"I heard Vought Corporation made nearly 100 million U.S. dollars from ticket sales, sponsorships, and broadcasting rights for this match."
Starlight, with her golden, wavy hair cascading over her shoulders and dressed in a golden-white battle skirt like a goddess, waved to her fans while smiling and chatting with Ron beside her.
"I don't know what the point is. People spent dozens, even hundreds of U.S. dollars, just to watch a match that lasted less than two seconds."
Ron stood with his hands behind his back, looking indifferently at the people in the stands.
"Some people probably just sat down, and the match was already over."
"This World match will decide A-Train's future and whether there will be changes to The Seven's members."
Queen Maeve, with her heroic demeanor, maintained a polite and bright smile for her fans while explaining.
"A-Train was able to join The Seven because of his title as the fastest man in the World.
If he loses that title, the company will immediately kick him out and bring in Impact, who will become the new fastest man in the World."
The fastest man in the World brings a lot of popularity; second place is destined not to attract as much attention as first.
Everyone in the stadium was there to witness this event, to see if A-Train could retain his World number one title.
Bang!
Suddenly, a blur of motion, a vague figure descended rapidly from the horizon, almost teleporting, cracking the ground as he appeared before the four, straightening his slightly bent legs and waving to the surroundings.
"Homelander, Homelander!"
This caused a burst of cheers from the entire audience.
"The fastest man in the World?"
Homelander arrived, maintaining a sunny smile and waving to the crowd, but his voice was full of disdain; he had heard Maeve's words while in mid-air.
"When I was ten, my speed was already countless times faster than those two wastes down there."
He swept a dismissive glance at A-Train and Impact warming up on the huge track below, speaking with contempt.
Homelander's fastest speed is flight, but his other speeds are not slow either.
A-Train has always feared Homelander because he knows that even his proudest speed is nothing in front of Homelander.
"These idiots spent money to come from all over, just to watch two kindergarteners race."
Homelander then turned his mockery on the stadium audience, waving at the frenzied crowd with a smile, yet speaking without reservation.
The audience, oblivious, continued to excitedly shout Homelander's name.
"…"
Queen Maeve and Starlight exchanged glances, not daring to say anything. Maeve had long understood Homelander's personality, and Starlight also knew that Homelander was just like the other Super Heroes she had met, not as bright and kind as Vought Corporation advertised.
"The 'Super Teenager' who craves attention and adoration is unhappy again, but helpless."
A smile appeared on Ron's lips. He knew Homelander was angry about Vought Corporation's suppression, probably thinking that he himself was the fastest man in the World, and that the fans who liked A-Train and Impact should all be his.
Homelander, the most powerful Super Hero on Earth, was known to those with discerning eyes.
He even had the strength to surpass almost all other Super Heroes when he was a teenager.
But Vought Corporation never promoted him in this way; instead, they deliberately suppressed media from evaluating Homelander as such.
"Vought Corporation is a commercial company; it won't put all its eggs in one basket, and it prevents Homelander from gaining capital to influence Vought Corporation through a massive fan base."
The desire for attention and affection is Homelander's fatal weakness.
In the current Vought Corporation, his freedom is even greater than Homelander's, except that he has no interest in being Madeline's 'big good boy' to please her…
"Most importantly, I haven't shown any easily exploitable weaknesses, so Vought Corporation doesn't dare to act rashly."
Looking at the huge, spacious track below, Ron smiled.
"A-Train, you're the best, no one can surpass you!"
"Impact, beat him, and become the new fastest man in the World with our hopes!"
Not long after appearing on the platform, Homelander and Queen Maeve went down; an interview awaited them, and the match was about to begin.
Below the stadium, the two true protagonists of the World race, A-Train and Impact, entered, waving to the audience, and after warming up, crouched into starting positions.
"Contestants, on your marks!"
Bang!
The starting gun fired, its sound echoing through the stadium.
With a whoosh, two figures, one blue and one orange, almost instantly circled the track and arrived at the finish line.
The gunshot still echoed in the empty stadium, not yet dispersed.
The match was decided, and everyone saw the two standing at the finish line in a blink of an eye, unable to tell who was faster with the naked eye.
The large screen lit up.
Everyone watched nervously.
With the camera playback slowed down a thousand times, the winner was decided.
"Let's congratulate A-Train for winning this championship!"
The host shouted, and the crowd cheered.
A-Train defended his title as the fastest man in the World, breaking the sound barrier at over 370 meters per second.
"A-Train, A-Train!"
Impact lost, the match ended, and cheers erupted in the stadium, calling A-Train's name.
"A ridiculous match."
In the outdoor tent, Homelander was being interviewed, perfunctorily answering reporters, and sarcastically sweeping his X-ray vision over the two who had finished the match in the stadium.
In the eyes of the audience, A-Train and Impact were as fast as whirlwinds, but in his eyes, their speed was even slower than that of trembling, shuffling seventy- and eighty-year-olds in a nursing home.
"No, this match seems to have some meaning after all."
But the next second, Homelander looked thoughtful, as if he had thought of something, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"At least these two wastes gave me an idea."
For several days, a question had been bothering him—how to determine Ron's power limit.
Directly attack Ron?
If Ron's strength was truly close to his, a fight would inevitably cause a huge commotion. He didn't want to alarm Vought Corporation, nor did he want to cause any destruction or even accidentally kill people, losing a large number of fans.
But without attacking, how could he know if Ron was a 'weapon' Vought Corporation had replicated to use against him?
But just now, he thought of a method—speed!
In terms of speed, he had never met an opponent. If Ron's speed was far inferior to his, then he wouldn't need to worry about Ron.
"If he can't even keep up with my weakest aspect, it proves he's just a waste like everyone else."
The test was very simple: use super speed to circle around Ron and make some movements at him, to see if he could react.
However, he was currently being interviewed, so Homelander couldn't leave. He sneered inwardly.
"No rush. After the interview, I'll go see if my new teammate will be like a ridiculously slow turtle when faced with my movements."