A-Train, the tool, was ordered by Kevin to go gather information.
Kevin, on the other hand, quickly spent skill points to teleport to the Marvel World to find Banner and get some new Compound V.
The previously left behind drug data was still stored in the Marvel World. With this residual data, even if Kevin hadn't brought Compound V with him, it only took Banner a few days to produce new Compound V.
Additionally, Kevin had paused time in the The Boys world, so for Barry, Kevin's figure just flashed before his eyes, and two dark blue vials appeared in his hand.
There's not much to say about the situation in the Marvel World. The Civil War was still ongoing, and because Banner was there, it had become quite complicated. Every time Kevin interacted with them, he would gain one or two skill points.
However, Kevin currently had no intention of participating in the Avengers Civil War, so he first used the Time Stone to lock down time there. He would only get involved in the plot when he had time.
As for now, Kevin needed to inject Barry with Compound V.
"It might hurt a bit, just bear with it."
It was Kevin's first time personally injecting someone with a drug. He had never done such a thing before, so he was quite unfamiliar with it.
But fortunately, Kevin, who could perceive the blood flow and even the spinal cord in Barry's body, could ensure that his injection would not cause any harm to Barry.
However, he couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't hurt Barry.
"It's okay, I've been struck by lightning many times. It's just an injection... I'm fine, come on, Mr. Kevin!"
Barry was bare-chested, lying prone on the sofa with his back exposed, his gaze firm.
Seeing this, Kevin said no more. He expelled the air from the syringe in his hand, aimed at Barry's spinal cord, and slowly inserted it.
Unlike Hughie, when Hughie was injected with the drug, he screamed terribly, as if he were being killed.
In contrast, Barry, though his face was flushed red and his hands were almost tearing the sofa cushions, did not cry out. He stared, enduring the pain from his back.
Only after the injection was complete did Barry let out a long breath, panting on the sofa.
"How is it? Do you feel anything special?"
After injecting Barry with Compound V, Kevin asked him.
Barry rested for a while before sitting up. He closed his eyes, sensing his body, then shook his head at Kevin.
"Sorry, I... I didn't feel anything..."
"This shouldn't be..."
Seeing that Barry indeed showed no signs of recovering his abilities, Kevin frowned deeply.
Even if Barry didn't regain his Speed Force after the injection, he should at least gain other abilities.
How could there be no reaction at all?
Kevin was about to ask when he saw sweat beads suddenly appear on Barry's forehead. Barry looked at Kevin with some difficulty:
"However, Kevin, I..."
Grrr grrr—
Before he could finish, his stomach rumbled loudly. Kevin heard it clearly.
"You're hungry, right? Wait."
Seeing Barry so hungry that he was sweating, Kevin immediately picked up the service phone in the room and asked the hotel staff to send food over.
He remembered that Barry's Speed Force seemed to consume a large amount of calories every time he used it.
Perhaps... Barry hadn't regained his abilities simply because he hadn't eaten enough?
Regardless of whether this guess was correct or not, he would try it first.
That's what Kevin thought.
...
A-Train arrived at Ashley's office.
He had been called there by Ashley for a meeting. It wasn't just him; Maeve and Black Noir were also there.
But it was only them. The core of The Seven, Homelander, was not there, nor was Stormfront, who had recently risen to fame.
And Starlight, she had been missing since this morning, no one knew where she had gone.
When A-Train arrived at the office, Ashley was still rubbing her hair. When A-Train came over, he heard Ashley say:
"It seems everyone is here."
"?"
A-Train looked at the people present, a question mark appearing above his head.
Homelander, Stormfront, and Starlight were all absent, plus the deceased Deep, The Seven was missing more than half its members. Now Ashley was telling him everyone was here?!
A-Train still didn't understand what she meant, but Ashley had already begun to continue:
"The reason I called you all here, I believe you should also know, Deep... is dead."
"..."
As soon as Ashley finished speaking, A-Train saw Maeve lower her head, covering her face with one hand.
Maeve's reaction made A-Train a little concerned. He observed Maeve, thought for a moment, and then asked Ashley:
"...Is it confirmed?"
"When Deep was f**king dying, I was right next to him! You tell me if I'm f**king sure!!"
A-Train's rhetorical question made Ashley's emotions explode instantly, and expletives spewed out one after another.
It was clear that Deep's death had put immense pressure on Ashley.
But Ashley quickly stabilized her emotions. She took several deep breaths, then seemingly calmly said to the others:
"Now, there are two things we need to do. One is to f***ing find that damned Starlight for me! The other thing... Maeve..."
Ashley's gaze fell on Maeve:
"I need to know, what exactly did you and Deep... what did you and Deep do to make Homelander so angry!"
Homelander had originally only destroyed Stormfront's car. If Deep hadn't met Maeve, if he hadn't learned something from Maeve, perhaps he wouldn't have attacked Deep.
And now Vought desperately wanted to know what Maeve had conspired with Deep to make Homelander unable to resist severely injuring Deep.
"May I refuse to answer?"
"Sorry, no. This is something Mr. Edgar wants to know. He wants to determine the reason for Homelander's emotional instability. You can refuse to answer me, but Mr. Edgar will personally ask you later."
Maeve closed her eyes upon hearing this.
She lowered her head, rubbing her cheeks with both hands.
A-Train looked at her, keenly observing tear streaks on Maeve's face.
Homelander killed Deep because of her?
Seeing Maeve's reaction, A-Train had a guess in his heart, and at the same time, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Although he didn't know what Maeve and Deep had done, Deep's death had nothing to do with A-Train, which relieved him quite a bit.
At least he didn't have to worry that Homelander would really come and kill him.
The office became unusually quiet. Everyone present was waiting for Maeve to give an answer.
After a period of struggle, Maeve slowly uttered a phrase:
"...Flight 37."
"What?"
Ashley didn't understand for a moment, nor did A-Train. They both quietly waited for Maeve to continue.
Once the topic was opened, the remaining words were no longer as difficult to speak as they were at first.
Maeve quickly continued:
"I asked Deep to find the black box of Flight 37, but he couldn't find it, only some belongings of the Flight 37 passengers... Homelander stumbled upon this, and then he..."
He shot through Deep's chest.
Maeve didn't want to continue.
Her expression was pained, almost on the verge of tears.
Maeve was blaming herself.
Because she understood that if it weren't for her, Deep wouldn't have died. In fact, if Maeve hadn't been someone Homelander once loved, the person who died at that time might not have been Deep, but her, Maeve.
It was precisely because Homelander still had an irrational possessiveness towards her that he chose not to lay a hand on Maeve, but instead killed Deep to make Maeve suffer.
In truth, Maeve and Deep's relationship was simply that of colleagues. Sometimes, Maeve even looked down on this disgusting guy who only knew how to take advantage of newcomers.
But no matter what, Deep truly hadn't done anything too outrageous.
As for taking advantage of newcomers... such things are common in the entertainment industry... and in the Superhero circle, which is very similar to the entertainment industry.
At least he was much better than Homelander, who killed people at will, A-Train, who ran over people and didn't apologize, and Black Noir, who had handled who knows how many opponents for Vought.
That small mistake wasn't worth dying for, yet he died on set because of Maeve.
This was Maeve's fault.
She had caused the death of another person close to her.
"Oh... f**k... f*ck f**k!"
Upon hearing what Maeve said, Ashley couldn't help but curse again.
She angrily questioned Maeve:
"How dare you?! Don't you know Homelander, he..."
"I know!"
Maeve loudly interrupted Ashley:
"I know what kind of person he is! But I can't take it anymore, Ashley, I can't stand him threatening me, threatening Elena! I just... want to live a normal life..."
"..."
Listening to Maeve's emotional outburst, Ashley clutched her hair and remained silent.
How could she not know about Homelander's threats to Maeve?
Even Ashley herself lived under the fear dominated by Homelander.
But what could they do?
The outcome of standing up to Homelander was clear, even with just a moment's thought. If they truly went against Homelander, they had to be prepared to be shot through by his heat vision!
Just like Deep!
Pulling out more hair from her head, Ashley stopped pressing Maeve and turned to A-Train:
"You... where were you last night?"
"The bar. Is there a problem? Anyway, I'm about to leave The Seven."
"I'm giving you a chance now. Find a way to locate Starlight. If you can find her, Mr. Edgar can guarantee your spot in The Seven."
"Starlight?"
A-Train, completely unaware of what had happened, frowned and looked at Ashley:
"What happened to Starlight?"
"She took off her tracker and is now missing."
"Alright..."
The task Ashley gave A-Train was not difficult.
As long as he ran all over the city, he would eventually find Starlight's location; he just needed to have a few more quick-acting heart pills ready.
"And then? Are there... any other tasks?" After accepting the task, A-Train asked Ashley again: "Or... can this meeting end?"
Ashley clearly had no other tasks.
She glanced at the hair she had pulled out again, casually tossed it aside, and was about to end the conversation.
But just then, the door was pushed open.
No knock, no greeting. In Vought, the only people who could treat Ashley, a senior Vice President, with such casualness were Edgar and Homelander.
And now, the person who arrived was Homelander.
"I hope I didn't interrupt your meeting?"
Homelander walked in with his hands behind his back, looking around at everyone in the office.
Ashley immediately tensed up. She stammered in response:
"No... no... it's already... over..."
"Oh, it's over." Homelander smiled, walked to Ashley's desk, sat on it, and picked up a pen from Ashley's pen holder to play with.
He glanced at Ashley, then looked at Maeve sitting there, and then his gaze never left Maeve:
"Then can you tell me what you were just discussing?"
Maeve looked up, her eyes slightly red, and met Homelander's gaze for a long time before explaining:
"We... were discussing how to find Starlight."
"Hmm, Starlight's betrayal is indeed disheartening, but isn't what's even more disheartening that Deep also betrayed us?"
"?"
When Homelander said this, question marks appeared above everyone's heads.
And Maeve, who understood Homelander very well, knew what he meant by that.
Homelander had probably already figured out how to explain Deep's death.