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The meeting with Butcher was not as peaceful as Hughie and Kevin had described.
When Hughie met Butcher from the other world, he originally wanted to have a good talk with him.
But the other party didn't listen at all, only wanting Hughie to leave as soon as possible, find a place to hide, and not be found by Vought.
As for what Hughie wanted to say, Butcher completely ignored him.
Although Hughie had long been well aware of Butcher's stubbornness, Hughie was already agitated from running into a world that seemed similar but wasn't.
So when Butcher was still cursing with foul language, Hughie couldn't help but hit him.
Of course, he held back his strength, otherwise, with Hughie's current physique, he might have punched straight through Butcher.
And it was at that moment that Butcher from the other world realized that the person standing there was not Hughie.
...
"Who... are you?"
Butcher's eyes turned dangerous.
His eyes were filled with uncontrollable rage, and his hand even went to his lower back, where his pistol was located.
Seeing that Butcher finally stopped chattering, Hughie said:
"I'm Hughie, but I shouldn't be the Hughie you know. I'm... I... I don't know what's going on either, but anyway, there's another world, and the experiences there are completely different from here. I... I ran from there to here, and then..."
"You're saying you're a Hughie from a parallel universe?"
"Exactly!" Hughie snapped his fingers: "It's a parallel universe! Wait... parallel universe?!"
Butcher's words finally reminded Hughie, making him realize what terms to use to describe the world he was currently in.
But then Hughie thought, he actually traveled through time and space to a parallel universe, just how much did the enhancement serum Kevin gave him strengthen his abilities!?
Hughie's eyebrows under his baseball cap furrowed together, wondering if his ability to travel through parallel universes was a phenomenon triggered by a temporary burst of power during the enhancement, or if it was a permanently solidified ability.
If it was the former, then it would probably be much more difficult for Hughie to return to his original world.
And if it was the latter... then why didn't his ability work when Hughie tried to go back before?
Hughie was still thinking, but before he could come to a conclusion, Butcher in front of him suddenly raised his gun and aimed it at him.
This sudden change made Hughie temporarily put aside the thoughts in his mind. He looked up, his gaze falling on Butcher's pistol, and sighed:
"...Butcher, I genuinely don't recommend you do this."
"Oh? Is that so? Maybe after I use this gun to blow open your damn Supe skull, you'll have some other different suggestions?"
"..."
Hearing Butcher say that, Hughie knew that words alone would no longer convince Butcher to give up targeting him.
This guy's hatred for Supe was ingrained in his bones, especially in this world, where Butcher had also become a wanted criminal, making him even more dangerous.
The Butcher in front of him was not the Butcher he knew, so he didn't need to hold back.
Hughie gave himself a mental pep talk, and then... his figure vanished, appearing next to Butcher in the blink of an eye.
Grabbing the gun in Butcher's hand and gripping his shoulder with one hand, Hughie said again:
"You can't beat me, Butcher."
"Bastard!"
Butcher wouldn't listen. Stubborn as he was, he swung a fist at Hughie, hitting him in the face, but it only caused Hughie's head to turn slightly to the side.
While gaining the ability of instantaneous transfer, Hughie also gained Supe physical attributes.
Butcher was just an ordinary person, no matter which world's Butcher it was. His full-strength punch was completely painless to Hughie.
To put it bluntly, Hughie now dared to lie on a train track and withstand a train collision. Was Butcher's fist supposed to be harder than a train's 'iron fist'?
Shaking his head and sighing, Hughie no longer held back this time. He threw a punch with restrained force, knocking Butcher unconscious. Then, he skillfully picked Butcher up and carried him away, disappearing from the spot.
Although Hughie's punch wasn't heavy, it wasn't light for an ordinary person.
Butcher took that punch and didn't wake up until that evening.
This time, Butcher wasn't as reckless as before. Perhaps he realized that the Hughie from another world was not an opponent he could handle, and his attitude instantly softened a lot.
Getting up, he finally agreed to have a friendly conversation with Hughie.
"So you came from that damn parallel world to ours, and now you're stuck and can't go back, so you thought of asking me for help, is that right?"
Applying ice to his cheek, Butcher looked up and asked, according to his understanding.
Hughie nodded:
"Yes, I originally wanted to find Kevin, but... but he's not doing so well in this world."
"Kevin? Who?"
"A former member of The Seven, The Deep. In my world, he's the CEO of Vought and the benefactor who helped me become a Superhero, but here... he sexually harassed Starlight? Oh my god, they were clearly a couple."
"Pfft... The Deep? That... that silly fish who only knows how to stand on a whale, posing in deadly ugly poses, waiting for us to crash into him? He's Vought CEO? And he's Starlight's boyfriend? Hahaha, Hughie, that joke is really too funny."
"...Butcher, do you think I'm joking?"
Hughie frowned; he disliked Butcher insulting his idol.
No matter which Butcher it was.
Butcher had genuinely been listening to Hughie's words as a joke, but seeing Hughie's serious expression, his smile couldn't help but gradually fade.
"You're serious? In your world, Deep is really the CEO of Vought? How... how is that possible? What about Homelander? What about Edgar? Would they allow something like that to happen??"
"Edgar seemed to have voluntarily abdicated and given the position to The Deep, and Homelander... he didn't openly object, but The Deep seemed very wary of him. He funded The Boys precisely to deal with Homelander."
"That's truly strange. Has Homelander changed his ways? He actually allowed that fish to be above him?"
Butcher completely failed to understand what had happened in the other world.
The Deep becoming Vought CEO? Homelander not stopping it? Edgar voluntarily abdicating??
If these things were said by someone else, Butcher would definitely dismiss them as nonsense or hilarious jokes.
But... the one who said these words was Hughie from another world.
This Hughie from a parallel world, although he had indeed become a Supe, possessed superpowers, and was some kind of damn Superhero.
But one thing about him had absolutely not changed, and that was the kindness that seemed extremely superfluous in this world and his unique 'cowardice'.
Don't misunderstand, Butcher wasn't scolding him; on the contrary, he was praising him.
It was precisely because of this kindness and 'cowardice' that Hughie was Hughie, and became the reins that held Butcher back.
So Butcher understood that the Hughie in front of him wouldn't lie to him, but precisely because of this, he didn't understand why the same world could have such drastically different developments.
Becoming slightly curious about the other world, Butcher looked at Hughie again and asked:
"So what are you planning to do now?"
"I want to..."
Hughie was silent for a few seconds, then replied: "...I want to go to the Church of the Collective first and get the dirt on Stormfront."
"Are you sure the Church of the Collective has dirt on Stormfront?"
"Definitely, Kevin said so. And the Church of the Collective has many Superhero scandals; they even actively create scandals related to these Superheroes just to control them.
"And Stormfront was a former member of their church, and a senior member at that, so the church must have information about her."
This was one of the things Hughie had decided after resting for an entire afternoon.
In the Church of the Collective of his original world, Hughie didn't dare to act too excessively, and certainly didn't dare to actually break into the Church of the Collective to get information on Stormfront.
Because he had an identity in that world. If he really caused trouble, the traces left behind would lead people to him, thus implicating others.
But in this world, Hughie didn't have to worry about that.
His counterpart in this world had no superpowers and was just an ordinary person. Hughie only needed to cover his face and change his voice to perfectly disguise himself as a 'Super Villain' to attack the Church of the Collective and get the dirt on Stormfront.
Although the two worlds had many differences, these differences had all occurred within the past year or so.
A year ago in this world, the development trajectories of the two worlds were exactly the same, so Stormfront's dirt would definitely be exactly the same too!
Getting Stormfront's past information from this world would also complete Kevin's mission.
Since he had come all this way, Hughie naturally had to prioritize the mission.
"And after you get the information?"
Butcher continued to ask.
Hughie fell silent again, and remained silent for quite a while.
He said:
"...Find a way to go back, but I can't think of how to go back right now."
"Idiot, it seems no matter which world you're in, you're an idiot."
Butcher cursed mercilessly, and before Hughie could retort, he said: "What were you doing before you came to this world?"
"Enhancing my abilities with the enhancement serum Kevin gave me?"
"Then isn't the way back right in front of you? Can't you just get another similar enhancement serum?"
"But that's a serum that Kevin had Vought develop after he became CEO. The current Vought... might not have..."
"Who says they don't? Compound V, can't that enhance your abilities? After all, you only need a temporary enhancement to get back to your original world; you don't need permanent enhancement. Regular Compound V can meet your requirements."
Butcher grinned.
Hughie froze, then his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
That's right, Hughie couldn't get another one of Kevin's enhancement serums.
But Compound V, there was plenty of it in this world.
With just one dose of Compound V, Hughie might be able to return to his original world.
...
"So, you injected another dose of Compound V!?"
When Kevin heard how Hughie returned to this world, his brows furrowed deeply.
Hughie asked, puzzled: "Is there a problem?"
"Is there a problem? A big problem! No one knows if one can continue to inject Compound V after injecting the enhancement serum! And no one knows what kind of adverse reactions will occur when the original Compound V and the enhancement serum are mixed!
"You just injected the enhancement serum, and then injected Compound V a few days later. The fact that you're still alive now is already a miracle!"
Kevin said exasperatedly.
The enhancement serum developed by Banner was originally still in the clinical trial stage.
During the period of injecting the enhancement serum, it was best not to inject any superfluous substances, so as not to affect oneself.
But this Hughie... he was even more lacking in medical knowledge than Kevin.
He had just finished injecting one tube of enhancement serum, and then injected another dose of Compound V.
It was fortunate that he was fine, otherwise Kevin really wouldn't know how to save him.
However...
Kevin thought of this, and seeing Hughie bouncing around in front of him, he let out a long breath and felt relieved.
No matter what, it was good that Hughie returned safely.
And he also brought back what Kevin needed most right now. This alone was enough to prevent Kevin from having any thoughts of blaming him.
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