Chen Mo leaned back in his chair beside the cracked conference table, watching the situation unfold without taking his eyes off it.
Homelander held Starlight in the air with one hand. Her face had turned purple, and her feet kicked weakly as she tried with both hands to pry his wrist loose. But the gap in their strength was too great, and Homelander's hand didn't budge.
A faint smile hung on Homelander's face, but the red glow in his eyes grew brighter as he prepared to crush the newcomer on the spot.
Maeve stood in the corner, gripping her bottle so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Chen Mo looked at Starlight, then at Homelander, and whistled.
"Captain, if you go through with that, tomorrow's headlines will be even scarier."
Homelander's eye twitched.
Chen Mo gestured with one hand and spoke in an exceedingly sincere tone. "I've already thought up the reporters' headline: 'After hijacking incident exposed, captain of the Seven takes out his anger by strangling new member.'"
Several executives got to their feet and started for the door as if nothing were happening.
Ashley was at the door, just about to rush in, when she heard that and stopped. She looked at Starlight hanging in the air, then at the executives in the conference room, and felt a headache coming on.
This job really isn't fit for a human being.
Homelander slowly turned to look at Chen Mo. Red light flashed in his eyes, and he spoke softly. "A-Train, do you think I don't dare kill you?"
"Not at all." Chen Mo spread his hands. "Captain, I mean well. If another story breaks now, won't this be even harder to spin?"
Homelander said nothing.
The conference room fell silent for a second.
Chen Mo chewed his gum, mentally taking stock of where everyone around him was. Edgar, Madelyn, Maeve, Starlight, Homelander.
If the situation kept getting worse, he would have to make a move.
It wasn't because he was feeling generous.
Mainly, this was too good an opportunity to take them all out at once.
Homelander, the Seven, and Vought's top executives were all here.
Perfect.
The commotion might be a little loud, though.
Chen Mo ran his tongue over a back tooth, and a red gleam flashed in his eyes.
Click.
Edgar turned off his tablet.
He looked up, interlaced his fingers on the table before him, and stared coldly at Homelander.
"John."
Homelander's movement faltered.
Edgar's tone was steady. "If you strangle her now, Vought's stock price will fall within ten minutes. The Department of Defense will reevaluate our cooperation. And the board will ask me why I made an overgrown baby who does nothing but throw tantrums our core product."
The conference room grew even colder after he said that.
Homelander slowly turned his head.
He looked at Edgar, the smile gone from his face.
"What did you just say?"
"I said you're turning a minor issue we can handle into a disaster we won't be able to contain." Edgar looked at him, his voice still calm. "And it's very childish."
Homelander's chest heaved.
Starlight's toes had nearly stopped moving.
Madelyn strode forward. Her heels clicked against the fragments on the floor. Without looking at anyone else, she raised a hand and gently placed it on Homelander's arm.
"John."
Her voice was soft.
Homelander stiffened.
Madelyn took another step forward and put her other hand on his face, her thumb slowly brushing across his chin.
"Look at me."
The red light in Homelander's eyes flickered.
"She's just a terrified little girl." Madelyn moved close to him, her tone gentle. "She doesn't understand how much you've had to shoulder, or how many difficult and vital choices you've made. You don't have to prove anything to her."
Homelander's breathing grew heavier.
Madelyn looked into his eyes and lowered her voice further. "You're our hero, John. A hero shouldn't waste time on this sort of thing."
Sitting nearby, Chen Mo felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
Well, damn.
She's a real professional at soothing him.
Homelander's fingers loosened a little.
Starlight sucked in a sharp breath, coughing as tears welled up in her eyes.
The next second, Homelander let go.
Starlight hit the carpet hard and curled up, clutching her neck and retching several times. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably.
Maeve moved.
She hurried over, crouched down to support Starlight, and handed her a glass of water from nearby.
"Have some water."
Starlight's hands shook so badly that she spilled half the glass, but she still managed a couple of sips.
Chen Mo watched and curled his lip.
The show's over.
Homelander stood where he was, his expression grim. He didn't look at Starlight again, only stared fixedly at Edgar.
Edgar had already risen to his feet.
He straightened the cuffs of his suit.
"Ashley."
Ashley flinched at the door and rushed in, clutching her folder.
"I'm here, sir."
Edgar walked over to the big screen and tapped it a few times. The display changed from the stock-price chart to trending news and social media data.
The screen was filled with red entries.
[Homelander plane crash scandal]
[Blood Angel saves Flight 37]
[Is Vought hiding the truth?]
[Interview with young survivor]
Ashley glanced at them and went even paler.
Edgar said calmly, "Tell legal and PR to prepare a top-secret military document within ten minutes."
Ashley froze. "A top-secret military document?"
"The document will say that the terrorists on Flight 37 had concealed a batch of dangerous biological weapons aboard the plane." Edgar looked at the screen, his tone matter-of-fact. "If they had leaked over the city, they would have caused a widespread outbreak that couldn't be contained."
Everyone in the conference room looked at him.
Even Homelander frowned.
Edgar continued, "Homelander determined that the plane couldn't land safely. To protect the city, he had no choice but to abandon the rescue. What the survivors saw was nothing more than a false memory caused by their terror."
Ashley's lips moved. "But there weren't any biological weapons on the plane."
Edgar glanced at her. "There are now."
Ashley immediately shut her mouth.
Chen Mo nearly swallowed his gum.
That works too?
Edgar flipped to the next page.
"At the same time, release a statement condemning those people for malicious editing and using forgery technology. Say the survivors were terrified out of their minds and talking nonsense, and arrange for three experts to give interviews."
Ashley lowered her head and took notes at a furious pace.
Soon, an internal notification popped up at the bottom of the big screen.
[Vought internal statement: Condemnation of parties using AI forgery technology to smear heroes]
Maeve looked at the words, and her gaze darkened.
Starlight sat on the floor, clutching her neck, her gaze turning cold.
That guy had nearly strangled her to death just now.
In less than three minutes, these people had already started looking for a way to package him as a savior.
God.
Just how rotten is this place?
Chen Mo, on the other hand, took it in stride.
He even felt like giving Edgar a round of applause.
Being so consistently rotten was a talent in itself.
Homelander looked at the plan on the screen. His expression was still grim, but the red glow in his eyes faded.
He knew this story was filthy.
But he knew even better that it might save him.
Madelyn gently took his hand.
Homelander looked down at her, his Adam's apple bobbing, but said nothing.
Edgar turned to face everyone.
"From now on, no one is to give an interview without my permission. No personal posts. No private contact with the media."
His gaze swept over Homelander before settling on Chen Mo.
Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, looking as though none of this concerned him.
"A-Train."
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. "I have to keep my mouth shut too?"
"Especially you."
Chen Mo said nothing.
He's definitely singling me out.
Edgar said nothing more. He picked up his tablet and walked out.
Madelyn left with Homelander, while Ashley followed behind with her folder, starting to arrange a meeting.
Soon, all that remained in the conference room was a floor covered in fragments.
Maeve helped Starlight to her feet and said a few words in a low voice. Starlight didn't answer, merely tightening her grip on the glass, her fingertips still trembling.
Chen Mo rose unhurriedly and glanced at Starlight as he passed her.
"Next time you want to die, find a place with surveillance cameras. He might hold back a little."
Starlight looked up at him, her voice hoarse. "Aren't you angry about this? I thought you were a good person!"
Chen Mo thought for a moment, then nodded honestly. "I've seen it so often, I'm used to it."
Starlight said nothing.
Maeve also glanced at him, her expression somewhat complicated.
Chen Mo said no more and walked out, chewing his gum.
He had just reached the door when he paused.
At the end of the corridor, Edgar stood in front of the elevator, his profile expressionless.
Chen Mo knew the old man had already grown suspicious.
Ten minutes later.
The chairman's office on the top floor of Vought Tower.
Edgar sat behind his desk with two reports in front of him.
One detailed A-Train's recent movements.
The other compared energy fluctuations before and after the Flight 37 incident.
He finished the last page and tapped his fingers on the desk.
During the first test, A-Train had left a communications record at the radar station, but had shown no physiological stress response.
During the second test, in the conference room, A-Train had seemed excited when Homelander lost control.
This wasn't A-Train.
At least, not the A-Train he used to be.
The office door opened, and a technical director hurried in and placed an encrypted hard drive on the desk.
"Sir, we found the earliest record of an anomaly."
Edgar looked up.
The technical director swallowed and said quietly, "Surveillance footage from an abandoned warehouse near the Gray Whale Parking Lot, before the incident there. The footage was badly damaged, but we restored part of it."
The screen lit up.
In the blurry footage, a young man stood in the middle of the warehouse, the wounds on his body healing rapidly.
Several gang members backed away in fright.
The next second, black flesh and blood surged out of the man's arm.
Edgar watched the footage quietly, his expression changing.
He picked up his coffee and took a sip.
"Interesting."
On the screen, the young man raised his head.
Although the image was blurry, his face looked nothing like A-Train's.