Surrounded by a wall of reporters, Sebastian and Homelander had no choice but to step forward and explain themselves.
As for the real reason behind the fight—obviously they couldn't say Sebastian wanted to use Homelander as a punching bag because he'd "reported" him.
No, the official line was that the two had gotten into a "conceptual dispute."
Their ideologies clashed, so they fought.
At the time, their conflict centered on how criminals should be handled.
Homelander argued that superheroes must go all out when enforcing the law—even if it caused collateral damage or resulted in a criminal's death.
If they still held back when facing criminals, he said, the consequences would be far worse. Hostages could die, and even superheroes themselves could be put in danger.
Since criminals had chosen to hurt innocent people, they should be prepared to pay with their lives.
Justice, in his eyes, allowed no compromise. All criminals deserved death.
This was his Absolute Justice.
The Captain, however, believed the opposite. Even superheroes had no right to kill. Most mortals did not deserve death, and superheroes were not lawmakers nor executioners.
Power was not something to be wielded recklessly. The greater the power, the stricter the self-control. You couldn't simply unleash destruction whenever you felt like it.
Once superheroes abused their power, they would eventually lose control. If they could kill criminals today, what would stop them from harming innocent people tomorrow over a simple argument?
Human beings were simply too fragile. Criminals should not die at the hands of superheroes—they should be handed over to the NYPD, judged by the people and the law.
This was the Captain's Justice of Order.
Their philosophies collided, and because neither could persuade the other, they eventually chose to let fists do the talking.
The victor would determine the guiding principle for superheroes moving forward… but the result was far beyond anything they anticipated.
They both underestimated their own power. Neither expected the devastation their clash would cause.
And even after all of that, neither could defeat the other.
If they continued, the entire metropolis would be reduced to rubble. So they were forced to stop, ending a battle that had become meaningless.
Of course, all of that was just the public statement.
The truth was that Homelander got absolutely pummeled by Sebastian.
The reason they didn't appear earlier to explain themselves was very simple—Homelander needed time for his face to stop looking like ground beef.
It had to be said: after fighting through the Daluo Arena, Sebastian's strength had skyrocketed. Before, beating Homelander had required careful planning and using the opponent's power against him.
Now he could crush Homelander outright.
And funnily enough, this had nothing to do with absorbing Wapol Xiao's power.
The real reason was the mountain of spiritual fruits he got for free.
As a seed-level conceptual crop, spiritual fruits aren't consumed upon harvest. So when the Daluo Arena activated, Sebastian recovered every one he'd planted—causing an explosive increase in all his stats.
His basic attributes shot straight into Tier Three, and his superpowers and bloodline jumped from early Tier Four to well past 40,000 in total value.
And after the battle, the Daluo Dao Fruit rewound time and reset all those conceptual crops.
In other words, Sebastian got them for free.
…
…
Meanwhile, the moment the true "reason" for the Captain-vs-Homelander battle aired, the world erupted in chaos.
Both the Captain's Justice of Order and Homelander's Absolute Justice had strong arguments.
Each philosophy had its merits.
Justice of Order restricted superhero power, protecting the rights and safety of ordinary citizens.
Absolute Justice ensured criminals were stopped instantly, guaranteeing maximum safety for victims.
And this controversy touched on something the public had buried deep in their hearts—something they never dared speak of:
violent law enforcement.
Superhero intervention was always rough, and sometimes the damage they caused far exceeded what the criminals could've done.
People had lost loved ones—friends, family, even their own limbs or lives.
Yet no one had ever dared raise the issue. Fear kept their mouths shut.
But now?
Now they dared.
Because one of the strongest heroes in the world—the Captain—stood by their side.
When the strongest superhuman speaks for you, what better backing could you ask for?
One by one, victims who had suffered under superheroes' "excessive force" stepped forward to name the heroes who had harmed them.
There were even extremists demanding that superheroes be legally bound in their private lives and placed under strict government control.
Families of criminals also stepped up, claiming their loved ones were killed over minor mistakes.
Some argued their relatives had been forced into crime by desperation. If they'd had a path to survive, who would willingly choose crime?
They didn't deserve death.
But for a few stolen dollars, a hero killed them on the spot. For their families, it was a tragedy.
On the other hand, long-suffering residents plagued by rampant crime believed criminals deserved death, and criticized law enforcement.
They were furious that criminals often received light sentences or walked free due to "insufficient evidence," only to reoffend within weeks.
To them, that was the greatest injustice.
Compared to that, superheroes who killed criminals on sight significantly reduced crime rates. Many loudly proclaimed that superheroes should be encouraged to punish criminals harshly.
Of course, chaos also erupted thanks to extreme fans of the Captain who went around provoking fights.
As the saying went, "one fan equals ten haters."
A large number of neutral observers grew disgusted with the Captain because of his fanbase. Some superheroes even personally jumped into the fray to "correct" these fans by force.
And when some heroes took the lead, other superheroes who were being publicly accused by victims began stepping out one after another.
They apologized to the civilians they had harmed—and then declared their full support for Homelander's Absolute Justice.
Because if they hadn't acted then, the criminals would have caused far greater disasters and casualties.
It was like the trolley dilemma:
Should you save the rule-abiding child on one track, or a group of rule-breakers on the other?
A moral paradox that tested both reason and humanity.
In their eyes, they simply had no choice.
Each side held firm, unable to persuade the other. More and more people joined in, and fierce debates—and even armed conflicts—broke out.
For a time, the ideological war between these two "gods" grew hotter and hotter, becoming the most discussed topic on Earth. It even directly influenced the ratings of major TV networks.
Realistically speaking, any program that declared support for either side—or even just hosted a debate—would instantly get high ratings.
Right now, this was what the world wanted to watch.
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