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Orange soda.
It didn't sound like anything special, and the bottle of orange soda Shockwave was holding looked ordinary.
Just like any common, generic soda found on the street.
But Kevin knew this item was closely related to a church in the The Boys world.
That church was called The Collective Church.
It was the second large organization, besides Vought, that had many Supes.
They didn't seem to be affiliated with Vought, and there were quite a few Superheroes and Supes within The Collective Church.
In the plot of the second season, The Collective Church was able to participate in the recommendation and appointment of The Seven members.
In the original work, when The Deep and A-Train were successively expelled from The Seven, they were noticed and recruited by this church, who promised them a chance to return to The Seven.
A-Train even truly returned to The Seven because of this.
As for The Deep, although he eventually broke ties with The Collective Church, he lived quite well within it and was even assigned a wife by The Collective Church.
When The Deep finally left The Collective Church, that wife even left with him, showing her complete devotion to The Deep.
If The Deep hadn't insisted on his girlfriend playing a threesome with him and an octopus, the wife assigned by The Collective Church might never have left him...
Ahem, back to the main topic.
All in all, this church seemed to be a very powerful entity.
Although its leader was headshotted at the end of the second season, leaving the church without a head, leading to a low appearance rate in the third season.
However, if nothing unexpected happened, they should still appear in the fourth season.
It's just that Kevin won't have the chance to see the fourth season.
While Kevin's mind processed information about The Collective Church, not even a second passed in Reality.
In Shockwave's eyes, Kevin merely paused slightly before reaching out to take the orange soda he offered.
"Thank you."
Kevin politely took the soda and placed it aside, with no intention of drinking it.
After all, who knew what was in that orange soda.
There were many Supes in The Collective Church; what if someone was skilled at putting hypnotics in drinks? Wouldn't Kevin be affected immediately?
Before this, Kevin had never really paid much attention to The Collective Church, nor had he even thought about it.
After all, this church originally only targeted Superheroes who were down on their luck, such as Eagleshaw, who was already sidelined, and The Deep and A-Train, who later left The Seven.
Kevin's career was currently flourishing, so normally, it was unlikely he would interact with The Collective Church.
Yet, he didn't expect Shockwave, whom he was about to contact, to be connected to this church.
Thinking of this, Kevin looked up at the bearded Caucasian man in front of him, scrutinizing him carefully.
There wasn't much information about Shockwave mentioned in the original work.
It only said that he possessed the same speed as A-Train, and then he tragically died in the second season.
From beginning to end, he didn't even seem to have a single line of dialogue, completely just a common extra.
But he didn't expect that he was also a member of The Collective Church?
Was this why Newman chose to headshot him?
"Uh, Mr. The Deep? Aren't you going to talk about business?"
Perhaps Kevin's contemplation was a bit long this time, as Shockwave waited for a while and then couldn't help but ask.
Kevin instantly came back to his senses:
"Oh, right, business. I heard you want to join The Seven?"
"Of course! The Seven, who wouldn't want to join! It's just... I've already lost my chance."
Shockwave first exclaimed excitedly, then followed with a helpless sigh.
At present, Translucent's death had not yet been announced, and The Seven was seen by everyone as being fully staffed.
Without any scandals or voluntary retirements, this most famous celebrity group on Earth currently had no room for outsiders to join.
Even if there was, it would basically be chosen from Godolkin University.
There was also a more crucial point: Shockwave's ability was super-speed, and The Seven already had a speedster.
To avoid overlapping roles, even if Shockwave could join The Seven, he would have to wait until A-Train retired.
The last race was actually a very good opportunity.
But... A-Train won.
A-Train won, and Shockwave completely lost his chance to join The Seven.
Shockwave sighed as he spoke, but Kevin smiled slightly upon hearing this:
"Who said you don't have a chance?"
"Huh?"
Shockwave looked up in confusion.
Kevin pushed the orange soda a little further away, no longer looking at it.
At this moment, Shockwave's identity didn't matter; even if he was truly a member of The Collective Church, it was harmless to Kevin.
After all, the president of The Collective Church was eventually headshotted by the headshot girl Newman, and The Collective Church would ultimately be leaderless. As long as he didn't join the organization, merely interacting with their members, Kevin felt there was no big problem.
What was important now was to first have Shockwave replace A-Train, cutting off one of Homelander's capable arms.
Kevin thought to himself, and outwardly said to Shockwave:
"Just kick A-Train out, wouldn't that solve it?"
"But... I already lost my race against A-Train..."
"That's true, but what if A-Train took stimulants?"
"What?!"
Shockwave was greatly astonished by the news. He instinctively stood up, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at Kevin.
Supes taking drugs was already a common occurrence in inner circles.
In fact, even Shockwave himself would use some less harmful drugs to create a feeling of excitement.
But there was a drug test at the race that day! And there were sports association officials ensuring fairness. If A-Train really took drugs, how did he manage to hide it from the sports association's drug test?
"Hard to believe?"
"A-Train... he... really..."
Shockwave still found it a bit unbelievable. He wasn't doubting A-Train took drugs; he was doubting A-Train could hide it from drug testing.
In fact, Shockwave's thought was not wrong. Normal stimulants, even if injected into a Supe, would not escape drug detection.
But what A-Train absorbed was not a conventional stimulant.
It was Compound V.
Once injected into a Supe's body, this substance became a part of the Supe, like blood.
How could a regular drug test possibly detect Compound V?
A-Train dared to inject himself with Compound V that day probably because of this point, which made him feel secure.
"It's true, I can tell you for sure, but unfortunately, we can't find any evidence."
Kevin leaned back, resting on the sofa in the private room, speaking slowly.
Shockwave, who had been somewhat excited upon learning about A-Train's drug use, now calmed down.
"...Without evidence, why are you telling me all this?"
"Although there's no evidence, the footage of A-Train entering and exiting the venue that day was recorded by reporters. If you compare carefully, you can see the difference in A-Train's state before and after the race."
"That can't be used as evidence..."
"Exactly, but it can give you a reason to race A-Train again."
Kevin finally stated his idea.
Evidence against A-Train was hard to obtain, and even if it could be found, Vought would certainly not allow it to be leaked.
This was not about A-Train's identity, but because the matter involved Compound V.
Vought would not make the news of this serum public now.
But without evidence, was there no way to target A-Train?
The answer, of course, was no.
Don't forget that The Seven members are public figures; every single one of them is a superstar in the eyes of the public.
Precisely because of their immense fame, their every move, even an unintentional remark, would be scrutinized with a magnifying glass by those with ulterior motives, looking for faults.
And for superstars, sometimes, some things don't even require evidence.
Regardless of whether the rumor of A-Train taking drugs is true or false, as long as this matter becomes a trending topic, A-Train will have to prove himself innocent.
The way to prove himself is also very simple.
Race Shockwave again. If A-Train can continue to defeat Shockwave, any rumors will be self-defeating, and Vought's public relations team will be able to more smoothly erase A-Train's negative publicity.
But conversely, if A-Train loses...
The audience won't care if there's evidence; they only want to see what they want to see.
Big news like A-Train taking drugs in a race is much more interesting than looking for evidence.
"This is your chance, Shockwave."
Kevin softly enticed Shockwave.
Shockwave sat blankly on the sofa, his fists clenched tightly on his knees, the veins on the back of his hands faintly visible.
After a long while, Shockwave finally unclenched his fists, looked up, and asked:
"So... what should I do? Go directly to A-Train and challenge him?"
"That certainly won't work. Before that, you need to first make this topic trend online, and also... the time of the race, will be decided by me."
"Why?"
"Shockwave, if you want to join The Seven, don't keep asking why. Just do what I tell you to do."
Kevin leaned forward, looking directly at Shockwave as he spoke.
The reason Kevin needed to decide the race time was also very simple.
Calculating the time in the original work, A-Train should develop his heart condition within these two months.
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