Free Web NovelChapter 31: Chapter 31: Don’t You Dare Slander My Hero!
Before long, the setting sun had dyed the Atlantic a dark gold.
On the ocean’s surface, more than a hundred dolphins formed a spectacular formation. Each carried one or two soaked but very much alive humans on its back as they surged toward the East Coast in a mighty procession.
The second-tier speed Supe and The Deep led the formation from the front, constantly adjusting their pace on the crests of the waves to make sure not a single dolphin fell behind.
...
On a beach somewhere along the East Coast, reporters had already gotten the news. Cameras of every size lined the entire shoreline. A live broadcast helicopter circled overhead, and a CNN breaking news banner scrolled across the screen: "Homelander, Maeve, The Deep, and Soldier Boy Successfully Rescue All 123 Passengers from Crashed Passenger Plane. No Casualties."
On the beach, the passengers sat wrapped in blankets inside makeshift rescue tents. Some clutched hot coffee and cried, while others recounted what had just happened to the cameras, exaggerating so much they sounded like they were describing a Hollywood blockbuster.
Mia bounced up and down on the sand.
This was the most exciting moment of her life. Falling from the sky, then riding a dolphin. She would have plenty to brag about to her classmates!
Homelander stood at the very front of the beach. The sea breeze had blown his hair into a mess, but he was smiling.
Maeve stood to his left, pulling a piece of seaweed tangled in her hair free and tossing it onto the ground.
The Deep stood a little farther away, leaning against a large dolphin. The dolphin rubbed its snout against his shoulder, and he reached out to pat its smooth forehead.
The sea breeze swept in from the Atlantic, carrying salty, fishy mist across the beach and tangling the reporters’ hair and microphone cables.
The roar of the live broadcast helicopter’s rotors thundered overhead.
At that moment, Benjamin walked out from the crowd. He had also been brought over by a second-tier speed Supe. Of course, that guy’s speed could not compare to A-Train’s, nor to the second-tier speed Supe from earlier, but carrying a big man in a dark green Supersuit here within two hours was still no problem.
Benjamin’s own speed still was not enough. According to his analysis, Homelander and A-Train should both be Super Speed Level 5. Shockwave was Level 4, close to Level 5, while these two second-tier Supes were probably Level 3.
Homelander was standing at the front of the beach, answering several reporters’ questions, when he caught sight of the dark green figure from the corner of his eye. He immediately turned and waved hard.
Benjamin walked up to him and looked him over.
"Good job. Next time, be a little more fucking careful, all right? This accident could have been handled much better."
Homelander nodded, his lips moving. "I just... I was just attacked by the hijackers..."
"The hijackers damaged the plane, sir," Maeve said calmly as she walked over from the side.
Soldier Boy, of course, knew it had not been the hijackers, but with the live broadcast still going, they could only pin the blame on them.
Benjamin glanced at Maeve, then at Homelander.
"Forget it. Just be more careful next time."
"Yes, I will."
Homelander nodded.
The reporters had already crowded in.
Camera lenses glinted in the setting sun. More than a dozen microphones were thrust toward Homelander at the same time, and questions swarmed toward him like a nest of hornets that had just been kicked. freёwebnoѵel.com
Homelander cleared his throat, straightened his back, and put his standard smile back on his face.
Benjamin stood beside him.
"Mr. Homelander, why did the aircraft’s control panel fail?"
"It was the hijackers."
Homelander’s tone was steady and certain.
"During the firefight with the hijackers, they destroyed the cockpit control panel. It was an unforeseeable accident. After realizing the plane had lost control, I immediately contacted my father, Soldier Boy. He advised me to transport the passengers one by one, while also coordinating with The Deep to lead a pod of dolphins for support on the ocean surface. Throughout the rescue operation, Deep and his marine mammal team played a crucial role."
A bespectacled male reporter shoved his microphone a few inches closer. "That doesn’t add up. How did Soldier Boy know to dispatch The Deep in advance? Based on the timeline, The Deep set out even before the aircraft’s control panel was destroyed. Does that mean you knew ahead of time that something would happen to the plane? Was this all an elaborate publicity stunt?"
Homelander’s smile froze.
The corner of his mouth twitched. He had saved one hundred and twenty-three people, flying trip after trip, with the sea breeze blowing so much salt into his Supersuit that his back was still wet.
He had carried Mia down from thirty-eight thousand feet and placed her on a dolphin’s back without even messing up a single strand of her little golden braid.
And now this reporter was asking him whether it had all been a stunt.
Anger flickered deep in Homelander’s blue eyes.
He stared at the bespectacled reporter, his pupils narrowing slightly, his fingers curling unconsciously at his sides.
He could burn a coin-sized hole through this man’s head in a tenth of a second.
For some reason, the bespectacled reporter suddenly felt a chill across his forehead...
But soon, Homelander regained a little of his composure.
"No, that’s not it."
Homelander’s voice remained steady.
"It’s just that Soldier Boy is extremely smart. He considered the possibility that an accident might happen, so he had Deep set out in advance. After all, I am the most powerful..."
...
"That still doesn’t make sense."
Another reporter cut him off. It was a female reporter in a gray trench coat, and her tone was even sharper than the man with glasses.
"Soldier Boy deployed Deep in advance, and then the plane’s control panel just happened to be destroyed, and the pod of dolphins just happened to be directly beneath the flight path. That is far too convenient. Can you explain why rescue resources were already in place before the accident even happened?"
Veins bulged on Homelander’s forehead.
"And what about compensation for the passengers?"
A third reporter pushed forward.
"They lost all their luggage. Some lost laptops, some lost important documents, some..."
Benjamin’s gaze shifted slightly.
Something was wrong with these reporters. Were they not Vought’s reporters?
Or was someone targeting Vought?
Butcher’s side did not have that kind of capability right now. These reporters were definitely Vought’s...
In other words, they were not targeting Vought.
They were targeting Homelander.
Although Homelander had indeed damaged the cabin, he had also unquestionably saved everyone. Compared to what happened in the original story, this was already much better.
Besides, Vought would compensate these people for their losses. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
For these reporters to be this aggressive, they were absolutely targeting Homelander. They might even be targeting him.
"Enough."
Benjamin’s voice was not loud. He stepped forward, placing himself in front of Homelander, and swept his gaze over the reporters still trying to push closer.
The bespectacled male reporter met his stare, and his microphone instinctively drew back half an inch.
"Listen."
Benjamin’s voice was rough.
"Homelander could have abandoned everyone and flown away with Maeve. That would have been the best option for him. Everyone on that fucking plane would be dead, and no one would know what happened. Homelander could have made sure this had nothing to do with him."
He took a step forward.
The bespectacled reporter took a step back.
"But he didn’t. The criminals sabotaged the plane, and he saved every person who should have died. One hundred and twenty-three people, not one missing. And now you stand here, looking at the man who saved one hundred and twenty-three of your own people, and ask him if it was a stunt?"
He took another step forward. The female reporter also took a step back.
"Say one more fucking word, and I’ll twist your heads off right now and throw them into the sea. Fuck you."
The beach went completely silent for three full seconds.
Only the sound of the tide and the distant roar of helicopter rotors remained.
The bespectacled reporter’s lips trembled. The microphone slipped from his hand and hit the sand with a dull thud.
The female reporter lowered her head, shoved her recorder into her pocket, and did not dare look up again.
The other reporters all retreated half a step. No one dared respond.
They were used to superheroes smiling and waving in front of the cameras, saying, "It’s what we should do." They were not used to an old soldier in a dark green Supersuit standing in front of them saying he would twist their heads off and throw them into the sea. And the look on his face convinced every one of them of one thing.
He was not making an empty threat. He seemed completely serious.
Homelander stood behind Benjamin, staring at his father’s broad back as it shielded him.
The reporters’ accusations still buzzed in his ears.
The violent rage in his heart had not fully faded.
Homelander stood there and watched his father curse them out for him.
He looked down at the footprints in the sand, the corner of his mouth shifting slightly. Then he raised his head and straightened up again.
Maeve stepped in to smooth things over. "All right. We absolutely would not spend this many resources to stage some stunt over an ordinary hijacking, okay? As for the control panel being destroyed, that’s something even we superheroes never want to see, but it did happen. So Vought International will provide appropriate compensation for all passenger losses. We have no reason to spend this much money on a stunt that achieves nothing."
...
"Uncle, Auntie, Homelander is a hero! He saved me, and my mom. He saved all of us! Without them, we might have died at the hands of the bad guys! You’re not allowed to slander my hero!"
Mia ran over and hurriedly shouted in her young voice.
