In the end, Vought International's press conference was a complete failure; not only did it not achieve its original goal of mitigating the significant losses caused by the sudden incident, but it also pushed Vought back into the spotlight due to the renewed online leaks of the "Compound V" and "Baby Plan" incidents.
The impact of this incident was countless times greater than the battle between Homelander and A-Train!
At this point, almost all ordinary citizens were in a frenzy.
They learned for the first time that the seemingly superior superheroes were not born with their powers, nor were they blessed by God as rumored!
It turned out that all their superpowers originated from a technological product called Compound V, and Vought International had mastered this technology decades ago but had not made it public.
Instead, they had been secretly researching it, conducting unauthorized human experiments to create more superheroes, which Vought then recruited and packaged as heroes to deceive the public, using their celebrity status to generate profit!
Actually, there was nothing inherently wrong with this; after all, it was a technology developed by their own company, and others had no right to interfere with how they used it.
However, what the public found most intolerable was the feeling of being deceived by Vought.
They had once revered these superheroes, believing them to be saviors sent by God to rescue people from danger.
Now, they were horrified to discover that these heroes were merely products of a research project.
To put it nicely, they were called metahumans or superheroes.
To put it bluntly, they were mutated humans, or perhaps could no longer even be called human.
The human species is very fickle; if a species is weaker and has not yet developed intelligence, humans will advocate for its protection.
But if a species suddenly evolves and becomes stronger and more intelligent than humans, the human reaction is always to eliminate them!
For example, artificial intelligence has not yet made significant progress, but countless people are already worried about whether AI would want to destroy humanity if it emerged.
It was the same with superheroes.
Originally, people believed superpowers were innate, merely a gift from an unknown God or deity randomly bestowed upon mortals.
This idea felt distant and mysterious, imbued with an untraceable randomness.
No one could predict whether their own children would have superpowers in the future!
And humans were willing to be rescued by superheroes with powers when they encountered danger!
But the news of Compound V shattered everyone's beautiful fantasies.
They couldn't accept that just one vial of reagent could turn someone into a metahuman, while they themselves were kept in the dark, without the chance to gain such powers.
Furthermore, the true situation was clarified by the surviving passengers of the earlier flight.
Almost everyone subconsciously ignored A-Train, whom they had been cursing just moments before, and realized he was actually the true superhero who represented justice and rescued the public from danger.
Instead, they thought of Homelander, who was once just an ordinary human and became so powerful because of Compound V, and how he was so cruel, disregarding the lives of others!
Feelings of jealousy, fear, and anger emerged in countless hearts.
They no longer dared to trust superheroes, including the so-called rescuer, A-Train.
They also no longer trusted Vought International; they couldn't accept this reality!
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
After this incident was exposed, there was no doubt that most of the outside world was against it, with widespread condemnation of Vought International!
In this self-proclaimed land of freedom, street protests are a common occurrence whenever something happens!
Almost immediately, in every city street, people could be seen holding signs against Vought International and against metahumans, shouting continuously.
Even the area around Vought International's headquarters building was surrounded by angry crowds.
However, fortunately, as a top-tier corporation with a market value exceeding hundreds of billions of dollars, Vought International's security measures were incredibly robust, with guards who were even armed, elite military veterans.
Therefore, no one dared to do anything extreme for the time being!
Of course, besides the opposition, there were also quite a few people who supported Vought International.
They called for Vought International to quickly sell Compound V as a commodity, as becoming a superhero was something almost everyone dreamed of!
However, Madelyn was on the verge of madness at this point; the sudden incidents kept coming one after another, and she was starting to buckle under the pressure!
Not only did many untouchable officials call to inquire about Compound V, vaguely hinting at wanting to acquire or purchase some, but the military also called to ask, stating they could procure Compound V at a high price.
This could have been good news; after all, if Compound V became a hot commodity, Vought International would undoubtedly benefit greatly!
But others didn't know Madelyn's difficulties; Compound V actually originated from World War II era technology! (When in doubt, blame black technology on WWII; it's always a safe bet!)
However, when they obtained this technology, it was not yet mature.
After a long period, and investing immense human and material resources in research, progress was made, and a super-baby was successfully created and raised in the laboratory!
And this first metahuman was Homelander! He was also the strongest metahuman!
However, as the doctor who created Homelander said, Homelander was his most failed experiment because Homelander, raised in a laboratory, lacked a touch of humanity!
...But, even now, there hasn't been much progress in the research on Compound V.
If adults are injected directly, there's a very high chance of failure leading to immediate death!
They discovered that only certain special infants could successfully gain superpowers through gradual injection!
Therefore, it was simply impossible for Compound V to be sold normally on the market, which meant it couldn't generate profit for Vought International!
But Vought International came up with an even better idea: packaging metahumans as superheroes and using them like celebrities to make money!
So Vought International used special methods to obtain blood samples from every newborn baby in hospitals, screening for eligible infants.
Then, they would contact the parents, first having them sign a non-disclosure agreement, and then inform them that Vought International had a way to make their child a metahuman, and even join Vought International later to become a revered superhero!
What parent wouldn't hope for their child to be extraordinary in the future, to become a dazzling superstar?
And the conditions Vought International offered them were undoubtedly very easy to accept!
Thus, the Baby Plan commenced, and the world gained hundreds of thousands of metahumans from then on!
...And the one who caused this current situation was Li Yue.
He had Xiao Dai release detailed information about "Compound V" and the "Baby Plan" under A-Train's name.
But before Li Yue could revel in the massive sensation caused by his actions, his face instantly fell at a prompt from Xiao Dai!
"Sir, Ms.
Starlight is calling.
Would you like to answer?"
Li Yue had forgotten that Starlight was also a product of the Baby Plan!