Radioactive
(This song adds a touch of fatalism)
(I've followed back everyone who follows me!)
Above the wind pressure, the Homelander stood suspended in mid-air.
With his back straight, one hand behind his back and the other around John's neck, he wore a smug, self-satisfied smile.
Several drones floated alongside him high in the sky.
Dozens of telephoto lenses bounced around in the vortex, their red lights flashing rapidly as they captured images in real time.
The first second of the recording.
The giant screens in Times Square, the billboards on the street... all the lit screens were forcibly switched.
All that remained in everyone's view was a close-up of him looking down at them, his blond hair flying in the wind.
"Oh... my lovely believers..."
The Homelander glanced sideways and chose the camera lens closest to him.
His cheeks twitched uncontrollably twice, and then his mouth stretched into a wide grin that reached his ears.
He couldn't control his smile at all.
Hundreds of millions of people were watching "Him" in front of the camera; it was a trembling current that surged up the spine and straight to the top of the head.
My scalp tingled; it was hundreds, no, tens of thousands of times more tingling than the release after differentiation!
He excitedly bared his two canine teeth, suddenly leaned close to the camera, his eyes gleaming with a fanatical crimson, and his voice carrying an eerie gentleness:
"Did you see... everything clearly?"
The next second, his voice suddenly amplified, bursting out in a deafening, cathartic shout:
"All the people of America! Open your lowly eyes... and behold the miracle!"
From the very beginning, this holy war had only one damning outcome—"
Homelander paused abruptly, then suddenly exerted force in his arms, lifting John high above his head.
"Those who blaspheme shall be punished by everyone!"
Under the blazing sun, time seems to slow down, becoming viscous.
The Homelander stood upright with his eyes closed, his body tingling with a tingling sensation, his head tilted back towards the sky.
The warm sunlight offered him a sacred crown.
That was his coronation ceremony.
He's about to become a god.
Just as Homelander was completely letting go and basking in the sunlight, John, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
A glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes.
Then he moved.
His arms, which had been feigning weakness and hanging limply, suddenly shot up, and with a twist of his hands, he broke free from the relaxed arms of his Homelander.
Then, like a cold clamp, before he could react, it gripped Homelander's wrists tightly.
With the sheer accumulation of numbers, John's arms sprouted monstrous brows and violently snapped outwards!
"Snap!"
A crisp cracking sound rang out abruptly in the wind, and Homelander's arm was instantly bent into an obtuse angle.
The radius and ulna pierced the fascia, releasing a large amount of scalding hot blood, and went straight through the uniform, exposed menacingly to the air.
"Ughhhhhh!!!"
Before Homelander could fully react, John's body spun around again.
Then, with a straightening of the waist and without any leverage, the waist and abdomen suddenly tightened, transforming into a fully drawn bow.
The right knee, accompanied by a sonic boom, slammed into the heart of the Homelander's chest and abdomen like a heavy hammer blow!
"Thump--!"
A dull, loud thud.
The violent and unparalleled kinetic energy flowed down the kneecap and poured into the internal organs of the Homelander without reservation.
Homelander coughed up a mouthful of black blood, Homelander face contorted and deformed in an instant, his eyes bulging out.
His body was slammed into a taut string by that knee, flying backward and leaving a scarlet trail in the air!
In mid-air, John stared expressionlessly at Homelander flying backward, then wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
to be honest.
He had not bled since he was three years old.
This long-awaited trauma did indeed pull him back from his long period of complacency.
Under Homelander's violent attack, he was indeed briefly rendered paralyzed.
This means that after Homelander was injected with V1, his combat power was now incredibly close to his true level.
But that's where the problem lies.
John loved sunbathing when he was little.
Because he discovered that he could draw a peculiar, warm energy from the sunlight.
This energy enables him to maintain, repair, and even rebuild cells.
Therefore, John once considered himself a large chloroplast without chlorophyll.
Moreover, he discovered that his abilities were actually showing a slow but steady development trend.
This is a terrifying thing.
It's important to understand that even someone like myself, who had previously injected V1 and Compound V, was only going through a systematic process from "unfamiliar to proficient."
All abilities seemed to be trapped in some kind of unbreakable constraint upon entering the V1 stage.
But in this life, for the first time, his bottleneck loosened.
Thinking of this, John's eyes narrowed.
Then he looked at the Homelander, who was already hovering in mid-air in the distance, with bloodshot eyes, flying towards him.
He basked in the sun for eighteen more years...
His physical attributes and abilities are far superior to those of Homelander in version V1.
And, as if out of sheer bad luck, the Homelander sent him, weakened as he was, high into the sky to bask in the sunlight.
He has fully recovered.
far away.
The Homelander managed to maintain his position from hundreds of meters away.
Upon closer inspection, his right arm was limply hanging down at his side.
The broken bone protruded from under the skin, creating a shockingly hard lump.
The excruciating pain, mixed with a strong feeling of internal organs being torn apart and a dull ache, shot straight to my head, while my throat was filled with a metallic, sweet, rusty taste.
"No, no... that's not how it is..."
He clutched his wound and suddenly turned his head to the side.
The cameras of the dozens of drones around them remained steadily hovering there.
And this means...
Hundreds of millions of eyes across the United States have just clearly witnessed the entire process.
Thinking of this, his morbidly fragile self-esteem suddenly tightened.
"God must never be dishonored..."
The Homelander clenched his teeth so tightly that the flesh on his face twitched and contorted violently with extreme rage.
He stared intently at John in the distance, his eyes completely darkening and turning into a primal ferocity.
"Blabulators—shall be executed!!"
Homelander erupted in a hysterical roar, the energy that had been building up to its limit in the depths of his eyes completely spiraling out of control!
The blood vessels around his eyes bulged violently like red-hot wires, and then spread across his entire face.
Next second.
"Boom--!!"
In the distorted air, two blood-red Heat Vision, thicker than buckets, burst forth.
Like a red-hot heavy sword, it pierced the sky, carrying an overwhelming force, heading straight for John.
"Noisy."
John remained suspended in place, showing no intention of dodging.
Soon, every cell in his body began to tremble, and energy surged upwards along his spine, pouring into his pupils.
Soon, the dark blue in his eyes was instantly swallowed by crimson gold.
Just as those two crimson beams of light pressed down on his face...
"Boom--!!"
Two equally terrifying Heat Vision shot out from their eye sockets, the thick beams of light accompanied by thunderous roars as they pierced through the air.
"Thump----!!"
At the center of the collision, a dazzlingly bright white spherical antinode suddenly exploded.
The surrounding clouds were instantly shattered into steam, and a terrifying shockwave burst outwards, forcing a huge vacuum zone into the atmosphere.
At this time.
The cameras of all the drones in the vicinity, along with their entire fuselages, were directly blasted apart by the impact of the shockwave.
Parts flew everywhere and fell from the sky, billowing black smoke.
"Ughhhhhh-- Die!"
The Homelander gritted his teeth, frantically squeezing out all the energy stored in his body, hysterically forcing that energy into his eyes.
However, John's figure remained unchanged.
The crimson gold in his eyes not only didn't diminish in intensity, but it was actually increasing at an alarming rate, becoming more and more terrifying.
The standoff between the two lasted only two seconds.
"Click--!!"
With a whistle, the balance of the converging antinodes began to shift as John exerted his force!
The raging beam of light, carrying an overwhelming sense of oppression and scorching energy, pushed forward inch by inch against the crimson waves of the Homelander!
One meter, two meters...
The crimson stream of light was violently flattened and rolled back along the way.
The dazzling golden waterfall was unstoppable, its crimson light dissipating as it hurtled straight toward the faces of the Homelander!
"Thump!!!"
The Homelander a shooting star with a broken string, flying backwards for more than 500 meters.
It then crashed through the pillars one by one, finally smashing into the ruins and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Call----"
In the smoke-filled pit, the Homelander were like a pile of rotten flesh, embedded in the cracked stone slabs.
The upper body of the uniform had been carbonized and turned completely black under the intense heat, revealing large areas of charred flesh underneath.
Half of his eyeball was bulging out, most of his blond hair was burned away, and only a corner of the Stars and Stripes behind him remained after the explosion.
"Hmm..."
He tried to struggle.
His knuckles spasmed as he dug into the concrete shards, trying to prop himself up.
But he couldn't move.
Everything in my field of vision turned into a blurry, swaying white patch.
At this moment, all his senses were being stripped away from him, and he seemed to become unreal.
Deep within the spirit, the already cracked barriers begin to show more fine cracks, until... a void appears.
At this moment, all the surrounding noise disappears, replaced by a tranquility that permeates to the very core.
The acrid smell that filled the air suddenly gave way to a strangely warm and soft sensation.
It seems to be... an expensive French fragrance, mixed with slightly warm frankincense, and even a hint of berries.
The Homelander seemed to realize something, turned his head with difficulty, and a clear tear welled up in the corner of his eye.
In the charred, deep crater of ruins, a soft golden holy light spread outwards, extending until it filled the entire field of vision.
Then, a familiar figure appeared.
A holy, shimmering golden crown hung atop her forehead.
A well-fitting light camel-colored silk suit, the neckline slightly open, her blonde hair neatly pulled back.
The raging aftershocks swept past her, all of which were transformed into a gentle breeze by the faint holy light, stirring her hair.
Madelyn stopped in her tracks as she looked at Homelander, who was curled up on the ground like a rag doll, convulsing and emitting black smoke.
A deep tenderness and affection welled up in his eyes.
She crouched down and expertly extended her soft, warm hand, gently placing it on the blackened, bleeding cheek of the Homelander.
Her fingertips, warm and comforting, gently caressed his disheveled blond hair.
"Look at you, what a mess you've made of yourself..."
Madelyn sighed softly, her voice gentle and slightly reproachful.
Don't be afraid, I'm here.
"... Madelyn?"
Homelander stared at the woman in disbelief, the lingering violence in his eyes vanishing completely within seconds.
Then, a series of short, muffled sobs escaped from deep within his throat, and he buried his head in Madelyn's chest.
It's true... The warmth and heartbeat wrapped beneath that silk cannot be faked.
It's Madelyn!
She really came back... God sent her back to me...
He greedily inhaled the milky scent emanating from the fabric, his arms tightening unnaturally, pulling Madelyn tightly into his embrace.
Madelyn just chuckled softly, her slender fingertips slowly stroking the charred, spasming skin on the back of his neck.
He even pressed his ear close to his collarbone.
"Does it hurt, baby?"
You seem to have lost weight...
"Ugh... Uh..."
Upon hearing Madelyn's tender voice, filled with joy at having found her again, Homelander could no longer contain himself and burst into tears.
"Cry, Jhon... I'm here."
(Just to clarify, Homelander use English.)
"Those mortals are not worthy to understand your greatness. Those idiots like Vought only want to use you as a tool to make money..."
But you are not a commodity, Jhon.
You have broken all your shackles, surpassing all the lowly ants on this planet...
Madelyn cradled his tear-streaked face, guiding him to look down at the boundless void below:
"Look down, my child... look at the true kingdom that belongs to you."
The Homelander trembled, his eyes lowered in a daze.
By this time, the billowing smoke beneath their feet had long since dissipated.
In its place lies a vast and boundless divine realm, flowing with pure golden holy light.
Majestic palaces, constructed of pure white marble and gold, stretch out amidst the sea of clouds.
Hundreds of millions of believers, clad in pristine white robes, knelt in a dense, overwhelming white tide atop the endless steps.
"Holy Lord... Amen!"
Everyone was bowing their heads frantically, their foreheads slamming heavily onto the shimmering ground.
Hundreds of millions of voices merged into a grand hymn, resonating and echoing between heaven and earth.
At that moment, the entire chest, body, and even the soul of the Homelander trembled.
Looking at the creatures prostrate on the ground, an unprecedented surge of understanding and enlightenment welled up from the depths of his spine—
Approval ratings? Media relations? The laws and morals of ordinary people?
Fuck it!
Why should a lion care about a lamb?
Why should gods need to prove their greatness to ants in a muddy pond?!
He is the only supreme ruler to descend to earth since the beginning of time, the absolute true god who holds the power of life and death!
This is truly his crown!
"Go, Jhon."
Madelyn nestled against the back of his neck, her breath sweet and fragrant.
"Those are your creations, go and bless them."
In their extreme ecstasy, the Homelander proudly raised their heads, their bodies standing tall.
Then, with absolute grace, as if bestowing a gift, he extended his right hand very slowly into the void.
The next second, a dazzling holy light emanated from his fingertips, which he slowly extended towards the head of a fanatical believer in the front row, who was sobbing uncontrollably.
He will bestow upon these loyal followers a divine blessing.
Three inches.
One inch.
The moment his fingertips touched the believer's hair.
"When--"
A crisp, sharp sound suddenly exploded between my fingers, then transformed into a piercing, violent vibration that reverberated outwards.
At that moment, all the hymns were abruptly extinguished.
A vast expanse of golden clouds, hundreds of millions of fervent believers prostrating themselves on the ground, and Madelyn, with her warm and soft body in his arms.
In an instant, like a dream or a bubble, it disintegrated into tiny specks of light, collapsing and shattering.
The magnificent divine kingdom collapsed with a deafening roar!
"No--!!!"
As Homelander roared out of control, a strong sense of weightlessness enveloped him completely.
At the same time, a strange chill spread from his spine to his entire body.
In an instant, the surrounding scenery changed.
Homelander's outstretched right hand froze in mid-air, his white knuckles pressed against a transparent board of unknown material.
No... perhaps it wasn't a board, but the whole thing...
cage!!
"Where am I...?"
The Homelander looked down and found himself standing naked in a transparent, enclosed room of less than four square meters.
A stark, cold light poured down from above, illuminating his entire body.
Outside this transparent layer, where everything was dark, a beam of light suddenly shone down on the ground.
Immediately afterwards, Homelander saw a thin figure sitting upright in a chair, wearing a black suit.
He recognized that figure.
The Emissary stood with his legs together, holding a yellowed Bible in his hands.
He raised an eyebrow, looking down at the still-shaken Homelander inside, and said in a measured tone:
At the Passover meal, the Lord gave Judas a loaf of bread dipped in sauce and calmly said to him, 'Go quickly and do what you are going to do.'
The Lord knew they were traitors.
They knew that behind the long table Garden of Gethsemane and the cross.
But they still calmly shared their dinner.
Willing to offer their bodies as a feast, to fill the empty stomachs of their Protégé with their deaths.
"He accomplished his suffering with thirty pieces of silver, turning betrayal into the most sublime miracle."
As he spoke, the Emissary leaned forward slightly, his expression filled with a morbid pity through the cold, transparent layer:
Do you think all the traitors around you are Judas?
Do you think you are undergoing the martyrdom of a savior?
Don't flatter yourself, John.
The Emissary slowly suppressed his smile, his tone becoming exceptionally calm.
" Judas betrayed Christ because the flesh and blood of the Son of God were priceless."
Vought, politicians, and ordinary people betray you simply because nobody wants to share a room with a mad dog that could bite your whole family at any moment.
You are not Jesus at the center of the long table who forgave Judas... You are not even worth as much as those thirty bloodstained silver coins.
"Oh dear... He has an invincible body, yet his soul is tainted with such filth."
Actually, I am a germaphobe.
As he spoke, the Emissary stood up and slowly walked over.
"However, in order to make you more useful... I'll reluctantly agree to let you enjoy this."
"Don't mention it, consider this a gift I prepared for you: ' The Last Supper '."
"You blasphemous beast... who exactly are you?!"
Homelander tried to use his abilities to escape this bondage, but to his despair, he seemed to have lost all his powers.
He could only roar incoherently, demanding the truth of everything.
But the truth is often cruel.
Amidst the violent shaking and refocusing of the field of vision, a seemingly non-existent halo stretched and cast overlapping, illusory shadows on the Emissary's face.
Immediately afterwards, the Emissary's cold, middle-aged face began to stretch and wrinkle like melting wax.
High, menacing cheekbones pierced through the skin, while graying temples and drooping, aged eye bags were starkly revealed by the interplay of light and shadow...
Soon, two faces spanning decades were eerily juxtaposed and overlapped on the same face.
"It's you... you... you're Godolkin!"
"Hehe, Bingo! It's just a pity... you guessed right, but there's no reward..."
As the last sentence ended, Homelander suddenly lost consciousness.
(This is currently one of the chapters I'm most satisfied with. If you enjoy it, please give it a like!)