The Explorer flew through the empty expanse of space.
This was the second day after leaving Earth.
The unmanned spacecraft was following its programmed course toward Mars.
If nothing unexpected happened, it would reach Mars in thirteen months.
Just then, while the Explorer was on its way to Mars, a black figure suddenly caught up with the spacecraft at incredible speed.
The figure passed the ship and stopped some distance ahead.
Sunlight shone over it.
Behind the figure, a red cape drifted up and down in space like flames.
Two red lights lit up on its face.
———
[Seven Tower, Homelander's bedroom]
Black-blue flames flickered as Homelander appeared within them.
He had returned.
[You have returned from the Multiverse. Processing settlement.]
[You stayed in the DC Universe for 14 days. 14 "Dim Proficiency Essences" have been deducted.]
[The Multiverse Event "Justice League" has ended!]
[Now evaluating and settling the event.]
Lines of information appeared across his vision.
Homelander quietly waited for the settlement results.
Soon, they appeared.
[Evaluation complete. Details are as follows.]
[1. You changed the fate of the Amazons and obtained the Amazon token "Spear of Fearlessness." Spear of Fearlessness: Randomly summons one to three brave Amazon warriors to fight for you. 70% chance to summon Helena and Hera, 20% chance to summon Queen Hippolyta, and 3% chance to summon Wonder Woman Diana.]
[2. You killed Orm, King of Atlantis, and obtained Proficiency Essence ×40.]
[3. You killed the Apokolips commander Steppenwolf and obtained Proficiency Essence ×80. You also received a one-time 50% discount on purchasing Steppenwolf-related items.]
[4. You repeatedly changed the DC Universe storyline and obtained Awakening Stone ×3.]
[5. You completed your sixth Multiverse Event and obtained Multiverse Crystal ×15.]
[Event settlement complete!]
[Your shop has been updated with new items.]
After reading everything, a smile appeared on Homelander's face, though it wasn't especially wide.
This event had lasted a total of fourteen days.
It was the longest Multiverse Event he had experienced so far.
But the rewards could only be called decent.
The first item, the Spear of Fearlessness, was a summoning item. It was somewhat better than the Suicide Squad phone, but only by a little.
It could summon one to three Amazon warriors.
There was a high chance of summoning Helena and Hera, the two Amazons closest to Homelander. Their overall strength was around the level of Captain America.
Of course, that was Captain America before picking up Thor's hammer.
As for Queen Hippolyta, her summon rate was fairly high, but she was only a little stronger than ordinary Amazon warriors.
The strongest was, of course, Wonder Woman. Wearing her divine equipment, Diana could fight Doomsday evenly.
Unfortunately, her summon rate was only 3%.
That chance could practically be ignored.
So to Homelander, the Spear of Fearlessness was just a toy.
The third reward, besides the Proficiency Essence from killing Steppenwolf, gave him a one-time half-price discount on Steppenwolf-related items.
This was the first time he'd seen a discount reward.
As for Steppenwolf-related items, Homelander had a big question mark in his mind.
He even doubted whether they were worth buying.
The most valuable reward from this event was the fourth one.
Awakening Stone!
It was the key item for breaking through a talent bottleneck.
With it, Homelander could choose whether to prioritize breaking through Bio-Force Field or Heat Vision.
"So the main reward was the fourth one, and the first three were just filler?"
Homelander shrugged and didn't check the newly updated shop right away.
He stood by the window and thought about what he still had to do in the Undying Empire.
"The research base is already under construction, and Angelina has started recruiting a team of scientists."
"Soon, the knowledge I learned from the Kryptonian ship can finally be put to use."
"The rest of Kryptonian technology is fine, but the way they obtain energy is too extreme."
"They directly drain a planet's energy. I can't build something like that in my own backyard."
"But without solving the energy problem, none of the other technology can be used."
"Energy... Maybe I should go to the Marvel world and get Tony Stark's clean energy technology."
Homelander nodded. He folded his arms and tapped one finger against his sleeve.
"The problem with the Xenomorphs has been dealt with for now, but Wrath and the others could arrive on Earth from outer space at any time."
"I wonder what things will look like then."
"Because Olga Corporation merged into Vought, the assets I can use have grown to a pretty terrifying level."
"Next, I'll turn those assets into money and put it into the base and the construction of my kingdom."
A smile appeared on Homelander's face.
"The Department of Defense and Stormfront are both preparing to move against me. I hope they can give me a surprise."
"As for the Shining Light Army, Levin is keeping an eye on Kimiko and her brother. If anything happens, I'll know right away."
"There's still plenty to do."
"But for now..."
"I'm giving myself a break."
———
Late at night...
[Sage Grove Psychiatric Hospital]
BOOM!
A heavy sound tore through the air above the hospital. Lightning twisted around as a figure landed inside the grounds.
Stormfront!
The first superhuman created by Vought landed inside the hospital, then walked into the building.
The security guards and doctors inside all bowed to greet her.
On the surface, Sage Grove Psychiatric Hospital was a hospital.
In reality, it was one of Vought's secret research facilities.
Vought used this place to test the stability of Compound V. Many years ago, the company had already become dissatisfied with injecting Compound V into babies and slowly creating superhumans that way.
Although the superhumans produced this way were more stable, waiting for babies to grow into adults took far too long.
The person in charge of Vought at the time, President Edgar, established Sage Grove Psychiatric Hospital and secretly began testing Compound V on adults.
The goal of the research was to create a stable version of Compound V that could produce superhumans as quickly as possible, allowing them to build a superhuman army.
At that point, Vought would be able to stand against the federal government and even the other major powers of the world.
Even after Edgar's death, the secret laboratory continued operating.
Its chief person in charge was Stormfront.
[🎉 Shoutout to Photobug, ZaberZ and Enthessi for joining p@treon. All the support is very welcomed. Thank you very much.🤗]