"Hm, very good." Homelander smiled and nodded. He glanced down at something. "Ashley, take off your boots."
Ashley froze for a moment, but soon bent down to undo the buckles of her high heels. Her slender feet stepped onto the cold metal floor, unconsciously curling her toes slightly.
"Now..." Homelander stared at the knight, his voice eerily cheerful, "kneel down and lick her feet."
The smile on the knight's face instantly froze, then faded. His lips trembled slightly, disbelief flashing in his eyes. "This... Mr. Homelander..." He struggled to speak, "This doesn't align with the code of a 'Knight of the Pure'..."
Homelander suddenly burst into laughter. His laughter echoed through the training room, carrying tones of sarcasm and mockery. The other superhumans all stopped what they were doing, and the air seemed to solidify.
The next second, a flash of scarlet passed through his eyes—
"Bang!"
The knight's head exploded like an overripe watermelon. Blood sprayed across the surrounding floor and walls, a few warm drops even splattering onto Homelander's pristine uniform. Ashley was so terrified in that instant that her soul nearly left her body. Being closest to the knight, her face was smeared with a thick layer of blood.
The headless corpse stiffened for a second before collapsing with a heavy thud, the armor clanging loudly against the ground. Homelander looked down at the bloodstains on his uniform, frowned slightly, then turned to the shell-shocked Ashley.
"Remember." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "I don't give a fuck if he's a Knight of the Pure or what his identity is. But at Vought, the first thing about becoming a hero... is absolute loyalty to me."
He paused, glancing at the headless corpse on the floor like it was trash. "No matter who it is. No matter what it is."
Ashley swallowed hard and nodded. "...Understood."
——
[Before preparing to enter the Simulated Universe, Stelle noticed that Herta, who had stormed out in a huff earlier, had returned.]
["You're back?"]
[Herta lifted her chin and huffed. "Take a look at whose name is on the office plaque. Why wouldn't I come back? Hmph, if anyone's leaving, it's not going to be me. I'm staying right here."]
["What, you don't want to see me back? Heh, I don't care what you guys are up to. Do whatever you want, just don't bother me."]
["Alright..." Stelle didn't push it. After turning back to briefly discuss with Screwllum, she entered the Simulated Universe.]
[This time the Simulated Universe felt different from before. Stelle sensed a ripple, a massive sensation of weightlessness causing her to lose control of her limbs. Amid the rippling characters and code, she suddenly awoke—]
["Ms. Stelle, are you alright?" Screwllum's voice sounded beside her ear.]
[Now Stelle found herself inside the data chain where the Aether Cartridge was located. She looked around and told Screwllum that there was a virtual Silver Wolf right in front of her.]
["Oh..." Screwllum pondered for a moment. "Conclusion: That is a holographic record of the Simulated Universe. Here, every variable is preserved in exhaustive detail—including, of course, the traces left by outsiders."]
[No sooner had Screwllum finished speaking than Silver Wolf turned her head the next second. "Hey, why do you keep staring at me?"]
["She spoke!?" Stelle was startled.]
["I have advanced the Simulated Universe's timeline. She is not actually speaking to you—this is merely a record from the past. Please do not interrupt her for now. Listen carefully; we may gain more insights." Screwllum said.]
["First off, I'm not obsessing over it. That cartridge's story is common knowledge in Punklorde—I have zero interest."]
["Second, it's not some game disc. It's an Aether Cartridge—the hacker's second pair of eyes, second brain, second heart. You get it? With this cartridge, you could even know the exact flavor of the fourth piece of mixed popcorn he ate at a movie premiere. That's how powerful it is."]
["Finally, let me emphasize again: I'm not obsessing. I just said all that to explain clearly how impressive it actually is. Got it, Kafka?"]
——
One Punch Man.
Child Emperor bit down on his lollipop, his fingers swiftly sliding across the holographic screen as he rapidly recorded information about the "Aether Cartridge."
"Unbelievable..." he murmured to himself, his voice carrying the excitement unique to a child. "So as long as you possess this cartridge, you can completely read the owner's life memories, knowledge, even emotional experiences? Doesn't that basically mean obtaining another person's entire existence?"
"If we could analyze this technology, we could preserve the combat experience of heroes, even when they..." He suddenly stopped, cutting himself off just before the word "sacrifice."
"Child Emperor, don't become too fixated on technology from an alien world."
Drive Knight's single eye flickered with faint light, a low hum emanating from within his pitch-black armor. "While we still know so little about that Silver Wolf lady from Punklorde, you'd best never entertain any ideas about the hacking technology displayed on the Celestial Screen for the rest of your life."
"Huh? Why do you say that, Drive Knight?"
"Because..." Drive Knight was momentarily at a loss for words. He didn't know how to persuade the genius boy in front of him. Child Emperor had become the fifth S-Class hero at just ten years old—his future potential was limitless. In his eyes, perhaps there was no technology he couldn't conquer?
But Drive Knight could see at a glance that the kind of reality-altering technology could no longer be called "technology." Without obtaining a sample of an Aether Cartridge, that sort of thing was pure and utter magic—far more unrealistic than trying to analyze Tornado's esper abilities.
"Rather than thinking about Aether Cartridges, Child Emperor, why not consider how to bring Interastral Peace Corporation standards in line with Earth? If your goal is simply eliminating monsters, whether developing new weapons yourself or contacting the Corporation... both would be far more efficient than researching Punklorde technology, right?"
——
[It seems two people entered the Simulated Universe this time—her and Kafka.]
[Screwllum found it quite interesting and switched Stelle into the perspective of a companion. Now she would react to Stelle's actions.]
[Faced with a fork in the path, Silver Wolf looked at Stelle with interest. "Want to pick one? Test your favorite... intuition."]
["She's letting me make a choice?"]
[Screwllum: "More precisely, she's letting her companion make a choice. Even if you do nothing, this record will continue to progress."]
[And sure enough—that was exactly what happened. Even though Stelle made no choice, Silver Wolf immediately declared in the next moment that the correct path was the right one.]
[However, Stelle's whole thing was rebellion. She deliberately went left. She wanted to see how Silver Wolf would handle it.]