After Hughie and Billy Butcher had temporarily fallen out, Hughie returned to his audio and video store with his head bowed. He felt like he was all alone again.
Just as Hughie was wallowing in misery by himself, the front door was suddenly shoved open. The Deep walked in, with stubble on his face and wearing an absurdly tight costume. Perhaps it was the uncanny bond between two unlucky men, but either way, he had found Hughie.
"The Deep..."
Hughie watched The Deep walk into the store, his heart thumping wildly. At that moment, he was like a naughty kid who'd just been caught by a teacher after pulling a prank: nervous, afraid, and a little... excited?!
"Listen, tell me what this thing is, or you'll be sorry!"
The Deep took a round listening device from his palm and set it on Hughie's desk. He threatened Hughie like an FBI agent interrogating a suspect on TV.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Hughie shook his head, pretending he didn't know anything.
"Hey, quit playing dumb!"
"I saw you put this thing in The Seven's office with my own eyes! Do you think I'm blind?!"
The Deep was making things up as he went. Honestly, he hadn't seen Hughie put the device in The Seven's office at all. In fact, he hadn't even been in Vought Tower when Hughie came by. He'd been seeing a therapist.
"You've got the wrong guy."
Hughie shook his head, insisting The Deep must have mistaken him for someone else.
"You made me do this. You made me use violence. I didn't want to do this, but you forced my hand."
The Deep pointed a finger at Hughie's nose. It was hard to tell whether he was threatening Hughie or trying to hypnotize himself.
"Hey, buddy! Look over here."
Just as The Deep continued threatening Hughie, a voice sounded behind him.
"Hm?"
At the sound, The Deep turned his head in confusion.
A fist the size of a sandbag came flying straight at him.
"Thump!"
It took just one punch to knock The Deep to the floor. He clutched his nose, his face twisted with pain.
"My nose! You broke my nose!"
Tears welled in The Deep's eyes. All he'd meant to do was ask why Hughie had planted a listening device in The Seven's office. He'd only... he'd only wanted to protect the dolphins. Was that so wrong?!
"Bzzzz!"
Billy Butcher had returned. He pulled a stun gun from his pocket, pressed it against The Deep's body, and pulled the trigger.
"Ugh..."
The Deep's body jerked as the stun gun shocked him. Then he collapsed to the floor and lay still as a dead fish.
"WTF?! You knocked out a superhero?!"
Hughie stared at the unconscious Deep, his eyes wide.
"First, allow me to correct you. It wasn't me; it was both of us!"
"Second, all he can do is talk to fish. That hardly makes him a superhero!"
"Now help me put him in the trunk. I have some questions for him."
Billy Butcher wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke to Hughie.
"What? Why should I help you? Didn't you say you didn't need me anymore?"
Hughie was still a little angry.
"Of course, you don't have to help me. But remember this: the guy lying on the floor has seen your face, but he didn't see mine. Who do you think he'll come after when he wakes up?"
Billy Butcher frowned and spoke in a low voice.
"F*ck!"
Hughie looked at the mess all over the floor and helplessly pressed his hand to his head.
A few minutes later, Hughie hastily tidied up the store. Then he left with Billy Butcher, The Deep in tow.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Baltimore had used what he knew about Compound V to extort a hefty sum from Starlight. She had planned to offer him $300 million, but he'd forced her to settle on a $230 million deal. Now he was flying through the cloudy sky on a private plane with his family.
After a bout of turbulence, the mayor's son, who'd been admiring a signed Homelander poster, suddenly looked out the window.
A man draped in the Free Nation's flag was flying outside.
"Dad, look! It's Homelander! Are you friends with him?!"
The mayor's son, a boy of seven or eight, shouted excitedly.
"Hm? What's he doing out there?"
The battle-hardened mayor sensed something was wrong and quickly grabbed his son.
"Bzzzz..."
As the mayor wondered what was happening, Homelander's eyes began to glow red.
"WTF?"
The mayor saw Homelander's glowing eyes, grabbed his son, and threw himself onto the floor of the plane.
The next second, two red beams lit up the sky, slicing the flying plane in half.
Homelander folded his arms across his chest and hovered in the air. The next second, he flew toward Vought Tower without even glancing at the plane he'd destroyed.
A few minutes later...
A white figure flew out of the sea, carrying two people, one large and one small. He didn't put them down until they reached the nearest stretch of land.
"Pant! Pant! Pant!"
Steve, the bald mayor of Baltimore, had struggled for half his life and didn't have a single hair left on his head. He gasped for breath.
"F*ck! This is murder! Vought is trying to murder us!"
The Baltimore mayor pointed at the white figure who'd pulled him out of the water and roared.
"Listen up! I'm the one who just rescued you and your little shit of a kid from that damn ocean. Without me, you'd be dead by now."
The white figure grabbed Steve by the throat and lifted him high into the air.
"Are you F*cking calm now?"
The white figure roared at Steve.
"Mm! Mm! Mm!"
Steve felt like he couldn't breathe and frantically nodded.
"Good."
The white figure watched Steve's reaction with satisfaction and lowered him in front of himself.
"Listen! Remember everything you saw today. Don't say a word about it when you get home. Keep your deal with the Vought Family moving forward as usual, and don't tip them off. But you can secretly post every bit of negative news you can find about Homelander online. As for what happened today, wait for my signal. Then you can get your revenge all at once and destroy Homelander, the guy who left you washed up like a stray dog. Remember, your enemies are Homelander and the Vought executives standing behind him. Got it?!"
The white figure pointed at Steve's neck and shouted.
"I-I understand."
Steve nodded repeatedly. Now that he'd calmed down, he was terrified, but his mind was also filled with thoughts of revenge. He might not be able to destroy the Vought Family, but Homelander had nearly killed him and needed to pay. As for the newly minted Vought Family star standing in front of him, the one who'd rescued him, they shared the same interests and enemy. So why couldn't they be "good friends"? In the adult world, the word friend was cheap. Whether someone was your friend depended on whether they could bring you enough benefit.
"Good..."
The white figure nodded slightly and turned away, as if he were about to leave.
"Wait..."
Just as Steve began to breathe a sigh of relief, the white figure turned around and walked over to Steve's child.
"W-What are you doing?"
Steve stepped in front of his child and warily watched the white figure.
"F*ck! Why are you still holding that idiot's poster?"
The white figure cursed. He took the signed Homelander poster from Steve's child and tore it to shreds right in front of him.
"Remember, when you were helpless, it wasn't Homelander, with his ridiculous cape, who saved you. It was me, Free Man. Go home and frame this. Bow down to it every now and then. It'll do you more good than praying to God."
The white figure grumbled as he pulled his own poster from a waterproof bag he carried. He signed it and handed it to Steve's child.
"Boom!"
This time, the white figure finally flew into the sky with a loud roar and didn't come back.
"Dad, can I frame this?"
After the white figure had flown away, little Steve looked excitedly at his father, holding the poster in his hands and gazing at it with stars in his eyes.
For a seven- or eight-year-old child, he wasn't scared at all. In fact, he was incredibly excited. Getting attacked by Homelander and rescued by Free Man was the perfect story to brag about at school.
"Sh*t!"
Steve looked at himself, washed up like a stray dog, and felt furious. He knew he wasn't a good person. Now that he'd made it back to shore, some people were going to have a bad time.
At least, judging by how Free Man had rescued them right after Homelander attacked them, the Vought Family wasn't united. As long as his enemy wasn't invincible, he was confident he could bring them down completely.
He was Steve, mayor of Baltimore. He hadn't gotten where he was by being soft...
Early the next morning, the news reported that Steve and his family had been attacked, and that Steve and his child had been lucky enough to be rescued.
"WTF?!"
Homelander turned ashen as he watched the morning news. Panic gripped him, and he decided to eliminate Steve as a threat once and for all.
"Homelander!"
Just as Homelander, his face pale, was about to go after Steve, Starlight walked into The Seven's meeting room and called out to him.
"I know I screwed up with Steve, Starlight, but don't worry. I'll take care of it soon."
Homelander looked at Starlight with a grim expression and kept assuring her.
"What are you talking about?! You did a great job!"
Starlight raised an eyebrow at Homelander's words.
"Hm?"
Homelander looked confused. He didn't understand what Starlight meant.
"Steve just called me. He said he was very grateful to you for saving him yesterday. So not only is he going to sign the Nubian Prince, he also wants to pay you $500 million to be the face of his city. You don't have to do anything. All you need to do is lend them your best-looking photo, and you'll make half a billion! Half a billion a year! F*ck, I've never seen a photo this expensive in my life."
Starlight walked up to Homelander and kissed him on one cheek, then the other. As she spoke, she turned away and excitedly headed toward the exit. Just before reaching the doorway of The Seven's meeting room, she stopped and turned back to look at Homelander again.
"Nice work! You really did a great job this time! Homelander, I'm proud of you!"
Starlight looked at Homelander and kept praising him. The gloom she'd felt after Steve used his Compound V information to threaten her into giving up $70 million had been swept away by this sudden $500 million. She was nothing but excited. After praising Homelander several times, she finally turned around and left with a spring in her step.
"WTF!?"
At last, Starlight swept out in a whirlwind, leaving Homelander alone in The Seven's meeting room, completely dumbfounded.
"..."
Jupiter was quietly making coffee in the meeting room, his head lowered and a smile on his face. He could hardly wait to see Homelander's furious expression when everything came full circle.
Meanwhile, in a dark basement.
"Somebody save me! Won't somebody save me?! Free Man? Homelander? Where are you? I'm so scared! This place is full of demons! Devils! And vile, terrifying, merciless Huodao Islanders who kill dolphins! I'm so scared! I-I-I... F*ck their whole family!"
The Deep, who'd originally planned to go to Huodao Island to save the dolphins, was locked in the basement. He shouted furiously, mouth agape. He felt like the world had forgotten him. He was having a rough time. Now, it wasn't just the dolphins who needed saving—the man trying to save them desperately needed rescuing himself.
"Can we just leave him locked up in here?"
"Of course!"
"Besides being awesome in an aquarium, he's not even as good as an ordinary person."
"Honestly, I've never understood why he joined The Seven. Why not work as an animal trainer at a zoo or an aquarium?"
Outside the cage, three grizzled men looked at The Deep and chatted.
"So what are we going to do with him?"
Hughie looked at Billy Butcher beside him, as well as Frenchie, who'd just been framed by Billy Butcher, and asked.
"That depends on whether he's willing to work with us."
"If he agrees to be our mole in The Seven, we can let him go right away. Seriously, if you feel bad for him, you can go talk to him. You can walk up to the cage and say, 'Hey, little Deep, if you swear to work for us, we won't set off the bomb we stuck up your ass.'"
Billy Butcher looked at The Deep as he struggled in pain and smiled faintly. They'd done a great job today. They'd actually captured one of The Seven.
And if all went well, they'd soon have an inside man who could move freely around Vought and had tremendous power. Then he'd be able to investigate the Vought Family thoroughly, and find out what had happened to his wife...
That sanctimonious bastard, Homelander, who was really a goddamn hypocrite, would pay for it! He'd pay dearly!
"Hm?"
Jupiter had finished making coffee. He looked at the coffee in his cup and froze.
"Did I forget someone?"
Jupiter raised an eyebrow and fell into thought. A few seconds later, he slowly stretched. Never mind. Whatever he couldn't remember probably wasn't important.
Before you continue