......
"F*** you!!!!"
Maeve, enraged, grabbed Butcher by his collar and lifted him up!
"Calm down, Maeve."
"Soldier Boy is different from Homelander. While both of them are bastards, Soldier Boy is a bastard who can be reasoned with."
"He can definitely help us take down Homelander."
Butcher, his hands tightly gripping Maeve's arms for support, his face as red as a pig's liver, quickly explained.
After all,
His Temporary Compound V had almost worn off.
If Maeve threw him, he would truly be crippled if not dead.
"You'd better be telling the truth!" Maeve gritted her teeth, throwing Butcher onto the sofa, then asked, "So what's the price you have to pay?"
"Not me, but You."
Butcher's lips curled into a wicked smile.
"Me?"
Maeve pointed to herself in confusion, then suddenly realized something, her pupils constricting: "You sold me to Soldier Boy as the price?"
"That's right."
"The price for Soldier Boy to agree to eliminate Homelander is You, Maeve."
"You should be happy about this; this is our only chance, the closest we've ever been to butchering that bastard Homelander."
"The price is merely for You to entertain our secret weapon during this period."
"You don't even need to participate in the battle; how safe and cost-effective."
Butcher always wore his signature wicked smile, reasonably analyzing the pros and cons of the situation for Maeve.
"Heh......"
Maeve sneered, feeling utterly cold, and said faintly, "Butcher, I think You're more of a bastard than Homelander and Soldier Boy now. Are You even human?"
"When I discovered the ugly truth behind You super heroes who appear righteous, I stopped considering myself human long ago."
"Because humans cannot kill devils!"
With that said,
Butcher suddenly sat up from the sofa, grabbed a bottle of champagne from the coffee table, chugged it down, and then slammed the empty bottle onto the floor:
"One sentence: do it or not?"
"F***!"
Maeve punched the coffee table in front of her, shattering it, trembling with rage, but under Butcher's relentless gaze, she finally nodded, angry and helpless.
Because,
Having betrayed Homelander, she had no way back. To survive, she could only go all the way down this dark path. It wasn't the first time, anyway, just like being bitten by a dog.
Maeve thought to herself, then glared fiercely at Butcher.
"When do I go find him?"
"Now."
Butcher's lips curved into that signature wicked smile.
"......"
Maeve swore she would tear Butcher's mouth apart sooner or later!
......
Downstairs at the hotel.
A high Frenchie was circling Leon's returned motorcycle-mode Arcee, excitedly babbling:
"Holy s***!"
"This is absolutely the most beautiful motorcycle I've ever seen in my life, Stark, where on earth did You get her from?"
"I want one too......"
Under the system's correction, Leon directly used his real name. He got off the bike, patted Frenchie's shoulder, and used the same excuse he'd used to fob off Tony:
"Found it by the roadside."
"Then You really hit the jackpot."
Frenchie, too high to be entirely coherent, didn't doubt Leon's excuse in the slightest. Instead, he reached out, wanting to touch Arcee's headlight.
Could Arcee tolerate this?
Rumble!
She started her engine herself, and a fresh burst of exhaust blew Frenchie far away, sending him tumbling into a trash can.
Though he wasn't dead, all his hair was burned off.
This scene,
Was coincidentally witnessed by Butcher, who had returned after pimping, and Maeve, who looked like a resentful woman.
"What happened, my friend."
Butcher walked over and asked.
"Nothing."
Leon shrugged: "Just that my beauty got angry with that guy."
"Your beauty?"
"You mean this motorcycle?"
Butcher looked at the futuristic-looking motorcycle-mode Arcee. Although he also wanted to touch it, given Frenchie's prior example, he wasn't that stupid.
"Doesn't look like something picked up by the roadside."
Butcher raised an eyebrow.
"Of course not."
Leon caressed Arcee's headlight with affection, simultaneously spouting nonsense:
"To compensate for my weakness of not being able to fly, the former U.S. federation specifically built this Jet Glider war vehicle for me, which I named Arcee."
"You mean she can fly?"
Butcher couldn't help but exchange glances with Maeve.
This was both good and bad news for them. Good, because they had a better chance against Homelander; bad, because... they hoped things wouldn't escalate to that point.
Although Butcher had a plan for what he was going to do from the beginning, he hadn't gone mad to that extent yet.
Leaving aside other things,
Even for his cheap son Ryan, he wouldn't choose to eradicate all Supes.
At least for now, that's the case......
The topic of Arcee ended.
Leon looked at Maeve beside Butcher with interest.
Like Starlight,
Maeve was also wearing casual clothes to conceal her identity, but hers were more provocative.
She only had on a loose, off-the-shoulder gray sweater that barely covered her buttocks, along with a pair of sheer black stockings on her legs and bright brown knee-high heeled boots; that was all.
"Wow~"
Leon whistled with interest, then, like an old friend, intimately put his arm around Maeve's shoulder, not at all treating himself as an outsider.
"Wait, wait a minute, I'm not ready yet......"
Although Leon was much more handsome than Maeve had imagined, she didn't seem to be losing out, even gaining something. But she didn't expect Leon to be so direct and subconsciously tried to push him away, only for Leon to whisper in her ear:
"Shh~"
"Time waits for no one, my beautiful lady."
"After all,"
"You wouldn't want to lose the great opportunity to deal with Homelander just because You made me wait too long, would You?"
"……"
Leon's words made Maeve feel strange, but she couldn't pinpoint why. In short, it made her a little depressed.
She quickly took a deep breath to calm herself, then put on a calm and charming smile, challenging him without showing weakness:
"Decades have passed, are You still capable? Don't tell me You can't even beat a woman like me."
"Heh~"
"Who do You think I am?"
"I'm F***ing Soldier Boy, f*** you!"
......
25 hours later.
Leon's room door opened.
Maeve walked to the bathroom, leaning on the wall. Butcher, who had been awake in the adjacent room, saw this and followed her, his eyes heavily black-rimmed.
Entering the bathroom,
Butcher found that after such a long time, Maeve not only looked fine but was also radiant, humming a tune while reapplying makeup in the mirror above the sink.
"How do You think he is?"
Butcher asked with a twisted expression.
Although he had no substantial relationship with Maeve, merely being partners in dealing with Homelander, after that night, Butcher felt an inexplicable emptiness inside, having not slept all night. The feeling was strangely similar to when he first saw the video of Homelander and his wife.
"Not bad, much better than I imagined. Oh, I mean in terms of personality, as for strength, You know."
"And unlike that giant baby Homelander, he seems like a normal person. Although I also think that sentence is a bit strange, that's the truth."
Maeve didn't turn to look at Butcher at the bathroom door, answering while reapplying her makeup.
"Normal person?"
Butcher fell into thought upon hearing this.