Hope gave her head a gentle shake, trying to drive out the ill-timed, romantic thoughts from her mind.
She brushed the short hair by her ear, took a half-step back, and then carefully bent down.
To avoid another wardrobe malfunction, she kept her knees together, her skirt clinging tightly to the curves of her thighs, as she knelt on the carpet in an extremely ladylike manner.
She slowly extended her right hand, placing her fair, smooth palm flat in front of Homelander.
A smile played on the corners of Homelander's lips as he cooperatively stepped forward and, with a light leap, jumped into Hope's palm.
Hope held her breath, carefully supporting Homelander as she stood up.
As her palm rose, she clearly felt the weight pressing against it.
"Volume and mass are synchronized..." Hope muttered to herself. As a top-tier scientist, she knew exactly what this implied.
She had studied the records left behind on Pym Particles and knew the principle involved compressing the distance between atoms; an object's fundamental mass wouldn't simply vanish into thin air just because its volume shrank.
To reduce weight while shrinking in size, the user had to use the regulator on the Ant-Man suit to transfer and store excess mass in an extra-dimensional space.
Only then could synchronized reduction of mass and volume be achieved.
When an attack was needed, the regulator would instantly extract the mass from that space, granting the tiny body a matching destructive force.
This theory sounded perfect, but Hope knew it had a fatal flaw.
If the regulator on the suit malfunctioned or was damaged in combat, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The user would be twisted into a pile of mush by a sudden, irregular density collapse.
Yet the thing this man had produced perfectly bridged the physical gap between mass and volume without needing any extra equipment.
At least in terms of safety, this technology was far more advanced than the Pym Particles her father guarded like a treasure.
"How exactly is this possible?" Hope finally couldn't help but speak up again.
Homelander smiled without answering and simply lay down in Hope's soft, warm palm.
He rested his head on his hands, crossed his legs, and looked as relaxed as if he were sunbathing on a beach in Hawaii.
This seemingly casual action, combined with his miniature body only a few centimeters tall, created a strange visual contrast under the perfect filter of the "Heartthrob" talent.
"He's kind of cute..." The thought popped into Hope's mind uncontrollably.
She unconsciously leaned her face closer, wanting to see the person in her palm more clearly.
Homelander could feel Hope's warm breath brushing over his body, carrying a faint scent of perfume.
In reality, Homelander's current leisure was merely an act.
Because he himself had no clue what the scientific principle behind this damn flashlight was.
While lying in Hope's palm, his consciousness quickly sank into his mind, connecting to the system.
"System, you have the technical theory for this Shrink/Enlarge Light, right? Give me a copy; I'm about to show off."
The system responded quickly.
[To obtain the underlying structure and technical theory of this accessory, you must use special popularity value for exchange.]
[Paper documentation: 20,000 special popularity value.]
[Knowledge infusion: 50,000 special popularity value.]
Homelander weighed his options for a moment and made a decision.
Now was the critical moment to show off; he couldn't just pull out a bunch of blueprints for Hope to read herself. That would be too tacky.
"Choose knowledge infusion. Immediately."
[Command confirmed. Deducting 50,000 special popularity value. Beginning knowledge infusion...]
In the next second, a stream of complex knowledge—quantum physics, space folding theory, and high-dimensional mass conversion—poured into Homelander's brain like a bursting dam.
Homelander closed his eyes. On the surface, he seemed to be resting in Hope's palm, but in reality, he was rapidly digesting these cutting-edge theories that would shock the entire Earth's scientific community.
...
Two minutes passed just like that.
Hope remained leaning in, gazing at the man in her palm with some fascination.
It wasn't until Homelander slightly furrowed his brow that she was pulled out of that strange state.
"Are... are you okay, Daniel?" Hope asked softly, her voice so gentle it felt foreign even to her.
"You look quite tired. If you're feeling unwell, I can find a guest room for you to rest in."
Homelander slowly opened his eyes. The vast amount of physical knowledge had perfectly integrated into his memory bank.
Now, in the field of microphysics, he stood on equal footing with Hank Pym, and in some areas, he was even superior.
"I'm not tired, Hope," Homelander smiled. "Sorry for worrying you. It's just that your palm is so soft and comfortable that I couldn't help but want to lie there a bit longer."
Hope's cheeks flushed slightly.
She swore that in her nearly thirty years of life, no man's sweet talk had ever elicited such a strong reaction from her.
"Are you always this smooth-tongued?" She tried to keep a straight face but couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.
"Now, we should talk business." Homelander straightened his clothes and stood up, looking up at Hope. "Put me back on the ground, Hope. While looking up at a beautiful lady is a pleasure, it's not conducive to an equal exchange."
Hope nodded and obediently placed her palm flat back on the carpet.
Homelander stepped off her palm and then aimed at himself.
"Buzz—!"
Another beam of pale orange light flashed.
In the blink of an eye, Homelander's figure returned to his tall, 190cm stature.
The distance between the two closed once again.
"You asked me how it handles mass. The answer is simple: it doesn't handle mass at all."
"The technology in my hand doesn't involve dimensional mass transfer. It's based on a high-energy physical constant wave that can directly modify the target object's Planck constant. When the beam hits an object, it forms an invisible quantum film on the surface. This film will... (The rest is confidential)"
Hope listened intently, her eyes gradually lighting up.
Although the theory Homelander presented was incredibly avant-garde, it was surprisingly self-consistent within a scientific logical framework.
"Incredible. I'm certain this is a perfect invention capable of overturning the course of human civilization." Hope's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"Perfect? No, there is no such thing as perfect technology in this World."
Homelander bluntly pointed out the fatal flaw of this technology.
"The biggest flaw of this technology is that it isn't permanent."
"The shrunken or enlarged state can only be maintained for twenty-four hours at most. Once the interference field's energy is exhausted, the target object will irreversibly and forcibly revert to its original form. If this rebound occurs in a cramped space, the result is being crushed to pieces."
"This is why I came looking for you, Hope."
"My technology possesses absolute safety, while your father's Pym Particles possess the stability to permanently change atomic spacing."
Homelander leaned forward slightly, his face only inches away from Hope's.
"Now, beautiful Ms. van Dyne. After witnessing all of this with your own eyes..."
"Can you admit to me now that Ant-Man and Pym Particles truly exist?