[Especially Homelander. If he'd ever treated the others in The Seven like actual human beings, no one would have kept stabbing him in the back.]
[When you think about it, Homelander is the one who is truly tragic.]
[So starved for love, so desperate for everyone's adoration and approval. But what was the result?]
[Queen Maeve was secretly supplying Temporary Compound V to The Boys—a textbook case of aiding the enemy.]
[Starlight was a complete mole for The Boys, working with them from the inside.]
[Even the spineless The Deep secretly found evidence that Homelander had stood by and watched a plane full of people die!]
[And that opportunistic jerk A-Train stabbed him in the back at the critical moment, indirectly causing the death of Homelander's woman, Stormfront.]
[Forsaken by all!]
[It drove Homelander to the edge of the roof to perform a Crescent Moon Slash.]
[He's the only one who can be a Superman and still be so utterly miserable.]
*Wait, what?!*
Starlight was speechless.
Was the diary saying that Queen Maeve, herself, The Deep, and A-Train were all secretly betraying Homelander?
*Holy crap, there are only seven people in The Seven, right?*
*And yet, four of them are secretly plotting against Homelander?*
*That means, excluding Homelander himself, only two people aren't betraying him?*
*How the hell is Homelander this pathetic?*
*No matter what, he's still the leader of The Seven!*
*The leader!*
*So, what the diary said about Homelander not treating the others like human beings... was that actually true?*
Starlight couldn't help but seethe inwardly.
*If that's really the case, then it's no surprise Homelander has been abandoned by everyone.*
*Wait a minute.*
Soon, Starlight remembered another detail.
The diary had just mentioned that Invisible Man was dead.
*So, is Black Noir the only one who hasn't betrayed Homelander?*
*But what about him? The diary had previously described him as "emotionless."*
*Starlight felt that, in some ways, that was accurate.*
*She didn't even know if Black Noir was mute, but he had never spoken a single word.*
*His entire body was concealed beneath a mask, wrapped so tightly not a single inch of skin showed.*
*No matter what happened, he never said a word, just standing there like a wooden post.*
Starlight would believe it if someone said Black Noir was a robot.
A person like that is probably just incapable of backstabbing by nature, right?
What a failure!
If the diary is telling the truth, then Homelander is a complete and utter failure.
"Temporary Compound V!"
Tony, reading the other diary, focused on this crucial "item."
The diary explained it clearly: Compound V was the key to creating super-soldiers. So what about the temporary version?
Could it only create temporary super-soldiers?
*Damn, they can even do that?*
It seemed the research on super-soldiers in this world had reached a truly mature and advanced level.
Other worlds couldn't even create super-soldiers, yet they were already playing around with temporary ones.
You've got to hand it to them.
If that were the case, it could partially bridge the power gap between The Boys and The Seven. Otherwise, there was no way The Boys could win a fight against them.
Beyond that, there was the internal strife within The Seven.
Things like Queen Maeve delivering the serum, The Deep searching for evidence, and Translucent causing the death of Homelander's woman.
Tony wasn't entirely sure about the details of these events.
But the Playboy felt that the diary was slightly wrong—or at least, not accurate enough.
*Was Starlight the only mole in The Seven?*
*The whole damn team was full of moles!*
Homelander was really something else. How did he manage to ruin such a powerful asset like this? To turn his entire team into moles... you had to admit, that was a talent in its own right.
But then again, Homelander had brought this all on himself. He had no one to blame but himself.
"Crescent Moon Slash?"
"No way... He went up to the roof to do a Crescent Moon Slash?"
"What kind of sick fuck is this?!"
As Tony read further, he was deeply disturbed by Homelander's perverse antics.
Doing a "Crescent Moon Slash" or whatever wasn't a big deal to Tony. He'd even done it himself.
The Playboy believed there were plenty of people in the world who did such things.
But no matter who it was, they'd hide away and do it in secret, wouldn't they?
After all, this kind of thing was truly shameful and extremely private.
Anyone with a shred of dignity wouldn't dare flaunt it.
Yet Homelander, the bastard, actually went up to the roof to do it?
This wasn't just scumbag behavior—this was perversion!
Only a pervert would do something so jaw-droppingly depraved.
*So this is Homelander?*
*This is the other Superman?*
*He's completely shattered my perception of what a hero should be!*
Tony was certain that if Clark knew his counterpart was this kind of bastard, he'd be weeping in frustration.
"Crescent Moon Slash?"
"What does that even mean?"
Starlight, however, was completely lost. She had no idea what was going on and sank into deep thought.
The result was, of course, exactly what one would expect. A young girl like Starlight could never possibly figure this out.
But judging by the tone of the diary, this was clearly something terrible.
*It must have been an act of desperation,* Starlight thought, *something Homelander did to vent his frustrations because he was driven to the brink.*
The more she read, the more surreal it all felt.
*This is Homelander!*
The most powerful man in the world, an idol worshipped by countless people, a figure of unparalleled confidence and success.
How could the diary describe him as someone so utterly humiliated and downtrodden?
*Why would Homelander ever need to feel humiliated?*
What Starlight didn't know was that Homelander wasn't just humiliated—he was *extremely* humiliated.
Madelyn was one thing—Homelander had always harbored a strangely abnormal dependence on her.
But Billy Butcher was a completely ordinary human.
He had publicly confronted Homelander multiple times, showing him no respect whatsoever, slapping him in the face with his words.
Homelander's face, twisted with extreme rage yet held in check, had become a classic meme!
So, Homelander was indeed a very three-dimensional and complex character.
On one hand, he was a ruthless, utterly evil piece of trash who killed without blinking.
On the other hand, he was a pitiful child who was constantly bullied and oppressed.
Of course, this "pitiful child" was no ordinary one.
This pitiful child had the power to flip the table, but he wouldn't do so unless he was pushed to a certain limit.
And if Homelander truly did flip the table, it would be an absolute disaster for the entire world.
But Starlight, of course, knew none of this.
At this moment, she refocused her attention on the diary.
She hoped to see more spoilers.
But after waiting for several minutes without any movement from the diary, Starlight had no choice but to exit.
She paused for a moment, then tried to connect with other diaries. But the prompt still said her quota had been reached, and she couldn't communicate.
She would have to wait until the next day for the quota to refresh.
Starlight had no choice but to temporarily exit the diary interface.
"Mother!"
After a moment's thought, Starlight left her room and went into the living room.
She saw her mother, Caroline, tidying up at the dining table in the small dining area.
A lavish meal was already prepared.
"You came out just in time. Come and eat."
"It's all your favorite dishes."
Caroline waved Starlight over with a gentle smile.
Starlight took a look, and her appetite was truly whetted.
"Mother, can I ask you a question?"
However, before officially starting, Starlight couldn't help but speak to her mother.
"Of course, sweetheart."
Caroline sat down opposite Starlight, her mood couldn't be better. Her dream was getting closer and closer.
Her daughter was becoming more and more popular. At this rate, it wasn't impossible for her to be chosen for The Seven.
"I'm your mother, honey. You can tell me anything," Caroline said, her tone reassuring and all-encompassing.
"Do you know about Compound V?" Starlight finally asked after a moment's hesitation.
She had no choice.
Although some of the entries in the diary were admittedly far-fetched, Starlight couldn't completely ignore them, given the book's supernatural properties. She still wanted to verify things for herself.
Starlight immediately noticed the warm, bright smile on her mother's face suddenly freeze.
"What are you talking about?"
"Honey, why are you suddenly asking such a strange and nonsensical question?"
But Caroline quickly forced another smile, trying to cover it up as if nothing had happened.
Unfortunately, Caroline was just an ordinary person.
She wasn't an Oscar-winning actress, nor was she some cunning old fox with a hidden agenda.
Starlight's question had been so abrupt that Caroline's instinctive reaction had still left a flaw.
And Starlight, sitting directly opposite her, had seen that glaring slip-up with perfect clarity.
Starlight froze, her heart sinking even further.
*What is happening?*
*No way... no way!*
*The diary can't be true, can it?*
*But from her reaction, my mother clearly knows about Compound V!*
"Jesus Christ, Compound V actually exists."
"This stuff is real!"
"So my powers aren't innate at all—they come from Compound V?"
Starlight couldn't keep her cool anymore. She had no appetite left, her eyes locked onto Caroline in a fierce interrogation.
"Sweetie, what are you talking about?"
"I have no idea what you're referring to."
"Did you hear some strange rumor somewhere?"
Caroline was already flustered, a storm raging within her.
She simply couldn't comprehend how such a secret had leaked.
*I'm sure I didn't let anything slip.*
*How did Starlight ever find out about this?*
Caroline was at a loss.
All she could do now was feign composure and play dumb in front of Starlight.
But playing dumb was an art.
Especially when caught off guard by a sudden crisis.
It wasn't a skill everyone possessed, and Caroline was even less equipped for it.
The harder she tried to hide it, the more obvious her flaws became.
"Please, Mother, you know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I'm not a child anymore!"
"And you really should look in a mirror—your face has completely changed."
"Tell me, what is going on?!"
Starlight's chest tightened with frustration, her words spilling out faster and faster.
"Annie, I went to a lot of trouble to cook your favorite dishes."
"Are you sure you want to ruin this lovely atmosphere?"
Caroline had no idea how to explain things to Starlight, so she could only deflect.
"You've been lying to me this whole time. God, I can't believe it!"
"You've lied to me for all these years!"
"And even now, are you still trying to keep deceiving me?"
"Tell me, Mother!"
Starlight was clearly on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
Caroline knew she could no longer keep up the charade. Annie had obviously found out the truth from somewhere.
"Annie, everything I did, I did for you," Caroline finally confessed. "I wanted you to have a different kind of life. I believed you were special."
"And I was right. Look at what you've achieved."
"If anyone is destined to join The Seven, I'm certain it's you."
*It's true!*
*I really was created by Compound V.*
*Everything in that journal... it was all true!*
Starlight froze, her mind reeling from the revelation.
All her life, her mother had told her she was the Chosen One, a child of destiny.
She was the one-in-a-million who had been born with superpowers.
Starlight had believed her mother's lies, always thinking she was the special one.
And in the end, it was all a lie, a bunch of bullshit!
She wasn't some one-in-a-million child of destiny; she was just a product manufactured by Vought International!
And what's worse, her own mother was the one who had orchestrated it all.
Starlight was beyond devastated.
"How much did they pay you? How could you do this to your own daughter?" she demanded, her voice shaking with rage.
"Annie..."
"You have to believe me, I did it all for you."
"You did it for yourself!" Starlight snarled, cutting Caroline off. She had no appetite left, and in a flash, she was gone.
"Annie!"
"Annie!"
Caroline chased after her, but her old, frail body was no match for a super-soldier like Starlight.
*Slam!*
Starlight had vanished from the table, leaving Caroline with nothing but the heavy sound of the door slamming shut.
*Vroom!*
Then came the faint sound of a car engine starting.
Caroline looked out the window and saw Starlight slide into her car, start the engine, and speed away.
The car quickly accelerated onto the main road and disappeared into the distance.
Of course, Caroline had no hope of catching up. Her only option was to grab her phone.
She tried calling her daughter.
But, as expected, the call went unanswered.
It was understandable, though. Annie must be furious right now.
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)