporters were unwilling to let it go.

The information Homelander had revealed was far too little. It was nowhere near enough.

But their questions were time-limited.

"One final question, Homelander. Did you face pressure from Vought's upper management when making this decision?"

"No one pressured me." Homelander had anticipated that the reporters would ask this.

"This was my independent judgment as captain. I will protect the purity of The Seven."

The polished words drew a round of applause.

Homelander stood onstage, basking in the applause and camera flashes as a surge of satisfaction rose within him.

This feeling was incredible!

Real-time approval tracking showed that his personal favorability had risen by 2.3 percentage points within thirty minutes.

It was even higher than Vought's PR projections.

Guardian had been right.

This move really worked.

He even began plotting his next step. Could he pull off a few more similar operations and keep pushing his approval rating higher?

Madelyn sat in the front row, doing her best to maintain a proper smile.

In truth, her nails had already dug deeply into her palms.

With Homelander pulling something like this, Vought's stock price would definitely take a dive in the short term. She did not even know how she would explain it to the board.

Moreover, the brands tied to A-Train and The Deep's commercial contracts had already sent legal letters asking about compensation for breach of contract.

Preliminary estimates put Vought's direct losses at no less than eight hundred million dollars.

And the indirect losses this would bring to Vought were still expanding.

Yet Homelander did not care about those numbers at all.

He only cared about himself.

A trace of resentment rose in Madelyn's heart.

The press conference had been going on for nearly an hour.

The Q&A session was nearing its end. Backstage, Ashley Barrett let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like her job had been saved for another day.

She would not have to apply to Disney.

Then, a reporter stood up...

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