Li Yue didn't have that much time. Over the past twenty-odd days, Madelyn had approached Li Yue multiple times, trying to convince him to leave Homelander and act independently, but Li Yue had refused every time.
Just as he was thinking this, Madelyn's female assistant came up to Li Yue and informed him that Madelyn was looking for him!
Li Yue sighed. It was as if what he thought of came to pass. He guessed Madelyn was looking for him again to talk about him acting independently! Nevertheless, Li Yue went to Madelyn's office door, where he happened to see Homelander, who was pretending to admire his own portrait but was actually peeking at Madelyn!
After a greeting, Li Yue knocked on Madelyn's office door!
"Come in!"
Madelyn's voice came through. Li Yue didn't stand on ceremony, pushing the door open and walking straight in, taking a seat opposite Madelyn!
This time, Madelyn seemed determined to move Li Yue away from Homelander. She once again proposed that Li Yue and Homelander operate separately, using the excuse of helping Starlight increase her popularity.
However, Li Yue flatly refused again.
Having been rejected repeatedly, Madelyn had lost her patience and was no longer speaking to Li Yue gently.
"If you still want to stay at Vought and remain in The Seven, you must follow my arrangements! Otherwise, get out!"
These were Madelyn's exact words. Of course, Li Yue wasn't one to be outdone. If he couldn't stay by Homelander's side, there really was no need for him to remain at Vought! So Li Yue retorted directly!
"If you want me to leave Vought, I certainly have no objection. But, I happen to know that now is a critical moment for Vought's superheroes to be allowed into the Department of Defense! Do you think that after you dismiss me without cause, it won't have any impact on your entry into the Department of Defense?"
"Of course, if you think it won't have an impact, then by all means let me leave. I promise to turn around and go, no lingering!"
Li Yue even crossed his legs opposite Madelyn, speaking these words with an air of confidence.
"You, you, you... You're ruthless!"
Even someone as composed as Madelyn was flustered by Li Yue's words, almost incoherent! However, Madelyn truly had no solution to this.
She had previously expended a great deal of effort, even using a shapeshifting supe from the company to secretly film a government senator, which she then used to threaten him, only barely managing to get the proposal for superheroes to enter the Department of Defense approved.
But it still needed a vote to pass before the company's superheroes could officially enter the Department of Defense. And just as Li Yue said, now was a critical moment. If she dismissed Li Yue, it would inevitably have a considerable impact.
Madelyn couldn't accept such consequences. So, she could only compromise.
"If you have nothing else, I'll be leaving. My freshly brewed coffee is going to get cold!"
Li Yue said, and without waiting for Madelyn's reply, he got up and walked out of Madelyn's office!
However, upon exiting, he found himself face to face with Homelander! Homelander's gaze towards Li Yue held a subtle, chilling glint, full of menace!
Li Yue, however, seemed to completely ignore Homelander's murderous stare, gave a greeting, and then walked directly past Homelander's figure and out.
"Hoo... hoo... You're here!"
Madelyn took several deep breaths before finally calming her agitated mood a little! She looked calmly at Homelander as he entered!
"Do you want me to teach him a lesson?"
Homelander spoke, asking Madelyn. He had seen everything that had just happened from outside!
"Not yet. Let him be smug for a while longer. After the vote is over, there will be countless ways to deal with him! Right now, the most important thing is to ensure that there are no unforeseen changes regarding the entry into the Department of Defense.
Nothing that could provoke public opposition should be done."
Madelyn had regained her composure, as if nothing had happened, and spoke softly to Homelander!
"Don't worry, I already have arrangements for entering the Department of Defense. I guarantee we'll get those politicians' approval."
Homelander, however, was confident about this. Indeed, he had never worried about this matter like Madelyn did. It was unclear if he had absolute confidence or some other means!
...At this moment, Li Yue, who was outside occasionally sipping coffee, withdrew his gaze from the office.
"Want to teach me a lesson? I'm not afraid of you like I used to be!"
Li Yue was very confident at this time, because his current strength was already seven-tenths of Homelander's. Plus, with his Thor state bonus, Adamantium alloy transformation bonus, and weakened Black Emperor energy absorption bonus... Li Yue was very confident that with his current strength, even if he couldn't completely defeat Homelander, he could at least fight him to a draw! Therefore, Li Yue had nothing to fear, which was also why he dared to speak to Madelyn that way!
Li Yue felt that his future plans also needed to change. Originally, he only wanted to stay by Homelander's side and, after gaining all of his strength, think about other things. But now that his progress was so slow while staying by his side, it would be better to look for other ways to enhance his strength!
And in this world, the only thing Li Yue knew that could rapidly enhance strength was Compound V, which Vought was secretly researching.
Indeed, the super-powered individuals in this world were not a gift from heaven at all, but were secretly created by Vought International.
They sought out parents worldwide who were willing to let their children be experimental subjects, injecting large amounts of Compound V into their children's bodies, causing the infants to grow up with various superpowers!
Homelander was a product of this "infant program," and the first successful one! He was injected with large amounts of "Compound V" in his childhood and mutated into a superhuman.
He grew up in Vought's laboratories, lacking love and care from an early age, which led him to become a person with an Oedipus complex and an extremely violent and cruel personality when he grew up.
Moreover, his abilities were almost invincible, with hardly any weaknesses. Vought gradually felt uneasy, because if Homelander lost control, no one would be able to stop him, and he would become a disaster for the entire world.
(In the comics, Black Noir of The Seven is a clone of Homelander. He possesses all of Homelander's abilities and is even more powerful than Homelander. He is one of Vought Group's means to prevent Homelander from losing control. However, it seems to have changed in the show, so it's not considered here!)
And Madelyn, by exploiting Homelander's Oedipus complex, tried to give him maternal love, firmly controlling Homelander in her hands... The reason Li Yue hadn't considered Compound V before was because this drug had significant side effects for adults and a very high failure rate!
Furthermore, Li Yue didn't know if Compound V would even work on him. And at that time, as long as he stayed by Homelander's side, his own strength would continuously increase, so he had no inclination to look for a drug whose effectiveness he wasn't even sure of!
But now, Li Yue had no choice but to change his plans! Even if Compound V was ineffective for him, he could still take some samples back to the Marvel world and give them to Tony to research!
"Thunder, a plane has been hijacked. It's our turn to act!"
Just as Li Yue was contemplating, Homelander came out of Madelyn's office and said to Li Yue!