The thugs all turned around at once.
Chen Mo blocked half the light at the mouth of the alley. He waved, a courteous smile on his face, full of the politeness characteristic of Asians.
"Do you know where I can find a free buffet around here?"
The alley fell silent for a second.
The young man pinned against the wall looked up, his glasses crooked on his nose. He was still clutching a laptop tightly to his chest.
Sure enough, he was the kind stranger who had bought Chen Mo water at the convenience store.
That made things a little awkward.
Chen Mo had just accepted a bottle of water from him, only to turn around and see him dragged into an alley and robbed. If he pretended not to notice, he figured he'd choke on his food a couple of times at every meal from now on.
Of course, that assumed eating normal meals was still an option for him.
The man in the baseball cap narrowed his eyes, a stretch of tattoo showing on his arm. "Get lost," he snapped.
"Don't be so mean. I'm a tourist, first time in New York. I'm not familiar with the local attractions yet." Chen Mo looked at him, then at the young man. "Is this one of those interactive street shows? You snatch a wallet and trade it in for an autographed photo of Homelander?"
The fat man beside him chuckled.
"This kid's got something wrong with his head."
The baseball cap man's face darkened, and he stepped closer. "I said, get lost."
Chen Mo nodded, his tone serious. "I heard you. You speak pretty clearly. You're better at expressing yourself than some heroes on TV."
The young man glanced at him furtively, his lips moving.
"Don't come over. They have..."
The fat man drove an elbow into him.
"Shut up."
Chen Mo's gaze dropped to the fat man's waist, then quickly moved away.
His clothes bulged there, the outline hard.
A gun.
Was America's beginner tutorial always this welcoming?
He'd barely stepped outside, and a random encounter with an armed man had already spawned.
Chen Mo didn't move forward right away.
This wasn't a game.
A punch would hurt, and a bullet would most likely kill him. At least for now, he still couldn't be sure whether his cheat could stop a gun.
He looked toward the street first.
A police car had just turned the corner and driven away. The two officers inside were chatting, without so much as a second glance in this direction.
Chen Mo exhaled softly and spread his hands.
"Bro, you're out here robbing computer repairmen? Isn't that a little too niche?"
The baseball cap man sneered. "You wanna play hero?"
"No." Chen Mo shook his head immediately. "Being a hero is too risky, and your company might sell you out near the end of your career. I was just passing by, and thought I'd suggest you pick another target."
"You fucking..."
The baseball cap man suddenly reached out and shoved Chen Mo's shoulder.
Chen Mo didn't dodge, taking the opportunity to test his cheat's abilities.
Bang. The man's palm struck his shoulder, but Chen Mo didn't budge. Instead, the impact jolted the man's wrist, and his expression changed instantly.
Chen Mo was stunned too.
His cheat seemed to have some substance after all.
But before he had time to celebrate, the hunger in his stomach suddenly surged.
A delicious smell.
It wasn't the smell of food, nor was it simply the scent of blood.
There was something about the fat man in front of him, like freshly cooked meat, that wafted through the air and straight into his nose.
Chen Mo's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.
No, the fat man himself wasn't the source.
It was more like he'd come into contact with something, or picked up a scent.
The smell was faint, but it woke something inside Chen Mo all at once.
The baseball cap man withdrew his hand, his gaze darkening. "So you're a tough guy after all. No wonder you dared stick your nose in."
The fat man narrowed his eyes too, his right hand slowly moving toward his waist.
"Bro, you really gonna stick your nose in this?"
Chen Mo watched his hand, his smile unchanged.
"Not particularly. Mostly, you guys just have lousy taste in targets." He pointed at the laptop bag in the young man's arms. "How much money could you get from robbing him? He looks more like a homeless guy than I do, okay?"
The young man said, "..."
The fat man swore, his fingers already reaching under his clothes.
Chen Mo's shoulders tensed slightly.
Just then, a short burst of sirens sounded from the distant street corner.
They weren't coming for them.
But it was enough to make everyone in the alley pause.
The baseball cap man's expression shifted. He seemed reluctant to make a bigger scene. He tugged the fat man and cursed under his breath. "Let's go."
The fat man was reluctant to leave.
"That kid..."
"The boss's business is more important. Don't waste time here."
The baseball cap man gave Chen Mo another look, his tone sinister. "You got lucky. Next time I run into you two, you won't get off as easy as you did today."
Chen Mo nodded.
"All right. Next time, remember to make an appointment in advance, so I can clear my schedule."
The baseball cap man stared at him for two seconds, then finally turned and left with the fat man, disappearing into the crowd at the other end of the alley.
Chen Mo didn't follow.
Why would he?
So he could catch up and be their target?
Only after the two had completely disappeared did he walk over to the young man, pick up the glasses that had fallen to the ground, and hand them over.
"Still alive?"
The young man took his glasses, his hands still trembling a little. "I... I'm okay. Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I just didn't like the look of them."
"But you saved me."
"That was a complimentary service, no extra charge."
The young man paused, then couldn't help laughing.
"My name's Allen."
"Chen Mo."
Allen wiped his glasses and put them back on, still clutching the laptop bag tightly to his chest.
"You're really brave."
Chen Mo glanced at the mouth of the alley and made sure the two men hadn't returned. "No, I was scared to death just now," he said sincerely.
Allen stared at him.
Chen Mo spread his hands. "Being scared and using your brain are two different things. Remember, next time something like this happens, look for a chance to run first. How much do you even make a month, risking your life like that?"
Allen looked down at the laptop bag.
"But it belongs to a customer. If I lose it, I'll have to pay a lot of money."
"If the computer breaks, the worst that can happen is you pay some money. If you die, you can't exactly pay some priest to resurrect you."
Allen opened his mouth, then nodded after a long moment. "You have a point."
"Of course. Apart from being poor, I have plenty of good qualities."
The sirens drew closer again in the distance.
Chen Mo glanced toward the street, then turned to leave.
Allen hurriedly called after him. "Aren't you going to wait for the police? They might need you to testify."
"No thanks. I get dizzy from procedures."
"Dizzy from procedures?"
"Filling out forms gives me a headache."
Chen Mo waved and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
He didn't want to deal with the police.
Identity documents, entry records, address, contact information-right now, he couldn't withstand questioning about any of them.
More importantly, those two robbers had made him realize something.
The streets of this world were dangerous.
But danger also meant opportunity.
If he really did possess some abnormal regenerative ability, and even had something deeper hidden inside him, those criminals, gangsters, and people on Vought's fringes could all become sources of food for him in the future.
Of course, that was in the future.
Chen Mo wasn't so full of himself yet as to believe he was impervious to blades and bullets.
He went around two blocks and entered a subway station.
The platform was crowded, and the advertising screens were still playing Vought's promotional video.
"The Seven, live charity broadcast this Saturday night, protecting the children's tomorrow together with you."
Chen Mo leaned against a pillar, watching Homelander warmly embrace a child on the screen, and the hunger in his stomach surged again.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
But images suddenly flashed through his mind.
The gun at the fat man's waist in the alley.
The tattoo on the baseball cap man's wrist.
The direction they had gone.
And a faint smell of sweat, cheap liquor, leaves, and that delicious scent that made his stomach tighten.
Those details suddenly became startlingly clear, as if someone had magnified them and stuffed them into his head.
Chen Mo opened his eyes, his breathing gradually slowing.
"That's a bit ridiculous."
An elderly white woman beside him glanced at him.
"Young man, are you all right?"
Chen Mo immediately smiled. "I'm fine. I just remembered I missed lunch, and life feels a little sad."
The old woman took a small bag of cookies from her purse and held it out to him.
"Here, take it."
Chen Mo paused.
The old woman pressed the cookies into his hand. "You look tired."
Chen Mo looked down at the bag of cookies and, after a moment, smiled faintly.
"Thank you."
The old woman waved it off.
"You're welcome, dear."
A subway train pulled into the station, wind rushing out of the tunnel and stirring scraps of paper and the hems of people's clothes on the platform.
Chen Mo didn't board right away.
He held the bag of cookies. The emptiness in his stomach was still urging him on, but he didn't open it.
He simply stood there, watching the old woman enter the carriage.
This fucked-up world was rotten to the core, of course.
Heroes could kill, corporations could package disasters, and ordinary people could be exploited over and over again on camera and in propaganda.
But there were also people on the street who would hand a bag of cookies to a stranger.
Chen Mo looked down at his stomach and said quietly, "All right, buddy, let's set a rule first."
He put the cookies in his pocket.
"Good people and innocents aren't on the menu."
The moment he said it, the hunger inside him seemed to be suppressed by something, yet also seemed displeased. A faint sting spread from his palm all the way to his wrist.
Chen Mo raised his hand.
A black-and-red filament flashed beneath his skin.
He looked at it for a long time, then suddenly chuckled.
"Good news, my cheat is reasonably obedient."
He lowered his hand and looked toward the subway station exit.
"Bad news, I'm a little far from being human now."
His phone was dead, and he had no place to stay, no identity, and no reliable connections.
Homelander was above him, Vought was out there, and the story had a whole bunch of extraordinary people, each with their own distinctive mental state.
And his current combat strength was probably only enough to bully some street thugs.
Chen Mo rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
"The future looks promising."
He headed up the stairs.
The smell was still there.
Faint.
Yet like a thread, it slowly drew him forward through the crowds and traffic.
Outside the exit, the sky was already growing dark, and the advertising screens between the skyscrapers shone with a piercing glare.
Homelander's smile appeared in the air once more, his voice carrying across the square through the speakers along the street.
"Don't be afraid. I'll be watching over you."
Pedestrians stopped in their tracks. Some applauded, some took photos, and others looked up with expressions of adoration.
Chen Mo stood behind the crowd, looking up at that face too.
"Easy for you to say. What kind of decent person watches other people all day long?"
Just then, on the other side of the square, two familiar figures flashed past the mouth of an alley.
The man in the baseball cap.
And the fat guy.
They clearly hadn't gotten far. Heads lowered, they were walking toward an old van.
The fat guy cursed as he walked, his expression sour.
The man in the baseball cap murmured something in reply, then raised a hand and slapped the van door.
Chen Mo couldn't hear them clearly.
But the hunger surged over him again.
Stronger than before.
There seemed to be someone in the back seat of the van.
The moment the door slid open, the toe of a woman's shoe appeared from inside, only for a hand to quickly yank it back in.
Chen Mo stood in the crowd, unmoving.
On the advertising screen, Homelander was still smiling.
The host's enthusiastic voice came over the speakers.
"Thank you to the Seven for bringing peace and hope to our city."
Applause broke out around him.
Chen Mo watched the van slowly pull away, a faint smile appearing on his face too.
"Peace and hope, huh?"
He set off after it, sounding as though he were chatting with himself.
"All right, then. First, I'll go see how polite the local gangs in New York are."
Traffic flowed through the intersection as night gradually descended.
High above, the hero received the crowd's cheers on the screen.
Where the screen's light couldn't reach, the dirty business carried on as usual.