Power increased and a new effect was added.
Secondary impact. Every attack now comes with a "secondary impact" effect.
Although it's limited to physical attacks, "Still, actually feeling myself get stronger like this really is pleasant."
Alex smiled, turned around, and flew back toward the video store.
In just a short while, Alex returned to the video store.
"Welcome, oh, Homelander?"
Seeing Alex in his blue combat suit, Hughie's eyes shone with admiration. He said, "What just happened is already on the news. You saved everyone again. You're seriously awesome."
Alex waved it off, indicating it was nothing, then said, "My item?"
"Right here."
"Here you go, and your credit card."
Hughie handed the already wrapped teddy bear to Alex.
Alex took it, thought for a moment, then said, "Mr. Hughie, if that bearded guy comes looking for you again, would you be willing to give me a call?"
Hughie froze for a moment, then happily agreed, "Of course."
He leaned in and lowered his voice, "That bearded guy is a terrorist, right?"
Alex laughed, "Of course not. He's a fanatic. He wants to kill me, but he doesn't count as a terrorist."
"Do you have a pen?"
After leaving his phone number, Alex held the gift, stepped out of the video store, whooshed up into the air, and left.
———
In a café a few streets away from the video store, Butcher took off his sunglasses and watched the flow of people outside the window, lost in thought.
He suddenly said, "Don't pat me on the shoulder unless you want to lose your hand."
Behind the bearded man, a white man wearing glasses laughed, "You're really cautious, Mr. Butcher."
"I watched your livestream. I have to say, you're the bravest man I've ever seen."
Butcher turned around, smiling without warmth, "If you don't hurry up and tell me why you got close to me, do you believe I'll chop off your hand and shove it up your ass?"
The man with glasses took out a business card and placed it on the table, "Mr. Butcher, we have a common enemy."
"If you want the power to fight Homelander, you can consider coming to find me."
"Have a pleasant evening."
He waved and left.
Only then did Butcher pick up the business card. On it were the words "Olga Weapons R&D Company."
———
Back at the Seven Tower, Alex knocked on the door.
The door opened. The young and beautiful Angelina looked puzzled.
"A gift for you."
Without waiting for her consent, Alex forcefully walked into the room, tore open the outer packaging, and placed the teddy bear with the camera inside in a conspicuous spot in the living room.
"Master, when can I begin my revenge?", Angelina closed the door.
Alex smiled faintly, "Soon."
"You need to be patient."
"And at the same time, have confidence in me."
Angelina thought for a moment, "Are you staying here tonight?"
"If that's your invitation?", Alex shrugged, "I don't think I'd refuse."
Angelina lightly bit her lip, "I'll go take a shower."
.
.
.
.
The next morning—
Alex glanced at Angelina's beautiful bare back and got out of bed with satisfaction.
A moment later, he walked into the command hall.
As soon as he entered, his assistant Ashley followed him in.
"This is amazing, Homelander."
"How did you think of using a livestream to build a more relatable image?"
"You must have figured that a flawed hero feels more down to earth, so you deliberately found that bearded guy and did a real-life show together, right?"
"Who was the director?"
"Who wrote the script?"
"Can you tell me? I think this production team could work with us long-term."
Alex closed his eyes slightly and raised one finger, "First, that wasn't a reality show."
"Second, you're too loud."
Ashley immediately shut her mouth, while one thought after another surfaced in her mind.
'So it was real?'
'Homelander slept with that woman named Becca?'
'He seemed to have spent the night in Miss Angelina's room last night.'
'If only I could have something happen with him.'
'That would definitely be exciting.'
Shaking her head, Ashley continued, "Even if it wasn't a reality show, the effect was unexpectedly good. Today, your male approval rating rose by 27 percent, and your female approval rating also saw a slight increase."
"Our polls show that people think what you did last night showed that you dare to act and dare to take responsibility. Quite a few people feel that this version of you gives them a stronger sense of security."
Alex smiled. He didn't care about this kind of thing at all.
In the face of absolute power, whether people support you or not really doesn't matter.
Does a lion care whether a group of ants likes it?
And if they don't?
One slap and they're dead.
"Ashley, I've selected two members for the Seven. Arrange a time. I want to meet them."
Ashley quickly replied, "Okay. 'Ice Princess' and 'Electro Man.' I'll arrange for them to meet you as soon as possible."
"Are you free Sunday afternoon?"
Alex nodded.
Ashley took out her memo pad and wrote it down, then said, "Oh right, the criminal who took a passerby hostage last night, his identity has already been confirmed."
"It was Nathan, A-Train's brother."
"Looks like he wanted to avenge his younger brother. What a foolish move!"
Alex waved his hand, cutting her off, "Go call the costume design team over."
Ashley froze, "You want to design a new combat suit?"
———
A short while later, the Seven Tower's costume design team met Alex in the command hall.
Alex yanked off the Stars and Stripes cape from his back.
"I want you to redesign a new combat suit."
"First of all, I don't like the Stars and Stripes cape design."
The head of the design team frowned, "But Homelander, the Stars and Stripes reflect your patriotism and also echo your name."
"That's not my name."
"That's just a title."
Alex corrected him, "I am who I am. I'm not anyone's property. No one gets to define me, not even this country."
"Right now I'm not discussing this with you. I'm giving an order."
"I order you to come up with a viable proposal by next Monday."
"My requirement is that the new combat suit has nothing to do with any nation anymore."
"It must represent me."
"Do you understand?"
The design team members nodded like pecking chickens. Not daring to linger, they lowered their heads and left the command hall.
Alex's eyes lit up. He adjusted the power and used a single laser blast to burn the Stars and Stripes cape to ashes.
'After being reborn, I always felt like something was missing.'
'Now it feels right.'
Watching the burning Stars and Stripes, the corner of Alex's mouth lifted.
At that moment, The Deep's voice rang out, "Oh! Oh! Oh! Boss, what are you doing?"
Alex looked up. With Maeve at the front, the members of the Seven walked in one by one.
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