["Argue?"]
["Why not?"]
["Don't think I don't know what happened inside Willis Pharmaceuticals."]
["You've probably been researching some new thing again, haven't you?"]
["Since this disaster was something you people cooked up, why should I clean up your mess?"]
["Besides, I asked you to deal with that video, but it doesn't seem like you took it seriously."]
["Otherwise, why hadn't I seen a single statement by evening?"]
Wilson's voice sounded somewhat exasperated, ["Since you know what Willis Pharmaceuticals does, then you know I haven't had any time today."]
["Homelander, let's deal with this first, all right?"]
["Same answer as before. Clean up your own mess."]
["You'll have to excuse me. I won't be taking part in tonight's incident.
The courtroom fell silent.
People stared with their eyes wide open, doubting their own ears.
Because in the conversation just now.
They had heard Wilson admit that Willis Pharmaceuticals had been researching something, causing the disaster.
And this recording was completely different from the one before.
The most important part, the section related to Willis Pharmaceuticals, had been cut out.
Wilson's expression changed. He abruptly turned to look at the official beside him.
The official quickly shook his head and whispered, "The recording at the phone carrier was already altered. He must have recorded the call himself."
Wilson suddenly looked at Alex, then said to the judge, "Your Honor, this recording is irrelevant."
"And as you heard, even with the extra content, the essence is still the same. Homelander still refused to stop the disaster."
The judge was about to speak.
Alex laughed, "Then what do you think of this video?"
He snapped his fingers again.
At that moment.
Everyone's phone received a video.
Every television in New York began playing the same video.
In the video, Wilson appeared on screen. The camera angle looked upward from below, as though it had been filmed with a phone.
In the footage, Wilson covered his face and said, ["That bastard refused to move."]
["That lunatic didn't even give me a chance to negotiate this time!"]
Beside the Secretary, a man with a cybernetic eye blurted out, ["Then what do we do? The number of Chimeras produced by Compound No. 6 has probably already exceeded a hundred thousand."]
["And that number will keep rising."]
Wilson snorted, ["In that case, we'll just have to prepare to destroy all of New York."]
Then he added, ["Maybe this will be a good thing."]
["Homelander refuses to act. As long as we expose this afterward, he'll have no place left in the Federation."]
The man with the cybernetic eye hesitated, ["Shouldn't we still find a way to get him to act?"]
Wilson remained unmoved.
The man with the cybernetic eye said in shock, ["Mr. Secretary, if we can't persuade Homelander, the number of people who die tonight could exceed a hundred thousand, or even a million."]
["Sacrificing so many lives just to deal with Homelander, isn't that..."]
Wilson said in a heavy voice, ["This is a war."]
["Our war against Homelander."]
["People die in war."]
["Besides, shouldn't their sacrifice, their deaths, be counted as Homelander's responsibility?"]
["As for the truth?"]
["The media will only report what we let them report, and the public will only learn the truth we want them to know."]
["So there's no need to worry about it."]
The video had not even finished playing before the entire courtroom erupted into an uproar.
Wilson's face turned ugly, and his whole body trembled.
He had never imagined that his conversation with Dr. Kyle at the Air Force base had been recorded by Alex.
And now, through the live broadcast and the internet, it had been exposed to the public.
At that moment, camera flashes lit up, followed by countless more.
The reporters in the courtroom seized the chance to capture this historic moment.
Chief Secretary Gilbert had completely lost the composure he had shown earlier. His face twisted as he roared, "No photos!"
"Shut down the live broadcast!"
"Notify the Ministry of Communications and have them delete this video! Immediately! Right now!"
While Gilbert shouted in a panic, Wilson had already pushed through the crowd and hurried out.
The reporters had already rushed over, each one stretching out a hand with a recording pen.
"Mr. Wilson, how do you explain this video?"
"Mr. Secretary, what are your thoughts?"
"Mr. Wilson, would the Federation really sacrifice a hundred thousand or even a million citizens just to deal with Homelander?"
With a dark face, Wilson pushed open the door and walked out of the courtroom.
The judge struck the gavel awkwardly and shouted, "Court adjourned!" Just like that, the hearing to try Homelander came to a hasty end.
No one had expected this when the hearing was convened.
However, Wilson's scandal was not over yet. Seven Tower held another press conference that day.
Seven Tower publicly announced that it would no longer provide heroic services free of charge.
If New York, or even the Federation, wanted to enjoy the services of superheroes, they would have to pay an annual service fee to Vought.
The service fee varied for each superhero. For a newcomer like Starlight, the annual fee was ten million dollars.
If they wanted Homelander's services, the Federation would have to pay one billion dollars per year.
Even so, Homelander would only provide ten services each year.
In other words, every time Alex took action, the Federation would have to pay one hundred million dollars.
That was not a small amount.
But compared to the Federation's annual military budget of hundreds of billions, it was hardly worth mentioning.
Even so, right after Wilson's scandal broke, Vought announced this decision, and it was like a hard slap across the Federation's face.
As a result, for the next month, the attention on these two events remained high.
Even though the Federation removed Wilson from his position as Secretary in an attempt to calm public anger, it was not enough to bring the matter to an end.
———
[Chinatown]
After leaving the music shop, Alex and Caitlin walked down the street together.
The guide dog Arthur walked ahead, turning back from time to time to look at the two of them.
"I never thought things would turn out like this. Homelander and the Federation have completely fallen out now."
Caitlin sighed. Although both Homelander and the Federation were far removed from someone like her, the two sides going their separate ways still had an impact on an ordinary person like her.
In fact, after Seven Tower announced that superheroes would no longer provide heroic services for free, New York's crime rate had risen at a visible pace over the past month.
So during this period, Caitlin did not dare go out at night.
"Yeah, neither side is made up of good people. Forget about them. What are we having for dinner?"
Alex mocked himself, then casually chatted with Caitlin about this and that.
Before long, they arrived at her front door. Caitlin took out her key and opened it.
Beyond the doorway was a brilliant display of colorful light!