Homelander's mouth twitched.
"Letter."
"But, Your Majesty."
Homelander came closer to Jessica and whispered in her ear.
"It's too noisy here... Come to my room at night and check it out slowly."
"Get out!!"
Jessica feels like his brain is about to be short-circuited.
She gritted her teeth, and in order to cover up her embarrassment, she turned around suddenly and yelled at the group of terrorists below:
"Whatever you are looking at!! Go to hell!!"
Boom--!
She turned into a stream of purple light and vented all her shame and anger on those unlucky people.
Washington, Triskelion.
Alexander Pierce stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, his hand holding the whiskey trembling slightly.
The "authority" he was so proud of was crumbling.
In his day, it was easy to control public opinion: make a phone call to the editor-in-chief of <New York Times>, or ask a few congressmen to issue a stern statement on the evening news, and black could become white.
But now, the world has changed.
Dozens of channels and countless real-time data streams from social media were like a colorful avalanche, crashing down on everyone.
What's active on the screen is no longer the news anchor sitting at attention, but countless young people holding mobile phones and recording videos in their bedrooms.
On YouTube, a video titled "S.H.I.E.L.D. VS Vought: Who is lying" received 120 million views in just three hours.
In the video, a blogger with dyed green hair edited the press conference video of Pierce's previous accusation against Captain America with the documentary of Steve during World War II, and added it with funny music and ghostly special effects.
"Hydra Captain? Please, is this old man suffering from Alzheimer's disease? When Steve·Rogers beat Hitler, Pierce was still wearing diapers!"
The comment section below is even more appalling:
"#disband S.H.I.E.L.D.# Taking taxpayers' money, you still want to slander our heroes?"
"Vought is the eternal god! Look what Homelander is doing? He is saving people all over the world! And what is S.H.I.E.L.D. doing? Washington is engaging in office politics!"
"My grandfather is a veteran of World War II. He was so angry after watching the news that he wanted to smash the TV. Fuck you Pierce!"
There are even more extreme ones.
<Daily Bugle>, a subsidiary of Vought, did not publish an editorial directly, but released a few "blurred" but enough to evoke images.
In the photo, several senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were secretly dealing with some notorious South African military lords.
The accompanying text only has one sentence. "Whose shield is S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
This is not a close public opinion battle at all.
This is a Carnage.
Vought's public relations team not only talks sense to you, they also create distractions and incite emotions. They turn "anti-S.H.I.E.L.D." into a trend and a kind of political correctness.
"Sir."
Agent Sitwell opened the door and came in. His face was pale, and the hand holding the phone was trembling slightly.
"The call from White House... the president refused to answer. Also, our 'friends' at Congress are trying to distance themselves from each other. Three senators have just announced that they will launch an independent investigation into the flow of funds from S.H.I.E.L.D.."
"Crack!"
The Crystal wine glass in Pierce's hand was crushed to pieces, and the wine mixed with glass slag flowed all over his hand.
He lost.
Lost to this damn internet era.
"This can't go on like this."
Pierce closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and slowly wiped the blood on his hand that was scratched by the glass.
His eyes became calm and determined again.
"We need to cut our losses."
"Stop loss?" Sitwell asked in confusion.
"When a leg gets gangrenous, you have to cut it off before it poisons the heart."
"This is the price that must be paid."
Pierce walked to the desk and picked up the confidential phone.
"Notify the action team to execute operation 'Cleaner'."
That afternoon.
An even more exciting press conference was held.
Only this time, the protagonist is no longer Pierce, but FBI FBI.
The FBI director announced with a serious face, "After a joint investigation by multiple parties, we uncovered an appalling infiltration case. S.H.I.E.L.D. senior advisor and senior agent Jasper Sitwell was confirmed to be a sleeper agent of the terrorist organization Hydra."
In the picture, Sitwell was forced into a police car with his head held down by two strong detectives. He looked desperate and unbelievable, as if he only realized at the last moment that he had become the "price".
"It is this person who forged false files about Steve·Captain Rogers, and tried to provoke internal conflicts and weaken the earth's defense force..."
Immediately afterwards, several Hydra strongholds around the world were taken over by "S.H.I.E.L.D.".
More than a dozen "Hydra agents" were killed or arrested.
S.H.I.E.L.D. official Twitter issued a statement. "We are cleaning up the door. Justice may be late, but it will never be absent."
What a cruel trick to cut off a strong man's wrist.
Although it is embarrassing, at least the signboard S.H.I.E.L.D. barely collapsed completely while it was crumbling.
And those Hydra dormant groups causing chaos around the world also went silent overnight.
Pierce looked at the report in his hand about Homelander's global tour to fight against crime, and his teeth itched with anger.
He created chaos to force Security Council to pass Project Insight.
What's the result?
Chaos occurred. Security Council did not look for him. Instead, he cried and shouted to beg Vought.
Every time Homelander saves a city, Vought's market value will increase, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s budget will be cut.
How is this a terrorist attack? This is clearly a free backdrop and atmosphere set for that blond bastard!
"Call stop."
Pierce slumped on the chair tiredly, as if he had aged ten years.
"Let everyone... stop. Stop sending performance results to Vought."
The world suddenly became peaceful.
There were no explosions, no attacks, and even the robbers on the roadside seemed to have gone home for Christmas.
Homelander was floating in the sky above Syria, looking at the quiet city below, smacking his lips with some unfinished thoughts.
"Are you scared?"
He originally planned to make millions of Popularity Points in the Middle East.
"Hydra's group of people's psychological quality is still too poor. Where are they?"
Homelander sighed with some regret.
"Forget it, go home."
New York, JFK International Airport.
This is probably the most crowded day in human aviation history.
Tens of thousands of fans broke through the security cordon and surrounded the tarmac.
When the pitch-black Gulfstream G650ER broke through the clouds and landed slowly, the cheers even drowned out the roar of the engine.
The hatch opens.
Homelander was the first to come out.
With a smile on his face that lights up the whole world.
He waved to the crowd, his cloak flapping in the wind.
Behind him are the members of the Seven.
Jessica·Jones tried hard to keep a cold face, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.
She looked at the girls below holding light signs with her Q-version avatar painted on them, and her heart almost melted.
Angela blew a kiss to the camera, causing a burst of screams.
Robbie scratched his head honestly.
Pietro·Maximoff, this gangster who once roamed the streets of Sokovia, is now wearing a pair of exaggerated goggles, putting his hands in his pockets, chewing gum, and walking like a stranger.
"Quicksilver! Quicksilver! I want to do it with you...!!"
A group of girls screamed at him wildly.
Pietro was stunned for a moment, then took off his goggles, turned his head in that direction and blinked his affectionate eyes.
"Oh--!!!"
The screams hit a new high in decibels.
Pietro feels that his heart is beating rapidly because... this feeling.
This feeling of being needed, worshiped, and treated like a god.
In Sokovia, he was a despised gangster when he was a child, and became a lab rat when he grew up.
And here, in Vought, he is the light.
He subconsciously glanced at Homelander who was walking at the front.
"This is life..." Pietro murmured to himself in a low voice.