Sage Grove Center was in sight.
Seeing that Kevin was unwilling to say anything more, The Boys could only follow their original plan and go to Sage Grove Center to collect evidence related to Vought.
Frenchie, Mother's Milk Marvin, and Kimiko went in to search for information, while Starlight and Butcher, along with Hughie, kept watch outside.
Kevin himself lay in the passenger seat of the car, half-closing his eyes as if napping.
With tasks assigned, Marvin and the other two changed into Sage Grove Center uniforms and went inside.
After they left, Starlight and the other two exchanged glances.
They moved a little further away from Kevin and whispered among themselves.
"...Is he really engaged?"
It was Starlight who asked the question.
Out of distrust and prejudice towards the original Deep, Starlight always felt that Kevin had ill intentions, even thinking he was lying.
Butcher's opinion, however, was the opposite of hers:
"He has no reason to lie to us about something like this. I know you hate him because The Deep in this world shoved that damned thing in your mouth, but you can hate The Deep of this world, you can't hate the one in the car right now.
"They are completely different people, understand?"
"..."
Starlight fell silent. Hughie secretly glanced at Kevin, his voice even softer as he said:
"I think it's better if we don't discuss this..."
Hughie was more perceptive when it came to matters of the heart.
Although Kevin had said he wanted to keep his fiancée's information private, just before he said it, his unintentional gaze towards Starlight raised Hughie's alarm.
Whether it was intuition or something else, Hughie felt that continuing to ask questions would not benefit anyone.
It would be better not to ask anything, and for everyone to know nothing. That would be better.
Hughie's wariness surprised Butcher slightly.
Actually, Butcher could probably guess who Kevin's fiancée was.
The last time the other Hughie came over, although he didn't say anything, from some of the information he vaguely revealed, The Deep and Starlight of the other world were very likely a screen couple.
If Butcher's guess was correct, Kevin's fiancée should be Starlight Annie from the other world.
It's just that Hughie's intuition was good, and Annie's observational skills were equally good.
She could tell from Mother's Milk Marvin's small gestures that Marvin had OCD, and naturally, she could also guess something from the way the two of them were subtly avoiding the topic now.
In fact, Starlight had already had some vague suspicions.
After all, from the moment she met this Kevin, his gaze towards her had been very complex, but Starlight had never been certain.
Now, seeing their expressions, Starlight finally couldn't bear it. Her expression became very serious and astonished, and she said to them:
"No way... No, no, no, it's impossible no matter what... No, I have to go ask him!"
Starlight decided she had to ask for clarification herself.
Otherwise, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight!
She took a few steps to Kevin's side, looked at Kevin playing on his phone in the passenger seat, and opened her mouth to ask.
But Kevin spoke first:
"No need to ask. I can tell you that my fiancée is indeed Annie January, another Annie January, but you don't have to worry, I'm not interested in you. I like her, not you."
Facing this universe's Starlight, who was almost identical to Annie, Kevin's expression was indifferent.
Perhaps at first, Kevin had intended to treat the Starlight in front of him as Annie, but her behavior and some habitual movements made Kevin realize that the Starlight in front of him was not the Annie he liked.
Perhaps Annie of this world had experienced more; she lacked much of the spiritual aura that should have been there, as well as the innocence of a young girl.
Annie in Kevin's world, under Kevin's protection, had always retained her dreams and purity. She was naive and believed that everything in this world was filled with kindness.
Even if there were bad guys in the world, there were also true heroes like Kevin.
Kevin felt there was nothing wrong with that Annie; she should maintain that positive and optimistic mindset.
But Annie here...
She had gone through two seasons of the story, experienced countless darkness, and even almost gave up on herself and slept with people.
Although she became strong because of it, able to face any darkness and dare to fight against it, she was also not the Annie Kevin liked.
The two were not the same person at all, so Kevin had no need to stare at her.
"How... how could I like you!?"
Hearing Kevin admit it, Starlight found it even more unbelievable.
No matter what, Starlight didn't believe she could like The Deep, the guy who had sexually harassed her from the beginning.
Starlight felt that this person in front of her must have deceived the other her, just like the lies he told her when she first joined The Seven.
Kevin saw Starlight's distrust, and his expression became colder. A slight oppressive feeling pressed towards Starlight.
"Did you misunderstand something?"
"...?"
Facing the pressure emanating from Kevin and his cold gaze, Starlight instantly fell silent, unable to utter a word.
Kevin's icy gaze fell on Starlight, and he said softly:
"I said, I don't like you. As for Annie from the other world, whether she likes me or not has nothing to do with you. Our relationship is not for an outsider like you, who knows nothing, to interject!
"Don't be so self-important, Starlight."
"..."
Under Kevin's imposing presence, Starlight subconsciously took a step back.
Seeing this, Butcher seized the opportunity to step forward, smiling and teasing:
"Wow, that was quite blunt, but I can see that your relationship with your fiancée is indeed very deep."
"Of course, Annie is my first girlfriend, and my first fiancée. I love her, just as she loves me, so... don't question our relationship, understand? Starlight?"
Kevin did not hide his love for Annie.
Even if it sounded quite cheesy.
Starlight listened to Kevin's words, then looked at his genuine expression, took a deep breath, and walked away towards Hughie without saying anything.
Watching Starlight leave, Butcher then said:
"Leaving aside your mushy relationship with the other Starlight, what I want to ask is..."
"Rebecca." Kevin turned his head and uttered a name: "You want to ask about Rebecca, and the reason you left the Stormfront intelligence was also for Rebecca, am I right?"
"Nothing can be hidden from you."
"Because the only person you care about right now is your wife, no matter which world it is, it's the same. But about that, I can tell you that in my world, you and Rebecca are back together."
Kevin said leisurely.
Then, Butcher's expression softened for a moment, as if melting, and he smiled.
Kevin didn't laugh at him and continued to play on his phone to pass the time.
Just then, his phone suddenly vibrated.
It was a call from Barry.
The phone Kevin held in his hand at this moment was something A-Train had 'generously' provided.
Although A-Train was currently in debt and facing the risk of being kicked out of The Seven, to maintain his 'friendship' with Kevin, he still paid for a phone for Kevin and Barry each.
Anyway, the cost of the phones was much less than the presidential suite accommodation.
It was precisely because of this that Kevin could now determine that it was Barry calling him.
Similarly, Kevin was also wondering why Barry was calling him at this time.
"Hello?"
"Ke... Kevin..."
He answered the phone, and a trembling voice came from the receiver.
Hearing that voice, Kevin frowned, because it wasn't Barry's voice.
"A-Train?"
"Yes... yes... it's me... it's me! Something happened... Kevin... no, The Deep... something happened to him!"
"?" Kevin's eyes flashed. "Calm down, speak slowly. What happened to The Deep?"
"The Deep got into an accident! Today... today on set, Homelander... Homelander shot him through the chest! Now... now he's been sent to the hospital for emergency treatment!"
A-Train's breathing was rapid and frantic. It was clear he was very frightened.
And at this moment, after learning this news, Kevin's heart also gave a sudden leap.
Something happened to The Deep of this world?
How is this possible?!
Although Kevin already understood that his existence was a 'variable,' and wherever he was, the plot would be completely different.
But he clearly hadn't been to the set, nor had he met Homelander of this world!
How could Homelander have acted to kill The Deep?!
On set... what exactly happened?
...
Homelander was in a bad mood.
He had been in a terrible mood these past few days.
Not only because of the accidental killing of innocents a few days ago, and not just because of the public protests.
But also because he had been having a dream lately.
A nightmare.
In the dream, he lost his powers, was kicked to the ground and beaten, and finally shot in the head, even more helpless than an ordinary mortal.
At first, Homelander thought it was just a dream.
He was just curious why he was having such a dream.
But these past few days, every night, Homelander had been repeating the same nightmare, which also caused a slight change in his mindset.
Especially the most frequently appearing annoying face in the dream, which was extremely similar to The Deep, made Homelander's anger surge even more!
Homelander couldn't understand why it had to be The Deep, why that stupid face would appear before him, why that face was full of pity for him, as if... as if he was some pathetic guy!
Carrying such a volatile mood, coupled with Stormfront's inexplicable disappearance today, Homelander's mood worsened.
And precisely at this moment.
He saw that stupid face of The Deep on set!
An inexplicable surge of anger welled up in his heart. Homelander couldn't resist rushing forward to question why he was there.
Homelander had originally been able to control himself, until he saw Maeve, and the relic from Flight 37 that The Deep had found from the sea.
Homelander could no longer bear it.
This stupid fish, this guy who didn't know his place, actually wanted to team up with Maeve against him?!
The evil fire from days of nightmares, and the disgust for the face in front of him, made Homelander unable to hold back any longer.
Amidst the onlookers' exclamations and The Deep's fear, his eyes shot out scorching beams, piercing through the other's chest.
By the time Homelander regained his sanity, things had become irreversible.
The Deep, barely alive, was sent to the hospital.
And from the looks of it...
He was likely to die.