Free Web NovelChapter 59: Chapter 59: Anika the Vice President
Chapter 59: Anika the Vice President
"Ashley, what the fuck are you spacing out for? Send someone to take this piece of trash to the medical bay already," Benjamin said coldly, casting a glance at the apologizing Blindspot.
"Yes! Yes! I’ll arrange it right away!" Ashley frantically whipped out her phone to call the medical team.
She breathed a sigh of relief; it looked like Soldier Boy was still consenting to Blindspot joining Vought. Even if he couldn’t join The Seven, getting him onto one of the second-tier squads was still an option. Vought International could still secure at least some scrap of approval from the disabled demographic.
Homelander stood to the side, sparing a glance at Blindspot and then at Ashley. But seeing that Benjamin had already turned toward the exit, he kept his mouth shut and quickly followed. Down the corridor, only the echo of the father and son’s footsteps remained.
"Ashley’s a goddamn idiot. Just like Madelyn used to be—her head is completely packed with performance and publicity stunts! Does Vought International actually need approval from a bunch of cripples?" Homelander grumbled, gritting his teeth as he walked alongside Benjamin. "And that goddamn blind fucker, who the hell does he think he is? I honestly wanted to just clap his ears and burst his eardrums, make him a real blind and deaf invalid!"
Benjamin turned his head slightly.
In the original timeline, Homelander had done exactly that with a brutal, double-handed clap, rupturing Blindspot’s eardrums, neutralizing the super hearing he prided himself on, and completely ruining the poor bastard’s life. The current Homelander, though showing a touch of humanity and pulling his punches in certain aspects due to his own intervention, hadn’t fundamentally altered his volatile temperament.
But there was no helping it; turning Homelander into a legitimate superhero was still a long way off. Who told him to transmigrate into this world when Homelander was already a full-grown adult instead of a kid? He’d just have to take it slow.
"Control your goddamn temper, John," Benjamin fished a cigar from his pocket, clamped it between his teeth, lit it, and continued. "Blindspot didn’t do it on purpose anyway. One punch is enough. Besides, your super hearing should have picked it up. He genuinely idolizes us. From now on, no matter what you do, learn to be a bit more magnanimous, understand? Otherwise, how the hell are you gonna be a real superhero?"
Homelander paused, then nodded. "I understand."
He thought about it. It really did seem to be the case. He was always making terrible mistakes just because he couldn’t keep his temper in check... Like back on the plane; because he got impatient, his Heat Vision sliced right through the flight controls... He obviously knew those things were wrong. But Homelander also knew that back then, he lacked self-control—just like moments ago.
"I believe if you manage your temper, you’ll absolutely make a better superhero," Benjamin added.
Homelander didn’t say anything, silently trailing behind Benjamin.
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Reaching the elevators, Homelander hesitated for a moment before saying, "Dad, I’m gonna head over to Ryan’s community now."
"Go crawl back to your son then," Benjamin waved his hand dismissively and headed back to his office.
The moment Benjamin settled into his leather chair, a knock sounded at the door. "Come in."
The door pushed open, and in walked a woman wearing a black professional suit and black-rimmed glasses, carrying a decent air of poise, though her skin was on the darker side. Her brows were tightly knit as she walked up to the desk clutching a thick stack of documents and a tablet. Her name was Anika.
During the massive executive purge at Vought International, Anika, like Ashley, had essentially shot straight to the top overnight. Ashley was the CEO of Vought, but due to the overwhelming volume of work, she wore multiple hats—for instance, she was still running the PR department. Anika, on the other hand, had been promoted by Benjamin to Vice President of Vought, inheriting the true operational power that once belonged to Madelyn.
Why promote her? Because Benjamin remembered clearly that in the original timeline, Anika was the director of Vought’s Crime Analytics division. Her performance was exceptionally solid, and she had a good temperament.
Early on, it was Anika who picked up on every single shred of evidence, relentlessly tracking The Boys and feeding Black Noir pinpoint intelligence. At one point, she had nearly backed Butcher’s crew into a corner and wiped them off the board completely, and they were only spared because Butcher managed to cut a deal with Edgar.
Yet, a rare technical asset like her was ultimately executed by Homelander with a zero-frame headshot in Season 4 of the original show. Didn’t Homelander even swear on his own son’s life back then?
Now that Vought belonged to him, he was absolutely going to utilize a talent who could actually deliver real results. The current Anika was now practically running all internal security and intelligence for Vought. Aside from The Seven, she held the authority to mobilize other Supes as well—a substantial amount of leverage. Anika was also a completely normal human being compared to the company’s other eccentric directors, so Benjamin felt entirely secure leaving things to her.
"Sir, we have an emergency," Anika said, her tone heavy.
"Spit it out."
"About twenty minutes ago, we intercepted a high-risk crisis involving a rogue Supe downtown. Because it unfolded so suddenly, I dispatched Starlight, who was closest to the scene, to handle it." Anika’s face quickly paled. "But we just received Intel that Starlight’s been injured! The threat level of this rogue Supe is completely off the charts. Starlight is currently falling back, and the situation looks precarious!" freёwebnovel.com
"Where the hell is everyone else?" Benjamin demanded. "What is that idiot The Deep doing? Where are Maeve and A-Train?"
"We can’t establish contact with The Deep; no one knows where he slunk off to," Anika reported rapidly. "Queen Maeve and A-Train were deployed to the Mexican border to track down another active ring of Supe-Terrorists; they can’t make it back in time. As for Homelander, he just left headquarters for a personal matter and blacked out his tracker."
Originally, Queen Maeve and Homelander ran missions together, but lately, Homelander’s entire universe revolved around his father and son, leaving him with zero interest in keeping tabs on his ex-girlfriend.
"What about Stormfront?" Benjamin pressed.
But on second thought, Stormfront probably wasn’t a good fit for field missions right now anyway. Never mind her claiming she wouldn’t execute innocent black people; if she were unleashed on a mission and crossed paths with them, she’d likely take them out as a casual afterthought and just dump the blame on a rogue Supe afterward.
Hearing the name, Anika let out an awkward cough. "Cough... Ms. Stormfront just claimed that she sustained critical internal injuries while combatting an unidentified ’powerful rogue Supe’ last night. She’s currently covered in bruises, her pelvis is fractured, and she can’t walk. Consequently, she has refused deployment."
Hearing the status report, Benjamin blinked in surprise, then the corner of his mouth twitched.
The goddamn freak.
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