254. Chapter 254: Hero!
......
And the subsequent development was exactly as Xia Shang had expected.
As Stormfront's death further escalated, both the internet and reality saw a wave of condemnation against Homelander.
"These days are truly unbearable," Homelander stood by the window of Xia Shang's Office, hands behind his back, looking down at the crowd of demonstrators gathered below Vought Tower, and couldn't help but complain.
Because the resignation process had not yet been completed, Xia Shang was temporarily still the Vice President of Vought International.
However, someone must have leaked the news. When Xia Shang walked into Vought Tower today, the attitude of the people around him clearly underwent a huge change, while Ashley Barrett's side was bustling with activity.
"Just bear with it a little longer," Xia Shang said, then closed his eyes.
He had recently been researching Blazing Wings. This superpower was something he obtained from Sweet Home, and he had used it a few times before, but Xia Shang believed the potential of this superpower should be more than that.
Back when he was fusing abilities, he discovered that only the cells in his left arm had undergone mutation. This meant only his left arm could transform into Blazing Wings that possessed extreme high temperature. He had once done an experiment using the refrigerator at home; steel that could withstand high temperatures quickly turned into a puddle of molten iron in front of him. The fact proved that the temperature contained within Blazing Wings was at least around two to three thousand degrees Celsius, enough to instantly turn an ordinary human into charcoal.
Even his own other body parts could not withstand the attack of Blazing Wings.
However, after Xia Shang fused the transformation, transfer, and extreme control from Parasyte World, as well as Muzan's flesh and blood recovery, his understanding of his own cells was more thorough than before. Especially Goto's Extreme Control, which allowed him, as if observing lines on his palm, to freely control every single cell within his body. So he began attempting to use the mutated cells to replace the cells that had not undergone mutation. After several attempts, he reached a conclusion.
Firstly, his line of thought was correct. Even cells that had undergone mutation could still differentiate. Although theoretically cell differentiation is irreversible, because he fused multiple abilities related to self-healing, conventional human cells cannot be compared to his cells.
After all, no ordinary human could be like him; even if their body was blown to pieces, as long as a small piece of flesh and blood tissue remained, they could still come back to life.
So Xia Shang planned to imitate the Ship of Theseus, using mutated cells to replace the cells that had not undergone mutation. This process was not as smooth as he had imagined, because he discovered that those cells after mutation, even when they divided and differentiated, only a very small portion could inherit the characteristics of the mutation. The vast majority were still ordinary cells, and some cells even underwent gene mutation, which were the so-called cancer cells.
These cells within his body were like outsiders; while not obeying his control, they also wantonly slaughtered and devoured other cells.
If this were an ordinary human, they would probably have killed themselves long ago.
After all, even his cells were subject to the limitation of division times. Although this number far exceeded that of ordinary humans, it must be known that cells that could inherit the characteristics of mutation would only appear after at least a hundred divisions. Therefore, although Xia Shang wanted to replace all the cells in his body as quickly as possible, he also had to exclude some cancer cells from time to time. This greatly slowed down his progress.
Just then, Xia Shang lowered his right arm, pointing his fingertips at the trash can.
The cells discarded by him, once they left his body, would turn into grayish-white dust, completely losing their activity.
And the nutrients they originally possessed would return to Xia Shang's body, to be used by him to create new cells.
"Seventy-two percent... seventy-five percent."
Xia Shang kept his eyes tightly closed, silently observing the degree of mutation of the cells within his body.
"Is this a side effect of your superpower?" After Homelander watched for a while and felt bored, he turned his head and glanced at Xia Shang, or to be precise, at the trash can next to Xia Shang's office chair.
In less than half an hour, the trash can, which was originally empty, was actually filled with dust, and this was even after Xia Shang repeatedly compacted it using psychic power.
"You can understand it that way," Xia Shang slowly opened his eyes.
Just at this moment, the department head of the Publicity Department pushed the door open with an excited face and walked up to Xia Shang.
"It's hard to imagine that those few photos could instantly reverse Homelander's reputation! Just now, Homelander's approval rating had originally dropped by fifteen percentage points, but as soon as the photos were released, not only was the downward trend curbed, it's even continuously rising! It's estimated that it won't take long for Homelander's popularity to achieve a reversal. Your guess was indeed correct; this is like a spring, after being compressed to the extreme, it will experience a rapid rebound."
The department head of the Publicity Department couldn't help but exclaim.
"Now they should know who the real hero is," Xia Shang stood up, walked to Homelander's side, and said with a smile.
"Sometimes the truth isn't important; what's important is the result."
Watching the crowd gathered below Vought Tower disperse like birds and beasts, Homelander, however, couldn't feel happy.
"Stormfront is dead."
He turned his head to look at Xia Shang.
"Do you care about her that much? You know, after this matter, your popularity will skyrocket, easily surpassing Starlight, and once again be sought after by thousands. Compared to all this, is Stormfront still important?" Xia Shang said in a flat tone.
Homelander smiled, an exceptionally bright smile, but there was no change in the corners of his eyes.
"This time you helped me again, should I say thank you?"
"There's no need for thanks." Xia Shang returned to his seat and, after the department head of the Publicity Department left, continued, "I helped you contact the \"American Superheroes\" Program Team; they should be here by now."
Half an hour later.
In the Vought Recording Studio, Courtenay, who was putting on makeup, immediately stood up upon seeing Homelander walking towards her and greeted him with a face full of smiles.
"Oh, look who's here, our Superhero." Courtenay had black hair, and her appearance fit the American aesthetic. She was just a little older; when she smiled, one could see fine crow's feet at the corners of her eyes. One could tell she took good care of herself; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe her as still charming.
"Courtenay, long time no see," Homelander smiled and shook hands with her.
However, she soon saw Xia Shang behind Homelander.
"Mr. Jervis, I've long admired your name. It's just a pity I never had the chance to meet you before. Now it's great; my wish has been fulfilled."
Courtenay was a senior producer at Vought, with multiple programs about Superheroes under her belt.
"Ms. Courtenay, I've always been a fan of yours. I haven't missed a single episode of 'Citizen Starlight' and 'American Superheroes' that you host."
Both of their faces wore commercial smiles.
(End of this chapter)