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Late at night, on the sea outside New York.
Butcher waited patiently on a stolen fishing boat, with only Hughie by his side from The Boys, the rest remaining at base on standby.
Among the entire team, The Deep had only met Butcher and Hughie, so for this meeting with The Deep, it could only be the two of them.
Butcher was, after all, still wary of The Deep.
This was normal, or rather, it would be surprising if he wasn't wary.
Because he never trusted Supes, and even when cooperating with Supes, he would always be on guard.
With Lamplighter incident preceding, Butcher didn't want such a thing to happen again.
"I think cooperation should involve sincerity."
Before The Deep arrived, Hughie, thinking about the cameras Butcher had placed on the boat earlier, offered a different opinion:
"What we're doing isn't sincere at all."
"Hughie, let your old man teach you another lesson: when facing Supes, forget all your bullshit manners. A Supe is a Supe. No matter how kind he acts, he is not worth trusting at all!"
"But The Deep is different, he saved me, didn't he? He also let Frenchie go, and even saved an entire plane full of people!"
Hughie stubbornly insisted.
He was now a die-hard fan of The Deep, believing that The Deep was different from the Superheroes Butcher talked about.
Before this, Butcher had said that Homelander was like a saint, not messing around or casually killing people.
But in Hughie's eyes, The Deep was also like that.
Hughie couldn't find any dirt on The Deep, and Butcher didn't have much either.
If you insisted that being intimate with dolphins counted as dirt on The Deep, Hughie felt that was too far-fetched.
At most, it was a strange fetish, not an indication that the person had problems.
What's wrong with liking dolphins?
Some people even like goats!
Hughie defended his idol in his heart.
But as soon as Hughie finished speaking, Butcher, leaning against the railing, stared at him with a very strange look.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
Seeing Butcher look over, Hughie's momentum instantly weakened.
Butcher suddenly laughed, walked in front of Hughie, and patted his cheek, saying:
"Hughie, Hughie, I thought after what happened with A-Train and Translucent, you might lose some of your naivete. It seems I was wrong. How about this, how about I tell you a story?"
"A story…?"
"The story of a foolish team."
Butcher didn't scold Hughie this time. He stepped back, leaned against the railing, and reminisced, telling Hughie about the past:
"A long time ago, there was a team that naively and foolishly believed they could cooperate with a Supe, so they found Lamplighter of The Seven, wanting Lamplighter to be their inside man."
"Lamplighter agreed, and their cooperation was quite pleasant, until one day…"
"That bastard Lamplighter burned the team leader's grandchildren to ashes."
"...Oh my God."
Butcher was truly not good at storytelling. He simply condensed past events into one or two sentences and told them to Hughie.
But even so, Hughie was still shocked by what Butcher said.
He knew that the story Butcher was telling was absolutely true; such an event had indeed happened a long time ago.
Hughie was stunned for a long time, and after a while, he asked:
"Then... what happened to that team you mentioned?"
"Later?"
Butcher sneered:
"Cooperation with Lamplighter broke down, the bureau deemed it unstable, canceled funding for the team, the leader became disheartened and left the team, and the team members dispersed…"
"And then, now, except for that poor leader, everyone else has gathered together again, once again foolishly continuing to cooperate with a Supe."
When Butcher said this, Hughie realized that the story Butcher was telling about that team was the very experience that their current team, The Boys, had gone through.
It was just that Hughie wasn't there at that time.
"So, do you still think my arrangements are 'impolite' now?"
Butcher asked again, but this time, it wasn't Hughie who answered Butcher's question.
"Nice story, but politeness aside, at least I won't burn you to ashes like Lamplighter."
The voice came from the shadows on the fishing boat.
This sudden voice startled Hughie.
He jumped three feet high, quickly distancing himself from the source of the sound, and exclaimed:
"Oh! S***!!"
"The Deep."
Compared to him, Butcher was much calmer.
He looked at The Deep, whose figure was vaguely visible in the darkness, and greeted him with a smile:
"I thought you'd come in uniform."
As Butcher spoke, The Deep also stepped out of the shadows, formally facing the two men to talk.
Only then did Hughie see that The Deep was indeed not wearing his Superhero uniform, but a black suit and black-rimmed glasses.
His suit was without a tie, and the collar was loosely open, giving him the impression of a cynical playboy.
This was completely casual attire; The Deep had even disguised himself.
No wonder Butcher asked that question.
Facing Butcher's question, The Deep responded with a smile:
"I also thought you'd choose a more secluded place, that would be more in line with your style."
"You talk as if you know us very well, and besides, isn't this place secluded enough?"
Butcher pointed around the fishing boat.
In this sea area, apart from the fishing boat sailing there, there was no one else present.
"Hmm, if this boat wasn't stolen, then it would indeed be very secluded."
"What? This boat is stolen?! I thought it was yours!"
As soon as The Deep finished speaking, Hughie stared at Butcher with wide eyes.
Butcher said self-righteously:
"Do you think our team has that much disposable income?"
"..."
What Butcher said made so much sense that Hughie was speechless.
After speaking to Hughie, Butcher didn't intend to bother with him anymore. He looked at The Deep and said bluntly:
"I set the time and place for the talk, as agreed before. I think this location is good, so I chose it. Any problems?"
"Problems... hmm, just a slight one." The Deep said, then suddenly raised a finger and held it out in front of him:
"That is, I don't think this is secluded enough."
As The Deep's words fell, the boat suddenly vibrated violently.
Hughie and Butcher swayed and nearly lost their footing. When they instinctively grabbed the nearby handrails, they saw a surprising sight.
The boat was slowly sinking, and the seawater beneath the boat was flying upwards, defying gravity.
They gathered in the air, merging to form a huge protective membrane that enveloped the entire boat!
Darkness gradually covered the fishing boat, leaving only the faint lights on the boat illuminating everything.
In just over ten seconds, the fishing boat completely sank underwater. The three men, along with the fishing boat, entered the seawater beneath the fishing boat.
Entering The Deep.
"..."
The water curtain above the 'sky' was dreamlike, and the schools of fish on both sides of the fishing boat made one feel as if they were in a fantasy world.
Aside from the fear of the The Deep, Hughie and Butcher were also deeply shocked by this ability of The Deep.
They had never known, or rather, never imagined, that The Deep possessed such an ability.
Even though the news had indeed explained how Flight 37 was saved by The Deep, the two of them had previously only thought it was Vought's propaganda.
Or rather, Butcher thought it was Vought's propaganda. Hughie was still willing to believe The Deep, but later he was persuaded by Butcher.
After all, it seemed that there really were no Supes in this world who could control large-scale water, fire, or electricity.
That seemed not to be the domain of humans, but the domain of gods.
Yet now, The Deep had created a scene like a miracle before them, which left both of them in shock.
Butcher understood even more the purpose of The Deep doing this now.
This was both a threat and a deterrent.
"Now, this is secluded."
As The Deep said this, Butcher and Hughie both felt the fishing boat vibrate.
By comparing it to the fish swimming away on both sides, they knew that the fishing boat was moving rapidly underwater.
He could even do this…
Butcher was deeply shocked by The Deep's abilities, but at the same time, his heart sank.
Controlling water flow, submerging the fishing boat deep into the sea, and even making the underwater fishing boat move at high speed.
This level of power already exceeded Butcher's ability to cope!
Cooperation is built on a level playing field between both parties.
Butcher had previously thought he could manipulate The Deep like he did other Supes. All those cameras on the boat were for recording footage of The Deep.
If The Deep had any ill intentions, Butcher would immediately spread those images online.
Of course, he wouldn't actually do that.
A sword only has a threat when held in hand; he merely wanted to use it to blackmail The Deep and prevent him from acting rashly.
But now…
Butcher had no idea how deep they had sunk.
His choice to meet at night had backfired, because Butcher couldn't judge their position by the brightness of the sky.
Anyway… his phone seemed to have no signal.
No signal, no internet, no way to upload footage, Butcher had no means to threaten The Deep with it.
Now, they were in a passive position.
It was them.
However, being Billy Butcher, who had 'dealt' with Supes for many years, he was only slightly shocked inside, maintaining his composure on the surface as he said:
"This is a nice trick, reminds me of when I used to go to Disney."
"You've been to Disney?"
The Deep didn't speak, but Hughie looked at Butcher in surprise.
He really couldn't imagine that this guy, who would easily be mistaken for a wanted criminal on the street, had actually been to Disney.
Hughie's remark was completely out of place. Butcher's mouth twitched, and he glared at Hughie.
Hughie immediately fell silent, silently retreating behind Butcher, letting Butcher and The Deep communicate.
After the pleasantries, Butcher took a deep breath and formally asked:
"So, how do you plan to cooperate with us?"
"You want to deal with Homelander, right?"
"!?"
As soon as The Deep spoke, Butcher sharply looked over at Hughie.
Hughie looked bewildered, completely unaware of why Butcher was looking at him.
Seeing Hughie's bewildered expression didn't seem feigned, Butcher understood that this guy hadn't told The Deep their information. After a brief thought, Butcher smiled and replied:
"We just want to deal with A-Train, to help this guy here get revenge for his girlfriend, dealing with Homelander and The Seven is just a bonus, don't misunderstand."
"Alright, no need to pretend, William Billy Butcher, I know who you are, and I know about your feud with Homelander, and now, I'll tell you how to deal with Homelander. Whether you listen or not is your problem."
The Deep said so.
Butcher's heart gradually sank.
He had originally thought The Deep's understanding of them was limited, only thinking they were Hughie's friends, which was why he chose to meet them.
After all, Hughie had a grudge against A-Train, and competition within The Seven was fierce.
It was normal for The Deep to want to use Hughie to strike at A-Train, thereby gaining more resources and advantages within The Seven.
But the facts proved that The Deep knew even more than Butcher had imagined.
This guy opposite him…
He would probably be a more difficult opponent to deal with than Homelander.
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