The parking lot was not far from the warehouse.
Chen Mo followed the old dock, carrying the document envelope against his chest and cash freshly sponsored by the Bloods stuffed in his pockets. He felt as comfortable as if he had just put on a new pair of underwear.
The warehouse district and the city by day were like two different worlds.
By day, there were Vought billboards, superheroes, and Homelander's standard eight-toothed smile.
At night, there were broken streetlights, rusted iron gates, walls covered in scrawled graffiti, and gangsters everywhere.
Chen Mo raised a hand and rubbed his nose.
"Has nobody wondered how, with all those superheroes around, they haven't even wiped out the gangs?"
Following the bald boss's memories, Chen Mo went around a row of old shipping containers and stopped in front of a wall.
A gray whale had been spray-painted on it.
It was big and ugly.
Some genius had painted the whale to look like an overweight catfish, its mouth hanging open, with a jumble of gang markings beside it.
A ramp at the bottom of the wall led underground into an abandoned mall.
Two black pickup trucks were parked at the entrance.
Four men leaned against the trucks smoking, their waistbands bulging. They looked every bit like gangsters.
Chen Mo watched them from the shadows for a moment.
"Whoa, quite the welcoming committee."
There was no illuminated sign at the entrance to the Gray Whale Parking Lot.
But voices came from inside.
There was the low rumble of engines, the scrape of iron gates, and the occasional muffled curse.
Compared to Raymond's shabby warehouse, this place was clearly much more professional.
Chen Mo did not rush inside.
He had just drunk a bottle of Compound V and received a physical boost, but that did not mean he could turn into Ancestor Man on the spot.
Getting shot still hurt.
If he came under concentrated fire, he would probably start questioning his life choices.
Not to mention the failed test subjects Marlow still had.
Some could spit acid, some went mad, and some treated people like a buffet.
Chen Mo touched his abdomen, his tone serious.
"Buddy, if you see anything weird and misshapen in there, don't start craving it, or we might both need a funeral right on the spot."
Black and red lines flashed beneath his cuff, as if in protest.
Chen Mo curled his lip.
"Keep your objections to yourself. Who's to blame for not developing a disguise function? Otherwise, I could just walk right in."
At the entrance, a guard with a full beard suddenly raised his head.
"Who's there?"
Chen Mo ducked behind the wall.
Another guard looked in that direction, narrowed his eyes, and cursed.
"Probably a bum. There's always some trash around here that doesn't know where it belongs."
The bearded guard exhaled a mouthful of smoke.
"Marlow said there couldn't be any accidents tonight."
"Relax. With this many people here, who'd dare cause trouble? Even the cops have been paid off."
"I heard some people from those terrorist organizations are coming too."
At that, the others fell noticeably quiet for a moment.
Pressed against the wall, Chen Mo raised an eyebrow.
"Terrorist organizations?"
Now that was interesting.
But he would have to get inside first.
Chen Mo looked down at the layout of the entrance.
If he charged in through the front, there were four guards and at least two guns.
Killing those few would be easy, but the superpowered people inside might be harder to deal with.
There was an old ventilation opening on each of the walls to either side.
On the right, there was also a drainpipe and a maintenance ladder leading up to the ruins of the mall's first floor.
Chen Mo's eyes lit up.
"Got it. There are mobs guarding the main quest entrance, so it's time to crawl through the dog hole."
Chen Mo went to the wall, hooked his fingers into its cracks, and climbed up like a gecko.
"Didn't expect to get to play Spider-Man along the way."
It felt strange.
He used to be out of breath after climbing six flights of stairs, but now he could grip the wall with one hand, his body as light as if he had an assist turned on.
Compound V really was great, though its side effects were just as ridiculous.
Chen Mo climbed up to a broken second-floor window and slipped into the abandoned mall.
The place was a wreck.
Collapsed ceiling panels, shattered glass counters, shops stripped bare, dried black stains on the floor, and even used condoms.
Chen Mo took one glance before looking away.
What mattered was below.
He looked down along a broken escalator.
The parking lot on the first basement level was brightly lit.
A large section of the original parking spaces had been cleared out and turned into a makeshift trading ground.
More than a dozen vehicles were parked in different spots, facing outward and ready to leave at any moment.
The gang members had split into several groups, each standing beside their vehicles.
There were Latinos, Black people, a few Eastern European faces, and a group wearing headscarves.
"Those headscarves-they must be the terrorist organization they were talking about."
Several coolers sat in the middle of the groups.
Black tape had been stuck across the outside of the boxes.
The Vought logo was faintly visible beneath the tape.
Chen Mo's stomach perked right up.
"Don't get excited. The takeout hasn't been opened yet."
His gaze continued deeper into the parking lot.
Section B.
Several iron cages stood in a row.
There were people locked inside.
Or rather, they had once been people.
One man's skin was gray all over, his shoulder muscles bulged abnormally, and his breathing sounded like a broken bellows.
In the cage beside him, a woman lay on her stomach, corrosive yellow-green liquid dripping from the corner of her mouth. It had already burned several holes in the floor.
The last cage was covered with a black cloth.
No sound came from beneath it.
But the moment Chen Mo saw the cage, the Blacklight Virus inside him reacted as if someone had given it a hard yank.
Hunger.
Longing.
And a deeper impulse.
There was something good in there.
Chen Mo narrowed his eyes and continued waiting to see what would happen.
In the center of the parking lot, a man wearing sunglasses stepped out of a black SUV.
A suit, leather shoes, and gloves.
He was wearing sunglasses late at night, and as much as his outfit screamed that he was putting on an act, his manner did so even more.
The nearby gang leaders immediately fell silent.
Chen Mo did not have to guess.
Marlow.
As soon as the guy appeared, the desperadoes around him straightened their backs considerably.
It was not just respect; more than that, it was fear.
Marlow took off his gloves. His voice was not loud, but it carried over the entire crowd.
"There's thirty percent more merchandise tonight than last time. The rules haven't changed: money gets checked first, then you get the goods."
A fat gang leader with a gold chain around his neck grinned.
"Marlow, things have been tense lately. You still dare move this much?"
Marlow did not even look at him.
"If you're afraid to buy, you can leave."
The fat leader's smile froze.
Someone nearby snickered under his breath.
The fat leader was losing face and was just about to speak when a bodyguard behind Marlow raised a hand and opened a cooler.
Blue vials of serum were neatly arranged inside.
Under the lights, they looked like a box of glowing banknotes.
Everyone's breathing grew heavier.
The fat man with the gold chain stared at them, transfixed.
"Is the stuff real?"
Marlow finally looked at him.
"You can try it."
As soon as he finished speaking, an underling was pushed forward.
The underling's face was deathly pale. He clearly did not want to try it.
But a gun was pressed against his lower back.
The fat man with the gold chain gritted his teeth.
"Inject him."
The parking lot fell quiet.
A needle pierced the underling's arm.
The blue liquid was injected into his vein.
The underling's eyes widened, then his whole body convulsed, and a sound like escaping air came from his throat.
The people around him instinctively backed away.
Sweat broke out on the fat man's forehead.
"Marlow, if this fails-"
Before he could finish, the underling suddenly threw back his head and roared.
His arm muscles swelled, bursting straight through his sleeves.
The underling punched a scrapped car beside him, leaving a huge dent in its door.
The crowd erupted.
"It worked!"
"Damn it, it really works!"
"There's nothing wrong with this batch!"
The tension on the fat man's face instantly turned to wild delight. His eyes were as greedy as a dog's at the sight of a bone.
Lying in the shadows on the second floor, Chen Mo raised his eyebrows as he watched.
"Didn't they all start adapting to it as kids in the original show? Did I really run into a superhero armchair scientist?"
Marlow was clearly putting on a show.
These gangsters were not stupid either.
But as long as someone succeeded right in front of them, greed would kick their brains out of the group chat.
Marlow was very pleased with the crowd's reaction.
"Standard serum, two hundred thousand a vial. Enhanced version, five hundred thousand. Defective products and test subjects are priced separately."
An Eastern European man pointed at the iron cages.
"What use are those monsters?"
Marlow answered calmly.
"Guarding doors, killing people, testing drugs, reselling them-whatever you like."
The gray-skinned man in the cage suddenly slammed into the iron bars.
Clang!!!
A few underlings standing close by recoiled in fright.
The gray-skinned man in the cage looked around contemptuously and grinned, his mouth full of bloody foam.
Marlow did not so much as lift an eyelid.
"Don't get too close. They don't understand human speech."
The smile on Chen Mo's face faded a little.
They treated the defeated as merchandise, living people as tools, and children as test subjects, locking them in cages.
"Now that's what I call eating people. Let's see which of us can eat more."
Beside the black-draped cage, a tall, thin bodyguard crouched down and lifted a corner of the cloth.
Chen Mo's gaze froze.
Inside the cage, a small, thin girl was curled up in the corner.
Her hair was a mess, and metal rings were locked around her wrists and ankles.
Her eyes were vacant and lifeless.
Marlow walked over, a trace of emotion finally entering his voice.
"This one isn't for sale."
The Eastern European man narrowed his eyes.
"Why put her on display if she's not for sale?"
Marlow smiled.
"To show you what the really good merchandise looks like."
The fat man with the gold chain couldn't help asking, "What can she do?"
Marlow didn't answer.
He just nodded to a subordinate beside him.
The subordinate tossed a live rat into the cage.
The instant the rat hit the floor, the girl's vacant eyes moved.
The next second, the rat's body twisted into a ball with a crack, as if squeezed by an invisible hand.
The people around them all sucked in a breath.
"She can kill from a distance?"
"How much is this little girl worth?"
"Marlow, name your price!"
The corners of Marlow's mouth lifted.
"I said she's not for sale. She's going to a bigger client."
Chen Mo stared down, pressing the tip of his tongue lightly against his back teeth.
Drugs, test subjects, Marlow.
Whatever it took, he was going to take a damn big bite out of this feast tonight.