…
To look out for each other, The Boys chose to team up in pairs.
Hughie and Starlight formed one team, while Butcher and Frenchie formed another.
On a side note.
Besides the basic physical enhancement common to all supes, Frenchie's unique ability, awakened after his first injection of Temporary Compound V, was toxin immunity.
As for how Frenchie knew it was toxin immunity…
It was because he secretly took some drugs to refresh himself before setting off, but after awakening his superpower, the stimulating effects instantly vanished.
Leon estimated that Frenchie's excessive drug use led to drug resistance, which was then transformed into a superpower by Temporary Compound V.
One could only say,
He was a true talent.
Naturally—
The remaining Mother's Milk and Leon formed a team, waiting outside the Villa for good news.
As for Kimiko, because this mission required some communication skills, The Boys did not bring her along; instead, they had her guard the house.
Before The Boys left for evacuation, Leon called Butcher aside.
“Give me a tube of that stuff of yours too.”
“Why?”
“You don’t need this.”
Saying this,
Butcher tossed a tube of Temporary Compound V to Leon. Leon caught it, then shifted his body, allowing Butcher to see Mother's Milk not far behind him.
“I don’t need it, but he does.”
“What if he couldn’t help but offend me, and I accidentally killed him? If possible, I want to be a good person; this is for his safety.”
“Makes sense.”
Butcher agreed with Leon’s explanation, feeling it was a highly probable scenario, trusting both Mother's Milk and Leon.
After Butcher left,
Leon returned to Mother's Milk, who was using binoculars to observe the Villa.
“Hey, Bro, it’s just the two of us left here now.”
Leon chuckled, “You seem to have some issues with me. Why don’t we take this opportunity to clear the air? After all, we’re part of the same team now, and there shouldn’t be any estrangement; that’s too unprofessional.”
Hearing this,
Mother's Milk put down his binoculars and turned to look at the Soldier Boy in front of him, whom he wanted to hate but inexplicably couldn't:
“You killed my family.”
“Which one?”
“All of them in the past.”
“Then I really can’t remember anything at all.”
Leon was telling the truth; after all, he was just a stand-in, not the real Soldier Boy himself.
Here it comes again…
This sense of incongruity…
Mother's Milk felt a mix of emotions; his enemy was right in front of him, yet his heart remained empty.
“Hey, Bro, listen to me.” Leon patted Mother's Milk’s shoulder, comforting him, “Perhaps the one who killed your family was some scumbag disguised as me doing bad things.”
“After all, when you’re popular, there’s a lot of trouble. This is a common tactic used by some anti-fans to slander me.”
“Stark, you guy…”
Past memories and current images intertwined. It had to be said, Mother's Milk began to suspect that what Leon was saying might actually be the truth.
He couldn't tell,
He really couldn't tell!
“Shit!”
“What is real?!”
Mother's Milk’s head throbbed, and he slammed his fist hard into the lawn!
Seeing this,
Leon’s lips curved into a smirk, and he tossed the tube of Temporary Compound V he had gotten from Butcher at Mother's Milk’s feet.
“Bro, I think what you need right now is this.”
“Because some things can’t be figured out just by thinking. You’ve restrained yourself for too long; what you need now is just to vent.”
“After you’ve vented, perhaps some things will naturally become clear.”
Leon’s voice sounded like a devil’s whisper in Mother's Milk’s ears.
He gritted his teeth, then, with a fierce resolve, picked up the Temporary Compound V from the ground and jabbed it into his carotid artery, as this was the fastest and most potent way to take effect.
“Ugh ahhhhh!!!!!”
As the Temporary Compound V was injected, Mother's Milk couldn't help but groan in pain and fall to the ground. Immediately after, his entire body's muscles and blood vessels began to emit a translucent, fiery red glow, which eventually converged on two points on his upper body.
Finally,
Two terrifying laser beams, comparable to Butcher’s Heat Vision, shot out uncontrollably!
Bang! Bang!
The two camphor trees behind Leon fell in response.
‘Tsk!’
‘The superpowers awakened by this Compound V are too homogenized, and lasers shooting from there… I have no desire to sign in for that!’
Leon had thought that someone like Mother's Milk, who was extremely resistant to superpowers, would become very strong once he awakened them, especially with Butcher and Hughie as examples.
It turned out he had overthought it.
However, it was also quite reasonable—
Butcher hated Homelander, so his superpower was the same Laser Eyes.
Hughie hated A-Train, so his superpower was an alternative speed, which was teleportation + instantaneous travel.
Mother's Milk hated Soldier Boy, so his superpower was the sister of the Chest Blast, which Leon called Chest Lasers.
Although Leon didn't seem to have used Chest Blast in front of Mother's Milk yet…
“Leon Oppa~”
“The scheduled time has arrived~”
A cute alarm sound from Kindergarten Arcee suddenly came through Leon’s Bluetooth earpiece. He smirked and waved to Mother's Milk, who had transformed into a temporary Superman behind him, greeting him:
“The playtime ends here.”
“Now, let those inherently evil supes feel the pain.”
Mother's Milk’s face was dark, and he nodded heavily. He felt better than ever now and was determined to make those supe bastards kneel and sing their surrender!
Inside the Villa.
“What the f*ck?!”
“How did you do that?!”
Hughie had just encountered A-Train, who came to seek revenge for his brother Blue Hawk. He punched him with his supe-level physical strength but was stopped by Starlight, who was beside him.
She pointed to her watch for Hughie:
“It’s been three minutes, Hughie.”
“Leon is coming. We don’t have time to waste on him.”
Saying this,
Starlight turned to look at the somewhat dazed A-Train.
“A-Train, though you don’t deserve a warning, leave here, now, immediately, if you don’t want to die!”
With that,
Starlight dragged Hughie away. A-Train’s face was unpredictable, and at that moment, Blue Hawk appeared in his sight, completely igniting the rage in his heart.
A-Train, whose heart was already overburdened, immediately activated his super speed recklessly, running towards Blue Hawk, pressing Blue Hawk’s head to the ground and rubbing it, taking him with him as he left the scene at supersonic speed.
By the time Leon, dressed in a soldier boy suit, followed by the exposed Mother's Milk, swaggered through the Villa’s front door,
There was only a mixture of pink-White and scarlet paint on the ground, extending from the entrance to outside the Villa.