Chapter 238: Someday in the future, I will take something from you!
Hughie was led by a caddie to meet Ivan, who was swinging a club.
"Upper-class sports, cool~" Hughie smiled as he took the golf club and pretended to aim at the golf ball on the ground.
"An activity you can experience once for two hundred dollars doesn’t really count as upper-class. The only advantage here is that the environment is nice."
Ivan watched the golf ball fly out in a parabolic arc, then land on the lawn and roll forward. Unfortunately a gust of wind that just blew past changed the ball’s trajectory, causing it to brush past the hole.
"If I had this kind of experience when I was in school, I could have bragged about it to my buddies for a long time." Hughie accepted the caddie’s hands-on guidance while joking.
"Mysterious Mr., I thought you would set the meeting place at some restaurant in New York like last time. Didn’t expect it to be a golf course. Honestly, on the way here my calves kept trembling. I was afraid someone would try to sell me a membership card costing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."
"It’s not that exaggerated. Want something to drink?"
"Whatever. Anything is fine." Hughie swung hard for the first shot of his life. But like most beginners, his club didn’t hit the golf ball on the ground.
"Gentlemen, please wait a moment."
The sharp-eyed caddie tactfully took a few steps back, bowed slightly, then turned and left.
"How’s Butcher been lately?" Ivan asked.
"Same as always. Ever since Becca died he’s turned into an alcoholic. Almost every day he drinks himself unconscious." Hughie also didn’t expect Becca’s death to deal such a heavy blow to Butcher. He originally thought Butcher would go crazy seeking revenge against Homelander, but that didn’t happen.
Still, this wasn’t a bad thing. With their strength, going after Homelander would be like an egg hitting a rock, pure suicide.
"I heard about Becca’s death too. But a whole month has already passed. He still hasn’t improved?" Ivan picked up the mineral water bottle on the table, twisted the cap open, and took a sip.
He didn’t seem surprised by Butcher’s performance.
Hughie shook his head. "He’s become moody. Sometimes I can only find him outside nightclubs."
"Then what do you plan to do next? Disband the team? Each go live a peaceful life?"
"Looking at it right now, I don’t seem to have other choices. Unless Butcher pulls himself together again, we can only maintain the status quo."
Hughie also couldn’t figure out what Butcher was thinking.
By rights, after Becca died he should have gone on a crazy revenge spree, but now Butcher was just like a drunkard addicted to alcohol.
"Actually a life like this isn’t bad. At least I don’t have to worry about being killed at any moment like before." Hughie had no interest in golf, so after trying a few times he chose to give up decisively.
"I heard Vought is recently developing a new product, Temporary Compound V." Ivan said calmly.
"Temporary Compound V?" Hughie didn’t plan to ask how the other party learned this confidential information. In his eyes the man had always been very mysterious and understood Vought Group extremely well.
"It’s a drug that temporarily grants ordinary people superpowers, just like the Compound Six you used before, only without the memory-loss drawback." In fact Ivan had been continuously watching the research on Compound V. It had now reached the clinical stage. Although it hadn’t been put into use yet, the drug’s effects had basically stabilized.
Hughie couldn’t help frowning. "This isn’t good news. Once this kind of drug spreads it will cause unimaginable chaos. I feel my workload will increase by at least ten times."
"Don’t worry. Edgar won’t let this kind of drug enter the market for the time being. After all, with its price, ordinary families probably can’t afford it." Ivan put down the mineral water bottle in his hand and looked out at the distant scenery.
"Back to the main topic. I heard you came to find me this time because you want to know about Payback?"
"That’s right. I want to know whether Soldier Boy is actually dead. I remember you said last time that Homelander isn’t the strongest supe."
Clearly Hughie hadn’t given up investigating Vought, and he also wanted some good news that could make Butcher pull himself together again.
"About this matter, you should ask Mallory, not me. She knows far more than I do." Ivan said.
"I don’t think Mallory will answer a drunkard’s questions."
Hughie was a bit discouraged.
"He’s just unable to walk out of Becca’s death. Maybe you should give him a little more time. He will wake up."
"Hope so." Hughie didn’t place much hope in Ivan’s words.
After Hughie left, Butcher in a black robe quietly appeared behind Ivan.
"He doesn’t seem to know what you’ve been doing these past few days?" Ivan spoke.
"He doesn’t need to know."
Butcher’s tone was cold as he pulled a vial of Compound V from his coat. "Thirteen junkies, not a single one survived. All of them exploded and died. The lethality rate of this stuff is higher than I imagined."
"That’s why I reminded you it would be best to wait until Temporary Compound V is developed before you inject it. But you seem a little impatient." After Becca died, Butcher privately found Ivan. His purpose in finding Ivan was to get the Compound Six in Ivan’s hands, but Ivan didn’t give it to him.
Because he knew clearly that Compound Six was just a deceptive front. Using it to fool Hughie was fine, but handing it to Butcher would probably expose it quickly. So the only thing Ivan could give him was Compound V.
"Who the hell knows when that thing will be successfully developed. I can’t wait that long." Butcher’s voice was low.
"Maybe you can take a gamble. Maybe you’ll be the lucky one."
"I never believe in luck. I only believe in myself."
A trace of hesitation flashed through his eyes, then he put the Compound V back.
"Why are you helping me?" Butcher didn’t believe the mysterious man in front of him would help him for no reason.
"Didn’t I tell you before? One day in the future I will take something from you."
"Including life?"
"Of course." Ivan smiled.
But exactly what would be taken still depended on the fusion conditions of Butcher’s abilities. If it was life, then he could only blame his own bad luck.
Hearing Ivan’s reason, Butcher actually put his mind at ease. Life compared to revenge didn’t count for anything. If the other party wanted it, just take it.
"So next I should do as you said and put the focus on Payback? But even if I find Soldier Boy, how can I guarantee he won’t turn around and side with Vought instead of choosing to help me take out Homelander?" Butcher spoke the problem he had always been worried about.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69
