Sirens wailed from the street. They sounded urgent, but judging by the usual pattern in American TV shows, the police would arrive after it was all over.
The Gray Whale Parking Lot was a wreck.
Shell casings and shattered glass littered the ground, along with overturned cars and a pile of gangsters who would never get up again.
Chen Mo stood beside the cooler, a bag full of vials in his left hand and Marlow's car key in his right.
He looked at the three people left in the parking lot, troubled.
What am I supposed to do with them?
The gray-skinned man lay on the ground, his knuckles dug into the concrete. The half of his body burned and smoking from the acid was healing.
The acid woman huddled behind a car, yellow-green liquid dripping from the corners of her mouth. Her eyes darted about, and she bared her teeth at anyone who came near.
The little girl stood at the entrance to the cage. The chain around her ankle had been torn off, but metal rings still hung from her wrists. She stood motionless, as quiet as a doll with dead batteries.
Chen Mo scratched his head.
"I really don't know what to do with you three."
Charging in and cutting people down was easy.
Catch them, consume them, look through their memories, and call it a day.
But what about these three?
Call them monsters, and they had all been pitiful people captured for experiments.
Call them people, and the first two had clearly lost their minds. Letting them loose would only hurt others.
Chen Mo looked at the gray-skinned man, then at the acid woman.
The Blacklight Virus inside him was growing active.
Eat them.
Level up, evolve.
Chen Mo's mouth twitched.
"I really can't bring myself to eat you."
The gray-skinned man suddenly raised his head once he finished healing.
His nose twitched twice, and his grayish-white eyes locked onto the bag of vials in Chen Mo's hand.
He gulped down a mouthful of saliva, his eyes full of hunger.
The acid woman also crawled slowly out from behind the car, making gurgling noises in her throat.
The little girl stepped back half a pace, a trace of fear finally showing in her vacant eyes.
Chen Mo sighed.
Fine.
I guess that settles it for me.
Chen Mo swung the bag behind his back. Black-and-red tendrils sprang from his arm and wrapped tightly around it.
The gray-skinned man lunged to his feet.
He wasn't particularly fast, but his strength was frightening.
He stomped the ground to pieces and charged like a chunk of concrete.
Chen Mo didn't dodge.
A black shell covered his chest as he raised a hand to catch the gray-skinned man's fist.
Boom!!!
A shock wave burst outward, rattling several nearby cars and sending them skidding away.
The gray-skinned man roared and kept pressing forward, opening his huge mouth to bite Chen Mo's neck.
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow.
"Come on, man. Kissing me the moment we meet? Isn't that a bit much?"
As he cracked his joke, Chen Mo drove his knee up hard.
The gray-skinned man's abdomen caved in, and he flew backward, crashing through a car.
A great cloud of dust rose, with only the gray-skinned man's roars coming from within.
The acid woman moved too.
She opened her mouth and spat a stream of yellow-green acid at the side of Chen Mo's face like an arrow.
Chen Mo tilted his head out of the way.
The acid struck a concrete pillar, sizzling as it burned a fist-sized hole straight into it.
Chen Mo's eyelid twitched.
Well, damn. What are you, a Xenomorph?
The acid woman seized the chance to pounce on the little girl.
The little girl stood where she was, her face pale as blue lines lit up from her neck all the way to the corners of her eyes.
An invisible force erupted outward.
The acid woman was flung back into the cage, bending its iron bars on impact.
The little girl grunted too, swaying and nearly falling over.
Chen Mo stepped in front of her.
Don't push yourself. Your mana bar is obviously almost empty.
The little girl looked up at Chen Mo without speaking.
Her gaze was still vacant, but her fingers gently gripped the hem of his hoodie.
Chen Mo glanced down.
All right, at least one of them is a little more normal.
The gray-skinned man lunged from behind.
Chen Mo turned, and a black blade sprang out.
This time, he didn't hold back.
The black blade easily pierced the gray-skinned man's chest and tore him in half in an instant.
His upper body was still struggling, both hands clawing madly at Chen Mo's shell. He didn't stop even when his nails broke.
Chen Mo looked down at the twisted face, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.
"Sleep."
Fine black-and-red tendrils poured along the blade and spread over the gray-skinned man's entire body in an instant.
The struggling stopped.
Memories flooded into Chen Mo's mind.
The gray-skinned man's name had been Brian, and he had been a dockworker.
He had a wife and a son.
Because he owed money, the Bloods sold him to Marlow.
The first injection failed. His muscles grew wildly, his skin hardened, and his sanity was worn away bit by bit, as if by sandpaper.
His last lucid memory was of seeing a man in a white coat through a pane of glass.
The man looked at Brian as he opened his eyes, nodded, and gave him a second injection.
Brian's memories ended completely there.
Chen Mo opened his eyes, his expression much darker.
"What a fucking animal."
The acid woman screamed and charged from the side.
Chen Mo pushed off the ground, moving faster than before, and almost instantly appeared in front of her.
The acid woman had only just opened her mouth when Chen Mo seized her jaw and pressed his other hand against the back of her neck.
Fine black-and-red tendrils burrowed into her skin.
The acid woman convulsed wildly. Acid dripped from the corners of her mouth onto Chen Mo's shell, burning small white marks into it, only for them to heal rapidly.
Memories poured in once more.
Her name was Lisa, and she had been a night-shift nurse.
She was dragged away from a subway station.
When she woke up, she was lying on an operating table, the lights overhead a painfully bright white.
A man in a white coat was recording data beside her.
Several researchers said her digestive system had mutated, giving her the ability to produce corrosive secretions, but her mental stability was extremely poor.
Her stomach was removed for study. She desperately wanted to wail, but she couldn't move at all.
Lisa's last lucid memory was of a little girl crying outside the cage.
She wanted to say a few words to comfort her, but the moment she opened her mouth, the acid she spat out nearly hurt the girl.
After that, Lisa never dared go near anyone again.
Chen Mo finished consuming her and stood silently for two seconds.
"What a fucked-up world."
The sirens in the street were getting closer.
The little girl was still clutching the hem of Chen Mo's clothes, her fingers icy cold.
Chen Mo turned to look at her.
There was one little trouble left.
And it looked like this little trouble couldn't be returned.
Chen Mo crouched down and crushed the metal rings on her wrists.
The metal fell to the ground with a clink.
The little girl looked down at her wrists, as if she couldn't believe it.
Chen Mo tried to keep his tone light.
"What's your name?"
The little girl's lips moved.
Her voice was very quiet.
"Mia."
Chen Mo nodded.
"All right, Mia, you have two choices now."
"The police will be here soon. They'll probably send you to a hospital, and the hospital will notify Vought or some other damn organization. You might end up back in a cage."
Mia's fingers tightened sharply.
Chen Mo continued.
"Your second choice is to come with me. But I'll tell you upfront: I have no identity, no home, and no job. I have none of the three."
Mia raised her head, looked at the mess all around them, then looked at Chen Mo.
"I'll go with you."
Chen Mo slapped his forehead.
"All right. I can't say about anything else, but feeding you shouldn't be a problem."
As soon as he finished speaking, brakes squealed at the distant entrance.
The police had arrived.
It was time to go.
Chen Mo looked up at the broken second-floor window.
Mia followed his gaze, and her little face went even paler.
It was so high.
Chen Mo held out a hand.
"Afraid of heights?"
Mia shook her head, but her legs clearly hadn't gotten the message that she was putting on a brave face.
Chen Mo picked her up. Black-and-red tendrils emerged from the soles of his feet and gripped the wall tightly.
"Don't squirm. I won't drop you."
Mia nodded stiffly.
Chen Mo ran up the wall and reached the second floor in a few strides.
Just as he got there, the police rushed into the parking lot below.
Flashlight beams swept over the bodies and wrecked cars scattered across the ground.
The scene fell silent for half a second.
The next moment, a police officer spoke in a trembling voice.
"My God, what happened here?"
Leaving the police to their confusion for the moment.
Chen Mo had already carried Mia out of the abandoned mall and jumped through a broken wall on the other side into an alley.
A night breeze blew, and the vials in the bag knocked gently together with a crisp sound.
Chen Mo looked down at the little girl in his arms.
Mia was very thin, lighter than a normal child.
That gave Chen Mo an even bigger headache.
Now that he had a child with him, he couldn't carry on as before. He needed to find a way to get a safe house.
Chen Mo walked to the mouth of the alley, his mind racing.
He had a little money.
A bag of vials.
A pile of information.
And a little telekinetic kid at his side.
His strength had increased substantially. Perhaps he could consider taking part in the plot now.
As he was thinking it over, a familiar voice came from the street.
"Chen Mo?"
Chen Mo stopped in his tracks.
Under the streetlight at the mouth of the alley stood a young man with glasses, a repair kit clutched in his arms and shock written all over his face.
Allen.
The poor guy who had nearly been robbed on the street earlier.
Allen looked at the bloodstains on Chen Mo, then at Mia in his arms, and finally toward the flashing police lights in the distance.
Silence fell over them.
Chen Mo thought for a second, then forced out what he believed was a very sincere smile.
"What a coincidence. New York really is a small place."
Allen swallowed.
"Uh, it really is a coincidence, but what's going on with you?"
Chen Mo looked down at Mia.
Mia looked up at him too.
They both fell silent.
Chen Mo sighed.
"You might not believe me, but I just picked up a kid."
Allen looked at the growing number of police cars in the distance, then at the obviously unusual cooler bag in Chen Mo's hand. His gaze began to waver wildly.
Mia suddenly tightened her grip on Chen Mo's clothes, as if afraid Allen would call for someone.
Allen opened his mouth, but in the end, he lowered his voice.
"I live not far from here."
Chen Mo was taken aback.
Allen took a deep breath and pushed up his glasses, his voice still trembling.
"If you need somewhere to hide for a while, you can come to my place."
Chen Mo stared at him for two seconds.
The world was a pretty rotten place.
But there were always some good people.
Chen Mo smiled and tightened his grip on the bag of medication.
"Okay."
He stepped out of the alley.
"But I should tell you up front, things got a little complicated tonight."
Allen looked at the smoke rising from the Gray Whale Parking Lot in the distance, then at the blood on Chen Mo that hadn't yet dried.
"How complicated?"
Chen Mo thought for a moment.
"Something like gangs, gunfights, cults, and so on."
Allen went completely stiff.
Chen Mo patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, that's not the important part."
Allen looked up, bewildered.
Chen Mo looked down at Mia, then at the bag of medication in his hand.
"The important thing is, have you ever raised a kid? Got any pointers?"