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It's over!
When Hughie saw The Deep, after being called, still looking towards the lounge, he knew that he and Frenchie were probably finished.
If nothing unexpected happened, Frenchie, having been seen by The Deep, would at least be accused of theft.
Coupled with Frenchie's long list of prior convictions, if The Deep were to follow the trail and find others connected to Frenchie, or even find evidence of Frenchie killing Translucent.
Then their whole group would be completely finished!
At this moment, Hughie's sense of unease reached its peak; he even began to wonder if it was too late to seek legal aid.
But the next second, something that made Hughie's jaw drop happened right in front of him.
The Deep, who had clearly noticed Frenchie, after glancing at Hughie, gently closed the door again, as if he hadn't seen anything at all.
This...?
What's going on??
"WTF…?"
Frenchie also let out an expletive in shock over the walkie-talkie.
At that moment, he had already prepared to give up and surrender, but The Deep actually ignored him?
Is The Deep's eyesight bad?
"Don't just stand there! Go find Compound V!"
Butcher on the other end of the walkie-talkie, although not on-site, could infer something from the brief exclamations he heard.
Butcher had no time to concern himself with that, at least not at the moment; the most important thing right now was Compound V.
Frenchie quickly began searching the lounge for Compound V.
Meanwhile, Hughie stared blankly at Kevin, taking a long time to snap out of it.
"Hey, are you stunned?"
Kevin waved his hand in front of Hughie's face, bringing him back to his senses.
Hughie's mouth was slightly agape, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.
Finally, Kevin gave him an out:
"I called you, you wouldn't be inviting me for a drink again, would you?"
"Uh… right, that… last time I left in a hurry, it felt a bit insincere, so…"
"Then don't just stand there, let's go, but fair warning, the drinks here seem quite expensive."
Generally, prices at places like amusement parks, train stations, stadiums… are much higher than outside.
And this stadium also has shares from Vought, so how could Vought, that money-hungry corporation, not severely overcharge customers for drinks?
But since Kevin wasn't paying, it didn't matter where they drank.
Hughie, on the other hand, didn't care if he was paying; as long as Kevin didn't turn them in, even if Kevin ordered every single drink here, Hughie would be willing to pay.
If worse came to worst, he could always get reimbursed by Butcher.
The two, each with their own thoughts, arrived at the fast-food restaurant inside the stadium, ordered two low-alcohol drinks, and some snacks, before they began to converse.
"Let's talk."
Eating the fries on the table, Kevin looked at Hughie meaningfully:
"Tell me why you're here."
Hughie swallowed, his heart once again tightening in his chest.
Clearly, The Deep had already sensed a connection between Hughie and Frenchie in the locker room, and perhaps it was because of this connection that The Deep chose to ignore Frenchie's actions.
But if Hughie couldn't explain himself clearly here, then it was likely both of them would still end up being caught.
"I… I actually…"
Hughie was speechless for a long time, but Kevin provided the answer for him:
"You want revenge on A-Train, don't you?"
!!!
At that moment, Hughie was so startled he nearly jumped up.
If he didn't know that Kevin was a Superhero of the water, not a Supe like Homelander with super hearing and sight, he would have thought Kevin had overheard their conversation on the walkie-talkie.
Otherwise, how did Kevin guess he was here to deal with A-Train?
But the truth was a little different from what Hughie had imagined.
"Your girlfriend, Robin, was killed by A-Train, and in the end, A-Train only offered a flimsy apology and a negligible compensation, with no sincerity at all. If it were me, I would indeed be angry; that's perfectly understandable."
Kevin spoke to Hughie very sincerely.
For a moment, Hughie felt so touched he was on the verge of tears.
The death of his girlfriend, Robin, was Hughie's lifelong psychological shadow and something he could never let go of.
Yet, all this time, neither his father nor his friends had told him anything other than 'let it go'.
Let it go, you've already received compensation anyway, Vought has already issued a statement saying it was just an accident, what more are you dissatisfied with?
You're just an ordinary person, what can you even do?
Hughie knew this, but he was simply unwilling, feeling it was unfair.
Why could A-Train get away with merely apologizing and paying a small sum after killing someone? Just because he's a Superhero? Just because of his seemingly 'righteous' excuse?
It was this unwillingness that made Hughie follow Butcher's words, step by step, to where he was now.
However, no one had ever stood in Hughie's shoes and considered things from his perspective.
Until now, from the mouth of another member of The Seven, The Deep, Hughie heard the words he had always longed for.
Understanding, and comfort.
The Deep could understand him.
And even ignored Frenchie's actions because of it.
"I… I'm so sorry…"
After the move, Hughie felt a deep sense of guilt.
He now knew that the Superhero in front of him was a rare righteous person within The Seven, and in front of such a righteous person, he had done things that only criminals would do, and even now was trying to deceive him.
Hughie felt ashamed of himself.
"You don't need to apologize. Although you made a mistake, from a victim's perspective, your mistake is very normal. However, I hope you and your friend don't go too far. Just give A-Train a lesson, there's no need to hurt him, right?"
The Deep spoke seemingly righteous and high-minded words.
Hughie looked at him with great respect, but in his ear, Butcher's incessant noise came through:
"Nonsense, he just wants to use you to attack A-Train and eliminate rivals."
"…"
Hearing Butcher's words, Hughie's lips twitched, and he silently put his hand on the walkie-talkie's switch, turning it off.
Butcher might be his 'guide' in life, but sometimes, the words that came out of that guy's mouth were just not worth listening to.
Hughie didn't want to hear his voice right now.
"You're right, The Deep, thank you. I won't do something like this again."
Turning off the walkie-talkie, Hughie said with great sincerity.
Then Hughie saw The Deep look at him deeply, his gaze seemingly piercing through Hughie, making his heart pound non-stop.
"That's for the best."
The Deep didn't seem to believe Hughie's words, but he also didn't pursue the matter of Hughie and Frenchie further, simply eating fries and drinking fruit wine that tasted almost like soda.
Their conversation ended there, not only because there was nothing left to talk about, but also because someone came looking for The Deep.
It was another member of The Seven.
Starlight.
"Kevin… uh, The Deep, so you're here. Ashley was just looking for you, saying Madelyn was urging something or other…"
"Oh, I know, I'll be right there."
The Deep casually responded to Starlight, then stood up and said to Hughie:
"Let's end our conversation here for today. I hope things will be a bit more normal next time we meet."
The Deep said, with a hint of meaning.
Hughie thought about it carefully and realized that his few meetings with The Deep did seem a bit abnormal.
The first time they met, Hughie had just entered Vought to install a bug; the second time, Hughie was robbed; the third time, Hughie was 'doing bad things' with a group of people in black robes.
These three meetings were more bizarre than the last, so it was no wonder The Deep would say that.
The Deep and Starlight left, and Hughie took a deep breath before turning the walkie-talkie back on, preparing to rendezvous with Butcher and the others.
Meanwhile, Starlight, who had taken Kevin away, asked curiously:
"Was that your friend? You never mentioned him."
"Not really a friend, just met a couple of times, and we got along… Wait."
Kevin first answered casually, then suddenly remembered something and abruptly turned to look at Starlight:
"You don't know him?"
"Should I know him? Or have I met him before?"
Starlight looked confused at his words.
And Kevin, seeing that Starlight didn't seem to be faking, fell into deep thought.
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