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The moment the stone clicked into place.
A torrent of golden energy surged along Homelander's arm, washing over his entire body.
Homelander suddenly threw his head back, his pupils dyed a golden yellow in an instant.
"...If I don't pay the rent, the landlord will kick me out tomorrow..."
"...That girl just looked at me; does she like me?..."
"...That damn bastard, I want to smash this keyboard into his face..."
"...Hungry... so hungry..."
Those were the thoughts currently racing through the minds of countless people.
Desire, fear, greed, love, hunger, anger.
These thoughts intertwined, washing over Homelander's consciousness.
Homelander frowned, as if ten thousand flies had crawled into his head and were buzzing chaotically.
"Shut up."
He gave a low shout within his consciousness.
The light of the Mind Stone flickered slightly, as if responding to its Master's will.
Instantly.
The tide-like noise receded.
The World became quiet once more.
But as long as Homelander wished, he could turn up the 'knob' at any time to listen to any inner voice he wanted to hear.
He looked down at his right hand.
He didn't need anyone to teach him; the stone itself was a vessel of knowledge.
As the fusion completed, the abilities of the Mind Stone were etched into his mind like instinct.
While wielding the power of the stone, he gained:
Mental manipulation and domination.
Thought reading and access.
Absolute mental immunity.
Granting wisdom to inanimate objects.
Potential guidance and enhancement.
And... the physical projection of mental energy.
"Interesting."
He looked at a Vibranium spear leaning in the corner of the collection room, which Ashley had just acquired last week from an underground dealer named Sith.
With a thought from Homelander.
The yellow stone on the Infinity Gauntlet flashed.
Sizzle—
Two golden beams of light shot out from his pupils.
Silent and invisible.
The spear, made of what was claimed to be Earth's strongest metal, was sliced clean in two.
Homelander was very satisfied with this.
However, pure destructive power was not the essence of the Mind Stone.
Domination.
That was the most charming and dangerous aspect of this stone.
Homelander stroked his chin as a thought uncontrollably bubbled up.
If... if I could control everyone and make them worship and love me from the bottom of their hearts.
Then wouldn't I be able to max out my popularity value in an instant?
Well, time to find a guinea pig.
Homelander returned to his office and dialed a number.
"Beep— Beep—"
The call connected, and from the other end came Jessica's sharp voice as she scolded the trainees.
"You in the green tights! Don't think you can slack off just because you can photosynthesize! Give me fifty burpees! Now!"
Then her voice returned to the receiver, Jessica's characteristically impatient tone sounding out.
"What?"
"I want to drink milk."
"..."
The other end was silent for two seconds.
"Are you sick in the head?" Jessica cursed. "If you want milk, go find a cow! Why call me? I'm a professional hero, an instructor, not your milkman!"
"I want it hot, 45 degrees."
"Then find Ashley!" Jessica said crossly. "Let her heat it for you. Forget hot milk, she'd be a dairy cow for you if you asked!"
"The temperature Ashley brews is wrong," Homelander talked nonsense with a straight face. "She always breaks the milk skin, and you know I have OCD."
"Well, I don't have time either. This new batch of 'Teen Titans' is just a bunch of unweaned giant babies."
"Sigh..."
Homelander sighed, his tone carrying a hint of disappointment.
"Since you're so busy... fine then."
"...I'll just have Wanda bring it over."
He paused intentionally, speaking in a nonchalant tone.
"This girl is quite sensible; she just called to ask if I was tired. I think she'd be very happy to come to my office. You know, this place has great soundproofing..."
Having finished, Homelander made a move to hang up.
"Wait!!"
A sharp shout came from the other end.
"You just wait there!"
"Beep— Beep— Beep—"
The call was disconnected.
Homelander looked at the receiver, a mischievous smirk of success appearing on his lips.
As expected, this trick always worked on Jessica.
Five minutes later.
Bang!
The office door was pushed open roughly.
Jessica Jones walked in aggressively, holding a lidded Mug in her hand.
"Here! Your milk!"
Jessica strode to the desk and slammed the cup down heavily.
"Forty-five degrees! No broken skin! Any other requests? Do you want me to feed you?"
"Oh?"
Homelander picked up the milk and took a sip.
The temperature was perfect.
"Jessica, sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better if that mouth of yours could be as honest as your heart."
"Huh? What nonsense are you talking?" Jessica rolled her eyes. "Anything else? If not, I'm leaving. That group of giant babies is still squatting out there."
"Don't worry about that for now."
Homelander set down the cup, and his gloved right hand rose slightly.
"What? Are you going to show me your new toy...?" Jessica instinctively looked at the stone embedded in the glove.
Snap! A crisp snap of the fingers.
Hum—
A buzzing sound rang in Jessica's brain. Her body instantly stiffened, and her eyes lost their focus.
Her pupils dilated, as if soaked in ink.
A moment later, they returned to normal.
"How do you feel?"
Homelander asked softly.
Jessica didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she slowly crouched down, like a docile kitten, kneeling at Homelander's feet.
She looked up at Homelander, the piety and obedience on her face beyond words.
"I feel... wonderful, Anthony."
Jessica's voice had changed.
It was no longer gruff, but had become sweet and submissive.
Homelander raised an eyebrow.
To be honest, this feeling... was quite pleasant.
"Stand up," Homelander commanded.
"Yes."
Jessica immediately stood up, her movements as standard as a ceremonial guard who had been trained for years.
"Praise me," Homelander said with a touch of wicked humor.
"Praise you... You are the light, you are the electricity, you are the only truth."
"You are the embodiment of perfection, the savior of humanity. Your will is my direction, and your joy and anger are my code of laws."
Jessica did not hesitate. In those infatuated eyes, not a hint of falsehood could be seen.
"Tsk."
Homelander curled his lip.
It felt good, but hearing too much of it felt a bit nauseating.
"Alright, do a move."
Homelander pointed to the floor.
"Perform a... split for me."
Without a word, Jessica lifted her somewhat stiff thigh and forced herself into a standard split on the floor.
"Do you need me to do a front flip? Anthony."
She maintained the split position, a submissive smile on her face.
"Enough."
Homelander waved his hand.
What he wanted wasn't an obedient puppet, but actual gains.
"System."
Homelander called out in his mind.
"Specifically monitor Jessica Jones's current popularity value output."
He then looked at the system panel with anticipation.
"Monitoring Target: Jessica Jones."
"Current Status: Mind deeply dominated / Self-consciousness dormant."
"popularity value Output: 0."
That big "0" stung Homelander's eyes.
"What does this mean?"
Homelander frowned and questioned in his mind.
"She worships me like a god now, and you're telling me the popularity value is 0?"
The system replied mechanically:
"Answering Host: The core source of popularity value is the emotional fluctuations generated by 'free will'."
"Whether it is love, hate, fear, or worship, it must originate from the individual's independent thought and emotional resonance."
"Individuals dominated by the Mind Stone have had their self-consciousness erased or overwritten. They are essentially equivalent to flesh-and-blood puppets executing a program."
"Puppets have no souls and cannot produce effective popularity values."
"I see..."
Looking at Jessica, who was still in a split, Homelander's interest instantly faded by more than half.
If it was only for absolute obedience, he would rather build a bunch of T850s.
He reached out and aimed at the center of Jessica's forehead again.
The light of the Mind Stone flickered again, but this time it was a soft pulse.
"Modify memory..."
Homelander's intent cut into the depths of Jessica's consciousness, finding the memory fragments of the 'stone', 'praise', and 'split' from just now.
Delete.
Overwrite.
"You came in with the milk. I was very touched and praised you. You told me to drink it while it was hot, and then you prepared to turn around and leave to continue training those rookies."
However, since you're here, I won't let you leave for nothing.