Even Homelander Has to Pay for His Duck Leg Rice

Homelander froze, then laughed.

It was as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.

Someone had actually asked him for money—and such a paltry sum at that.

He was Homelander. He had never paid for a meal.

In fact, back when Homelander was still an unknown Psychic Powers user, he had paid whenever he ate out.

But as his fame and standing grew, especially after he became the leader of The Seven and was hailed as "the strongest superhero in history," he stopped spending money on food altogether.

It wasn't that he had refused to pay at first.

Whenever he ate somewhere, no matter how upscale the restaurant, the staff would refuse when he tried to settle the bill.

What he heard most often was, "Having you dine here is already an incredible honor for us."

"How could we possibly let you pay?"

It made sense, really. With Homelander's fame and status, any restaurant manager with half a brain could snap a few photos of him dining there, or ask to pose with him, then print and frame the pictures and display them somewhere prominent.

The returns would surely be a hundred times greater than the price of one little meal.

And Homelander usually didn't turn down requests for photos.

A man of the people.

Homelander truly was a man of the people.

So after his attempts to pay were rejected time and again, he eventually got into the habit of going out without money.

When Homelander heard someone demand payment for a plate of duck leg rice, he found it ridiculous.

He turned around and went back into the shop.

Luke stepped forward.

"Sir, you haven't paid for your duck leg rice."

"Do you know who I am?" Homelander looked at Luke. He was smiling, but there was a trace of mockery in his eyes.

The young man before him looked to be in his early twenties, with an air of foolishness about him.

Take a good look, kid. Don't I look a little like a certain superhero you're always seeing on screens and billboards?

Luke gave Homelander a careful once-over, then asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

Homelander nearly stumbled and fell.

He really is an idiot.

"I'm Homelander." There was no point keeping a clueless kid like this in suspense.

A faint smile touched Homelander's lips. He looked forward to seeing how the fool would react.

There was no one in the world who didn't know Homelander.

Even if someone was so bad with faces that he couldn't remember what Homelander looked like, the name alone should ring a bell.

Luke frowned.

Homelander? I think I've heard that name somewhere.

But who cares who he is? Even if the king of heaven himself showed up, he'd still have to pay for his duck leg rice.

You eat, you pay. Simple as that.

This Blond Man keeps stalling. He obviously doesn't want to pay!

Luke slapped the table. "So what if you're Homelander? Even Homelander can't eat duck leg rice without paying!"

"You owe fifteen bucks today, and you're paying every last cent!" Luke shouted.

Luke stood close to Homelander and spoke so loudly that a few flecks of spit landed on the Blond Man's face.

Homelander's pupils contracted. His eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at Luke like a snake watching its prey.

Luke saw that he had sprayed the man's face with spit and realized he had been careless. He lowered his head and picked dirt from under his fingernails, muttering, "Never seen anyone eat duck leg rice and refuse to pay."

Rage burned inside Homelander. No one had ever dared spit in his face.

He was angry now.

And the consequences would be severe.

Homelander was even thinking of killing him.

Homelander had never been a proper hero. "Upholding justice" had never been his guiding principle. He fought Evil because he enjoyed being cheered and adored, and because The Seven, the superhero team he led, brought enormous profits to its parent company, Vought International.

Every year, Vought International made staggering sums from superhero merchandise and advertising endorsements alone.

Beneath Homelander's public image as a "superhero" lay a side of him no one knew.

He had killed people. A great many people.

Not all of them had belonged to Evil groups. Often, he killed simply because he felt like it.

Homelander and Vought International had just been very good at covering it up. The public had never found out.

Right now, to vent his anger, Homelander wouldn't mind wiping a few living people off the face of the earth.

He glanced around.

Counting the owner, who was still busy in the kitchen, there were four people in the shop.

Killing three nobodies wouldn't attract much attention. He could pin it on some nearby Evil group, then have someone arrested as a scapegoat.

One fool, one old man, and one shop owner.

Killing all three wouldn't take him even three seconds.

The old man in the corner had never once looked up. He had kept his head down and eaten at an unhurried pace the whole time.

That was a little strange, but Homelander was too angry to notice.

He felt only a hint of pity for the old man and the owner in the kitchen.

The tiniest hint.

If they wanted someone to blame, they could blame the fool who had angered him. The other two had merely been caught up in the young man's recklessness.

A blinding red glow lit up his eyes.

Just then, the curtain leading to the kitchen was pulled aside, and the shop owner came out.

He had heard a commotion and come to see what was happening.

The owner looked into the dining area and froze.

"Home... Homelander?" the owner said in shock.

Luke might not recognize Homelander, but there was no way the shop owner wouldn't.

This was a superhero known in every household.

The red glow in Homelander's eyes slowly faded.

It wasn't that he had abandoned the idea of killing them. He just wanted to see how the owner would scold this young man who didn't know what was good for him.

Then the owner would make the idiot apologize.

Once he had apologized, Homelander would kill them all.

Homelander would never spare someone who dared spit in his face.

But before the owner could recover from his shock, the fool spoke first.

"Boss, it's this guy." Luke pointed at Homelander and told the owner, "He ate our duck leg rice and won't pay!"