A-Train gave a bitter smile, realizing he was now tied to the Black King's boat.
He had deceived Homelander; if Homelander ever found out, wouldn't he be torn apart alive?
As a teammate, A-Train knew all too well what Homelander's true face was like beneath that perfect persona.
But he had no other choice and could only follow this dark path to the end.
Meanwhile, Homelander flew into the distance at a speed exceeding Mach 1.5.
After a long while, he finally arrived at the outskirts of a city.
This was the Villa where Voughtbaum lived after retiring.
Voughtbaum was tending to his hybrid dogs on the lawn. Hearing the sound of breaking air, his eyes went blank for a moment before regaining clarity.
"It seems retirement suits you."
Homelander was the first to speak, offering a greeting.
His feelings toward Voughtbaum were unique, so his attitude was relatively friendly.
"Actually, compared to these idle days, I'd still prefer to be back in the lab," Voughtbaum replied.
At the mention of the word 'lab', Homelander's expression stiffened slightly for a moment.
He quickly returned to normal and asked Voughtbaum directly, "I'm here to ask about someone. As Vought's former chief scientist, you should be familiar with Vought's Superhumans."
Voughtbaum nodded. "Most of them, especially those with more distinctive abilities."
"This person certainly has distinctive features."
"The name he gave himself is Black King."
Seeing Voughtbaum's blank look, Homelander described him more specifically: "His body is as strong as mine, maybe even stronger, and he can fire energy blasts..."
Homelander was speaking euphemistically; he knew that compared to him, the Black King's strength was far more than "maybe" just a bit greater.
It was a complete beatdown.
"Also, he wears a mask with a bearded man laughing eerily on it."
But upon hearing Homelander's description, Voughtbaum's expression changed instantly.
"Oh my God!"
"You... you actually met... him?"
The spoon Voughtbaum was using to feed the dogs dropped from his hand, clearly showing his immense surprise.
Homelander also became excited. "You know him?"
"Hoo... hoo..."
Voughtbaum took several deep breaths, and once his heart rate steadied, he led Homelander toward the house.
"Follow me."
They walked all the way to Voughtbaum's study, where Voughtbaum pulled a yellowed document from a hidden compartment in the bookshelf.
Before handing it to Homelander, Voughtbaum specifically said, "According to company regulations, I shouldn't show you these things, but John... you're different."
"Speaking of which, Kevin's creation is actually related to you."
"Kevin, is that the Black King's name?" Homelander took the document and opened it immediately.
"Correct." Voughtbaum nodded. "Because your abilities were so strong, the company once planned to create beings similar to you."
"Clones?" Homelander asked.
"Only a clone of abilities. Vought wanted to create a new compound v that could develop specific powers."
Voughtbaum shared the story Fang Yuan had just made up with Homelander.
"Kevin was the most successful of the subjects. He not only possessed abilities similar to yours but even displayed many others!"
"That mask was painted by Kevin himself. He said if he ever left the lab, he'd use it as his Superhero emblem." Voughtbaum sighed. "Yes, he was very naive back then."
Homelander flipped through the document, which was filled with research data. Now he finally understood why the Black King was so powerful.
"Why didn't he join The Seven? And why is he against Vought?" he asked.
"Because he was very unstable. Not only did his powers change frequently, but his physical condition was also severe. At the time, we were certain he wouldn't live more than a few years," Voughtbaum replied. "So after he was taken away by Predel, I stopped paying attention."
Hearing the Black King's origins, Homelander suddenly felt a sense of relief.
So he's just a knock-off version of me? I'm still the greatest!
However, the new figure Voughtbaum mentioned piqued his curiosity: "Who is Predel?"
"A shareholder of the Vought Group. He funded many research projects behind Vought's back, and Kevin was one of them. But he died in a car accident five years ago..." Voughtbaum's brow suddenly furrowed. "Could it have been Kevin's doing?"
"It must have been," Homelander answered quickly.
The Black King was already the number one villain in his mind; any bad deed must have been his doing.
"If you want to know what happened to Kevin afterward, especially his weaknesses, I suggest you look into Predel." Voughtbaum provided a lead. "I once heard he had a secret lab in Arizona, but I don't know the exact location."
Although he hadn't found the Black King's weakness, having a lead was good. Especially knowing that the Black King was a knock-off product modeled after himself, Homelander immediately felt a sense of superiority.
In terms of origin, he had already defeated the Black King.
"By the way, was Kevin alone?" Homelander was about to leave when Voughtbaum suddenly asked. "You haven't seen anyone else?"
"No. Are there others like him?" Homelander asked, a bit nervous.
"Ah, no, only Kevin is that powerful. It's nothing, no one else."
Voughtbaum clearly had more to say, but hearing that they weren't as powerful as the Black King, Homelander lost interest in investigating others.
He was now in high spirits, focused solely on returning to Vought to investigate where Predel's lab was located.
After Homelander left, Voughtbaum's eyes went blank for a moment.
"What just happened? Did John visit?"
"Who is Kevin? When did Predel ever fund me?"
Fang Yuan's figure flickered into view, implanting everything just said to Homelander into Voughtbaum's memory. Voughtbaum's tone became firm again.
"Yes, it was Predel who funded me!"
All of this was, naturally, orchestrated by Fang Yuan behind the scenes.
"Now the Black King's origins make sense." Fang Yuan muttered as he watched the direction Homelander flew off. "Investigate diligently, little John. I've prepared a huge surprise for you!"
Homelander returned to Vought Headquarters and started having people pull up all of Predel's records.
He focused on the records regarding Predel's Death. He knew well that Vought Corporation often hid the truth, and with his clearance, he could see many files unknown to the outside world.
But no matter how much Homelander looked, he couldn't find any anomalies in Predel's report. It seemed as if Predel really had died in a car accident.
However, with his preconceived notions, he felt even more convinced that the Black King had fabricated everything.
He summoned A-Train again, ordering him to peek into the private files of Vought's top executives to find any intelligence related to Predel.
Homelander was desperate for progress. Ever since his defeat by the Black King, he was constantly on edge—whether attending events, fighting crime, or filming movies—fearing that the Black King would suddenly appear, defeat him in front of the cameras, and declare himself the greatest Superhero!
Whenever he imagined this scene, Homelander couldn't help but tremble. This led directors to exclaim that his acting had improved immensely when performing scenes of fear—after all, Homelander hadn't been able to act out such scenes well before.
Little did they know, to vent his fear, Homelander had gone to the roof of the Seven Tower to jerk off countless times.
A-Train worked very hard, helping Homelander find a lot of intelligence on Predel.
Mistresses, secret stashes, enemies, more mistresses... and of course, Predel's properties in Arizona.
But Homelander made many trips and still couldn't find the experimental Base he was looking for.
After over half a year of searching, it was now June 2018.
The Boys Strike Again: Superhero Bald Eagle Accused of Murder!"
MIB Releases Report: Superhero Collateral Damage Reduced by 50% in the Last Three Months!"
The Boys' Membership Surpasses 50!"
Slap!
Madelyn turned off the screen and threw the remote onto the table, the loud thud echoing in the silent conference room.
Aside from her and a few employees like Marketing Director Ashley, only The Seven were present in the conference room.
Vought's The Seven: Homelander, A-Train, The Deep, Queen Maeve, Lamplighter, Invisible Man, and Black Noir.
"MIB has now become a well-known Superhero oversight agency; some even say they're here to manage Vought." Homelander shook his head. "They're too arrogant. We must restrict them!"
"MIB now has over 200 employees, and as you've seen, their subordinate group, The Boys, has 50 Superhumans. They can't just be restricted on a whim anymore."
Madelyn sighed.
"However, CEO Edgar has reached an agreement with the Minister of Defense. MIB will not investigate The Seven."
The cost was another injection of operating funds for MIB.
Hearing this, the rest of The Seven breathed a sigh of relief, though Homelander asked one more question: "Did the Black King say that too?"
"The Black King?" Madelyn frowned. "He never communicates with Vought, but since the Minister of Defense has given the nod, he cannot go against it."
Homelander said no more, but he felt that given the grudge between the Black King and Vought, the Black King was unlikely to let things slide.
"Our main focus right now is still Lamplighter's retirement ceremony and the selection of new members for The Seven," Madelyn continued.
"I really don't get it. Isn't being in The Seven great? Lamplighter, you're actually thinking about retiring?" The Deep said, still in disbelief.
Lamplighter was a man with a face full of life's hardships. He shook his head. "I've worked too long. I'm tired."
What followed were discussions on routine marketing plans. Everyone present was an old hand, and the meeting ended quickly.
Homelander and A-Train were the last ones left.
"A-Train, any discoveries lately?"
Homelander asked in a low voice.
A-Train remembered the instructions the Black King had given him. He quickly zipped back and forth to bring Homelander a document.
"Another one of Predel's properties in Arizona, but I've checked it; there's no record of the name Kevin on it."
A-Train shrugged and spoke nonchalantly.
Homelander was used to it; it had been like this frequently over the past six months.
"This document only mentions a project in a few lines," A-Train said casually. "Something called Subject 071?"
Homelander's expression changed instantly. He lunged forward and grabbed A-Train's shoulders with both hands, his grip so strong he nearly crushed A-Train's bones.
"What did you say?" Homelander questioned frantically. "What was the name?"
Enduring the intense pain, A-Train repeated the keyword the Black King had given him—
"Subject... 071."
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