At ten in the morning, Private Levin finally pulled off his blanket when he heard his father knocking on the door outside.
"Kid, it's time to get up and have breakfast."
Levin picked up the alarm clock beside him and threw it. The clock hit the door with a loud bang and fell to the floor.
There was a sigh from his father outside the door, followed by the sound of his footsteps leaving.
Levin climbed up, put on a hooded sweatshirt, and pulled the hood up to cover his head.
Then he pulled the wheelchair beside him closer. Using both hands to support his body, he shifted himself to the edge of the bed.
With effort, he lifted his legs, which had no feeling anymore, and moved them to the side of the bed. Just as Levin was trying to move himself onto the wheelchair, the wheelchair slid away, and the private immediately fell to the floor.
"Damn it!"
He roared and slammed his fist against the floor, his eyes red.
It had been a while since he left the hospital.
During this time, he had tried hard to pull himself together, but the result was that he hated his current self more and more.
The Levin from before was tall, bright, and handsome.
Back in college he had already been a popular figure. There were more girls wanting to date him every day than he could count on both hands.
Now Levin was a cripple, a useless man who couldn't go anywhere without a wheelchair.
Those friends had all left him, and not a single girl called him anymore.
He felt like the world had abandoned him.
In fact, that was exactly how it was.
Aside from receiving a compensation payment from Vought Company's special fund, as well as relief money from the army, no one cared about him anymore.
Those media outlets only wanted to see how miserable he was now so they could ride a wave of the clout.
But Levin had no desire at all to expose his weakness to the public.
Right now, he stubbornly tried to climb onto the wheelchair. Just then, a pair of strong hands lifted him up and placed him onto the wheelchair.
Levin raised his head. A passionate flash of red passed before his eyes, then he saw the steady black, and finally the sharply defined face of Homelander.
Levin's mouth fell open. He couldn't believe his own eyes.
"Homelander?"
"I'm not dreaming, right? How are you here?"
Alex clasped his hands behind his back and looked at him with a slight smile.
"I'm sorry. After we met at the hospital last time, I planned to find time to come visit you again."
"But a lot of things have happened recently, so it got delayed until today."
"Looks like you've been having a pretty rough time."
"Don't take it the wrong way. I don't want to say any comforting nonsense to you."
"And I'm not going to say things like you're a hero either. We always need to face reality, don't we?"
Levin nodded, "Yes. Just like you can see, I've been having a terrible time."
He slapped his leg hard, "I've turned into a useless cripple!"
"Homelander, I don't want to spend my whole life in a wheelchair."
"I want to walk on my own two feet again. I want to go back to the battlefield. I want to prove myself. I'm not useless!"
As Levin spoke, he suddenly broke down crying.
"But now I can't do anything. The doctors said I'll never be able to stand up by my own strength again."
Just as he covered his face and cried, he heard Homelander say, "Then borrow someone else's strength."
"For example, mine."
Levin slowly lowered his hands and looked at Homelander.
Alex casually picked up the decorations in the room, looking at them one by one.
Photos, a football, a model.
While examining them, he said, "If I told you I might be able to make you stand up again, would you be willing to believe me?"
Levin's whole body trembled like he had been struck by electricity. A voice in his heart screamed: 'Say you believe him!'
'This is your chance! Levin, grab it! You have to grab it!'
"I believe you, sir!"
Levin gripped the armrests of the wheelchair tightly.
Alex turned around and shook his head.
"Don't jump to conclusions so quickly."
"Let's put it this way. I can help you stand again, but you may have to say goodbye to your old life."
"You will walk alongside darkness. You will fight for me."
"You may never have glory again. Even if you use your strength to help others, they won't know who you are."
"Are you willing to become that kind of person?"
Levin looked at Alex in astonishment. This time he didn't answer right away.
Alex patted his shoulder, "Think it over carefully. No need to answer right now."
"The next time we meet, just tell me whether you agree."
.
.
.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
That evening, Levin sat in his wheelchair, watching several boys fighting over a basketball on the court.
"Isn't that Levin? Oh my God, why are you in a wheelchair? Were you injured?"
"I'm Shelly. I just got back today. Do you remember me?"
Levin raised his head and saw a girl walking toward him.
Shelly Dale. The girl he had secretly liked in college. His former neighbor. But she had gone abroad before finishing high school.
Maybe because of that, Levin had decided to enlist in the army.
But he never expected that a few years later, the girl would come back, and he would be sitting in a wheelchair.
"No, you've got the wrong person."
Levin said it quickly. His chest tightened painfully. He hurriedly turned the wheelchair around, showing his back to the girl, and left immediately.
He heard the girl say behind him,
"Did I mistake him?"
"Yeah, that makes sense. There's no way Levin would turn out like that."
Hearing those words, a voice inside Levin kept shouting.
'Stand up!'
'Stand up again!'
'Even if it means walking with darkness, even if there's no glory at all. It's still better than being a useless cripple.'
Just as he saw his house ahead, a car suddenly stopped beside him. Several men rushed out of the vehicle.
One of them held a stun device and shocked him, knocking him unconscious in an instant.
.
.
.
When he woke up again, Levin found himself tied to a chair.
A man walked over.
"You're awake, soldier?"
"Our boss wants to know something."
"Someone noticed that a few days ago Homelander flew out of your window."
"Our boss wants to know what Homelander came to see you for, and what the two of you talked about."
Levin looked at him, "I won't say a single word."
"Well that's really bad," the man said as he walked over with the stun device and shocked Levin hard.
Levin let out a muffled groan. His face immediately turned red.
"Hurry up and talk, soldier. Don't waste my time."
Levin spat at him.
"Trying to act tough, huh? Fine. Let's see how long that tough mouth of yours lasts."
The man sneered and continued shocking Levin.
Levin's screams echoed through the warehouse. Soon he passed out twice and was then beaten awake again.
This time, the man didn't use the stun device anymore. He took out a dagger and held it across Levin's neck.
"Soldier, this is your last chance."
Levin roared, "Go ahead! Kill me!"
"Homelander will avenge me!"
"But I won't betray him!"
"When the whole world was laughing at me, he was the only one who said, 'Hey, looks like you're having a rough time!'"
"He was the only one who cared about me!"
"So I won't betray him, you bastards!"
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