"So, thinking back, I did see a kid in Wilson's office last time."
"At the time, I thought he was Wilson's son. But now that I think about it, that was probably Ryan."
"Hmm... all these foreigners look pretty much the same, young or old. If you don't look carefully, it's easy to mistake them."
Alex narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled at Ashley, "Tell the people in the quarantine zone to keep an eye on that kid. I'm going to see him now."
Ashley immediately made a phone call.
———
Alex left Seven Tower. As he flew through the sky, he thought to himself, "Ryan was still with Wilson last time, so how did he end up in the quarantine zone?"
"How did Wilson find Becca and Ryan in the first place?"
"Damn it! Did that dead guy lie to me?"
"Wasn't he supposed to be the only one who knew where Becca and Ryan were?"
"What's Ryan's situation now? Did he escape from Wilson, or did Wilson deliberately let him appear to get my attention?"
"If it's the latter, then there's definitely something going on."
Before long, he arrived at the quarantine zone.
The Federation had relocated the residents involved in the previous Boiling Midnight incident to the outskirts of the city, where a massive camp had been set up.
The huge camp was divided into hundreds of sections, each housing one or two hundred residents.
So far, the Federation had found no good solution to the problem, and the cost of maintaining such an enormous camp every day was staggering.
Who knew how much longer the Federation's finances could keep up?
Of course, Alex didn't care about any of that.
As he arrived, he happened to see chaos break out in one section of the camp.
An overweight man had suddenly mutated into a chimera. The soldiers were evacuating civilians while opening fire, but it wasn't doing much good.
As the chimera slammed into a military SUV, two golden beams descended from the sky, slicing across its body and instantly cutting it in half.
The soldiers all looked up to see a red cape fluttering overhead.
Alex landed on the ground and smiled at one of the officers.
"That one was a complimentary service. No need to thank me."
Only then did the officer remember that Homelander now charged for his services, one hundred million dollars every time he was deployed.
Cold sweat instantly broke out across his back. Fortunately, Homelander had offered that one for free. Otherwise, if he insisted on charging afterward, the officer had no idea how he would deal with it.
Alex continued, "I'm here to pick up a kid."
"He can shoot lasers from his eyes just like me. Do you know where he is?"
"You mean the 'Devil Kid'?"
The officer quickly replied, "Yes, sir. Please follow me."
"'Devil Kid'?"
Alex shook his head, "What an awful nickname. Who came up with that?"
———
A short while later, he found Ryan inside an armored vehicle.
The little boy was drinking a cola and staring out the window in boredom.
Alex walked up behind him and cleared his throat.
Ryan turned around. The moment he saw Alex, his eyes suddenly lit up, glowing red with a dangerous aura.
"Heh! Little wolf cub, what? Thinking about blasting me with your laser eyes?"
"Go ahead and give it a try."
As for the original Homelander's son, Alex neither liked nor disliked him.
He simply regarded him as an unfamiliar child.
He didn't think Ryan could hurt him. He was just curious how Ryan had learned to use his powers.
In the TV series, Becca had raised Ryan as an ordinary child. It wasn't until Homelander appeared that his powers were forced out.
Alex hadn't wanted to deal with complicated family relationships, which was why he had killed the black CEO. He'd thought that meant he'd never have to meet Ryan.
Yet here they were.
The red glow faded from Ryan's eyes, and he went back to noisily sipping his cola.
Alex shrugged, "I heard you can use laser vision just like me."
Ryan nodded.
Alex smiled.
"So how did you learn to use it?"
Ryan shook his head again.
Alex frowned, "Are you mute?"
Ryan finally spoke, "No."
Only then did Alex smile.
"Do you know who I am?"
Ryan glanced at the Homelander advertisement on the cola bottle, "You're the strongest person in the world."
Alex laughed, "I like hearing that."
Standing with his hands on his hips, he said, "Kid, let me ask you something."
"Do you want to stay here, or come with me?"
He wanted to figure out what was really going on with Ryan, and this wasn't the place to ask questions.
Ryan finished his cola and set the bottle down, "If I go with you, will you buy me a hamburger?"
"You can eat whatever you want," Alex shrugged.
Ryan walked over, "Then I'll go with you."
The two left the armored vehicle.
Alex glanced at him, "Can you fly?"
Ryan nodded, then suddenly shot into the sky, reaching the clouds at incredible speed before looking down.
"What are you looking at, kid? You think you're faster than me?"
Alex's voice came from above him.
Ryan looked up and saw Alex's red cape fluttering behind him.
"Why aren't you dressed like you are in the commercials?"
In the advertisements, Alex still appeared in Homelander's blue stars-and-stripes suit.
Not in his current black outfit with the red cape.
Alex answered casually, "I stopped wearing that a long time ago. The day I decided I wasn't going to be a TV star or a clown on stage anymore, I stopped wearing that uniform."
Ryan seemed to be thinking about something. His eyes shifted around, "How long ago?"
Although Alex found it strange that Ryan cared so much about that question, he answered anyway, "How long? At least half a year, I guess. Why do you ask?"
Ryan shook his head.
Alex didn't press him, "Come on."
He flew off, and Ryan immediately followed. Together, they headed for Seven Tower.
———
Back at Seven Tower, Alex sniffed, "How many days has it been since you took a bath?"
Ryan lowered his head and began counting on his fingers. By the time he reached his third finger, Alex had lost his patience. He grabbed Ryan by the collar, carried him to his room, and tossed him into the bathroom.
"Wash yourself before you come out."
Alex took out his phone and called Ashley, asking her to bring over several sets of boys' clothes.
A little while later, Ryan stood in front of him wearing clean clothes.
Alex nodded, sat down, and asked, "Where did you come from? Where's your family?"
Ryan answered with a question instead, "Didn't you say you were going to buy me a hamburger?"
Alex said, "Answer my questions first, then I'll buy you a hamburger."
Ryan turned his head away, "Grown-ups really do like lying to kids."
Alex was speechless, "Do I really need to lie to you?"
Ryan said seriously, "Then buy me a hamburger first. After I eat it, I'll answer your questions."
Alex felt the muscles in his face twitch.
'Kids really are troublesome creatures.'