Chapter 122: 122: Ivan Becomes Homelander’s Friend?
"Lady, there’s one more thing I need to ask you..." Mother’s Milk knew it might be bad timing, but he’d been out of contact with his family for way too long.
"Information about your family?" Susan skipped over the topic. It wasn’t important right now. "How about this — let’s check if your intel is solid first."
Hughie then told her everything about the smuggling boat incident.
"You’re saying super-terrorists snuck into America through a private dock?" Susan immediately realized how bad this was. They had just signed the military bill with Vought. There was no reason for Vought to create more problems for themselves.
Thinking back to Madeline’s confused expression during the interrogation, Susan was now almost certain Madeline had no idea about the super-terrorists.
But the second she finished speaking... Spulch!
Susan’s entire head exploded like a watermelon.
Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, and Hughie were scared shitless. Mother’s Milk yanked out his gun and looked around wildly while yelling, "Go! Get the fuck out of here!"
"Holy shit! Holy shit!" Hughie kept repeating in terror.
They scrambled into the car. Mother’s Milk slammed the gas pedal to the floor and sped off like their lives depended on it.
"What the fuck just happened?" Hughie gasped, still shaking.
"No fucking clue. Oh shit," Mother’s Milk said, checking the rearview mirror. No Vought pursuit.
Frenchie rubbed his face hard, forcing himself to calm down. "Fuck me. That was the CIA Deputy Director! Vought’s gone completely insane. They planted an explosive in her head. Looked like some special kind — probably triggered by a keyword."
As a weapons expert, Frenchie couldn’t even imagine what kind of explosive could be implanted without her knowing and still pack that much power.
Once they got back to the basement, Annie called Hughie. She had tracked down the person from the file he gave her.
"The guy in the file is called Gecko. I met him once at one of Ezekiel’s charity events.
His power is super regeneration, like a gecko, so that’s where the name comes from. He has two jobs — one is being a test subject for Vought’s labs, and the other is letting rich sadists beat the shit out of him for some extra cash.
I got videos of the abuse and used them to blackmail him. By the way, that trick was taught to me by that asshole Greevs, but that’s not important. The important part is he’s agreed to steal some Compound V for us."
"L-Listen, Starlight, we need to stop all activity for now. Vought is too dangerous. We have to be way more careful." Hughie hung up right after. The fear in his chest still hadn’t faded. The image of Susan’s head exploding kept haunting him like a nightmare he couldn’t shake.
On the other end of the line, Starlight stared at her phone in disbelief. She had no idea what could have shaken Hughie up so badly.
"Oh my God..." While Hughie was still lost in his panic, the basement guard was suddenly thrown down the stairs.
Frenchie and the others jumped like startled birds, immediately grabbing their guns and aiming at the basement entrance.
Tap.. tap.. tap..
As the footsteps grew louder, an unexpected figure appeared in front of them. It was Butcher, carrying a suitcase. He set it down and spread his arms wide. "Oi, cunts. What are you waiting for?"
Seeing Butcher suddenly show up, Hughie couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face.
"You bastard. How the fuck did you find us?" Frenchie punched him in the chest.
"Because I got your call."
Butcher pulled him into a rough hug and slapped his back. "Good to see you, mate."
The group quickly started catching up. Frenchie and the others were most concerned about where Butcher had been all this time and whether he was really the one who killed Madeline.
"I don’t remember everything, but I can promise you this — by the time I hit the detonator, Madeline was already dead."
He also told them he’d seen Becca and the kid, but the next thing he knew, he woke up in the underground parking lot of some restaurant. Butcher pulled out a piece of paper from his coat. "I wrote down everything I could remember about the place."
"Wait a second. Have you all forgotten this asshole ditched us and left us to die? Now he’s acting like nothing happened?" Hughie was happy to see Butcher back, but he still had a hard time trusting the guy who had abandoned them.
"I’m sorry about that. I really am. I thought you guys would figure something out in a few days. Looks like you did pretty damn well. But right now, the mess you’re in is something only I can fix. That’s why Frenchie called me."
Butcher’s voice was serious.
"I’m the leader of this team."
His words left Hughie speechless. Butcher continued, "Frenchie already told me everything over the phone. Honestly, I respect the hell out of you for shooting up Compound V to save the others. But the most important thing now is getting rid of those warrants."
"Friendly reminder — it was Compound VI," Hughie said.
Butcher shrugged. "Whatever. Sounds like the same shit to me."
"How do you plan to fix this?" Mother’s Milk asked.
"Mallory. With her connections, she can easily track down the smuggled terrorists."
In the end, Butcher realized his old boss was still the most useful person for the job.
...
The next day.
Ivan brought the speech draft to Homelander.
"Here’s the speech for tomorrow’s new hero announcement event. You can take a look in advance."
"Yeah, got it." Homelander motioned for Ivan to just set it aside.
"I heard your son’s name is Ryan. Nice name. Is he a supe too? You should bring him by Vought sometime. Let him see his father’s great achievements," Ivan said with a smile as he casually tossed the speech onto a nearby table.
"Of course. He’s my son, so naturally he’s a supe," Homelander replied. The corners of his mouth couldn’t hide his pride. From what Vogelbaum told him, his son might be the first naturally born supe. It made him incredibly proud.
"Let me tell you a secret. My son is a real supe. He has nothing to do with Compound V." Even though he called it a secret, Homelander’s tone was full of arrogance.
Ivan put on a thoughtful expression. "As expected of your son. That’s practically a miracle. I think Vought could start a new project — a superhero development program. We could pick a group of young supes and let the public watch them grow up alongside us. I believe it would be incredibly marketable."
Homelander’s curiosity was piqued. "What do you mean?"
Ivan smiled. "Like a miniature version of The Seven. If your son is good enough, I’m sure he’ll win over a lot of fans and even boost your own popularity. It’s a solid selling point. Of course, only if he’s as outstanding as you are."
"He will be," Homelander said confidently.
Still, since he hadn’t actually seen his son use any powers yet, Homelander felt a bit uneasy inside. But for the sake of his pride, he would never admit his son might be weaker than other supes. He wouldn’t allow it.
"Greevs, I’ve always said you’re a genius. Now I have no choice but to believe it. Come on, I’ll take you to meet Ryan. He’ll definitely surprise you." Homelander patted Ivan’s shoulder with a big smile.
The two of them left Vought Tower. Ivan got behind the wheel of his pickup truck and drove toward the villa where Becca lived.
___
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69
