Chapter 340: Falling into Memory, Xia Shang on the Hospital Bed
"There's no need for that."
Homelander's eyes immediately glowed red light, and deep within his pupils, something seemed to be burning, perhaps pain, or perhaps rage.
Ordinary people could hardly understand his feelings at this moment. He had clearly found Soldier Boy, and perhaps he could have tasted the luxurious feeling of father-son affection, but all of this was about to be destroyed by his own hands.
As Homelander fell into struggle and hesitation, Mirror Image's words suddenly echoed in his mind, "You must cut out this thing called human nature like cancer cells. Only then can you become perfect, pure, like crystal clear crystal, without flaws, invincible."
The next second.
Amidst the terrified screams of the protesting crowd, Homelander hugged Soldier Boy's waist and shot out of Vought Tower like a cannon shell. The shattered glass scattered downwards like dispersing fireworks.
"What's going on? Who is Homelander holding?"
The reporters present continuously pressed their shutters, aiming at the rapidly flying Homelander.
However, due to Homelander's excessive flight speed, he quickly disappeared from everyone's line of sight.
"What the hell are you trying to do?!" Soldier Boy's chest emitted an intense red light, bursting forth with an extremely dangerous aura. At this moment, Homelander felt like he wasn't holding Soldier Boy, but a volcano about to erupt.
He glanced down. Below was a Beach Park. Perhaps because it was the weekend, there were many people, and quite a few had noticed them.
"Oh my God, I saw Homelander."
"Why would he fly here?"
Some of Homelander's fanatics excitedly raised their hands, trying to attract his attention, while others showed anxiety, having seen the news and worrying that Homelander was here to kill them.
"You actually want to kill me!"
Sensing the dangerous aura, Homelander released his grip with a pounding heart, saying in disbelief.
Fortunately, he had already reached the sea surface. Soldier Boy, who couldn't fly, fell straight down like a meteor.
Immediately after, the moment he touched the sea surface, he exploded violently. The extremely dazzling red light, like an exploding nuclear bomb, released high temperature capable of incinerating everything. As a steam mushroom cloud rose, the surging waves, carrying a heatwave, swept towards the shore.
"Holy crap!" After a brief period of temporary blindness, the people on the beach looked at the mushroom cloud on the sea surface in shock.
"He saved us," a man holding a mobile phone said distractedly.
But then he cheered loudly.
"God, Homelander saved us!"
"Homelander!"
"Homelander!!"
"Homelander!!!"
Thousands of tourists shouted excitedly. Some even took off their beach shorts and waved them vigorously at Homelander in the sky.
Homelander, who was preparing to fly away, paused for a moment upon seeing this scene, then the corner of his mouth curved upwards. He landed in front of a child, bent down, and asked caringly, "You weren't scared, were you? That was really dangerous just now, I'm so sorry you were startled."
Instantly, a thunderous and intense applause erupted around them and lasted for a long time. "Well done! I knew you were the guardian of the United States. I don't believe that bullshit news!"
As the saying goes, people only believe what they see. Homelander's actions clearly won the favor of everyone present.
"That's right, that damned news only fabricates facts. They are simply a cancer on the United States."
Looking at the crowd cheering and applauding him, Homelander's originally gloomy mood was instantly swept away. He seemed to have found the meaning of life, smiling more brightly, and friendly took photos with everyone.
...
"Boss, I've checked. Mindstorm suffered from severe bipolar disorder or delusional disorder and needed to take a lithium prescription drug.
This medicine is not common, and I also found out that Mindstorm bought many wooden cabins across the country. I excluded areas far from pharmacies selling prescription drugs, because his condition requires continuous medication, so he couldn't be too far from a pharmacy.
After excluding those, there are six locations where he is most likely to be. I'll send you the addresses now."
After leaving Vought, Xia Shang received a phone call from Mesmer, the telepathic supe who was previously kicked out of his home by Vought. This guy had managed to become the deputy department head of human resources, with considerable authority. Besides, the security clearance level for the other members of Payback, apart from Soldier Boy, wasn't very high.
"Got it."
Subsequently, Xia Shang checked through the addresses displayed on his mobile phone one by one.
At first, there were no findings, and within the range of Parasyte Sensing, he didn't sense the presence of any Supes.
"Fourth one." Xia Shang arrived above a forest in the suburbs, hovering in the air using supersonic flight. He looked down and unexpectedly found quite a few traps, as well as a white dot lit up on his radar.
Most of the traps were tripwire mines, connected by a thread almost invisible to the naked eye. It was easy to trigger them carelessly.
"Finally found you."
To prevent triggering the opponent's superpower, Xia Shang appeared silently and without a trace behind Mindstorm. The moment he used Analyze.
Mindstorm suddenly turned his head and looked into Xia Shang's eyes! "What the f*ck?"
Before Xia Shang could react, the environment around his body underwent drastic changes.
Inside a not very large, bright hospital room, Xia Shang, lying on a hospital bed, suddenly opened his eyes. "How did this guy find me?"
He pulled off the blue and white sheet covering him, then looked at the beeping metal instrument next to the bedside table, frowning. Clearly, he had fallen into his own memory, or to be precise, into a nightmare. Could it be that besides the superpower of dream manipulation, Mindstorm had other abilities?
"Why? Why did I have to suffer that damned car accident?"
A sudden sound of resentment caught Xia Shang's attention. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw himself lying on another hospital bed.
A Marvel movie, Apocalypse, was playing on the television, and the plot had already reached the latter half. Jean Grey, Quicksilver, and others teamed up to fight against Apocalypse. At first, they were completely overwhelmed by Apocalypse; even Quicksilver, the fastest, had his lower leg broken.
"Time to change the medicine," the nurse pushed open the door and, under Xia Shang's gaze, changed the medicine bottle for his past self.
"How much longer can I live? I can no longer feel the existence of my hands."
Pale-faced Xia Shang said with unusual calmness at this moment.
(End of this chapter)