New Ability, The Time Has Come!

After a dinner filled with awkward tension and hidden agendas, the sky had turned dark.

Homelander lingered for a moment longer before reluctantly bidding his son a warm farewell.

The moment he stepped out of the house, he saw Becca waiting outside.

"Mother-son time..."

Homelander gestured for her to proceed.

Becca remained unmoved, staring at him like a mother wolf: "Don't come back!"

Homelander froze for a second: "You, what did you say?"

"I said, never come here again. Ryan is my son, and he will live the life of an ordinary person."

"Please, stop bothering us!"

Becca was truly out of options.

She had gone to see Dr. Baum earlier that day, but the only answer she received was a cold, blunt statement: once Homelander grew bored, he would let them go.

Yes, when faced with Homelander, Vought International would never choose to play hardball.

Because they knew Homelander was beyond control, especially after he had personally killed Madelyn, snuffing out the weakness of maternal love within his humanity.

To hell with Vought International; Becca only wanted her Ryan to grow up happy and healthy.

Homelander's facial muscles twitched, his temper flaring, only for him to abruptly cut it off.

The secret he had shared with Ryan earlier that day revealed that his son had already awakened super hearing; for all he knew, the boy might be listening from his bedroom right now.

Who said Homelander lacked cunning?

Thinking of this, he immediately adjusted his tone and expression, acting weak and vulnerable: "Don't be like this, Becca. Ryan is my son too, and I love him."

"If you had told me about his existence back then, I never would have let Ryan grow up without his biological father."

"Why would I tell you, you..."

Before Becca could finish her insult, Homelander cut her off: "You enjoyed it back then too, didn't you? I remember you came three times. Oh, and by the way, Billy already knows about this. I told him."

Becca stumbled, leaning against the wall.

Homelander spread his hands: "Besides, Becca, does maintaining this beautiful castle in the air really give you peace of mind? But what about Ryan? Have you considered his feelings?"

"When he finds out he's been living in a fake world, what will he think?"

"You are deceiving him!"

Becca was left speechless.

Looking back, it all started the moment she stepped into Homelander's office.

As the person in charge of managing superheroes for Vought International—no, specifically the person in charge of managing Homelander's image—she had indeed been full of admiration for him at the start.

How much of that incident was forced and how much was voluntary was hard to say.

This was one of the reasons why, for eight years, she had allowed Vought International to hide her away without trying to contact her husband, Billy.

Becca crouched on the ground, weeping silently.

Homelander's super vision pierced through the walls, catching the look of surprise on Ryan's face.

A silent smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned and walked away.

Inside the room, Ryan's lips also curled slightly.

He hadn't expected Homelander to be so adept at seizing an opening, taking the opportunity to sow discord between him and Becca.

If he were the original Ryan, he might have felt genuinely angry at Becca and even rushed out to confront his mother.

But as things stood now.

It wasn't time for a showdown yet; he hadn't made sufficient preparations.

For one, his survival skill, Steel Body, had only upgraded to level three, and the experience points required to advance to level four had suddenly spiked to fifty thousand.

After upgrading Steel Body, he had also spent three thousand points to unlock Self-Healing and two thousand to unlock Super Stamina.

Therefore, having only 4,385 experience points left made him feel very insecure.

He needed to take advantage of this tug-of-war to fleece more wool from Homelander, ideally enough to reach level four.

[Steel Body · Level 3]

Upgrade Experience: 1/50,000

Level 1 Effect: Skin and muscles undergo steel mimicry, capable of resisting armor-piercing rounds, though internal impact and concussive damage still occur.

Level 2 Effect: Skin, muscles, and bones advance to high-strength alloy mimicry, fearless against conventional thermal weapon damage, effectively resisting impact and concussive damage.

Level 3 Effect: Internal organs, flesh, and bones synchronize in mimicry. Defense exceeds the hardest known human super-alloy. Completely immune to physical impact, explosions, concussions, and piercing, with no risk of internal injury. However, performance against energy attacks and radiation erosion remains relatively weak.

The body can be freely condensed or relaxed, but it consumes a large amount of stamina—Super Stamina replenishes stamina loss.

[Self-Healing: Level 1]

Upgrade EXP: 1/10,000

Level 1 Effect: Rapid healing of epidermal and muscular wounds; bone fractures and severe internal organ injuries heal slowly. Healing is accompanied by intense pain and consumes a large amount of stamina.

[Super Stamina: Level 1]

Upgrade EXP: 1/5,000

Level 1 Effect: Significantly reduces stamina depletion. Extends the duration of abilities such as high-speed flight, extreme defense, and self-healing. The onset of fatigue is significantly delayed.

Ryan glanced at the newly unlocked Self-Healing and Super Stamina in his skill list once more, silently raising the priority of Super Stamina.

Steel Body, Self-Healing, and Super Stamina had produced a synergistic effect.

This was a change Ryan had not anticipated.

As a result, his plan to upgrade Steel Body to the maximum level might need to be adjusted.

He still needed to think through exactly how to proceed.

Beyond his superpowers, there was another crucial reason why he could not leave Becca right now.

My mental outlook, perspective, and life experience need a gradual growth process!

Never underestimate Homelander.

Yes, Homelander did not possess the superpower of super-intelligence, but he was sensitive and suspicious, especially after experiencing so much deception and betrayal.

If Ryan were to suddenly transform from an ignorant child deceived by a fake world into a genius capable of distinguishing good from evil and orchestrating the superhero narrative?

?

That would be illogical, and Homelander would grow suspicious.

Therefore, in the days that followed, Ryan quietly adjusted how he interacted with Homelander.

Whenever they met, he continued to provide Homelander with the usual emotional warmth and closeness, never slacking on positive emotional feedback and carefully nurturing their bond.

Beyond that, he took advantage of his supposed ignorance and curiosity to ask Homelander for various related materials.

This included the films and television shows Homelander had starred in, his various public interviews, and the public opinion, reputation, and genuine feedback regarding him.

The reason was simple: he wanted to understand what kind of person his father was.

This deeply gratified Homelander, who gathered everything without a second thought.

Most importantly, Ryan also requested a computer (Homelander threw in a smartphone as a bonus).

After Homelander's conversation with Vought International, the surveillance on him had been lifted, and his internet connection had been restored.

Although his mother, Becca, limited his daily screen time, it was enough for him to establish a reasonable pretext for his growth.

Next, he needed an opportunity to leave his mother, Becca, and head to Vought International.

Soon, the moment Ryan had been waiting for arrived quietly.