Contact Homelander?

High in the sky, at night.

The international flight flew smoothly.

Soldier Boy leaned back in his seat, his head hanging naturally as he read various news reports, constantly recalling the original show's plot.

He had already acquired a brand-new phone before boarding.

Never mind where it came from. He hadn't bought it, anyway.

In this age of fake heroes constructed by Vought International, there was no need to specifically search for anything related to Homelander. Any news account had his latest updates.

[All members of The Seven deployed! Superheroes' powers spark heated debate once again!]

[Homelander patrols the city from above, sharing friendly interactions with fans.]

[The Deep reshapes a super eco-friendly ocean! Lord of the Seven Seas works another miracle.]

Soldier Boy scrolled for a while. Most of the news came from authoritative official media outlets, and he dismissed it all. This was all Vought International's packaging of Superheroes, nothing but useless information.

But some smaller outlets resembling clickbait accounts published gossip with absolutely no limits, such as:

[The untold secrets between Homelander and Queen Maeve. Click to read.]

[Shocking! The Deep is French Fish! An authoritative firsthand report.]

[Homelander caught secretly farting on a mission! HD video proves it.]

Soldier Boy couldn't help laughing as he scrolled past these useless gossip stories. "Fuck, sometimes you really can't blame Homelander. He can't even fart without someone secretly filming it."

He could already picture Homelander's signature fake smile when he saw these reports.

After scrolling for ages, he still hadn't found any reports about Homelander and Queen Maeve subduing armored truck robbers.

That iconic event opened the original show. It was where the dream began.

So he could now be fairly certain that the current point in time was before the first episode of season one.

Right now, Homelander was still being controlled by Madelyn through breast milk and remained deeply dependent on Vought International. He was nowhere near as twisted as he became later, and he still had some limits.

At least he wouldn't deliberately create disasters. Even when he did evil, he limited it to criminals.

A textbook on-screen hero.

But that was enough.

Soldier Boy breathed a sigh of relief.

If he had to redeem the later Homelander, whose character had completely collapsed and who was worse than an animal, Soldier Boy really wouldn't want to do it, and might not be able to, either.

Fortunately, Homelander hadn't fallen too far yet. There was still time.

Before he knew it, the international flight had entered the skies above New York and begun its descent.

Soldier Boy had kept his head down, playing on his phone the whole time.

Even so, the flight attendants kept passing him under the pretext of work, stealing frequent glances.

That face was simply too striking.

He was handsome enough to look like a war star who had stepped out of a poster from the last century, the first superhero to reign supreme.

"Sir, we've arrived in New York."

One flight attendant worked up her courage and quietly reminded him.

Soldier Boy raised his head and swept his pale blue eyes over her. The natural pressure that met her made her breath catch.

But the next second...

"Thanks, sweetheart."

He grinned, showing eight straight teeth.

His roguish air only made the flight attendant blush.

"Fuck."

Soldier Boy muttered a curse as he stood.

"This shitty plane made my fucking back hurt. I'm still not fully fucking thawed."

The surrounding passengers all glanced over.

Some frowned; others secretly recorded videos.

But no one dared say anything.

Because the aura around this man was too dangerous, like a bomb that could go off at any moment.

Noticing their reactions, he frowned. "You bunch of pussies. If you're filming your daddy, do it openly."

No one answered.

Even though the plane had parked, no one wanted to get off. They all seemed to be waiting for this asshole who looked like a war hero to leave first.

"Fuck all of you."

Soldier Boy flipped them the middle finger.

New York International Airport.

Soldier Boy had barely left the passageway when he saw Vought News playing on the large screen in the departure hall.

At the center of the high-definition screen, Homelander stood in front of the camera in his cape, smiling.

The precise curve of his smile, long since dictated by Vought International, remained on his face year-round.

Perfect, powerful, divine.

That was how everyone described him.

The host's face was full of admiration. "Homelander resolved another terrorist crisis today. According to statistics from the scene, he single-handedly killed every terrorist..."

Soldier Boy stopped and quietly watched the screen. "Pretty convincing act."

Barring any surprises, this so-called terrorist crisis was a show Vought International had arranged in advance, and the people's hero was merely a puppet wrapped in commercial packaging.

[Ding.]

The Old Popsicle System suddenly popped up.

[Key individual detected: Homelander.]

[Mission issued: Make first contact with Homelander.]

[Mission requirement: Do not reveal the system's existence.]

[Mission reward: An opportunity to increase your ability level.]

Soldier Boy raised an eyebrow.

"Contact?"

"Does charging into Vought Tower and slapping him count?"

[Not recommended.]

[According to system analysis, Homelander is currently in an extremely bad mood. If the host approaches aggressively, there is a 50% chance of provoking hostility.]

Soldier Boy sneered. "All right, fuck off."

He had no interest in the ability level increase the system mentioned. Given this goddamn system's treacherous nature, the reward was probably worth less than his underwear.

Although he wasn't wearing any.

Just then...

A scream suddenly rang through the hall.

"Oh my God!!!"

"Look!!"

Someone had recognized him: a Black woman wearing glasses, whose look somewhat resembled Sage, who appeared later.

The scream drew a great deal of attention.

Then more and more people stopped.

An old man whose beard had already turned white widened his eyes, his finger trembling. "Wait... that face..."

"Soldier Boy?!"

The old man was very excited. He had lived through Vought's first age of heroes and called out the name of this man who had been declared dead in service to his country.

Boom!

The entire hall instantly erupted.

Countless phones rose in unison.

"Holy shit?!"

"Is this real?!"

"Didn't Soldier Boy die?!"

"These have to be AI effects, right?"

Camera flashes went off wildly.

"Fuck." Standing in the middle of the crowd, Soldier Boy slowly knitted his brows. "I'm standing right here and you're still calling me AI effects. I really need to stir some shit up."

He gripped a metal railing at the security checkpoint and casually swung it.

Bang!!

The entire metal railing was ripped out of its base and sent flying, smashing into the wall with such force that the ground kept shaking.

The entire airport instantly fell deathly silent.

Everyone was scared witless. Some even immediately ran outside for their lives, terrified that Soldier Boy would tear down the departure hall.

"Much quieter now." Soldier Boy rolled his neck.

He glanced at the dumbass who had called him special effects. "I'm real, idiot."

"Vought International, I'm back. All you bastards who betrayed me, listen up."

"I'm going to beat your brains out through your nostrils."

With that, he put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked outside.

The crowd parted on its own. No one dared stop him, but the secretly recorded videos had already gone completely viral.

In less than ten minutes, the entire internet exploded, with all kinds of discussion and speculation flying everywhere.