...
Vought Group.
The Deep, then head of the Crime Analysis Department, was reviewing surveillance footage from around Crimson Countess's home after her murder, under the supervision of Homelander and Ashley.
"Stop!"
"Rewind one frame."
Homelander suddenly said.
"Yes."
The Deep immediately rewound the surveillance footage on the computer by one frame, and then Homelander and Ashley, who were behind him, leaned their heads closer together.
"Soldier Boy..."
Homelander, who had been influenced by Soldier Boy's "great achievements" since childhood, recognized Leon at a glance, and the expression on his face instantly became much stiffer.
"How is this possible?"
The Deep, with his fish-like wisdom, offered his insight: "Soldier Boy died about forty years ago. Is it a cosplay or computer effects?"
"Shut up, The Deep!"
"You have no idea what computer effects are!"
With Homelander backing her up, even if Ashley was an ordinary person, she could still boss around the useless The Deep.
"Both of you, shut up!"
Homelander roared angrily, then muttered:
"Look at his face, that's him..."
"So what should we do now?"
The Deep asked, pretending to be professional, when in fact he had no idea what Soldier Boy's reappearance meant for Vought or Homelander.
"I don't understand."
"If Soldier Boy isn't dead, then where has he been all these years? Why did he kill Crimson Countess? Weren't they a very loving couple?"
"Fuck!"
Looking at Soldier Boy, who even seemed to be posing coolly and winking at the surveillance camera in the footage, Ashley felt a surge of emotion.
Afraid that Homelander would notice and hold her accountable, she quickly offered a loyal suggestion:
"Whether it's true or false, we control almost all news resources. I'll call the Vought News Department now and have them release a statement saying that we have Soldier Boy under control..."
"Shut up, Ashley!"
Homelander gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing red, and said, "Do you want to tell the World that Soldier Boy, the hero of heroes, has come back from the dead and killed Crimson Countess, who was once his girlfriend?"
"Before me, he was the embodiment of Vought. His statue still stands in front of Watertower."
"Ashley! Look into my eyes! Tell me!"
"I-I'm so sorry, Homelander, I didn't think it through..." Ashley obediently looked directly into Homelander's eyes, tears welling up in her eyes from fear, her voice trembling.
Angry as he was.
But Homelander ultimately reined in his laser eyes and had no intention of killing Ashley, otherwise, who else could he rely on to assist him?
The Deep, that retarded and useless octopus-fucker?
Damn it!
Is there no one in the entire company who can work as smartly and diligently as I do?!
"Oh, my God."
Homelander was so anxious that a stiff hair fell out, and he kept grabbing his hair.
"If the news that Soldier Boy is still alive gets out..."
"Vought will be finished..."
"I'll be finished too..."
"Fuck!"
"How could something like this happen to me?"
"It's not fair..."
"This is so unfair..."
Homelander walked to the side and leaned against the wall, muttering incessantly, so anxious that he even experienced tinnitus.
Aside.
The Deep and Ashley exchanged glances; they had never seen Homelander so flustered and scared, not daring to even breathe.
After a long time.
Homelander regained his usual arrogant demeanor, as if he were the boss of the World, but his voice was still trembling as he pointed at The Deep and Ashley and said:
"Listen."
"I'll take full responsibility for this. I'll find him and kill him."
"And You, my friends."
"You must destroy all footage. No one can see it. If he messes up, You will suffer."
Homelander, his eyes red, looked at The Deep, then at Ashley.
Without waiting for their affirmative reply, he hastily called Black Noir, who had been silently pretending to be air, and left the Crime Analysis Department.
As soon as they stepped out.
Homelander couldn't help but ask Black Noir, Soldier Boy's former teammate, "Why did Soldier Boy kill Crimson Countess?"
"..."
But Black Noir remained silent.
"OK."
Homelander didn't force Black Noir to speak, but suddenly felt comforted and patted his shoulder.
"Black Noir, only You are my true mentor and friend. I'm glad You're always by my side to face things together."
"Honestly, others like The Deep and A-Train are all pieces of shit. You're the only one I can rely on."
When Homelander said this, he was completely sincere.
Because Black Noir, as an old Supe from the Payback era, had accompanied Homelander for almost his entire current life under the Vought Group's arrangement, almost like his father.
Only.
As soon as he parted ways with Homelander and stepped into the elevator, Black Noir dug out the Vought tracker from his arm with his small dagger and casually threw it to the stunned female employee beside him.
That's right.
He was going to run away.
Black Noir deeply understood Soldier Boy's brutal nature, so he didn't dare to stay in the Vought Group for another moment.
Running away might mean survival,
But staying was definitely a dead end!
...
On the other side.
Leon and Butcher, having dealt with Crimson Countess, had returned to the hotel that served as their temporary Base.
Leon was about to enter his room to rest and wait for the system CD, but he was stopped by U.S. Sweetheart.
"You don't need to look for Black Noir, but he usually stays in Watertower unless he's on a mission, so it's hard to catch him alone."
"I suggest You deal with the TNT Twins and Mindstorm first. I've gathered almost all their information."
"Alright, I'll take a nap. Call me when You find someone."
"Wait!"
Starlight, who had come out of Hughie's room, called out to Leon.
"Is something wrong, U.S. Sweetheart?"
Leon walked up to Starlight, towering a full head above her, and with his formidable, ancient Greek sculpture-like muscles that clearly indicated his prowess, he exuded an overwhelming presence.
"Gulp~"
The huge disparity in their physiques, heights, and combat power made Starlight swallow nervously, then she bravely gathered her courage and questioned, "You hurt Hughie!"
"Oh~ yes."
Leon readily admitted, then walked past the somewhat stunned Starlight, looked into the room, and greeted Hughie, who had woken up and was resting against the headboard:
"My friend, how are You doing now?"
"Uh, I'm okay, at least I'm not dead."
Facing Leon, the guy who almost kicked him to death, Hughie's Adam's apple kept bobbing nervously, and he replied with a somewhat unnatural expression.
"It's good that You're not dead."
"I should apologize to You, Hughie."
"Apologize?"
"No, no, no!"
After the A-Train incident, Hughie was almost suffering from PTSD from the word "apology," always feeling that Leon had ill intentions towards him, so he quickly refused.
"No, You deserve it, man."
Leon persistently walked to Hughie's bedside and apologized to him with a solemn expression: "You know, I was locked up by those bastards for too long. I didn't mean to hurt You then."
"You clearly just wanted to help your companion get out of trouble, and had no intention of harming me, but I kicked You so hard."
"You deserve this apology, Hughie."
"I'm not a bad person."