American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 321 Special Program: Execution Day

Chapter 321 Special Program: Execution Day

Execution Day is a special program set up by Homelander.

In the aftermath of the apocalypse, New Hope City lost almost all of its power. Even though Homelander prevented the nuclear explosion from directly detonating in New Hope City, the nuclear explosion caused gamma rays to ionize the atmosphere. This phenomenon generated a strong electromagnetic field that burned out a large number of electronic devices.

New Hope is no exception.

The power plants did attempt to resume power generation, but disruptions to the fuel supply chain meant that coal-fired power plants were only providing 7-15 [units of electricity].

With power outages lasting for about a day and internet outages, ordinary people in New Hope City naturally fell into a state of anxiety, and the lack of entertainment also led to a continuous increase in crime.

For this reason, Homelander specifically created the Execution Day program. As the name suggests, it is actually a kind of violent program. According to the black man, it involves putting captured Terminators into an arena to fight against powerful superhumans. This large-scale program, which is held every week, provides ordinary people with a sufficiently interesting form of entertainment.

Although these ordinary people weren't the powerful superhumans capable of single-handedly killing Terminators, that didn't stop them from cheering as the superhumans tore the Terminators apart. Initially, people needed to buy tickets to watch the event, but later, after power was restored, the Nasdaq screens also broadcast the event.

The black man somehow got hold of two tickets to the execution day and hoped Rune would go with him. However, the guy implied that if Rune wanted to go, he would have to pay some special fee afterward.

Rune clearly refused. He really didn't expect to run into someone like him for the second time. Fortunately, this guy didn't pester him like a certain stepfather that Gotham Orphanage found for him.

Shaking his head, Rune left alone.

In fact, Execution Day has evolved into more than just an entertainment program for venting emotions. Originally, the program required the Seven and other well-known superhumans to perform on stage, but now it has become a voluntary program, and Homelander's superhuman forces also select talent from the program.

Given that Homelander has become the ruler of New Hope City, Execution Day has become intertwined with politics.

Of course, Rune was more curious about whether Butcher would still be in the city.

They found a place to rest, and under Rune's will, the collapsed concrete building debris was transformed back into a small room. Although small, it still had a soft sofa and bed, as well as a window. At least in this apocalypse, owning such a house was not difficult, as the huge number of casualties directly led to houses becoming the cheapest thing in the entire United States.

Of course, in some large shelters, housing remains a scarce resource.

For example, in the military shelters at Fort Irwin, most people lived in tents or self-built houses, while soldiers lived in communal dormitories. Only people like Starlight were qualified to live in such small houses.

The same goes for New Hope City. Logically, if they could transform the Statue of Liberty into Homelander's face, they could also repair those collapsed buildings. However, Homelander seemed too lazy to even bother with the pretense. Others either found a tent to camp in or bribed those superhumans in red uniforms, known as the Super Patrol, to help them out.

Since the leader is corrupt, this super disciplinary team is naturally not going to be honest and impartial either, and one of the squad leaders is a former member of the seven-person group.

In fact, given luxuries like cigarettes and alcohol, these superhumans are capable of anything. This includes dragging out a poor soul hiding in their room and then giving up their lodging to others—the black man just now traded a small pack of cigarettes for shelter and food.

New Hope City may outwardly appear to retain its pre-apocalyptic state, but Rune already knows from the black man's memories that the city is beyond saving and has long since become a tool for the pleasures of superhumans.

After resting for a while, Rune wandered around, reading minds to prevent the emergence of multiple enemies of Homelander's caliber. Although even if a superhuman capable of contending with Homelander appeared, he would likely be killed by Homelander, such a small probability had to be guarded against.

Rune didn't want Clark to get hurt.

Fortunately, after reading the minds of several people, Rune learned about the abilities of the Super Judgment Team members and confirmed that no superhuman capable of rivaling Homelander had appeared. The only problem was that the production location of Compound V was uncertain.

Perhaps Homelander feared that Compound V would create a superhuman with even greater powers than himself, which is why he never revealed the existence of Compound V.

But if that's the case, then why does New Hope City keep producing superpowered individuals? And why are there so many powerful superpowered individuals who can defeat the Terminator single-handedly, appearing every week?

Rune frowned and began wandering aimlessly through the streets, continuing his mind-reading. This naturally attracted the attention of others.

"Hey, you! Stop right there!" A man in a red uniform walked over. His beer belly caused the hem of the red uniform to roll up, revealing a small section of white belly. His thick arms were covered with thick hair, and his fingers were short and thick with obvious black and gray deposits on the edges of his nails.

Before Judgment Day, he would have been just a typical obese white male, but this was after Judgment Day, in an era when food could even be used as hard currency. People who could eat their way to this size were mostly rich and powerful, and the red uniform this guy was wearing also proved that.

This is a member of the super police squad.

Rune looked calmly at the man, but the white man clearly misinterpreted his gaze as contempt. So, he spoke loudly, breathing heavily, "What are you looking at? What kind of look is that?"

Then, without waiting for Rune's response, he started shouting and cursing.

He wasn't born this way; he suddenly awakened this talent one day in college—or perhaps it was a curse. He started eating large amounts of hamburgers, fries, and fried chicken—and eventually, he even shoved mayonnaise into his mouth. No matter how much he ate, he was never satisfied. In an instant, he went from a fairly handsome white young man to this obese man, and due to his extreme obesity, he also developed seborrheic alopecia.

However, his fat layer has extremely strong defensive properties, and even bullets cannot penetrate it. This not only allowed him to survive until the day before the trial, but also made him a member of the Super Patrol. However, people like him are easily bullied by other superpowered individuals in the team, and he dares not fight back, so he can only vent his anger on others.

For example, today, he saw a very handsome young man on the roadside—he hates good-looking guys the most!