180. Chapter 180: Ocean Public Opinion, The Deep Makes a Splash
"Alright, Mr. Jervis." Doppelganger calmed down slightly. "First, the incident where the Superhero Stormfront was attacked. This incident has been strictly sealed by Vought International, and the specific details are in your email.
Second, Vought International recently planned a Supe movie. The original intention of this movie was to promote the new hero, Stormfront.
But due to Stormfront's sudden accident, the movie's filming was urgently halted."
"Isn't that normal? What's the problem?"
Xia Shang opened his email and indeed saw the email Stan Edgar had sent him.
The email content was a bit long, but the general meaning was that the criminal terrorist organization led by Billy had planned this horrific terrorist act and caused extremely severe injury to Stormfront during the operation.
Currently, Stormfront is still undergoing emergency treatment, but this incident must be kept strictly secret. If the ordinary public were to learn that Stormfront, who had just become the Bane of Criminals, was now attacked by terrorists and is on the verge of death, it would be an extremely severe blow to Stormfront herself, as well as to superheroes and the entire reputation of Vought International.
This would make the ordinary public feel that superheroes can't even protect themselves, let alone protect them.
Once public opinion is allowed to ferment.
Vought International's credibility could be completely destroyed.
It's important to know that a large part of the reason why Vought International's Supe Industry is currently booming is due to people's fanatical worship of superheroes and their belief that superheroes have enough strength to protect their personal safety.
If one day they suddenly discover that superheroes are not as powerful as they imagined.
One can imagine what a great disaster this would be for Vought. Once credibility is lost, rebuilding it is nearly impossible. Therefore, Stan Edgar's wording was quite urgent, as this also affects the sales of Compound V.
"It's not a problem that the Supe movie can't continue filming, but the serious issue is that someone is now maliciously spreading online that Stormfront is not only an extreme racial discrimination believer who advocates for white supremacy, but also the real culprit behind the train explosion.
However, none of this is too significant, as they haven't provided corresponding evidence.
What's more fatal is that they explicitly stated that Stormfront is already dead, that superheroes are not invincible, and they even said that if Stormfront isn't dead, she should stand on the Public Stage and demonstrate her superpower in front of everyone.
Mr. Xia Shang, you also know that even if I can imitate her appearance, I cannot imitate her superpower."
"What's the current public opinion situation?" Xia Shang asked calmly.
He didn't even need to guess; the guys spreading the public opinion must be Billy and his group. It's just that this time they've learned to be smarter. Perhaps they saw a clue from the Translucent Incident and guessed that there might be Supes within Vought International who can imitate the appearance of others. So they are certain that even if a Supe can imitate Stormfront's appearance.
It would be absolutely impossible to use the exact same superpower.
Doppelganger on the other end of the phone had his eyebrows furrowed tightly. "It's very pessimistic. Now people are already questioning Vought, asking why the fan meeting was urgently halted after only one session. If Stormfront wasn't in trouble, why would Vought International make such a move to cover up the truth?"
"I see. Anything else recently?" Xia Shang stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the watch he had just put on his wrist. It was 10:01 AM, exactly half an hour past his start time.
"There's one more thing about The Deep. Recently, Japan announced that it would dump nuclear wastewater into The Sea, which has caused significant social public opinion. The whole world is paying attention to this matter, yet Congress has made no statement. The attitude of the US Government has caused dissatisfaction among non-governmental environmental organizations, and two protests with over three thousand people have been held so far. And The Deep, without Vought's permission, actively participated in them. President Stan Edgar is very unhappy about this and has demanded that The Deep immediately cease all activities."
"That sounds like something he would do."
Xia Shang smiled and walked to the wardrobe, selecting a cream-colored suit.
"If I'm not mistaken, his popularity must be very high right now."
"Not just very high, he's absolutely exploded in popularity! His name and images have flooded various social media, and his influence has even spread overseas. According to the investigation by the relevant Vought departments, his approval rating in various states has soared by 70%, and his popularity currently ranks second among The Seven, second only to Homelander.
Furthermore, the gap between him and Homelander is getting smaller and smaller."
"Looks like someone won't be sleeping well."
Xia Shang was referring not only to Homelander but also to The Deep, but the simple-minded The Deep didn't think too much, so currently, only Homelander was losing sleep.
......
In a Secret Base in New York State, Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum, who had been retired for many years, walked out of the Medical Room with a frown.
"What's the situation?" Homelander, waiting at the doorway, asked expressionlessly.
It was clear that he was in a very bad mood. Although that guy's chest was pierced by his laser eye at the time, he couldn't find his corpse. There were only two possibilities for this situation.
Either someone got there first and moved the corpse before him, or that guy wasn't dead at all. Of these two possibilities, Homelander was more inclined towards the latter. He would rather believe that guy escaped than admit that someone could move a corpse right under his nose. The white-haired Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum shook his head, "The situation is not optimistic. Although she has regained consciousness and her epidermis has recovered by 70%, there is no sign of regeneration for the severed arm.
Even with large injections of Compound V, her severed arm cannot regenerate. Her self-healing ability has been pushed to its limit."
Homelander didn't speak but pushed open the door of the Medical Room and walked in.
He came to the hospital bed, looked affectionately at the severely disfigured Stormfront, and while holding her hand, he said softly, "Why didn't you give me those photos earlier? I would have been happy to help you."
Stormfront slowly opened her eyes, her lips slightly parted, but she couldn't make any sound because her vocal cords were damaged.
"I've mobilized all Vought departments, and I believe we'll know who that guy is very soon. Don't worry, if he somehow survived, I will kill him again to get revenge for you."
Homelander spoke, his expression showing pleasure.
"Hiss... Oh!"
(End of Chapter)