**Chapter 135: I Want to Become the True Superhero in Everyone's Hearts**
After some thought, he decided not to notify Billy yet. After all, there were too many spectators on site, and even if The Boys were all present, they couldn't take Ryan away under everyone's watchful eyes.
"Is this a Supe tryout?" Hughie decided to observe for a bit, and see if he could get any useful information.
"You must be Moore, right? What's your superpower?"
To prevent a repeat of the previous accident, Xia Shang specifically requested a list of the contestants.
The contestant on stage this time, despite being only eight years old, was one meter eighty tall. At first, Xia Shang thought he had seen it wrong, but after repeated confirmation, he reluctantly accepted the reality before him.
Don't let Moore's young age fool you; his dressing style was exactly like that of the biker gangs on the New York streets. Not only that, but at such a young age, he had already grown a full circle of thick hair, and his voice was extremely rough.
"That's right, I'm Moore, and I'm also a loyal fan of Homelander."
Moore gave off the vibe of a standard American redneck.
"What's your superpower?" The continuous disappointments made Xia Shang gradually lose patience.
"Transformation. I can turn into a werewolf." As Moore spoke, he let out a roar. Immediately, dark hair surged from the surface of his body, and his entire physique swelled up. His spine bent, and four sharp bone claws extended from between the joints of his fingers.
As his clothes were torn by his expanding muscles, he assumed a downward pouncing stance, staring at Xia Shang with his green eyes.
"I want to challenge... Ryan next to you. Homelander is the strongest superhero, and his son must have enough strength to be worthy of being Homelander's son."
Moore's voice was hoarse like a wild beast. He bared his sharp teeth, his mouth wide open, and stuck out a blood-red tongue.
"Forget the challenge, you can directly enter the finals."
Although Moore's superpower wasn't outstanding, compared to the previous contestants, he was practically a regular soldier!
"Ryan, don't make me look down on you. Remember, your father is Homelander!" Moore wasn't just a loyal fan; he was a complete fanatic of Homelander.
"Want to go up and try?"
Xia Shang looked at Ryan beside him, but Ryan lowered his head and whispered, "No, I feel like he'll kill me."
Ryan's performance clearly disappointed the audience below the stage, and a wave of boos erupted.
"Is he really Homelander's son? He doesn't seem like it at all. Homelander isn't this cowardly!"
"Coward! Bah!"
"Coward, get off the stage!"
"Coward, get off the stage!" Homelander's fans angrily waved their arms. As the saying goes, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
This was exactly how the audience felt. They even doubted whether Ryan was a Supe at all, or if Ryan was just a showpiece pushed out by Vought.
"Such an exciting scene, and Billy isn't here." Hughie, in the crowd, naturally enjoyed watching the spectacle.
Facing the accusations coming from all directions, a flame suddenly ignited in Ryan's heart, burning brighter and brighter.
Xia Shang, who was beside him, noticed the change in Ryan's emotions, but he didn't stop him. Instead, he revealed a smile of anticipation.
Finally, as the atmosphere was pushed to a climax.
The unbearable Ryan suddenly stood up and angrily shouted at the crowd, "Shut up!"
Instantly, his eyes burst forth with extremely intense red light. As the veins on his forehead bulged, two beams of scarlet heat vision shot out in an instant.
Just then, the werewolf Moore's body seemed to be pulled by an invisible psychic force. His entire upper body tilted to the right, narrowly avoiding the heat vision aimed at his heart. Moore stared in shock at the scorched hair on the side of his body, filled with lingering fear.
It was just by a hair's breadth. If he hadn't miraculously dodged the attack just now.
Perhaps he would have already become a corpse.
"I'm not playing anymore." Moore transformed back to his original form and sat on the ground, crying loudly.
The scene was first dead silent, then erupted in thunderous cheers! Countless spectators showed fanatical expressions, raising their arms and shouting, "Ryan! Ryan! Ryan!!"
The entire street was engulfed in cheers, even causing passersby to turn back in confusion.
Hughie, who had been smiling moments ago, couldn't smile anymore. He looked so much like him! In his eyes, Ryan at this moment was practically a replica of Homelander.
Ryan, who had originally been worried about hurting others, saw the enthusiastic shouts around him. The worry on his face quietly dissipated, replaced by a look of disbelief and a smile.
They weren't afraid, they were adoring him? "How does it feel?" Xia Shang said with a smile.
"I don't know how to describe it, but... it's great."
Ryan clenched his fist, extremely excited.
Until dusk fell and the tryouts temporarily ended, Xia Shang took him back to Vought Tower. He still savored the incredibly exhilarating feeling from earlier. "I've decided, I want to become a superhero, I want to fight criminals, I want to become the true superhero in everyone's hearts."
Ryan said excitedly to Xia Shang.
"You will, I believe in you." Xia Shang looked up at the standee of Homelander in the lobby and smiled.
......
Meanwhile.
In the basement, Hughie was telling Billy and the others about what happened during the day.
"You can't even imagine how shocking that scene was. Just when everyone thought Ryan was just a showpiece, he suddenly stood up and shot out red heat vision. That heat vision was exactly like Homelander's. My god, it seems our opponents might not just be The Seven anymore."
"If you were just trying to demoralize us, congratulations, you succeeded." Mother's Milk lowered his head, listlessly fiddling with a model house on the table. This was a gift he had prepared for his daughter, but sadly, he didn't know if he would ever be able to give it to her in this lifetime.
Seeing the team's atmosphere turn gloomy.
Billy coughed twice intentionally: "I have some good news for everyone. Mallory found me this afternoon. She said the CIA found information about Liberty on Susan's private server. Although we don't know why she would be interested in a Supe who was active in the 1970s.
But there must be a reason. We need to investigate Liberty with the CIA. In exchange, she gave me a secret address about Vought, which is very likely where Becca is being held."
"Let's get moving, guys. Justice may be late, but it's never absent. Don't worry, one day, Vought will collapse before us." Billy was already impatient to go to the new address and check the situation.
However, only a few people responded to him.
The death of The Female had dealt a heavy blow to everyone, pushing them towards despair.
There was no other way. Such an important mission couldn't possibly be handled by the unreliable Hughie. So Billy had no choice but to instruct Mother's Milk to go to North Carolina to collect information on Liberty.
While they were planning their next operation.
In a store tens of kilometers away from Xia Shang's villa.
Ezekiel, the organizer of the charity organization "Samaritan's Embrace," was holding a black briefcase, standing by a shelf, anxiously waiting for someone to arrive.
Soon, he saw a man in a trench coat walk into the store.
"If you were any later, I might have left." Ezekiel at this time was much more down and out than before. Ever since the lie that Supes were children of God was exposed, he, the messenger of God, had fallen from grace and was practically hated by everyone.
The more his followers had faith in him before, the more they hated him now.
"You know about my current situation too. The hospital channel has been taken back by Vought. This is the last batch of drugs I have, a total of twenty doses. I only need five hundred thousand US dollars." Ezekiel said bitterly.
"Vought isn't taking care of you?"
Xia Shang took the briefcase from his hand and asked.
Ezekiel couldn't help but smile bitterly, "To Vought, I've lost my use value. It's normal for them to abandon me, I just didn't expect it to be so fast."
"However, it's not a big deal. Compared to others, my outcome is still pretty good."
"Send me your bank card number." Xia Shang took out his mobile phone and casually operated it.
Soon, Ezekiel's mobile phone received a text message notification from the bank.
"One million? Sir, did you send the wrong amount?" Ezekiel showed an expression of disbelief. He even counted three times, confirming that it wasn't one hundred thousand US dollars, but one million.
Xia Shang put away his mobile phone and patted his right shoulder: "I hope this money can help you start a new life. Our cooperation is officially over. I wish you a pleasant life."
Looking at Xia Shang's departing back, complex emotions surged on Ezekiel's face. Actually, he had planned to find Vought after completing this transaction with Xia Shang and sell Xia Shang's information. Although the risk was very high, and he might also be held accountable by Vought, he was truly penniless and had no savings, so he could only take the plunge.
Seeing Xia Shang's figure gradually disappear from his sight, Ezekiel's lips trembled slightly, and he softly said with some guilt, "Thank you, sir."
"May God bless you with a pleasant life." Ezekiel drew a cross on his chest with his fingertip, then clasped his hands together, lowered his head, and closed his eyes.
Xia Shang returned to the villa.
He opened the briefcase and checked it, confirming that everything was in order. Then, he took out ten doses of Compound V and placed them on the coffee table.
After that, he summoned the panel.
[Telekinetic Pull Fusion in progress, Current progress: 31%]
"Check Fantasy Value."
[Fantasy Value: 2920 (These Fantasy Value come from: Starlight... providing a total of 210 points, The Deep providing 910 points, Translucent...)]
Because Fantasy Value always popped up due to some minor things, like today's tryouts where Ryan contributed 120 points of Fantasy Value, Xia Shang had filtered out the smaller values, only keeping the larger amounts of Fantasy Value.
(End of Chapter)