Chapter 158: Think, John, Think!

The public have an insatiable curiosityto know everything, except what is worth knowing.

~ Oscar Wilde

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"What do you mean, I ruined your fun?"

"Are you just using me as entertainment for your own amusement, to play with as you please?"

"I considered you my brother!"

Homelander poured his heart out.

Hillel watched him with an expression that said, keep acting. "Oh, cut the crap, John! You don’t consider anyone your brother. Everyone around you has to pamper you, revolve around you, and willingly play second fiddle to you!"

"Even if a pile of shit suddenly started talking today and stole your trending spot, you’d be jealous of that pile of shit!"

"Do you even have a brother? You don’t even have a mother, so what the hell do you know about brotherhood?"

Homelander’s face flushed red, and definitely not out of shyness.

"Enough!"

Homelander roared. "You always humiliate my pride just to satisfy your sick desire for amusement! I don’t think you just have a sex addiction, you are simply a... a... monster packaged as a human..."

Homelander yelled for a long time without being able to form a coherent sentence.

"At a loss for words? Honestly, your attempts at cursing sound just like throwing a tantrum!"

Hillel crossed his arms.

"I need an explanation! Otherwise, I’ll never call you brother again!" Homelander bellowed.

Hillel had crossed his line.

He wasn’t Mr. Nice Guy. He had his own landmines.

"I need to explain myself to you? Next time I get laid, should I tell you the details or record a video for you too?"

"John, if you keep acting like this, I’m going to have to exert proper control over you!"

Hillel clapped his hands, creating a shockwave from the immense force that sent Homelander tumbling several times through the air.

"Enough!"

"Stop these little tricks of yours!"

"I don’t want to fight you. As long as you give me a reason, even if it’s just to prove you didn’t betray me, I’m willing to make up with you!"

Homelander truly didn’t have any real friends, and he genuinely regarded Hillel as one.

Hearing that made Hillel’s scalp crawl with discomfort.

How could such gay-sounding words come out of that thunderous mouth?

Hillel originally wanted to mock him a bit more, but to his surprise, he actually caught sight of tears in the corners of Homelander’s eyes.

Oh.

Shedding little pearls, are we?

Forget it then.

"Fine!"

Hillel raised his hands. "Consider this my defeat. I might as well say a few words to you, though I’m under no obligation to explain myself. But promise me one thing, John!"

"Speak!"

Homelander wiped away his tears.

A blast of Heat Vision shot out, incinerating a passing bird on the spot.

Any living creature that witnessed him shedding tears had to be erased.

"Damn! Bro, you sure are badass!"

Hillel gave him a thumbs-up and continued. "I did meet with Butcher, and we did cooperate. For instance, killing Translucent, handing over some incriminating evidence on The Deep so he could spread negative news about Vought!"

Boom!

The blue veins on Homelander’s temples visibly stood out.

"Why? Did you never care about our friendship right from the start?"

Hillel was rendered completely speechless once again.

"Hey hey hey! Watch your phrasing! Consider me a friend or a brother, fine, but absolutely do not treat me like a gay lover. That’s my line, or I’ll throw you into the Sun!"

Hillel let out a long sigh in an instant.

"I need to clarify something!" Homelander managed to suppress his temper. "I like women, and I’m all about pure love!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Hillel burst into a fit of laughter, rivaling the editor of the Daily Bugle in Spider-Man.

He even laughed until tears came out.

"Pure love? Oh, John, I admit that’s the funniest joke you’ve told all year!"

The corners of Homelander’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Was it not true?

When he liked Queen Maeve, he only stayed with Queen Maeve and never fooled around.

Now that he had Ryan, he wanted even more to be a model father.

He, Homelander, wasn’t a scumbag like The Guardian, keeping two women in his office and another two at home.

"Then let me ask you: what about Becca?"

Hillel’s next sentence immediately struck Homelander silent.

"You brought up Butcher with me, so let me talk about Butcher with you!"

"Whose wife is Becca?"

"Don’t tell me she seduced you. Even if she did, that thing grows on your own body. Could she really pin you down? Don’t make me laugh!"

"If you were all about pure love, you wouldn’t have gone after someone else’s wife!"

"As for Butcher... what you fear isn’t betrayal, but losing Ryan, right?"

Hillel seemed to see right through Homelander’s mind. "You’re afraid Ryan will find out about this, which is why you lost your composure in anger!"

Homelander’s thoughts were easy to guess.

Nobody understood Homelander better than he did.

Homelander’s lips twitched frantically, his facial expression completely breaking down. Hillel had indeed hit the bullseye right on his heart.

Hillel’s betrayal and losing his son. He couldn’t accept either of these two things.

Not to mention both piling up together.

It was no wonder Homelander lost control.

"So we’re two completely different types of people, John!" Hillel grinned. "If I were in your shoes, far from taking this to heart, I would use it to my advantage instead!"

Homelander’s expression shifted slightly.

"Look, John! You can blow Butcher’s head off with Heat Vision, but you can’t sway people’s hearts. Becca will never be loyal to you. She may be the mother of your child, but she’s not your wife!"

"What are you actually trying to say?"

"Human hearts, children! If you don’t get the concept, let me rephrase it: leverage!"

Hillel floated in front of Homelander with his hands behind his back, turning his back to him to appear more mysterious.

"You shouldn’t be afraid of Ryan finding out about this. You hold Becca’s life in your hands. You don’t need to win her heart. As long as you use Ryan to threaten her, she won’t leave with Butcher and won’t dare reveal those little secrets between you two to him!"

Hillel’s words made Homelander raise an eyebrow slightly, and his twitching lips gradually calmed down.

"And then?"

Homelander’s anger came quickly and faded just as fast.

The familiar Hillel was back. Homelander suddenly calmed down, realizing Hillel had no reason to screw him over.

The Guardian had countless opportunities to ruin him completely.

Yet every time, the other party extended a helping hand.

If The Guardian had truly betrayed him, he wouldn’t still be giving him advice.

"Then it’s simple. Butcher loves Becca to death, so you turn around and use his wife’s life to threaten him instead. That madman will naturally be doused with a bucket of cold water!" Hillel said.

Homelander questioned, "Butcher isn’t that easy to control. I noticed his eyes. That lunatic isn’t afraid of us!"

"99% of ordinary people in this world react to supes mostly with fear!"

"But I didn’t see that feeling in his eyes! It’s as if... he will never feel fear!"

Hillel shook his head. "I still overestimated your IQ. I remember you used to be smart, John! Please kickstart that rusty brain of yours. If it isn’t fully developed, go consult Sage for a strategy!"

"A lunatic with a sociopathic personality is still just an ordinary human at best. As long as he’s human, he has a weak spot!"

"He will try every possible way to rescue Becca and kill that bastard son of yours. Why can’t you officially announce your private life to the public?"

Homelander’s eyes suddenly widened.

What did he mean by officially announcing his private life?

Did he mean bringing both Becca and Ryan into the spotlight?

"Exactly. You go find Becca, use whatever means to threaten her into taking a wedding photo with you, and then hire a professional team to package your romance of the century!"

"Becca, an ordinary woman from the bottom tier of society, neither nationally famous nor a genius elite, just an utterly ordinary woman!"

"This kind of narrative will instead win the favor of a massive female fanbase... Your future persona direction could even evolve toward superhero father and family man..."

"Like I said, John! The serum only enhanced your body, while your brain is as foul-smelling as a dung beetle!"

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