Harley understood instantly. She gave an excited cheer and immediately swung the backpack off her shoulders onto the ground.
The zipper slid open, revealing a collection of high-precision photography equipment, anti-shake stabilizers, and even a miniature fill light.
With practiced movements, she set up the tripod, adjusted the aperture and focal length, and then clipped a lapel microphone onto Homelander's collar.
Homelander also walked toward the pre-designated position.
"Lighting perfect! Angle perfect!" Harley gave an OK gesture. "Mr. Milk Candy, you're so handsome right now it's making my legs turn to jelly!"
"Robot Boy! Come help!" Once the camera was set up, she waved at Cyborg. "Connect this thing to the global network! Hurry!"
Cyborg froze in place, staring at the sudden setup, momentarily unable to react. "Now? You're doing a live stream at a time like this?"
"This is just his style," Bruce Wayne said in a low voice as he walked past Cyborg. "Just do it, Victor."
Victor sighed helplessly. He stepped forward, extended a data cable from his right arm, and plugged it into Harley's broadcasting equipment.
"I have connected to every screen on the Planet that still lights up and every speaker that can still make sound," the red light in Cyborg's prosthetic eye flickered. "Homelander, you can speak to the whole World whenever you're ready. Whether they are in underground bunkers or the corners of ruins, they will hear you."
"Thanks, Victor. You really covered all the bases," Homelander expressed his appreciation to Cyborg.
Watching Homelander's familiar posture and the sheer desire to perform nearly overflowing from his face, everyone suddenly understood.
"I see how it is," Deathstroke couldn't help but let out a sneer. "This preparation is certainly thorough enough. Even if he wasn't a Hollywood star before, he must have been an internet celebrity."
"But I actually quite like it," Barry said softly, watching the man who was letting Harley adjust the angle of the fill light.
"Honestly, seeing him like this makes me feel quite at ease... I'd even be willing to gift him a Royal Horn."
Everyone understood Homelander's vain, attention-seeking personality; he was like an entertainment star who perpetually needed the spotlight.
But strangely, rather than feeling repulsed, everyone felt a sense of relief in their hearts.
After witnessing Superman's dehumanized, tyrannical nature, Homelander's minor flaw of vanity made him seem more real, more human.
For a powerhouse with the strength to destroy the World, wanting to show off was simply the smallest, most endearing flaw on Earth.
After all, all he needed was applause and praise.
"Camera ready! Lighting perfect!" Harley gave another OK gesture. "Mr. Milk Candy, your profile right now is so handsome it's making my legs turn to jelly!"
Homelander nodded slightly, placed a hand on his chest to adjust his breathing, and his facial expression switched to work mode.
"Three, two, one. Signal is live."
"Action!" Harley pressed the record button.
"Fellow citizens of Earth, I am Homelander."
Homelander's rich, soulful voice once again echoed through every corner of the Earth.
In abandoned Underground Rooms, people crowded around flickering screens;
In the trenches, Resistance soldiers lowered their guns and listened intently;
Even the refugees still wandering among the ruins heard the voice through the public broadcast activated by Cyborg.
"A day ago, we won the war. We drove those alien invaders out of our cities."
"But... that does not mean we have taken back our World."
"Those alien scum left ugly scars on our Planet. They took our water, our air, and our sunlight."
"Leaving us to slowly wither away in despair."
"But he's dreaming!"
Homelander suddenly raised his voice, his gaze piercing the lens as a raging fire burned in his eyes.
"Today, I will not only take back our freedom, but also our skies! Our oceans! Our green home!"
"Do not fear the tremors to follow; do not dread the coming storm!"
"For that is not the death knell of destruction, but the heartbeat of Earth's rebirth!"
"Come out of your bunkers! Open your windows!"
"Lift up your heads! Go and welcome the sunlight that belongs to you!"
"I, Homelander, am bringing everything back right now!!!"
Homelander gave a loud shout, like a sharp arrow piercing through mountains and stone.
Whoosh—!
In front of televisions, countless people were moved by these words. They stood up trembling, supporting one another as they walked out into the devastated World.
As if receiving a command, Ego's massive divine power began to erupt.
Drawn by Ego's power, the three mother boxes slowly rose into the air.
They quickly closed in on each other mid-air.
"Click! Click! Click!"
Accompanied by a series of crisp mechanical clicks, the three independent mother boxes perfectly merged together, forming a seamless, complete cube.
Boom—!!!
The trinity was one; the fusion was complete!
But this time, there was no destructive shockwave.
Only a visible ripple of pale blue energy, centered on Metropolis, violently expanded outward in a ring.
Its speed exceeded the speed of sound, sweeping across the entire Earth in just a few seconds.
This wave was massive, yet when it brushed past everyone's bodies, it was surprisingly gentle.
It was like a spring breeze, softly caressing the faces of everyone present.
It even made everyone feel a sense of warmth from the inside out, as if the fatigue and pain of recent days were being smoothed away.
Then.
The miracle began.
Above Metropolis.
The murky, toxic haze that had shrouded the Earth for months quickly disintegrated and dissipated under the wash of this blue light.
Pure and brilliant golden sunlight poured down like a waterfall, spilling over the devastated land.
"My god..."
Barry looked up, shielding his eyes from the blinding sunlight, as tears unconsciously streamed down his face.
"The sky... the blue sky..."
It wasn't just the sky.
The Earth was also undergoing a World-shaking transformation.
Miraculously, dots of green sprouted from the parched, desertified, and scorched soil.
Tender green grass shoots broke through the Earth and grew frantically at a speed that defied biological laws.
In the blink of an eye, the once-dead wasteland turned into patches of lush green prairie swaying in the wind.
In the Amazon rainforest, dead trees regained their vitality, and dense forests once again covered the land.
In the ruins of Paris, a group of survivors who had just pushed open a basement manhole cover stared blankly at the dried-up, foul-smelling Seine River.
Clear water surged out of thin air, filling the entire riverbed in a matter of breaths.
"Water... clean water!" People collapsed by the river, scooping up handfuls of water to gulp down, weeping loudly.
Moscow, the ruins of Red Square.
People hiding in air-raid shelters tentatively pushed open the heavy iron doors.
They didn't wear gas masks and took a deep breath of the outside air.
There was no smell of sulfur, no smell of burning.
Only the fragrance of soil and the freshness after rain.
"Ura!!"
It was unclear who started the shout.
Immediately following, countless people rushed out of the shelters, hugging, kissing, and singing and dancing in the mud of the square under the sun.