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The moment Homelander died, even though Kevin wasn't by Homelander's side, he vaguely felt something.
The rapidly increasing skill points were the best proof.
Homelander alone gave Kevin nearly twenty skill points.
This was more than anyone else before.
Looking at the skill points in the skill tree, which had already surpassed forty and were heading towards fifty, Kevin exhaled deeply and rushed towards the underground facility where Stormfront was.
Annie and her group going to stop Stormfront should not go wrong, and Kevin didn't expect any accidents.
But just in case, Kevin thought it would be better to go and take a look.
He walked through the long corridor and arrived at the deepest part of the facility.
In the depths of the facility, which had almost turned into ruins, Kevin saw Annie and her group.
Thankfully, things did not go beyond Kevin's expectations; when Kevin arrived, Stormfront had already been pinned to the ground by Annie and Maeve.
Black Noir was giving Shockwave first aid, and seeing Kevin approach, he gestured towards the facility in the distance, indicating that the facility over there was more important.
Kevin walked forward to look at the old, aged object and asked Annie and the others, "What is this?"
"I don't know."
Annie held Stormfront down with one hand, absorbing the electricity from her, and answered Kevin's question, "She refused to say, saying she would only speak if she saw you."
"Is that so? Well, I'm here, Stormfront, do you have anything to say?"
Kevin's gaze fell on Stormfront.
Stormfront, whose abilities were completely suppressed by Annie, was currently unable to break free from Annie's control.
After struggling twice and realizing she couldn't break free, she gave up and looked up at Kevin, "...There's nothing much to say. This is a device prepared for war, but now... it can no longer fulfill its intended purpose."
Stormfront suddenly laughed, "Heh heh, you succeeded, Kevin. You succeeded in stifling a nascent race in its cradle, and you succeeded in creating and handing over the weapons they might use against us in the future.
"You are a sinner to our race..."
"Those words sound a bit familiar. Oh, I remember now. I think if you went to the X-Men world, you'd definitely have a lot in common with Magneto."
Listening to these somewhat familiar words, Kevin thought of someone.
Magneto from the X-Men world, his ideology was essentially no different from Stormfront's.
In fact, Stormfront's ideology was even more extreme.
"Who?"
Stormfront was stunned, hearing Kevin mention a completely unfamiliar name.
Annie, who was pressing down on her, was quite helpless.
She knew Kevin was talking about something from another world, but now was clearly not the time.
Annie had no choice but to remind him, "Kevin."
"Sorry, it's mainly because their ideologies are too similar; I couldn't help but connect them for a moment. Anyway, let's not waste time, Stormfront, no..."
Kevin's tone became serious, "Ms. Clara Risinger, you are now suspected of engaging in fascist activities, attempting to launch indiscriminate terrorist attacks on society, infringing upon others' personal safety, and spreading false statements, among other charges. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"Oh, come on, Kevin, you're still pulling this act on me at a time like this? Or are you planning to hand me over to those humans for 'judgment'? If that's truly the case, then I'll really look down on you."
Even though she was already Kevin's prisoner, Stormfront remained stubborn and tried to provoke Kevin.
Kevin shook his head slightly, half-crouched, and placed his hand next to Stormfront's cheek, "I'm just finding a hypocritical excuse to kill you; you don't need to mind."
"...You're going to... kill me?"
"John is dead; you're next."
"John..." Stormfront wasn't very familiar with the name Kevin mentioned. It took her a moment to realize who Kevin was talking about.
That was Homelander's name.
"You killed him?! You... you really killed him?! Why... we are the same kind! You beast! How could you kill a perfect being among us?!"
"You're still sticking to that view even now? To be honest, I'm a little impressed with you, Stormfront. But as I said, I am now the CEO of Vought, and without bragging, I am also the strongest among all Supes. I can do whatever I want."
Kevin said, and without waiting for Stormfront's reply, the hand on Stormfront's cheek activated its ability.
Kevin controlled the blood within Stormfront's body, gently destroying everything in her brain.
Stormfront, who had just been loudly questioning Kevin why he would do such a thing, instantly collapsed to the ground, her eyes losing their luster.
Blood and a thicker substance flowed from her ears and nostrils. Seeing this, Annie and Maeve also released her, watching her twitch on the ground.
"She... she's dead?"
Maeve asked in a daze, then she looked up at Kevin and asked, "Homelander... is dead too?"
"Yes, it's over, Maeve. It's all over."
Kevin wiped his hands, answering expressionlessly.
The skill points Stormfront gave were less than half of Homelander's; it seemed her standing was still not as high as Homelander's.
But none of that mattered. Homelander was dead, Stormfront was dead by Kevin's hand, and the people and things Kevin worried about in the The Boys world would no longer exist.
He could finally do what he wanted with peace of mind.
Leaving Annie to handle the aftermath with Maeve and the others, Kevin also notified Vought to seal off the area before leaving the underground facility, preparing to go above ground for some fresh air.
As soon as he reached the surface, Kevin saw a black van driving towards him.
The van stopped not far from him, and then the door opened, revealing Butcher sitting inside. He looked at Kevin and smiled.
Kevin looked back at him, finally smiling too, and pointed at Butcher, saying, "You bastard, how dare you appear openly in front of me? Aren't you afraid I'll have Vought's people arrest you?"
"Whatever. Our work is already done anyway. Whether you want to throw away this dirty glove or continue using it, it's all up to you."
"You're quite open-minded."
Kevin joked, but he had no real intention of burning bridges and arresting Butcher.
He walked over to Butcher and looked at his feet.
A leg appeared in Kevin's line of sight, but because the car door was blocking it, Kevin couldn't see the full picture.
Noticing Kevin's gaze, Butcher didn't try to hide it and opened the car door wider, revealing Homelander's corpse inside: "A gift for you. Are you satisfied?"
"It's alright. Did he say anything when he died?"
Kevin stared at Homelander's corpse, lost in thought, and asked.
Butcher shook his head, "Something about 'we're all a joke' or whatever... just some nonsensical stuff. I was too lazy to listen, so I killed him."
"Is that so..."
Butcher's understated words made Kevin a little lost in thought.
Homelander, who was omnipotent and existed like a god, was so easily killed by Butcher while in a powerless state.
This was normal, though. All of Homelander's abilities came from Compound V. When Compound V disappeared from his body, and his Supe genes vanished, he was just an ordinary person.
And for an ordinary person, a pistol and a bullet were already enough.
Butcher had accomplished the feat of 'mortal slaying god' and finally got his revenge, but Kevin felt that Butcher didn't seem as happy as he had imagined.
Composing himself, no longer thinking about Homelander, Kevin leaned against the van, glancing into the distance, and chatted with Butcher, "Even though you got your revenge, you don't seem very happy."
The rest of The Boys wisely got out of the car and walked to a place out of earshot, chatting among themselves, leaving the space to Kevin and Butcher.
After they all left, Butcher looked at John's corpse on the ground and said, "Even if he's dead, what he did won't change anything..."
He paused here, then changed the subject, "Becca won't come with me."
"Oh, so you had a spat with your wife."
Kevin suddenly understood.
Butcher's unhappiness was probably due to this.
Even if Homelander was dead, what did it matter? He had harmed Butcher's wife, Rebecca, and given Rebecca that Supe child who shouldn't exist.
Now Rebecca's heart was completely on the child, ignoring even her husband Butcher, and she refused to leave with him. It would be strange if Butcher were happy.
Understanding Butcher's concerns, Kevin said, "Homelander is dead, so the protection for Ryan can be lifted. You can choose to take your wife back; I won't stop you."
"It has nothing to do with that. It's Becca who doesn't want to come with me, do you understand? She thinks I'll hurt her Supe son, that damn Supe son..."
"And would you?"
"..."
Butcher was silent.
His silence spoke volumes.
Kevin scoffed, "Even you yourself think you'd hurt him, so how can you expect your wife to go back with you?"
"Perhaps you could help..."
"Me?"
"Your Compound V."
Butcher mentioned the serum that could turn Supes back into humans.
It seemed he wanted Ryan to be injected with the serum and turn back into a normal human, so that Butcher might treat Ryan kindly.
Butcher thought so, but Kevin just shook his head, "I can't. I can't help you, because the reason you would hurt Ryan isn't because he's a Supe at all."
"?"
"Whether he's a Supe or not isn't important. Whether he's Homelander's son, that's very important. What you care about isn't his Supe identity at all; what you care about is his identity as Homelander's son."
All that talk about targeting Supes, or disliking Supes, was nonsense.
Perhaps Butcher did hate Supes, but he wouldn't actually hurt a child in his teens.
What Butcher hated was the blood flowing in Ryan's body, the genes inherited from Homelander.
This was the fundamental reason why Butcher disliked Ryan.
"Moreover," Kevin added, "whether Supes become ordinary people is entirely up to the individual Supe's will. I won't force them."
He wouldn't force them on the surface, after all, Kevin had to maintain the 'moral high ground' and couldn't really let those Supes revolt.
So, even to maintain the superficial moral high ground, Kevin couldn't ignore Ryan's personal wishes and take away Ryan's superpowers.
Butcher, however, saw through Kevin's thoughts at a glance. He scoffed dismissively, "Nonsense."
He then looked at John's corpse at his feet.
The meaning was clear: he said he respected the personal wishes of Supes, but Homelander was injected with the serum and lost his superpowers by Kevin.
Kevin also knew he couldn't convince Butcher, but the right of explanation was his.
"Homelander was an exception, and Stormfront was also an exception. Besides, are you sure you want to talk about this with me? I helped you get your revenge."
"And you also eliminated an enemy for yourself."
Butcher said calmly, but he didn't pursue the matter further. He pointed at Homelander's corpse, ending the conversation, "Alright, Vought's people should be here soon, and we need to go too. As for it... you handle it."
After speaking, Butcher threw Homelander's corpse out of the car like trash.
Then he called The Boys and drove away.
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