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Kevin had actually thought for a long time about whether or not to expose A-Train.
Telling Annie meant revealing all the dark sides of Vought, and given Annie's personality, she was very likely to do something foolish on impulse.
But not telling Annie…
Kimiko had already seen A-Train, and with communication being difficult, Kevin couldn't possibly let Kimiko lie to Starlight Annie.
Even if Kevin didn't say anything, Kimiko would.
Moreover, this matter couldn't be hidden for too long; Annie would eventually find out, the only difference being sooner or later.
Once these considerations were made, the choice of whether to speak or not was already determined.
"A-Train? Why A-Train? He…"
As Kevin expected, Annie was full of disbelief.
Although The Seven members' mythical halo had long faded in Annie's heart, even for the Queen Maeve she once admired most, and Homelander, whom she once regarded as a saint, Annie would still wonder if they had another face in private.
Among The Seven, the only person who still made Annie feel affection for an idol was Kevin.
But even so, Annie had never imagined that The Seven members would do even more evil things.
But now, Kevin said that Kimiko had just been taken away by A-Train, which meant that A-Train was involved in human trafficking and even human experimentation, things explicitly prohibited by both moral and legal standards.
A hero from one of the Superhero teams she once admired most was committing crimes.
The blow to Annie was immense.
But the blow didn't stop there; Kevin's next words were another bombshell for Annie.
"A-Train said Homelander made him do it."
"Huh?"
Because the news was too shocking, Annie couldn't utter a single complete sentence, only letting out a confused sound of unknown meaning.
Kevin waited for a moment, allowing Annie to digest these bombshells, before speaking in a very calm tone:
"I didn't ask about the specific situation. You know A-Train is very fast. After I taught him a lesson, he ran away, and I didn't have time to ask more questions."
In Reality, he had no intention of asking at all, as Kevin already knew everything he needed to know.
Kevin paused, then continued:
"But in short, as I guessed before, there are many things involved here, the water is very deep, and it might even involve Vought, Annie… We should stop investigating."
"You mean, the organization that kidnapped Kimiko, experimented on her, and made her a superpowered… organization, could very likely be Vought?"
Annie took a long time to process the information Kevin gave her and came to this conclusion.
"Perhaps, but in any case, don't continue investigating this matter. When I have time, I will send Kimiko back to her own country, help her find her younger brother, and then… just forget about this matter."
Kevin advised Annie in a persuasive tone.
However, Kevin also knew very well that Annie wouldn't give up so easily.
"So this matter is just going to be left like this? If Vought is really doing such cruel things, then we should…"
"Should what?"
Kevin interrupted Annie, stood up, walked closer to Annie step by step, and said condescendingly:
"Expose their deeds? Or are you going to be a true hero and fight against Vought?"
Annie was pressured by Kevin, and her body instinctively retreated until her back hit the wall.
She stared blankly at Kevin, listening to Kevin's 'advice' to her.
"Don't be silly, Annie, you're not unaware of what kind of power Vought is. Even if you really expose this matter, what can you do? In the end, Vought just needs to spend a little money in Congress, and they can settle everything!"
In the original work, Vought did just that.
Although the exposure of Compound V caused some losses to the group, the group quickly turned this bad thing into a good thing, even launching the Temporary Compound V plan, preparing to supply it to the America military.
It was simply unrealistic to try to bring down Vought as an individual.
"And think about your family, Annie, think about your mother. Do you think that once you go against Vought, they will let your mother go?"
Kevin tried to persuade Annie with both emotion and reason.
He watched the starlight in Annie's eyes gradually dim, knowing that this poor girl had taken his words to heart.
Taking two steps back to create distance from Annie, Kevin raised his hand and patted Starlight Annie's shoulder twice, saying:
"Think about it carefully. Even if not for yourself, think about your relatives and friends around you. Is it… worth it?"
After speaking, Kevin left the hotel, leaving a quiet space for Annie to carefully consider the matter.
Kevin wasn't sure if Annie would ultimately give up opposing Vought after his words.
He guessed she wouldn't.
The reason was that Annie had dreamed of becoming a hero since she was a child, and even now, the fire of that dream had not been extinguished.
She was naive, kind, and possessed precious good qualities in the The Boys world.
Even if such a person gave up now, one day in the future, she might still embark on the path of confronting Vought.
Kevin deeply understood this point but still said these words to her.
The main reason was that he didn't want Starlight Annie to confront Vought so early, and besides… Kevin now needed to make money through Vought.
Although he could already salvage lost jewelry and gold from the sea, he no longer valued these things as much as before.
But since there was a safe channel to gain both fame and fortune, why would Kevin insist on going against money?
His dream remained consistent: earn enough money, then retire and live his own life.
So Kevin thought, staying with Vought for one more day was one more day. If possible, becoming a high-level executive of Vought would be best.
Once he had earned enough money and retired safely, if Annie wanted to go against Vought, Kevin wouldn't interfere.
And… the most important point.
Homelander.
This guy was a presence that could not be ignored. Kevin was not sure how much his current abilities could affect him, but before he had the absolute strength to suppress the opponent, Kevin felt it was better to be cowardly if possible.
"But I feel it won't be hidden for long… Skill points… Hmm, still two short…"
While thinking, Kevin checked his skill points again.
After saving Kimiko earlier, Kevin had four skill points remaining.
Burying the box containing Translucent's remains earned him one skill point.
Teaching A-Train a lesson and saving Kimiko today earned him another skill point.
The current number of skill points was six, with only two points left, Kevin could upgrade a LV3 skill to LV4.
And currently, Kevin's only LV3 skill was Water Manipulation.
Perhaps, when this ability was upgraded to LV4, Kevin could have the strength to contend with Homelander?
No, it's better to be more stable, let's talk about it after [Job Change].
At the current rate of accumulating skill points, it shouldn't take long to light up the [Job Change] icon.
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