Chapter 177: Vought's Uproar

[Ding! Side quest updated: Judge at least 20 disgraced superheroes. Current progress: 3/20.]

[Ding! Your legendary mission has been updated: Judge a thousand sinful souls across all worlds. Current progress: 83/1000.]

After handling Neuman, Jon initiated a solo raid on the Church of Collectives, causing complete chaos. Now, Jon no longer had concerns about misjudging anyone, as his "Penance Stare" allowed him to see the sins of others and clearly distinguish between the good and the evil.

Having absorbed the memories of both A-Train and Neuman, Jon had gained significant insights into the Church members.

However, to Jon's dismay, there were hardly any superheroes at the church headquarters; in fact, many had escaped during his devastating gravity wave attack on the building.

It became clear that most superheroes were not genuinely committed to the church but instead used it as a mere stepping stone for their careers. When the church encountered real danger, they quickly abandoned their allies and fled.

Among the few superheroes left, some were not disgraced, leaving Jon's side quest progress less than halfway complete after his raid on the church.

[Ding! Side quest updated: Judge at least 20 disgraced superheroes. Current progress: 6/20.]

[Ding! Your legendary mission has been updated: Judge a thousand sinful souls across all worlds. Current progress: 85/1000.]

Luckily, Jon could now freely explore these superheroes' memories. Each superhero was connected to a network of friends, and many maintained hidden relationships with supervillains behind the scenes.

Using their knowledge and networks, Jon continued to hunt down more superheroes one by one.

A week passed, and during this time, Jon, in the guise of the Phoenix, continued to build his popularity, appearing frequently to lay the groundwork for his future inclusion in The Seven.

At the same time, he continued to assassinate disgraced superheroes, causing considerable trouble for Vought and The Seven.

***

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of The Seven, a heroes' meeting was taking place.

five members of The Seven sat around a round table. Homelander, Starlight, Stormfront, Black Noir, and Queen Maeve took their usual seats, with Homelander as usual sitting at the head, signifying his leadership role.

Dressed in his star-spangled suit and cape, Homelander clapped his hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there's just one thing that brings us together today!"

Typically, Homelander, no matter how dark and dirty his heart, always presented a sunny, smiling facade, the perfect idol. Even those who knew him best would usually hear him speak in a warm tone, unless someone deliberately provoked him or he was extremely angry.

But now, Homelander's tone was unusually grim, clearly angered by the matter he was about to discuss.

"Can someone tell me where this new supervillain came from?" Homelander gestured toward the large screen in front of him, prompting everyone to look.

Ashley, clearly flustered by the intensity of Homelander's scrutiny, adjusted her glasses nervously. "We're doing everything we can. He's elusive, and it's like he knows our moves before we make them. It's almost supernatural."

Homelander scoffed, his gaze piercing through the tension in the room. "Supernatural or not, he's making fools out of us. We're The Seven, the most powerful beings on this planet. And yet, this nobody from Cranberry Street is outplaying us."

The he chimed in, his voice laced with frustration. "He's not just any thug. The guy has skills that none of us have seen before. I've heard from the street that he's using some kind of dark magic or something."

Queen Maeve rolled her eyes. "Magic or not, it doesn't change the fact that he's a threat. We need a new strategy."

Over the week, Jon had been hunting down disgraced superheroes using their memories to find them and strike discreetly. No matter how well-prepared the superheroes were, Jon always found an opportunity to kill them and disappear without a trace using his magic.

As a result, The Seven couldn't catch Jon no matter what. However, Jon had miscalculated one thing; his identity as a superhero hunter now overshadowed his role as Phoenix Fighter. Homelander was too busy to care about this new superhero, as The Seven were now focused on the superhero hunter, with no mention of the Phoenix.

"You are my family, I trust you, so I've given you this task to complete. Is this how you repay me?" Homelander said sternly.

Homelander didn't care about the superheroes being killed, but he cared about the influence of superheroes because, as the top superhero, as long as superheroes had significant influence in this world, so would he.

Jon's actions in hunting superheroes had significantly weakened their status in the eyes of the public, and there was even a growing trend of people worshipping the superhero hunter, something Homelander absolutely wouldn't allow.

"Stormfront." Homelander turned his head to look at the woman in black uniform and cape sitting beside him.

This was Stormfront, Homelander's lover and one of the main antagonists of season two, a centuries-old female Nazi.

"It's a simple task, I wouldn't bother you with it, but you're the only one I trust now. Take him out." Homelander said gravely.

***

Meanwhile, inside a Vought building, a black man sat intently staring at a computer screen in his office.

He was Edgar, the current boss of Vought Corporation.

On the screen, footage from a week ago played, showing Jon, disguised as a Caucasian, in a standoff with Neuman, who was then suddenly killed.

Neuman was his daughter from an orphanage, one of his trump cards, yet now she had been killed by another supervillain he didn't know about, who had also killed countless superheroes within the week.

Vought tried to analyze Jon's motives. He discovered that all the superheroes Jon killed had blood on their hands that had gone unpunished, without exception, leading him to suspect that Jon might have a judging complex.

Looking back, a lot had happened recently, and it all seemed to start a week ago when the supervillain Mech Marauder suddenly went mad, and a superhero named Silk Slinger coincidentally appeared.