Fang Yuan had successfully moved into the Seven Tower; every Superhuman Vought valued had their own suite inside the building, but his was exceptionally large.
Take that bed—six people at once would be no problem… and yes, it had been field-tested.
Vought had acted as pimp in person.
Because Stan Edgar had given the order himself, every perk—food, clothing, housing, transport—was cranked to the max; whatever Fang Yuan wanted, he got, no questions asked.
A while back he mentioned he'd never seen a Black Panther; the next day Vought delivered one for him to keep as a pet.
Beautiful women were even easier—Vought couldn't wait for him to drown in debauchery.
Plenty of people lived in the Seven Tower, yet only Fang Yuan had turned the World-famous Vought Headquarters into a five-star hotel.
The honey-coated shells kept coming, and Fang Yuan accepted them all, his attitude toward Vought noticeably warming as he pretended to be slowly corrupted.
He hadn't set foot outside headquarters once—after all, he was still playing the country-bumpkin rookie.
So he asked for stacks of books, claiming he needed to "study and adapt to normal life."
Vought was only too happy to keep him out of trouble; they fetched every book he wanted and lined up a team of star tutors for online coaching.
In reality he used the "study" sessions to sneak out as Black King and make life difficult for Vought… after all, Fang Yuan was the pond's owner—juggling schedules was child's play.
Of course, Homelander also introduced him to the rest of The Seven.
Thanks to Homelander's clout everyone was courteous—at least on the surface.
Vought hadn't revealed Fang Yuan's origins, and his deliberate wide-eyed routine made him hard to fear.
But while Fang Yuan was still asleep, Deep had cracked a "Sleeping Beauty" joke and had his schedule frozen for a month; no one wanted to risk similar misfortune.
To Fang Yuan's Telepathy, though, every member's real opinion of him varied wildly.
A-Train was always probing; as Black King's turncoat he tried to dig up intel on Fang Yuan—yet on the surface he was the warmest, since he was currently the member Homelander trusted most.
In the original story Homelander had also trusted Black Noir, his longest-standing partner.
But thanks to Fang Yuan, Homelander now knew Noir was Vought's man and kept him at arm's length—more than ever after Fang Yuan woke up.
Black Noir was just as proactive toward Fang Yuan; Vought had ordered him to keep tabs on the newcomer.
Whenever Deep saw Fang Yuan his gaze skittered away—his ribs still weren't healed, and he dared not provoke him again.
Fang Yuan, though, found Deep intriguing; among The Seven, very few powers interested him—Deep's ability to commune with sea life was one of them.
It meant the entire planet's oceans could be his; pity the brain-crippled Deep had turned that birthright into mermaid play. Aquaman in DC is a joke, but Deep is literally a grass carp.
Of the remaining three, Lamplighter had retired and been hidden away by Vought; Queen Maeve and Invisible Man kept their surface politeness. A plot-wise Fang Yuan knew Maeve was already numb, keeping her distance from anything Homelander-related.
As for Invisible Man—Fang Yuan simply wasn't worth peeping on, so he didn't care.
The Seven—no, the Six now—held an internal meeting on routine work, such as the upcoming release of Invisible Man's movie "Invisible Agent Squad 2."
Yet seven chairs in the room were still occupied.
Fang Yuan sat to the side hugging a pile of snacks, soaking up The Seven's advanced experience to transplant later into the X-Men or another World.
Say… should I set up a Justice League-style Seven in DC?
A bootleg Black Noir Batman?
A bootleg Homelander Superman?
A bootleg A-Train Flash?
Utterly upside-down… yet the more he thought, the more feasible it felt; the DC Universe would soon be crawling with superheroes—better to let the marquee names serve the heroes he favored than to let them dilute one another's fame.
He could always swap them out after the powers were secured—standard Vought practice.
He plotted silently, but the others kept sneaking glances at him.
No one had ever dared eat during a meeting Homelander chaired.
And Fang Yuan wasn't even one of The Seven—was it safe for him to hear this classified stuff?
A single leak from their agenda could topple a career.
But Homelander had brought him in personally, so no one dared object.
Especially after they heard Homelander's name for him—"Big Brother."
Stick those two words in front of Homelander and they sounded downright terrifying.
Homelander, for his part, was delighted, unable to wipe the grin off his face.
To him, Fang Yuan's rapt attention meant Big Brother's approval.
Kids always want to show off in front of adults; Homelander might be thirty-eight, but in front of Fang Yuan he'd always be a child.
As long as Fang Yuan avoided outdoing him in childishness, Homelander would stay that way for life.
When the meeting ended, Fang Yuan finally rose from his seat and casually handed Homelander a bottle of milk.
"Here, your favorite," Fang Yuan said.
A-Train, Deep, Queen Maeve and the others instantly froze, eyes bulging; Homelander himself was stunned, and the air solidified.
A-Train swallowed, trading a covert glance with Deep—both were sweating bullets.
Everyone at Vought knew: Homelander hated milk.
Rumor traced it to childhood trauma; they'd once seen a clueless waiter hand him a bottle and, the next second, Homelander's face twisted as he melted the man with laser vision.
What floored them came next: Homelander wasn't angry—after a few seconds his expression softened into gratitude, and he downed the entire bottle Fang Yuan had offered.
"Yes, it's my favorite!" Homelander beamed.
Maeve's jaw dropped; she swore she'd never seen Homelander like this, and she could tell he wasn't forcing it—he genuinely loved the milk Fang Yuan gave.
In that instant everyone understood: Homelander didn't hate milk; he hated who handed it to him.
"Who on Earth is this guy?" Curiosity surged in every mind.
Homelander's attitude toward Fang Yuan was uniquely special.
Fang Yuan chuckled inwardly; this was no accident.
With Telepathy he could read Homelander's thoughts and knew the boy had once loathed milk only because Fang Yuan used to bring it to him.
After Fang Yuan faked his death, every carton reminded Homelander of him, hence the rage.
The one who tied the bell must untie it; now that Fang Yuan offered the milk again, Homelander felt only touched.
Like tasting Mom's cooking after thirty years—Homelander was putty in his hands.
Telepathy gave Fang Yuan full-map vision; pulling this off was child's play.
After the meeting Homelander said goodbye and headed for Madelyn's office.
As Captain of The Seven he was supposed to brief the VP after a board session.
But he was Homelander; protocol was optional—he went eagerly because it let him see the person he wanted.
Through the wall he watched Madelyn fit a breast-pump and fresh Mother's Milk begin to flow.
Madelyn had recently given birth and was nursing.
"Gulp!"
Homelander swallowed; Fang Yuan had just given him milk, and the sight of Madelyn's fresh supply stirred something strange inside.
Inside the office Madelyn glanced at the monitor: Homelander stood outside, staring straight at her chair.
She knew instantly what Homelander was up to.
Flustered, she buttoned her blouse, though she realized it was pointless against his X-ray sight.
Recalling the ticking bomb Homelander had become, she pondered a moment and called out, "I know you're there—why not come in?"
Homelander flinched, caught peeping, but Madelyn followed up, "Are you afraid of me?"
He burst into laughter—Homelander feared no one except Fang Yuan.
He pushed the door open, expecting a lecture—no big deal.
But Madelyn's tone was gentle.
"I know I've been distant since Teddy was born."
Teddy was her newborn son.
She sat on the sofa. "But I want you to know: as long as you listen to me, you'll always be my good boy."
With that she unbuttoned her shirt again, the lingering milk and sudden view hitting Homelander like a truck.
Yes, to control her most valuable yet increasingly rebellious asset, Madelyn was diving into the Deep end herself.
She knew Homelander nursed a heavy Oedipus complex toward his quasi-mother figure, and she was staking herself to keep him obedient.
Homelander bit—hook, line and sinker.
When Fang Yuan next saw Homelander, the man's blueprint for seizing Vought still reserved a seat for Madelyn.
Fang Yuan as CEO, Madelyn remaining VP, and himself the freewheeling superstar—perfect.
Even though Madelyn had diverted baby Teddy's meals to Homelander, Homelander still ranked Fang Yuan first.
Fang Yuan saw every move Madelyn made and chose not to interfere.
The higher she hoisted herself now, the harder she'd fall later; Homelander needed to taste the World's sugar-coated shells before hitting rock bottom—only then would he realize how good big brother truly was.
After all, this was big brother helping little brother grow up.
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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