"Ryan? What the hell is he doing here?" Hughie tried to make himself invisible while debating whether to text Butcher about it.

After thinking it over, he decided against it. Too many people around. Even if the whole Boys crew showed up, there was no way they could snatch Ryan in front of this crowd.

"Is this some kind of supe tryout?" Hughie figured he might as well stick around and see if he could pick up any useful intel.

"Moore, right? What’s your power?"

To avoid another disaster like the last kid, Ivan had asked for the official contestant list.

This contestant was only eight but already stood one meter eighty. Ivan thought he was seeing things at first and had to double-check before accepting reality.

Despite his age, Moore dressed like a typical New York biker: rough as hell. He also had a full, thick beard and a deep, gravelly voice.

"Yeah, I’m Moore. And I’m a huge Homelander fan."

The kid gave off major American redneck vibes.

"What’s your power?" Ivan was starting to lose patience after so many letdowns.

"I can transform. I turn into a werewolf." Moore let out a loud roar. Black fur burst across his body as his frame bulked up. His spine curved, and four sharp bone claws slid out from between his knuckles.

His clothes ripped apart from the expanding muscle. He dropped into a crouch and stared at Ivan with glowing green eyes.

"I want to challenge the kid next to you, Ryan. Homelander is the strongest superhero. His son needs to be strong enough to deserve that title." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Moore’s voice sounded like a wild animal. He bared his sharp teeth, mouth open, blood-red tongue hanging out.

"No need for a challenge. You’re straight into the finals."

Moore’s power wasn’t anything special, but compared to the previous contestants, he looked like a goddamn professional.

"Ryan, don’t make me look down on you. Your dad is Homelander!" Moore wasn’t just a fan. He was a full-blown obsessed Homelander stan.

"Want to go up and try?" Ivan asked, turning to Ryan.

Ryan lowered his head and whispered, "No. I think he’ll kill me."

Ryan’s reaction clearly disappointed the crowd. Boos broke out immediately.

"Is he really Homelander’s son? Doesn’t look like it. Homelander would never be this much of a pussy!"

"Pussy! Boo!"

"Get off the stage, coward!"

"Get off the stage!" Homelander’s fans waved their arms angrily. The higher the expectations, the harder the fall.

The crowd below was exactly like that. Some even started doubting whether Ryan was actually a supe at all, or just another pretty face Vought was pushing.

"What a perfect shitshow and Butcher’s missing it," Hughie thought, loving every second of the drama from within the crowd.

The flood of accusations from all sides lit a fire in Ryan’s chest that burned hotter by the second.

Ivan noticed the change in the boy’s mood but didn’t stop it. Instead, an expectant smile spread across his face.

Finally, when the tension reached its peak,

Ryan couldn’t hold it in anymore. He shot up from his seat and roared at the crowd, "Shut the freak up!"

In an instant, his eyes blazed with intense red light. Veins bulged on his forehead as two thick beams of crimson laser shot out.

Right at that moment, Moore the werewolf’s body jerked as if yanked by an invisible force. His upper body twisted sharply to the right, barely dodging the laser aimed straight at his heart. Moore stared in shock at the scorched fur along his side, heart racing with raw fear.

He had been one second away from turning into a corpse.

"I quit!" Moore reverted to human form, dropped onto the ground, and started bawling like a baby.

The venue fell deathly silent for a beat, then exploded with thunderous cheers. Countless fans lost their minds, pumping their fists and chanting, "Ryan! Ryan! Ryan!!"

The entire street erupted in celebration, turning heads from passersby all around.

Hughie, who had been grinning earlier, couldn’t smile anymore. It was too fucking similar. In his eyes, Ryan looked like a carbon copy of Homelander.

Ryan, who had been terrified of hurting anyone moments ago, saw the wild cheers around him and his worried look melted away. In its place came a stunned, glowing smile.

They weren’t scared of him. They were worshipping him?

"How does it feel?" Ivan asked with a smile.

"I don’t know how to describe it, but... it feels really good."

Ryan clenched his fists, buzzing with excitement.

The selection event wrapped up as the sky grew dark. Even after Ivan brought him back to Vought Tower, Ryan kept replaying that incredible rush in his head.

"I’ve decided. I want to become a superhero. I want to fight criminals. I want to be a real superhero in everyone’s eyes."

Ryan told Ivan, voice full of fire.

"You will. I believe in you." Ivan looked up at the massive Homelander standee in the lobby and smiled.

...

Meanwhile,

In the underground hideout, Hughie was recounting the day’s events to the others.

"You guys have no idea how insane it was. Everyone thought Ryan was just for show, then he suddenly stood up and fired those red lasers. They looked exactly like Homelander’s. Holy shit. Looks like we might have more than just The Seven to worry about."

"If you’re just trying to kill our morale, congrats. You did it," Mother’s Milk said, head down as he fiddled weakly with the model house on the table.

It was supposed to be for his daughter, but who knew if he’d ever get the chance to give it to her.

Seeing the whole team’s mood sink even lower. Butcher faked a couple of coughs.

"Got some good news, everyone. Mallory reached out this afternoon. The CIA found files on Liberty in Susan’s private server. No idea why she was digging into a supe who was active back in the seventies.

But there has to be a reason. We’re teaming up with the CIA to look into Liberty. In return, she gave me a secret Vought address. There’s a good chance that’s where they’re keeping Becca."

"Let’s get to work, lads. Justice might be late, but it never misses. Don’t worry, one day Vought is going to come crashing down right in front of us." Butcher was already itching to check out the new lead.

Hardly anyone responded.

Mouse’s death had crushed the team, and they were sliding straight into rock bottom.

No choice. Hughie was too unreliable for something this big, so Butcher told Mother’s Milk to head to North Carolina and dig up everything he could on Liberty.

While they were mapping out their next moves...

...

In a small store dozens of kilometers from Ivan’s villa.

Ezekiel, the head of the charity "Samaria’s Embrace," stood nervously by the shelves clutching a black briefcase, waiting for someone.

Soon a man in a trench coat walked in.

"You’re late. I was about to leave." Ezekiel looked a lot more pathetic than before. Ever since the "supes are God’s children" lie got blown open, this so-called messenger of God had fallen hard from grace. People wanted his head on a spike now.

The more his followers once worshipped him, the more they hated him now.

"You already know my situation. Vought took back the hospital channels. This is my last batch, twenty vials. I want five hundred thousand dollars." Ezekiel said bitterly.

"Vought isn’t covering for you anymore?"

Ivan took the briefcase from him and asked.

Ezekiel let out a bitter laugh. "To Vought, I’m useless now. Getting tossed aside is normal. I just didn’t think it would happen this fast."

"But it’s not that bad. Compared to some others, my ending is still pretty decent."

"Hmm. Send me your account number." Ivan pulled out his phone and tapped a few times.

Moments later, Ezekiel’s phone buzzed with a bank notification.

"Haah, I said five hundred thousand, but I can work with one hundred thou.. wait.. another zero.. One million? Sir, did you send the wrong amount?" Ezekiel stared at his phone in disbelief. He counted it three times to make sure it wasn’t a hundred thousand but a full million.

Ivan put his phone away and patted Ezekiel on the right shoulder. "Hope this helps you start a new life. Our cooperation is officially over. Take care."

As Ivan walked away, a complicated look crossed Ezekiel’s face. Truth was, he had planned to finish this deal and then sell Ivan’s information to Vought.

It was risky and Vought might come after him, but he was broke with no savings. He had been ready to take the gamble.

Watching Ivan’s figure disappear from view, Ezekiel’s lips trembled slightly. He spoke softly, full of guilt. "Thank you, sir."

"May God bless you with a good life." Ezekiel traced a cross over his chest with his fingertip, then clasped his hands together, lowered his head, and closed his eyes.

Ivan returned to the villa.

He opened the briefcase and checked the contents. Once satisfied, he took out ten vials of Compound V and set them on the coffee table.

Then he pulled up the panel.

[Telekinetic Pull fusion in progress. Current progress: 31%]

"Show current fantasy points."

[Fantasy Points: 2920 (Sources include: Starlight... contributed 210 points, The Deep contributed 910 points, Translucent...）]

Fantasy points kept popping up for random little things, like Ryan giving him 120 points from today’s selection event.

So Ivan had filtered out all the small amounts and only kept the bigger ones visible.

___

[]~(￣▽￣)~*

Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69