When It Comes to Schemes and Cunning, Who Else But Me?

What happened?

Ryan keenly sensed that Azu was acting strange.

As an excellent master of performance, paying close attention to a scene partner's emotional fluctuations, dialogue rhythm, and body language was the absolute basic foundation.

Not to mention that Azu was, by nature, someone with poor control over his own emotions.

The moment his abnormality surfaced, Ryan spotted it immediately.

Ryan swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.

Building a relationship or learning to fight could happen at any time; if Homie had emotional issues, those things were insignificant.

The top priority was to figure out what was going on.

Ryan stood honestly by Azu's side, waiting quietly for things to unfold.

Yet, just after Azu finished speaking, Maeve blurted out, "Just like you? Ha, I am just..."

Halfway through her sentence, her overheated brain suddenly snapped to attention.

But it was too late.

Azu's eyes were already glowing crimson, the killing intent that hadn't yet dissipated instantly flaring up again, his full reservoir of resentment and intense ferocity pouring out without reservation.

The air congealed, as if a sudden, ruthless slaughter were about to unfold in the next instant.

Wait, what's going on???

Ryan truly hadn't expected things to escalate so rapidly.

What did Maeve say?

Why did her unfinished sentence act like a lit firecracker, causing Homie to explode instantly?

This wasn't right, it shouldn't be like this; it didn't align with the plot as he knew it.

Ryan still remembered the battle where his father fought his grandfather.

Even though Maeve had stood directly on the opposite side of Azu and even attacked him, in the end, she had only lost one eye to him. Didn't that prove that Azu held some feelings for Maeve?

One had to remember that everyone else who had betrayed Azu had been killed by him outright.

So, what on earth was going on here?

"What... is it? Maeve!"

Azu leaned his body slightly forward, his habitual stance before firing his Heat Vision.

His further interrogation, combined with his current state of wanting to devour someone, drew out the deep-seated, ingrained fear of Homelander from the bottom of Maeve's heart.

"Just like me?"

Azu repeated these words, the killing intent in his Heat Vision almost solidifying: "Do all of you think that?"

Just like me?

Referring to whom?

Me!

What is Azu like? Lacking love?

No, that certainly wasn't the only reason.

I am different from him; I have never lacked... different?

Ryan caught a loose thread in an instant.

Think, you blockhead, think!

Where did Azu go before this?

He went to find Stan Edgar because I pleaded for Ashley!

And what kind of person was Stan Edgar? He was a cold, rational, calculating capitalist who was extremely skilled at psychological manipulation.

Furthermore, Azu was his most important asset.

And my arrival would inevitably have an impact on Azu.

No, no, I have already had an impact on him.

That interview wasn't just seen by Starlight, Maeve, and the others; he must have watched it too.

So he must have said something to Azu that led to...

"Dad."

In a flash of inspiration, Ryan sorted out all the causes and consequences, and even further analyzed Azu's psychological state.

He was afraid!

Yes, you heard that right—it was fear.

Azu was afraid of the differences between me and him.

This difference was ultimately what led to the conflict between father and son in the original show.

The core of the problem, however, remained a lack of love.

The insecurity born from a long-term lack of love and a desperate craving for it had long since taken root deep within his soul, and Stan Edgar had inevitably used his rhetoric to precisely strike at this soft underbelly.

He wanted to drive a wedge between me and Azu, and he had almost succeeded.

Ryan's thoughts raced; he suspected he was about to grow a Super Brain.

While thinking, he mobilized his emotions, unleashing all the acting experience from his past life and the eight years he had accumulated in this one.

"Dad, you... you don't want me to be like you?"

Ryan looked bewildered and aggrieved, his tone soft and gentle, carrying a hint of cautious trepidation.

Yet, his stumbling steps backward were heavy, as if he were terrified of failing to catch Azu's attention.

And Azu would inevitably notice him.

A distinct gap appeared in the invisible killing intent hanging in the air.

"I worshipped you so much!"

Ryan continued to retreat, and Azu turned his head.

Then, the very moment Azu looked back, Ryan let his tears fall.

He immediately wiped his face with a stubborn gesture and shouted angrily at Azu, "So that's what you think! You never loved me, you even... because you don't want me to be like you..."

"Fighting with your girlfriend—I, I don't want to be friends with you anymore!"

After roaring this line—so cringeworthy it made his toes curl, the kind of dialogue he wouldn't even dare put in a short skit—Ryan turned and ran without another word.

The scene had reached this point; he couldn't keep acting if he didn't run.

This kind of archaic, melodramatic performance was truly a last resort born of desperation.

But believe it or not, Azu, who had never been baptized by lines like "You are heartless, you are cruel, you are unreasonable!" or "I don't care! I won't listen! I don't want to hear it!", actually fell for this little combo.

Azu flew over without a second thought, intercepting Ryan at the door.

It was just that the embers of rage still smoldered in his mind, and combined with Ryan's attempt to run away, he couldn't figure out what on earth was happening.

He only knew subconsciously that he didn't want Ryan to leave, but he couldn't get past his own stubbornness.

Therefore, his tone remained stiff: "Ryan, you... where are you going!"

So, someone, please tell Azu what is actually going on.

Deep down, he was clearly worried that Ryan was different from him and would choose to leave him in the future, which was why he had been so angry he lost control.

But why, in the end, did Ryan only conclude that he didn't want him to be like him?

It's a bit convoluted.

Let's straighten it out from the beginning.

Stan Edgar: Ryan is different from you; he will leave you and break your heart.

Azu: Fear breeds, venting through anger!

Maeve: It is precisely because Ryan is different from you that I want him to become strong.

Azu: Hidden worries become reality, losing control through anger!

Ryan: I know you want me to be as bad as you so I won't leave you.

I also know you're angry because someone told you I'm different from you.

But I can only understand the surface meaning you're expressing, which is... I will be like you, so you're angry.

If you're angry, then I have to be even angrier.

I have to fight magic with magic.

Otherwise, what else could I do?

Stan Edgar had already made his move and seized the initiative; it would be a miracle if an Azu on the verge of losing control could listen to any empty, high-minded principles or unprovable guarantees.

So, he could only use the methods of a child—throwing a tantrum—to interrupt Azu's extremism and pull him out of Stan Edgar's mental trap.

The next step was to carry this strategy through to the end.

With red eyes, Ryan glared at the Azu blocking his path, looking both heartbroken and furious: "Move, where I go has nothing to do with you, you don't love me at all..."

BOOM—

A sudden, deafening roar cut Ryan off, forcing the rest of his sentence back into his throat.