This time even Queen Maeve was tempted.
Homelander, of course, was the first to raise his hand. "I'm in!"
Helping his big brother take control of Vought Corporation was a promise he'd made from the start.
Starlight didn't hesitate either; she raised her hand right after him.
She'd long since been won over by Fang Yuan.
Maeve sighed. "Whoever ends up owning Vought, things can't get worse than they are now."
"Count me in too."
She was repeating something Fang Yuan had said earlier, so her words doubled as a nudge in his favor.
Three people in the room still hadn't declared their stance.
Ashley, A-Train, and Black Noir.
Ashley slowly lifted her hand in support.
Even without Fang Yuan's Telepathy, Ashley would have chosen exactly the same.
Reading the room was her strong suit.
Having the sitting Vice-President openly rebel delivered a bit of classic Vought shock to the rest.
A-Train pressed his lips together and, under Homelander's expectant gaze, agreed.
He had no choice; though he hated picking sides, both his bosses were on the other team—refusal wasn't an option.
Only if Black King were contesting the seat might he have wavered.
That left Black Noir as the last holdout.
Homelander shot Noir an eager look.
Fang Yuan, however, knew Noir's background was messy—an old Vought hand who'd followed Soldier Boy decades ago, then assigned by Stan Edgar to The Seven to keep an eye on Homelander.
At the critical moment Homelander spoke up: "Noir, are you with me and my brother, or with Stan?"
"Pick Stan and you can walk out right now."
After a moment's hesitation Noir raised his hand.
Though he'd worked with Stan longer, Noir knew the price of rejecting Homelander could be terrifying.
For instance—would he actually leave this conference room alive?
"Excellent." Homelander nodded, thoroughly satisfied.
Fang Yuan smiled and produced seven invitation letters, handing them to the five heavy-hitters plus Kimiko at his side; to avoid suspicion, even Ashley received one.
"Sign these and you're officially on board!" he said.
The group glanced at the cards.
[Vought Corporation cordially invites you to join.]
[Inviter: Fang Yuan]
[Signatory: ______]
They treated it as a symbolic ritual. Homelander was first to sign, scribbling his name with a flourish.
[Congratulations—company has signed an A-rank Superhuman: Homelander.]
The rest followed suit, writing their names on the invitations.
Kimiko included.
Because Fang Yuan could communicate with her, Kimiko had stuck close to him whenever she was free; though her brother was still missing, she already trusted Fang Yuan deeply.
In one go Fang Yuan gained five Character Templates!
[Homelander: Fame 147, Character Template A-rank, 90% developed.]
[Starlight: Fame 110, Character Template B+-rank, 71% developed.]
[A-Train: Fame 107, Character Template B−-rank, 100% developed.]
[Black Noir: Fame 102, Character Template C+-rank, 100% developed.]
[Queen Maeve: Fame 122, Character Template B-rank, 95% developed.]
Supes in The Boys World really weren't top-tier; the strongest, Homelander, only rated an A− template, while Noir was a mere C+.
Noir's power was self-healing, but on-screen it looked far weaker than Kimiko's ability—so lackluster Fang Yuan hadn't even wanted it.
Still, quantity had its own quality, and this world's supes boasted sturdy physiques across the board, giving Fang Yuan a long-absent boost to raw body stats!
Fang Yuan's personal stats now read—
[Name: Fang Yuan]
[Strength: D−]
[Constitution: D]
[Agility: D]
[Spirit: D−]
[Energy: E+]
His physical attributes had leapt across the board, and he'd uncovered a pleasant surprise.
Once a Character Template hit 100%, he could wield every ability of that character without even equipping the template.
He'd only just realized this; after obtaining the Invisible Man template he'd deemed it useless and never activated it.
Yet when inspecting Noir's power he hadn't purposely equipped Noir's template—he simply used the ability, burden-free.
Testing Invisible Man's worked exactly the same.
So Fang Yuan figured it out: max a template's development and its powers became permanently his.
His speed, for example, had jumped straight to D-rank—equal to A-Train's 1.1 Mach.
A-Train's strength wasn't low either, so Fang Yuan's strength rose to D−.
Invisible Man's defense turned skin into a special carbon material, but only when activated; since it strengthened only the skin, it didn't boost Fang Yuan's constitution stat.
Still, his constitution had crept up a small notch.
He'd long known that every reward claimed granted a percentage of the target's stats; early on the gains came fast, then tapered off.
Now, having signed powerhouses like Homelander and Maeve, the cumulative effect finally showed.
Best of all was the 100% template-completion bonus.
He'd thought The Boys World had nothing left to offer—no truly mighty figures resided here.
Turns out low potential has its own perks.
This time his strength had soared; even without equipping any other Character Template, Fang Yuan was confident he could beat Homelander with his own power.
After all, A-Train's speed plus the Invisible Man's defense, and Fang Yuan's own combat skills were already better than Homelander's—Homelander had no real edge besides flying.
And Fang Yuan was faster than sound; unless Homelander stayed airborne, the moment he landed he'd get pummeled.
But… ahem, pummel what? Homelander is so adorable.
By now Homelander had become Fang Yuan's little sidekick; how could Fang Yuan bear to hit him?
Black King doesn't count.
Whatever Black King beats up has nothing to do with me, Fang Yuan.
He checked their fame. As expected, Homelander ranked highest—after all, he was the strongest Superhuman. At 147 he was very close to unlocking the Fourth-Tier Reward.
The others were no match. A-Train still trailed the Invisible Man in fame, though age gave the Invisible Man a boost.
Starlight, newly added to The Seven, already had a fame score of 110. Vought planned to heavily promote her for PR, so it would keep rising.
As for Kimiko, she remained completely unknown.
But Fang Yuan would never forget her; Kimiko's self-healing had been his original target.
Right now, with things as they were, it was time for Kimiko to make her entrance.
Fang Yuan began giving orders: "The concept of The Seven is entrenched; five of us clearly aren't enough, so I propose we add Kimiko to The Seven!"
Everyone looked at Ashley—this used to be Madelyn's job, now it was Ashley's.
Ashley had no objections to Fang Yuan's words.
But the quietly seated Kimiko panicked and quickly told Fang Yuan mentally, "Me? I can't."
Fang Yuan comforted her, "Don't be afraid. Stardom is Vought's specialty; just follow the team's guidance."
"Of course," he added to Ashley, "after Kimiko joins, we must publicize her search for her brother."
Ashley nodded hurriedly.
Seeing Fang Yuan still remembered to help find her brother, Kimiko gave him a sweet smile and nodded in agreement.
Watching him talk to Kimiko so patiently, Starlight suddenly felt a pang of jealousy, and Ashley even more so.
Even as Fang Yuan's dog she couldn't stop wanting to stick close to him.
Only Maeve worried, "Kimiko… comes from a radical group. Will Stan object?"
Kimiko had been in the Seven Tower long enough for them to know her background.
"If he disagrees I'll personally go to the 82nd Floor and find him!" Homelander blurted.
Whatever Fang Yuan wanted was paramount to Homelander; no one could obstruct it.
"He'll agree," Fang Yuan said with a slight smile. "Vought needs to explain the Superhuman Terrorists. A Superhero from a radical group is perfect for deflecting blame."
Watching Fang Yuan speak so confidently, Maeve suddenly felt everything fit too perfectly.
If Kimiko joined The Seven now, there'd be no internal opposition at Vought and she'd draw huge attention—as if everything had been calculated.
Maeve glanced at Fang Yuan; he smiled back and she quickly straightened up.
"What are you thinking? It's all coincidence," she told herself.
"There's one more slot in The Seven. Big brother, why don't you join?" Homelander suddenly proposed excitedly.
Fang Yuan shook his head. "I don't have time to join The Seven right now. Leave it empty; we can add someone suitable later."
He really didn't have time to be a superstar at the moment.
Vought Corporation had two pillars: Superheroes and compound v.
compound v's value even came before Superheroes. As Stan said, Vought is essentially a pharmaceutical company; Superheroes are just a by-product of drug-making.
Now that Fang Yuan basically controlled the Superhero project, he naturally wouldn't miss compound v.
But compound v was special; he needed deeper research, so his main body wasn't suitable for the job.
Dirty work still had to be done by Black King.
The meeting soon ended. Stan never imagined that, with everything looking so good, the company was slipping from his grasp.
Just as Fang Yuan predicted, when Stan Edgar heard Ashley planned to push Kimiko as the newest member of The Seven, he not only voiced no opposition but praised Ashley highly.
"Quickly adjust the narrative—publicize Kimiko's background, stress that Superhuman Terrorists arise not because of compound v but because they were already radicals!" he instructed PR at once.
Both were transformed, yet Kimiko became a Superhero while others became Terrorists—clear proof the problem lies mostly with the people, giving Vought a perfect excuse.
A month later the storm around Vought gradually calmed, and the Military contract stayed intact, leaving Stan very satisfied.
But soon Stan couldn't smile, because of sudden news—
"What? Black King attacked Sage Grove Center?"
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