191. Chapter 191. I Just Smashed a Piece of Glass with a Stone
But the next second, a figure descended from the sky, instantly landing on the Podium.
There, Homelander slowly straightened his back and squeezed out a smile at the audience below, "Guys, good morning."
His appearance caused the originally noisy scene to instantly fall silent. The people below the stage subconsciously closed their mouths and turned their gaze towards Homelander.
"Please let me say a few words." Homelander took the microphone from Victoria Neuman's hand. "Thank you."
Holding the microphone, he looked at the crowd again.
"Thank you, Senator Neuman, for giving me the opportunity to speak. Honestly, when I saw you guys from upstairs, I thought there was a fire under Vought. All I could see was black. Thankfully, thankfully I didn't call the Fire Department, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to explain this problem to the Firefighter."
"I'm just kidding, don't mind me. I sincerely thank everyone for coming all this way today. Can you tell me where you're from?" Homelander walked off the stage, and the crowd blocking his way automatically parted, creating a path.
"Florida? That's really far."
Homelander retracted the microphone and continued, "As for Paige's death, I am very sorry about that, but it was just an accident. If I hadn't intervened to stop him, it's very likely that more innocent people would have died.
I think I should be a hero, not a so-called criminal."
Homelander returned to the stage.
"But you killed him! He was clearly dying, yet you still didn't let go of him!" a white person questioned. He was wearing clothes printed with Paige's portrait, with the words "A Life for a Life" written in red. At the same time, he was holding a can of soda water in his hand. His questioning also caused the originally calm crowd to become restless again.
As the noisy sounds rose, Homelander raised his right hand, wanting them to quiet down. "Wait, everyone, don't be so agitated. I didn't know his condition at the time. His death was an accident."
"We don't believe your nonsense! A Life for a Life! A Life for a Life!"
Seeing that the scene was about to turn into a riot, Homelander could only speak again to calm them down. "I can understand your feelings, but don't forget, I have the same goal as you, which is to protect all citizens of the United States..."
But his words still couldn't quell the crowd's anger.
"Protect the American people? I think you only want to protect white people!"
"Wait, I think you need to calm yourselves down." Homelander's sudden appearance greatly startled Ashley Barrett, who was maintaining order. After instructing the Security Department to make sure to stop the riot, she took out her mobile phone and dialed Xia Shang's phone. "Mr. Jervis, how much longer until you get to Vought? Homelander is having a big problem here." Ashley Barrett covered the mobile phone and hid behind a pillar, saying anxiously.
"About three minutes. First, tell me the specific situation. I'll be there right away." On the other side, Xia Shang was controlling the steering wheel with one hand and holding the phone to his ear with the other.
While Ashley Barrett was reporting.
The crowd's anger continued to swell. They held up signs printed with Homelander's portrait and shouted with raised arms, "You are not qualified to speak for us!"
"You are not qualified to speak for us!"
Their voices were uniform. Many of them gave Homelander the middle finger! At this moment, the smile on Homelander's face on the Podium gradually faded. The next second, two beams of heat vision shot out from his eyes, *hiss*!! The extremely high-temperature rays instantly incinerated one of the black people who gave him the middle finger. Immediately after, the heat vision extended, cutting the people below the stage into shredded meat as if slicing butter with a hot knife.
Homelander excitedly opened his mouth wide, wantonly venting his anger. Only after all sounds disappeared did he retract his heat vision, still not satisfied. However, that was just his fantasy; the sounds had not disappeared. Just as he was about to back down, he found that the crowd had suddenly scattered.
"Don't stop me, that's mine."
"Damn it, someone is actually stealing things behind our backs!"
"Son, hurry up and go, try to add a little income for the family." The black people's eyes showed fanatical expressions. They began smashing the surrounding shops without regard for their image. Some even drove cars to smash shop windows, frantically moving the goods onto the cars.
Their actions were like a match thrown into gasoline. More and more black people were affected, actively or passively participating in this rare looting.
The store managers and shop assistants in the shops watched everything happening before them with wide eyes.
Some people even fought fiercely over a pair of shoes. In the crowd, a bewildered Hughie didn't even react when the sandwich in his hand was knocked away. "What's the situation? A perfectly fine speech, how did it turn into a violent robbery?"
Mother's Milk next to him didn't know how to answer his question either.
Because someone was patting his shoulder and saying excitedly, "Hey buddy, why are you still standing there? If you don't act now, the stuff will be gone."
But soon, someone shouted, "Run! The police are coming! Don't get caught by the police."
Almost instantly, the originally chaotic scene became quiet at a speed visible to the naked eye. At this moment, Xia Shang, holding a mobile phone that was constantly playing a police siren, walked through the dense crowd to stand before Homelander. Then, he pressed the pause button and put the mobile phone into his pocket.
"Buddy, how did you do that?" Homelander said in disbelief. He then spread his arms and hugged Xia Shang.
"I just smashed a piece of glass with a stone, and then notified them that someone was stealing things. As for why it developed into what it just did, perhaps it's because they were born this way?"
Xia Shang shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, indicating innocence.
"Well done, I want to apologize for what happened before." Homelander didn't expect Xia Shang to help him out of the situation. He sincerely thanked Xia Shang at this moment.
"We are all part of Vought, it's what we should do." Xia Shang patted Homelander's shoulder and then walked towards the Vought entrance.
"Anyway, you still helped me. Honestly, I really wanted to kill them with heat vision just now. If it weren't for... never mind. I've never felt so stifled since I was born." Homelander's smile was especially bright.
All the previous unpleasantness was instantly thrown to the back of his mind.
The two walked into Vought Tower together, leaving only Victoria Neuman standing alone on the Podium.
What the f*ck? Victoria Neuman subconsciously looked towards the top floor of Vought Tower.
In the Meeting Room on the top floor, Stan Edgar looked at the display screen showing Homelander arm-in-arm with Xia Shang. His complexion darkened as he picked up the mobile phone on the table.
(End of Chapter)