"Still… it's unclear whether [Power Accumulation] has an upper limit."
Sebastian pondered quietly.
"If Maeve's ability could truly grow without restraint, then in the original timeline she would never have lost to Homelander. If she could simply continue getting stronger, why would she ever give up?"
From this, Sebastian roughly inferred the ceiling of Maeve's power.
At most, it would stop around the level where she could contend head-on with Homelander in the original story.
But now—
With [Power Accumulation] and [Ability Absorption] fully fused and elevated into the Fifth Tier, that ceiling would inevitably rise again.
And likely… far higher than before.
At the same time, on the other side of the bond—
Maeve suddenly received a fragment of Sebastian's bloodline inheritance.
The information flooded her mind.
She froze.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as her hand instinctively covered her abdomen.
She was—
Pregnant.
As everyone knew, although superhumans possessed extraordinary strength, the price they paid was cruel:
their fertility was catastrophically low.
At present, the vast majority of superhuman children were not born naturally at all. Instead, they were selected by the Superhero Council after hundreds of screenings, cultivated in test tubes, and implanted into suitable hosts.
Naturally conceived superhuman children—
Were rarer than miracles.
Fewer than one in ten thousand.
But precisely because of that rarity, every naturally born superhuman inherited their parents' abilities without loss or dilution.
They were true heirs.
This issue had plagued sociologists and genetic experts for years.
The explosive rise in superhuman numbers, combined with their near-zero fertility rate, had triggered widespread panic.
According to population models, the ideal ratio between ordinary humans and superhumans should remain around 8:2 to maintain societal stability.
But that red line had already been crossed.
If the trend continued—
Human civilization would face stagnation, regression, and eventually extinction.
Without technological intervention, only a handful of long-lived superhumans would remain in the distant future, watching a world that could no longer reproduce itself.
"Thank you… Sebastian."
Maeve hugged Sebastian tightly, her face pressed against his chest, tears welling in her eyes.
"I thought… I'd never be a mother in this lifetime."
Sebastian gently stroked her hair, smiling softly.
"No. I should be the one thanking you."
Yet as he looked at her trembling shoulders, emotion stirred deep within him.
For the first time, he truly understood why so many superhumans drowned themselves in indulgence—alcohol, excess, debauchery, moral decay.
It wasn't just corruption by capital.
It was despair.
If your bloodline ends with you—
If everything you build will vanish the moment you die—
Then what meaning does restraint hold?
What motivation remains?
Anyone in that position would eventually abandon discipline and sink into hedonism.
In a daze, Sebastian suddenly understood his father.
Why, despite his frail body and failing strength, he had insisted on trying for another child year after year.
Why he had endured endless medical visits and swallowed countless medicines.
His father must have known long ago—
That the fertility of superhumans was disastrously low.
The Xiao family had always valued lineage above all else.
To let the family incense extinguish in his own generation would be a sin he could never forgive himself for.
Unfortunately, fate was cruel.
No matter how hard his parents tried, the so-called "curse of single inheritance" was never broken.
Though pure gold had preserved their youth, Sebastian's father never overcame the guilt in his heart.
By contrast, his mother Theresa slowly let go as Sebastian rose to prominence.
Their attitudes toward the matter had completely reversed.
And Sebastian—
Could only remain silent.
How could he possibly explain the truth?
That the Xiao family had already flourished across other worlds.
That in the Siheyuan World, the Xiao bloodline had branched endlessly and risen into a colossal power.
That over a decade ago, his eldest son Xiao Wenhong had already begun expanding the family—
And that now, even the Xiaofamily's eldest grandson was already chasing girls.
That countless sons had taken root within powerful factions, spreading the Xiao family's so-called "Divine Bloodline" far and wide.
And more terrifying still—
That the women of the Xiao family were monsters in their own right.
Cold-headed. Ambitious. Relentless.
Many had entered politics or the military.
Others dominated business empires.
Each one seemed carved from the same mold as Xi Hanmei—unyielding and domineering.
Compared to them, the men of the family were… disappointingly lazy.
If not for those terrifying women holding everything together, the Xiao family would have collapsed long ago.
But none of this could be said.
After all—
Time flowed differently between worlds.
In the ten short years Sebastian spent in 'The Boys' world nearly forty years had passed in the Siheyuan.
His son there was now older than his "current" self here.
His father here was born in the 1960s—
While his son there was born in the 1950s.
…
Sebastian rubbed his temples.
"Yeah."
"Let's… not think about that."
Some family trees were better left unexamined.
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