But Super Ego did not retreat.
His eyes were fixed on Arishem the Judge, who was being annihilated by the power of the Infinity Stones, as he clenched his right fist.
However, relying solely on Super Ego's energy reserves to erase a supreme Celestial with the Reality Stone was nothing short of a pipe dream.
The originally golden skin of Super Ego, possessed by Homelander, began to rapidly turn grey and withered.
His eyes lost their luster, his face became ashen, and his subcutaneous tissues began to disintegrate.
The physical shell was on the verge of collapse.
Far away in the Headmaster's office, Homelander, who was playing Ready Player One, also felt that beyond-limit load through the mental link; his brows furrowed tightly, and the armrest of his chair was crushed by his grip.
In just a few more seconds, even without Arishem the Judge taking action, Super Ego himself would turn to ash due to the exhaustion of his life force.
But Arishem the Judge, caught in the pain of annihilation, did not know this.
He only knew he had been blindsided and felt a genuine threat of death.
If he did not sever this contact, he would fall here.
The logic of the Celestials was simple and direct.
When encountering an irresistible fatal threat, evasion is the first choice.
Arishem the Judge did not hesitate; he forcibly severed half of his shoulder and struggled to break his body free.
Endless cosmic energy sprayed from the gap in his remaining left shoulder, preventing the annihilation from continuing to spread.
Then, without looking back, he transformed into a red singularity and fled instantly.
He disappeared into this sector of the stars.
Meanwhile, Super Ego's body floated powerlessly in the vacuum, like a lifeless corpse.
...
Vought Vanguard Hero Academy, Headmaster's Office.
Homelander disconnected the mental link, and his eyes regained their focus.
This immersive life-and-death struggle gave Homelander the most intuitive understanding of the power of the Celestials.
Arishem the Judge's power was indeed unfathomable.
That oppressive feeling of easily crushing a peak Super Ego with a wave of his hand was worthy of the title of God.
But he was not invincible.
If he personally took the field and used all his means, Homelander was confident he could handle Arishem the Judge with ease.
Homelander picked up the milk on the table, which had already gone cold, and drank it in one gulp, calming his emotions after the fierce battle.
Then, he summoned Dark-Ego.
The burly Darkseid stepped out and stood respectfully before Homelander.
"Go to space," Homelander issued the command. "Super Ego is almost finished now."
"Take him to the edge of the Sun and let him slowly recover his life force."
"Also, bring back the Infinity Gauntlet and the Reality Stone for me."
"As you command, Master."
Dark-Ego immediately opened a Boom Tube and vanished from the office.
After dealing with Super Ego's affairs, Homelander leaned back in his chair and called for Ego.
"I am here, Great Master," Ego's voice sounded immediately.
"That Six-Eyed Flying Fish—when will he make a comeback?" Homelander asked straightforwardly.
Ego pondered for a moment before sharing his speculation.
"As far as I know, Master."
"If the bodies of the Celestials are severely damaged, they return to the World Forge for repair and reshaping."
"Their emotions are thin; they won't immediately retaliate blindly out of anger. They only make the most precise calculations."
Homelander nodded; this was very much in line with the Celestials' style of absolute rationality.
"As for exactly when he will return..." Ego spoke with a hint of uncertainty, "I cannot give an accurate time. It could be a month, or it could be a hundred years."
"For the Celestials who possess long lives, one day and a hundred years are not much different on their time scale."
Homelander frowned; this sense of the unknown hanging over his head made him very uncomfortable.
"But he will definitely return, won't he?"
"Yes, Master. And one thing is certain."
"What?"
"When he comes again, he definitely won't be alone."
Ego explained.
"The Celestials' style of action has always been thus: as long as they determine an existence is a threat to them, they have always ganged up on it."
Homelander listened quietly to Ego's analysis, and his expression became solemn.
He understood the gravity of the situation.
These Celestials were just a bunch of cosmic street thugs who were well-versed in the way of the gang fight.
Although Homelander also wanted to shout: 'I want to fight ten of them!'
Unfortunately, he wasn't the strongest in the Universe yet.
If ten really came, even if he didn't die, Earth wouldn't be saved.
"I must speed up my pace," Homelander decided privately. "Increasing power and transferring the population—both must be handled urgently."
"System," Homelander thought to himself. "Check how much popularity value is needed for the next level upgrade."
"popularity value required for the next level: 12,013,149,527."
Looking at this long string of numbers, Homelander couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Twelve billion.
It was getting more and more exaggerated; now a single level required so much, it was catching up to those ancient pay-to-win games.
Although Earth now had a population of six or seven billion.
Among them, naive children accounted for nearly two billion.
They couldn't even speak properly and couldn't provide much substantive popularity value at all.
Then there were those elderly people over seventy; they either had seen too much and weren't interested in anything, or were bedridden and senile, providing extremely limited popularity value.
Not to mention the impoverished populations in third-World countries who couldn't even eat their fill or afford a television.
Vought's shows and propaganda couldn't reach them at all.
That filtered out more than half.
Moreover, human emotions fluctuate. No one can stay in a state of fanatical worship forever.
The road was long and the task was heavy.
"I can't play around anymore; I have to get serious about the business,"
Homelander silently admonished himself.
However...
Homelander glanced at the clock on the wall.
He had an appointment with Skye tonight.
She had just experienced the blow of losing both parents and was at her most vulnerable, needing someone to lean on.
How could a kind person like Homelander have the heart to let a beautiful girl endure the loneliness of a long night?
"I'll start getting serious about business tomorrow."
Homelander tidied his hair, stood up, and walked out of the office.
...
The next morning.
A new round of Vought International's offensive officially began.
Vought Media held a grand press conference, officially announcing that Homelander's new movie series, "Vought: Vanguard Watchmen," would be released globally this weekend.
At the press conference, Ashley announced loudly from the stage: "To give back to all of humanity for their support of Homelander, all screenings of this movie will be free of charge worldwide!"
"As long as you walk into a cinema, all costs will be covered by Vought International!"
Not only that, she also threw out an irresistible gimmick:
"We will randomly select three lucky winners from all moviegoers worldwide. They will receive admission to the Vought Vanguard Hero Academy without an entrance exam and become trainee Superheroes!"
As soon as this news came out, the whole World was in an uproar.
Long queues formed in front of cinemas in every city; in some places with dense screenings, the lines even wrapped around several blocks.
People flocked to the cinemas to catch a glimpse of Homelander's heroic bearing, and even more so for that one-in-a-billion spot.
And such stimulation caused Homelander's popularity to soar in a short period of time.