The Boys: I Became The Soldier Boy Chapter 72: Homelander Softens

Chapter 72: Holander Softens

"Dad... please..." Right now, half of Ryan’s feet were already dangling over the edge of the roof. Despair was written all over his small, pale face.

Holander looked at the terror reflected in those deep blue eyes that were a carbon copy of his own. He paused slightly, though he had originally intended to keep coaxing the boy. For so reason, scenes from the laboratory of his childhood flashed through his mind. A young John, dressed in a thin hospital gown, forced onto a towering test platform by a group of expressionless scientists. Back then, he had looked at those adults and elders with the exact sa pleading eyes as Ryan now.

Yet, those scientists hadn’t relented. They had simply told Holander, "Jump, John. Trust us, it won’t hurt you."

They had said the exact sa thing back then. But there was no other way—this was to trigger his superpowers, to master his abilities... Holander’s face twitched, a flash of confusion flickering deep in his eyes. He rembered Ryan’s words from monts ago, worrying that since his grandfather couldn’t fly, he might have inherited it from him and couldn’t fly either.

Holander didn’t know what to do anymore. If he truly made Ryan jump today, even though the boy wouldn’t actually be hard, still... what would be the difference between him and those scientists in the lab?

Holander took a deep breath. Looking at the trembling Ryan, he let out a helpless sigh, his tone finally softening. "Alright, Ryan, let’s try a different way." Holander took a small step forward, extending his hands in a cupping gesture. "How about this: you jump, and you try to feel the wind. If you really can’t fly, Daddy promises you that before you hit the ground, I will instantly fly over and catch you. I’m faster than a bullet, you absolutely won’t be hurt. How does that sound?"

Hearing this promise, Ryan blinked. The little guy’s immature mind raced as he thought it through. He had witnessed his dad’s speed firsthand; when they flew, he couldn’t even keep his eyes open. Since his dad promised to catch him, it actually seed doable... No matter what, his pleading had worked after all. His dad still loved him.

"O-Okay then, Dad." Ryan gritted his teeth. "Count to three. After three seconds, I’ll try to jump and fly on my own... But you absolutely, definitely have to catch , Dad! Don’t trick !"

Becca was completely dumbfounded, still frantically screaming below for Ryan not to do it...

Holander ignored Becca entirely, saying, "Alright, don’t worry, Ryan. Daddy never lies to you." Holander automatically nodded with a smile, even gently straightening Ryan’s collar. "Three..." Holander slowly uttered the first number.

Ryan took a deep breath, clenching both hands into tight fists. Closing his eyes, he tried his best to keep his weak legs from shaking. He told himself in his mind that when his dad counted down to "one," he would bravely jump.

However... while Ryan was still ntally preparing himself, before Holander even said "two," he extended his broad palm, shoved it directly against Ryan’s back, and pushed hard.

"Down you go!"

"Ah—fuck!!!" Completely caught off guard, Ryan plumted straight off the six-ter-high roof. A violent sensation of weightlessness instantly consud him.

Below, Becca, who had been staring up dead at the roof the entire ti, completely broke down at the sight. "No!!!"

She had been down there pleading desperately, screaming until her voice went hoarse, yet it hadn’t done a damn thing. That monster had actually pushed her baby boy off!

Whoosh!

Just as Ryan was about to crash onto the ground, a silhouette flashed across the grass. Holander landed seamlessly on one knee, with absolute precision catching the terrified Ryan in his arms. The entire sequence was smooth and fluid; Ryan didn’t even feel a shred of impact. Of course, he hadn’t felt himself flying either.

"Hahaha! See! I told you I’d catch you!" Holander stood up, cradling Ryan, and laughed.

However, Ryan didn’t find it funny in the slightest. He gasped heavily for air, his small face deathly pale. Struggling wildly, Ryan scrambled out of Holander’s arms and ran without looking back toward Becca, who was rushing over.

"Mom!" Ryan threw himself into Becca’s embrace.

"My baby! Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?" Becca held Ryan in a death grip, her entire body trembling as she fretted over him while gently soothing him. "It’s okay, it’s okay, Mommy’s here... it’s okay, baby."

"Co on, he didn’t even hit the ground!" Holander argued defensively. "I caught him, didn’t I? Sure, he wasn’t fully prepared, but this is a necessary process to trigger his potential. He didn’t sustain a single injury, right? Not a scratch!" Pausing, Holander added, "I an... worst-case scenario, even if I hadn’t caught him, with his genetics, slamming into the ground from a asly six ters wouldn’t have done a damn thing to him anyway."

Hearing his excuses, Becca spun around, glaring viciously at Holander as she snapped, "You goddamn psycho! You cold-blooded monster! You heartless animal! He’s only seven! How could you treat him so cruelly? You don’t deserve to be a father!"

Faced with Becca’s insults, Holander’s eyes shifted slightly. He advanced on Becca step by step, shouting, "Listen, I’ve seen the Vought files. Ryan is a perfect Supe child! Do you know why? Because he’s my son, Soldier Boy’s grandson, the continuation of the most powerful bloodline on the face of the earth! But what about you? You’ve got him penned like livestock inside this fake world! You’re ruining him!"

"You don’t deserve to be his father... Ryan, let’s go. Don’t listen to this unhinged psycho!" Becca didn’t want to hear another word of this monster’s delusional rambling. Grabbing Ryan’s hand, she spun around, intending to head back inside.

At the word "unhinged," Holander extended his massive hand, clamping it onto Becca’s arm. "Everything I do is for my son’s own good! Yet you keep raising him like so fragile little girl!"

"Let go of my mom’s hand!"

Shielded behind Becca the entire ti, Ryan finally snapped when he saw his father bullying his mother. Devoid of any technique, relying purely on raw instinct, he extended his small, pale hands, gripping Holander’s arm in a vice grip. Then, channeling every ounce of strength in his body, he violently wrenched it outward while delivering a massive, savage shove to Holander!