Skill Lock! Gōduō... What?

"No, I'm overthinking this again!"

"Skill upgrades might need to wait, after all..."

Ryan's gaze fell upon the messy pile of scripts spread across the coffee table.

A design blueprint for a hero's combat suit, half-hidden beneath a stack of papers, caught his eye.

"The Best Actor System clearly has an equipment slot, yet after all these years, I've never managed to find a single item that the system classifies as official equipment."

He muttered to himself, his brows furrowed.

"Filming movies isn't just about gaining acting experience points; it's also a way to explore how to acquire equipment."

Ryan's expression turned solemn as he stared at the blueprint. "I specifically designed a combat suit with effects similar to the Iron Spider Suit, intentionally avoiding 'absolute defense' settings just to play it safe."

"This lousy system better not require experience points to redeem it, right?"

"If it really does, then the settings shouldn't be 'the higher the better,' but rather 'the lower the better.'"

Beyond that, he had designed several other pieces of equipment based on the plot; some had their settings pushed to the breaking point, while others had only trivial adjustments added.

It was a case of casting a wide net to verify various possibilities.

This led Ryan to think that if this suit could truly be integrated into the system's equipment slot, then there would be no need to max out his Steel Body.

The four levels of defense had already proven something during his brief 30-second skirmish with Stormfront: given his current physical strength, he was capable of surviving most battles in The Boys and living quite comfortably.

Although he had disrupted Stormfront's mental state multiple times before and during the fight, effectively lowering her combat prowess to a very low level.

But he still had the Dad Pager.

And Azu had been acted upon by him... er, moved by his love, creating a deep father-son bond.

So, even if he were to upgrade his skills, shouldn't he focus his attention on other abilities first?

Ryan looked over all his Level 1 skills again.

Heat Vision, Super Strength, Super Stamina, Super Vision, Super Hearing, Super Smell, Flight, Self-Healing, and Minor Bio-electric Field.

"Heat Vision has the Berserk boost to increase its power, so that can wait too."

[Minor Bio-electric Field • Level 1](Locked)

Experience Points: 1/50,000

Skill Effect: Preliminarily integrates all superpowers to ensure coordination, preventing conflicts between abilities of different levels; the field extends to the skin's surface, allowing clothing worn on the body to be included in the Steel Body's defense.

Locked: Cannot break through to the next level, requires ** intervention.

Among all of Ryan's current skills, this was the only one that could not be unlocked or upgraded further.

"Superman's abilities all rely on a bio-electric field as their foundation, but my inheritance of Azu's superpowers... sigh, it's complicated."

Ryan sighed; the two were fundamentally incomparable, and there was no basis for comparison.

After all, the Superman next door could bask in the sun to become infinitely stronger, while his and Azu's upper limits were locked by their genes.

Fortunately, he could still break through this limit, but what were these two "**" supposed to mean?

"So, it's still related to equipment?"

He made a quick guess, then shifted his focus away from the Minor Bio-electric Field.

Ryan mentally adjusted the priority order for his skill upgrades.

"Super Stamina" could extend his physical endurance during peak Steel Body defense and provide sustained energy for high-speed flight and self-healing, so its priority was raised by two levels.

"Upgrading it to Level 3 should be enough for now."

"Next is flight, which relates to the fact that if I can't win, I can at least..."

Knock, knock.

A sudden rap at the door interrupted his train of thought.

A flicker of annoyance crossed Ryan's face, but he immediately realized it must be Ashley.

And if Ashley was setting aside the chaotic aftermath of Stormfront's sudden death to find him, it was most likely because of the request he had made upon his return.

"Come in."

"Ryan, I don't know what happened."

Once granted permission, Ashley entered with a grave expression. She spoke hurriedly, "But I've searched the entire company, and no one knows where Mitchell has gone."

"Even that guy called Gecko who lives next door to her and usually gets along well with her said he doesn't know."

Yes, the task he had entrusted to Ashley was to find Raven.

Since she had accomplished such an important task for him, he certainly had to show some appreciation to Mitchell.

But given his age, he couldn't exactly repay her with his body (mostly because the aesthetics didn't match).

So, Ryan had already planned it out: he intended to give Mitchell an important supporting role in his movie. Didn't people here love becoming stars?

"She's gone?"

A look of brief astonishment appeared on Ryan's face.

Ashley nodded solemnly. "Surveillance shows Mitchell walked out of the company on her own. I've authorized a city-wide search, but... I can't find her."

"Is that so? Then I'll give her a call and see."

Ryan took out his phone.

He could have called her directly instead of bothering Ashley, but casting an important supporting role in a film wasn't something he could decide with just a single word.

At Vought International—or at least at this current stage—even his old man, Azu, couldn't make all the decisions alone.

That was even more true for this highly anticipated project, a massive cake that had already caught the eyes of various high-level executives and factions. Therefore, he had to go through Ashley, who was in charge of the matter, to maneuver and lobby for it.

The call was answered by Raven almost immediately.

The tension on Ryan's face instantly vanished.

If she could answer the phone, it meant nothing outside of his expectations had happened.

"Ryan, I'm so scared."

Raven's voice trembled through the receiver; it seemed she was truly so shaken that she couldn't control her tone.

Ryan offered a word of comfort: "I'm sorry, Mitchell, I..."

"Listen to me, Ryan!"

Ryan was interrupted before he could finish.

"I really want to help you, we're friends!"

Raven spoke rapidly, her voice laced with tears. "But you know my ability; I simply can't control it."

"Every night, the moment I close my eyes, the psychic link keeps transmitting Cameron and Russell's spiritual perceptions. They're telling me to run, to run as far away as I can."

"I can't stay here anymore, Ryan!"

Ryan's brows furrowed tightly, yet his voice remained gentle. "Alright, I understand what you mean. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you one thing."

"What?"

"I found you a new job, an important supporting role in my movie, you..."

"Wow! Is it true... um, I mean, I'm sorry Ryan, even though I really want this role, I've already made up my mind. I can't face those terrifying things anymore."

"I'm sorry, Ryan, that's all..."

"Wait!"

Ryan suddenly raised his voice, his speech quickening, his tone carrying an intense sense of command. "Mitchell, tell me where you are."

"I'm at Godot... I, I'm near Godot Heights, I'm looking for new ravens."

After that final sentence, the call was abruptly disconnected.

The room fell silent, so quiet that Ashley had the illusion of standing before Homelander.