Chapter 93: Politicians Targeting Homelander

Just three days ago, a heavily edited, high-definition video suddenly began spreading like wildfire across Twitter, YouTube, and various dark web forums. The content of the video was the exact footage of Homelander using his Heat Vision to instantly blow off the heads of those two street thugs in that New York dead-end alley that night. The imagery was brutally bloody and visceral; the visual impact of two heads bursting like watermelons instantly set the entire American internet ablaze.

Even though the uploader of the video—the creepy deadbeat Thomas who had been hiding upstairs plotting blackmail—had deliberately cut out the introductory dialogue where the thugs attempted to rape the pregnant woman, the public wasn’t blind. Even with the heavily edited footage, one could still discern from the woman slumped in the corner of the frame, protectively shielding her belly, that this was a superhero rescue.

What’s more, less than two hours after the video went viral, the rescued pregnant woman demonstrated immense courage. Braving massive public pressure, she personally recorded a video and posted it online. In the clip, the woman tearfully recounted the truth of that night: "If Mr. Homelander hadn’t dropped from the sky, my baby and I would have been tortured to death by those two animals long ago! He didn’t slaughter innocents—he killed them to protect me! He’s my real savior!"

Logically, with the victim coming forward to clear the air, the matter should have died down, perhaps even earning Homelander a wave of stellar PR. However, Vought International’s bitter rivals—anti-Supe, anti-Homelander politicians—along with the internet trolls hiding behind their keyboards, would never pass up such a golden opportunity to attack Homelander. No matter the justification, the ironclad fact remained that Homelander had enacted street vigilantism, brutally executing two unconvicted American citizens.

An unprecedented online flame war instantly fractured American public opinion. The first faction consisted of internet trolls and paid political shills holding up the banners of "human rights" and "due process." They hammered away furiously at their keyboards: "Even if it was attempted rape, it should have been left to the police and a judge to decide! What right does Homelander have to play executioner?!" "A Supe who can arbitrarily strip away human lives based purely on his own whims without a trial isn’t a hero—he’s a fascist! A butcher!" "If he can kill thugs today because he pities a pregnant woman, will he kill us regular people tomorrow just because he’s in a bad mood? Boycott Homelander! Demand Vought hand him over to face justice!"

The second faction naturally comprised the working class, die-hard Supe loyalists, and Vought’s own paid shills. After all, Vought belonged to Soldier Boy now, so they obviously had to back Homelander. They aggressively pushed back against the hypocritical rhetoric: "Shut the fuck up, you self-righteous bleeding hearts! Scumbags who threaten to stomp a pregnant woman’s belly deserve to die ten thousand times over!" "Wait for the cops? By the time the cops show up, the mother would be a corpse! Homelander did the right thing! Burn all that trash to ashes!"

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The two sides bickered relentlessly across the internet, trading vicious insults. However, under this tidal wave of public backlash, across the massive screens in Vought Tower’s PR department, Homelander’s chart-topping approval ratings began plummeting at a visually striking pace.

Had this happened half a month ago, seeing his approval ratings tank would have triggered a total emotional meltdown in the affection-starved Homelander. But right now, sitting in The Seven’s conference room inside Vought Tower, cradling a warm glass of milk, Homelander stared at the plunging red lines flashing on the screen with an uncharacteristically serene expression. He didn’t fly into a rage, nor did his eyes glow red. Granted, he might still feel irritated deep down, but compared to before, his capacity for emotional control had visibly improved.

"Father was right... some people’s love is not only hypocritical, but profoundly stupid." Homelander took a small sip of his milk, turning his gaze out toward the bustling New York skyline. The image floating through his mind was the tearful, post-survival gratitude of that pregnant woman, rather than the chaotic vitriol spewed across the web. "I don’t need the affection of you morons... I don’t need you..." Homelander muttered to himself. He no longer seemed to be the giant man-child held hostage by his polling data.

Yet the wind will not subside even if the tree desires stillness. Homelander had achieved a state of peace, but the politicians refused to let it rest. On the afternoon of the fourth day as the "vigilante execution incident" continued to fester, the plaza directly in front of Vought Tower in New York was swarming with people, the flashing cameras resembling an ocean of silver!

Thousands of protesters brandishing signs like "Stop Supe Violence," "Homelander Out of NY," and "We Need Laws, Not Tyrants" packed the plaza so tightly that not a drop of water could filter through. Dead center in the middle of the crowd stood a temporary stage. A dark-haired woman clad in a sharp black business suit, her eyes piercing and her aura highly provocative, held a microphone as she delivered a fierce public political speech. Congresswoman Victoria Neuman!

"Look at this tower! Look at those so-called heroes hiding behind that glass curtain wall!" Neuman’s voice echoed across the plaza through the loudspeakers, piercing straight into the interior of the building. "They claim to protect us, but they’ve turned our city into a personal slaughterhouse where they can act with total impunity!!"

"Homelander incinerated two citizens in broad daylight! Yes, those citizens may have committed a crime, they may have been scumbags! But on American soil, their judgment belongs to a judge’s gavel, not the Heat Vision of a flag-wearing dictator!" Neuman spoke with fiery passion. "Today, we must send a warning to Vought International, to The Seven: this country does not belong solely to Supes!"

The crowd below ignited instantly, erupting into an absolute tidal wave of cheers and roaring agreement. Surveying the incensed mass before her, a flash of cold, vengeful satisfaction flickered deep within Neuman’s eyes. Stepping forward as the "anti-Vought vanguard" at a juncture like this was driven by a very simple motive. It wasn’t just to rake in political capital; it was for revenge.

Keep in mind, Benjamin had personally crushed Stan Edgar’s neck! Before his death, Edgar had told Neuman that if he died, she had to find an opportunity to retaliate against Vought and strike back at Soldier Boy. Because Stan Edgar was not only the former CEO of Vought International, but the adoptive father who had raised Neuman from childhood, granting her power and status.

Neuman had listened to Edgar, actively hunting for an opening during this entire stretch. By design, her public platform was that of an anti-Supe, anti-Homelander, anti-Vought politician. In the original timeline, Neuman was a calculated opportunist who would betray Edgar because of Homelander’s death threats.

But the landscape had shifted completely now. Homelander hadn’t threatened her; the true master of Vought International was Benjamin! And Benjamin had slaughtered the only family she had left. Consequently, Neuman—who was supposed to be Vought’s inside asset—was now an anti-Supe politician thoroughly fueled by hatred. She intended to wield her finest political maneuvers to drag the insufferable father-son duo, Benjamin and Homelander, completely off their pedestals. Of course, this was also because neither of them had gone out of their way to threaten her yet.

"If Vought International does not hand over the murderer, I will personally submit a bill to Congress demanding comprehensive judicial restrictions and a total asset freeze on The Seven!" Neuman’s final line landed like a bombshell, sending the entire crowd into an absolute frenzy!

The waves of protest surged higher and higher, nearly loud enough to shatter the glass panels of Vought Tower. The deafening roar of resistance swept across the plaza. Standing at the perimeter of the stage, Victoria Neuman maintained a politician’s trademark look of sorrowful empathy, but a closer look would reveal her large, beautiful eyes gleaming with satisfaction. This was exactly the outcome she wanted.

The public’s rage was her ultimate political leverage. By tearing those high-and-mighty superheroes off their pedestals, she could not only secure greater power but exact vengeance for her late adoptive father. Having lost her status as Vought’s mole along with her father, she naturally craved more.

Yet, just as Neuman prepared to hoist her microphone to continue her highly provocative speech—Boom! Everyone instinctively lifted their heads, staring up at the sky above.

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