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"No! Stop!!" Bruce seemed to realize something and instinctively reached for his waist.
"Zzzzzzt——!!"
Two beams of searing Heat Vision shot from Homelander's eyes, piercing right through that sophisticated cosmic treadmill.
"Boom, boom, boom!!"
The instrument exploded repeatedly under the high temperature.
Sparks flew, and metal twisted.
The machine that carried Batman's hope for victory turned into a pile of smoking scrap metal in the blink of an eye.
"What did you do?!"
Barry Allen screamed, clutching his head, staring in horror at the pile of scrap metal.
"You destroyed our hope!!"
Cyborg's arm instantly transformed into a high-energy plasma cannon, aiming at Homelander.
"You..." Bruce glared straight at Homelander, the fury in his eyes erupting, "Are you insane?!"
The atmosphere was tense.
But Homelander didn't care at all.
"Me?"
He stood amidst the flames, his cape billowing in the heatwave behind him.
"I'm helping you wean yourselves."
"Stop dreaming, Bruce."
"There's no medicine for regret, and there's no starting over."
"We are standing here, on this land, protecting the group of people who are still alive behind us."
Homelander's voice was powerful and resonant, echoing through the vast bunker.
"If I were you, even if the odds were a million to one, I wouldn't pin my hopes on a nebulous past."
"I would clench my fists and fight for a future for this World, for the people who are still alive now!"
"Even if I fail, it would be as a warrior, dying on the path of a charge!"
"It's better than staying here with you cowards, indulging in that unrealistic pipe dream!"
With that, Homelander turned sharply, his cape snapping behind him, leaving behind a decisive and towering silhouette.
"Listen, you losers."
"I'm going to save the World, truly save it."
"In my own way."
The 50% charisma bonus was exerted to its limit at this moment.
In the dim light, that silhouette appeared so tall, so lonely, yet so full of power.
Harley Quinn looked at Homelander, the little stars in her eyes having turned into a supernova explosion.
"Mr. Milk Candy..."
She whispered softly, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.
So handsome!
So cool!
This is what a man should look like!
To hell with the plan! To hell with time travel!
"Wait for me! Mr. Milk Candy!"
"I want to do something big with you!"
Harley grabbed the baseball Bat off the table and chased after him, skipping like a schoolgirl going on a spring outing.
"We're going to rip off that Blue Boy Scout's underwear and wave it like a flag!!"
Prompt! Gained special popularity value +10,000! (From Harley Quinn)
One after the other, the two walked out of the Base's main gate.
Leaving only four people staring at each other in the bunker, along with a pile of smoking scrap metal.
"Does he really intend to... take on Superman head-on and kill him?"
Cyborg retracted his weapon and asked in disbelief.
"Bruce..." Barry Allen looked at Batman, "I think... he's right."
"We really have been running away." Barry's gaze became firm, "If this is my World, I should be here protecting it, not trying to erase it."
Deathstroke spat out the cigar in his mouth and gave a light chuckle.
"Heh... Bat, honestly, I want to work with him."
Bruce stood frozen in place, not as angry as one might imagine.
Instead, a long-lost surge of hot blood was reviving in his cold veins.
He knew that theoretically, changing the past only made sense in parallel timelines.
So he was gambling—gambling on a slim chance, gambling that Barry's Speed Force could create a miracle.
But wasn't this in itself a form of desperate escapism?
The man before him had cut off that path.
But he had also given him a new path.
A path for a real man.
"...Though I really want to punch you."
Bruce loosened his clenched fists. He pulled a Batarang from his belt, his fingers lightly stroking its sharp edge.
"You're right..."
"We've been hiding for too long."
Since there's no way back..." A long-absent trace of a smile actually appeared at the corner of Batman's mouth, "...then we can only move forward."
Prompt! Gained special popularity value +5,000! (From Bruce Wayne)
Prompt! Gained special popularity value +5,000! (From Barry Allen)
Prompt! Gained special popularity value +5,000! (From Viktor Stone)
Prompt! Gained special popularity value +5,000! (From Slade Wilson)
Walking in front, Homelander listened to the continuous prompts in his head.
He was overjoyed; these DC Universe natives looked like they wanted to eat him alive just a moment ago, but now they were contributing popularity value.
What a bunch of lovely leeks... V.G.D. Headquarters Helipad.
Homelander II descended slowly, the airflow from the anti-gravity engines scattering the accumulated water on the ground.
Although Homelander's video message had given the World a shot in the arm, the sense of emptiness from the absence of a heroic leader still hung over everyone's hearts like a dark cloud.
The hatch slid open with the sound of hydraulic depressurization.
Jessica Jones was the first to step out.
In the few seconds it took to step out of the hatch, her state underwent a transformation that startled even those familiar with her.
"Miss Jones... are you okay?"
Ashley, who had come to meet the flight, looked at the woman before her whose aura was fully unleashed and was stunned for a moment.
She had originally expected to see a broken woman and had already prepared tissues.
"Ashley."
Jessica's voice was steady, without any tremor, and even a bit colder than usual.
"I'm here, President Jones." Ashley instinctively used the title she hadn't mentioned in a long time.
"Issue a notice: an emergency board meeting will be held in thirty minutes. I want to see all senior management in the conference room; anyone absent is fired immediately."
"Tell the PR Department I want to see twenty different public opinion guidance plans regarding 'Homelander Missing in Interstellar Expedition' in ten minutes."
"Notify the Finance Department to freeze all non-essential external investments and divert all funds to the Deep Space Agency."
"Notify the Security Department to raise the alert level to the highest. If anyone dares to pull any small stunts behind our backs during this time..."
Jessica's footsteps paused for a moment, a dangerous light flashing in her eyes.
"...Execute Qualified Immunity directly!"
Jessica laid out tasks at a rapid-fire pace while walking toward the President's office.
That familiar feeling made the long-time Vought employees present tremble.
They were all too familiar with that look.
The last time Homelander went missing, Jessica had used that same look to whip those disobedient directors and executives into shape one by one.
That President Jones... is back.