The Boys: Viltrumite Evolution Panel

"What defines a real man?"

"A real man is someone who does whatever he wants, and no one dares to force him."

"I don’t like to drink, so I don’t have to follow any drinking culture!"

"For example, if I wanted to shove this can of cola into your mouth right now, you wouldn’t be able to make a peep."

"Of course, aiming at Getsuga Tensho doesn’t count!"

Lucas emphasized once more.

When he said doing whatever he wanted, he meant not being coerced by others.

It’s definitely not about me not eating beef!!

Of course, he could choose not to eat beef too.

If anyone else had said that, Soldier Boy would have already punched them in the face.

But facing Lucas, he surprisingly didn’t retort for the first time ever.

Don’t want to drink? Don’t drink. Don’t want to smoke? Don’t smoke. What a damn simple principle!

He was actually speechless.

At this moment, Annie and Maeve stood up from the sofa.

"Lucas, we’re heading out. We haven’t been in action lately, so we’re going to take a spin around Brooklyn!"

"Be careful on the road." Lucas waved his hand.

The two girls left.

Soldier Boy watched their retreating figures and gave a rare nod.

"Kid, you found two good women. Even though they’re beautiful, they’re quite considerate of you."

"Logically speaking, marrying an ugly woman causes less trouble, but someone like you is an exception!"

"You deserve better!"

Lucas’s expression was a bit strange.

"Logically Speaking," wasn’t that a song by Soldier Boy from the last century?

He couldn’t have written those lyrics himself, could he!

"I’ve actually heard a couple of your songs. Those are the lyrics to ’Logically Speaking,’ right? You really never forget to praise yourself anytime, anywhere," Lucas said.

"Tell me, what are you doing here in the middle of the night, interrupting my multi-hundred-million dollar business deals?"

Soldier Boy sat down opposite him, swiped a bottle of whiskey from the liquor cabinet, and unscrewed the cap.

"Can’t I just come over to chat? That blonde... Homelander is the leader of The Seven, but I can tell, you’re the one really in charge!"

"I can’t exactly catch up with old friends, or I’d lose it and blast a hole in their chests. Might as well talk to you."

Lucas smacked his lips. "Tsk tsk, you father and son both love to mess with me. I’ll have to charge a therapy fee tomorrow."

Soldier Boy shook his head. "Forget it. With that mouth of yours, even a Christian would be talked into committing suicide on the spot. Since you don’t drink, I guess you don’t have any ’goods’ here either?"

Lucas certainly knew what Soldier Boy meant by "goods."

"Brother, what you do outside is your business. I know that as long as you pay taxes, America doesn’t ban that stuff. But in my house, the most you’re getting is some whiskey, understand?" Lucas said solemnly.

He, Lucas, might have a bit of a sex addiction, but he wouldn’t go out on the streets to harass decent women, nor would he touch that other stuff.

I am sworn enemies with gambling and drugs!!

"You’re a Puritan?" Soldier Boy looked surprised.

Lucas was more like a decent guy than most Americans today. As for the sex addiction, what’s two of them anyway?

Back in his day...

"Alright then, let’s just drink and talk about something else." Soldier Boy didn’t ruin the mood. "You did a good job with that Little St. James Island thing."

"I investigated your background. It’s very clean, no bad records, a true working-class origin."

He took a big gulp of alcohol, his eyes drifting. "I’m different. I was packaged as working-class, a poor kid from the streets of South Philly who discovered he not only had superpowers but also a heart of gold..."

"Bullshit! My father was a self-made man who owned half the steel mills in our state."

"I went to the best boarding schools and received an elite education!!"

Soldier Boy sounded quite down. "But I got expelled because I was acting out and causing trouble. What do you think my father did?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Self-made, half the state’s steel production—sounds like a capable guy. A proper old redneck? Either he took a belt to you or he was so disappointed he couldn’t be bothered to discipline you!"

Soldier Boy nodded. "Exactly. He said someone like me brought shame upon him, and he was disappointed in me!!"

"Later, I received the injection of the first-generation compound v, survived against all odds, became a superhero, and returned home in glory."

"I wanted to prove to him that I wasn’t useless. I was young then. A little boy wanting his father’s approval, or rather... a man’s true growth comes from his father’s approval!"

"But guess what he said to me?"

Soldier Boy grinned. "He said I took a shortcut!"

Lucas remained silent, not spouting any trash talk this time.

"Heh!"

"I’m not a good son, I admit that."

"But if I were a father, I would definitely raise my child to be a real man, standing tall and proud, not just criticizing them like my father did."

That’s not necessarily true!

Lucas shook his head. Everyone thinks that once they become parents, they won’t repeat the behaviors of the previous generation.

But when they truly become parents, they only think the previous generation’s fists weren’t hard enough, ruthless enough, or fast enough!

Soldier Boy is an example.

When he beats up Homelander or spouts trash talk, he doesn’t hold back at all.

A pathetic cycle.

"You know, Benjamin," Lucas said slowly, "actually, men who mature early are often late bloomers. Children always repeat the behaviors of the previous generation without realizing it."

"Have you ever thought that you’re actually copying your father’s harsh criticism?"

Soldier Boy turned his head, showing interest in Lucas’s perspective.

"You know better than anyone how low the success rate of the first-generation compound v was."

"Thousands of people rushed to sign up, thinking they’d snatched an opportunity to reach the heavens in a single bound! But reality is cruel; those who walked off that experimental table alive were few and far between!"

"You were the best among them. You survived, you became Soldier Boy—this isn’t called taking a shortcut."

"If I were to summarize it, this is talent—a talent that belongs uniquely to you!"

Soldier Boy was slightly taken aback.

For years, others had said this to him, but mostly out of exploitation.

Coming from Lucas’s mouth, it meant something completely different—this was affirmation from a real man.

Many people said he was just lucky, and even the father he respected most said he took a shortcut!!

He really just needed one word of affirmation!

"If it were me, being your father..."

Lucas thought carefully for a moment and said, "I would only feel it was a pity—a pity that you didn’t use this talent where it should have been used."

"But I would never criticize you for taking a shortcut."

"Because a man who wants to be a hero has nothing to be blamed for."

Soldier Boy lowered his head, silent for a long time, not saying a word.

He looked at the bottle of alcohol, his Adam’s apple bobbing involuntarily.

After a long while, he didn’t speak again, just passed the bottle to Lucas.

Lucas raised his cola and clinked it against the whiskey bottle.

"Clink!"

No more words were needed.

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