Facing Off Against Homelander

The day after signing the contract.

Lu Heng moved into the Midtown Apartment in Manhattan that Vought had provided.

One hundred and sixty square meters, floor-to-ceiling windows, a full suite of smart appliances, and a view of Central Park.

The fridge was stocked with organic food and imported beer, and three tailored suits hung in the walk-in closet.

But Lu Heng lasted only ten minutes in a suit before taking it off.

He looked like an insurance salesman in a suit. His battle suit was much more pleasing to the eye.

At ten in the morning, his phone rang.

"Guardian, the Seven has a routine meeting at three this afternoon. You can sit in."

Madelyn had called to inform him personally. She paused for a moment.

"Homelander will be there, too."

"Okay."

Lu Heng hung up.

At 2:45 p.m.

Lu Heng arrived early.

When the elevator doors opened, the hallway was empty except for one person leaning against the wall.

Close-cropped blond hair, a tight dark-blue battle suit, a shield emblazoned with the American flag on his chest, and a red cape hanging to his ankles.

Homelander.

He folded his arms and tilted his head as he watched Lu Heng step out of the elevator, a warm smile on his face.

That smile could make American women scream for ten minutes if they saw it on TV.

But in an empty hallway, it felt downright threatening.

Lu Heng walked toward him and activated Bloodline Perception.

Homelander's bioelectric signal was tremendously powerful, far beyond A-Train's. He was like a blazing flare.

He was strong, all right.

But that was about it.

"So you're the... Guardian?" Homelander sized up Lu Heng's battle suit. "Interesting. It doesn't look like Vought designed it."

"It doesn't."

"Oh? Then who did?"

"Alien technology."

Homelander's smile disappeared.

That damn Asian guy. Did he think Homelander was an idiot?

Homelander stared at Lu Heng.

The pressure hit him head-on.

But Lu Heng acted as though he hadn't noticed.

He felt none of Homelander's imposing presence. Once he tuned out the attitude, Homelander was about as threatening as a dog at the dinner table.

"You're not in Vought's files, but you're obviously a Supe. Which underground lab spat out a defective product like you?"

Homelander spoke slowly, trying to provoke Lu Heng.

If he'd said that on Viltrum, Homelander would already have been reduced to a cloud of blood.

Viltrumites valued their honor above all. An insult like that would probably have been enough to make even Conqueror stand up and catch his breath.

"You could have two brains and still never guess where I came from. And as for defective products... who's the one who came out of a lab? You should know better than I do!"

Lu Heng wasn't afraid of Homelander in the slightest. Back when he was Lv. 1, he'd still held back a little.

When they were evenly matched, what was there to be afraid of?

If he had Homelander's power, he'd be even more arrogant than Homelander.

Homelander was just too young. He had all that power and was still afraid of getting dragged online?

"You're asking to die!"

Homelander's eyes began to glow. A blast of high-energy Heat Vision struck Lu Heng in the chest, giving him no time to react.

Heat Vision.

Homelander's most iconic power. Its temperature exceeded 1,500 degrees Celsius. It could cut steel, melt concrete, and burn an ordinary person to ash in 0.3 seconds.

But this devastating power had no effect on Lu Heng.

His biofield blocked it completely.

Homelander increased the output. The temperature in the hallway began to soar. The paint blistered and peeled off the walls, and the ceiling lights buzzed from the heat.

It was a little hot!

But to Lu Heng, this was about as hot as a sauna. Even with Homelander pouring on more Heat Vision, it was like adding a couple of ladles of water to the sauna's hot stones.

That was all there was to it.

Lu Heng raised his head and looked at Homelander without expression.

"Buddy, did you skip lunch? Put some more into it!"

Homelander's smile vanished completely.

His Heat Vision went from two beams to a thick, orange-white blast. He was nearing full power.

The biofield around Lu Heng's chest showed signs of breaking down. That meant Homelander could indeed reach his body if he attacked at full strength.

Viltrumites had stronger bodies, but Lu Heng's combat instincts told him that his body would still be vulnerable to those two beams.

He clenched his fist. The air was instantly sucked away, and the resulting pressure dragged Homelander toward him.

Lu Heng threw a punch!

With a single punch, he sent Homelander flying.

"Hiss!"

Lu Heng hadn't held back. Although his punch sent Homelander flying, his own fist felt as if it had struck some kind of reinforced alloy, leaving his knuckles numb.

"What the hell!" Homelander emerged from the wall. The chest of his battle suit had torn open, exposing the skin beneath.

His skin was as hard as alloy, yet faint traces of blood had seeped through.

Bruises had even begun to form.

That damn Guardian... had actually managed to hurt him?

Homelander looked down at the bruises on his chest, his expression darkening.

Since he could remember, no one had ever left a mark on him.

Even the most powerful weapons Vought Laboratory could test on him had only made him feel a little itchy.

And now, some Asian guy who'd appeared out of nowhere had made him bleed with one punch.

An eerie silence settled over the hallway.

Smoke still hissed from the melted streaks on the walls, and pieces of the ceiling kept falling.

The two men stared at each other from a dozen or so meters apart, neither making another move.

Lu Heng shook his numb fist, silently assessing the situation.

Homelander's defense was tougher than he'd expected. He'd put about seventy percent of his strength into that punch. A-Train would've been reduced to a cloud of blood, but Homelander had only been bruised and drawn a little blood.

On the other hand, Homelander's full-power Heat Vision had nearly torn through his biofield.

They really were evenly matched.

It was hard to say who'd win in a real fight, but it would definitely turn into a long, grueling war of attrition.

If they fought in downtown Manhattan, everything within several kilometers would be leveled.

Homelander became wary.

Before the meeting, Madelyn had told him everything, but he hadn't believed there could be a Supe stronger than him.

He'd taken Madelyn's talk of "testing" to mean they were going to eliminate Lu Heng.

Vought didn't need a second Homelander!

But he hadn't expected Lu Heng's powers to come so close to his own.

Lu Heng kept his eyes on Homelander. Then, the last thing he expected happened.

Homelander smiled.

"Not bad. You're strong enough to take on the job of policing Supes!"

"That was just a little test. You're not offended, are you?"

Homelander raised a finger and pointed at the ceiling, giving him a look that said, You know how it is.

"You know... the people upstairs still have their reservations about you, but I think you and I can work together, buddy!"

Homelander straightened his torn battle suit and used his cape to cover the injury on his chest.

His tone had returned to its easygoing lightness.

"It's been a long time since anyone made me break a sweat."

Break a sweat?

More like bleed.

But Lu Heng wasn't going to call Homelander out. He wasn't planning on getting into a full-on fight with him yet.

A fight that left them both badly hurt wasn't what he wanted.

"You're not bad yourself!" Lu Heng shrugged along with him. "Your Heat Vision is impressive. You almost roasted my skin!"

The two of them tacitly brought their little test to an end.

The panel quietly displayed the data.

[Key Character · Homelander]

[Emotional Shift: Anger → Shock → Fear → Forced Suppression]

[Ability Points Gained: +4,217]

Four thousand two hundred.

No wonder he was the most central character in the whole series. One emotional roller coaster from him was worth hundreds of ordinary people.