Free Web NovelChapter 50: Chapter 50: Father and Son Prepare to Find Vogelbaum
Chapter 50: Father and Son Prepare to Find Vogelbaum
After the meeting ended, the members of The Seven stood up and left one after another. Maeve and Starlight walked out of the conference room side by side, discussing something in low voices.
Soon after, A-Train arrived outside Benjamin’s office, a hesitant look on his face.
"Mr. Soldier Boy," A-Train said as he walked in, shutting the door behind him. Standing in front of the desk with his hands hanging at his sides, he asked, "I wanted to ask... is it okay if I go public with my relationship with Popclaw?"
Benjamin froze for a fraction of a second. Popclaw. The woman A-Train had murdered with his own hands in the original show. In that timeline, because The Boys discovered Compound V, they blackmailed Popclaw into giving up its distribution sites, prompting Homelander to order her silenced—an execution A-Train carried out himself.
In this current timeline, however, the blame for Compound V had been pinned entirely on Edgar and Madelyn, and Homelander had long since halted its black-market circulation. Popclaw didn’t have to die anymore.
"You’re asking me about a trivial thing like this?" Benjamin asked, his brow furrowing. "Who the fuck gives a shit about your personal life?"
A-Train said in a low voice, "Madelyn used to say that going public would tank my brand value and future prospects, which would then hurt company profits... Fans like a single A-Train. Going public would drop my approval ratings, and sponsors would pull their funding. So she forbade me from telling anyone." freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Heh." Benjamin leaned back against his chair, his tone cold. "Vought is running around like a headless chicken right now. The stock is tanking, the PR department is pulling all-nighters every single day—who the fuck is gonna care who you’re sleeping with? You have my permission. Go public if you want to."
A-Train blinked, clearly not expecting this answer. Benjamin’s response was incredibly straightforward.
"Besides, that old whore who died is completely out of the picture now," Benjamin added immediately. "I’m the one running Vought now. Under my watch, who you want to date or sleep with is your own goddamn business. As long as it doesn’t affect your missions, you stay off the drugs, and you don’t run anyone over, you can handle the rest yourself."
"Thank you, sir." A-Train’s voice carried a sincerity it had never possessed before. He cast a grateful glance at Benjamin. Aside from his fondness for beating people up, Benjamin was indeed far better to deal with than Madelyn in every other aspect.
During his recent hospital stay, Popclaw had been running herself ragged taking care of him. A-Train hadn’t hidden his relationship in the past entirely because of company orders; he genuinely enjoyed the fan adoration that came with a single persona. The female fans screaming "I love you, A-Train," and the young girls holding "Marry Me" signs at his races were vanities he hadn’t been willing to give up.
But during that stretch in the hospital, the only people who came to visit him were his brother and Popclaw. Perhaps having brushed so close to death, A-Train had finally seen things clearly.
There was another thing. A-Train didn’t dare to imagine what would have happened if Soldier Boy hadn’t returned and Popclaw had done those things—would Homelander have let his girlfriend off the hook? Probably not...
"One more thing," Benjamin interrupted A-Train’s train of thought, raising a finger to point at A-Train’s chest. "Your heart problem doesn’t look like something that’ll just disappear because you stopped juicing. Find a way to fix it. The Seven has always been the top Supe team on the planet. If your speed genuinely can’t keep up with Shockwave or some other second-tier speedster, it won’t be up to me anymore. Homelander will consider replacing you with a more suitable candidate, understand?"
A-Train gritted his teeth, his expression turning solemn. He knew this wasn’t an empty threat; Shockwave was undeniably more stable than him, and his heart was perfectly fine.
"Yes, sir. I’ll train until my speed is back."
"Get the fuck out," Benjamin said, waving his hand dismissively.
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Meanwhile, Homelander was investigating an entirely different matter. He had handed Translucent’s case over to The Deep and Maeve, focusing his entire energy on a separate lead.
Right before his death, Edgar had disclosed a secret to him—he had a son. Now, Homelander finally had the breathing room to unearth the truth. Utilizing his own methods, Homelander dug up some raw intelligence. He had a son, and the boy’s mother was Billy Butcher’s wife, Becca.
Becca had once been Homelander’s assistant. Eight years ago, Homelander had wanted revenge after hearing Butcher run his mouth about him; combined with Becca having a few drinks, they ended up in bed, her giving in half-reluctantly. Afterward, Becca vanished. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, and everyone assumed she was dead. Butcher thought she was dead, and the whole world thought she was dead.
But Vought had hidden her away. Because Becca was pregnant, and the child was his. Homelander’s child had been systematically hidden by Vought ever since, and the specific coordinates of Becca and the boy’s location pointed straight to one single person: Dr. Vogelbaum. The former chief scientist of Vought, as well as one of Homelander’s creators. freewёbnoνel.com
Decades ago, it was Vogelbaum who had deceived Soldier Boy, claiming they were merely conducting genetic enhancements on him when, in reality, the plan from the very beginning had been to breed the most powerful Supe on earth—Homelander. Now, Vought breeding him hadn’t been enough; they had gone ahead and bred his son too. Essentially, three generations of grandfather, son, and grandson were kept under Vought’s thumb... though the current Soldier Boy certainly wasn’t anymore.
Right now, Homelander’s fingers were trembling slightly. Madelyn knew about this, Edgar knew about this—they all fucking knew. They would rather let him film fake family promotional videos in front of a prop piano than tell him that he actually had a flesh-and-blood child...
He buried his face in his hands, his breathing turning heavy as he gasped for air, his shoulder guards heaving up and down with his ragged breaths. Madelyn was already dead, yet he still wanted to murder her; he hated her so much. Homelander even considered getting the Doppelganger to morph into Madelyn’s likeness just so he could blast her away with his Heat Vision all over again.
Right then, Benjamin walked up beside Homelander. He had spotted Homelander’s volatile emotional state from a distance; Starlight had just invited him to lunch, but now he had to look after his kid first.
Benjamin assumed Homelander had unearthed the truth on his own. When it came to his son, Benjamin had granted him vast clearance to manage practically everything up and down the company; essentially, Homelander’s authority at Vought was currently second only to his own. Uncovering the truth had only ever been a matter of time.
"You alright?"
Homelander snapped his head up, his eyes as bloodshot as if they’d just been flushed by Heat Vision. "I’m fine... great..."
Benjamin evaluated him. "You look like a junkie riding a massive high. Actually, scratch that—you look like a toddler who hasn’t had his milk in at least two weeks."
Going two weeks without milk was an absolute catastrophe for Homelander. "Dad, I need you to come somewhere with me."
"Where to?"
"Dr. Vogelbaum’s house," Homelander’s voice dropped into a slow cadence. "The former chief scientist of Vought, and one of my creators. He has to know where my son—your grandson—is hidden. He knows the whole truth."
Benjamin didn’t hesitate. "I’m coming with you."
It just so happened that he had a score to settle with Vogelbaum as well. That goddamn doctor had deceived him, claiming it was all just genetic research.
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A/N: Want to know what happens next? You can read up to 20 Chapters ahead on my p@tr~on:
[email protected]/ForgottenDaoist (@ = a, link is in my profile).
