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Feeling Homelander's breath brush against her cheek,
Hope felt a surge of panic and quickly turned around, walking toward the floor-to-ceiling window, pretending to admire the view of San Francisco outside.
As she spent more time in Homelander's "Field of Temptation," combined with the massive shock from the Shrinking/Enlarging Light just now, Hope's sturdy mental defenses were on the verge of collapse.
Hope instinctively let down all her guard against the man before her.
She finally nodded.
"Yes, you win," Hope admitted. "Ant-Man isn't a legend. My father, Hank Pym, did indeed invent those Pym Particles that can change atomic spacing."
But she then gave a bitter smile, her eyes growing somewhat dim.
"But you've got the wrong person, Daniel."
"My admission that these things exist doesn't mean I can help you. Because neither of those things is in my hands."
Hope sighed.
"Actual control of Pym Technologies is in the hands of Darren Cross. He is secretly developing a weapon called the 'Wasp Suit,' attempting to replicate my father's achievements. As for the original formula for Pym Particles and the Ant-Man Suit, my father has hidden them away securely."
"And my father..." Hope gritted her teeth.
"...destroyed most of the experimental data and manufacturing formulas regarding Pym Particles stored on the servers years ago. Not only that, but he also hid the last Ant-Man Suit, guarding it against everyone as if they were thieves."
"Honestly, going to Darren would be more useful than coming to me. He has already reverse-engineered the remaining incomplete data to create his Cross Particles. But those are just defective products; long-term use makes a person bloodthirsty and cruel. He was actually a decent person once..."
"Of course, since you could make this..." Hope paused. "What is this called?"
"The Shrinking/Enlarging Light, Hope," Homelander replied.
"Oh, well, that's a very straightforward name. I mean, if you have the ability to invent this Shrinking/Enlarging Light, you should be able to overcome this problem as well."
After Hope finished speaking, she dejectedly avoided Homelander's gaze.
"As for me... what I have on hand now are just some peripheral technical materials. Without the Pym Formula as a reference base, I simply cannot lead a team to advance your project."
"No, Hope. You're wrong."
Homelander slowly approached Hope from behind, his hands gently resting on her shoulders. The distance between them was so close that Hope could clearly feel the heat radiating from him, but she did not resist.
"Only you can help. And only you are worthy of this great endeavor."
Hope turned her head and looked at Homelander in confusion: "Why?"
Homelander reached out and gently lifted a lock of Hope's short hair, tucking it behind her ear.
This intimate gesture made Hope's body suddenly tremble.
"First, I must express my sincerest apologies to you, Hope."
"Before coming here, I used some special channels to conduct a very deep investigation into everything about you."
Hearing that Homelander had investigated her, Hope frowned slightly, but her inner resistance vanished in an instant under the influence of the halo.
"I can understand," Hope said softly. "After all, in this World, aside from you, only Pym Technologies researches object size transformation technology. Understanding competitors is a business norm."
"Thank you for your understanding, Hope. You are always so wise," Homelander nodded appreciatively and continued.
"I am very clear about Pym Technologies' current situation. Darren Cross, your father's once most prized pupil and the current actual controller of Pym Technologies, is indeed a genius."
"But he has no morals, no bottom line. He doesn't care at all what this technology will bring to humanity."
"He only wants to turn it into a weapon and sell it at a high price to any organization that can afford it, even terrorist organizations!"
"If Darren Cross were allowed to participate in my project, this World would become a hell filled with assassinations and tyranny. Not only is he unworthy of touching my technology, he isn't even worthy of continuing to control Pym Technologies."
Hope nodded in deep agreement with Homelander's assessment of Darren. This was also why she remained at the company to secretly obstruct Darren even after breaking with her father.
"As for your father, Hank Pym..."
Homelander sighed, a hint of regret in his tone.
"He was once a great hero, there's no doubt about that."
"But unfortunately, he is also a pathetic man completely broken by the past. An accident destroyed his courage. He was terrified by the Pym Particles he created. He not only stopped all research but even tried his best to cover up the existence of this technology, attempting to erase it from human technological history."
"He lives in the shadow of the past and refuses to face the future."
"Accident?"
Hope caught the word with extreme sensitivity. In her memory, her father was always tight-lipped about the past.
"What accident? What are you talking about?" She turned around and stared intently into Homelander's eyes.
Homelander seemed a bit conflicted; he looked away, appearing to hesitate whether to tell the cruel truth to the fragile woman before him.
"Daniel! Tell me!" Hope's voice rose an octave, and she even stepped forward to grab Homelander's arm.
Under Hope's repeated questioning, Homelander let out a heavy sigh.
"Regarding your mother, Janet van Dyne."
Boom!
Hope's brain spun. Her mother's death was her greatest childhood trauma and the catalyst for her gradual estrangement from her father.
Her father only told her that her mother died in a plane crash. He even sent her to boarding school when she was seven.
"In 1987, a terrorist ICBM made of titanium was launched, targeting the U.S. mainland."
Homelander calmly recounted that long-buried top-secret file.
"Your father's Ant-Man Suit malfunctioned, preventing him from shrinking. To destroy the fuse inside the missile, your mother, Janet, made a choice."
"She turned off the Pym Particle Regulator on her own suit and underwent an uncontrolled subatomic-level shrinkage. She successfully penetrated the titanium and dismantled the missile."
Hearing this, Hope's face instantly turned pale. But Homelander did not stop and continued.
"But the price was... she fell into an abyss of infinite collapse, never able to return to her original size."
"She didn't die in a plane crash, Hope. She sacrificed herself to save the lives of thousands."
Tears flowed uncontrollably from Hope's eyes.
Twenty years of lies, twenty years of resentment. At the moment of learning the truth, it all turned into a flood of sorrow.
"Why... why did he never tell me..."
Hope covered her mouth, her body trembling violently. All her strength was completely stripped away at this moment.
Homelander opportunely reached out his strong arms and pulled Hope into a tight embrace.
Hope did not resist, but leaned against Homelander's broad chest, as if she had found a harbor where she could vent all her sorrow, crying unrestrainedly.