112. Chapter 112: Homelander: This is Called Killing the Person While Punishing the Heart
In the Underground Prison, Frenchie had just rescued Kimiko when he was shot in the arm by the Guards who arrived shortly after.
Facing the overwhelming firepower, the four could only temporarily retreat. They hid behind a low wall, letting the bullets whistle over their heads.
"Hughie, can your superpower block bullets?" Frenchie supported Kimiko, whose face was pale, clearly not in a state to fight.
"Can't block them."
Xia Shang's answer was quite decisive.
"But I can try to take them down when they get closer," Xia Shang didn't want to fully expose his ability, as it would easily arouse suspicion from Mother's Milk and the others.
"Then let's pretend to surrender." Immediately after, Mother's Milk raised his hands and shouted towards the outside of the wall, "Hey! Brothers, wait, we surrender, stop shooting."
Soon, the intense gunshots came to an abrupt halt.
"Hands on your head and squat down!" The Guards responsible for the capture immediately surrounded Mother's Milk and the others. They aimed their gun muzzles at the four and shouted loudly with great vigilance.
Just then, Xia Shang, who was already prepared, pounced out like a cheetah. Using the blade in his hand, he instantly took down one person.
"Fuck you, stop!" The remaining Guards instantly aimed their gun muzzles at Xia Shang, but before they could pull the trigger, several Blood Spikes shot out from Xia Shang's raised hand, accurately piercing their throats. This move completely stunned Mother's Milk and Frenchie.
Looking at the few corpses on the ground, Xia Shang feigned an uncomfortable expression. At the same time, he lowered his head to look at his hands and said incredulously, "Oh, shit, I actually killed them in such a short time."
If he could, he would give himself a Golden Statue Award for his performance.
"I knew you could do it," Frenchie excitedly put his arm around Xia Shang's shoulder. Seeing that Xia Shang's mood wasn't quite right, he persuaded him, "Don't be sad, these guys weren't good people. They were corrupt cops from the CIA, they had at least double-digit body counts."
As soon as Frenchie finished speaking, with a flash of light, Starlight, wearing her old combat suit, appeared before them.
"Looks like you didn't really need my help." Starlight looked at the corpses on the ground. Ultimately, she chose to follow her heart and be a superhero who punished evil and upheld justice, as this was the belief she had always held. Human nature is always complex, and Starlight was no exception.
"Sorry, I didn't expect you to come." To play the part completely, Xia Shang looked at Starlight with great surprise.
"As you said... I'm a damned superhero, but still a hero, right?"
Just as everyone was about to leave, Xia Shang suddenly sensed a familiar radio waves appearing before him. When he looked up, sure enough, at the end of the Corridor, A-Train slowly walked out of the darkness.
"Homelander was right, there is indeed a traitor among us," A-Train said, looking at Starlight.
"You guys take Kimiko and go first, Starlight and I will handle A-Train."
Xia Shang told them to leave first, "Don't forget, I was injected with that stuff."
"Alright, be careful."
Frenchie understood that staying here would only be a burden, so he supported the unconscious Kimiko and turned to leave.
"What stuff? Compound V?" Starlight asked with a frown.
"I'll explain it to you later when we have time."
Several blood streams drilled out from various parts of Xia Shang's body, like the sash-like tendrils in Dunhuang murals, swirling around him. At the same time, Starlight also began to use her superpower. As golden light shone from her eyes, the lightbulbs above them crackled.
The next second, she raised her arms and shot two beams of golden light towards A-Train.
This was a contest of light and speed! Starlight was like the Goddess of Light possessed at this moment, instantly showering countless light rain, making the entire space incredibly brilliant. Unfortunately, due to the environment's limitations, the light rain couldn't seal off all space.
While dodging the light rain, A-Train also had to avoid the light beams shot by Starlight. However, because he had just been injected with a large amount of Compound V, his speed was boosted to its limit state. With extremely precise movement, he avoided all attacks and successfully arrived in front of Starlight.
With a push of his hands, Starlight was immediately sent flying.
The entire process took no more than three seconds. Many details were too fast for even Xia Shang to capture.
Because it was too fast! It was impossible to see clearly with human dynamic vision.
A-Train, panting heavily, walked up to Xia Shang and said fiercely, "You killed the only person I ever loved."
"I don't understand." The blood swirling around Xia Shang instantly wrapped around A-Train's neck. Before A-Train could break free from the restraint, a huge fist came towards him.
Bang! A-Train was sent flying by the punch and rolled several times on the ground. When he was about to get up and ram Xia Shang to death, little did he know that the blood remaining on his cheek had already drilled into his nostril.
"Ah!!" A-Train covered his heart, curling his body up like a shrimp. Due to the intense pain, his forehead was covered with sweat beads. "My heart... my heart."
A few seconds later, A-Train fell unconscious.
"Is he dead?" Starlight anxiously asked Xia Shang.
She had never intended to kill A-Train.
"Probably not dead. From his movements just now, he might have a heart condition."
The reason Xia Shang didn't kill A-Train was that this guy still had use value. Now, the other party's heart had been invaded by his blood. It could be said that A-Train's life and death were at his will.
[Rapid Fusion in progress, current progress 1%]
Starlight was still uneasy. Before leaving, she called an ambulance for A-Train.
......
Meanwhile, Billy found Madelyn Stillwell's Residence and snuck into Madelyn Stillwell's Villa.
He waited for about two hours.
Only then did Madelyn Stillwell return home. As Madelyn Stillwell took off her shoes and was about to walk towards the Living Room, she was suddenly grabbed by Billy, who covered her mouth. "I warn you not to move, or I'll shoot you dead."
Then, Billy took out the C4 explosives he had prepared in advance and strapped them to Madelyn Stillwell's body.
"Next, you just need to answer my questions. Otherwise, I'll send you to meet God." Billy held the remote control in one hand and a hand grenade in the other.
Madelyn Stillwell, whose mouth was sealed with tape, didn't want to enrage the madman in front of her, so she nodded.
"Very good." Billy tore off the tape, ready to ask the first question.
However, all of this was witnessed by Homelander, who had arrived. Just two hours earlier, Madelyn Stillwell had unintentionally mentioned Becca's miscarriage. This was completely different from what Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum had said, so after the party, he specifically followed behind Madelyn Stillwell, intending to figure this matter out completely. He just didn't expect to stumble upon such a good show. Holding Madelyn Stillwell's child, he appeared before Billy. He said with a smile, "Ask what? Where Becca went? Or how Madelyn Stillwell can deal with me?"
"I know you, the rapist dressed as Santa Claus, can shoot Heat Vision from your eyes, but don't forget, once I die, my fingers will go limp. This thing is specially made, it will explode as soon as I let go," Billy said calmly, raising his right hand holding the hand grenade.
"Keep your voice down, don't scare the child," Homelander showed a kind smile.
"Quickly take him away," Madelyn Stillwell said.
However, Homelander didn't pay attention to her. Instead, he praised Billy, "You're very calm. Although your heart is beating a bit fast, that's not fear, it's anger."
"Is it because of your lovely wife Becca? Alright, let's cut the crap, buddy. This is actually not my fault, she came onto me. You know, it's hard for any man to resist this kind of thing..." According to Homelander, he and Billy's wife were mutually in love back then, and there was no coercion involved.
Billy naturally wouldn't believe his nonsense. In his heart, his wife was definitely not that kind of person.
"By the way, what I want to tell you is, she and I were really compatible in certain aspects," Homelander let out hearty laughter.
"Can you stop talking? Just take him away from here, okay?" Madelyn Stillwell's words were again ignored by Homelander.
Billy remained silent. He kept telling himself inwardly that all of this was fake, that Homelander was deceiving him.
"For the sake of the truth, you kidnapped a woman I care about, a woman I love, right? So what's your next plan? Do you want to hear my confession, or will you end this game through other methods?" Homelander came to Madelyn Stillwell's side and stroked her hair.
"I want you to feel my pain, completely," Billy stared intently at Homelander.
"So that's it, you want me to feel pain by blowing up Madelyn Stillwell..."
"Take him away, please take him away?"
Madelyn Stillwell interrupted Homelander again, but this time she completely enraged him.
"Shut up!!"
Homelander pointed at Madelyn Stillwell and shouted.
He leaned his face close to Madelyn Stillwell's and said in a deep voice, "You promised me you wouldn't hide any secrets from me, you promised me! Honestly, before you lied, you should have gone over the story details with Vogelbaum. Your accounts were very close."
Saying this, he made a gesture indicating closeness, "Just a few details were different, so I went back and found Vogelbaum again. I made him tell the truth."
Then, Homelander pressed his forehead against Madelyn Stillwell's forehead.
"I'm really sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hidden it from you, please give me another chance, please take Teddy upstairs, okay?" Madelyn Stillwell hadn't panicked when she was strapped with explosives, but at this moment, she spoke with a crying tone. Only someone who understood Homelander would know how angry he was at this moment. She was scared, she was truly scared.
"Did you ever truly care about me? Or was I just important for your work? Your care for that damned child far exceeds me. I'm giving you a chance, tell me the truth, why did you do this?"
"Just tell me, and I'll turn around and leave now."
Homelander looked affectionately into Madelyn Stillwell's eyes.
"I'm very scared, afraid of you."
Her answer made Homelander stunned for a moment: "What?"
"I said, I'm very scared, I'm afraid that child will steal your love from me," Madelyn Stillwell's voice trembled.
"Thank you."
Homelander pressed his forehead against hers again and started kissing her. When he raised his head, his eyes were already red. The next second, two beams of Heat Vision directly pierced through Madelyn Stillwell's eyes, completely burning half of her cheek.
Seeing Madelyn Stillwell killed by Homelander himself, Billy, who could no longer restrain Homelander with Madelyn Stillwell, pressed the button in utter despair. Boom! With a loud noise, flames instantly filled the entire Villa. At the same time, a grey-black mushroom cloud rose slowly.
......
In the instant of the explosion, Billy lost consciousness. When he woke up again, the surroundings were a scene of birdsong and fragrant flowers. At first, he thought he had arrived in heaven, until Homelander appeared before him.
"Looks like this isn't heaven, otherwise I wouldn't see you here," Billy understood that Homelander had saved him.
"Hey, buddy, wake up, you've been unconscious for a while. As for words of thanks, you can say them later."
Homelander smiled and waved his hand at him, "Come on, you'll definitely like this."
Billy didn't understand why, so he struggled to crawl up and see what the hell this bastard was doing.
The result was that he saw Becca, who had been missing for a long time. As the two gazed affectionately at each other, Homelander, standing to the side, gently said to the boy in front of him, "Your mom didn't tell you that your father is actually Homelander, you are my child."
Homelander stroked the boy's face. This action was as if telling Billy that his quest for revenge over all these years had turned out to be just a joke.
This move of his could truly be called Killing the Person While Punishing the Heart.
The next day.
Xia Shang, who had just arrived at Vought International for work, learned the news that Madelyn Stillwell had been blown up.
Although it was within his expectation, he still showed a shocked expression.
"I heard she was blown up by terrorists. This matter has made the New York headlines. Let me show you the photos from the scene. Madelyn Stillwell's Villa was directly blown into ruins." Early in the morning, Baruch came to Xia Shang's office, eager to share this explosive news with him.
Xia Shang took the mobile phone he handed over and took a look. It was indeed as he said, Madelyn Stillwell's Villa had been reduced to ruins.
"Have they investigated who did it?" Xia Shang returned the mobile phone to him, then opened his computer and began searching for news related to the Villa explosion.
Baruch put away his mobile phone and shook his head, "The specific situation of the accident is said to be still under investigation, but someone found a baby at the scene. That baby was less than a thousand meters away from the explosion point and was completely unscathed."
"A baby?" Xia Shang didn't think Homelander would save Madelyn Stillwell's child. He even killed Madelyn Stillwell, how could he possibly leave him alive?
"Seems to be called Teddy, he's Madelyn Stillwell's child. How pitiful, lost his mother at such a young age."
Baruch said with emotion.
"Fortunately, an Orphanage was willing to adopt him, so it's also a blessing in disguise."
(end of chapter )