[Federal Savings Bank]
The incident was over, and the police were handling the aftermath.
Police tape had been set up outside the bank, preventing pedestrians from getting close.
The entire street had even been temporarily placed under traffic control, as officers were collecting various parts and fragments.
All of these scenes were being taken in by a pair of eyes.
They belonged to a man holding a newspaper and wearing a baseball cap. Standing among the pedestrians, he was completely unremarkable.
"Homelander really is strong."
"The Tyrant Armor didn't even last one minute before getting taken out."
"It didn't even get a chance to strike back."
"Terrifying."
He took out his phone. The screen displayed a series of data.
"But luckily, we collected the data we needed."
"Using Homelander's data for targeted upgrades, the next-generation armor should be even stronger."
The man let out another low sigh, "If we could replicate the technology of the No. 0 Bio-Armor, none of this would be so troublesome."
"With reverse engineering, we can only get some surface-level stuff."
As he muttered, he organized the data into a file and sent it to an address: Olga Weapons Research Laboratory.
———
[The Seven's Headquarters]
Ashley hurried toward the command hall, only to see Homelander and Edgar walking out.
The two of them were chatting and laughing, as if they had completely forgotten that Vice President Madelyn had died that morning.
That was a vice president, not some ordinary employee, but a major figure who could meet with members of Congress.
Yet to Edgar, it seemed no different from a cat or a dog dying.
Judging from this, Vought had no intention of holding anyone accountable.
Thinking this, Ashley silently reminded herself. About what kind of attitude she needed to adopt when serving Homelander.
Watching Homelander escort Edgar into the elevator, Ashley slightly unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse and pulled open the collar before walking over.
"Something happened, Homelander."
Alex turned around and glanced at her, noticing how wide her collar was open, exposing her cleavage. She wasn't afraid of catching a cold at all. The building's central air conditioning was blasting cold air nonstop.
"What is it?", Alex asked calmly.
Ashley answered concisely, "It's A-Train. He ran over and killed a civilian."
'A-Train?'
Scenes from the TV show immediately flashed through Alex's mind.
'The main plot was starting.'
Seeing Homelander remain silent, Ashley immediately said, "You don't need to worry."
"I've already had the PR department take action."
"They'll arrange for A-Train to apologize on TV. The company's lawyers will give the victim's family a humanitarian compensation check. This will all be over very soon."
"This has always been how we handle things, and we haven't found any problems so far."
A smile slowly appeared on Alex's face.
He reached out and stroked Ashley's cheek, "Is there really no problem?"
That hand, which could easily crush her head, was gently caressing her cheek.
Ashley grew so nervous that her breathing became tight.
She was about to say something.
When she heard Homelander say, "This time, we're not doing it that way."
Ashley: "???"
"Ashley, just because there haven't been problems before doesn't mean there won't be in the future."
"A volcano not erupting just means the time hasn't come yet."
Alex smiled and walked toward the command hall, "Have A-Train roll over here to see me."
.
.
.
A short while later, the doors to the command hall opened.
Facing the floor-to-ceiling windows, back to the door, without turning around, Alex knew A-Train had arrived.
"Homelander, you wanted to see me?", A-Train was a bit nervous. He still had bloodstains on him that hadn't been cleaned off.
Alex didn't turn around.
With his hands behind his back, he looked out over the massive city beyond the windows.
"Tell me what happened?"
A-Train cleared his throat, "I was chasing a group of bank robbers this morning. I was passing through the street when that girl suddenly jumped out."
"I accidentally ran into her— Fine, I admit I was distracted, but that's not my fault."
After saying that, he saw Homelander beckon with his hand.
He walked over to Alex's side.
Alex reached out and patted his shoulder, slightly turning his face, his smile bright.
"What do you gain from lying to me?"
A-Train tried to argue, "Homelander, I—"
Suddenly, he couldn't breathe.
Because Homelander had one hand wrapped around his throat.
The tremendous strength in that hand was squeezing the air out of his lungs bit by bit.
Even so, the smile on Homelander's face never changed.
Then A-Train heard the leader of The Seven say, "I don't care what you did."
"But you killed someone."
"That's not something a single 'sorry' can make go away."
"I want you to cooperate with our PR."
"Later, Ashley will arrange for you to apologize to the victim's family."
"At that time, every TV station in the city will be broadcasting live."
"So I need you to show enough sincerity."
"Understand?"
Only after saying that did Alex release his grip.
A-Train broke into violent coughing.
Leaning on the edge of the table, he looked up and said, "But it was just a civilian. Do we really need to go this far?"
Alex turned around with his hands behind his back, "Right now, I'm not discussing this with you."
He smiled, "I'm giving an ORDER."
"Understood?"
A-Train swallowed, "Understood."
———
Having just attended his girlfriend Robin's funeral, Hughie returned home with his father and sat silently on the couch.
"Robin's funeral was done so grandly."
"Did you see how many people came?"
"Everyone respected her. The place was filled with love."
His dad rambled on.
Hughie knew he was trying to comfort him.
But right now, he wasn't in the mood.
At that moment, a news segment appeared on the TV screen.
In the footage, A-Train stepped out of a car, his face grim.
A reporter held out a microphone beside him, ["A-Train, are you here to apologize to the victim's family?"]
["Can you tell us how you struck the victim?"]
["A-Train, what were you doing at the time?"]
Facing the reporters' questions, A-Train remained silent and kept walking forward.
As the camera angle changed, the scene shifted, and Hughie froze slightly.
The scene on TV looked very familiar.
'It looks like the street outside?'
Just then, voices came from outside, followed by the doorbell ringing.
A moment later, Hughie and his father went outside.
Camera flashes went off nonstop.
Amid the blinding bursts of light, he saw the goggle-wearing superhero, A-Train. The killer who had run over his girlfriend.
For a moment, Hughie felt an urge to rush up and punch him.
At that moment, Ashley, standing beside A-Train, raised her hand to signal the reporters to quiet down. She cleared her throat and put on a professional smile.
Looking at Hughie, "Hello, Mr. Hughie."
"I'm Ashley from Vought."
"We are deeply sorry about what happened to Miss Robin."
"A-Train himself also wishes to personally express his sincere condolences to you."
"And an apology."
For a moment, Hughie thought he had misheard.
'A superhero apologizing to me in person?'
At that moment, Ashley glanced at A-Train.
A-Train, who never took off his goggles, looked around and, at extremely high speed, in a voice so low it was almost inaudible, said—
"Sorry."