Chen Mo knocked on the door.
A muffled voice came from inside.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Chen Mo. Open up."
The door cracked open, and Allen poked his head out.
He pushed up his glasses and breathed a sigh of relief.
"My God, you finally made it back in one piece. If you hadn't shown up soon, I was ready to take the kid and sleep under a bridge."
He stepped aside, then sat back down at the old table cobbled together from wooden planks.
His fingers clattered across the keyboard, his eye sockets sunken and dark.
Mia was curled up in the corner of the couch, hugging a cushion washed pale, her head nodding.
The sound of the door opening made her flinch, and she opened her eyes.
Only when she saw Chen Mo did her tense shoulders relax.
The little girl ran across the carpet barefoot and clutched the hem of Chen Mo's shirt.
Chen Mo raised a hand and ruffled Mia's somewhat dry hair.
"Why aren't you asleep?"
Mia looked up, her voice barely audible.
"Waiting for you."
"Go to bed earlier next time. Kids need sleep to grow."
Holding Mia, Chen Mo walked over to Allen's table, pulled out a folding chair and sat down.
He grabbed the half glass of cold water on the table and downed it in one gulp.
"What are you so engrossed in?"
Allen turned the computer screen toward him.
It was packed with news pages and forum screenshots.
"That Vought club last night-that was you, right? The internet's going crazy over it. People are saying all sorts of things. Holy shit, an alien invasion?"
Chen Mo set Mia down beside him and nodded.
"It was me. Just like I said before, Vought was conducting human experiments there, so I went to take a look. Those supes snorting drugs weren't much like people either, so I killed them all while I was at it."
Allen's chest rose and fell, and he forced a bitter smile.
"Okay. I used to be a fan of Lady Morningstar. What a shame. Forget it, let's not talk about that."
"Look, the news reports are remarkably consistent. They all say a group of extremist militants robbed the estate, and the superhero A-Train fought hard to stop them."
On the screen, a Vought spokesperson wore an expression of profound grief.
Chen Mo's lips twitched, the expression utterly cold.
"Standard Vought procedure. A few deaths are nothing to them. Even if the dead are superhumans, without commercial value, they're just numbers."
Allen swallowed, his gaze falling on Chen Mo's clean, neat clothes.
"So what exactly happened last night? Did you really take them all down by yourself?"
Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced in front of his lower abdomen.
"It wasn't that dramatic. I just killed a few second-rate supes while I was there, then took a few useful things."
Allen's breath stopped.
"You call killing a bunch of superheroes something you did while you were there?"
Chen Mo didn't answer, only looked him in the eye.
"Allen, we need to move."
Allen froze and glanced around his messy pigsty of a home.
"Move? Where to? This place is a dump, but at least it's a surveillance blind spot. Vought's people won't find it anytime soon."
Chen Mo shook his head.
"It's not safe enough. This place stands out too much. You're a working man who suddenly brought home a little girl of unknown origin. Sooner or later, a neighbor or the landlord will report you."
As Mia listened, her fingers tightened around the hem of Chen Mo's shirt.
Blue lines flickered in and out of sight along the edge of her neck.
Chen Mo reached back and took the little girl's cold hand, his palm steadily warm.
"Don't be afraid. I said I'd feed you, so I won't throw you back in a cage."
After reassuring Mia, he looked back at Allen.
"We need a detached safe house, preferably with a basement, no nosy neighbors nearby, somewhere in the suburbs with few people around."
Allen rubbed his messy hair, his face full of bitterness.
"Come on, man, are you kidding? A house like that costs at least a few hundred thousand dollars. I don't even know how I'm paying next month's rent."
Chen Mo chuckled.
"I'll take care of the money. You find a house like that, and get me a few clean fake identities while you're at it."
Seeing him like this, Allen felt a strange feeling rise in his heart.
"Where are you getting the money? Did you rob a bank while you were out last night too?"
Chen Mo let go of Mia and stood in the middle of the room.
"This makes money much faster than robbing a bank."
He closed his eyes.
The Blacklight Virus churned inside him at his command.
Countless thin red-and-black strands squirmed beneath his skin.
The contours of his muscles changed rapidly, and his bones made faint stretching sounds.
It took just two seconds.
His skin turned dark, his nose flattened, and his brow ridge protruded.
Even his clothes changed into a blue-and-black skintight battle suit as Blacklight filaments wove together.
Goggles sat securely on his forehead.
Allen landed on his backside, his chair letting out a shriek.
He scrambled backward and slammed his back hard against the refrigerator.
"My God!"
Mia's eyes widened too, her little mouth falling open.
She wasn't afraid; she just studied him curiously.
Chen Mo opened his eyes and spoke in A-Train's voice.
"Let me introduce myself again. I'm A-Train of Vought's Seven, the fastest man in the world."
Allen pointed at Chen Mo, his finger trembling so badly he could barely get the words out.
"Y-you ate him?"
"Strictly speaking, I devoured him, but the result's about the same. The guy happened to run right up to me and court death, so I gladly accepted."
Allen held his head, feeling as though his whole world was collapsing.
That was A-Train.
A superhero known across America, whose billboards flashed outside the window every day.
And just like that, the man in front of him had quietly taken his place.
"Vought didn't discover you? Homelander didn't notice anything wrong either?"
Chen Mo pulled the chair over and sat down again.
Blacklight receded, and his features returned to that delicate Asian face.
"My disguise is genetic. Strictly speaking, I am A-Train."
"I even attended a meeting at Vought Tower just now, chatted with everyone for a while, and had a heart-to-heart with Homelander."
Allen's scalp went numb as he listened.
He looked at Chen Mo as though he were a madman dancing on the edge of a nuclear arsenal.
"You're crazy. You're really crazy. You went around in front of Homelander wearing A-Train's face. If he notices anything wrong, he'll burn you to ashes with his laser eyes."
Chen Mo's gaze was cold.
"Fortune favors the bold, Allen. With A-Train's identity, I can get deep inside Vought and learn more."
"There's still plenty of money in A-Train's account, but it's hard to use. I'm worried the transaction records would leave a trail and get me discovered."
"So I need you to investigate. Look into the gangs A-Train has worked with before, or underground drug dealers, and dig up their hideouts."
"Since the money they earn is all blood money, I doubt they'll mind if I go shopping for free."
Allen swallowed and forced himself to his feet with the help of the refrigerator.
"So you're planning to rob criminals all the way to the end."
Chen Mo smiled.
"That's called recycling resources. Don't forget, Allen, you're an accomplice too."
Wearing a bitter expression, Allen pulled the keyboard over and sat down again.
"I must have owed you a lot of money in my last life. Give me half a day, and I'll see what I can find."
"Anything in particular you want me to focus on?"
Ezekiel's hypocritical face came to Chen Mo's mind.
"Investigate the distribution channels for Compound V. Find the frontmen who do Vought's dirty work."
Mia stepped forward and pushed the half piece of cold pizza within Chen Mo's reach.
"Big brother, eat."
Chen Mo lowered his eyes and looked at her little face, still marked by fright.
He reached out, took the rock-hard pizza and bit into it.
It tasted terrible.
But he chewed with great care.
"Next time I'll take you out for real barbecue, the kind with cheese."
Mia's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.
Chen Mo swallowed the pizza in a few bites, stood up and brushed the crumbs from his hands.
"You two stay here and don't go out much."
Allen turned his head.
"Where are you going now?"
Chen Mo smiled playfully.
Blacklight surged again, and A-Train's dark, irreverent face covered his own once more.
"Clocking in. I don't get paid by The Seven for nothing. I still have to go put on a few more acts of deep camaraderie with those vermin."
With that, he pulled open the door.
Sunlight poured in, stretching his blue-and-black silhouette far behind him.
Chen Mo pulled down his goggles and walked into New York's dazzling light.
He was A-Train now.
The game had only just begun.