Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 572 Hitting the Soldier Boy? Me?

What did you say?!

"Soldier boy?"

"What boy?"

"Is it really necessary for me to say it twice?"

Ma Zhaodi raised his hand and turned on the TV next to him: "Look for yourself, he's already on the news."

Everyone in the room instinctively turned their gaze to the television screen, which was currently showing Kimiko's favorite Japanese program channel. But the next second, Ma Zhaodi switched it back to the news channel.

A rather dashing middle-aged man's face appeared on the screen. His stubble added an extra touch of vicissitude to his appearance. His expressionless eyes and brows seemed to have been tempered in the flames of war, giving him a tough and masculine air. Looking at the dark green tight-fitting leather armor, the winged bald eagle on the breastplate, the five-pointed star, and the iconic alloy shield in his hand, everyone in the room fell silent.

Unlike the outsider Ma Zhaodi, Breast Milk, Butcher, and Becca are native-born Americans and naturally understand the significance of the person in front of them to America. Even Frankie had worked in the CIA for a time, and Mallory had once explained the origins of Walter to him.

Only Kimiko and Kenji felt a surge of anger. Neither of them knew who this person was, but Kimiko knew that her younger brother was the one who was almost beaten to a pulp by this person on the screen, and Kenji had even witnessed the other person kill all of his teammates.

Although Kimiko never liked the group of extremist teammates he saw.

"That's the soldier boy! I saw him, I saw him!"

"My God! Jesus Christ—that World War II hero!"

"America's hope and symbol back then."

"God bless America! Ezekiel was right, the emergence of superheroes is truly a blessing from God!"

"I almost fell for the fake news in the media."

In the footage, a crowd of citizens chanted the soldier boy's name with fervor, while a reporter excitedly interrupted the broadcast with today's news—just now, America's superhero Homelander returned to Vought and wiped out the remnants of the Shining Radiance organization who were planning a terrorist attack on the street.

Blood and gore were everywhere on the streets, but the crowd around them ignored it, only concerned with stepping on the blurred flesh and blood to worship their hero—or rather, those who were still at the forefront of the scene were probably all fanatical fans of Soldier Boy, and of course they didn't care about this filth.

“Soldier Boy.” Butcher gritted his teeth and asked Ma Zhaodi, “Is this for real? Soldier Boy has survived from World War II to now? In the propaganda of Vought International and the US military back then, he was supposed to have died on the battlefield long ago!”

"You believe the propaganda from Vought International and the U.S. military?" Ma Zhaodi retorted. "Besides, the first dose of Compound V was used on Storm, and she's still alive today, hasn't she? And her appearance hasn't changed at all."

Franky, who was standing next to him, suddenly interjected: "In other words, the compound 5 back then was probably quite different from what we have now. It might have had a higher lethality rate while also significantly increasing lifespan or slowing down the aging process."

"It's hard to say. It's possible that Storm is a special case." Ma Zhaodi thought of Captain America's situation in Marvel and couldn't rule out the possibility that Soldier Boy was being parodied by the narrative layer using the same process.

"Anyway, that's the situation. Edgar is very capable. He knew the location of the soldier boy and got the Russian mafia to help bring him out. He also talked to him about cooperation."

"Can Superman take him down?" Breastfeeding couldn't help but ask, "He beat up Homelander like it was his own son, so Soldier Boy should be fine too, right?"

"No, breast milk, have you forgotten?"

Franky pointed to Kenji beside him: "He was a superpowered person too, but after being beaten up by Soldier Boy, he lost all his superpowers—don't you understand why Edgar would use him as a superweapon? It's not just because of his reputation, but also because of his abilities!" "A superpower that destroys all superpowers?"

The butcher was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood: "How the hell can we fight this? Even superpowered people lose their powers when they fight him, and ordinary people have no chance of winning—wait...ordinary people?"

Ma Zhaodi stared blankly at the TV. The eyes of Butcher, Franky, Himiko, and Breast Milk gradually converged on him, leaving him speechless.

"What the hell are you thinking?"

Ma Zhaodi rolled his eyes: "You're not expecting me to fight those stat-inflated things, are you? I'm just an ordinary person with a bit of a jack-of-all-trades knowledge, not a Dragon Ball that can grant wishes, okay?"

"You can beat Kimiko, you can beat Invisible Man, you can deal with Storm, and even Homelander was once stunned by your blast."

Franky's eyes lit up: "If even Superman can't handle that guy, then we're definitely doomed."

"No need," Ma Zhaodi waved his hand. "I can't handle that guy by myself, but Superman can handle him alone."

Oh, right.

The mother thought of Ma Zhaodi's cat. Since even Storm Girl's lightning was absorbed by it with a strange straw man, what's wrong with Soldier Boy's laser cannon taking a detour?

"Your cat will draw the fire, and Superman will seize the opportunity to take him down. This plan is highly feasible!"

"I'm sorry, no."

Ma Zhaodi's answer stunned everyone.

"why?"

"Because Soldier Boy's image is now that of an American hero—have you forgotten? Back when he first joined Vought, Superman's stats already far surpassed Homelander's. Why didn't we make a move sooner?"

"Why?" Kimiko asked naively.

"Because if we had crippled Homelander back then, Walter would still be Walter, and revealing the truth would have been useless; Walter had brainwashed almost an entire generation over the past ten years, and his social relationships were deeply entrenched."

“What will happen if we take direct action? Hundreds of superpowered individuals will come after us, superheroes not on Vought’s team will become destabilizing factors, and then the police and military will be mobilized quickly under Edgar’s operation—the public will think we are the terrorists, and Vought will have ample time to destroy and transfer all incriminating evidence.”

Everyone was silent.

“Edgar isn’t stupid, he’s too smart. It’s too easy for superhumans to destroy evidence, whether it’s paper documents or secret bases, it’s just a matter of a shockwave, and they can all pin it on Superman. Don’t take any chances. If Superman can take down Homelander, he can also take down Vought’s other heroes, so he will definitely do it.”

“Do you understand what I mean?” Ma Zhaodi continued, “The situation is much better now than before. We have too much dirt and evidence on Vought, Homelander, Storm, Compound V, but the most valuable person is actually Madeline, because she is a high-ranking executive of Vought Corporation, and she is also an ordinary person. She cannot be directly cut off, and what she knows is more important.”

"Now, we need to bring in something that Walter can't cut, and then it's doomed."

(End of this chapter)