Seeing everyone's confusion, Ashley offered a timely explanation:
"Pete must be worried that once Homelander's militarization plan goes through, Vought will requisition large amounts of land in New York at low prices in the name of national defense projects, causing negative effects such as rising unemployment and falling GDP."
"Those would all be real black marks on his record, while all the benefits would go straight into Vought's pockets."
"When that happens, even if he has the power to stop Vought, he won't dare act. After all, Vought's superheroes have an enormous fan base, and the next gubernatorial election is coming up. He can't afford the risk."
"He presumably resorted to such a foolish move because he was caught between a rock and a hard place."
Ashley did have genuine ability. She cut straight to the heart of the matter, explaining the stakes in just a few words that everyone could understand.
Beside her, Stormfront studied Ashley with some surprise. She hadn't expected Vought's puppet CEO, who was so meek around Homelander, to have such a sharp eye.
She simply disagreed with the last sentence.
This wasn't necessarily a foolish move. Ashley was underestimating New York's top man a little too much.
At the very least, Homelander had already lost ground in the battle for public opinion. Alive, Carl would keep smearing him in the public eye. Dead, she would only confirm that Homelander had something to hide and invite a great deal of suspicion.
Even taking a step back, keeping Carl alive and threatening her life to make her reveal the truth wasn't a viable option either.
A businesswoman bold enough to threaten Homelander was certainly no ordinary person. If she turned around and bit him one day, things would be disastrous.
As Homelander listened, he nodded slightly. His