Chapter 51 Master Lucas’s Micro-Management
Trapped in the elevator, Homelander’s emotions went through another extreme shift.
...
[ Homelander — — Emotions fluctuating: Suppressed, angry, humiliated, self-doubting ]
[ Evolution Points gained: + 5,234 ]
...
"Call someone to fix the elevator!"
Just as Homelander thought to make a call, Lucas’s Omega Beams melted the entire elevator door.
Homelander: "..."
He was truly blinded by rage!
Homelander sat in the conference room, calming himself for a long while before suppressing his anger.
He turned to look at Lucas, his gaze somewhat unnatural.
"Um..." Homelander forced a change of topic, "How are the arrangements for A-Train going? It’s been so long with no news, don’t tell me that failed too!"
He wanted to find some compensation from Lucas.
"Wouldn’t you know if you just gave him a call?"
Lucas took out his phone, scrolled to A-Train’s number, and pressed the call button.
Beep — —
The phone rang once.
Whoosh!
A blur flashed from the end of the corridor, and A-Train was already standing before them.
He was still clutching his phone, with "Incoming Call: Guardian" displayed on the screen.
"Sir!"
A-Train’s voice was filled with excitement, "Sir! I’ve been waiting for your call!"
Then he saw Homelander.
His excited expression immediately subsided.
"Hom... Homelander, I didn’t expect you to be here too."
...
[ A-Train — — Emotions erupting: Excited, nervous, expectant, apprehensive ]
[ Evolution Points gained: + 5,672 ]
...
Homelander glanced at him without saying a word.
"Sir, the mission is complete."
A-Train straightened his back.
"I have already injected all the compound v into the members of the terrorist organizations that the America military is about to strike. It won’t be long before we reap the results you want."
Homelander’s face felt a bit awkward.
"Are you sure? When did this happen?"
"The, the day before yesterday. You know how I am, my chest hurts after running just a few steps now!"
"Useless trash!"
A-Train didn’t dare to make a sound after being scolded.
"Hey! Don’t be so harsh, A-Train did a pretty good job this time!"
Lucas beamed with joy.
A-Train hesitated for a moment, then spoke cautiously:
"Sir... about my position as a candidate for The Seven..."
His tone carried a trace of unease, as if afraid to hear bad news.
Lucas raised an eyebrow, "Candidate? What candidate?"
A-Train was stunned.
You’ve got to be kidding me?
Playing me for a fool?
"Sir, you said before that as long as I completed the mission, I could..."
"What candidate? You’re a full member!"
Lucas interrupted him, his tone matter-of-fact.
"When did you ever leave The Seven?"
A-Train’s brain stalled for two seconds, then suddenly reacted.
"...Oh, you’ve given me a surprise!"
"Come here, let’s have a hug!"
Lucas gave A-Train an enthusiastic hug.
...
[ A-Train — — Emotions shifted dramatically: Shocked, touched, sense of belonging, loyal, sense of rebirth ]
[ Evolution Points gained: + 6,891 ]
...
Lucas released him and turned to look at Homelander.
"Brother, hurry up and give this guy some encouragement!"
Homelander had a complex expression, walked over to A-Train reluctantly, and gave him a shallow hug.
He cursed, "You drug-addicted piece of trash!"
A-Train suddenly had a feeling.
The captain of The Seven shouldn’t be Homelander; it should be Guardian!
Guardian is the real boss who puts in the work for the organization!
After the atmosphere eased, A-Train took a deep breath.
"Sir, what should I do next to officially return to The Seven?"
Lucas didn’t answer immediately, but instead took out his phone to summon 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 deployment plan, take notes!"
Ashley immediately took out her phone, ready to type.
"I have a plan for A-Train re-entering The Seven."
Lucas crossed his legs and propped them on the desk.
"A-Train’s negative influence hasn’t passed yet. Although the internet has no memory, we still need to have some face."
"Therefore, what you need to do is act as an unsung hero among the public. The area will be restricted to all of Manhattan. Execute justice in secret, save lives, do not wear your costume, and do not reveal your identity."
"Furthermore, you are strictly forbidden from accepting any interviews, and you cannot hint at your identity on social media. You are just an ordinary person who runs very fast, silently helping others."
A-Train’s brow furrowed, not knowing why Lucas arranged it this way.
Homelander also became somewhat interested.
"In addition, you are not allowed to take drugs or inject compound v again. If you offend again, I will ruin your reputation and banish you from The Seven forever, understand?"
Lucas’s eyes lit up, filled with the power of destruction.
A-Train quickly expressed his stance, "Understood, understood, I will absolutely never touch those things again!"
"But Sir, I don’t quite understand, is there a deeper meaning to you doing this?"
Ashley seemed to understand a bit, and she explained:
"Guardian means for you to act as an unsung hero first. The public will be curious and discuss it, thereby sparking a hot topic about who the mysterious hero is. When the hype reaches its peak, you can reveal your identity."
"In this way, the public’s new perception of you will wash away the past negative impression. Plus, you only took some drugs and didn’t cause any real casualties."
"Later, we will arrange a few activities for you, probably about your reflections on overcoming drug addiction, and you can perfectly whitewash your image."
Lucas clapped his hands, "Bingo!"
"A prodigal son who returns is worth more than gold; this is a drama the public loves to see. Even if a good person does ten thousand good deeds, if they accidentally do one bad thing, they will be criticized."
"But as long as a bad person does one good deed, they will be greeted with flowers and praise."
"The mistake you made isn’t that serious. Next, we’ll film a few biographical movies for you, get some marketing accounts and bots to stir up the narrative, and your popularity might even be higher than before."
Ashley looked excited.
Yes, exactly, bro!
This is the PR route Vought should be taking!
"We can even bundle the promotion, like Guardian forgiving and accepting A-Train because he is changing in obscurity. Compared to some dead fish on TV claiming to have repented, A-Train’s image is easier to win over the audience’s favor!"
Lucas added.
Homelander’s eyes lit up.
"I can also forgive, I can also accept A-Train. Let’s earn the traffic together, my brother!"
He immediately put on a benevolent expression and gave A-Train an enthusiastic hug.
One second Homelander was disgusted with him as trash, the next second, A-Train was his close friend and beloved companion.
A-Train wore a fake smile.
Hypocritical!
So damn 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 immediately clear!"
"Since The Deep’s return is already inevitable, let’s use A-Train’s return of the prodigal son to stir up the narrative against The Deep."
"Even if he returns among us, he will definitely be the least popular one!"
Homelander laughed and excitedly grabbed Lucas’s shoulders.
"...Fantastic! Let’s arrange it just like that!"
Lucas raised his hand to push Homelander away, "No, no, no, this is just the beginning. 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 once and for all!"
Homelander leaned in again.
"How do we do it?"
Lucas 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 America, splashing some dirty water on the Church of the Collective is easy, right?