On another floor of Vought Tower.
A temporary spare office, just as luxurious but cold and impersonal.
The atmosphere inside was so thick it felt like it had turned solid.
Homelander had just finished handling the mess on site. Using his absolute authority, he had dismissed all the nosy company executives and security teams.
Now he stood alone in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, staring down at the busy streets of New York below. But his mind wasn't on his so-called territory.
His X-ray vision sliced straight through walls and floors, locking onto the sofa in the hallway outside.
That blurry little figure was still sitting there calmly, like the bloody slaughter that had shaken the entire Vought Company had nothing to do with him.
Under Homelander's gaze, the figure jumped down from the sofa, strolled casually through the corridor like nothing had happened, then gently pushed open the door to this new office and walked inside.
Since he had been spotted, Ryan dropped the energy-draining invisibility.
A faint ripple passed through the air as he deactivated the power, revealing his innocent, almost cute little face.
Homelander slowly turned around. The shock and rage he had performed for everyone else were gone. Only a cold, complicated look remained — part scrutiny, part confusion.
He stared at this "son" of his. The one he was both proud of and quietly afraid of.
"Speak," his voice came out low and metallic. "What the hell happened?"
Ryan didn't flinch at all under Homelander's freezing aura.
He walked over to the nearby sofa, climbed up nimbly, settled into a comfortable spot, and let his short legs dangle in the air. He looked completely at ease.
"The three of them found out I existed."
He looked up and answered in a flat, matter-of-fact tone, like he was talking about the weather.
"So I had to shut them up."
He glanced at Homelander's unreadable face and added,
"Otherwise? Wait for them to run and tell the Company about me, then let those white-coat assholes drag me back into that fucking cage?"
Homelander fell into a long silence.
He couldn't refute it.
Because he knew Ryan was right.
From what he understood about Vought's board, the second Ryan's existence got fully exposed, they would throw every resource they had at recapturing this "naturally born son of God" — this perfect, uncontrollable superhuman.
At that point, Ryan's fate would be even worse than his own fucked-up childhood.
From that angle, Ryan's actions were the only smart move.
The methods… were a little too brutal, sure.
But for people like them, "brutal" was never an insult.
"How did you become Translucent?"
After the long silence, Homelander asked his second biggest question.
Heat vision, super strength, flight… he could understand all of those.
They came straight from his bloodline.
But becoming translucent? That was The Translucent's power.
Hearing the question, Ryan smiled.
The smile looked sweet and innocent on his soft little face, the kind that would melt anyone. But the words that came out of his mouth dropped the temperature in the room like an ice cellar.
"Oh, that," Ryan tilted his head, speaking like he was showing off a new toy. "It's one of my abilities."
He watched Homelander's pupils shrink slightly and kept going.
"As long as I want to, I can take other people's abilities."
Take… other people's abilities?
Homelander's chest tightened hard.
He instantly understood the bloody, horrifying meaning behind those words.
It meant his son was a monster that fed on other supes.
Every new power he gained meant another supe had died.
He stared at the smiling boy in front of him, and for the first time, he felt like his own life wasn't completely safe anymore.
What if… what if one day Ryan decided he wanted Homelander's powers?
A strange feeling called fear started growing quietly in his gut.
Ryan seemed to read his mind. His smile didn't change as he continued in a soft, reassuring tone.
"Dad, you don't have to be scared. Our powers are the same. We share the same blood. Killing you won't make me any stronger. So why would I ever think of killing you? We're family, right?"
The word "family" hit Homelander like a warm current, pushing back the chill in his chest for a moment.
His tense nerves loosened just a bit.
He scoffed at himself: Me? Homelander? The most powerful being in the world… actually scared of my own son?
How fucking ridiculous.
But he had to admit it. For that split second, he really had been afraid.
"So, what are you going to do next?"
Homelander took a deep breath and changed the subject.
He wanted to know what was going on inside this unpredictable kid's head.
He was even subconsciously asking a seven-year-old for his opinion now.
"Didn't I already tell you my plan before?"
Ryan jumped off the sofa with ease, walked over on his short legs to the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.
He copied Homelander's earlier pose and looked down at the brightly lit city below.
"Our old goal was to take full control of Vought... But now,"
He turned his head. The same extreme hunger for power burned in his ice-blue eyes as in Homelander's.
"I think that goal is too small."
"Think about it, Dad."
His voice stayed quiet, but it carried a devilish temptation.
"The only reason Vought can control us, the only reason they can package and sell us like products, is because they've created too many 'superheroes.'
They've got too many cards in their deck, which means we're not irreplaceable."
"But what if…"
"What if in this whole world, there were only two people with superpowers left — just us?"
That sentence hit Homelander like lightning cracking across the sky, striking straight into the deepest pit of his ambition.
Only two people with superpowers left in the entire world?
What the hell would that mean?
It meant they would no longer be controlled by anyone!
They would no longer need to suck up to anyone!
They would be the law. They would be the rules. They would be the only true gods walking among humans!
By then, controlling a tiny company like Vought would be nothing. Even taking over the entire world wouldn't be out of reach!
Ryan saw the uncontrollable blaze of greed ignite in Homelander's eyes and sneered inside.
He didn't tell his short-sighted cheap dad the truth.
This world was far bigger than just the stage of The Boys.
In Ryan's eyes, Homelander's so-called "entire world" was nothing more than a slightly larger newbie village.
But for now, using this beginner map as bait to drive the strongest and dumbest beast around was more than enough.
Ryan decided to strike while the iron was hot and point the way forward for this beast whose ambition had just been lit on fire.
"So, next, we stick to your original plan."
He spoke in a tone that left no room for argument, like he was giving orders.
"Pin the lab explosion and the murders in the office on that Hughie guy and whatever resistance group is backing him."
"At the same time," he switched gears, "use your power to get me some Compound V."
"What do you need Compound V for?"
Homelander froze. He hadn't expected Ryan to even know about that top-level company secret.
A pure yet devilish smile spread across Ryan's face.
"Of course, to help them 'get stronger.'"
"I'll find them. I'll find that Hughie and his little friends. I'll inject them with Compound V.
Just picture it: a bunch of regular nobodies who suddenly gain superpowers, then go on a insane terrorist rampage because of their burning hatred for Vought.
Is there any better evidence than that?"
"Once their crimes are confirmed, we'll wipe them and their pathetic little hatred off the face of the earth in the name of 'justice'!"
Homelander stared at Ryan, shock rippling through him.
This little kid even knew all the dirty secrets about Compound V.
And his plan? Every single link was ruthless, vicious, and fucking perfect.
Create the enemy, give them power, then play the hero and slaughter the monsters you made yourself.
That level of cunning… the kid was simply born to rule.
Homelander pushed down the shock and the last scraps of fear still lingering in his chest.
What replaced them was a deep, genuine wave of satisfaction and pride he had never felt before.
He stepped forward and laid his big hand on Ryan's small shoulder.
For the first time since Ryan showed up, a real, sincere smile spread across his face.
"Good son! You really are my boy! Born to be a goddamn force!"
He could already see it.
In the very near future, the entire world would be kneeling at the feet of him and his son.