Allen's place was even smaller than Chen Mo had imagined.
A small apartment, an old couch, a folding dining table, repair tools and a dismantled computer tower piled in the corner, and a few sticky notes on the fridge.
Most absurd of all, the living room window faced a Vought advertising screen across the street.
Homelander's enormous face lit up every few minutes.
Chen Mo stood by the window and watched for two seconds, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Can you sleep at night with that? That's just straight-up light pollution."
Allen closed the door, his hands still shaking.
"I just couldn't afford a better place."
Mia stood in the doorway, clutching the hem of Chen Mo's hoodie as her eyes swept over every corner of the room.
Like a little animal just released from its cage.
She didn't dare sit.
She didn't dare move.
Even her breathing was absurdly quiet.
Allen saw the injuries on her feet, and his expression changed at once.
"She's hurt?"
Chen Mo looked down.
The metal rings had rubbed Mia's ankles raw, and there were marks around her wrists too. She was so thin that a gust of wind looked like it could blow her away.
Chen Mo paused and set the bag of serum on the table.
"Do you have a first aid kit?"
"Yes!"
Allen immediately dashed into the bedroom and rummaged through everything.
Chen Mo crouched down and looked at Mia.
"Sit on the couch. Don't be afraid."
Mia looked at the couch, then back at Chen Mo.
"I'll get it dirty."
Chen Mo froze for a moment.
The anger in his heart flared right back up.
He picked Mia up and put her on the couch. The little girl was pitifully light.
"Sooner or later, I'm going to get number seven too, then hang them all from streetlights."
Mia tilted her head, not understanding what that meant.
Allen came out of the bedroom with the first aid kit, crouched beside the couch, and carefully tended to Mia's wounds.
The moment a cotton swab touched the broken skin, Mia's fingers trembled.
The glass on the table buzzed and shook.
Allen was so startled he nearly fell on his backside.
"The glass moved!"
Chen Mo reached out and held the glass down.
"Relax. She has telekinesis. Basic stuff, no need to spam 666."
Allen's eyes went wide.
"Telekinesis? Her? Oh, I know, she's another lucky person chosen by God!"
Chen Mo pointed at the bag of serum.
"Uh, if you want to call that God, I don't mind."
Allen looked at the bag of serum on the table, then at the dried blood on Chen Mo's clothes.
His Adam's apple bobbed.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
Chen Mo pulled the bag open.
The blue serum glinted coldly under the light.
Allen instinctively took a step back.
"What is that?"
"Compound V, a product of Vought International. It can give people superpowers. You know The Seven, right? That's how they all got theirs."
Allen's face went pale on the spot.
"Vought? The superhero Vought?"
"Who else? Vought-brand toilet cleaner?"
Allen held his forehead, his breathing growing uneven.
Earlier that day, this guy had been an ordinary working man who'd had his computer stolen.
By nightfall, he'd been exposed to a gang shootout, the truth about superheroes, and Compound V.
His brain crashed on the spot.
Seeing that Allen had frozen up, Chen Mo waved a hand in front of his face.
"Wake up, Allen. Don't blue-screen on me. Do you have anything to eat?"
Allen nodded dazedly.
"There's pizza in the fridge."
"Great."
Chen Mo opened the fridge and took out half a box of cold pizza.
He took a bite.
His expression froze on the spot.
"Is this pizza from the last century?"
Allen spoke up weakly.
"It's from yesterday."
"How did it get this old in one day? Is your fridge hooked up to a time machine?"
Mia sat on the couch, staring straight at the pizza.
Chen Mo paused and held the pizza out to her.
"Want some?"
Mia glanced at the pizza hesitantly.
Allen hurried to his feet.
"I'll heat it up for her."
"No need."
Mia spoke softly, taking the pizza and quickly eating it in small bites.
Chen Mo frowned as he watched.
"Slow down. No one's going to take it from you."
Mia said nothing, but took her bites more carefully.
Allen looked at Chen Mo and lowered his voice.
"What are you going to do? She needs a hospital, and the police too."
Mia's body went rigid.
The pizza in her hand fell into her lap.
Chen Mo glanced at Allen.
Allen immediately realized he'd said the wrong thing and hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, no, I'm not going to call the police. I just... I mean, that's what the normal procedure should be."
Chen Mo leaned against the table.
"Normal procedure would send her right back to the lab. Around here, normal procedure basically means pushing someone into a meat grinder, then slapping a charity label on the machine."
Allen fell silent.
Mia slowly picked up the pizza, her voice barely audible.
"No hospital."
Chen Mo nodded.
"We won't go."
"No cage."
"You won't go back."
"No doctors."
Chen Mo's gaze shifted.
"Doctors?"
Mia hugged her knees, blue lines flashing at the corners of her eyes.
"They wore white coats and were always giving us injections. A lot of my friends died that way."
Allen's scalp prickled as he listened.
"What kind of sickos are they??"
Chen Mo sneered.
"That's Vought International for you. Welcome to the real world, Allen."
Allen sat in a chair, feeling a little numb all over.
"We should give this to the media."
Chen Mo pointed out the window, his thumb aimed right at the advertising screen.
On the screen, Homelander was holding a child and beaming at the camera.
"The media? Do you think they'd dare broadcast dirt on Vought?"
Allen's lips moved.
In the end, he didn't manage to say a word.
Chen Mo shook his head.
"Don't worry about it, man. You can't change anything anyway."
As he spoke, he took the vials of serum out of the bag one by one and arranged them on the table.
The Blacklight Virus inside him began to stir again.
More clearly than it had in the parking lot.
Eat it.
Evolve.
Grow stronger.
Chen Mo looked down at the vials and tapped his fingers on the table.
"Allen."
"Yeah?"
"There might be a bit of a commotion in a little while. Take Mia into the bedroom, close the door, and don't come out."
Allen's eyes widened.
"You're going to drink that?!"
"I'm not drinking it."
Chen Mo picked up a vial of dark blue serum and pulled off the cap.
"This is evolution."
Allen immediately grew anxious.
"But how do you know nothing will go wrong? Mia just said this stuff can kill people!"
Chen Mo smiled.
"I've already tried it. It's fine."
Mia suddenly looked up.
"Will it hurt?"
Chen Mo paused.
"A little."
Mia said softly,
"Then don't drink it."
Chen Mo looked at her.
The little girl's eyes were still timid, but she'd said it in all seriousness.
Chen Mo's heart softened a little.
"Saving you wasn't for nothing, kid. But I have to drink it. I'm still too weak."
"I need power. I have to stand at the top of the food chain."
Mia didn't understand what the top of the food chain meant.
But she understood Chen Mo's desire for power.
Her little hands slowly let go of the pizza box.
"I can help too."
The glass on the table floated up half an inch, then fell back down with a smack.
Mia's face grew even paler.
Chen Mo reached out, placed a hand on her head, and gently ruffled her hair.
"Your job right now is to eat, sleep, and grow up healthy. Leave the fighting to the adults."
Allen looked at him with a complicated expression.
"You don't seem like much of a respectable adult yourself."
Chen Mo glanced at him.
"You're feeling better already? You've got a strong mind."
Allen sighed and picked up the box of pizza Mia hadn't finished.
"I'll take her to the bedroom. Don't blow up my living room. My landlord's still got my deposit."
Chen Mo gave him a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry. If I blow it up, I'll pay for it."
Allen looked at his tattered clothes.
"Do you have any money?"
Chen Mo fell silent for half a second.
"The gang's sponsorship money should be enough to fix some furniture and stuff."
"What about the walls?"
"Talk to your landlord about paying for the walls in installments."
Allen was completely speechless. He took Mia into the bedroom.
The door closed.
The living room fell quiet.
The smile vanished from Chen Mo's face.
Mia smelled more appetizing than the vials of serum. Whenever he held her in his arms, Blacklight stirred.
But he couldn't do that.
"I still have to be human. I'm Chen Mo first. Everything else comes after that."
Black and red veins spread across the back of his hand like a swarm of hungry little snakes, coiling around the vial of dark blue serum.
The glass vial shattered in his grip.
The liquid never hit the floor. Blacklight's tendrils absorbed it directly.
Agony exploded through his bones in an instant. Every muscle felt as though it were being destroyed and rebuilt by an electric current.
Chen Mo braced himself against the table.
With a crack, several splits appeared in the wooden table.
"Hiss... This stuff really packs a punch."
The second vial.
The third vial.
The vials of serum were devoured one after another.
This time felt completely different.
Maybe it was the dosage.
Or maybe Blacklight had grown familiar with the serum.
The serum's active ingredients were broken down, filtered, devoured, and then woven back into his body.
His muscle density increased.
His skeletal structure strengthened.
His nervous system responded faster.
His carapace spread faster.
His blade form became more stable.
Most importantly, there was a new ability.
Chen Mo looked down at his hand.
His skin rippled like the surface of water.
His fingerprints changed.
His skin tone changed.
His palm widened, then narrowed.
Chen Mo walked over to the small mirror in Allen's apartment.
In the mirror, the Asian young man's face began to twist, his features gradually changing into Marlow's.
Then Shouhou's.
Then Raymond's.
Finally, he changed back into Chen Mo.
Chen Mo's eyes lit up.
"Well, damn, I finally got disguise."
The Blacklight Virus was still evolving.
The memories he had devoured began sorting themselves automatically.
Combat skills, route maps, gang slang, Marlow's suppliers and buyers.
All sorts of information was filed away like folders.
Chen Mo closed his eyes.
A route appeared.
The suburbs.
The club: the superhumans' wild party would still be held there tonight. Compound V would also be traded there, and Ezekiel would come too.
Chen Mo opened his eyes.
The living room light bulb flickered with a pop.
The hunger inside him had quieted considerably.
It wasn't full.
It had grown smarter.
Instead of just eating and eating, it could now read the menu.
The bedroom door opened a crack.
Allen poked his head out.
"Are you still alive?"
Chen Mo turned around, his face back to normal.
"Alive, and upgraded."
Allen's eyelids twitched wildly when he saw the cracked table.
"My table..."
"Minor problem. I've got repair funds courtesy of the gang's generous sponsorship."
Mia peeked out from behind Allen, half her head showing.
"Does it still hurt?"
Chen Mo smiled.
"Not anymore."
Mia stared at him for a few seconds, as if making sure he wasn't lying.
Allen came out and sat down on another chair.
"So, what next?"
Chen Mo pushed the documents on the table toward him.
"You can fix computers, so you should be able to look a few things up, right?"
"A little."
"Help me look up Samaritan's Embrace, Ezekiel, and the news about the Gray Whale Parking Lot tonight."
Allen opened his computer. His fingers were still trembling a little, but he moved quickly.
A search page popped up.
Samaritan's Embrace was a charity that helped troubled teenagers, provided drug rehabilitation, and offered community care.
In the photo on the homepage, Ezekiel wore a white suit with his arms spread wide, smiling like a great philanthropist.
Allen looked at the photo, his face grim.
"That guy's on TV all the time. I even donated twenty dollars to them."
Chen Mo patted him on the shoulder.
"Congratulations. You helped crowdfund a villain."
Allen covered his face.
"Stop. I'm going to be sick."
Mia was hiding beside the sofa. When she saw Ezekiel's photo, her little face went pale at once.
A cup on the table exploded with a bang.
Allen jumped in fright.
Chen Mo stepped in front of Mia and softened his voice.
"Don't be scared. He's inside the screen; he can't get out. If he does, I'll beat him back in."
Mia breathed rapidly, then slowly nodded.
A local news alert suddenly popped up on the computer screen.
Allen opened it.
The female anchor sounded as dramatic as if she were announcing lottery results.
"Breaking news: a large-scale gang clash has occurred in an underground parking lot at New York's old docks. Police have confirmed that multiple armed criminals were found at the scene. A Vought International spokesperson stated that the incident is suspected to be connected to a deal involving an underground terrorist organization. A-Train of The Seven has assisted police in launching an investigation."
The footage cut to a street.
A-Train wore his suit and gave the camera a confident smile.
"Don't worry. I'm the fastest man in the world, after all. I'll help the police find the criminals who escaped. I won't let them have a chance to threaten the safety of our citizens."
The smile slowly faded from Chen Mo's face.
A-Train.
This guy had a very deep connection to Compound V.
The news footage changed again.
A reporter stood outside the police cordon, with the entrance to the Gray Whale Parking Lot behind her.
"According to an informed source, police are searching for an Asian male suspect who took a child victim away."
Allen whipped his head toward Chen Mo.
Mia gripped the edge of the sofa.
Chen Mo stared at A-Train's face on the screen and suddenly smiled.
"All right."
"Let's see just how fast you really are."