Dad Pager

Ryan rested his chin in his hands, staring blankly in boredom.

Four hours and twenty-eight minutes had passed since he tested his Berserk state, yet none of his -1 superpowers had recovered.

In the Seven's conference room, besides him, there was only Ashley, who had rushed back the moment she finished her tasks.

Although she hadn't been officially reinstated—or rather, the final result of Homelander's negotiations with Edgar remained uncertain—the notice of her dismissal had not yet been issued or circulated, so she could still utilize company resources.

At this moment, Ashley, having survived the ordeal, looked radiant and sharp as she reported, "Raven, that is, Natalie Mitchell, I have settled her on the 66th floor."

"This floor is part of the Superhuman Laboratory on the 67th floor, and it is a place specifically for superhumans who volunteer for experiments to rest, recreate, and move about. I think she will adapt well to living there."

"I also gave her a high-level employee access card that goes straight to the 99th floor. Whenever you need her, Ryan, she can come up at any time."

Did you misunderstand something?

Ryan finally shifted his attention to Ashley, feeling that her last sentence was somewhat ambiguous.

What do you mean I need her? I'm only eight years old!

"Ms. Ashley!"

"I'm here, I'm listening, Ryan."

Ashley instantly switched her tone; her voice was sickeningly sweet, like a big bad wolf.

Ryan couldn't help but shiver inwardly, but he still asked in a normal voice, "I just want to do something for Father. If Mitchell doesn't livestream by Dad's side often, how will Dad let people understand him better?"

"Could it be that my idea is wrong, and people shouldn't understand Dad?"

Of course they shouldn't!

Ashley almost blurted it out.

Ryan, you little ancestor, you might truly have a slight misunderstanding about what kind of creature Homelander is.

Although he is genuinely good to you—the fact that I am still standing here reporting things is the most obvious proof—but... that monster really cannot be fully understood by the public.

Ashley highly doubted that if Homelander actually started livestreaming, his public approval rating would last more than a few days.

Or rather, how many days could Homelander's patience allow him to maintain his perfect persona?

Furthermore, this kind of boundary-less, close-up exposure completely contradicted the company's star-packaging guidelines for Homelander, and indeed, the entire Seven.

"Superheroes don't need to be real; they only need to be perfect."

"Distance creates divinity; once seen through, all are merely mortals."

"What?"

"No, nothing. I mean..."

A series of thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant. Inappropriate or not, Ashley didn't want to disappoint Ryan.

She said, "Ryan, can we do it this way?"

Ryan assumed a listening posture.

He certainly understood the meaning behind those two sentences, and wasn't his goal to turn Azu from a god into a mortal?

"We will only livestream the moments when you and Homelander are together as father and son. The audience will love watching it; they like you very, very much."

Ashley added to herself: With you there, Homelander might actually restrain himself; otherwise, the consequences would definitely be catastrophic.

"I like being with Dad."

Ryan's answer was off-topic, but in reality, he had already agreed.

This was the inconvenience of being a child.

Even Ashley, who now viewed him as her backer, couldn't help but hold a certain degree of contempt for his suggestions.

But that was fine; he would take it one step at a time. He wasn't in a rush.

After finishing this topic, Ryan seemed to suddenly remember something, turned his head, and asked, "Ms. Ashley..."

"Just call me by my name."

"Alright, then can you do me another favor, Ashley?"

Without waiting for her response, he stated his request directly: "Can you help me make... um, something that works no matter where I am? Whenever I miss Dad, I can press a button and he will know where I am?"

"I snuck out to play after I woke up this morning, but I didn't have the strength to fly back, and he was very worried about me."

"But there was no signal for my phone there, and I was very scared. Luckily, I ran into Mitchell."

Even if he hadn't bumped into Raven, he would have made this request after returning.

It appeared to be nothing more than a request from a child who had snuck out and gotten scared, but in reality, it was a carefully calculated move.

You think I snuck out early in the morning just to test my Berserk state because I was impatient to verify my powers?

Heh, naive.

Ryan's little abacus was clicking away.

His fundamental goal was to obtain this "Dad Pager" that came with certain limitations!

The limitation was that the button could only be pressed when "I miss Dad," which would then allow Azu to know Ryan's real-time location.

It was not about getting himself a tracker that monitored him 24 hours a day.

Running into Ashley being fired and his chance encounter with Raven in the jungle were both cases of guiding the situation to his advantage, taking his original plan a step further.

Therefore, after Ryan finished stating his request, he quietly added, "Don't tell Dad, okay? I want to give him a surprise once it's finished."

This was a case of acting first and reporting later; once the device was made, it would be too late for Azu to change it to full-day tracking.

Good!

Of course, it was good!

Even with his super-hearing, Homelander couldn't use his superpowers to discern the underlying meaning; he lacked Ashley's ability to read between the lines.

He only knew that his son, in order not to make him worry, had actually taken the initiative to ask Ashley for a tracking device.

And, the main point:

Ryan wanted to give him a surprise.

Oh, I am so touched; no one has ever given me a surprise before.

"John!"

Edgar frowned, his tone deepening as he asked again, "What is your decision regarding my proposal?"

"Huh?"

Homelander snapped back to reality, immediately wiping the happy expression from his face.

Whenever he saw Edgar's old face now, he couldn't help but compare him to Ryan.

It was this old guy who had never given him a surprise.

The root of Homelander's power struggle wasn't that he wanted power; it was merely a giant baby starved for love, challenging his only remaining spiritual father after personally killing his spiritual mother, Madelyn!

From childhood to adulthood, Homelander had lived under the lights of Walter's laboratory, without family or sincere friends.

Madelyn had once been his emotional solace, but in the end, it was nothing more than... a deception.

Only Stan Edgar had stood by his side since he was ignorant and naive, accompanying him year after year in the role of a controller.

He had once worshipped the man's power and craved his favor, doing his absolute best to become the perfect superhero just to earn a single word of genuine praise.

Yet in Edgar's eyes, there was only the company's profit and the value of Compound V.

In the man's eyes, he was never Homelander; he was just John, just the perfect weapon he had meticulously crafted.

His desire to seize power and overthrow Edgar's rule was, in essence, nothing more than a desire to prove himself, to force this "father" to look at him squarely and acknowledge him.

And perhaps, even to love him.