Breaking news interrupted the television broadcast.
The female anchor spoke as fast as a machine gun, with a radar track of a passenger plane displayed behind her.
Transoceanic Flight 37 had lost contact.
Terrorists had hijacked the plane.
The fate of its 123 passengers was unknown.
Chen Mo leaned back in his seat, crushed the empty soda can in his hand into a disc, and tossed it neatly into the trash can in the corner.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
The phone beside him vibrated furiously.
Ashley's name flashed on the screen.
Chen Mo answered and switched on the speakerphone.
"A-Train, get to the rooftop helipad immediately."
Ashley's voice was piercingly shrill, her agitation practically spilling out of the speaker.
"Move it, the top brass gave a direct order!"
The call ended.
Chen Mo rubbed his chin.
A direct order from the top brass?
What did an airborne hijacking have to do with A-Train, who ran on the ground?
A-Train didn't even have a role in this part of the original story.
Interesting.
The rooftop helipad of Vought Tower.
The wind blew so hard it was difficult to keep one's eyes open.
Homelander stood straight at the edge of the helipad.
His Stars and Stripes suit was spotless, and the red cape billowing behind him was clearly a brand-new, high-end replacement.
His face was covered in a thick layer of powder.
To cover last night's bruises.
Maeve stood behind him to one side, clutching a small silver flask. She tilted her head back and took a swig.
She couldn't even be bothered to put on an expression, her face full of annoyance.
Chen Mo appeared in a blur, hands in his pockets and gum in his mouth.
Ashley came rushing over, clutching a tablet.
"Listen, the situation is urgent."
Ashley swiped the screen and pulled up the flight path.
"The flight is currently over the Atlantic Ocean. Captain and Queen Maeve will lead the assault and rescue the hostages."
She looked up at Chen Mo, her voice turning into a stammer.
"A-Train, CEO Edgar personally instructed you to go to the radar base station on the coastline and stand by. You'll be responsible for... providing ground tactical support and ensuring communications."
At that, Chen Mo couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
He blew a pink bubble, which popped at his lips.
"Ground tactical support?"
Chen Mo spat the flavorless gum into his palm and flicked it into a nearby trash can.
"Ashley, do you mean I should provide support after the plane hits the ground? A-Train's superfast delivery service to the crematorium?"
He pointed toward the Atlantic Ocean.
"A plane flying over the ocean, and a guy who runs on the ground, providing support to Homelander and Maeve? You might as well just say I'm going to be a cheerleader."
Ashley's face turned bright red, and she stamped her feet in frustration.
"This is what the top brass arranged! You just need to follow orders!"
Chen Mo ignored her and turned to Homelander.
Homelander still had his back to him, gazing out at the surging sea and posing like a compassionate god.
But Chen Mo saw it.
His taut back muscles, and the trembling edge of his cape.
"Captain."
Chen Mo took two steps forward, his voice full of mockery.
"Do you think this is a good idea? All of us are leaving."
He lowered his voice and drew out the last words.
"Aren't you afraid some monster that likes nighttime raids might pop up in New York again and tear the company apart while we're gone?"
The moment he said that.
Homelander's back went rigid.
His hands clenched at his sides, his knuckles cracking.
Maeve stopped drinking and shot Homelander a suspicious glance, then gave Chen Mo a long look.
Did this lunatic take the wrong meds today?
Why does he keep provoking Homelander?
Homelander slowly turned around.
He forced a warm, trademark smile onto his heavily powdered face, but his eyes were dark and unfathomable.
"Vought has its reasons for these arrangements, A-Train."
Homelander approached step by step, staring down at Chen Mo.
"All you need to do is stay where you're supposed to, follow orders, and watch me save the world."
Chen Mo met that murderous gaze without giving an inch, then suddenly grinned.
"Of course, whatever you say, Captain."
He took half a step back and raised both hands in surrender.
"I'll just go enjoy the sea breeze on the coast. Hope nothing... goes wrong on your trip up there."
Homelander snorted, turned, and pulled Maeve to him by the waist.
A sonic boom thundered.
The two became a streak of light, shooting into the sky and vanishing from sight in an instant.
Only Chen Mo and Ashley remained on the helipad.
Chen Mo watched the white trail in the sky, the irreverence slowly fading from his face.
A test.
This is definitely a test from that old fox Edgar.
He had beaten Homelander senseless just last night, and Vought's top brass had to be investigating the matter like mad.
Now they were sending A-Train out of New York on a pointless errand, either to test his reaction or to investigate his background.
They had zeroed in on him pretty fast.
But.
Chen Mo rolled his neck, his joints cracking.
Since you want to play, let's muddy the waters even more.
It would be a shame to let Homelander dump all hundred-odd people on the hijacked plane into the ocean again.
I'll save them while I'm at it.
Chen Mo turned and headed for the stairwell.
"Where are you going? The helicopter is on the other side!"
Ashley shouted after him.
Without looking back, Chen Mo raised a hand and gave her the finger.
"It's faster if I run there myself. Come to think of it, why did we even meet up here? I can't fly!"
The scene shifted to the sky above the Atlantic Ocean.
Inside the thick clouds, Flight 37, which had disappeared from radar, was shaking violently.
The cabin was deathly silent.
The passengers huddled in their seats with their heads in their hands, trembling with fear.
Three terrorists armed with knives and handguns paced the aisle.
The cockpit door was shut tight.
With a gun pressed to his head, the captain adjusted the plane's course, sweat pouring down his face.
On the desolate coastline.
The sea wind whipped a blue-and-black suit.
Chen Mo stood beside the radar base station, the muscles in his right arm writhing violently.
Dark red Blacklight Virus fibers surged out like boiling magma, rapidly weaving together and taking shape on the beach.
In less than three seconds.
A flesh-and-blood double identical to A-Train took shape.
The double had its hands in its pockets and chewed nonexistent gum, perfectly replicating that punchable, irreverent look.
Chen Mo himself gave a wicked grin and suddenly swept the dark red wings of flesh on his back.
Chen Mo instantly became a streak of light too fast for the naked eye to follow, silently disappearing into the thick clouds as he headed straight for the sky above the Atlantic Ocean.
High in the sky.
Chen Mo hovered in the thick clouds above and to one side of the passenger plane, activated Blacklight Vision, and quietly watched events unfold.
His gaze pierced the thin mist and locked precisely onto Homelander and Maeve's movements.
Homelander hovered outside the cabin door.
His hand shot out, five fingers gripping the reinforced aircraft door like steel spikes. His arm muscles bulged, and he tore it outward by sheer force!
The heavy door flew open.
The enormous difference in air pressure inside and outside the cabin exploded in an instant.
Terrifying suction became a raging gale, furiously pulling at everything inside the cabin.
An unlucky hijacker standing by the door didn't even have time to scream before the terrifying airflow sucked him out of the cabin like a cannonball.
The hijacker flailed in midair, his eyes bulging as he tumbled past just beneath the cloud where Chen Mo was hiding, flying all the way toward the sea.
Chen Mo folded his arms and looked down at the departing hijacker.
"Still going home for dinner, bro?"