Chapter 41 Edgar: You’re just a defective product
The interview ended, and the staff began packing up the equipment.
Homelander waited patiently outside the door until Lucas came out.
"Guardian, my good brother, thank you so much for just now!"
Homelander’s tone was very sincere.
Just now, he had tried to ride on Guardian’s coattails and was almost embarrassed by the cameraman. Lucas not only helped him out but also inadvertently helped him gain a good reputation.
In his eyes, Lucas was already a true friend.
Lucas looked indifferent.
"Small matter, it’s all a small matter."
Homelander lowered his voice, "What you said... about me giving the opportunity to you, I know that’s not the truth!"
"How is it not the truth?"
Lucas stopped in his tracks and corrected Homelander’s statement.
"Think about it, you are Vought’s face, and you have priority for any mission. If you had wanted to go on this Middle East mission, no one could have stopped you."
"You didn’t go, didn’t that mean you gave it to me?"
Homelander was stunned for a moment.
Is... is that so?
He didn’t go, so Guardian had the opportunity to carry out the mission.
And that led to this big harvest.
From the result, he really did give it up this time!
"However..." Lucas led Homelander to a deserted corner and whispered, "This interview actually wasn’t that simple."
Homelander looked confused, "What’s not simple about it? Isn’t it just a normal interview?"
"No, no, no, you are too naive to think that way!"
Lucas looked serious, "Do you know why Edgar deliberately sent me to carry out the mission and let me accept the interview alone?"
"The things inside are not something that can be explained in one or two sentences."
"But one thing is certain: he is targeting you!"
Homelander’s brow twitched upon hearing this.
"Targeting me? Why! I’m doing my job quite well!"
"See, you said it yourself," Lucas pointed out, "Think about it, it’s precisely because you are doing so well that you, Homelander, have almost become Vought’s brand, and your brilliance has overshadowed everyone else."
"This is not conducive to launching diversified products and will only make Vought’s image more monotonous. For capitalists, they are always the ones controlling others; how could they be easily controlled?"
"So Edgar is propping me up, and the goal is to suppress your limelight. Think carefully, haven’t there been signs of this recently?"
Seeing Lucas’s analysis was logical, Homelander thought about it carefully, and it really seemed to be the case!
At first, when A-Train’s drug use was exposed, affecting his reputation, what did Vought do?
They forcibly suppressed the negative news about A-Train.
Later there was The Deep, and Madelyn stopped him from holding a press conference to kick those two bastards out.
As a result, the video of Starlight was leaked, and he ended up suffering an injustice instead.
Now, Edgar assigns tasks and deliberately bypasses him, letting Guardian enjoy the fame alone.
One by one, if you don’t think about it carefully, you can’t see the underlying intentions at all.
Homelander’s heart rate began to soar.
"This isn’t even the scariest part. What’s scary is that they plan to pull a switcheroo!" Lucas continued to build up Homelander’s anger.
"What is a switcheroo?"
Homelander asked, as expected.
Lucas explained, "It’s a crude transfer. Since capital cannot control you, but cannot abandon your commercial value, they can only transfer the exposure, traffic, and public support that originally belonged to you to me through this method."
"When the public slowly gets used to a new face, they will feel that Vought’s brand doesn’t necessarily have to be Homelander!"
"Guardian is pretty good too!"
Lucas shrugged, "Of course, I’m just a substitute. When I can’t be controlled, they will choose the same method to take us down."
Homelander stood there, motionless.
Once his brainstorming started, it couldn’t be stopped.
"No, no, no, this is not right!"
"How can they do this!"
"I am Homelander, I am Vought’s brand, I am the most powerful Supe on this Earth!!"
[Key Character: Homelander — Emotional Change: Alert, Angry, Resentful]
[Evolution Points Gained: +1,834]
Yosh, the big one is here!!
"So that’s why you said that on the show." Homelander realized.
"Of course, we are good homies. They think they can sow discord with such petty tricks? It’s simply naive!" Lucas said.
"Thank you, brother!" Homelander’s eyes were moist.
Homelander was touched!
"But this won’t do!"
Lucas struck while the iron was hot.
Homelander seemed to understand the meaning in his eyes and quickly shook his head.
"Oh! Bro! No, no, you want to kill Edgar? He is Vought’s..."
"Vought’s boss?"
Lucas looked disdainful.
"Homelander, have you ever thought about why you, who possess the strongest power in the world, have to take orders from a normal human? Even if this normal human is just using you, playing with you, and will discard you the moment you are useless!"
"Be... because he is..."
That’s right!
Edgar is just a normal human, why would I be afraid of him from the bottom of my heart?
Homelander suddenly realized.
"You finally realized it. This is what I want to tell you: all the Supes produced by Vought are clearly stronger than Edgar, so why do you fear him?"
"Because during your growth process, he had people deliberately train your psychology, making you fear him from the root, unable to resist his every decision."
"Reality shouldn’t be like this. We are not Edgar’s slaves; we are the humans of the new world!"
Homelander’s worldview seemed to have collapsed.
He, the most popular Supe in America, had actually been psychologically conditioned since childhood?
This is impossible!
This is absolutely impossible!
"Do you know why even Madelyn can control you? I don’t want to say more, but you can investigate it yourself."
After Lucas had added enough fuel to the fire, he stood aside and watched Homelander’s change quietly.
In the original story, Homelander discovered this fact slowly; now, he is responsible for accelerating this process!
A monster that makes all of America tremble will start from here.
"I don’t believe it. I’m going to find Madelyn and Edgar!"
Homelander smashed through the glass and instantly disappeared into the sky.
Lucas shook his head. Homelander’s mentality was quite immature. Even if he flew over to ask, would they admit it?
...
"That’s right, you are just a defective product!"
Edgar stood by the window, looking at Homelander with disdain.
"You were set up from birth, and you can only serve Vought until you die. Perhaps in the eyes of the people of America, you are an omnipotent Supe!"
"But to me, to Vought, you are nothing!"
"Now, go back to your post. You can only come in when I call you!"
Edgar didn’t change his expression. Even facing the strongest Supe in America, he didn’t blush or skip a beat.