Solomon calmly brushed past the guards without anyone noticing a thing. With nothing blocking his way, he easily infiltrated the heavily guarded stadium.
Passageways crisscrossed the stadium, and rooms abounded. Following the signs on the walls, Solomon explored his way through and soon located Shockwave's private lounge.
He pushed the door open and entered. The lounge was empty.
He looked around, removed a sturdy metal bracket from the wall, then twisted and compressed it with his bare hands, forging it into a thick, heavy, solid iron rod. It was incredibly hard, enough to seriously injure superhuman flesh.
Once everything was ready, he concealed himself and stood motionless in the shadows behind the door, patiently lying in wait.
After an unknown amount of time, two sets of approaching footsteps sounded outside, accompanied by conversation.
"Judging by my training over the past few days, my speed is definitely above A-Train's now!"
The door opened, and Shockwave strode in, dressed in a striking orange standard-issue combat suit.
A coach holding a notebook followed closely behind him, his expression serious.
"Your numbers have already surpassed A-Train's all-time record, but you absolutely cannot let up. This race determines whether you officially join the Seven. There's no room for any mistakes."
The coach delivered his warning gravely.
Shockwave removed his goggles, his eyes full of defiance and contempt, his tone utterly arrogant:
"A-Train's been old for ages. He's hogging that spot instead of stepping down. He should've been eliminated long ago. That seat in the Seven is mine!"
The coach merely nodded without arguing.
With Shockwave's current racing ability, he did indeed have an excellent chance of replacing A-Train. Once Shockwave rose to that position, his personal coach could ride that success to the top as well.
"I'll go coordinate tomorrow's schedule. Get some proper rest."
With that, the coach turned and left, gently closing the door behind him and leaving the room to Shockwave alone.
The perfect opportunity to strike had arrived.
Solomon held his breath and focused, gripping the solid iron rod. Relying on his flawless invisibility, he silently circled behind Shockwave.
Without the slightest hesitation, he poured all his strength into a vicious downward swing, the iron rod whistling through the air!
Shockwave had never imagined that an invisible intruder could be hiding in a lounge at the heavily guarded stadium.
Crack!
The sharp, piercing sound of breaking bone rang out.
The heavy iron rod snapped his lower leg outright. Flesh tore open, exposing stark white bone, and blood instantly gushed out.
"Aah-! My leg!!"
Agonizing pain swept through his entire body. Shockwave crashed to the floor, clutching his twisted, bleeding lower leg as he let out a shrill, despairing scream.
Before he could even make out his attacker's appearance, Solomon raised his arm and delivered a heavy blow squarely to the back of his head.
The screaming stopped abruptly. Shockwave's eyes rolled back, and he passed out on the floor.
"Ding. Successfully defeated superhuman, Shockwave. Acquired ability: Super Speed."
The notification sounded briefly in his mind. Solomon had no time to check his panel. Carefully avoiding the blood on the floor and leaving no traces, he turned and swiftly withdrew from the lounge.
Throughout his escape, he deliberately suppressed his new ability, not using even a fraction of Super Speed. He continued moving steadily at an ordinary pace, passing unobtrusively through the stadium crowds, successfully walking out of the stadium and returning to the hotel by the same route.
The moment he closed his hotel room door, his taut nerves finally relaxed completely.
Solomon deactivated his invisibility, his figure reappearing. He quickly put on his clothes, flopped onto the bed, and eagerly opened his new superpower panel.
Name: Solomon Strength: Level 1.1 Defense: Level 2.01 Hearing: Level 1.1 Vision: Level 1 Speed: Level 3 Abilities: Carbon-Fiber Super Skin, Super Speed Super Speed: Upon activation, increases speed to Mach 1.
(A lot of comments say the power levels were nerfed, so let me explain. When A-Train and Shockwave raced, their results were 371 m/s and 342 m/s respectively, and A-Train was doping. Their usual training speed was only around 340 m/s. He was stronger in season five because he had received a new heart, and several years had passed.)
The new ability was simple and direct, a pure, extreme boost to speed. Mach 1 was 340 m/s, or the speed of sound.
But Solomon knew very well that, powerful as this ability was, it was also extremely difficult to control.
In the original story, A-Train had lost control and run through Robin, killing her. Besides the effects of Compound V, he had also been unable to precisely control his movements, braking, and turns while using Super Speed. He was moving too fast for his vision, judgment, and bodily control to keep up, ultimately causing the tragedy.
To perfectly master a speed of Mach 1, he would have to undergo extensive training. Braking, turning, changing speed, and avoiding obstacles all required repeated practice.
Besides his new Super Speed ability, his other attributes had all received small increases.
His strength had risen by 0.1 levels, his hearing by 0.1 levels, and his defense by 0.01 levels.
Going by that, perhaps after defeating another nine ordinary Metahumans, his strength and hearing should increase by one level.
But raising his defense by another level would require defeating a hundred ordinary Metahumans.
The increase seemed tiny, yet Solomon could clearly sense that his physical strength had doubled compared to before.
By that reasoning, level 2 strength should be ten times level 1 strength!
His vision had also risen to level 1, most likely to accommodate Super Speed, ensuring he could clearly pick out his surroundings and movement while traveling at supersonic speeds, avoiding blurred vision and loss of control.
Meanwhile, his level 3 speed completely eclipsed all his other attributes, becoming his strongest attribute at this stage.
Solomon closed the superpower panel. Rather than rushing to check out and leave, he simply stayed at the hotel for the time being.
His most pressing task now was to thoroughly master the Super Speed ability he had just acquired.
Over the following days, Solomon stayed inside, repeatedly practicing and familiarizing himself with Super Speed in the spacious guest room.
He gradually discovered that Super Speed had far more uses than simply moving fast.
With the speed of sound augmenting him, the movements of his limbs could also receive an extreme boost.
The trembling of his fingertips and the swinging of his arms could both reach speeds difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. Whether in close-range surprise attacks, evasive defense, or subsequent offensive and defensive exchanges, it could provide absolute dominance.
Solomon practiced high-speed punches, instantaneous turns, and emergency stops over and over, slowly feeling out the rhythm of exertion and bodily balance at sonic speeds, shedding his initial unfamiliarity with the ability bit by bit.
Meanwhile, back at the stadium, Shockwave's earlier shrill screams had ultimately drawn the staff's attention.
When everyone reached the lounge, all they saw was glaring blood across the floor and an empty scene. Only a pool of blood that had yet to dry bore witness to the tragedy that had just occurred.
Given the sensitive situation, the staff dared not publicize it. They immediately sealed off the scene and secretly rushed the severely injured, unconscious Shockwave to Vought International's dedicated medical center, maintaining strict confidentiality throughout to prevent any leaks.
Inside a Vought hospital room, pallid light cast a cold glow over everything.
Shockwave lay rigidly on the hospital bed, his entire right leg wrapped in thick layers of plaster. Intense pain constantly gnawed at his nerves, and towering rage completely overwhelmed his reason.
He stared fixedly at the ceiling, gritting his teeth, his hoarse voice filled with malice:
"It had to be that fucking bastard A-Train! He was afraid I'd crush him in the race, afraid he'd lose his seat in the Seven for good, so he ambushed me and broke my leg! That coward!"
Before you continue