"Hmm, I believe you. We are both victims." Homelander, combining Annie’s heartbeat and the humiliation she suffered, determined that this matter was not done by Starlight.
"Guardian, I actually don’t want to suspect you, but you have certainly been stealing the spotlight lately." Homelander looked at Lucas again.
Lucas propped his legs up on the table, while the glass of wine had already been set aside. It didn’t taste good. Not as good as AD Calcium Milk.
Facing Homelander’s interrogation, he didn’t even blush or skip a beat.
"Homelander, you know me. If I had sent that video, why would I have cut off the second half?"
He crossed his arms, looking indignant. "That was a classic moment of a hero saving a beauty. If the full video had been uploaded to the internet, my image would be incredibly close to justice!"
"Do I look that stupid to you?"
"Besides, you know that Starlight and I have a good relationship."
Annie vouched for him, "I can guarantee this in a personal capacity. It’s impossible for Guardian to do such a thing. Everything he does is for the sake of justice."
"This internal reorganization was also proposed by him. If he really wanted to mess with us, he could have just released that video directly."
"We wouldn’t even have had a chance to remedy the situation."
In the room, only Ashley cast a subtle glance at Lucas.
She had shown the video of The Deep’s assault to Madelyn and Lucas the next day.
Madelyn definitely had no motive to do such a thing.
The only one who could have disclosed the video was Guardian, so should she expose him? But Starlight was doing her best to protect Guardian. And, the matter of promoting me... Ashley began to think calmly.
Maeve, sitting nearby, also spoke up.
"Annie makes a lot of sense. The Seven rise and fall together. Something that ruins our image shouldn’t have anything to do with our own people."
Homelander was confused now. The internal video had leaked, so the source must be internal. But now it seemed like everyone had their own explanation. And none of them were lying. He could tell that much.
"Could it be you?" Homelander subconsciously ignored Madelyn and pointed his finger at Ashley.
Ashley sprang up from her seat, shaking her head in a panic.
"It’s not me, Homelander. You know me, I need this job!"
"We have no grudges between us, and I rely on Vought for my paycheck."
"Why would I have any motive to do such a thing? Wouldn’t that just be slapping my own face?" Ashley was almost in tears. How could this possibly get dragged onto her?
"Ashley is the least likely person," Lucas vouched for Ashley.
Homelander turned around, his face turning dark.
"Then who do you think did this?"
"I don’t know, but one thing is certain: none of us can benefit from this matter, or even stay out of it." Lucas said, "The Seven’s image is damaged. As the Supervisor of Justice, I have also received a lot of criticism, and Maeve, Starlight, Black Noir, and Trans..."
"Wait!" Lucas pretended to have just realized it.
"Where is Translucent? Did he not come to the meeting?!"
Everyone was shocked, and then they realized it, especially Homelander. He had been wondering why he felt like something was missing.
Ashley quickly added the finishing blow, "Translucent didn’t come to the company yesterday afternoon, and he didn’t attend today’s important press conference either. In fact, we’ve been trying to contact him for two hours, but there hasn’t been a single reply."
"Translucent is out of contact?" Homelander’s voice suddenly rose.
"Yes." Ashley scrolled through the call logs on her phone, "The last message was at 11:00 PM the night before last. He said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to take leave. Since then, he hasn’t replied to any messages."
"What about his phone?"
"It’s turned off."
Translucent. The member with the lowest presence in The Seven, but he could always appear out of nowhere in other places. For example, the women’s restroom. This guy had a very tricky ability: invisibility. So, according to logic, it was absolutely possible for him to turn invisible, walk into the surveillance room, copy the files, and then disappear. He also fit the profile of a spy.
"That bastard..." Homelander’s teeth ground together with a cracking sound.
Lucas gave Butcher a mental thumbs-up. Translucent was simply the perfect scapegoat.
"I’m going to find him." Homelander’s anger was uncontrollable.
"No matter where he is hiding, I will find him myself."
"Homelander, calm down," Madelyn spoke up.
"Even if Translucent really is the leaker, going to find him now is not the best choice. You just finished the press conference, and the media across America is watching your every move."
"If you rush out to search the city now, the media will take the opportunity to kick you while you’re down."
"The image you worked so hard to build will completely collapse again."
Madelyn’s analysis was correct, but Homelander wasn’t listening now. He was panting heavily. The expression on his face was quite colorful.
"Then what do you suggest?" He turned his head and stared at Madelyn.
"Let him keep hiding? Let that video keep fermenting on the internet? Let my approval rating keep dropping?"
"I will handle it, just give me some time," Madelyn said.
"You f*cking said the same thing last time!" Homelander suddenly let out a roar. Everyone in the room got goosebumps.
"I’m not an idiot, Madelyn. You said you needed three days to arrange the press conference."
"The media should have been people we arranged in advance, so what happened with that female reporter?"
"Madelyn, do you think I’m easy to fool!" Homelander wasn’t even giving Madelyn any face anymore.
At this press conference, he originally wanted to show his face, but ended up exposing his ass!
Madelyn had an expression of being wronged, "Homelander, listen to me, that wasn’t our person..."
"I don’t want to hear it."
Homelander turned to look at Lucas.
"Guardian, what do you think?"
Everyone in the room focused their gaze on Lucas. Homelander and Guardian were very much at odds at first, but in the last few days, Homelander had surprisingly softened his attitude. Conversely, Madelyn was making one bad move after another.
Lucas picked up the glass of whiskey from the table, swirled it, and put it back down. Once again, this stuff really isn’t as good as AD Calcium Milk.
"I have a different opinion from Madelyn."
Here it comes again! Here it comes again!!
Madelyn wished she could tear Lucas apart alive! If it weren’t for him, how could Homelander have lost trust in her?
"Speak, I’m listening."
"We must find Translucent. He holds many people’s secrets. If he reveals them to hostile forces, it could cause tremendous losses to Vought."
"But you don’t need to go out and find him yourself, Homelander. Let Vought’s security department do it."
"As the Supervisor of The Seven, I have direct responsibility for this matter, so I will also conduct a city-wide search, or even across America, or the whole world!"
Homelander nodded repeatedly, only feeling that Guardian looked much more pleasing to the eye.
"The others are all useless, but you, my brother, are the real hero!" Homelander patted Lucas on the shoulder excitedly.
Before Lucas finished speaking, he continued: "This is just the first step. Your reputation has already been affected. During this period, we need to stabilize public opinion and not let negative comments continue to ferment."
"Right, right!" Homelander nodded repeatedly. He certainly wanted to catch Translucent, but the current priority was to reduce the negative impact and pull his approval rating back up.
"This will require Annie to cooperate." Lucas cast his gaze toward Starlight.
Annie pointed at herself, looking bewildered.
"Huh? Me?"