That’s way too short!
20: Chapter 20: Three minutes?
That’s way too short!
Seeing Starlight smile, Chen Mo finally let out a long sigh of relief.
He was worried she wouldn’t make a sound; if she was laughing, there was nothing to fear.
Starlight was still laughing, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes curved like crescent moons.
The searchlight shone from behind her, leaving half her face in light and half in shadow.
“You look really beautiful when you smile,” he praised sincerely.
Starlight lowered her hand from her mouth, crossed her arms over her chest, and returned to her cold expression.
“Are you still holding a grudge about that night?” Chen Mo looked at her face; her lips were pursed, her chin slightly tightened.
“I’m not asking this to make excuses.” “About what happened in the conference room that day, you have every right to hate me.
If it were me, I’d hate me too, because I also endured a lot when I first joined.” Chen Mo’s voice wasn’t loud; the sea breeze was louder than him.
He looked into the distance, his eyes unfocused.
“So that’s why you did those things?
What right did you have to do that to me, you pathetic bastard?” Starlight finally spoke, turning to shout at Chen Mo.
Chen Mo noticed the tears in her eyes.
“And you lied to me.
You were never some second-in-command.
You’re just some guy who’s like a fish; everyone thinks you’re a joke.
I can’t believe I was taken in by your lies.” The tears she had been trying so hard to hold back finally fell, like a bursting dam; once the breach was made, they couldn’t be stopped.
Starlight wiped her tears with the back of her hand, but new ones immediately welled up.
“It’s not what you think.” Chen Mo took a step forward, wanting to comfort her.
“If you dare touch me again, I’ll burn your eyes out.” Starlight’s eyes were glowing; pale golden light seeped from the depths of her pupils.
The surrounding floodlights flickered—she was activating her superpowers.
“I won’t touch you, Annie.
What I want to tell you is that what happened that day was bound to happen.
If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else, and things would have been worse then.” Chen Mo tried to persuade Starlight.
“Then at least it wouldn’t have been you.
You destroyed the image I had in my heart.” Chen Mo looked into her eyes.
At such a close distance, he could see tears, light, anger, and disappointment in those eyes.
That man had been plastered on her bedroom wall for many years, ever since she was a little girl.
Chen Mo was somewhat speechless, his hands rising and then falling.
“You’re right, Annie, but to Vought International, we are just products.
The best-case scenario is being discarded, or even killed, and then they’ll just call it an accident.
No one cares about a dead person.
Didn’t you feel that today?” Starlight didn’t speak, but her eyes were no longer glowing.
“Who writes your script?
Who chooses your lines?
Who determines your image?
The PR department does, Vought does.
You’re standing here today not because you want to, but because Vought needs you to.
Tomorrow, when they don’t need you, you won’t be standing here.” “Superheroes aren’t messengers of justice from fairy tales; they are products.
We are all products mass-produced by Vought International using drugs.” Seeing that Starlight was still angry, Chen Mo played his trump card.
Sure enough, Starlight couldn’t hold it in: “Drugs?
What drugs?
How can I believe anything you, a liar, say?” “Compound V.” Chen Mo said: “Vought International uses Compound V to create Superhumans.
Homelander, Queen Maeve, A-Train, Translucent, me, you.
We all are.” “How do you know that?” Starlight countered.
“It’s a secret.” Chen Mo didn’t say things like “I only knew after I transmigrated,” because she wouldn’t understand it even if he did.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” “Would you have believed me?” Starlight didn’t answer.
She wouldn’t have believed him.
She grew up watching superhero stories; there was a poster of The Deep on her bedroom wall, and a Homelander figurine on her nightstand.
On her first day at Vought Tower, she thought: “I’ve finally made it here.” If you told her, “You’re mass-produced by drugs,” would she believe it?
“Annie.” Chen Mo called her, and she looked up.
“We are just products, and products have no right to resist.
To survive at Vought, everyone wears a mask.
If you want to live a little longer here, if you want to truly save the people you want to save…” He took another step forward, using the slight sense of oppression brought by his height difference, and whispered: “Then you must learn to close your eyes, cover your ears, and then choose the most perfect skin for yourself.
Just like my performance on stage this morning.
By the way, did you watch my speech?” “I did.
A pack of lies, disgusting.” In fact, at the time, Starlight had been stunned.
The figure on the screen had briefly overlapped with the version of The Deep she imagined as a child—that was exactly what her idol looked like in her heart.
Chen Mo rubbed his nose.
“The longer you stay at Vought, the more you’ll discover the darkness here.” “Well, I won’t turn into a bastard like you,” Starlight retorted immediately, her tone firm.
Chen Mo nodded without refuting her.
Of course she wouldn’t; she was a white lotus that remained unstained by the mud, always standing on the side of justice in the end.
“You won’t,” Chen Mo said.
“You never will.” Starlight was stunned for a moment.
She thought he would make excuses, thought he would say, “I’m doing it to survive too,” or “Do you think I want this?” He didn’t.
He said, “You won’t.” These three words weren’t a defense; his tone was very firm, as if a parent believing in their child’s grand aspirations.
“I definitely won’t,” Starlight added.
“And I’ve already let it go.” “At least I won’t mistake three minutes for a lifetime.” Now it was Chen Mo’s turn to break down.
The usually calm expression on his face instantly collapsed; no man could withstand such a taunt.
“I was just trying to help you get relief, okay?
Oh my god, you can’t imagine how hard I was trying at the time, okay?” Chen Mo had to clarify; this concerned his dignity as a man.
Seeing Chen Mo’s expression as if he were about to crack, Starlight broke into a laugh through her tears.
Tears were still hanging on her face, but the corners of her mouth were already curved upward.
She had finally won a round.
“And I included the time it took you to take off your pants.” Chen Mo completely cracked.
Starlight’s consecutive blows were more than he could bear, and he immediately prepared to take off his pants to demonstrate it to Starlight right on the spot.
Seeing Chen Mo’s hand go to his belt again, Starlight panicked and hurriedly stopped him: “What are you doing?
No!” “I’ll stop talking, okay?” She turned her head away.
Through the periphery of the searchlight, Chen Mo seemed to see a flush of red.
“That’s more like it.” Chen Mo took his hand off his belt, no longer teasing the young girl.
Seeing him lower his hand from the corner of her eye, Starlight turned her head back.