But as soon as Kevin finished speaking, someone stood up and shouted loudly:
"I disagree!"
It was Starlight. She was still warily staring at Kevin, pointing at him and saying:
"I don't believe what you said!"
"..."
"And Butcher, you've never trusted me, yet now a Supe claiming to be from a parallel world appears, and you believe him? What if he's lying to you?!"
Starlight harbored great hostility towards Kevin.
This was normal, after all, the Deep of this world had done such things to her.
Facing his fiancée's alternate self from another world, Kevin did not argue, but remained silent, also wanting to hear what Butcher would say.
"Two Supes, going to such lengths to fabricate a 'lie' about a parallel world, just to deceive me?"
Butcher pointed out the crux of the matter:
"Leaving aside everything else, at least that 'Hughie' with teleportation abilities, his powers are genuine. If he truly wanted to harm us, he alone could kill everyone here except Kimiko and you!
"If they truly wanted to gain something from us, I don't think they would use such a foolish and inefficient method. Besides... what could they gain from us?"
Butcher was right.
The Boys were currently wanted, with no money, power, or intelligence. Their only value was probably the bounty on their heads from the wanted posters.
If Kevin truly wanted to harm them, instead of personally coming to them and concocting such an absurd drama, it would be better to directly hand the information to Vought.
Butcher's words stumped Starlight. She slightly parted her lips, hesitating for a long time without speaking.
However, after rebutting Starlight, Butcher then said to Kevin:
"But this girl is right about one thing: you are indeed untrustworthy. After all, I heard from the other Hughie that you are the CEO of Vought in your world, and you didn't tell us that just now."
"Ah?!"
Butcher's words once again shocked the rest of The Boys.
Frenchie pointed at Kevin and asked:
"He... is the CEO of Vought?! Another Vought CEO?!"
Kevin's expression remained unchanged as he retorted:
"Does my identity have anything to do with our conversation this time?"
Butcher said as a matter of course:
"Of course it does! Since you're the CEO of Vought, you should know how to deal with those damned Seven! If you're willing to help us deal with The Seven and Vought of this world, then we can also let Hughie help you go back."
Butcher patted Hughie's shoulder, stating his objective.
Kevin, coming from a parallel world and being the CEO of Vought, must possess a lot of intelligence about Vought.
Perhaps this intelligence could help them bring down Vought.
And as long as Kevin could help them, let alone having Hughie send Kevin back, Butcher would even be willing to package Hughie and sell him to Kevin.
But upon hearing Butcher's request, Kevin, instead, sighed:
"Butcher, no matter in which world, you are the same bastard, and... equally oblivious to the situation."
"...Sorry, what did you say?"
"I said, you're too stupid, Butcher. Do you really think you have the qualifications to negotiate with me?"
Kevin sat in place, his gaze sweeping over everyone present:
"I'm willing to communicate with you because I have a good relationship with your parallel selves, which is why I'm speaking to you as equals, but... that doesn't mean I'll be threatened by you."
Kevin deliberately put on a gloomy expression, and as his words fell, the air was filled with a biting cold aura.
The ground began to freeze, and The Boys exhaled white mist.
In a brief moment, the temperature of the entire room plummeted to zero degrees!
Feeling the hostility emanating from Kevin, Starlight's eyes began to glow. She now completely understood that the Kevin before her was not the Deep she knew.
After all, the Deep could not possibly have the ability to control ice.
But at the same time, the other party was definitely not someone easy to talk to. Butcher's attitude towards him just now had clearly angered him. If a fight truly broke out later, perhaps only Starlight and Kimiko could stop him.
"Calm down, calm down!"
The atmosphere was extremely tense. Butcher raised his hand, gesturing for Kevin to calm down, and he quickly said:
"I didn't mean to threaten you. This is just a transaction, a normal transaction! You help us, I help you, isn't that right? Or are you the kind of bastard who likes to force a deal?"
"Hmph, I don't want to be called a bastard by a bastard."
Kevin snorted, but the temperature receded.
He wasn't truly angry; he was just appropriately demonstrating his power to prevent Butcher from thinking he was easy to talk to.
"Alright, I can see you have your bottom line. So let's be direct. We need to deal with Vought, and you have the capital to deal with Vought. Now what we need to discuss is, what will it take for you to be willing to help us?"
"You want my help?" Kevin pointed at Butcher: "When Hughie came over last time, he got information about Stormfront from the Church of the Collective. I want to ask you, why haven't you released that information yet?"
"..."
As Kevin's words fell, this time all of The Boys looked at Butcher.
Hughie: "When did you start working with the other me?"
Marvin: "You got information on Stormfront and didn't tell us?!"
Frenchie: "Why am I not surprised at all...?"
Kevin observed The Boys' reactions one by one. Seeing their gazes directed at Butcher, Kevin realized that Butcher had actually kept this matter from his teammates the entire time.
Raising an eyebrow, Kevin looked at Butcher in surprise.
Butcher, facing everyone's gazes, said without changing his expression:
"Because we haven't prepared ourselves to face a rampaging Supe. What do you think Stormfront would do to us if he were truly pushed to the brink?"
Everyone looked at each other, speechless.
If Stormfront truly went berserk and found them, then they would definitely be the ones to suffer in the end.
Seeing everyone pondering, Butcher continued: "And with just Stormfront's dirty laundry, we can't bring down Vought. We need more... more information."
At the end, Butcher once again threw the topic to Kevin.
But as soon as Butcher turned his head, he met Kevin's meaningful gaze.
At that moment, Butcher felt as if Kevin had seen right through him, as if the other party knew the reason why he wanted to keep Stormfront's information.
But thankfully, Kevin did not point out Butcher's little secret. He retracted his abilities, put on a kind expression again, and said with a smile:
"I can give you the information, but Hughie alone helping me is far from enough to cover the cost of my intelligence."
"What do you want?"
"Help me find a few people. Once you find them, I'll help you."
Kevin presented his conditions to The Boys.
...
The people Kevin wanted The Boys to find were none other than the 'Red River Avengers' who had gone missing in his own world.
Those trash Supes led by Ghost, with the help of an unknown entity, had swapped identities with their parallel selves and came to this world.
Ghost, who was in Kevin's The Boys Universe, originally belonged to this world, so if there were no accidents, Ghost, who should have been in Kevin's universe, should also exist in this The Boys Universe.
The reason for searching for them was because Kevin clearly understood the principle of not putting all his eggs in one basket.
In case Hughie couldn't send him back to his original universe, then the unknown Supe who brought Ghost and the others over might be able to send Kevin back.
He had to find a backup plan for himself, no matter what.
The Boys agreed to Kevin's request, but before that, they had another thing to do.
They planned to go to Sage Grove Center to investigate information related to Stormfront and Vought.
Kevin then realized that Starlight had just learned about Sage Grove Center from Stormfront.
And, the tracking chip in her neck had been removed, and she was now in a state of complete defection from Vought.
From Starlight's actions, Kevin judged that the current plot was at the end of Black Robe Season 2, which was roughly consistent with the timeline of Kevin's universe.
Afterward, even without Kevin's involvement, The Boys would be able to get what they wanted.
Because it was a transaction, Kevin decided to wait for The Boys to find the people he wanted to find first, and then help them deal with Vought, so Kevin was very idle now.
He even had the leisure to follow The Boys to Sage Grove Center to take a look.
He had never been to this place before.
"You know what Sage Grove Center is, right?"
In the car, Butcher asked Kevin.
"A special research institution, mainly researching how to allow adults to gain Superpowers through Compound V. After I became CEO, I already abolished it."
Kevin answered truthfully, without hiding anything.
Starlight expressed doubt, asking very suspiciously:
"You abolished such an important institution, would Vought agree?"
"In my world, Vought has become my property. Who would dare to disagree with what I say?"
Unlike normal companies, in a world with Superpowers, as long as one's combat power is strong enough, even if the shareholders have opinions, they can do nothing to Kevin.
Just like Homelander in the original series.
After removing Edgar from the CEO position, he could fire whoever he wanted, and no one else dared to say a word of dissent.
Kevin was the same now, and even more popular than Homelander.
Kevin, who was stronger than Homelander in both strength and cunning, had no one in Vought who dared to defy his orders.
"Ah... ha...?"
Starlight was half-believing, half-doubting, but Hughie suddenly leaned over, asking curiously:
"Then... in your world, am I... a Superhero?"
"Sort of. Although you're new, you're doing quite well."
"Am I famous?"
"Not yet, but... I have a plan to include you... I mean, the you in my world, into the 'Hero Association', which is equivalent to The Seven in this world."
Kevin revealed a little bit of information about the other Hughie, but before the Hughie in front of him could get excited, he quickly added:
"But that's the other you, it has nothing to do with you, and I think... you probably don't want to be a Superhero either."
The experiences of the two Hughies were different, and their mindsets were also different.
Hughie in Kevin's world could become a Superhero, but that didn't mean Hughie in this world could too.
Hughie was splashed with cold water, and his excitement subsided a little.
While it was quiet in the car, Mother's Milk Marvin, who was driving, suddenly asked:
"By the way, I see you're wearing a ring on your left middle finger. Are you engaged?"
"Oh, as expected of the person in The Boys who values family the most, your observation skills are indeed meticulous."
Kevin unhesitatingly raised his left hand. The engagement ring exchanged with Annie sparkled beautifully under the sunlight shining through the car window.
He looked at the engagement ring, his expression rarely softening, and replied:
"Yes, I'm engaged."
"May I ask, who is your fiancée?"
"What? Trying to find out about someone I care about, and then use it to threaten the me here?"
Kevin's question made Marvin pause.
Butcher laughed from the side:
"That's not a bad idea. So, are you willing to tell us who you care about?"
"..." Kevin imperceptibly glanced at Starlight, then grinned and said:
"Sorry, that's a secret. Alright, Sage Grove is almost here, you guys start your work."
After Kevin finished speaking, he leaned back in his seat, unwilling to talk to them anymore.