I Happened to Run into Your Old Teammates, So...

Homelander hesitated for an instant, a dangerous red light flaring in his eyes as he prepared to slice through the plane with his heat vision.

But just then, the scene of Soldier Boy letting the innocent people leave the Superhero Breeding Room suddenly flashed through his mind.

Inside the passenger plane, the little boy excitedly waved the Homelander figure in his hand.

In those few seconds, the plane flew past him.

For the first time, he wondered: did people who threatened Vought and Madelyn necessarily have to die?

He looked back at the receding private plane. If he wanted to, he could catch it in less than a second.

Forget it.

Edgar runs Vought now anyway. Any losses are their problem. What does that have to do with me?

Homelander shook his head slightly and spared the mayor and his son after all.

He himself hadn't even realized that his almost pathological dependence on Vought and Madelyn had ceased to exist.

Five minutes later.

Homelander stood outside Soldier Boy's door, hesitated for a long time, then knocked softly.

The door wasn't locked and swung open on its own.

"Are you there?" Homelander asked.

The room was brightly lit, and he could faintly hear a woman laughing.

Soldier Boy's voice came from inside. "Come in. What brings you here this late?"

Homelander pushed the door open and walked in, immediately smelling an overwhelming reek of alcohol.

He saw a beautiful blonde drinking and chatting merrily with Soldier Boy.

Empty bottles littered the floor.

"Wow, Ben, your son doesn't look too bright." Private Angel pursed her lips.

She had originally meant to get Soldier Boy drunk, then...

Homelander frowned, studied her for a while, then asked uncertainly, "Are you Private Angel?"

"Mm-hmm." Private Angel nodded listlessly and had the sense to stand.

"I won't interrupt you two, father and son."

She cupped Soldier Boy's face and planted a hard kiss on him. "See you tomorrow, Ben."

As she passed Homelander, she even gave his ass a flippant pat.

"No wonder you're the strongest supe. Even your ass has more bounce than most people's."

Homelander frowned and quietly backed away a few steps, like a little boy being harassed by a perverted older woman.

Only after Private Angel had sashayed away did he approach Soldier Boy with the recorder.

Soldier Boy showed no trace of drunkenness. His enhanced body had an extremely high metabolism and tolerance.

He sat on the balcony, gulping down his drink, and asked indistinctly, "What's up, kid?"

Homelander pulled over a chair and gently lifted his cape, only sitting down after making sure he wouldn't sit on it.

"Why did you go to the Super Infant Laboratory?"

Soldier Boy paused. He had thought Homelander would ask about Private Angel. "Because seeing you like that pisses me off."

Homelander didn't understand.

"They put a kid through all that, and he still grows up to do their dirty work. Fucking stupid as a dog," Soldier Boy said coldly.

Homelander's expression froze.

Soldier Boy continued, "I just couldn't stand it."

He handed Homelander a bottle, and Homelander accepted it in a daze.

Homelander looked down at the bottle without speaking.

After eavesdropping on Soldier Boy's conversation with Stormfront that day, he knew Soldier Boy was proud of him.

Later, Homelander realized that Soldier Boy had never said those things to his face.

Not until today had Homelander felt that strange connection between father and son for the first time.

Always tough, never speaking of love, of father and son, or of concern, yet what lay within was as potent as a bowl of high-proof liquor.

Homelander remembered that emotional bond for the rest of his life.

"All right, I just had nowhere else to go before," Homelander still argued in his own defense.

Imitating Soldier Boy, he bit the cap off his beer and took a sip.

It tasted slightly bitter. He wasn't used to it, but compared with the breast milk Madelyn gave him, it somehow seemed sweeter.

"This is for you." Homelander took out the recorder.

Under Soldier Boy's puzzled gaze, he explained, "I happened to run into your old teammates, so..."

Despite his words, a faint anticipation flickered in Homelander's eyes, an anticipation of receiving a word of praise.

Soldier Boy pressed a few buttons and silently watched the recorder's screen. Those teammates who had once betrayed him were as fragile as paper before Homelander.

Happened to run into them?! He went right into their homes to kill them.

In the end, Soldier Boy said nothing. He patted Homelander on the shoulder and gave him a grateful look.

That was enough.

As though he had received tremendous praise, Homelander even began drinking a little faster.

[Ding]

[Detected: Homelander has received his father's approval for the first time.

Under the corrective influence of paternal love, his psychological deficiencies are gradually being remedied, taking him another step away from being an overgrown baby dependent on breast milk.

Reward: Exchange Points ×100.]

As Soldier Boy listened to the system announcement in his head, his pupils contracted. This earns Exchange Points too?

Homelander finished a bottle of beer in one go and wiped his mouth in satisfaction.

"If there's nothing else, I'll leave. You can call your lady friend back." He reluctantly stood, speaking as though nothing were amiss.

Soldier Boy was amused. The kid was clearly waiting for him to ask him to stay.

"Stay. Have someone bring us some food. I'll tell you how glorious I was on the battlefield back in the day." Soldier Boy raised his glass.

Homelander smiled and sat back down.

It wasn't until dawn began to break that Homelander left, thoroughly satisfied. Though he had listened to Soldier Boy boast all night, he was happy, and even hoped every day could be like this from now on.

Three days later.

The ninety-ninth floor of Vought Tower.

In the Seven's Meeting Room, the meeting had yet to begin.

A-Train sat scrolling through his phone, the cast on his leg already removed. Translucent sat in his chair, but his mind had wandered to the restroom.

The Deep huddled in a corner, his face bruised and swollen. No one felt sorry for him. Maeve and Starlight were discussing something, occasionally shooting contemptuous looks at The Deep and Translucent.

Just then.

The meeting room doors opened, and Homelander strode in. He seemed to be in a good mood, his face beaming with a smile.

Maeve looked up, somewhat surprised. Homelander seemed to have been like this for the past few days.

No temper, no fits of madness, and even his smile was much more genuine than before.

Maeve's eye twitched. Fuck, he really does see Soldier Boy as his dad.

The Deep shuddered and instinctively shrank back.

Homelander glanced at him and actually ignored him. The Deep froze. In the past, Homelander would at least have humiliated him a little more.

"Is everyone here?" Homelander asked casually.

Ashley Barrett quickly nodded. "Everyone except Mr. Soldier Boy."

Homelander frowned. "He's not here yet?"

"Not yet." The moment Ashley Barrett finished speaking, Homelander took out his phone and called him directly.

The meeting room instantly fell silent. Everyone looked over, and the call soon connected.

"Spit it out." Soldier Boy's impatient voice came through.

Homelander coughed. "The meeting's about to start. Aren't you coming?"

"I've got something to do." Soldier Boy was silent for a few seconds, then hung up with a click.

The entire meeting room was utterly silent.

A-Train's mouth fell slightly open. From what he knew of Homelander, everyone present would be on the receiving end of his displaced anger next.

Homelander shrugged helplessly. "Since he's not coming, let's start the meeting."

He took the seat at the head of the table as he spoke. Just as he sat down, he frowned again and instinctively looked at the empty seat beside him.

That was Soldier Boy's seat.

Stormfront, seated nearby, kept frowning as she watched.

She suddenly noticed a problem. All the effort she put into flattering Homelander seemed less effective than a few words from Soldier Boy.

"Ben, we'll see about that." Stormfront smiled faintly, looking at Homelander as though he were a work of art waiting to be sculpted.

The meeting began as usual, with a discussion of serious incidents caused by supervillains appearing in various places.

A-Train spent a long time mentally bracing himself, only to discover that Homelander wasn't as irritable as he had imagined.

He watched Homelander in bewildered uncertainty, his mind practically overflowing with questions.

Then Ashley Barrett received a breaking update. "Fuck, what is that thing?"

She cast her tablet's display onto the big screen.

The footage was very clear. A citizen had filmed the sky, where something seemed to be churning within the thick clouds.

Everyone stared intently at that thing.

It was enormous, taking up almost the entire cloud bank.

"Is that a snake?" A-Train asked in shock.

Ashley Barrett said anxiously, "This is bad, Homelander. Our satellites show that thing heading toward a civilian airliner."

"They're projected to collide in ten minutes."