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The exchange with the Secretary of State did not waste much time.
The Secretary of State and Kevin reached an agreement on the disposal of Compound V.
Congress would choose to classify Compound V as confidential, and at the same time, they would relax their stance on Supes joining the military.
After that, all it would take was a banquet, and then Kevin would meet with the remaining congressmen, and the matter would be settled.
Compared to Madelyn, the Secretary of State clearly got along better with Kevin.
The reason was still Flight 37.
A relative of one of the Secretary of State's friends was on that flight, and Kevin saved him, which was equivalent to saving the Secretary of State's friend.
These were the Secretary of State's exact words, but Kevin wasn't entirely sure how true it was.
After all, this high-ranking official hadn't told Kevin the name of the survivor.
All in all, Kevin's work as Vice President was going very smoothly, without any obstacles.
That is, if A-Train hadn't come to find him in person that evening.
"You certainly pick your timing well, A-Train."
Having just seen Annie off, Kevin, dressed only in a bathrobe, was opening a bottle of red wine and slowly drinking it.
After earning so much money, Kevin wasn't completely stingy; he would also display some exquisite-looking items in his home.
He would buy luxury cars and fine wines.
At this moment, Kevin had a large wine rack in his home, filled with various expensive red wines.
Although Kevin regretted it after buying them... because, in his opinion, these red wines really didn't taste that good, and he didn't know why they sold for so much...
Perhaps he just didn't know how to appreciate them.
But the wine he bought himself, he had to drink even with tears, so sometimes Kevin would take out a bottle and have a few sips.
But he had only had less than two sips when A-Train appeared in Kevin's room.
Though slightly surprised by A-Train's arrival, Kevin was not shocked; he sat on the sofa with his wine glass, his legs resting on the coffee table in front of him, looking at A-Train with this relaxed posture:
"Coming so late, is there something wrong?"
"Are you planning to make me leave The Seven?"
A-Train asked directly.
When A-Train asked, there was no fear of Kevin in his eyes; the anger of being about to be expelled from The Seven by Kevin had clouded his mind, making him forget what Kevin had done to him.
Now, his eyes only held this one matter; he wanted to know if what Homelander told him was true.
Kevin swirled the red wine glass in his hand and sighed at A-Train:
"It's true, A-Train, with your heart condition, you're not suitable to remain in The Seven; it's better to retire early and recuperate."
"Then... the rumors online during this time, were they also spread by you?!"
A-Train asked again.
It seemed he had learned a lot from Homelander.
"No, to be precise, I didn't spread them; Shockwave did, and..." Kevin put down the red wine glass and looked at A-Train with a smile:
"Those aren't rumors, they're facts; you did take Compound V on the day of the race, I can confirm that."
"How could you do this to me!!!"
Upon confirming that Homelander was right and that all of this was done by Kevin, A-Train was furious.
He couldn't understand how he had offended Kevin, why the other party would treat him this way.
Could it be just because he once flushed the other party's favorite goldfish down the toilet, that it was worth the other party holding a grudge for so long?
A-Train was both sad and angry.
In stark contrast to A-Train's out-of-control emotions, Kevin remained calm.
He slowly got up, poured himself another glass of red wine, and said softly:
"No reason, A-Train, you stand with Homelander, and Homelander's relationship with me isn't good right now, that's enough for me to deal with you."
"Just... just because of this?"
"Is that not enough? Alright, then let's talk about something else?
"Privately injecting Compound V and killing someone, injecting Compound V on the track to win a race in an unconventional way, and getting a heart condition because of it..."
Kevin listed them one by one,
"If Vought found out about any of these things, you wouldn't be able to stay in Seven.
"And now, I've given you time to retire, given you a whole year for your farewell tour, and even prepared a solo movie for you... I've done all I can, you should thank me, Reggie."
Although A-Train was Homelander's right-hand man, Kevin didn't really use the most malicious methods to deal with him.
Everything Kevin did was legal and compliant, and he even gave A-Train retirement benefits.
Even Kevin himself hadn't received such preferential treatment; Kevin felt that A-Train should be grateful to him.
"Thank you? You want to ruin my future, ruin everything I have, and you're telling me to thank you now?!"
A-Train grew even angrier; he pointed at Kevin and shouted furiously.
Kevin even thought he must have used his racial talent when saying these words, like rapping.
Shaking his head helplessly, Kevin put down the wine glass and bottle, glanced at the fish tank nearby, and then turned to A-Train and said:
"I didn't ruin you, Reggie, you ruined yourself."
"It was you! You ruined me! And you killed my girlfriend!! Why did you do that! Why!!"
"Girlfriend? Are you talking about Popclaw? No, Reggie, it wasn't me who killed her, you know that better than anyone."
Kevin knew A-Train's girlfriend was Popclaw.
Originally, he thought that by saving Popclaw earlier, letting her go abroad to seek refuge, and preventing her from being threatened by The Boys or revealing information about Compound V, Homelander would spare Popclaw's life.
But the result was that she still died of 'drug overdose,' and A-Train still chose to kill his girlfriend with his own hands.
So now, when A-Train said Kevin killed his girlfriend, Kevin only found it amusing.
It was never Kevin who killed her; it was A-Train himself, and it was Homelander who forced him.
It truly had nothing to do with Kevin.
Kevin's words were not sharp, and even his voice was as calm as usual.
But it was these calm words that made A-Train deflate like a deflated balloon, instantly losing all his anger.
His face showed sorrow, his eyes were red, and he murmured softly:
"...Yes, you're right, I killed her... I killed her..."
Facing a pitiful person who had personally killed his loved one, a person manipulated like a puppet by Homelander, completely unaware of what he was doing, Kevin also lost the thought of doing anything to A-Train.
He looked at A-Train:
"Reggie, go back. I'll pretend nothing happened today. Tomorrow, you'll still be a member of The Seven, and then slowly prepare for your retirement. I'll arrange a grand and perfect retirement ceremony for you, even more perfect than mine."
Kevin said, turning to deal with the red wine on the table, preparing to put this expensive bottle of red wine back on the wine rack.
But A-Train did not choose to leave; he listened to what Kevin said, and finally just shook his head, muttering to himself:
"I can't retire, I can't lose my status in The Seven, Deep... you can't make me retire!"
A-Train looked at Kevin's back facing him, thought about his fate after retirement, and anger surged into his heart again.
The surrounding time seemed to slow down, and even Kevin's movements became as slow as if they were fifteen times slower.
A-Train prepared to charge at Kevin.
He knew he could do it; crashing into Kevin at top speed, even if Kevin's physique was like Homelander's, taken by surprise, he would definitely be severely injured.
And A-Train didn't think Kevin would have Homelander's body strength.
Assuming a running posture, aiming behind Kevin, A-Train suddenly got up and rushed towards Kevin!
A brief sonic boom suddenly sounded, but then there was a louder sound of something falling heavily to the ground.
Bang!!
Kevin put the red wine away, leaned against the wine rack, and looked back at A-Train behind him.
At this moment, A-Train had fallen to the ground for some unknown reason, and even A-Train himself was stunned for a long time.
When he had just started to run, he felt as if something was dragging his feet...
A-Train thought this, then turned his head to look at his feet.
He saw several ropes woven from clear streams of water, like underwater seaweed, firmly wrapping around his feet.
Unbeknownst to him, Kevin had already prepared, condensing water into ropes and wrapping them around A-Train's feet, restricting his movement.
"What?! This...!"
The water ropes trapped A-Train, but this was not the end; the moment A-Train discovered the ropes, these streams of water instantly split into countless branches, flying through the air towards A-Train's face.
"...I gave you a chance, Reggie."
Kevin sighed regretfully.
"Wait, I—!"
A-Train reached out to Kevin, wanting to say something, but in the blink of an eye, those streams of water, like deadly tentacles, drilled into A-Train's nasal cavity, blocking his throat.
And also blocked all the words he was about to use to beg for mercy.
"Mmmph mmmph—!!"
A-Train struggled painfully on the ground.
In his pain, his abilities occasionally activated, moving at extremely high speeds in front of Kevin, like a glitching animation, constantly moving.
But he couldn't get out of Kevin's sight.
Because at some point, all the water from the bathtub, except for a small portion, had gathered here, forming a thick water-circle cage, trapping A-Train inside.
Fortunately, Kevin's fish tank was very large, and there was more than one, so there was plenty of water to control, allowing him to create such a large water cage.
No matter how A-Train ran, he would eventually hit the cage made of water.
He was like a fly trapped in glass, only knowing how to crash around, but unable to find an exit.
A-Train's struggle didn't last long.
It was probably only one or two minutes; when Kevin removed the water prison, A-Train was already like a fish flapping on the shore, clutching his heart, gasping for air.
The water that had been wrapped around A-Train had already disappeared, some going into A-Train's stomach, and some into his lungs.
Kevin gently extracted all the water that had entered his stomach and lungs, controlling it to flow into the kitchen drain, and then squatted beside A-Train, looking at him:
"If you had just turned and left, nothing would have happened."
"I... help... help me..."
A-Train's breathing was like a worn-out hand-pulled bellows; he tried with all his might to breathe, to try to calm his heartbeat, but it was useless.
His heart condition had flared up, right at this critical moment.
A dark hand gripped Kevin's bathrobe; he was trying to get Kevin to save him.
But unfortunately, just as Kevin had said before.
Kevin had already given him a chance.
Now, it was impossible to give him a second chance.
However, to make Kevin feel better internally, and to help A-Train accept his fate, Kevin still said to A-Train:
"When you ran over that poor girl, did you ever think about apologizing to the victim's family? When you killed your girlfriend, did you ever think about refusing Homelander's command and saving her?
"So, when it comes to me, why do you think I would save you, Reggie?"
A-Train could no longer hear Kevin's later words.
He weakly let go of Kevin's bathrobe, his eyes rolled back, and he completely lost consciousness.
Kevin stayed quietly by his side.
One minute, two minutes... until ten minutes passed and A-Train's heartbeat gradually stopped, then Kevin took out his phone and dialed the emergency number for the hospital:
"Hello? Someone here is having a heart attack, please send an ambulance, quickly!"
After saying all this, Kevin placed his hands on A-Train's chest and performed basic first aid on him.
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