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Nick Fury sent a message: "Hill, add Homelander to Project Insight. I want to know what brand of toothpaste this Anthony Starr uses to brush his teeth."
Homelander didn't immediately go to his apartment after leaving.
He hovered over the city.
He could hear his name everywhere.
On the giant screens in Times Square, footage of him lifting the nuclear bomb, charging into the portal, and finally rescuing hundreds of children was playing on a loop.
...Tonight, we witnessed a miracle! A mysterious hero calling himself 'Homelander' saved Manhattan!
...Sources say that 'Homelander's' true identity might be Anthony Starr, a Columbia University student who went missing in a shipwreck a year ago?!
...Although the Avengers are powerful, Homelander was the real MVP tonight! He alone turned the tide of battle!
...Oh my god, he's so handsome! I want to have his babies!!
Ding! Gained popularity +120!
Ding! Gained popularity +88!
Ding! Gained popularity +205!
Although the system's notification sound was no longer growing explosively like before, it was still steadily and continuously ticking up.
He landed at a crossroads, where crowds immediately surrounded him, shouting his name.
He smiled and shook their hands, hugged the crying citizens, and kissed the children's foreheads.
"Don't be afraid, it's all over."
"With me here, New York is safe."
He was enjoying all of this, enjoying every worshipful gaze...
Just then, the Times Square big screen was broadcasting the news.
...We interrupt this program for a discovery by our reporter in the battlefield ruins...
A reporter stood in front of a half-collapsed upscale apartment building.
"Right here, at the height of the battle. A nine-year-old girl, Kate, was trapped here. Her father... unfortunately perished."
The camera cut to the little girl.
She was thin, wrapped in a blanket, covered in dust, but in her large eyes, a strange light flickered.
The reporter handed her the microphone: "Child, were you scared then?"
The little girl, Kate, nodded, then shook her head.
"I... I thought I was going to die. An alien... it was going to kill me..."
"What happened?"
Kate's eyes lit up: "It was... it was Homelander! He... he flew down from the sky, and with... with the light from his eyes! Zzzzt! That bad guy broke apart!"
"He saved you?"
"Mhm!" Kate nodded vigorously, "He... he was so tall. He gave me a smile, then... then flew away! To save more people!"
In the footage, Kate was clutching a half-burnt... Superman comic.
"He... is a true hero."
...Anthony didn't hear this small interlude.
After enjoying an hour of cheers, he finally, contentedly, shook off the enthusiastic crowd and flew to the apartment address S.H.I.E.L.D. had given him.
The apartment was near Columbia University.
He landed on the fire escape and scanned with his X-ray vision.
"Empty. Covered in dust."
He pushed the door open.
A long-sealed scent wafted out.
This was "Anthony Starr's" home.
A guitar, a basketball, scattered textbooks, and... a photo.
In the photo, "Anthony Starr" was embracing his parents, smiling carefree.
"Anthony... Anthony..." Anthony picked up the photo frame, looking at the identical face in the mirror.
"Your life, it really is... tragic."
He casually tossed the photo frame aside.
"But it doesn't matter..."
He walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked down at the city he had just saved.
"Your life, now I'm taking over."
The next month was one of the most comfortable periods of Anthony's life.
In his previous life as a movie star, he toiled and schemed, yet was merely a plaything of capital.
Now, he was capital itself.
"Starr Group" was an old New York conglomerate involved in real estate, energy, and biotechnology.
Anthony's parents, Edward and Martha, both died in a plane crash three years ago, leaving this vast inheritance, along with a trust fund, entirely to their only son.
Now, this "resurrected" heir, returning as the hero "Homelander," had a dramatic story worthy of textbooks.
Upper East Side, Manhattan, the Starr family's top-floor duplex.
It occupied three entire floors, complete with a helipad and an outdoor pool.
Anthony stood before the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at Central Park bathed in the morning light. He wore only an expensive silk bathrobe, holding a priceless glass of Romanée-Conti.
"Now this is what you call fucking living," he murmured.
Days earlier, the Starr Group's legal team and the trust fund executives had lined up to see him.
"Mr. Anthony... these are your parents' after-tax inheritance documents, you just need to sign here..."
From that day on, Anthony officially controlled everything this body could inherit—hundreds of millions of dollars in personal assets and absolute control of a conglomerate.
"System, I feel... great right now," he said to his reflection in the floor-to-ceiling window, flashing a brilliant smile.
Current Popularity: 7,982,301
Global Popularity Level: Rising to Fame
Ability Enhancement: Steel Body (Planetary), Heat Vision (4000℃), Super Speed (Mach 15)...
"Not enough yet." Anthony narrowed his eyes.
The dividends from the Battle of New York were almost exhausted.
The growth in popularity had changed from an "explosion" to a "trickle."
As a former movie star, he understood the nature of buzz too well.
Without continuous works and exposure, audiences would quickly forget you; popularity, if not advanced, would recede.
"It seems it's time to 'get to work'."
He put down his coffee cup.
The next second, the red and blue uniform with the star-spangled cape was already on him.
Over the next half-month, the citizens of New York truly had their eyes opened.
What the hell is "sense of security"?
This is a sense of security!
"Look! It's Homelander!"
"Oh, my God, he's here again!"
Midtown Manhattan.
An out-of-control bus was screaming towards the sidewalk, the driver apparently unconscious.
Pedestrians scattered in terror.
At this critical moment, a red and blue figure appeared in front of the bus as if teleporting.
No fancy tricks.
Anthony simply stood there, extending one hand.
Bang—!!!