Chapter 36.
Li Yue didn't have much time left. Over the past twenty days, Madeleine had spoken to him multiple times, urging him to leave Homelander and act alone, but Li Yue had refused each time.
Thinking about it, Madeleine's female assistant came to Li Yue and informed him that Madeleine wanted to see him.
Li Yue felt helpless. He suspected that Madeleine was once again going to ask him to work independently, but he still made his way to Madeleine's office. As he entered, he noticed that while pretending to admire his portrait, he was actually observing Madeleine's superhero persona!
After greeting her, Li Yue knocked on Madeleine's office door.
"Come in!" came Madeleine's voice.
Li Yue was polite as always, opening the door and walking in. He sat opposite Madeleine.
This time, Madeleine seemed determined to separate Li Yue from Homelander. She once again suggested that Li Yue and Homelander work independently, under the pretense of helping Starlight grow in popularity. However, Li Yue refused once more.
After being rejected twice, Madeleine lost her patience and spoke in a harsher tone than before.
"If you want to stay at Vought Corporation and remain in the Seven, you need to listen to me and act accordingly! Otherwise, leave my company!" Madeleine said firmly.
Li Yue was not one to back down. If he couldn't stay by Homelander's side, he no longer had any reason to stay at Vought Corporation. So, he responded quickly.
"Of course, if you want me to quit Vought Corporation, I have no objection. But, I know that right now is a crucial moment to decide whether Vought Corporation's superheroes will be accepted into the Ministry of Defense! After you fire me for no reason, won't it affect your chance of entering the Ministry of Defense?"
"You may think it won't affect you, but if you dismiss me now, I promise I'll leave immediately and never return!" Li Yue said, even crossing his legs casually, speaking without fear.
"You... you... You're ruthless!" Madeleine was taken aback by Li Yue's boldness. She was left speechless, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it.
She had invested a lot of effort before, even using one of the company's superheroes to steal a video of a government senator in order to blackmail him, just to get approval for the proposal to have superheroes enter the Ministry of Defense. Now, with the vote passed, the company's superheroes were on the brink of formally entering the Ministry of Defense.
But as Li Yue pointed out, now was a critical moment. If she dismissed Li Yue now, it would have serious consequences. Madeleine couldn't afford to risk that, so she was forced to compromise.
"If you don't have anything else, I'll take my leave. The coffee I just brewed will get cold!" Li Yue said. Without waiting for Madeleine to respond, he stood up and walked out of her office.
However, as he walked out, he crossed paths with Homelander. The superhero gave Li Yue a cold, menacing look, exuding a clear threat.
Li Yue ignored Homelander's dangerous gaze, greeted him casually, and then walked past him, leaving the room.
"You're here!" Madeleine took several deep breaths, calming herself, before looking at the incoming Homelander with a more composed demeanor.
"Do you need me to teach him a lesson?" Homelander asked, having witnessed the exchange outside.
"Not yet. Let him be proud for a while. After the vote passes, there are countless ways to deal with him! The most important thing now is to ensure that the Ministry of Defense approval goes smoothly and that nothing happens to create public opposition." Madeleine had regained her calm demeanor and spoke softly to Homelander.
"Don't worry. I've already made arrangements to ensure that we get the approval of those politicians." Homelander said confidently. He didn't seem as concerned as Madeleine, perhaps because he was sure of his position or had other means at his disposal.
Meanwhile, Li Yue, who had been sipping coffee while thinking, glanced back at the office.
"Want to teach me a lesson? Now, I'm not as afraid of you as I was before!"
At this moment, Li Yue felt very confident. His strength had already reached seven-tenths of Homelander's, and with his Thor powers, the Adamantite bonus, and the weakened version of the Black King's energy absorption ability, Li Yue was sure of his abilities.
With his current strength, he believed that even if he couldn't defeat Homelander, he could at least stand his ground against him. Li Yue felt no fear, which was why he had dared to speak so boldly to Madeleine.
Li Yue also realized that his future plans needed to change. Initially, he had just wanted to stay by Homelander's side and grow his strength, but now that his progress was so slow, he decided it was time to look for other ways to enhance his power.
In this world, the only thing Li Yue knew that could quickly strengthen his abilities was the Compound V secretly researched by Vought Corporation.
In reality, the superpowers in this world weren't gifts from God, but were secretly created by Vought Corporation using a serum. They sought out parents who were willing to use their children as experimental subjects and injected them with large amounts of Compound V, giving the children superpowers as they grew up.
Homelander was the product of this "baby plan" and the first successful test subject. He was injected with a large amount of Compound V as a child, which transformed him into a superhuman. He grew up in Vought's laboratory, lacking care or affection, which led to his violent, cruel nature and an Oedipus complex.
His abilities were nearly invincible, with no apparent weaknesses. Vought Corporation began to feel uneasy about him because if Homelander lost control, no one would be able to –stop him, and it could become a global disaster.
(For reference, the "Black Noir" character in the Seven is a clone of Homelander, possessing all of his abilities but even stronger. The Vought Corporation created him as a backup to prevent Homelander from going out of control. However, there seem to be some differences in the Tv Drama version, which I won't consider here.)
Madeleine, taking advantage of –Homelander's Oedipus complex, tried to provide him with maternal love and firmly control him in her grasp.
The reason why Li Yue hadn't considered Compound V before was because the drug had significant side effects for adults, and there was a high chance of failure. Additionally, Li Yue didn't know if Compound V would even work on him. As long as he remained next to Homelander, his own strength would continue to grow, and he didn't want to risk using a drug whose effectiveness was uncertain.
Now, however, Li Yue had to change his plan. Even if Compound V didn't work on him, he could bring back some samples to the Marvel World and have Tony study it.
"Thunder, a plane has been hijacked, it's time for us to act!"
While Li Yue was deep in thought, Homelander came out of Madeleine's office and spoke to him.
"A plane hijacking?" Li Yue thought for a moment. That seemed familiar. Could it be the hijacking incident from the show?
In the show, the hijacking was carried out by Homelander and Queen Maeve. During the rescue, after Homelander had dealt with all the hijackers, he "accidentally" used his heat vision to destroy all the instruments in the aircraft's control room.
The captain was killed by the hijackers, and the plane was left in a state where it could no longer slow down and was losing altitude rapidly. It was about to crash.
Despite Queen Maeve's pleas, Homelander ruthlessly refused to help the people on board. He claimed he had no ability to slow down the plane, and he could only let the passengers die.
But Li Yue felt something was off about this hijacking incident. It seemed strange. Why would Homelander destroy the equipment in the cockpit? Why, if he could clearly save the passengers, did he refuse to do so?
His excuse was that he couldn't slow down the plane from the front, and that his strength would cause the plane to break apart. (This scene in the show was likely intended to be ironic, showing Superman holding the plane as it returned in the Superman movie except this time there was no saving.)
Li Yue, however, didn't believe what Homelander said. He felt it would be easy to rescue the plane. The simplest way would be to grab the bottom of the plane, stabilize it, and slowly land it on the sea.
Alternatively, a more direct approach would be to detach all parts of the aircraft, leaving just the cabin, which could be easily lifted to the ground. In short, there were still ways to save the passengers.
Even if all other methods failed, Homelander was unwilling to try, which meant that he had never planned to save the plane from the beginning. Additionally, he had previously told Madeleine that he had a way to ensure superheroes could join the Ministry of Defense, reassuring her not to worry.
After the plane crash, he claimed that if the Ministry of Defense and their company, Vought, exchanged information promptly, such tragedies would never happen again. From this, it was clear that the hijacking incident might have been orchestrated by Homelander himself! His purpose was to pressure government officials into agreeing to the superhero proposal for the Ministry of Defense. After all, no one could guarantee that the next flight they took wouldn't face the same fate.
If superheroes were allowed into the Ministry of Defense, at least there would be superheroes like Homelander to save them if something went wrong!
While Li Yue was thinking about this, Homelander had no idea what Li Yue was pondering. As usual, he flew off when he mentioned Li Yue!
With a roaring sound, Homelander and Li Yue quickly caught up with the hijacked plane. The plane was still flying smoothly, but the inside had been hijacked by unknown terrorists.
Homelander spoke briefly, then flew directly to the aircraft door. He effortlessly ripped the door apart with one hand. The pressure imbalance between the inside and outside of the plane caused passengers to gasp in surprise. One of the gangsters near the hatch was sucked out of the plane without warning, letting out a scream, "Ah!"
Fortunately, –the passengers had been secured in their seats, so no one was sucked out. Homelander, entering first, wasted no time and immediately used his heat vision to kill all the gangsters in the corridor, leaving no one alive.
"Wow, it's Homelander! We're finally saved!"
"Homelander is so cool! He took out the robbers in no time!"
"Homelander, I love you!"
"Relax, everyone! The gangsters have been dealt with by me. Please stay seated and don't cause trouble. Thank you for your cooperation!"
After taking care of the gangsters, Li Yue, who had been following behind, closed the hatch again. Homelander, with his usual smirk, waved at the passengers. Li Yue could only helplessly follow Homelander as they moved toward the cockpit.
However, the cockpit door had already been closed, and it seemed the robbers were still inside, though the plane was still very stable.
"Wait, do you want me to handle the gangsters inside? Your heat vision is too powerful. If you make a mistake and destroy the cockpit instruments, that would be bad!" Li Yue stepped forward to force open the cockpit door, wanting to see how Homelander would respond.
"How? Thunder, are you questioning my ability?"
Sure enough, Homelander not only disagreed with Li Yue's proposal but also turned around and stared at him, implying a sense of oppression. He spoke in a deep voice.
"Whatever!"
Li Yue ignored the threatening look from Homelander and casually replied.
Homelander stared at him for a moment before turning back, surprise flashing in his eyes before quickly disappearing. Without further words, he ripped open the cockpit door and immediately used his heat vision to strike at the gangster in the captain's seat.
"I knew you were doing this on purpose!"
Li Yue, who had been following behind, realized that after Homelander killed the gangster, he didn't immediately stop the heat vision. Instead, it was shifted, hitting the instruments in the cockpit.
"I knew it..."
Li Yue's voice rang out from behind, and Homelander, sensing something, turned back. He warned Li Yue not to speak further.
"Shut up, or you'll regret it!"
Homelander's face betrayed a hint of embarrassment, but as he looked at Li Yue, there was a mix of other emotions—threatening Li Yue with his gaze.
The alarm blared loudly, causing panic among the passengers who had felt relieved moments earlier. Some people tried to get up and go to the cockpit to see what had happened.
"Everyone, please sit back down! The alarm system is malfunctioning, and nothing is wrong!"
Homelander's face appeared once more with a smile as he comforted the passengers. The passengers hesitated but sat back down, still uneasy from the shaking and the ongoing alarm.
At this moment, Li Yue, with a blank expression, followed behind and reached the aircraft door.
"So, are you just going to leave like this?"
Li Yue watched as Homelander walked toward the door to leave. He couldn't help but ask aloud, his words carrying a touch of sarcasm, clearly audible to Homelander.
"Thunder, it seems you still haven't realized who the boss is between us! Let me make you understand now!"
After being provoked by Li Yue multiple times, Homelander finally lost his temper. He turned, his eyes cold as they slowly began to emit a strange red light, his heat vision charging up.
...…..
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