A-Train's Broken Leg

Platform 34 Underground, Binzhou Station.

Kimiko Miyashiro wanted to retrace the path she'd been trafficked along back to New York.

In the crowd, The Butcher and his two companions caught up.

Seeing them, Kimiko—hair matted like a vagrant—shrank back, jumped off the platform, and tried to flee along the tracks.

Suddenly, everything around her seemed to slow.

At the far end of the tracks, a blue figure raced in at supersonic speed, hoisting Kimiko onto his shoulder to escape.

"Get this woman back fast, or if Homelander finds out, he'll kill me for sure."

As he ran, A-Train's mind churned with anxiety.

Homelander had him shipping Compound V everywhere, using human lives to cultivate supervillains. Kimiko was one of them.

Then yesterday, things went wrong. A group had caught wind of the operation, and the imprisoned Kimiko unexpectedly broke free from her guards.

The long platform flashed by in an instant, and in a blink, they were hundreds of meters away.

In the dark subway tunnel, a foot suddenly shot out.

Bam!

A-Train's high-speed reflexes didn't react in time. He was tripped hard, and under the massive inertia, Kimiko was flung off.

He tumbled like a rolling gourd, spinning out of control for several turns before slamming sideways into the wall.

"What the hell tripped me..."

Cracks spiderwebbed across the wall where he hit. He crashed heavily to the ground, clutching his back and groaning in pain.

"If a man doesn't watch his step, don't blame the road."

Ron stepped slowly out of the darkness, hands in his pockets, his magnetic voice ringing out.

"Don't you look where you're going?"

"I heard you turned someone into paste on the road a while back. Looks like you didn't learn a thing."

"Dark Star, what are you doing here?"

Looking up and seeing Ron, A-Train's face twisted in shock. Why of all places would he run into one of the people he least wanted to provoke?

"Why can't I be here?"

"No, no—of course you can."

Meeting his icy gaze, A-Train, whose nature was to bully the weak and fear the strong, quickly waved his hands.

Tripped by Ron, his bones felt like they were coming apart from the fall, but he didn't dare complain.

From the day Ron parachuted into The Seven, he'd squeezed out The Deep and sent Translucent to the hospital.

He'd barely been quiet a few days before dropping another global bombshell.

As a new member, he'd challenged the old captain of The Seven, fought Homelander on a deserted island in the Atlantic, and nearly sunk an island nearly a hundred square kilometers in size—showing terrifying, monstrous power.

"Dark Star, I've got some things to do, so I'll be going."

He struggled to his feet, working his equally injured arm, carefully sidestepping the untouchable Ron, and tried to hoist Kimiko up to leave.

"I'll... I'll buy you a drink another day."

"Did I say you could leave?"

A low, emotionless voice came from behind him.

"Is... is there something else? Dark Star."

His body stiffened. A-Train turned back, forcing a strained smile onto his face. He had a bad feeling.

Dark Star showing up here might not be a coincidence.

"Leave the person."

Ron's face was expressionless, his tone cold. It sounded less like a request and more like an order with no room for negotiation.

"I can't—this is someone Homelander wants..."

Years of fear of Homelander were buried deep in his bones, and this matter directly involved his own life. A-Train blurted it out instinctively.

"Are you using Homelander to pressure me?"

He frowned, tilting his head slightly. The killing intent radiating from him made every hair stand on end.

"No, no!

How could that be?"

In the dim tunnel—a perfect place to kill and dump a body—A-Train realized he'd said something he shouldn't. His face went pale, he stumbled back in fright, and forced out a stiff, halting laugh.

"Everyone knows your strength is in no way inferior to Homelander's."

"What I mean is, if I don't bring this person back, Homelander might kill me."

Hitting on the crux of the issue, he asked nervously.

"Dark Star, what do you want with this person?"

Dark Star and Homelander seemed to be at odds—had he traced the clues of this matter and was using it to cause trouble for Homelander?

Could that group have been sent by Dark Star?

"Don't make me repeat myself."

Ignoring his question, Ron offered no explanation, only a warning.

A-Train was Homelander's loyal lackey. If it weren't for the possibility that Homelander might soon fall under his control, he might have struck directly.

"Mm..."

Kimiko, with her undying regenerative ability, slowly recovered from her injuries. Dazed, she opened her eyes and saw two figures not far away. She tried to get up and flee.

Bang, bang, bang...

Seeing the situation turn bad, A-Train vanished from his spot, grabbed Kimiko by the head, and slammed it rapidly against the nearby wall.

At his supersonic speed, she had no chance to resist. In an instant, dozens of brutal impacts against the hard wall turned her brain into paste, and she fell unconscious again.

"Dark Star, please help me this once."

Having easily dealt with Kimiko, he set her down, his face crumpling as he turned and begged pitifully.

Smuggling Compound V out of the company and secretly creating supervillains—this was no small matter. If it were exposed, even Homelander might face the company's wrath.

He would most likely be killed by an enraged Homelander.

"If you don't bring this person back, Homelander will kill you?"

At that, Ron asked.

"Y-yes."

Thinking he was about to agree, A-Train's face lit up with surprise as he nodded frantically, pleading.

"But what does that have to do with me?"

His tone was cold.

"Dark Star, I really can't hand this person over to you."

Seeing that things weren't going his way, A-Train's expression froze. Gritting his teeth, he turned and, at his maximum speed, hoisted Kimiko up to flee.

"With speed like yours, you think you can escape from me?"

Ron raised an eyebrow.

The so-called fastest superhero in the world, A-Train, now seemed to him as slow as a snail in his movements.

In an instant, he was beside A-Train. Casually, he yanked Kimiko down and tossed her aside, then grabbed A-Train by the head and slammed it rapidly into the wall.

The thudding sounds nearly merged into a single continuous line.

The scene repeated, except this time the one utterly defenseless was A-Train, who had just struck. Despite his supersonic speed, before he could react, his head buzzed, blood trickled from his nose, darkness crept into his vision, and he was about to pass out.

Crack!

One foot pressed down slowly like a hydraulic press, accompanied by the sound of bones breaking.

"My leg—my leg is broken!"

With both legs crushed, the nearly unconscious A-Train was jolted awake by searing pain. His eyes bulged, his face pale as he screamed, his hands trembling as they reached for his legs.

Ding!

The sound of a distant subway arriving and then departing echoed.

"I won't kill you. Whether you live depends on your ability."

Ron picked up the unconscious Kimiko and teleported away, leaving behind a light laugh.

"Without your legs, I wonder if you can outrun a high-speed subway using just your hands."

"Huh?"

Two beams of light illuminated the dark tunnel. A subway train was speeding toward him from not far away. A-Train's terrified eyes widened even further.

"No—devil, you're nothing but a devil!"

Under the threat of death, he cursed and wailed, enduring the piercing pain as he frantically crawled away with his hands.

Ron was a devil even more terrifying than Homelander. In that brief moment, his fear of Ron far surpassed even his fear of Homelander...