(To ensure the plot progresses logically, some aspects will be slightly altered; consider this the protagonist’s butterfly effect.)
(The ‘poisonous’ points mentioned by readers earlier have all been revised.)
Dawn was approaching.
Lucas kicked open the door of an abandoned motel on the edge of Brooklyn.
Dust trickled down in showers.
“Get in,” he said, tilting his head.
Kimiko followed silently behind him like a soulless ragdoll.
She was barefoot, her prison uniform stained with blood and grime.
Her eyes were dead and numb, as if they had been frozen in a glacial hell for far too long.
Lucas sat down on a spring bed missing a leg.
“System.
10 attribute points, all into Speed.”
The panel flashed.
[Speed: 55 → 65]
A surge of heat rushed up his spine and into his limbs.
He felt his body become so light it was as if he could fly by stepping on the air.
He fished a squashed loaf of bread from the pocket of his self-repairing jacket, along with a bottle of mineral water he had “borrowed” along the way.
“Take it.” He tossed the items onto the tattered carpet in front of Kimiko.
Kimiko didn’t move.
She stared warily at the bread, then at Lucas, her body tensed like a drawn bow.
“It’s not poisoned.
Eat it or don’t, it’s up to you.” Lucas didn’t look at her, leaning back against the wall.
“In this hellish world, if you want to survive, you have to eat.
Don’t you want to find your brother?
If you starve to death, who’s going to save him?”
The word “brother” was like a key that instantly unlocked something deep within Kimiko’s eyes.
Her hand trembled as she reached out and snatched the bread.
She didn’t even tear the wrapper off cleanly before she began wolfing it down.
Because she ate too fast, she began to cough violently.
Lucas unscrewed the cap of the mineral water and handed it over.
“Slow down.
His voice was surprisingly calm, devoid of the coldness and violence he had shown in the underground warehouse.
Kimiko took the water and gulped it down.
She looked up, and in those eyes—like those of a wounded little animal—there was a flicker of a very complex emotion.
There was fear, confusion, and a tiny, almost imperceptible trace of…
gratitude.
Lucas looked at her.
In his past life, watching her on a screen, he had always felt this girl was a tragedy.
Brainwashed by a terrorist organization, treated like a monster by Vought International, and even after finally meeting Frenchie, she still had to struggle through a storm of blood and violence.
Now, she was right in front of him.
Not a collection of pixels on a screen, but a living, breathing, scarred human being.
“Listen.” Lucas straightened up, looking Kimiko directly in the eye.
“I don’t need a dog that only knows how to obey.
I need a companion I can trust with my back.
You help me kill people, and I’ll help you find your brother.
A fair trade.
Understand?”
Kimiko looked at him and, slowly and very stiffly, nodded her head.
Lucas smiled.
“Good.”
He turned to look out the window.
The horizon was already showing a hint of the pale light of dawn.
Butcher and his crew were likely scrambling right now to figure out how to deal with Translucent’s pile of mangled flesh.
They certainly wouldn’t have the leisure to worry about anything else.
This was the perfect opportunity for him to act.
Translucent was just an appetizer.
His targets were the real “big fish.”
A-Train?
Lucas shook his head.
That guy was currently the golden boy of The Seven.
Not only was his speed ridiculously fast, but he also had the entire PR and security teams of Vought International backing him up.
Vought would go insane, and even with Absolute Immortality, he would be hounded to death by endless trouble.
“I need to find a soft target to squeeze.”
A name surfaced in Lucas’s mind.
Shockwave.
The speed-type Supe who claimed he could rival A-Train and who, in the original story, briefly replaced A-Train’s position.
Also a speedster, and also a source of experience points.
Furthermore, Shockwave’s current status was far below A-Train’s; killing him would cause much less of a stir.
“I’ve decided on you.”
But how to get close to Shockwave?
Lucas recalled the original plot.
A-Train and Shockwave were about to hold a world-renowned “Race of the Century” at Vought Stadium to compete for the title of “World’s Fastest Man.”
He didn’t need a ticket, nor did he need anyone to take him in.
He had Absolute Stealth.
The system-granted absolute invisibility that even Homelander’s super vision and super hearing could not detect.
He could walk right through the main entrance like a ghost.
Lucas stood up and went to the sink to wash his face.
“Let’s go.” He tilted his head toward Kimiko.
“Where?” Kimiko’s eyes held the question.
“To Vought Stadium, to watch a race.”
Three days later, Vought Stadium.
For the past three days, all his points had been dumped into Strength.
The massive venue, built by Vought International at a cost of billions of dollars, was currently packed to capacity.
Tens of thousands of spectators were dressed in red and blue support gear, and their mountain-shaking, sea-roaring cheers were deafening.
Lucas and Kimiko stood in a fire exit outside the stadium.
“The main venue is in the center.
The athlete locker rooms are on the B1 level,” Lucas quickly reviewed the information he’d found online.
“Shockwave’s room is B-12.
A-Train’s is A-3.
There’s an entire hallway between the two rooms.”
Maybe it’s not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”