Platform 34 Underground, Binzhou Station.
Kimiko Miyashiro wanted to follow the route by which she had been trafficked to New York back home.
The Butcher and the other two caught up through the crowd.
Kimiko, her hair matted like a vagrant's, saw them and shrank back. She jumped off the platform, intending to escape along the tracks.
Suddenly, everything around her seemed to slow down.
From the other end of the tracks, a blue figure raced over at supersonic speed. He scooped Kimiko up over his shoulder and tried to leave.
"Get this woman back quickly. If Homelander finds out about this, he'll definitely kill me."
As he ran, A-Train was consumed with anxiety.
Homelander had ordered him to transport Compound V across the country, using countless lives to cultivate supervillains. Kimiko was one of them.
But something had gone wrong yesterday. A group had gotten wind of the operation, and the imprisoned Kimiko had unexpectedly escaped her guards.
The long platform flashed past in an instant, and they were hundreds of meters away in the blink of an eye.
In the dark subway tunnel, a foot suddenly stuck out.
Bang!
A-Train's high-speed reflexes failed to react at all. He was tripped hard, and the immense momentum flung Kimiko away.
He tumbled out of control, rolling several times at tremendous speed before crashing sideways into the nearby wall.
"What the hell tripped me? Damn it..."
Cracks spread across the wall from the impact. He hit the ground hard, clutching his back and groaning in pain.
"If you don't watch where you're going, don't blame the road for being uneven."
With his hands in his pockets, Ron slowly emerged from the darkness, his magnetic voice ringing out.
"Don't you watch where you're going when you walk?"
"I heard you turned someone into paste on the road not long ago. Looks like you haven't learned a thing."
"Dark Star, why are you here?"
Looking up and seeing Ron, A-Train's face filled with shock. Why had he run into one of the people he least wanted to provoke here?
"Why can't I be here?"
"No, of course you can be here."
Meeting his icy gaze, A-Train, who only bullied the weak and feared the strong, hurriedly waved his hands.
Ron had tripped him, and the fall had nearly scattered his bones, but he didn't dare utter a single complaint.
On the first day Dark Star had parachuted into The Seven, he had pushed Deep out and beaten Translucent into the hospital.
After only a few quiet days, he had created another earth-shaking headline.
As a new member, he had challenged The Seven's old captain and fought Homelander on a deserted island in the Atlantic Ocean. They had nearly sunk an island of almost a hundred square kilometers. The strength he displayed was terrifying.
"Dark Star, I still have something to do, so I'll be going."
He struggled to his feet, flexing the arm he had injured in the fall. Carefully passing Ron, whom he couldn't afford to offend, he tried to hoist Kimiko up and leave.
"N-Next time, I'll buy you a drink."
"Did I say you could leave?"
A low voice devoid of any emotion came from behind him.
"W-What else is it, Dark Star?"
His body stiffened. A-Train turned around with a forced smile, gripped by a bad feeling.
Dark Star's appearance here might not have been a coincidence.
"Leave her."
Ron spoke expressionlessly and coldly. It sounded less like a request than an order that allowed no room for negotiation.
"No, I can't. She's someone Homelander wants..."
His fear of Homelander, ingrained deep within him over the years, and the fact that this involved his own life made A-Train blurt it out instinctively.
"Are you using Homelander to pressure me?"
Ron frowned and tilted his head. The killing intent radiating from him made A-Train's hair stand on end.
"No, no!"
"How could I?"
In the dim tunnel, an ideal place to kill someone and dump the body, A-Train realized he had said something he shouldn't have. His face changed drastically as he backed away in terror, forcing out a stiff, stumbling smile.
"Everyone knows your strength is no less than Homelander's."
"I mean, if I don't take her back, Homelander might kill me."
Thinking he had found the key point, he asked nervously.
"Dark Star, what do you want her for?"
Dark Star and Homelander did not seem to get along. Had he traced clues about this and wanted to use 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 and issued a warning.
A-Train was Homelander's loyal lapdog. If Homelander were not about to fall under his control, Ron might have acted directly.
"Mm..."
Kimiko's injuries healed thanks to her immortal regenerative ability. She groggily opened her eyes, saw the two figures not far away, and got up to flee.
Bang, bang, bang...
Sensing something wrong, A-Train vanished from where he stood. Grabbing Kimiko by the head, he repeatedly slammed her into the nearby wall at high speed.
At such extreme speed, she had no ability to fight back. In an instant, her head struck the hard wall dozens of times. Her brain was smashed into mush, and she passed out again.
"Dark Star, please help me just this once."
Having easily dealt with Kimiko, he set her down, turned around with a miserable expression, and begged humbly.
Smuggling the company's Compound V out and secretly creating supervillains was no trivial matter. If it were exposed, even Homelander might be held accountable by the company.
There was a very high chance Homelander would kill him in his rage.
"If you don't take her back, Homelander will kill you?"
Ron asked at that moment.
"Y-Yes."
Thinking Ron was about to agree, A-Train's face lit up with joy as he hurriedly nodded and pleaded.
"But what does that have to do with me?"
His tone was cold.
"Dark Star, I really can't give this person to you."
Seeing that it was hopeless, A-Train's expression froze. Gritting his teeth, he turned around, hoisted Kimiko up, and tried to flee at his greatest speed.
"You think you can escape from me with that speed?"
Ron raised an eyebrow.
The so-called fastest superhero in the world, A-Train, moved as slowly as a snail in Ron's eyes.
In an instant, Ron appeared beside A-Train. He casually yanked Kimiko away and flung her aside, then grabbed A-Train by the head and rapidly slammed it into the nearby wall.
The bang bang bang sounds nearly merged into one continuous line.
The scene repeated itself, except this time A-Train, who had struck first moments ago, was the one utterly unable to resist. Before the supersonic man could recover, his head was buzzing, blood streamed from his nostrils, his vision went dark, and he was about to pass out.
Crack!
A foot slowly pressed down like a hydraulic press, accompanied by the sound of shattering bones.
"My legs, my legs are broken!"
With both legs crushed, A-Train was jolted awake from near-unconsciousness by the piercing pain. His eyes went wide, his face turned deathly pale, and he screamed as his trembling hands reached for his legs.
Ding!
The sound of a subway train starting up again after arriving at the station came from the distance.
"I won't kill you. Whether you survive depends on your ability."
Ron picked up the unconscious Kimiko and teleported away, leaving behind a soft chuckle.
"Without your legs, I wonder if you can outrun a high-speed subway using only your hands."
"Huh?"
Two beams of light illuminated the dark tunnel. A subway train sped toward him from not far away, and A-Train's terrified eyes widened even further.
"No! You monster! You're a fucking monster!"
Under the threat of death, he cursed and wailed, enduring the excruciating pain as he hurriedly crawled away with both hands.
Ron was a demon even more terrifying than Homelander. In that brief moment, his fear of Ron had even far surpassed his fear of Homelander...
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