Chapter 83: A Trip to Syria (Part 1)

Syria—an arid expanse of land repeatedly ravaged by the flames and smoke of war. Swirling yellow sand, whipped up by the howling gale, scraped against the shattered ruins like sandpaper. The heavy stench of gunsmoke hung thick in the air.

Yet, inside a death zone where even local insurgents trod with absolute caution, a man and a woman were casually strolling across the desert in a thoroughly jarring display.

The man was tall and upright, clad in a dark green suit with a heavily vintage texture. Holding his shield, he took leisurely steps, not even bothering to glance at the hidden sniper nests lurking in the shadows around them. It was none other than Benjamin, Vought’s current shadow ruler—Soldier Boy. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Trailing half a step behind him was Annie, "Starlight," wearing her iconic white-and-gold suit—her original outfit, of course. Even in this sandstorm-swept Syria, Starlight’s beautiful face and striking curves were exceptionally eye-catching.

However, she didn’t sport the practiced smile she usually put on for the cameras. Instead, she followed Benjamin’s every step, her eyes revealing a trace of adoration and submission.

Some time had passed since Vought International captured the Asian Supe girl, Kimiko, and her brother, Kenji. Benjamin remained completely in the dark about what had transpired between Homelander, Butcher, and Becca back in the secret community. This was mainly because Homelander didn’t give a single shit about the ordeal, so he never bothered to bring it up to Benjamin.

Benjamin hadn’t brought Starlight all the way from bustling New York to Syria just to experience exotic sights or go sightseeing. He was here to handle a problem—a Supe-Terrorist named Naqib.

To be precise, a terrorist who could detonate himself like a human nuclear bomb at any given second and recover completely unscathed. This power is a bit like my own, Benjamin thought. In the original timeline, this exploding Supe-Terrorist was handled by Black Noir, Vought’s most ruthless killing machine.

Unfortunately, Black Noir had already had his heart ripped clean out by Homelander’s own hands. Without Noir—that tireless cleaner willing to handle the dirty work—Naqib remained a ticking time bomb, left unhandled until now. Of course, it was also because Benjamin had genuinely been bored out of his mind lately at Vought Tower. Aside from visiting Stormfront’s apartment or trailer at night to "instruct" that psycho woman’s combat techniques, or enjoying Starlight’s adoration and service back in his office...

Since he had nothing better to do, Benjamin simply decided to clear his head, taking Starlight out for a breath of fresh air while personally putting down the exploding Supe who was originally Noir’s problem.

"Annie," Benjamin asked, "how’s the progress with that Japanese girl, Kimiko?"

Starlight paused, quickly taking two steps to keep up. Her expression was somewhat hesitant, as if she were carefully weighing her words.

"Kimiko... she still seems a bit undecided," Starlight reported diligently, smoothing out her blonde hair whipped up by the wind. "She was extremely resistant at first, but I went to talk to her privately a few times like you asked, assuring her that you’re entirely different from previous Vought executives. Her stance has softened considerably; it looks like she’s leaning toward cooperating."

Pausing there, Starlight lifted her head, her clear eyes stealing a glance at Benjamin’s broad back as her voice naturally lowered. "But... Kimiko scrawled something down on a piece of paper for me. She said that the real culprit behind all these Compound V-injected Supe-Terrorists suddenly popping up worldwide isn’t Mr. Edgar or Madelyn at all."

Lacing her tone with a faint anxiety, Starlight continued, "It... it’s Homelander. Back in the day, Homelander was the one who secretly had people deliver Compound V to those terrorists just so the company could secure a military contract with the Department of Defense." Starlight felt increasingly self-conscious as she spoke. After all, Homelander was Benjamin’s son.

"So..." Starlight forced herself to conclude, "Kimiko doesn’t trust Homelander, and she doesn’t fully trust Vought either. If possible, she’d rather have you strip away her and Kenji’s powers, but she’s deeply worried you might be deceiving them."

Yet, contrary to Starlight’s expectations, Benjamin didn’t display a shred of fury upon hearing this, merely nodding indifferently. "Yeah, that’s entirely the handy work of my brainless, pussy son."

Benjamin’s tone was perfectly frank. Catching the adorable look on Starlight’s face as her lips parted slightly in pure shock, he let out a quiet chuckle. He wasn’t surprised at all that The Boys or Kimiko knew about this.

"No need to look so goddamn shocked, Annie," Benjamin said, shrugging his shoulders. He fished a sterling silver flask from his pocket, throwing his head back to down a swig of straight liquor. The burning liquid slid down his throat, cutting through the dry grit of the sandstorm. "If I hadn’t rumbled awake from that goddamn Russian stasis pod and returned to Vought to run the show, my attention-starved son would have definitely done shit a hundred times stupider than this in the future, all for the sake of his vanity and ratings. But that doesn’t mean Homelander can’t change, does it?"

Hearing Benjamin speak with such completely unvarnished honesty, Starlight’s adoration deepened even further. This was precisely the charm of Soldier Boy—he was neither hypocritical nor guarded.

"Yes!" Starlight nodded heavily, her eyes gleaming. "I believe in you, sir. Under your leadership, you, Homelander, and the rest of The Seven can absolutely become real superheroes."

Starlight continued, "As for Kimiko, I’ll be patient and talk to her some more once we get back. But, sir, I am a bit concerned... if we just let her and her brother out this easily, what if she plays along on the surface but defects right back to that ’The Boys’ crew behind our backs?" Starlight harbored some genuine worry over the prospect.

Benjamin found it somewhat amusing. "Annie, do you honestly think I need to fucking pander to a stray dog and beg her to stay by my side? If she wants to join, great. If she runs, we just hunt her down and drag her back. Simple as that."

In reality, Benjamin wasn’t worried about Kimiko joining The Boys at all. In the original timeline, the fundamental reason Kimiko committed entirely to The Boys was because her brother Kenji—the only family she had left—had his neck violently snapped by that psycho bitch Stormfront. But now, Stormfront had already been whipped thoroughly into submission; without Benjamin’s explicit consent, there was zero chance she would summarily execute Kenji on her own.

"I understand, sir."

"Good." Benjamin patted her head with satisfaction.

All along the way, Benjamin had basically spent his evening downtime unwinding with Starlight... If it weren’t for the fact that it was broad daylight and danger might be lurking nearby, Starlight genuinely would have dropped to her knees at Benjamin’s head-pat...

---<>---

A/N: Don’t forget to send Power Stones for more Chapters!!

Want to know what happens next? You can read up to 10+ Chapters ahead on my p@tr~on:

[email protected]/ForgottenDaoist (@ = a, link is in my profile).