Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 488 Outdated and Worthless

"Hey, Homelander, it's so good to see you again."

The transparent man's voice interrupted Homelander's thoughts. It took him a second or two to realize whose voice it was.

"The Invisible Man? You're back?"

Homelander's face broke into his signature sunny smile, but with an added touch of warmth—a smile he had been training for since childhood, it had long since become an instinct. He had one smile when facing fans, and another when facing teammates. He would subconsciously use this mask of a fake smile to conceal his true emotions, to be the ever-sunny superhero, Homelander, in front of others.

"Today's banquet is very important. I'm surprised you can still distinguish between what's important and what's not."

Homelander's voice was very soft, so as not to be overheard: "I know you have a habit of going out drinking and partying and often don't come home all night, but I'm glad you're back today."

“Because if you don’t show up today, I will definitely fly out to find you. If something happens to you, I can avenge you, but if nothing happens to you—I will make you wake up.”

The last few words, "Wake up, wake up," were emphasized so heavily that a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on the transparent man's back. He held a glass of champagne in his hand, his body stiffened on the spot, unable to move no matter what he did. Facing the cold gaze of the Homelander, he couldn't utter a single word.

Just then, Homelander's gaze suddenly focused on the transparent man's stomach.

"In your stomach."

The Invisible Man immediately became apprehensive. At this moment, a multitude of thoughts surged through his mind. From the moment he left the rented room, he had been considering how to safely remove the bomb from his stomach, but the hard outer skin had become his shackle. Ordinary surgical methods probably wouldn't be able to remove the bomb.

He had accepted the possibility that he would be used by Ma Zhaodi for a period of time.

But now, if Homelander discovers him first, he will surely die a horrible death, unless he speaks out first.

"Do you want to say it?"

After a brief moment of hesitation, the people of the motherland looked away.

"Your stomach is empty, completely bare—what the hell did you go out to do?"

No one can understand the sense of redemption the invisible man felt at that moment.

"Forehead"

He stammered, his eyes darting around, and Homelander immediately understood what he meant. He glanced at the Invisible Man with disgust: "I've told you many times, don't do this kind of thing while invisible. Even if you can always settle things with money, what if you happen to run into a woman who doesn't need money? You'll end up with a rape charge, and Walter will be in a lot of trouble."

After saying this, Homelander walked away.

The Invisible Man breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still considering whether to confess to Vought first, because Homelander's heat vision might be able to cut through his skin—even if he couldn't see the capsule, surgery was still a possibility.

Until his phone vibrated.

hum-

He picked up his phone and saw a text message with no beginning or end, listing two addresses.

540 Ginesey Riverside Avenue, Rochester.

“659 Bingham Street, Buffalo”

Three seconds after I read the message, it suddenly disappeared, leaving nothing behind, as if it had never been received at all.

But the transparent man's face had become extremely ugly.

This is the address of his parents and grandmother.

He guessed who sent the message.

"Damn it, this guy—"

The anger flared for less than a second before the Invisible Man completely forgot about the idea of ​​confessing. He calmly took a sip of red wine, his eyes secretly glancing at Clark in the living room.

He hadn't forgotten that the other side was in the same camp as Ma Zhaodi, and was stronger than Homelander.

Madeline and an old man were drinking at the bar.

She turned her head and looked at the audience. Whether it was Homelander, Maeve, or Invisible Man, each of the superheroes was surrounded by upper-class people in suits, holding wine glasses, chatting and laughing. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with these superheroes.

Except for Superman who left alone—Madeline couldn't do anything about him, because Superman really didn't need Vought International; it was Vought International that needed Superman.

"You should know that very well."

The old man casually placed his glass on the bar: "Everyone will enjoy Vought's flattery and political donations, but when the sun rises tomorrow, no one will let Vought's heroes into the defense system. Not even the committee can approve it, let alone the entire academy."

"Why? Because God doesn't want us to have the upper hand in armed conflicts?"

"If you send a superhuman across the border today, they'll just retaliate with a nuclear missile back to the United States—we all know what superhumans are capable of, nobody's stupid."

"The Homelanders will catch that nuclear bomb."

The old man's face showed a rare expression of disdain and helplessness. In fact, he was probably the most honest person present; the others would only smile at Madeline.

"I'm not going to discuss with you whether superheroes can stop a large-scale nuclear war. You should look at Robinson over there—Lockheed Aircraft Manufacturing is in his state, in his pocket."

"And there's McCree over there. He got the list for the Fort Bragg military base, along with several thousand ballots."

"Our defense already has a place. Those arms giants are among the world's largest military manufacturers and military bases. Do you expect them to outsource to your superhumans?"

Looking at Madeline's face, the old man's expression was somewhat disdainful and helpless, but this time it wasn't directed at Vought Corporation; rather, it was more like self-mockery: "The United States operates on weapons; that's one of the few things we're still producing."

Madeline's smile remained unchanged; she was a formidable and ambitious woman.

She took his hand.

"So, as the chairman of the committee, what is your position?"

"I'm just a veteran Marine. If it's a life-or-death situation, I won't expect my homelanders to save me."

"Soldiers can trust my superheroes; they are all patriots."

"That's the point: they are 'your' superheroes, and only your superheroes."

The veteran's eyes turned cold: "The mere thought of Vought International controlling U.S. defense makes me want to draw my gun."

Madeline lowered her eyes and remained silent. After a moment, she turned and left.

At that moment, the pretty bartender poured the veteran senator another glass of wine.

The senator watched Madeline's retreating figure, feeling a sense of triumph. He picked up his glass and returned the bartender's flirtatious glance with a knowing smile.

Are you sure the Invisible Man won't turn against you?

"Your idea is that the cleanest solution is for all superhumans to die out, right?"

Ma Zhaodi rolled his eyes. He and the butcher got out of the car and arrived at the entrance of a rather old-looking apartment building.

"This is where Monster Girl lives? Are there superheroes this poor?"

“Outdated superheroes are worthless.”

(End of this chapter)