Seeing Hope's resentful look, Homelander smiled confidently.
"Hope, you said earlier that your father has already found a suitable candidate, right?"
"That's right," Hope nodded and said dissatisfiedly. "He'd rather trust a stranger who appeared out of nowhere than his own daughter! He's simply unreasonable!"
"That suitable candidate is actually not hard to guess."
At this moment, Homelander was like Sherlock Holmes reincarnated, talking eloquently.
"Your father is an extremely cautious person; he wouldn't just pick someone off the street to perform such a dangerous infiltration mission. He needs someone proficient in various electronic security systems, with infiltration experience, a track record that can be checked, and who is also desperate and easy for him to control."
"Crucially, they must not attract Darren's attention, so this person firstly cannot have any connection to Pym. Secondly, they should ideally be an invisible person on the fringes of society, such as someone just released from prison."
"And I just happen to know that a person who perfectly fits these conditions was recently released from prison in San Francisco."
"Who?" Hope pressed.
Homelander slowly uttered a name.
"Scott Lang."
"Scott Lang?" Hope frowned, quickly searching for the name in her mind.
"The Vistacorp network intrusion case three years ago..." Hope blurted out, "That lunatic who returned the stolen money to the customers and then drove the CEO's bentley into a swimming pool?"
"Exactly, that's him." Homelander nodded. "A Master of Electrical Engineering, a top-tier network security expert. More importantly, he is now an unemployed, bankrupt, desperate ex-con who is even kicked out by his Police ex-husband when he tries to see his daughter."
"Your father must have had his eye on him for a long time. He only needs to design a small scheme, leaking some news to Scott about a super vault in his Underground Room. For a desperate thief, such a temptation is irresistible."
Homelander's deduction was logically rigorous and meticulous.
After listening, a look of realization flashed in Hope's eyes.
"So that's how it is... He deliberately leaked the news to lure Scott into stealing from his safe. This is not only a practical test of Scott's infiltration skills but also a way to naturally hand over the Ant-Man Suit to him, making him the new Ant-Man!"
With just a few fragments of information, he could accurately map out her father's psychological profile and lock onto the target within minutes.
This terrifying insight and reasoning ability deeply impressed Hope.
"He truly is worthy of being the man I've taken an interest in..."
This thought flashed through Hope's mind.
Immediately after, she was startled by her own thought.
She had unknowingly labeled this man, whom she had known for less than three hours, as 'her man' in her heart!
Her face, which had just cooled down, became burning hot again with a 'whoosh'. She quickly picked up a bottle of Water and took a sip to hide her abnormality.
Homelander did not notice Hope's little thoughts; immersed in the role he had woven, he continued.
"However, don't worry about the suit, Hope." Homelander leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"Scott Lang will deliver the suit to you personally."
"Why?" Hope asked in confusion.
Homelander gave a mysterious smile.
"Because, just last night, in a bar on the streets of San Francisco, I became friends with this Mr. Scott. And..."
"He currently owes me a big favor."
"So, all you need to do is wait peacefully. Leave everything else to me."
Then Homelander straightened up and glanced at the Patek Philippe on his wrist.
The timing was just right. Too much is as bad as too little; in this confrontation full of ambiguity and testing, an active retreat often leaves the deepest impression.
"Then, today's meeting ends here. I Hope this didn't take up too much of your time. I look forward to our next meeting."
After speaking, Homelander walked toward the door.
One step, two steps, three steps...
"Wait!"
A somewhat hurried voice came from behind him.
Hope didn't know what was wrong with her, but when her eyes fell on Homelander's tall and straight waist and hip curves, this man's attraction reached its peak for her.
A strong impulse drove her to shout out involuntarily.
Homelander stopped and turned his head, asking, "Is there anything else, Ms. Van Dyne?"
Hearing Homelander's inquiry, Hope's heart pounded.
Even she couldn't believe how crazy the words she was about to say were.
"Um..." Hope's eyes dodged slightly, and her hands unconsciously twisted together, "The time is just right. If you don't have other arrangements for the evening..."
"...I know a French restaurant nearby with good reviews. Maybe we could try it?"
As soon as these words were out, Hope's cheeks burned bright red.
My God! What on earth was she doing?
She, Hope Van Dyne, would actually take the initiative to invite a stranger she just met today to dinner?!
This was simply absurd to the extreme!
To hide her embarrassment and loss of composure, Hope hastily added a high-sounding reason.
"I mean... regarding the spatial physics technology you mentioned, I also want to further discuss its application prospects. After all, as potential partners, we need more communication, don't we?"
She now only prayed that the other party wouldn't see through her distress, or simply find a reason to refuse her and end this torture.
Standing by the door, Homelander silently gave a big thumbs up to the system skin.
"This skin effect is simply heavenly. Am I going to take down the future Wasp ahead of time? Then half of the Pym Particles are as good as mine."
Although he was overjoyed inside, Homelander remained calm and steady on the surface.
He turned around and walked back to Hope with elegant steps.
Looking at Hope's forced composure while the tips of her ears had already quietly turned red, he spoke with a low voice:
"Communication is certainly necessary. However, I must correct one point."
"To let a beautiful lady take the initiative to issue a dinner invitation is my greatest dereliction of duty."
"This invitation should rightfully be issued by me."
Homelander bowed slightly, making an elegant gesture of invitation.
"So, Ms. Van Dyne, I wonder if I have the luck to invite you to dinner?"
Hearing that Homelander didn't expose her distress but instead used a decent way to cleverly resolve her embarrassment, this feeling of being cared for made Hope feel sweet inside.
Hope tried her best to maintain a calm and polite smile on the surface, reaching out and gently placing her hand in Homelander's palm.
"Of course, it's my honor, Mr. Daniel."
But deep in her heart, because of this man's invitation, a joy like an eighteen-year-old girl's first love surged up.
Prompt! Harvested special popularity value +15,000! (From Hope Van Dyne)
Hope tried to calm her heartbeat.
"I need an hour to change my clothes."
"No problem." Homelander nodded gentlemanly. "I'll pick you up in an hour."
Hope took a business card from her bag, quickly wrote a string of addresses on the back with a pen, and handed it to Homelander.
"This is my private apartment address. See you in an hour, Daniel."
"See you in an hour."
...
After leaving the Calidore Club, Homelander immediately contacted Skynet.
"Skynet, I need something." Homelander didn't waste words and went straight to the point. "Can the realistic skin technology on the Terminators be applied at a tactical level now?"
"Yes, sir." Skynet reported immediately. "Combined with Skrulls' genetic mimicry technology, we have developed a civilian-grade tactical camouflage fitting layer based on the T-1050ti project."
"It can cover your body surface like a layer of real biological skin, not only simulating normal human body temperature, pulse, and muscle touch, but even simulating corresponding softness feedback based on external pressure."
"Very good!" Homelander smiled with satisfaction. "Based on my current identity model, customize a set of mimetic skin that covers my whole body."
Homelander glanced at the time, his tone firm.
"I'll give you forty minutes. Deliver it to me within forty minutes."
"Command confirmed." Skynet did not hesitate. "Within forty minutes, mission accomplished."