Chapter 42 Who is it? It’s so hard to guess!
Nine o’clock at night.
Midtown Apartment.
Starlight had just come out of the shower, her hair still wet. She was wearing one of Lucas’s black T-shirts, the hem barely covering the tops of her thighs.
"Want to wash up? I learned a few new moves."
"Oh? You’ve piqued my interest, woman!"
Lucas threw the remote control aside, floated up from where he was, and drifted toward Starlight.
He had recently been trying to give up walking.
Starlight took a step back, her back pressing against the corridor wall.
"What are you doing? My hair isn’t dry yet!"
"No need to dry it."
Lucas braced one hand against the wall above her head, while his other hand gripped her chin, tilting it slightly upward.
Starlight’s breathing quickened.
"You’re like this every time, you don’t even have any foreplay or buildup!"
"You don’t like it?"
"...Ahem, actually, it’s not bad either."
Lucas lowered his head.
Knock, knock-knock! A knocking sound echoed.
"Fine. Whatever new ’knowledge’ (positions) you’ve learned, we can fly up to the clouds next time; no one will disturb us there."
Lucas went to open the door; he had already recognized the knocking from outside.
"Who is it?" Starlight lowered her voice.
Lucas’s expression was very subtle.
"Homelander."
Starlight’s face changed instantly; the fact that the two of them were living together was still unknown within Vought.
If Ashley and Edgar found out, they would be severely warned.
If Lucas knew what she was thinking, he would probably roll his eyes.
He could screw whoever the hell he wanted right now, and no one could stop him—Guardian said so!!
"Go stay in the bedroom, we might need to talk."
Starlight didn’t say a word, running into the bedroom barefoot and gently closing the door.
Outside the door, Homelander was still wearing his suit.
Ever since Lucas joined Vought, he had never seen Homelander wear casual clothes.
However, this time he was carrying a bottle of wine—a 2008 Dom Pérignon.
"Hey, bro!" Homelander smiled, though his expression was unnatural.
It was his first time visiting a good friend’s home as a friend, especially after using his X-ray vision to see the two of them about to do the deed.
But right now, he needed comfort more.
"I didn’t call ahead, I hope you don’t mind."
Lucas glanced at the bottle of champagne.
He had to admit, this scene looked incredibly weird no matter how you looked at it!
"Come on in."
Homelander set the champagne down and emphasized seriously.
"I wanted this visit to be a bit more formal, since it’s my first time at your place."
"Let’s skip the formalities between us. You look like you’re in a bad mood, want a drink?"
Lucas picked up the bottle of champagne.
Homelander didn’t smoke, drink, or do drugs; compared to other Supes, he was practically a living saint.
But he didn’t want any milk right now.
"Sure."
Lucas floated to the kitchen to grab two glasses, then stood side-by-side by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the view outside.
"You’re right, I can’t defy Edgar, but it’s not because I’m a coward; I just still need him."
As Homelander spoke, the corners of his mouth kept twitching, like a child who could only confide in his little friend after being scolded by his father.
"Uh, as long as you’re happy."
Lucas took a sip and frowned.
He was a brute who couldn’t appreciate fine goods.
This stuff didn’t even taste good!
"I took the guy who gives me weekly psychological counseling... uh, I think his name was Dr. Vo... Vogel, and I welded him and his chair together."
Homelander finished recounting his murderous deed with nonchalance.
Just last week, he had killed a mayor who claimed to know about compound v and threatened Ashley to lower the price of the Supes supplied to his city to 200 million dollars a year.
To prevent the truth about compound v from leaking, he had shot down the plane carrying the mayor and his grandchildren.
Within The Seven, there were no longer any Supes who could swim, so it was impossible for anyone to retrieve the evidence from the ocean.
"It wasn’t just that psychologist who lied to you." Lucas pondered what secret he could reveal to Homelander.
"I hate those who play games with me; they will all pay the price one by one."
Homelander’s fingers tightened slightly, and fine cracks appeared on the glass.
"But you’re different."
He suddenly looked at Lucas.
"You are the first person to tell me the truth. It’s you, my brother, you pulled me out of the mud!"
Lucas held his wine glass; if Homelander knew that he was the biggest liar of all, this kid would probably go insane on the spot, right?
The panel popped up with a notification.
[Key Character: Homelander — Current Emotions: Grateful, Trusting, Desiring Recognition, Slightly Dependent]
[Evolution Points Gained: + 678]
"You didn’t just come here to discuss psychological problems this time, did you?" Lucas asked suddenly.
Homelander’s emotions didn’t shift much, indicating he hadn’t really taken that matter to heart.
He had another purpose for this visit.
"Sometimes I suspect you have telepathy too." Homelander squeezed Lucas’s left shoulder, "Do you know about that bill Vought has been pushing lately? The one the President rejected three times, the one Ashley has no way to handle."
Lucas raised an eyebrow; he actually knew about the bill Homelander was talking about.
"The Supe Enlistment Bill?"
In the original series, this bill was Vought’s first step toward extending its reach to the military, and it certainly didn’t go very smoothly at first.
Especially with the recent Middle East Supe incident, the President of America was already suspecting whether Vought was pulling strings behind the scenes, trying to use the opportunity to control America.
Congress hadn’t passed it either; the military brass had entrenched interests and wouldn’t let Vought get its hands in.
Supe soldiers—that was a massive market.
Homelander’s tone carried a hint of disdain, "Those congressmen are just a bunch of cowards; they’re afraid we’ll take their cake."
Lucas suddenly realized that Homelander was using him as his personal strategist.
"So you want the bill to pass smoothly to prove yourself?"
"Exactly!"
Homelander smiled; this was his intention in coming to find Lucas.
"Regarding this... do you have any ideas?"
Lucas and Homelander turned behind them simultaneously; the bedroom door was slightly ajar, and Starlight was eavesdropping.
"Don’t worry about her, she’s on our side."
Lucas didn’t care at all.
Homelander nodded; Starlight living with Guardian counted as leverage.
Even if he revealed his plan here, Starlight wouldn’t dare leak it.
"If... I mean if, a large number of Supe threats suddenly appeared all over the world, so many that even the regular military couldn’t handle them, do you think Congress would still refuse?"
Homelander laid out his bold plan.
"Hmm, not bad." Lucas nodded in praise.
Homelander wasn’t lacking in intelligence, just extremely unstable mentally.
"It’s just that I can’t find a suitable candidate. Who do you think would be more qualified to do this?" Homelander looked at Lucas, waiting to hear his answer.
Lucas smiled slightly.
He finally understood: Homelander wanted him to do the dirty work!
One second they were friends, the next he was pushing him out there. As long as Guardian dared to do it, Homelander would have leverage, and he wouldn’t have to worry about him disobeying.
Nice! Very nice!
"That’s simple. Who do you think can run all over the world in an extremely short amount of time, inject compound v into terrorists, and leave no evidence behind?"
Lucas said with a smile.
Homelander pulled his lips back into a smile, his teeth gleaming white.
"Yeah, who could it be?"
"Of course it’s A-Train. Who else could it be—me?"