Transmigrated into The Boys, Starting as Soldier Boy

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Madelyn Nearly Dies

At dusk, someone knocked on the door of Benjamin’s office.

He looked up.

Madelyn stood in the doorway, wearing a deep red dress with an extremely daring cut. The neckline plunged even lower than Starlight’s Supersuit.

She leaned against the doorframe, holding a glass of whiskey, her lips painted a much darker red than usual.

She had spent the entire afternoon preparing for this entrance. In her view, Soldier Boy was also a man, and men always had weaknesses.

Especially since Vought’s records seemed to show that Soldier Boy liked mature women, just like Homelander.

And she was very mature. Besides, when Soldier Boy had cursed her earlier, he had also said "fuck you." Maybe he really did mean the "fuck" part.

So if Madelyn could not handle him through conventional means, she could try another way to handle Benjamin. Exactly the way Benjamin had cursed at her.

"Good evening, Mr. Soldier Boy."

Her voice was lower than usual, the last syllable drawn out.

"I think there’s been some misunderstanding between us. Why don’t we..."

Benjamin looked up at her and said expressionlessly, "You’re on the wrong floor."

Madelyn’s smile froze.

"You come to my office dressed like that for what? To discuss work? Or do you want me to fuck you?

"You’re disgusting, you know that? You old hag."

Benjamin looked her up and down, his eyes utterly unmoved.

"I don’t care what you’re trying to do. I’m not interested. The door’s over there. Get out. You make me sick. Fuck."

Madelyn stood in the doorway, her fingers tightening around the glass until her knuckles turned white.

Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something.

But Benjamin had already lowered his head and gone back to reading the file in his hands, as if she was not even worth as much of his time as a mistyped punctuation mark on the page.

She turned and walked out.

...

Then Madelyn saw Homelander, his face dark as he stared at her.

Madelyn froze.

"Madelyn."

Homelander’s voice was icy. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

"You really disgust me. I really want to kill you."

"I can explain. I just... I was going to look for you, but I couldn’t find you, so I..."

"Get out. Get the hell out right now, before I change my mind. Move."

Homelander lowered his head, forcing down his rage, and waved a hand.

Madelyn could only hurry away.

When Homelander told someone to leave, they had to leave. If they did not, they might genuinely end up dead.

That was something many employees at Vought had learned from experience.

...

Late at night.

Madelyn sat alone in her office, holding the glass of whiskey she had failed to deliver.

Outside the window, New York’s night view was as dazzling as ever, but when she looked at those lights, she only found them glaring.

Homelander no longer listened to her. Soldier Boy had cursed her into silence.

Both father and son despised her.

The "alternative plan" she had spent an entire afternoon carefully preparing had been cursed out of the room, and Homelander had even discovered it.

The real key was still Soldier Boy, Vought’s greatest threat.

That man seemed to have almost no weaknesses.

She had written that line about Soldier Boy in her earlier report to the board, but only tonight did she truly understand the weight of it.

Perhaps Soldier Boy’s only weakness was Homelander.

But now Homelander had no weakness either. His weakness used to be a lack of love, but Soldier Boy’s arrival had filled that gap.

Because of each other, neither father nor son had a weakness.

Damn it. They were too perfect.

She took a sip of whiskey. The liquor rolled over her tongue, bitter as hell.

Meanwhile, Benjamin was leaning back in his office chair, feet propped on the edge of the desk, scrolling through the latest roster for The Seven on his tablet.

Deep had been fired. Translucent was missing. A-Train was lying low. Starlight had changed back into her new Supersuit. Maeve had even sent him a message today, praising him for how well he had cursed out Madelyn.

Homelander, his son, had taken the initiative today to investigate Translucent’s disappearance.

He had also completely broken with Madelyn.

Vought was already beginning to lose control of Homelander, of him, and of The Seven.

He picked up the Coke on his desk. Iced. Then took a sip.

Outside the window, New York’s night sky glowed dim orange under countless lights, and the Hudson River flowed silently in the distance.

He remembered what The Legend had said in the apartment that day. "Are you planning to sit down and have dinner with all of them?"

"Dinner? Heh... It won’t be long before they’re kicked off the table. Fucking Vought..."

Benjamin was very pleased.

Homelander had already arrived at the door and knocked.

Tonight, Benjamin did not plan to take Homelander out just to drink. He was going for skewers and a late-night meal.

There might not be much barbecue in America, but there were always Chinese barbecue places. This was not some small town. This was New York.

The most prosperous city in the world.

...

The next morning.

Vought Tower, tactical briefing room.

Madelyn stood in front of an electronic screen, her fingertip sliding across a live aerial image.

It was Midtown Manhattan, a forty-two-story commercial building. On the screen, the rooftop helipad looked like nothing more than a small gray square.

Her expression was tighter than usual. It could even be called humiliation, or anger.

Mainly because the humiliation of that deep red dress last night, and the words "you’re on the wrong floor," were still churning in her stomach.

It had even almost gotten her killed by Homelander.

Madelyn was now very afraid of Homelander. Of course, what she feared even more was the flawless Soldier Boy.

But she did not have time to digest her personal emotions.

"The situation is as follows. A forty-two-story commercial building. Six armed gunmen have taken an entire law firm hostage on the thirty-first floor. NYPD negotiators have been dealing with them for three hours with no progress, so this is something our superheroes can help with."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over everyone around the long table.

Homelander leaned back in his chair, with Benjamin seated beside him.

Maeve was there too, as well as A-Train, who had a race that afternoon, and Starlight, wearing her original Supersuit.

"The police have requested support from The Seven. According to the rotation schedule, this should be..."

Madelyn slid her finger across the tablet.

"Homelander and Maeve."

But she quickly continued,

"However, considering yesterday’s press conference, Soldier Boy and Homelander are father and son."

"Soldier Boy’s statement yesterday has already surpassed four hundred million views across the internet, and the buzz on social media is still climbing."

"If we send them on this mission as a father-son team, the public impact will far exceed a standard deployment."

She turned her gaze to Benjamin, the smile returning to her lips, though it was clearly forced.

"Of course, if Mr. Soldier Boy is unwilling to participate in this kind of field operation, I completely understand."

"I’ll go."

Benjamin picked up his shield, his voice flat.

Madelyn’s brows lifted slightly.

All the arguments she had prepared, about public image, Vought’s strategic positioning, and the progress of lobbying for Supes to enter the military system, were suddenly useless.

Why was Soldier Boy so cooperative today?

Homelander turned to look at Benjamin, the light in his blue eyes brightening by a degree.

"Really?"

"I’m just sitting around anyway."

Benjamin stood, hung the shield from his left arm, and glanced sideways at Homelander.

"Let’s go. Don’t keep the cops waiting too long. The guns in those men’s hands are real. This isn’t some damn performance."

"And later, don’t carry me or hold me. I don’t want people thinking I’m gay."

Homelander sprang up from his chair a fraction faster than usual.

It had been a long time since he had looked forward to a mission.

Madelyn watched the father and son walk out of the briefing room side by side and stood there in silence for a moment.

"Wow. Homelander’s really eager."

Maeve remarked,

"I think this is Soldier Boy’s first field mission."

...

By then, three full blocks of Madison Avenue had been sealed off.

Three layers of yellow police tape had been stretched across the area, and even under the noon sun, the red and blue flashing lights from the police cars were bright enough to make people squint.

At least twenty police cars were parked in staggered lines around the perimeter.

Both sides of the street were packed with people, the arms holding up phones so dense they looked like a moving forest.

Just then, a red figure descended from the sky, his cape cutting a sharp arc across the New York skyline.

The crowd erupted in an instant.

But when people saw that beside the red figure, there was another figure in deep green, the noise turned into deafening cheers.

Homelander landed inside the police cordon and released his arm from around Benjamin’s waist.

Benjamin looked around. This was his first real mission, mainly because this one was not an act.

"It’s Soldier Boy. It’s really him!"

"I watched what he said at yesterday’s press conference! He was so fucking cool!"

"That face... I want to sit on it so bad." freewёbnoνel.com

"Oh, get lost. Like you’d ever deserve that."

"The two strongest Supes came together! The original and the modern one! Those robbers are dead!"

Waves of noise rolled through the crowd.

A few bold bystanders broke through the first line of tape and tried to squeeze forward, only to be stopped by police.

Every reporter’s camera turned away from the building and toward the father and son. Some live directors were screaming "close-up" into their headsets.