Free Web NovelChapter 51: 51: Hillel’s Master-Level Micromanagement
Existence alone had never been enough for him.
He had always wanted more.
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Trapped in the elevator, Homelander’s emotions went through another wild swing.
...
[ Homelander — Emotions fluctuating: Suppressed, angry, humiliated, self-doubting ]
[ Ability points gained: +5,234 ]
...
"Let me call someone to fix the elevator!"
Just as Homelander thought about making a call, Hillel’s Omega Beams melted the entire elevator door. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Homelander: "..."
Oh, yeah, that also works. He was truly blinded by rage!
Homelander sat in the conference room, calming himself down for a long while before he managed to push his anger back down.
He turned to look at Hillel, his gaze a bit unnatural.
"Um..." Homelander forced a topic change. "How are things going with A-Train? It’s been so long with no news. Don’t tell me that failed too!"
He wanted some kind of win from Hillel.
"Wouldn’t you know if you just called him?"
Hillel took out his phone, scrolled to A-Train’s number, and hit call.
Beep — !!!
The phone rang once.
Whoosh!
A blur shot down the hallway and A-Train was already standing in front of them.
He was still holding his phone, screen showing "Incoming Call: The Guardian."
"Sir!"
A-Train’s voice was full of excitement. "Sir! I’ve been waiting for your call!"
Then he saw Homelander.
His excited expression immediately died.
"Hom... Homelander. I didn’t expect you to be here too."
...
[ A-Train — Emotions erupting: Excited, nervous, expectant, apprehensive ]
[ Ability points gained: +5,672 ]
...
Homelander glanced at him without a word.
"Sir, the mission is complete."
A-Train straightened his back.
"I’ve already injected Compound V into the members of every terrorist group the American military is about to hit. It won’t be long before we get the results you want."
Homelander’s face looked awkward.
"You sure? When did this happen?"
"The, the day before yesterday. You know how it is. My chest hurts after running just a few steps now!"
"So fucking useless!"
A-Train didn’t dare make a sound after getting scolded.
"Hey! Don’t be so harsh. A-Train did pretty good this time!"
Hillel beamed.
A-Train hesitated for a second, then spoke carefully.
"Sir... about my spot as a candidate for The Seven..."
His tone carried a trace of nervousness, like he was scared of bad news.
Hillel raised an eyebrow. "Candidate? What candidate?"
A-Train froze.
You’ve got to be kidding me?
Playing me for a fool?
"Sir, you said before that as long as I finished the mission I could..."
"What candidate? You’re a full member!" Hillel cut him off, tone completely casual. "When did you ever leave The Seven?"
A-Train’s brain stalled for two seconds, then suddenly clicked.
"...Oh, you’ve given me a surprise!"
"Come here, let’s have a hug!"
Hillel gave A-Train an enthusiastic hug.
...
[ A-Train — Emotions shifted dramatically: Shocked, touched, sense of belonging, loyal, sense of rebirth ]
[ Ability points gained: +6,891 ]
...
Hillel let go and turned to Homelander.
"Bro, hurry up and give this guy some encouragement!"
Homelander had a complicated look on his face. He walked over to A-Train reluctantly and gave him a half-assed hug.
He cursed, "You drug-addicted piece of trash!"
A-Train suddenly had a thought.
The captain of The Seven shouldn’t be Homelander. It should be The Guardian!
The Guardian was the real boss who actually got shit done for the team!
After the atmosphere eased up, A-Train took a deep breath.
"Sir, what should I do next to officially return to The Seven?"
Hillel didn’t answer right away. He took out his phone and called for the worker.
Thirty seconds later.
Ashley sprinted over in her high heels.
"Sir! I’m here, I’m here!"
"Ashley, regarding A-Train, I have the following plan. Take notes!"
Ashley immediately pulled out her phone, ready to type.
"I have a plan for A-Train’s return to The Seven."
Hillel crossed his legs and propped them on the desk.
"A-Train’s negative image hasn’t faded yet. Even though the internet has no memory, we still need to save some reputation."
"Therefore, what you need to do is make him an unsung hero in the public eye. Limit the area to all of Manhattan. Perform justice in secret. Save lives. Do not wear the costume. Do not reveal your identity."
"Also, you’re strictly forbidden from doing any interviews or hinting at your identity on social media. You’re just an ordinary guy who runs really fast, quietly helping people."
A-Train frowned, not understanding why Hillel was setting it up this way.
Homelander also got interested.
"In addition, you’re not allowed to do drugs or inject Compound V again. If you fuck up one more time, I’ll destroy your reputation and banish you from The Seven forever. Understand?"
Hillel’s eyes glowed with destructive power.
A-Train quickly showed his stance. "Understood, understood! I will absolutely never touch that shit again!"
"But Sir, I don’t quite get it. Is there a deeper meaning behind doing it this way?"
Ashley seemed to catch on and explained:
"The Guardian means for you to act as an unsung hero first. The public will get curious and start talking, creating a hot topic about who this mysterious hero is. When the hype peaks, you reveal your identity."
"That way the public’s new impression of you will wash away the old negative stuff. Plus you only did some drugs and didn’t cause any real casualties."
"Later we’ll arrange some activities for you, probably about your reflections on beating drug addiction, and you’ll perfectly clean up your image."
Hillel clapped. "Bingo!"
"A talented badly influenced guy who repents and turns a new leaf is worth more than gold. This is the kind of drama the public loves. Even if a good person does ten thousand good deeds, one fuck-up and they’ll get crucified."
"But as long as a bad person does one good deed, they get flowers and praise."
"The mistake you made wasn’t that serious. Next we’ll film a few biographical movies for you, get some marketing accounts and bots pushing the narrative, and your popularity might even end up higher than before."
Ashley looked excited.
Yes, exactly, that’s so fucking genius!
This is the PR route Vought should be taking!
"We can even bundle the promotion. Like The Guardian forgiving and accepting A-Train because he’s been changing quietly. Compared to some dead fish on TV claiming they’ve repented, A-Train’s story is way easier for the audience to love!"
Hillel added.
Homelander’s eyes lit up.
"I can forgive too! I can accept A-Train! Let’s earn the traffic together, my brother!"
He immediately put on a benevolent face and gave A-Train an enthusiastic hug.
One second Homelander treated him like trash, the next A-Train was his close friend and beloved companion.
A-Train wore a fake smile.
Hypocritical!
So fucking hypocritical!
Disgusting!
So disgusting!
"This is just the beginning. Our main target is The Deep. When comparing goods you throw out the bad ones. When comparing people... the difference is obvious!"
"Since The Deep’s return is already inevitable, let’s use A-Train’s turning a new leaf story to stir up the narrative against him."
"Even if he comes back to the team, he’ll definitely be the least popular one!"
Homelander laughed and excitedly grabbed Hillel’s shoulders.
"...Fantastic! Let’s do exactly that!"
Hillel raised his hand to push him away. "No, no, no. This is just the start. Our target is The Deep, that’s right, but taking down the Church of the Collective behind him is the only way to end it for good!"
Homelander leaned in again.
"How do we do it?"
Hillel looked at A-Train.
"Of course, by collecting and fabricating evidence to prove that the Church of the Collective is a cult!!"
With so many cults in this world, splashing some dirty water on the Church of the Collective should be easy, right?
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