He thought Homelander would immediately show a look of contempt upon hearing such a background; after all, those in high society avoided any association with criminals.
But Homelander only nodded slightly, as if he had heard something perfectly ordinary.
"The case from three years ago... Scott..." Homelander pretended to think for a moment, then a look of "realization" flashed in his eyes.
"No wonder you look familiar. Scott Lang... the Cyber Robin Hood who hacked into Vistacorp's security system and drove the CEO's Bentley into a swimming pool?"
Scott almost spat out his drink and asked somewhat awkwardly, "You... you've heard my story?"
"Someone mentioned it during small talk at a business cocktail party," Homelander said casually, leaning against the bar.
Scott lowered his head in realization. Right, to these billionaire circles, his "feat" back then was nothing more than a joke to be shared over tea.
Homelander pulled a box of slender Cohiba cigars from his inner suit pocket, took one out for himself, and offered one to Scott.
Scott took the cigar but declined the lighter offered by the bartender, carefully tucking the cigar into his pocket.
Homelander saw this, smiled slightly without saying anything, and continued.
"But there's one thing I'm quite curious about."
"You hacked into your former employer's system and altered the flow of funds. Even if you didn't pocket the money, legally, it still constitutes unauthorized network intrusion and illegal transfer of a massive amount of funds. This felony usually carries a sentence of 5 to 10 years."
Homelander held up one finger, then a second.
"Secondly, you broke into the CEO's private mansion. Regardless of whether anything was stolen, trespassing is a very serious crime. If anyone was inside, the sentence would be even heavier. In California, this charge is usually 2 to 6 years."
"Finally," Homelander held up a third finger, "you also drove that expensive Bentley into the pool. Damaging property worth more than $400 is also a felony, let alone a Bentley. These two charges combined would be at least another 2 to 4 years."
"Logically, with all the charges added up, even with the most lenient sentencing from a judge, you should have spent over 10 years in prison."
"Yet you only got three years. How did you do it? Was the judge your relative?"
Hearing this professional analysis, Scott gave a helpless, bitter smile. He tilted his head back, downed the beer in his glass, and slammed the empty glass heavily onto the table.
"Your calculations are spot on, Daniel. Not only that, but the situation back then was even worse than what you've described."
Scott wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth, recalling that trial experience that made his skin crawl.
"In fact, I was almost sentenced to life imprisonment at first."
"All my assets were frozen at the time, and the court assigned me an Asian lawyer. He looked quite sharp, dressed in a suit with a briefcase full of documents. But he was an absolute disaster!"
Scott lowered his voice, as if telling a horror story.
"In the face of the mountain of solid evidence the prosecution brought out... surveillance footage, network IP addresses, and even my fingerprints left in the Bentley. Guess what that lawyer did?"
"He rejected the prosecution's ten-year plea deal. In front of the judge and jury, he loudly announced that I would be pleading not guilty!"
"Not guilty!" Scott waved his hands exaggeratedly. "He actually told the jury that the person who committed the network intrusion, the trespassing, and drove the Bentley into the pool wasn't me at all, but an alien disguised to look exactly like me!"
"The judge's face went dark. The prosecution even proposed adding a contempt of court charge and recommended the judge sentence me to life without parole."
Hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Homelander's eyes.
"That certainly sounds... very wild. What was the name of the lawyer who almost sent you into the abyss?"
"His name was Snake Zhang," Scott spat out the name through gritted teeth. "I'll never forget that name as long as I live."
"Ha!"
Snake? Zhang?
Hearing this name, Homelander suddenly didn't find it strange at all.
Scott didn't notice Homelander's strange expression and continued his story.
"Fortunately! Thank goodness. My friend Luis, he had some connections on the outside.
"He went to Hells Kitchen in New York and found a very powerful blind lawyer, named Matt or something."
"That blind lawyer was truly a genius. After taking over, he immediately overturned the previous absurd defense. He found fatal loopholes in Vistacorp's fraudulent accounting, identified procedural flaws in the prosecution's evidence chain, and used them as leverage for a high-pressure plea bargain. He emphasized to the judge that my motive was to return the stolen funds, not for personal gain. In the end, he managed to reduce my sentence to the minimum of three years."
Homelander listened with a smile and signaled the bartender to bring two glasses of Bourbon Whiskey at the right moment.
With the strong liquor down, the alcohol began to burn in Scott's blood.
His long-suppressed emotions broke through the dam in front of this wealthy stranger who had let him go and was willing to listen.
"I thought three years would go by quickly. I thought after I got out, everything could start over."
"But I was lying to myself, Daniel."
"I thought I was upholding justice, but what happened?"
"I lost my job, I lost my wife, and I lost the three most important years of my daughter's life."
"I can't even get into her birthday party!"
Tears fell from Scott's eyes involuntarily.
"I'm not a good person. I'm just a thief, a self-righteous, stupid thief. You letting me go today is a complete waste of kindness."
The dim lights of the bar fell on Scott's dejected figure, as if the World had already left him behind.
Homelander watched him quietly, not offering immediate comfort; he simply had the bartender refill Scott's whiskey.
"Hold your head up, Scott."
Homelander dropped his previously casual, joking tone and became serious.
"You are not a thief. Thieves only take things from others to satisfy their own greed."
"But you? You had an enviable, high-paying job and a happy family. As long as you kept your mouth shut and pretended you didn't see anything, you could have lived a peaceful life, enjoying the comforts of a middle-class existence."
"But you didn't."
"What did you do? You risked losing everything to stand up for ordinary people you didn't even know, people who were being deceived, and you sought justice for them."
"And you, Scott. My friend, you are a true hero.