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Inside The Seven's conference room.
Kevin stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in The Seven's conference room, gazing at the city below, lost in thought.
Although not much time might have passed in this world, Kevin felt as if it had been a long time since he had last held a meeting with the members of The Seven.
The more he traversed worlds, the more Kevin felt that everything in the The Boys world was meaningless.
All these internal affairs of Vought made him feel a bit annoyed.
He didn't want to continue managing The Seven, nor did he want to continue being the CEO of Vought; he only wanted to travel through worlds, upgrade his skill tree, and see everything he hadn't seen before.
Compared to his initial dream of just relaxing, Kevin's dream had changed.
He didn't know if this change was good or bad, but in any case, it was what he currently wanted to pursue.
And to get rid of these things, Kevin had to properly handle everything in the The Boys world.
Only when his home base was stable and safe could Kevin confidently 'travel' to other worlds.
Kevin stood by the window, waiting for all members of The Seven to arrive.
As Homelander entered the conference room right on time, the meeting officially began.
Aside from Stormfront, who had been temporarily expelled from The Seven due to public opinion and 'scandals,' the other six were all present.
"I called you all here today, and I believe you know why."
Turning around, Kevin's expression was serious. He picked up the remote control, aimed it at one of the screens in the conference room, and switched it to the latest news:
"Stormfront, she escaped."
"…"
Everyone remained silent.
Kevin continued: "I believe everyone is aware of the recent news. What Stormfront did and what kind of person she is have all been detailed in the news, so I won't elaborate here.
"In short, the public opinion Stormfront is currently facing, and the repercussions of her escape, have caused Vought significant losses…"
"What do you want to say?"
Before Kevin could finish, Homelander impatiently interrupted with his question.
Looking at Homelander's reaction, Kevin narrowed his eyes slightly.
Homelander had always disliked Stormfront. By rights, with Stormfront now facing public backlash, having fallen from grace and being reviled by everyone, Homelander should have been the happiest.
But why did he seem not happy at all?
Homelander's reaction greatly surprised Kevin. He made a mental note of it for now and took over from Homelander, saying: "We need to find Stormfront and, at the very least, control her so she can't harm anyone else."
"So, what Stormfront did was all true?"
Maeve suddenly asked.
She hadn't been bothered much by Homelander recently, and usually didn't pay attention to his affairs. She just did whatever the company told her to do and wasn't aware of other matters.
When Maeve first heard the news about Stormfront, she thought Vought would quickly do damage control and protect Stormfront.
After all, Stormfront was very popular and should still bring in a lot of revenue for Vought.
But now, hearing Kevin's decision, Maeve realized that the Group was truly going to abandon Stormfront.
This meant that what Stormfront had done was true, and the Group couldn't protect her.
"I can responsibly tell everyone that this is true, so please don't ask any more unnecessary questions. My people have already located Stormfront's disappearance point, and I believe we will find her very soon.
"Given Stormfront's personality, she definitely won't surrender without a fight. We might face a tough battle then, and I hope everyone is prepared."
When Kevin spoke, no one present dared to refute him.
Maeve, Shockwave, Annie, and Black Noir had no objections, leaving only Homelander.
Seeing Homelander, who seemed to be holding something back, Kevin let the others go downstairs first, keeping Homelander behind, and asked: "Homelander, do you have anything you want to ask?"
"No."
"The way you look now, it doesn't seem like there's nothing. Stormfront said something to you, didn't she?"
"…" Homelander remained silent for a moment, then he turned to Kevin and said: "Although I truly hate her, there is one thing I have to agree with her on: the Compound V you developed, which can make Supes lose their powers, gives those mortals the ability to kill gods! This Compound V should never have existed!"
"Kill gods… Homelander, you are mistaken. We have never been gods. We are just ordinary people who accidentally gained abilities, and there will never be gods in this world."
"I am a god!!!"
Homelander suddenly became agitated. He moved closer to Kevin, lowering his voice and saying: "We are gods! We are born to be above those mortals! Why should we listen to their commands? Why should we be constrained by them?"
A fierce glint appeared in Homelander's eyes.
It seemed that during Kevin's absence, Stormfront had said something more to Homelander.
Although they didn't get together as in the original story, Homelander's ideology was clearly influenced by Stormfront.
He began to feel that he was inherently superior, that he should be some kind of god.
Perhaps Homelander had similar thoughts even before this. It wasn't difficult to see that such ideas were already budding in his mind from the words he spoke to those Catholic believers at the Faith Expo.
Stormfront merely watered and fertilized this budding idea, allowing it to grow in Homelander's heart.
Looking at Homelander, whose eyes were a bit red, Kevin sighed.
He hadn't intended for Homelander to exit the stage so soon. He had originally thought of using a gentler method to have Homelander leave The Seven.
But now, it seemed not only Stormfront couldn't wait, but Homelander was also the same.
"…Let's discuss this when we get back, John."
"?"
Homelander froze. He stared at Kevin with a shocked look, as if he had just met Kevin.
"You… you called me by my name directly!?"
Homelander was incredulous.
John was Homelander's name, a name he had abandoned and not used for a long time.
Aside from the doctor who raised him, no one dared to call Homelander by his given name.
But Kevin, at this moment, spoke his name directly to Homelander's face.
This was an insult to Homelander!
And Homelander could tell that Kevin was clearly doing it on purpose!
"Is that important? Homelander, or John, it's just a name to you. From now on, I won't be a member of The Seven; I'll simply be the CEO of Vought.
"And as a CEO, I can't possibly call my employees by their codenames every day, can I?"
"You…"
"Alright, John… Well, perhaps you prefer me to call you Homelander. Homelander, we can talk about other things later. Now you should get to work. This is your comeback battle, so don't mess it up."
Kevin smiled as he spoke to Homelander.
During this period, Vought had been keeping Homelander out of the public eye. Aside from having him on set for filming, Homelander was not allowed to appear in public.
Not only was Homelander's fan base continuously decreasing, but he himself was becoming increasingly impatient.
He even started to feel that Kevin was deceiving him.
But this time, if handled properly against Stormfront, Homelander would become a great hero fighting against 'Nazis.' The previous incident of accidentally killing innocents might also be downplayed or resolved because of this.
Just as Kevin said, this was Homelander's comeback battle.
Homelander would thus be resurrected, reappear in the public eye, receive public admiration, and gain a large number of fans.
Kevin's words undoubtedly struck a chord with Homelander.
The words he had originally wanted to say were instantly swallowed back. He gave Kevin a long, dark look before turning to go downstairs and rejoin the rest of The Seven.
Having temporarily dealt with Homelander, Kevin's expression showed no sign of relaxation.
He closed his eyes slightly, as if in a mental struggle.
After a while, Kevin picked up his phone and dialed Butcher's number:
"Hello? Are you interested in meeting Homelander in person?"
"Do you want me dead?"
On the other end of the line, Butcher retorted impolitely.
Kevin, however, laughed at his words: "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't use such a low-level method."
"…I understand. Give me the location."
After only two or three seconds of thought, Butcher seemed to understand what Kevin meant by calling him.
Upon receiving the address from Kevin, Butcher decisively hung up the phone.
After notifying Butcher, Kevin returned to his office and took out a special syringe filled with Compound V from a custom-made drawer.
This Compound V syringe was not much different from other syringes; the only difference was the needle of this injector.
Made of Vibranium and used by Kevin, who had a Level 6 physique, it could easily penetrate any hard object.
Including the skin of Supes, who were known for their defense.
When Kevin took out this Compound V, what he intended to do became obvious.
…
"Everyone get ready, we're going out."
Ending his communication with Kevin, Butcher commanded The Boys, who were on standby.
Marvin, who had just finished talking to his wife and daughter, seemed to understand something when he saw Butcher's expression at that moment, and asked: "…Is it over?"
"Pretty much. Kevin wants us to go meet Homelander. He wouldn't possibly want us to go die, so… we might see a Homelander who is weaker than a baby then."
Butcher's lips curled into a grin, almost splitting to his ears.
Kevin wouldn't send them to their deaths, yet Kevin wanted them to confront Homelander directly.
Clearly, Kevin wanted them to deal with Homelander.
Not sending them to their deaths, yet wanting them to deal with Homelander, meant that Kevin had a way to keep them safe in front of Homelander, and could even ensure that Homelander would be killed by The Boys.
Connecting this to the recently hyped Compound V being promoted online, Butcher quickly figured everything out, understood what Kevin intended to do, and also knew what he himself needed to do.
After arranging The Boys members, Butcher added: "Frenchie, call Hughie and tell him to be ready for backup nearby. He's the only Supe among us, so if something unexpected happens, we can escape through him."
Although Butcher understood Kevin's intentions, for safety's sake, he decided to have Hughie on standby.
Butcher and Kevin had a partnership, but that didn't mean he could trust Kevin unconditionally.
Having a backup plan was also a responsibility for his and his teammates' lives.
"Alright, lads, let's finish this damn job."
With preparations complete, Butcher revealed a sinister grin.
The Boys' work seemed like it was about to end.
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