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"Let's go in together." She reached out her hand, "Come on, take my hand."
Homelander shook his head, letting out a helpless, bitter smile.
Jessica showed an expression that said "I knew it," pointing at the massive planetary head outside the window.
"You never planned to leave, did you?"
Homelander fell silent.
"When did you become so smart, Jessica?"
"Sometimes, a woman being too smart isn't a good thing..."
As he spoke, Homelander slightly turned his body, facing Jessica's camera directly.
"That's right... I'm not leaving."
"I want to go home too... drinking beer and eating burgers with friends."
"But... I am Homelander. Earth is my home, and all humans are my family."
"If someone must stay behind to face this endless darkness..."
"That person can only be me."
"With great power comes great responsibility!"
In the live stream room.
Billions of people watched this scene, already sobbing uncontrollably.
"No!!"
"Come back! Homelander! We don't want you to die!"
"Wuwuwu... He really wants to protect us..."
"This is a hero! This is a true hero!"
"Please! Run! Just stay alive!"
"God, I sincerely ask you to bless him..."
Alert! Gained popularity value +548,586!
Alert! Gained popularity value +667,824!
Alert! Gained popularity... Jessica looked at this man who, even at a life-and-death moment, still remembered to build his persona and find the right angle in front of the camera.
Tears blurred her vision.
She knew he was acting, but she also knew he was truly going to stay and fight with his life.
This hypocritical bastard, doing the greatest thing in the most hypocritical way.
This narcissistic, vain, yet charming guy... is my lover... Jessica walked to Homelander's side and gently took his hand.
"Since you insist on being this hero..." Jessica's eyes shimmered with tears, but a relieved smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Then let me, this photographer, accompany you to the end."
"I don't want to go back alone to face a World without you."
This scene made viewers worldwide feel their hearts breaking.
Countless people covered their mouths, moved to the point of being unable to breathe.
What kind of love is this? What kind of bond is this?
"Is this love..."
"Wuwuwu, although I'm jealous of her, at this moment, she is worthy of Homelander."
Even in the V.G.D. Headquarters, Quill and the others who had just come out also fell silent.
Gamora looked at the screen, her eyes moist: "They... are true warriors."
Nebula stared motionlessly at the screen, as if her power had been cut off.
Homelander looked at Jessica in front of him and remained silent for two seconds.
Suddenly, he smiled.
A smile incredibly gentle and brilliant.
"Alright." Homelander said softly, "Then let's go together."
He opened his arms.
"Put down the camera, come here, hug me."
Jessica smiled, tears falling.
She let down all her defenses and walked step by step toward that warm embrace.
However, just as her body was about to touch Homelander's.
Homelander's palm suddenly changed direction.
"What...?"
Jessica turned her head in astonishment, looking at Homelander.
Homelander suddenly grinned: "Off you go!"
He exerted force from his palm.
"Whoosh——!"
Jessica widened her eyes in mid-air, reaching out to grab something.
But she could only see Homelander standing there, waving at her with a smile that made her both love and hate him.
"Anthony! You bastard——!!!"
Her scream still echoed in the cabin as her body passed through a golden portal and fell onto the floor of the V.G.D. Headquarters.
"Wait for me over there."
As Jessica fell into the portal, Homelander snapped his fingers.
The orange ring flickering with sparks instantly contracted and disappeared into the air.
Only Homelander remained alone in the spacecraft.
The cabin was finally quiet.
Homelander put away his smile, glanced at where the portal had disappeared, and shook his head helplessly:
"Women... are troublesome."
... Earth, V.G.D. Headquarters.
"Thud!"
Jessica fell heavily onto the floor, sliding several meters before stopping.
Then she scrambled up like crazy, rushing toward where the portal had just disappeared.
"Open the door!! Anthony! Open the door for me!!"
She clawed wildly at the air, trying to grasp the already vanished sparks.
But there was only air.
"Bastard!! Liar!! You said we were together!!"
Jessica knelt on the ground, crying and shouting, her fists pounding the floor so hard that stones flew everywhere.
People around wanted to comfort her but didn't dare approach.
"Zzz——!!"
Another golden spark lit up beside Jessica.
Everyone was startled, thinking Homelander had returned.
Jessica also showed an expectant expression.
But what emerged was a figure in a red sorcerer's robe.
Wanda Maximoff.
"Where's Anthony?! Where is he?!"
As soon as she appeared, she looked at the empty hall and then at Jessica kneeling on the ground, crying bitterly.
"The door... is it closed?"
Wanda's voice trembled.
Jessica looked up, her face covered in tears, staring at Wanda.
Two rivals who usually couldn't stand each other, at this moment, found resonance in each other's desperate eyes.
"He... he pushed me back..." Jessica said through tears, "He stayed there alone..."
"No..."
Wanda's body swayed, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
"Liar... big liar..."
Wanda walked over, knelt beside Jessica, and the two women who deeply loved the same man hugged each other, sobbing.
Everyone present silently lowered their heads, their eyes reddening.
A sorrowful atmosphere filled the entire hall.
"Hey! Look!"
Suddenly, a staff member pointed at the screen and shouted.
"The live stream isn't cut off!!"
Everyone looked up abruptly.
On the large screen, although the image shook slightly, it remained clear.
The camera Jessica had left behind hadn't stopped working.
In the video, inside the "Homelander One" spacecraft, a mechanical arm extended flexibly, connecting to the camera's data transmission interface.
Then the image adjusted and focused.
The lens slowly pulled toward the exterior of the spacecraft.
In the dark, deep space.
In front of the massive Planet about to erupt.
A tiny figure floated quietly there, back to the camera, facing the World-destroying power.
"Ego."
Homelander's voice rang clearly in the live stream.
"You want to devour everything, you want to become the only one."
"But you forgot."
"Some things, you can never devour."
Homelander slowly raised his hand, pressing it against the eagle emblem on his chest.
"That is—the dignity of life!"
"Today, I will use my life..."
Homelander's body began to glow with a dazzling light, the fire of life burning.
"...to defend humanity's future!!"