The video was barely ten minutes long, yet it had swept through the internet like a hurricane. Within just a few hours, almost everyone had seen the video. The spread of information in the Internet era is incredibly fast!
The phones in Vought International offices were about to explode. Countless Homelander fans and journalists kept trying to get through!
The situation got to the point that the operator in Vought International didn't dare pick up her phone anymore: because she already knew that the call would be about that video!
The operator was at her wit's end. How was she supposed to know whether the video was true? And even if it was true, she couldn't reveal the truth anyway.
Of course, the storm didn't stop at the lower level of the company. Madelyn, the Vice President, was also faced with the same crisis. Her gut feeling was only strengthened when she couldn't reach either Homelander or Li Yue: the events in the video were most likely true!
The government official that she had painstakingly brought over to her side was also bombarding her with phone calls. She was already busy, to begin with, and now she had to deal with those old foxes in the government. It was endless!
She had watched the video over and over again. She could only hold on to the last glimmer of hope that the Vought technical staff could identify any sign of forgery in the video.
She also ordered the staff to find the person who released the video as soon as possible and use any means necessary to get them to delete the video. Under her command, the Public Relations department negotiated with major video websites to delete the video and stop it from spreading, no matter the cost!
However, only disappointment awaited her. The technical staff found no trace of manipulation in the video: it was most likely a real video.
She herself couldn't deny that the people in the video looked exactly like Homelander and Thunderclap, but the Thunderclap in that video was incredibly different than what she had known!
That Thunderclap had been able to one-sidedly beat down the strongest superhero, Homelander. Homelander's prolonged disappearance only served to strengthen Madelyn's bad premonition!
Why did Li Yue want to join the Seven? Why did he hide his strength? And why did he approach Homelander?
Madelyn's heart was filled with all those questions. One thing was for sure: Li Yue probably had achieved his goal, so he was no longer afraid to be rude to her!
After all that had happened, Madelyn's hope of getting superheroes into the Ministry of Defense already evaporated. She would be lucky if this incident could be covered up at all. At least she had to prevent the Vought International stock prices from plummeting too much!
...
The storm had affected the outside world as well. Vought's quick response resulted in the video being deleted from most major websites, but the netizens were not so easily silenced!
A period of unsure suspicion always moved some bored people to rush and check the location of the video!
However, not even such bored people would expect to find a massive bowl-shaped pit more than a kilometer across and hundreds of meters deep! Some of these busybodies posted the video of the deep pit online!
The discovery sent another wave of shock through the internet! The video was proven to be true! This time, it was useless to try and censor major social media websites. They couldn't react fast enough even if they wanted to.
Homelander's fans and Thunderclap's fans began to flame each other on the internet.
"Homelander must be on the side of justice. He found out about Thunderclap's secret motives and exposed them. Thunderclap then got into a fit of rage out of humiliation and tried to kill Homelander to silence him!"
This was one of Homelander's hardcore fans!
"Humph, as expected from Homelander's trash. I bet that he was just jealous of Thunderclap's handsome face and godly power that no mortals would ever reach! He attacked Thunderclap out of envy, but he was humiliated instead!"
This was Thunderclap's diehard fan!
"I am a keyboard warrior! Even if the heavens denied me, I would become a Keyboard Warrior. If the sky rejected me, then I would overturn its veil of night. Come! Uh, wait, this isn't the right place..."
...
In short, the internet had not seen a peaceful moment during the entirety of this incident. All kinds of internet violence and verbal abuse were thrown around everywhere!
However, Homelander is a veteran superhero that was recognized as the most popular superhero in the United States. His influence and fan group greatly outnumbered Thunderclap's.
As expected, Homelander's won against Thunderclap's fans with a crushing advantage, so much so that the people who were late to the party also supported Homelander!
A variation of this story became the main narrative on the internet: "Thunderclap is a heinous villain. Homelander tried to stop Thunderclap from committing a crime and ended up in a life-or-death battle. In the end, Thunderclap used a dirty trick to launch a sneak attack and defeated Homelander. Homelander then went missing, with his fate still unknown!"
This twisted narrative felt rather nostalgic to Li Yue's previous life. The onlookers only believed what confirmed their belief or what most people believed was right.
...
Li Yue finally woke up from his deep sleep after seven to eight hours.
"I haven't had a natural rest for a long time—not since I learned to cultivate through astral projection. This sleep is the best!"
Li Yue couldn't help but think like that after waking up. This was the first normal sleep he had since he finished studying in Kamar-Taj. He never thought it would feel this good!
"Dummy, what happened during the time I was sleeping?" (Dummy was created by Tony with the latest nanomaterials. It could even resist the temperature of the sun, so no need to worry!)
Li Yue couldn't help but ask Dummy what happened after he fell asleep. He never thought that the battle between him and Homelander could be hidden from others, but what happened in the end, he really didn't know!
"Sir, after you fell asleep, a video of your battle with Homelander appeared on the internet. I have discovered that this video was taken and uploaded by a Chinese youth that accidentally witnessed your battle!
"The name of the uploader is Xu Xiaoning, 25 years old. His online trails confirmed that he went on vacation to the mountain opposite the site of your battle with Homelander. His home address is..."
"Alright, alright. Dummy, I didn't ask you to investigate him. There is no need for all those details!"
Li Yue interrupted Dummy before asking, "Has he returned home?"
"Not yet, sir!"
Li Yue felt a little exasperated, but he was still a Chinese person at heart, so he decided to warn that person!
"Dummy, send him a message: Tell him to hurry back home!"
...
"This bro is going to be famous!"
The Chinese man who uploaded the video couldn't hold his laughter as he watched the numbers go up from his luxurious hotel.
Ding! Ding!
The notification sound for text messages rang twice. The man opened the message and saw this line of text on his phone:
"Brother, there is a traitor. Stop the transaction!"
"What the hell is this!"
The man cursed internally, but he curiously opened the second message!
"Haha, I was just joking! However, as a brother, I have to remind you that Vought International is looking for the source of your video. Listen to my advice and quickly run away! No need to thank me; I don't need to be remembered for every little thing!"