Manhattan Lower Manhattan F Line subway In the tunnel, the humid air was filled with the smell of rust and mold.
A train full of morning rush hour commuters was roaring along the railway track.
Some people in the carriage were reading newspapers, some were dozing with headphones on, and no one noticed what was hidden in the endless darkness ahead.
Boom.
The thick concrete isolation wall on the side of the tunnel ahead finally let out an overwhelmed wail.
Along with a dull collapse sound, tons of gravel and steel bars fell on the railway tracks.
The train driver was startled by the sudden loud noise and instinctively pulled the emergency brake.
The harsh sound of metal friction echoed in the tunnel, and large brilliant sparks flew between the wheels and the rails.
The passengers in the carriage were thrown around by the huge inertia, and they screamed and complained.
When the train barely came to a stop amid violent shaking, there was only less than ten meters away from the pile of collapsed rubble.
The driver wiped away cold sweat in shock, picked up the walkie-talkie and prepared to report the situation to the dispatch center.
However, when he raised his head and looked through the windshield of the cab towards the headlight area ahead, his whole body froze instantly, and the walkie-talkie fell to his feet with a clatter.
What gushes out from the gap in the separation wall is not groundwater at all, but a gray tide.
Hundreds of giant mutant rats with scarlet eyes were trampling on the bodies of their companions, making blood-curdling hissing sounds, and poured into the subway tunnel crazily like a waterfall.
Their sharp teeth reflected a bloodthirsty cold light under the illumination of the car lights.
Hundreds of mutant rats that were at the forefront had climbed onto the front of the train along the tracks.
They used their teeth that could bite through rocks to gnaw wildly at the metal shell of the train. The windshield of the cab was instantly covered with these disgusting and crazy monsters, and dense cracks began to appear on the glass surface.
The passengers in the carriage finally saw the situation outside clearly, and screams and desperate cries instantly broke out in the closed carriage.
Some people stepped back desperately, and some tried to smash the car window with their bags, but all of them were meaningless in front of such an absolute number of monsters.
At that moment the windshield was about to shatter.
Bang!
The curved dome above the subway tunnel suddenly made a deafening muffled sound.
The solid reinforced concrete was torn apart from the outside like fragile biscuits by a terrifying force.
Large chunks of gravel fell into the group of rats, and a bright beam of early summer sunlight shone straight into the dim tunnel along the huge gap.
Amidst the flying dust and gravel, a blond boy wearing a clean white shirt and Dark Blue trousers slowly descended from the gap like a weightless feather, hovering in mid-air one meter above the ground.
John clasped his hands on his chest, Azure's eyes looked down at this gray ocean of rats.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust. The smell here was indeed terrible, even more unbearable than that Reggie at home who always threw stinky socks around.
Those irrational mutant mice did not stop because of the sudden appearance of the boy. They smelled the smell of fresh flesh and blood, and immediately separated into a large group, screaming and pounced towards John in mid-air.
John didn't even move.
A dazzling red light quickly lit up in the depths of his clear Azure eyes.
The next second, two thick, high-temperature rays as bright as liquid gold spurted out from his eyes.
There was no fierce fighting, no thrilling pulling, this was completely a one-sided general cleaning.
Where Heat Vision swept, the air was violently distorted due to the extreme high temperature.
Those mutated mice didn't even have time to scream. As long as the red light touched a little bit of fur, their entire bodies instantly vaporized within a tenth of a second, leaving not even a trace of blood residue behind.
John turned his neck slightly, and the two Heat Vision were like two indestructible death scythes, cutting most efficiently in the spacious subway tunnel.
The rails melted into red molten iron, and the water pipes on the walls evaporated instantly.
In just ten seconds, most of the gray rats that originally crowded the entire tunnel were wiped out.
The remaining mice were finally awakened by this incomprehensible destructive force, and their deep-rooted fear was awakened in their genes. They screamed and turned around, trying to escape back into the sewer through the gap in the collapse.
John snorted coldly.
Lynn said before going out, we should burn it clean.
He will never allow these garbage that pollutes the environment to escape.
The red light in his eyes skyrocketed again, John suddenly raised the flying altitude, and his sight directly followed the gap and swept into the depths of the sewage pipe.
The blazing beam of light penetrated the maze of more than ten meters of sewers like a torrent, burning all the living creatures, garbage and stinky sewage along the way into nothingness.
It wasn't until there wasn't even a complete mouse in sight that John slowly put Heat Vision away.
The red light in his eyes faded away, and the clear Azure was restored again.
He landed lightly on the ground, his white shirt still spotless, and even his breathing rate did not change at all.
There was deathly silence in the carriage.
Hundreds of passengers stared blankly at the boy who seemed to have fallen from the sky through the cracked windshield.
The huge fear of being on the verge of death just now has not completely faded away, and many people even kept holding their heads and crying.
An unknown person put his trembling hand against the cold window glass and let out an extremely suppressed sob.
"Thank you... thank you..."
At this moment, a young woman wearing glasses in the first carriage was wiping her tears while staring intently at the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy outside the window.
The more she looked at him, the more familiar he looked. Although the man was only wearing an ordinary white shirt and Dark Blue trousers today, the impeccable facial features and the god-like power instantly awakened her memory.
"Wait... I know him!"
The woman excitedly grabbed the arm of the person next to her, and her voice broke with the huge surprise, "I met him in a special interview on the talk show last week! That is Vought International's ultimate trump card! He is Homelander!"
As soon as the name Homelander came out, several people in the carriage reacted suddenly.
Vought International has been creating a craze in major media recently, frequently releasing silhouettes and interview clips of this perfect boy.
Just because he didn't wear the iconic Stars and Stripes suit today, everyone was in extreme panic and failed to recognize him immediately.
"It's really Homelander!"
"God, it was Homelander who saved us!"
After a brief period of astonishment, a deafening carnival erupted in the carriage.
This time it is no longer just about surviving a disaster, but mixed with an almost crazy worship.
People crowded in front of the car windows, slapped the glass hard, and shouted the name Homelander loudly.
Cheers, whistles, and cries of gratitude were mixed together, almost overturning the roof of the subway tunnel.
John, who was standing outside, was slightly stunned.
He usually hears a lot of applause at Vought International.
The researchers in white coats will applaud, and the extras arranged by the Public Relations Department will also cheer him in front of the camera.
But those applause always have a false politeness, are deliberately trying to please, and are even mixed with deep fear.
But now, the tears and enthusiastic smiles on the faces of those behind the glass are so real and pure.
This unreserved gratitude and fanatical belief were like a hot wave, hitting John's heart heavily.
The feeling of being worshiped by others as if they were gods is truly wonderful, even a little intoxicating.
But this is just wonderful.