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Butcher's finger rested on the trigger but didn't pull it.
Madelyn, with the gun pointed at her head, was terrified beyond measure.
Her face and forehead were covered in tiny beads of sweat, her breathing trembled, and she looked at Butcher with pleading eyes:
"I... I'm still useful, really, I can expose what Vought is doing for you, whatever you want to know, as long as I know it, I'll definitely tell you, so..."
"Shut up, bitch."
Butcher pressed the gun hard against Madelyn's forehead.
Madelyn immediately fell silent.
However, perhaps Marvin and her words had an effect, for though Butcher was furious, he eventually moved the gun away and pulled the trigger behind Madelyn.
Bang bang bang bang!
Four shots in a row, the gunshots echoed in the air-raid shelter, and gunpowder smoke billowed in front of Madelyn.
Smelling the gunpowder so close and the gunshots that almost deafened her, Madelyn felt utterly drained.
Marvin and Hughie, seeing this, breathed a sigh of relief.
Because they knew Madelyn's life was saved at that moment.
Marvin slowly walked forward, approaching Butcher little by little.
Reaching Butcher's side, he tentatively placed his hand on the gun in Butcher's hand, and once he confirmed Butcher had no intention of pulling away, Marvin snatched the gun from Butcher's hand and tossed it to Hughie, who was standing nearby.
"Whew—"
Taking the gun from Marvin's hand, Hughie, somewhat unskillfully, put it away, and quickly thought of a crucial question:
...How can we make her a witness? I mean, shouldn't this be considered illegal detention? Can evidence obtained through illegal means be used as evidence?
Hughie didn't know much about the law, but it was clear that evidence obtained by kidnapping someone in this manner shouldn't be able to convince a judge.
Marvin's idea was good, but for Madelyn to testify in court, she would at least have to be 'willing,' wouldn't she?
Regardless of whether it was voluntary or coerced, it certainly couldn't be 'evidence obtained' like this.
"I'll contact Susan."
Butcher stared at Madelyn, took a few steps back, and sat down on a chair, speaking slowly.
What they did was indeed a crime, but if the CIA intervened, the nature of the matter would change.
The CIA had also been eyeing Vought, like a hungry wolf eyeing a piece of meat.
As long as Vought showed a weakness, regardless of whether the evidence was legitimately obtained, the CIA would definitely seize it tightly.
Seeing that Butcher had his own arrangements, Hughie was much relieved.
He looked at Madelyn, tied to the chair, and then at Butcher, feeling a moment of disorientation:
"So... does that mean we're about to succeed?"
"If nothing goes wrong, like the guy we're working with suddenly betraying us and spilling our information."
Butcher, now calm, sneered at Hughie.
Hughie didn't argue with Butcher; he was already used to Butcher's skeptical attitude towards any Supe.
Plus, the other party had just learned the news of his wife's passing, so Hughie decided to be magnanimous and pretend he hadn't heard anything.
The atmosphere among them relaxed considerably, and Madelyn, knowing her life was not in danger, her tense body slumped, and she let out a long breath.
Just then, two sets of footsteps approached the entrance of the air-raid shelter.
Everyone first looked over guardedly, and only when they saw the figures of Frenchie and his girlfriend, Cherie, did they relax.
"Looks like you've decided how to deal with this woman? Good, I just got news that The Seven have started to act, we'd better resolve this matter quickly, otherwise..."
Frenchie placed a pile of food on the table, "We might be the first 'criminals' in history to be caught by all members of The Seven."
News of Madelyn's disappearance had already hit the headlines, and the news of The Seven's full deployment was also being reported.
It was clear that Butcher and his team had stirred up a big mess this time; if they didn't find a way to deal with Madelyn quickly, they wouldn't be able to hold out for long under The Seven's full search, even if they were good at hiding.
Collecting himself, Butcher immediately dialed Susan's number, informing her of what he had done and what he was about to do.
Susan on the other end of the phone immediately bristled, yelling furiously at Butcher:
"Butcher! You're a fucking lunatic!!! A lunatic!!!"
"Alright, anyway, that's how it is. Madelyn is in my hands now. If you don't want anything to happen to this only witness, you'd better come quickly."
Butcher said calmly, then told Susan his location and hung up the phone.
Susan would definitely come; she had to come because Madelyn was indeed the breakthrough point against Vought.
But the question was when she would arrive, and Butcher and the others couldn't stay there for too long.
Under The Seven's full search, they wouldn't be able to hide for long.
The Boys waited for the CIA to arrive, but precisely at such a time, when waiting was required, things were most likely to go wrong.
Frenchie kept an eye on the monitor in the air-raid shelter, which was connected to outside surveillance, allowing him to see the situation around the shelter.
And all of a sudden, Frenchie saw a black shadow.
It was the figure of Black Noir from The Seven.
"Fuck! It's Black Noir!"
Frenchie shrieked.
Butcher and the others were stunned for a moment, and except for Butcher, the rest of them were somewhat flustered.
They were just ordinary people; let alone Black Noir from The Seven, even if a Supe with extremely high physical qualities came, they probably couldn't beat him.
Butcher and Marvin immediately picked up their guns and stood ready, while Hughie fumbled to pull out the pistol Marvin had just thrown to him, staring blankly at the entrance.
"Now... what do we do now?"
Hughie looked at Butcher.
After a brief thought, Butcher immediately said to everyone:
"It's okay, Susan and the CIA will be here soon, we just need to buy some time."
"My God, you're saying we need to buy time from a Supe?! Are you crazy, Butcher?!"
Marvin glared at Butcher.
Butcher didn't answer, but instead turned to Frenchie and ordered:
"Didn't you prepare a lot of sprays and things to deal with Supes? Use them all!"
"I'm not sure if those things will work on this guy, but I can try."
When his specialty was mentioned, Frenchie immediately began to act, pulling out a pile of bottles and jars from the corner of the air-raid shelter and tinkering with them alongside his girlfriend, Cherie.
Butcher was still uneasy. Seeing Black Noir already rushing towards the air-raid shelter, he pulled out his phone and dialed a secret number:
"Hello, Black Noir has found us now, can you help us figure something out?"
"Oh? Finally remembered to call me?"
The Deep's voice came from the other end of the line. Butcher glanced at Madelyn and said with a smile:
"Yeah, Deep, we're at our wits' end, so we had no choice but to inform you."
The Deep?
Upon hearing this name, Madelyn's eyes instantly widened, and she looked up at Butcher in disbelief.
As the Vice President of the company, she understood the whole story just from Butcher's address to the person on the phone.
If it really was The Deep on the other end of the line, then it meant that Madelyn's kidnapping this time was all planned by The Deep!
Why?
Why would The Deep do this?
He didn't seem to have a reason to do so!
Madelyn didn't understand.
She even suspected it was a smokescreen from Butcher.
Until Butcher turned on the speakerphone, letting the voice from the other end come through directly:
...Butcher, if I'm not mistaken, Madelyn is right next to you, isn't she? Calling me by name like that next to her, you're quite wicked.
At this moment, Madelyn closed her eyes in despair.
She recognized it; it really was The Deep's voice.
"Heh heh heh, we're on the same side after all, so what I'm doing shouldn't be too much, right?"
Butcher responded with a light chuckle, and The Deep on the other end didn't get angry, also replying with a laugh:
"Not too much, of course not too much, but your scheming makes me very unhappy. Aren't you afraid I'll really kill all of you?"
"Come on, if you wanted to do that, you would have done it already. You need us, right, Deep? You need us to do something for you, so you also need to find a way to save us. Black Noir is outside right now, you need to find a way to get him to leave."
"Hmm, you're quite good at finding opportunities." The Deep chuckled on his end, then suddenly asked a question completely unrelated to the current topic:
"By the way, have you found any news about your wife?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Just asking, and I guess you already know, right? What did Madelyn say? Died in childbirth? Or died from massive bleeding after a Supe child ripped her open?"
...
Deep gave two completely different answers. Butcher's pupils constricted, and he instantly understood something, looking at the panicked Madelyn.
Before Butcher could even ask, Deep smiled and gave another answer:
"I'll tell you, neither of those answers is correct. According to my unofficial sources, your wife is doing very well, it's just that her exact location is unknown, so... you know what to do, Butcher."
"...Deep, I really underestimated you."
"The feeling's mutual. Alright, I'll hold off Black Noir for a while. As for what to do after that, that's your business."
The Deep hung up the phone. Butcher listened to the dial tone on the other end and walked towards Madelyn again.
Madelyn was terrified to the extreme at this moment:
"No, listen to me, he's just a filler in The Seven, he couldn't possibly know that much. He's lying!"
"Is that so? But I think the one full of lies right now is you."
Butcher stared at Madelyn, grabbing her face and squeezing it hard:
"Under such a life-and-death crisis, you still dare to lie to us. It's clear that even if we hand you over to the CIA, you would never reveal any dirt on Vought, would you?"
"I... I can! I really can— Ugh!"
Madelyn hadn't finished speaking when Butcher covered her mouth and nose, while his other hand was raised to his lips:
"Shh, let's give Black Noir a surprise."
He said, then turned to Frenchie.
...
No one knew what exactly happened in that air-raid shelter that day; Kevin didn't really know either.
He only knew that not long after his call with Butcher ended, he received a piece of news.
Madelyn was brutally murdered by terrorists, and her body was strapped with bombs.
The bombs were detonated when Black Noir entered the air-raid shelter and found her, catching Black Noir off guard.
Madelyn died then and there, leaving no remains, and Black Noir sustained some injuries, but they weren't serious.
And the group who kidnapped Madelyn also vanished without a trace, their whereabouts unknown.
As for Kevin...
Madelyn's death was related to him, and his skill points increased by 2.
He only needed one more skill point to change his profession.
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