Chapter 856: Stellar Heaven Martial Arts Ceremony (19)

"Sir?"

Aishili's voice was like a needle, piercing the rapidly swelling malice in Homelander's heart. She reminded him, face pale, that this was after all the headquarters building of Wot Company; if he used his heat vision here, no one could predict what consequences would follow.

She didn't approach Homelander—her experience and instinct told her that would be dangerous—she merely kept her voice calm: "Sir? Are you alright? It's just... the sky screen; here no one is launching online violence against you, nor slandering you, and your recent public approval rating is also... uh, stable."

"Very low and steady." Aishili whispered to herself.

"Aishili." After the red light in his eyes faded, Homelander returned to his usual moody expression and said: "If—I mean if—Wot, or I, encountered a similar public relations crisis. Like Lu Ka being... targeted. How would you handle it?"

Aishili took a deep breath; this was an impromptu question. Fortunately, having followed Homelander for so long, she had dealt with situations a hundred times worse—after all, Lu Ka in the sky screen was merely framed and slandered, whereas Homelander had done everything from wanton slaughter to heinous crimes.

"You can rest assured on this; we have the ability to immediately pinpoint the source of rumors, we will use all means to demand the platform delete posts and ban accounts, and have them provide the identity of the behind-the-scenes operators, and have the Seven-Person Group's fan community conduct deep comment control."

"Furthermore, we won't let you—or Wot Company—fall into an endless cycle of 'self‑exoneration'. We will proactively create new, explosive news to cover the negative reports about you, or arrange a high‑spec heroic event for you. Those negative stories will soon be overtaken by new hotspots... no one will remember, I guarantee."

"Very good." Homelander nodded satisfiedly, his expression blank as he patted Aishili on the shoulder; though the force was light, each pat gave her a creepy feeling.

"Remember what you said today; I don't like the feeling of losing control. Stay at Wot, and you'd better demonstrate your worth."

——

""I won't withdraw from the match, and people won't keep being fooled by you. I'll prove myself on the field; they have their own judgment." Lu Ka declared firmly."

""No, most people will merely mistake others' opinions for their own—as long as everyone says you're hateful, they'll also 'think' you're hateful." Shuojin curled the corner of his mouth in a smug arc."

""Fallacious nonsense.""

Shuojin spread his hands: "Then come prove me wrong—with your fists, with the only thing you're good at."

""Couldn't be better!""

Lu Ka threw a forward punch, and Shuojin before him seemed to solidify, the surrounding illusions beginning to fade… countless people surrounded them, at the front was Shuojin, clutching his arm and shouting in pain.

""Lu Ka athlete! I just came to say hello, yet you dare violate martial virtue and lash out violently!" Shuojin rose to his feet, pointing and shouting at Lu Ka: "Don't you dare face me fair and square in the arena? You have to resort to these underhanded outside moves?!""

——

Absolute Zone Zero

I***! I'm so pissed off! I must ****! **** him again!!

Inside the Opalus Squad's dormitory, a burnt smell was wafting up from the balcony, accompanied by several wisps of thin black smoke.

Guhuo finally couldn't hold back; a mouthful of evil fire wasn't checked, and he accidentally scorched the flower Xide had planted on the balcony. Looking at the charred leaves, Xide crouched down and poked the clumped, burnt soil with his finger.

Gradually regaining his composure from anger, Guhuo hurriedly apologized: "Sorry Xide, I couldn't control myself for a moment—I'm really furious at that guy Shuojin; I'll have Aofisi take care of your flower—"

Xide's face showed little sorrow; instead he gave a calm shake of his head: "Mm, mmm mmm, mmm~"

Don't speak Bungbu language! What do you mean by that?

Xide probably means he wants to have barbecue tonight; as compensation, the barbecue's fire will be entirely handled by Captain Guhuo, and he also wants to eat grilled mushrooms." Banji translated.

Wait, how can you translate so much from just nine characters of Bungbu? Are you just wanting barbecue, Banji?" Guhuo couldn't help but retort, "Fine, the squad really hasn't improved its meals for a while, and the next break is half a month away—I'll apply for supplies."

Mm-hmm, but Guhuo sis, you still need to keep your fire in check normally, otherwise you might hurt someone..." Aofisi whispered.

I**! I'm seeing that bastard Shuojin muddying the waters here, and I can't take it! How can there be such a shameless person in this world!! If he dares come to New Elysee, I'll be the first to ***** him!!

Ah ah, wait, Guhuo sis, calm down! Don't set the sheets drying on the balcony on fire!!

——

""Exactly exactly! Lu Ka, why aren't you observing martial virtue!" The nearby spectators chorused in agreement."

Lu Ka stood with hands on his hips, unable to hold back his indignation: "Clearly you're using underhanded moves, coming here specially to provoke me—how did it become that I'm not observing martial virtue?"

""Shuojin's the one who's hurt! How could it be that he's provoking you?" The passersby were indignant."

""Are you guys even reasoning?""

Hearing the commotion outside, Xing hurriedly came out to check; from afar she saw Lu Ka surrounded by a crowd, inwardly thinking 'not good', she rushed over to help break the encirclement.

""Lu Ka, are you alright?" Seeing Lu Ka's face somewhat pale, Xing stepped forward with concern."

Lu Ka shook his head: "I'm having hallucinations again… this time it's pretty serious…"

Hmm, then let's make another trip to Dan Ding Si.

As Xing spoke, she intended to take Lu Ka away, but the onlookers wouldn't have it, each blocking the road and clamoring to have the reasoning clarified first.

Since it's come to this, Xing also couldn't be bothered with nonsense; she directly brandished her bat, hefted it in her hand, and walked up to the few people leading the roadblock.

""Move aside, or do you want to first reason with my bat? I'm not a competitor, so I'm not bound by your morals.""