Homelander looked at Soldier Boy, his brow furrowing slightly. "How did you know he likes using the word 'cunt'?"
Soldier Boy did not answer immediately. He picked up the bottle on the table, unscrewed the cap, and took a long swig.
The strong liquor flowed down his throat, but did nothing to ease his frown.
Something was wrong. Not just wrong-twelve out of ten wrong.
He had changed the current timeline beyond recognition, yet Butcher had still learned about Compound V, just as he had in the original plot. Soldier Boy would never believe there was nothing fishy about that.
It was like a great river whose course had already been diverted. You thought it was flowing toward another plain, but after a long detour, it returned to its original channel.
Homelander did not press him. He stood quietly to one side, both hands obediently at his sides. He rarely saw this expression on his father's face, so he neither wanted nor dared to interrupt.
Soldier Boy shook his head, clearing away the distracting thoughts.
Forget it. No point worrying about all that, as long as it doesn't affect my redemption of Homelander.
He exhaled. "I guessed."
Homelander looked into his father's eyes and fell silent for a moment.
If I'd told Ashley and the others about Butcher first, there would be nothing strange about Soldier Boy getting word and mentioning some of his traits.
But I can guarantee that before Soldier Boy, I never breathed a word of this to anyone.
Then how exactly did Soldier Boy know?
Thinking back carefully, Soldier Boy seemed to know a lot of secrets.
For instance, his fondness for drinking milk. And on the very day Soldier Boy first appeared, when he went to Vought International's secret laboratory to avenge him, he had