The day after signing the contract.
Lucas moved into the midtown Manhattan apartment provided by Vought.
One hundred and sixty square meters, floor-to-ceiling windows, a full suite of smart home appliances, and a view of Central Park.
The refrigerator was stocked with organic food and imported beer, and three custom suits hung in the walk-in closet.
However, Lucas only wore the suit for ten minutes before taking it off.
He looked like an insurance salesman in a suit; his battle suit was much better.
At ten in the morning, his phone rang.
"Guardian, there is a routine meeting of The Seven at three this afternoon. You can come and observe."
Madelyn called to notify him personally, pausing for a moment.
"Homelander will also be there."
"Alright."
Lucas hung up the phone.
At 2:45 PM.
Lucas arrived early.
When the elevator doors opened, the corridor was empty, except for one person leaning against the wall.
Buzz-cut blonde hair, a dark blue skin-tight suit, a star-spangled banner shield emblem on his chest, and a red cape draping down to his ankles.
Homelander.
With his arms crossed, he tilted his head to watch Lucas step out of the elevator, a warm smile on his face.
If that smile were on TV, it could make American women scream for ten minutes.
But in the empty corridor, it was full of menace.
Lucas walked toward him, activating his Lineage Sensing.
Homelander’s bio-electric signal was extremely powerful, far exceeding A-Train’s, like a burning flare.
He was indeed strong.
But that was all.
"So, you’re the... Guardian?" Homelander sized up Lucas’s suit. "Interesting suit. It doesn’t look like Vought’s design style."
"Indeed, it doesn’t."
"Oh? Then whose is it?"
"Alien technology."
Homelander’s smile vanished.
Did this damn guy take him for a fool?
Homelander stared intently at Lucas.
An overwhelming pressure washed over him.
But Lucas seemed completely oblivious.
He felt absolutely nothing from Homelander’s pressure. Once his aura was filtered out, Homelander’s threat level was about on par with a dog sitting at the table.
"You’re not in Vought International’s files, but you are undoubtedly a Supe. Are you some defective product from an underground lab?"
Homelander spoke slowly, trying to provoke Lucas.
If this had been said on Viltrum, Homelander would have been turned into a bloody mist long ago.
Viltrumites value their honor above all else. With an insult like this, even Conquest would probably stand up to catch his breath.
"Even if you had two brains, you couldn’t fathom my origins. And speaking of defective products... you should know better than anyone who is the actual product of a lab!"
Lucas wasn’t afraid of Homelander at all. Back when he was Level 1, he would have given him some leeway.
But since they were evenly matched now, what the hell was there to fear?
If he had Homelander’s level of power, he would be far more arrogant than Homelander.
Homelander is just too young. With such immense power, he’s actually afraid of internet cyberbullying?
"You’re asking for death!"
Homelander’s eyes began to glow, and high-energy Heat Vision instantly struck Lucas’s chest, giving him no time to react.
Heat Vision.
Homelander’s most iconic ability. With temperatures exceeding 1,500 degrees, it could slice through steel, melt concrete, and even reduce an ordinary person to ashes in 0.3 seconds.
However, such formidable power had absolutely no effect on Lucas.
It was entirely blocked by his Bio-field.
Homelander increased his output. The temperature in the corridor began to skyrocket, causing the paint on the walls to blister and peel, and even the fluorescent lights on the ceiling buzzed under the intense heat.
Hot!
It was indeed a bit hot!
But to him, this amount of heat was merely like sitting in a sauna. Homelander increasing his Heat Vision output was just like pouring two more buckets of water onto the sauna stones.
And that was about it.
Lucas raised his head, looking at Homelander expressionlessly.
"Brother, did you skip lunch? Put some muscle into it!"
Homelander’s smile completely vanished.
His Heat Vision transformed from two beams of light into a thick, orange-white torrent. This was almost his maximum output.
The Bio-field on Lucas’s chest showed signs of collapsing, meaning that Homelander’s full-power attack could indeed reach his actual body.
Although a Viltrumite’s physical body was stronger, Lucas’s combat instincts told him that his actual body would still have its defenses breached by those two laser beams.
He clenched his fist, instantly vacuuming the surrounding air, and the resulting air pressure dragged Homelander toward him.
Bang!
Lucas threw a punch!
With just one punch, Homelander was sent flying.
*Hiss!*
Lucas didn’t hold back. Although this punch sent Homelander flying, his own fist felt as if it had struck some reinforced alloy, leaving his knuckles numb from the impact.
"What the hell!" Homelander crawled out from the wall. The suit on his chest had torn open, revealing the skin underneath.
On his alloy-hard skin, a trace of blood was actually seeping out.
There was even some bruising visible.
That damn Guardian... actually managed to hurt him?
Homelander looked down at the bruise on his chest, his eyes darkening.
For as long as he could remember, no one had ever been able to leave a mark on him.
Even the highest-intensity weapon tests in Vought’s labs had only made him feel a slight sting.
And now, a new guy who appeared out of nowhere had made him bleed with a single punch.
The corridor fell into an eerie silence.
The melted scars on the walls were still sizzling and smoking, and debris kept falling from the ceiling.
The two stared at each other from over a dozen meters apart, neither making the next move.
Lucas shook his numb fist, silently assessing the situation.
Homelander’s defense was tougher than he had anticipated. He had used about seventy percent of his strength in that punch; anyone else, like A-Train, would have been turned into a bloody mist, yet it had only caused Homelander some bruising and minor bleeding.
Conversely, Homelander’s full-power Heat Vision had also nearly torn through his Bio-field.
They were indeed evenly matched.
If they truly fought, it was hard to say who would win, but it would definitely be a long, drawn-out war of attrition.
If the battlefield were in downtown Manhattan, everything within a radius of several kilometers would be leveled.
Homelander became wary of the consequences.
Before the meeting, Madelyn had told him everything, but he simply didn’t believe there could be a Supe stronger than himself.
He had interpreted Madelyn’s suggestion of "testing" as elimination.
Vought didn’t need a second Homelander!
But to his surprise, the other party’s power was infinitely close to his own.
Lucas stared at Homelander, not expecting him to do something completely surprising in the next second.
He flashed a smile.
"Not bad. Your strength qualifies you to take on the task of policing Supes!"
"That was just a little test. You don’t mind, do you?"
Homelander raised a finger, pointed at the ceiling, and gave a "you know how it is" look.
"You know... the higher-ups still have reservations about you, but my brother... I think you can work with us!"
Homelander adjusted his torn suit, using his cape to cover the wound on his chest.
His tone returned to a relaxed state.
"It’s been a long time since anyone made me break a sweat."
Break a sweat?
More like bleed!
But Lucas wasn’t going to call Homelander out; he had no intention of having an all-out fight with him yet.
A mutually destructive outcome was not what he wanted.
"You’re not bad either!" Lucas shrugged cooperatively. "Your Heat Vision is impressive. It almost scorched my skin!"
The two tacitly brought this test of strength to an end.
The panel quietly popped up with data.
[Key Character: Homelander]
[Emotional Shift: Anger -> Shock -> Fear -> Forced Suppression]
[Evolution Points Obtained: +4,217]
Four thousand two hundred.
As expected of the most central character in the entire series. A single emotional fluctuation from him is worth hundreds of ordinary people.