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"Maeve, where did you get this thing from…?"
Homelander asked with a puzzled expression while trying to control Soldier Boy's hands.
"It was given to me by that cuckold's companion over there… They must have prepared it in advance, intending to use it to deal with Soldier Boy after teaming up with him to kill you?!"
Queen Maeve jutted her chin towards Billy Butcher, "Hehe, I have to say, these guys are really insidious. They were planning to betray their teammate early on… But who would have thought that the cuckold accidentally killed two of his own teammates just now, and then the remaining black guy seemed to have an internal conflict with him and voluntarily told me about this device and its function!!"
Homelander couldn't help but glance in Billy Butcher's direction, a triumphant, cruel smile appearing on his face.
But just as he was about to say something, Soldier Boy's chest once again glowed with dazzling light, and this time, perhaps due to extreme rage, Soldier Boy's charging time was significantly reduced compared to before.
"I… I will never go back into that damned box! I'm going to kill all of you!!"
"Fu*k?!!"
Homelander looked at Queen Maeve with a bewildered expression. Didn't you just say this thing was specifically for him?
After all that… this is it?!
Damn it, all these incompetent teammates, I really can't carry them!
Queen Maeve was also bewildered at this moment: I don't know either, that black guy told me it was effective?
But… what do we do now?
It's definitely too late to run. With the power of Soldier Boy's 'chest cannon,' the entire studio hall will likely be instantly razed to the ground!
If they try to escape rashly, they might even become 'moving targets'!
"Ah!!"
Homelander roared, directly activating his Cyclops and unleashing a full-power blast at Soldier Boy's head from close range.
Come on, at worst, I'll take you down with me!
"Ahhh… Die for me!"
Soldier Boy also let out an unwilling roar, his 'chest cannon' already charged, but at this critical moment, a slender figure leaped over, and then…
Puff puff puff—
Several Hell Spider Spears directly pierced Soldier Boy's chest, and the incandescent light shining from his chest gradually dimmed under the erosion of Khorne's power.
Σ(⊙▽⊙"a???
Soldier Boy, feeling his accumulated energy and life force rapidly draining away, immediately showed a look of horror and exclaimed in a lost voice:
"How can this be? Impossible… Damn little bug, get away from me… Ahhh, don't suck my blood…"
However, his wails quickly ceased.
…
[prestige points +388, +188, +99… ]
[Detected collectible souls, Warp soul count +1, +1]
…
"Spider-Woman, are you alright?"
After confirming that Billy Butcher was dead, Lizard Peter rushed to his goddess's side eagerly, asking with a look of concern.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Spider-Gwen retrieved her Hell Spider Spear with satisfaction. After this battle, she felt her power had subtly increased even further.
And this was all a blessing from the great Blood God, Khorne… Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne!!!
"Spider-Woman, you're very good."
At this moment, Homelander dropped Soldier Boy's shriveled corpse, brushed the dust from his gloves, and pointed at the spot where the Hell Spider Spear had disappeared behind Gwen, saying admiringly:
"Is that your trump card? Very good… I really didn't misjudge you!"
There weren't many people who could earn sincere praise from the arrogant Homelander, but Gwen didn't seem to care. She turned to avoid his large hand that was reaching to pat her shoulder, not caring about his awkwardness.
Homelander awkwardly withdrew his hand, then turned to Lizard Peter, forcing a professional fake smile and giving a thumbs-up, saying:
"Of course, you also performed very well just now."
Even Queen Maeve, who had previously held strong opinions about Gwen surpassing her in 'popularity,' now had to re-evaluate the young woman who preferred to 'hide' herself entirely within her suit.
"I've done what I promised you, I hope you can keep your word too!"
Gwen seemed unimpressed by Homelander's overtures. After all, her purpose in joining The Seven was very clear: to more conveniently investigate the whereabouts of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Eddie Brock.
As for other matters… if it was just routine rescue operations, Gwen wouldn't object. But if it involved helping Vought Corporation secretly eliminate dissidents, as had been previously exposed, Gwen would absolutely not agree.
She always had her own bottom line for what she could and could not do!
Of course, Gwen had already told Homelander this face-to-face when she agreed to join The Seven, and he had expressed complete respect for her personal wishes.
It was precisely for this reason that Gwen agreed to join.
"Don't worry, I'm always a man of my word…"
Seeing Gwen and Lizard Peter about to leave, Homelander, suddenly remembering something, quickly reminded them:
"Oh, right, remember not to turn off your phones these next few days. Ashley will call later to notify you of the official public debut time!!"
At this moment, Ashley Barrett cautiously peeked into the studio hall. After confirming that the battle had ended, she scurried over to Homelander, handing him a tablet and saying:
"Mr. Homelander, John Jameson is about to drop a bombshell!!"
"Hmm, what bombshell?"
A puzzled expression appeared in Homelander's eyes. He immediately took the tablet and muttered expectantly, "Maybe there will be some unexpected gains this time!"
He was eager to see what other shocking, unknown revelations the other party had to expose.
In fact, not only Homelander wanted to know, but also the hundreds of thousands of netizens who had been watching the exciting battle live in The Daily Bugle's live stream, were eager to know what was hidden behind this great battle.
And they always believed that John Jameson would not disappoint them!
And that was exactly the case.
"Dear viewers, I believe you have seen that the culprit who caused that horrific terrorist attack in Manhattan Uptown—the former Blood Debt Repayment Squad Captain, Soldier Boy—has just been dealt with by Spider-Woman, Homelander, and Queen Maeve. This is undoubtedly great news…
And according to the original plan, I should strike while the iron is hot and give you a detailed popular science lesson about Soldier Boy, Billy Butcher, and others. But just now, I suddenly received a tip from an anonymous informant. Because the content of the tip is so explosive, I had to temporarily change my plan and prioritize bringing you the first-hand, freshly released shocking news…"
After a brief tease, raising all the viewers' expectations to their peak, John Jameson finally began the actual revelation segment.
"Dear viewers, if I tell you now that both Soldier Boy, who orchestrated the terrorist attack, and Billy Butcher, who colluded with this terrorist, were all deliberately pushed to the forefront as pawns by certain individuals, would you believe it?"
"I believe many viewers will be confused, and even suspect that I am deliberately promoting conspiracy theories. However, even if you think that, it doesn't matter at all, because the following video will show you the true source of this series of events, and the real culprit who has been hiding behind the scenes!!!"
"But to be honest, after I saw the content of the revelation, I felt that familiar feeling again… that feeling of being on pins and needles, a thorn in my side, a bone in my throat. The content even somewhat overturned my previous worldview and understanding, forcing me to re-examine some issues… So next, please watch the VCR!!"
With that, a video was played.
In the footage, Nick Fury, with a thin layer of pixelation over his face, walked into Starlight's hospital room. After a brief conversation with Billy Butcher and others, he handed them intelligence concerning Soldier Boy and also gave them four fluorescent green vials—which were precisely the Temporary Compound V that had not yet been formally mass-produced.
Finally, before leaving, Nick Fury even used Starlight's medical expenses as leverage, threatening Billy Butcher and the others that they must eliminate Homelander within a month!
Immediately after, before everyone could fully process the previous content, the scene suddenly shifted to Billy Butcher and the others rescuing Soldier Boy from a research institute in E Ross…
A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples!
After watching the two videos, the netizens in the live stream instantly erupted. They demanded that John Jameson release the uncensored, high-definition photo of the black guy behind the scenes!
"Old Jameson, I'm not saying you, but this isn't like your usual style, is it? Why did you censor the real culprit? Is this even a reveal?!"
"Exactly, exactly, who are you looking down on? Do you think we can't afford the high-definition version or something? Tell us, how much do we need to top up this time?!"
"Today I just want to see who that bastard is who orchestrated all of this behind the scenes?!"
"Wait a minute, isn't everyone curious about who the leaker actually is? Why could he capture such clear footage, but never released it before?"
"What's there to be curious about? The fact that that guy could get confidential information about Soldier Boy means his identity is very unusual. Even if he was accidentally filmed by the leaker, what then? If it were you… would you have dared to post it online at that time?"
"Exactly, if it weren't for The Daily Bugle's live broadcast this time, the leaker probably still wouldn't have dared to release the news, right?"
Although John Jameson specifically requested the TV station staff to pixelate Nick Fury's face, anyone who had ever seen Nick Fury could immediately recognize his true identity from his attire, his tone of voice and gestures, and his iconic bald head.
So, whether the pixelation was applied or not actually made no difference.
However, John Jameson did this not because he feared the threats from S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury, but because he deliberately wanted to incite greater public outrage!
Facts proved this tactic worked well.
Facing the surging public opinion, John Jameson deliberately feigned a 'this is very difficult for me' conflicted expression, holding back hundreds of thousands of netizens for over a minute. Only then, as if conforming to public demand, did his expression gradually become resolute, and he then stated emphatically:
"Actually, pixelating the other party's face wasn't because I wanted to protect this true culprit, but because the other party's identity is truly too powerful… I was threatened by him before, and The Daily Bugle almost went out of business because of it. But today, for everyone's sake, I'm going all out."
As he spoke, John Jameson instructed the staff to replay the uncensored video. Then, after the video ended, without waiting for the vast number of netizens to ask questions, he proactively introduced:
"… ahem, I mean this dark-Hearted man you just saw, his true identity is Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.!!"
The netizens in the live stream suddenly realized. No wonder even Old Jameson, who was usually fearless, voluntarily pixelated his face. So it was S.H.I.E.L.D.?
This also explained why the other party could not only obtain confidential documents about Soldier Boy but also get the Temporary Compound V that had not yet been formally put into production.
It all made sense, everything clicked into place!
Thus, the netizens in the live stream erupted once again, cursing S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury for being inhuman.
Many netizens, brimming with a sense of justice, decided to organize people to demonstrate in front of the White House first thing tomorrow morning, demanding that the President shut down S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Nick Fury, this cancerous tumor, be removed from office!!
However, unlike the indignant outrage displayed by the netizens, Homelander remained exceptionally calm after seeing this news. Only Queen Maeve, who understood him better, discerned from the occasional twitch of his lips that this man was truly enraged, and she quickly advised:
"Homelander, you absolutely must not act rashly. S.H.I.E.L.D. is an official agency under the United Nations, and it's simply not something we or Vought Corporation can contend with…"
"Hmph, you don't need to tell me that; I already know."
Homelander said with a cold snort, his face stern and showing no appreciation, "If that guy wasn't the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., I would have flown over and blown his dog head off by now!"