Culver City, California.
Outside the Vought International film studio, many tourists, whether alone or in groups, were taking photos next to the iconic plaza logo.
A young Black man with a buzz cut, wearing a streamlined blue bodysuit and light blue transparent goggles, cut through the bustling crowd, causing a stir and gasps from those around him.
"Look, man, who is that?!"
"Oh my god, it's A-Train!"
"Mom, I just saw a real-life superhero!!"
"Hey, Reggie, I'm a fan of yours, can I get an autograph?!"
A-Train ignored the commotion of the crowd, offering only a symbolic, polite smile as he kept walking toward the film studio.
He left behind a poor assistant, who struggled to hold back the swarming fans: "Thank you all so much, but A-Train has a tight shooting schedule today, so it's not convenient. Sorry, please step back a little, thank you for your cooperation. If you want to see A-Train, remember to follow the Los Angeles fan meet-and-greet event happening in 7 days..."
"Look who it is, isn't this our superstar, A-Train?!!"
As soon as A-Train walked into the base, the director, accompanied by several staff members, came over to greet him with great enthusiasm.
"Shit—"
A-Train cursed under his breath, then put on a familiar smile and bumped shoulders with him: "How are you doing, Brody? I'm really looking forward to today's short film shoot."
"I won't let you down, Reggie."
Brody patted his chest: "Your popularity has been rising fast lately. I have confidence in my shooting plan. Let's go."
The director gestured to A-Train, and the group crowded around him as they walked into the interior of the base.
Just then, seven or eight collectors wearing long white robes and carrying equipment resembling medical instruments crossed paths with them.
The middle-aged man in the lead, who was pot-bellied and had wrinkles on his face deep enough to hold flowers, greeted Director Brody with a kind smile.
"Do you know them?"
A-Train watched their backs, unable to suppress his curiosity: "What do they do?"
The group's attire was clearly different from that of the base staff; they looked more like a research team.
The entourage pressed the elevator button and waited quietly.
Brody introduced them: "Our own people, members of the Vought InternationalCalifornia branch's drug project team. The one who just greeted us is their project lead, named Aiden Gilbert."
Although A-Train had been to California several times, he didn't know much about Vought International's affairs there.
He felt it was strange: "Why are you looking for the drug team to shoot a movie? Is your budget that high?"
"Haha, don't joke."
Brody looked hesitant, glanced left and right, and seeing that his entourage was looking down silently and there was no one else around, he lowered his voice and replied: "It wasn't me who asked Aiden to come; it was Mr. Marathon."
"Mr. Marathon?"
"Yeah, he has a collaboration with the drug project team. He was originally supposed to go to the branch lab to measure his physical data, but you know, Mr. Marathon's schedule is very tight and he couldn't get away, so that's why you see what you see."
"Heh, he always puts on such a big show."
A-Train lost interest immediately after hearing this. He shrugged: "As everyone knows, he's a big shot. I've viewed him as an idol since I was very young."
Everyone could tell that A-Train lacked the proper respect for this member of 'The Seven'.
This was understandable.
The well-known Superpower of both parties was related to speed. Unlike other unfathomable talents, speed could be observed.
The hero IPs of Mr. Marathon and A-Train had severely overlapping positioning.
One was a veteran hero with huge influence, and the other was a newly risen young star with just as many supporters. Their competition within Vought International had actually already begun.
The elevator opened.
The group stepped inside, and the conversation shifted to the day's shoot.
By the time they reached the set, A-Train's interest was mostly exhausted.
'Hum—'
He was just about to ask his assistant to get him a cup of coffee to wake up when a faint sound of commotion and gasps came from downstairs. The staff members near the window looked out curiously, then quickly covered their mouths in horror.
"Oh my god..."
A-Train frowned: "What happened?"
A blue, lightning-like figure streaked across the set, and A-Train stopped by the window in an instant.
He looked down and his expression quickly turned grave: "A murder case?"
"Ahhhhh!!"
"Run!!!"
The floor below was in chaos; some people were screaming, others were fleeing in terror.
A pot-bellied, old, and ugly middle-aged man lay in a pool of blood, dead as a doornail. It was Aiden Gilbert.
His head had been pierced through; his two eyes had become charred, bloody holes. While blood was oozing from the back of his head, his two empty eye sockets were still smoking.
The members of the drug project team, who had just walked a short distance and were preparing to leave by car, were in a state of chaos.
A-Train's eyes were filled with confusion, and he was somewhat unsure: "Laser thermal weapon?"
Further away, a mysterious man in a black robe with an obscured face turned around calmly and disappeared quickly around the corner of the building.
The killer?!
Fighting all crime, maintaining world order, and protecting human life were the missions of superheroes.
Before the staff could react, A-Train transformed into lightning again and vanished from everyone's sight with a swoosh.
The people who had been panicked just a moment ago quickly calmed down upon seeing this.
Someone said excitedly: "A-Train has taken action; no criminal can escape his capture!!"
"So cruel, his head seems to have been shot through..."
"Don't worry, we're safe."
"Yeah, to dare to kill on Vought International's turf, this killer is done for!"
"Oh my god, look! Mr. Marathon seems to be a step faster!"
Heroes without the ability of Flight could only run forward, no matter how fast they were.
Fortunately, there weren't many pedestrians on the route the black-robed man was retreating along; otherwise, many would likely have lost their lives because of it.
Ordinary people were simply too fragile compared to superheroes; a single collision would mean being smashed to pieces.
Mr. Marathon's straight-line acceleration was fast, but his cornering was very strained. The root cause was that he lacked the matching reflexes.
However, if it was just to capture an ordinary criminal, slowing down the speed was enough.
When he ran down, the crowd had just dispersed.
Relying on years of mission experience, Mr. Marathon quickly locked onto the suspicious black-robed person in the distance, but the other party was prepared and fled decisively, disappearing around the corner of the building in a flash.
"Damn idiot—"
He gritted his teeth: "Daring to disrupt my filming process—when I catch you, I'm going to piss in your mouth and then stuff your head into a toilet!!"
He pushed off with his feet, accelerated in a straight line, and turned into a blur as he gave chase.
Behind Mr. Marathon, a bolt of blue lightning followed closely, also rushing toward the black-robed person at an astonishing speed that the naked eye couldn't react to.
Mr. Marathon didn't notice anyone behind him; the whistling wind in his ears blocked out all information, and he rarely looked back when sprinting, as that would cause big problems.
He slowed down to turn, rounded the street corner, and his eyes quickly locked onto that familiar patch of black.
Mr. Marathon was overjoyed: "Haha, caught you!!"
He pushed off with his feet, rushed toward the black-robed person at high speed, and was just about to grab the other party with one hand and grind them into the ground, but he missed.
'Whoosh—!'
The blue lightning overtook him from the side and captured the other party a step faster!
The storm kicked up along the way messed up Mr. Marathon's hair.
"What the f—?!" Mr. Marathon was a bit stunned.
He focused his eyes and saw that it was that damn up-and-coming Black star—A-Train!
In the blink of an eye, A-Train had already controlled the black-robed person from behind, viciously pinning his head to the ground with his knee.
The black-robed person revealed his face, looking panicked; he was a disheveled, sloppy middle-aged white man.
His face flushed red from congestion, and under A-Train's suppression, he spoke with difficulty: "No, I can't breathe, I can't breathe!"
"Hey, kid, this is my prey!"
Mr. Marathon's anger surged at this sight. He walked over, furious: "Didn't you see that I had already made a move?!"
Seeing that the danger had been resolved, the scattered people around began to look toward this side, and many took out their phones to film.
"I didn't know he had Mr. Marathon's name written on him."
A-Train held his head high, mocking him with a relaxed expression: "Besides, I was just focused on catching the guy and didn't notice you at all. I thought you were just an old man out for a walk... Kid, did you see that?"
A-Train said this while looking at a young man nearby, a victor's smile on his face.
Aiden died so well, and so timely. After this incident, everyone would know that Mr. Marathon was not what he was cracked up to be; only he, A-Train, was the fastest man in the world!
[Name]: Reggie Franklin (A-Train)
[Gender]: Male
[Age]: 23
[Lineage]: compound v Superhuman
[Ability]: Super Speed LV5, Accelerated Perception LV2, Physical Enhancement LV2
[Evaluation]: State-level, Superhuman with biased abilities, possesses decent speed.
The young man on the side, who was just watching, was suddenly forced into the conversation and asked subconsciously: "Is he guilty of such a big crime just for taking a taco without paying?"
"Taco?"
A-Train was stunned.
"Haha, taco!!"
Mr. Marathon's eyes swept over the scattered taco on the ground, and he was the first to react.
He turned his anger into joy, walked to A-Train's side, pointed at the man in black on the ground, and said loudly: "I actually realized it a long time ago. This gentleman is not the f***ing killer at all; the real killer already left just now, taking advantage of the farce you caused!"
'Click, click.'
There were more and more onlookers, and the sound of camera shutters could be heard faintly.
A-Train also realized something was wrong. The white man on the ground was as limp as a noodle, there was no weapon at all, and his build was completely wrong.
He wasn't the same person who assassinated Aiden just now!
He glared at the white man on the ground, had to let go, lifted his foot, and muttered: "Shit, why didn't you say so earlier?"
The white man gasped for air, coughing incessantly, but after getting up and glancing at the other party, he didn't dare to say a word and staggered away.
Mr. Marathon looked serious: "Reggie, I could have caught the killer. You will be held fully responsible for the mistake in this incident."
A-Train ignored him, turned toward the filming direction in the distance, and forced a formulaic smile: "Don't worry, the enemy is cunning, but I have already made some discoveries..."
He said this while glancing at the young man who had spoken earlier, his expression speechless, and then he vanished into the distance with a swoosh.
"Please listen to me, everyone..."
Mr. Marathon didn't leave. He stood with his hands on his hips, his yellow form-fitting hero suit very eye-catching.
He faced the public with his most perfect posture and gave orders loudly: "A murder case just happened in the plaza. It's very dangerous here. The killer might not have left the vicinity, and might even be hiding in the crowd. For everyone's safety, please do not gather and leave immediately."
The onlookers looked at each other, half-believing and half-doubting.
Seeing Mr. Marathon looking relaxed and calm.
Someone brave couldn't help but ask Mr. Marathon: "With you here, we aren't afraid. Do you think there's a killer among us?"
"Haha, that's a good question."
Mr. Marathon chuckled and pointed at the crowd with a serious air: "Anyone could be the killer. It could be you, it could be you, or it could be you!"
He pointed his finger repeatedly, finally landing on the young man who had been forced into the conversation.
[Name]: Mr. Marathon
[Gender]: Male
[Age]: 33
[Lineage]: compound v Superhuman
[Ability]: Linear Acceleration LV5, Physical Enhancement LV2, Giant Heart LV1
[Evaluation]: State-level, Speed-type superhuman with severely biased abilities.
Mr. Marathon was still considered young now, just in his early thirties.
The young man seemed quite bold; he wasn't timid at all even after being suddenly pointed out.
He adjusted his thick black-rimmed glasses and joked with a smile: "I am willing to be arrested by you, Mr. Marathon, but before that, can you take a photo with me?"
"Haha, why not?"
Mr. Marathon was extremely happy. He walked over and patted the young man on the shoulder approvingly: "Only one photo. My schedule is a bit tight. By the way, what's your name?"
The young man: "My name is Shawn, sir."
"Good name, Shawn, come on..."
Mr. Marathon put his arm around Shawn with great poise, and both of them flashed charming smiles at the camera.
'Click—'
The art was complete, and Mr. Marathon didn't wait for the crowd to react; he accelerated and vanished from the spot.
PS: Support the new book, please!
plz support my patreon
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AZofficial
patreon.com/AZofficial
it is 30 chapter ahead