The Child Finally Uses His Brain, But It's Against Me!

Among the superheroes present, there was actually only one person Ryan had yet to meet: Black Noir.

He first greeted Stormfront, whom he had met earliest, followed by Starlight and Maeve, whom he had met around the same time, with enthusiastic warmth.

Only then did he walk over with a serious expression, stopping right in front of Black Noir.

Black Noir felt incredibly uncomfortable under the boy's intense gaze. He gave the child a nod, signaling: we've met, you can go now.

But Ryan didn't budge.

Black Noir began to avoid eye contact, looking left and right, before finally casting his gaze toward Homelander as if seeking help.

"I know you. You're always in Dad's movies."

Black Noir withdrew his gaze, his attention drawn by the eyes beneath the pitch-black mask, and he looked back at Ryan.

Ryan tilted his little head up, smiling warmly.

Beneath that pitch-black helmet, which hid every inch of skin, lay a pitiful and tragic soul.

A flicker of pity crossed his mind once again.

In the movie version, Black Noir had an almond allergy, and he wasn't born unable to speak; he had become completely mute and suffered severe intellectual impairment after a brutal beating from his grandfather.

The only reason he was still sitting here today...

Perhaps it was those cartoon animals that only appeared to accompany and encourage him when he hid at home alone.

"You're Dad's best helper! Mr. Black Noir!"

I hope this sentence gives you a chance to escape death when the time comes.

Black Noir stood up somewhat nervously, then leaned over the table and extended his palm toward Ryan.

Ryan took it gently, shook it up and down a few times, and then said to Azu, "Dad, Mr. Black Noir likes me too."

"Of course, you're the best. You are... ahem, you deserve to be liked by everyone, son."

Azu almost slipped up, hurriedly adding another compliment.

Seeing that Ryan had greeted all the team members, he moved somewhat impatiently to the main topic.

"Son, the script yesterday was indeed a bit rushed, but I've had them rewrite it overnight. Why don't we listen to it again?"

It was a question, but also a statement.

He didn't give Ryan a chance to voice the strange ideas in his little head, directly signaling Ashley to bring the people in.

At the same time, Azu beckoned to Ryan, letting him sit in the seat specifically left empty beside him.

"Yes, sir."

Ashley tucked her tablet under her arm and clapped her hands toward the door that had remained open: "Come in..."

The director and screenwriter, who had been waiting outside for a long time, heard the cue and immediately carried in a covered display board.

Setting the board down, Director Adam beamed: "Sir, thank you for giving me this glorious task again. I am deeply honored. I stayed up all night..."

"Adam!"

Azu interrupted the flattery while glancing out of the corner of his eye at the... girl, whatever her name was, who was hiding in the corner still holding her phone.

He said, "My son and I can't wait to know what kind of hero story this is. Don't dawdle, start!"

"Yes, sir."

As Vought International's go-to director, Adam Burke had handled countless superhero films.

He had either participated in or personally helmed almost all of Homelander and The Seven's biographical films and theatrical blockbusters.

Over the years, he had become well-versed in the temper of the number one superstar before him, and not daring to delay for even a second, he immediately began his theatrical pitch.

"First, the title of this film..."

The go-to director gave a sudden jolt, let out a few sharp "clang, clang, clang" sounds, and shouted with a flushed face: "--Homelander Kid: Origins!"

What the hell!!

Ryan, whose mind wasn't on this, was almost startled into crying out by the director.

After the shock came an indescribable feeling of constipation.

What was the difference between this title and yesterday's unrevised I Am Homelander's Son or Homelander: Origin Story?

Everyone who felt the same way, except for Azu, was holding back their discomfort.

Homelander Kid?

They were so afraid the audience wouldn't know what kind of movie this was that they were just shamelessly riding his father's coattails, weren't they?

"Clap! Clap!"

Azu applauded lightly, looked around the room, and asked, "What do you all think of this movie title?"

Starlight didn't react in time, and just as she was about to say that the title sounded like a total disaster, Maeve chuckled and spoke first: "It fits Ryan's identity perfectly. I have no objections."

After she finished, she glanced at Starlight.

Starlight immediately realized the significance of Homelander's earlier words.

Before she could speak again, Stormfront cut in ahead of her: "A wonderful name. I can't wait to see it come to life."

"Adam, by all means! Finish it as soon as possible!"

"Of course, I have already completed the story outline and an opening."

The director looked toward Homelander with an inquiring gaze.

Receiving permission, he cleared his throat and began to speak with great emotion: "The prologue of the film begins on screen. Young Ryan is on the farm, asking himself in confusion: Who am I?..."

Ryan listened with a feigned expression, glancing from time to time at Homie, who seemed truly immersed in the story rather than distracted.

What a well-orchestrated trap today!

I have to applaud you in my heart, Dad.

Ryan's thoughts wandered.

He recalled what had happened yesterday.

After Homie's uncontrolled outburst of anger, Ashley had read out that cryptic order from Stan Edgar.

He had originally assumed that poor, unlucky Ashley was about to suffer for her joy.

Yet, unexpectedly, Homie had simply let her go with a light, "Tell Stan that I will discuss Ryan's superpowers with him later."

The matter should have ended there, and Ryan wouldn't have thought much of it, assuming it was just standard company procedure.

But the strange thing was that the order for superpower registration was followed by an instruction for him to film a movie.

This was undoubtedly a good thing!

Ryan had also been looking forward to the scene from the original plot where he filmed a movie, as he could then take the opportunity to suggest adaptations, gain acting experience points, and verify a way to obtain equipment.

However!

The timing was wrong, especially after Stan Edgar had just dealt him a blow from the shadows.

There was no reason for him to worry about this trivial matter that shouldn't have concerned him; it was purely a self-incriminating, superfluous act.

Or perhaps the old bastard simply didn't take him seriously at all.

At the time, Ryan's instinctive reaction was: there's a conspiracy!

But then he saw the joy overflowing from Homie's face, as if Homie had known about this before the order was even issued?

And had even been looking forward to this command.

But... why?

Ryan hadn't figured it out at the time; after all, it was normal for anyone's brain to be a bit chaotic after experiencing such a stimulating scene.

It wasn't until after the meeting dispersed that he slowly realized.

Homie undoubtedly wanted his son to be the same kind of person as he was; only if father and son were identical would they avoid repeating the same old mistakes.

It was precisely this insecurity of Homie's that drove him to actively ignore some of Stan Edgar's other intentions.

Once Ryan had figured it out, he went straight to find Mitchell, also known as Raven.

His goal was both the same as Homie's and different.

The similarity lay in the fact that, regardless of what Stan Edgar wanted to do, he had to finalize this film first and, while he was at it, put Homie's mind at ease.

The difference was that Ryan did not want to appear on the big screen of his second life in the image Homie expected.

So, Ryan shared his joy with netizens through Mitchell's livestream and even discussed the kind of character and story he wanted to film.

He also knew Homie would be eavesdropping, and he had done it on purpose.

And after Homie learned of his thoughts, he had actually been willing to use his brain, forcing himself to put together this grand spectacle today.

Ryan's distracted gaze swept over the people present one by one.

Judging by their reactions just now, they had almost all succumbed to Homie's tyranny and were beginning to persuade him with words that didn't match their true thoughts.

Hmm, don't be impatient, Homie; it will be my turn soon!