Starting in The Boys to Become the Ultimate Lifeform.

212. Chapter 212: Payback Gradually Surfaces

"What the f*ck? That has absolutely nothing to do with us. We suspect Vought did it."

Hughie on the other end of the mobile phone sounded a bit exasperated. Why were they being blamed for everything? He felt like a turtle carrying a scapegoat on his back, and the number of scapegoats kept increasing. Fortunately, the leader of the crime group was Billy, whose popularity wasn't high. Just like his position in The Boys, he was an inconspicuous presence.

"Just kidding, don't take it seriously."

"Dude, that's not funny at all. Also, do you know anything about the Church of the Collective?" If Billy hadn't been completely baffled as to why Vought would eliminate the Church of the Collective, he wouldn't have thought of the mysterious existence of Xia Shang.

Billy could vaguely sense a connection between the Church of the Collective and Vought International, but he knew nothing about the specific details.

Xia Shang hesitated for a moment, but for the sake of fantasy value, he still spoke, "The Church of the Collective has a long history. Stormfront was once a member. Alright, that's all I can tell you. As for more information, you'll have to dig it up yourselves. Finally, let me give you a reminder: look further ahead. Homelander is not invincible."

"Homelander isn't invincible? What do you mean? Is there a Supe stronger than him? Hello? Hello?" Hughie looked down and saw that the phone had been hung up. When he dialed again, it only went to a mechanical voice saying the call could not be connected.

In the Basement, Billy looked at Hughie.

"Did he tell you anything about the Church of the Collective?" Actually, he didn't expect Xia Shang to tell him much. This guy was extremely mysterious, coming and going without a trace. Despite using all his channels, he still couldn't find any information about the other party. The mysterious man was like a ghost, existing in this world, hard to see and hard to touch.

Hughie put down his mobile phone and said with a shocked expression, "He said the Church of the Collective has a long history, and Stormfront, one of Vought's current Seven, was once a member."

"Stormfront? Liberty?"

Billy frowned thoughtfully. "Could it be because the Church of the Collective has dirt on Stormfront, so Stormfront attacked the Church of the Collective to completely bury her dirt? That would explain why the Church of the Collective was wiped out by Vought."

He pursed his mouth, his eyes reflecting an excited gaze.

"That means, as long as we find the dirt on Stormfront, we can completely screw her over."

"With Vought's public relations strength, trying to screw over Stormfront with dirt is too difficult. We failed several times before, who's to say we'll succeed this time?"

Frenchie, standing nearby, shook his head, pouring cold water on the idea.

"NONONO, this time is definitely different. I suspect this dirt is unexpectedly important, otherwise Stormfront wouldn't have personally taken action." Billy rejected Frenchie's view.

Actually, this matter had nothing to do with Stormfront, but under Xia Shang's guidance, Billy and the others predictably got the wrong idea. However, they stumbled upon a crucial point by accident.

"Wake up, did you get high and go stupid?" Seeing that Hughie still had a shocked expression, Billy couldn't help but mock him.

Hughie came back to his senses, swallowed, and said in disbelief, "The mysterious man also said we should look further ahead, and that Homelander isn't invincible."

"What!"

This news truly stunned everyone present, including Starlight, who had just joined the team. Starlight's mouth was slightly open, as if she could fit half an egg in it. All their lives, they had been indoctrinated with the information that Homelander was the strongest Superhero, and Homelander's performance had indeed proven that he was the strongest Supe. Billy and the others never doubted this.

But now, they were suddenly told that Homelander wasn't the strongest Supe. They were all dumbfounded. What was going on? Could there really be a Supe stronger than Homelander?

It took Billy a while to digest this explosive news.

"Did he tell you anything else? Like who that guy is? Where is he now?"

However, Xia Shang wasn't being deliberately mysterious; in fact, even he didn't know where Soldier Boy was. Instead of painstakingly searching for Soldier Boy himself, it was better to hand this tough job over to Billy and the others.

"No, that's all he said, and then he hung up. When I called back, no one answered. It looks like he wants us to figure things out ourselves." Hughie also frowned.

"What did he mean by telling us to look further ahead?" Hughie asked, puzzled.

The atmosphere in the Basement suddenly fell silent.

Everyone was racking their brains, analyzing the meaning of every word Xia Shang had said.

"Do you remember Vought's Supe team before they created The Seven?" Billy's eyes suddenly lit up. He then quickly borrowed Mother's Milk's computer and started searching for relevant information.

After a few clicks, he indeed found some clues.

"Payback was Vought's first Superhero team. Unfortunately, I can't find more useful stuff. All I know is that Payback also had another name, the Blood Vengeance Squad. After Vought's Seven rose to prominence, they were abandoned by Vought International due to their rapidly declining popularity. Their leader, Soldier Boy, died in a war."

Billy and the others immediately hit a bottleneck.

Based on the online descriptions of Payback members, they didn't believe these guys could defeat Homelander.

"If you ask me, the mysterious man is just misleading us. If that guy was really stronger than Homelander, there's no way he'd still be unknown now." Frenchie shrugged. Like Billy, he couldn't trust a stranger. In his opinion, Billy was just blinded by the desire for revenge.

"What if he's a figure from before this century?"

Billy straightened his back, looking at Frenchie meaningfully.

"Assuming this person really exists and is powerful, then there's only one possibility: Soldier Boy's cause of death is questionable. However, to verify if my idea is correct, I need the help of two people."

"Who?" Hughie immediately asked curiously.

"Lamplighter and Queen Maeve. They are closest to the center of Vought International and should easily be able to find detailed information about Soldier Boy. If his cause of death is truly questionable, our next step should be to focus on his teammates."

(End of this chapter)