It was late at night.
A light rain began to drizzle from the sky, stirring up the dust and filling the air with the distinctive fragrance of earth.
The party was over, and everyone began to leave, leaving a mess behind.
Only Soldier Boy remained in the enormous room.
He had gained quite a lot that night.
[Ding] [Through the host's intervention, The Seven has begun to take shape as a team. Homelander received a gift from his father for the first time and felt a profound fatherly love. He is gradually developing a sense of belonging with you.] [Reward: Exchange Points ×100, Super Flight exchange unlocked] [Current Exchange Points: 450]
"Finally!"
Soldier Boy slapped his thigh in excitement.
With super Super Flight, he would no longer need Super Speed.
The system shop's exchange interface lit up before his eyes. Super Flight cost 300 Exchange Points.
"Fucking system, why don't you just rob me if you're going to charge that much?"
Soldier Boy was furious. After all his hard work completing missions and redeeming Homelander, he had only saved up 450, and now exchanging for Super Flight cost a whopping 300.
And that was only level-one Super Flight.
Fucking outrageous!
Of course, despite his curses, he still gave in and painfully clicked to exchange.
[Ding] [Congratulations to the host on obtaining: Level-one Super Flight]
Soldier Boy's expression finally brightened.
Things were looking up! He had had more than enough of those miserable days running around on the ground.
Eager to experience the feeling of flight, he stood by the window and looked down over all of New York.
Then he leaped out without fear, quickly lost his balance in midair, and plummeted straight down from the top floor of Vought Tower.
With a bang, a tremendous crash rang through the streets of New York.
Cars along the roadside blared their horns wildly.
A small crater had been smashed into the stone pavement. Soldier Boy waved away the dust, completely unharmed.
"System, get the hell out here," Soldier Boy growled, his voice low and seething with anger.
"Where the fuck is my Super Flight? You swallowed my Exchange Points and didn't deliver?"
[The host's takeoff posture was incorrect. Please adjust it yourself.]
Wrong posture?
A possibility occurred to Soldier Boy, and he struggled with himself for quite a while.
In the end, he humiliatingly crouched slightly, turned his toes inward, and stacked his hands above his head.
Even he looked somewhat sleazy doing Homelander's classic pigeon-toed takeoff pose.
But after hopping a few times on the spot, he still could not leave the ground.
Still wrong?
Soldier Boy was thoroughly baffled. Then inspiration struck, and he thought of Superman's takeoff posture.
He slowly crouched, lowered his left knee, and slammed his right fist into the ground. Spiderweb cracks spread outward, and every muscle in his body tensed like a male lion about to pounce on its prey.
The next second, with a boom, the stone paving beneath his feet was pulverized.
The tremendous reactive force sent Soldier Boy soaring skyward, and the familiar weight and restraint of gravity vanished.
He could finally fly, chest thrust out above New York, the fierce wind beneath his feet.
The only drawback was that he flew too slowly. At full speed, he was roughly on par with a high-speed train.
Still, that was understandable. This was only level-one Super Flight, after all. He could not ask for too much.
Soldier Boy stroked his handsome, chiseled face, savoring his takeoff pose.
That's right. With looks worthy of national-treasure status, my takeoff should look as cool as Superman's.
As for the process of building up power, he disregarded it entirely.
Soldier Boy flew to his heart's content, the passion he could barely contain turning into an intense urge to destroy.
Among a cluster of unfinished buildings in New York, a humanoid creature smashed through one reinforced-concrete building after another.
The booming crashes continued without pause. Many people were kept awake that night, and the city government received a flood of complaints.
Thus, Soldier Boy graduated from a ground-bound Dayun truck to a flying Dayun.
Inside Homelander's room.
The lights were bright. Dressed in his suit and in an especially good mood, he crouched beside the table.
An exquisite model airplane sat on the tabletop.
Homelander reached out and touched it with a fingertip.
His movement was very gentle, a little cautious, as though he feared breaking it, his concentration almost tangible.
The plane moved slightly, and Homelander smiled. Something sparkled in his eyes, like a little boy who had finally gotten the toy of his dreams.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Sir, I've brought what you asked for."
Ashley Barrett held a transparent glass dust cover, unable to hide her exhaustion.
She had not slept well for two nights running.
Homelander forced his gaze away from the model airplane, took the dust cover, and asked:
"How much has my approval rating dropped?"
Ashley Barrett answered cautiously, "Uh, as of now, it's dropped by two percent."
Homelander's expression darkened.
"But the press conference had a very positive impact. Public opinion is gradually turning around," Ashley Barrett hurriedly added.
"Especially what that little girl named Klee said. After it was posted online, it passed a million shares in just a few hours."
Homelander thought back. Klee was the survivor who had spoken up for him at the press conference.
His expression eased slightly. "Good work, Ashley Barrett. I have high hopes for you."
He waved her away. As though granted a pardon, Ashley Barrett fled Homelander's room.
As she walked, she wondered to herself.
Homelander's approval rating had fallen so much, yet he had not flown into a rage. It was far too unusual.
But Ashley Barrett's brain was already running on an extremely low battery, and all she wanted was to go straight to sleep.
The room fell quiet again. Holding the dust cover, Homelander carefully placed the model airplane inside.
He looked around before finally setting the model on his bedside table.
"John, what are you doing?"
At some point, Madelyn had arrived without a sound.
"Fuck, when did you get here?" Homelander was slightly surprised.
Super Hearing was an active ability that he only switched on when necessary, but he still should have heard Madelyn's footsteps.
"Just now, baby."
Madelyn smiled and casually tossed her coat aside.
"You haven't come to see me for days. I've really missed you these past few days," Madelyn said plaintively.
Only then did Homelander notice that Madelyn had already taken off her shoes and was wearing tights that covered her feet.
No wonder he had not heard her.
"What's this? A new toy you bought?" Madelyn noticed the model airplane and reached out to touch it.
Smack.
Homelander knocked her hand away. "Don't touch that."
Madelyn froze, both annoyed and amused. Since when was she not even allowed to touch Homelander's things?
"John, you're being naughty." Madelyn thrust out her chest as though casually, her tone growing slightly stern.
She reached toward the model airplane again.
From Homelander's reaction alone, she knew it had most likely been a gift from Soldier Boy.
Homelander swallowed, his gaze turning hazy as his craving for milk flared up again.
But he still managed to muster a sliver of reason. "Madelyn."
"I told you, don't touch that."
Madelyn's hand stopped. Without allowing any argument, Homelander pulled her into the sitting room.
"What do you want?"
Hearing the distance in Homelander's voice, Madelyn's heart sank. "Baby, I think Soldier Boy has blinded you."
"What?" Homelander clearly had not expected Madelyn to say that. "What weird things are you talking about?"
Before you continue