"I was in the cabin when you and Homelander watched the plane crash."
Turning his head as well, the two were very close, Ron leaned on the bench, looking into her eyes and said.
"I used my teleportation ability to save the children on board."
"Children? You saved the children on the plane!"
Mei opened her mouth in astonishment. During her sleepless night, what she recalled most were the two little girls whom she had wanted to take away but were stopped by Homelander, their cute, scared, and helpless little faces.
"But… but where are the children?"
The conclusion of the accident was that no one on that flight survived.
"Come with me."
Ron reached out his hand.
Mei remembered his ability, understood what he meant, and firmly placed her hand in his.
With a soft 'bang', the two disappeared from where they stood.
On a deserted small island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
The sun was bright, and on the natural grassland, from the wooden houses that had been built, a group of children ran out upon hearing the sound.
Every time Ron came, he would bring them some food and things they wanted.
"Is it you? You're still alive."
Mei immediately spotted two of the little girls among them, excitedly went forward and hugged them tightly, her eyes red, her emotions a complex mix of joy and tears.
After Mei had seen the children.
In the evening, the bright moon hung high, and stars twinkled.
The two strolled to the grassy sea cliff. The guilt and self-reproach she had accumulated over the past few days had dissipated considerably as she gazed at the sea under the night sky.
"Thank you for saving these children."
With traces of tears still in her eyes, Mei looked at Ron with a joyful and grateful smile and said.
"So that their lives don't end abruptly before they've seen much of the World's wonders."
"I only saved them."
"No, you've done very well."
Thinking Ron was blaming himself for not saving more people, she stepped forward to close the distance between them, and gently comforted him.
"They live very well here, carefree and lacking nothing, but they might have to live here forever."
Ron turned his head and said.
"Why?"
Mei frowned slightly in confusion.
Why not let these children return to their parents?
"Because of Homelander."
His eyes were deep as he uttered a single sentence.
Mei's beautiful face changed slightly, and she quickly reacted.
Homelander made her abandon the two children because he wouldn't allow anyone to survive and expose what he had done.
"Yes… yes."
She looked away, her voice strained.
Having spent many years with Homelander in The Seven, and even pretending to be lovers for Vought's publicity, she knew Homelander's twisted psychology all too well.
If this matter were exposed, and Homelander became universally condemned, he would absolutely go insane, and potentially destroy the World for it.
However…
Mei remembered something and looked up at Ron.
"With my current ability, I can only fight him to a draw. If he goes crazy and tries to do something, I can't stop him."
As if seeing through Mei's thoughts, Ron frowned and shook his head.
"I cannot let these children go back, otherwise billions of people would be in danger."
"Listen, Ron, you didn't do anything wrong."
Mei grabbed his hand and comforted him.
"This isn't your fault, it's all Homelander's fault."
A secret known only to two people, needing to be kept, would quickly draw them closer.
Especially a grave secret that would immediately endanger the World if exposed, would even create a feeling of helplessness and isolation, where only they had each other.
"You saved the children, and you rescued me from a lifetime of guilt."
She gazed at Ron with serious concern.
All the darkness and hypocrisy of Vought had always burdened Mei, who still maintained kindness in her heart. She had drifted with the current, half-abandoning herself, and the plane incident was a heavy blow.
Having suffered so much in just a few days, she couldn't imagine if she could endure the continuous torment in her heart if it continued.
This man before her had done what she couldn't: he saved the children on the plane, and in a way, he also saved her.
"I saved you?"
Ron turned his head and asked in a magnetic voice.
"Yes."
Under the moonlight, Mei proactively hugged Ron, resting her head on his solid chest, and answered softly.
She felt a sense of peace.
Ron returned the embrace, stroking Mei's back, and a faint smile played on his lips where she couldn't see it.
Everything he said was true: he only saved the children on the plane, these children might have to stay here forever, the reason was Homelander, and he currently couldn't stop a deranged Homelander.
But Mei automatically filled in the blanks, assuming he had a hidden difficulty in returning the children to their families after saving them, and needed someone to support and affirm his choice.
…
After that day, Ron occasionally took Mei to the deserted island to see and care for the children. In an environment where it was just the two of them, guarding their shared secret, their relationship quickly deepened, gradually becoming like intimate lovers.
A few days later, in the early morning on that small island.
Coming out of one of the wooden houses, he glanced at Mei's figure covered by a thin blanket on the bed, gently closed the door, and came to the sea cliff. Looking at the distant sea shrouded in thin fog, Ron summoned the system.
Ability Points: 358,000
"Finally enough."
Taking a deep breath of the cool, fresh air, his eyes lit up, and he smiled.
"Do you want to spend 340,000 ability points to purchase the Homelander template?"
"Yes."
His whole body felt hot, as if immersed in a hot spring, warm and comfortable, almost making one groan.
After more than ten seconds, Ron opened his eyes, stretched his body, and a series of crackling bone sounds like popping beans erupted.
He clenched his fists, and powerful strength surged through his limbs and bones, enough to tear apart warships and sink small islands.
The toughness of his skin and bones surpassed all metals in the World, capable of easily resisting nuclear bomb blasts and surviving at the epicenter of a nuclear explosion.
"This is different from Black King's ability; this is true power."
Black King's ability needed to be maintained constantly. For his own safety, he always used energy to stay full of vitality, violating years of established routines, never sleeping, almost turning the maintenance of his ability into an instinct while awake.
Because once he fell asleep, he would revert to an ordinary person, and a single bullet could easily kill him, causing him to fall on the path of limitless progress.
Hoo!
"From today onwards, I can sleep soundly."
Ron smiled, letting out a long breath. From today onwards, even if a nuclear bomb exploded on his head, it would at most serve to quickly wake him up.
His eyes narrowed, his body gradually became suspended, freed from the shackles of gravity, and he suddenly flew into the distance. After flying for a while, he abruptly exerted force and easily broke the sound barrier.
Bang!
His extremely fast figure flew close to the sea, and under the effect of the conical sonic boom cloud, the sea surface several meters below was stirred up, leaving a long white wake.
The cold wind blew across his face, but he felt no biting chill.
His speed gradually approached a hundred times the speed of sound. Ron's figure turned, and he flew upwards.
With continuous sonic booms, he rapidly passed through thick cloud layers, left the atmosphere, and reached an altitude of only a thousand kilometers above Earth. His solemn and cool battle suit, with muscle lines like cast iron.
Bathed in sunlight, he was like a deity looking down at the blue Planet below.
"With Homelander's physique, I can be bolder in probing Vought's trump cards, preparing to take control of this Planet."