Nemo stood at the door of the Salamander safe house, carrying his superhero gear bag. He had to pass this test with Angie.

As comrades who had agreed to join the Taiwan War of National Independence and later became partners in superhero activities, Nemo had once been saved by Angie’s black-scaled amulet.

Initially, he had planned to resolve a few matters, wait for his superpowers to stabilize, and gain some martial arts proficiency before sharing his incredible life changes with Angie. But instead of taking his time, he had immediately come out as a superhero the moment he got his ID chip and suit.

Nemo didn’t want to come across as a coward hiding his abilities. He simply didn’t know what he was actually capable of or how far his powers could go. For Nemo, if he had to talk about the details of his first battle with the Greens in the Carnation community, it would be better to include plenty of regular criminal victories. At least he would’ve preferred to work alone for a few months before explaining things to Angie.

Matthew’s betrayal had forced him to betray Angie too, which was one of the reasons he was so angry. Matthew had promised Nemo that he would wait until he was ready to tell Angie about his powers. Wait a minute—did Matthew actually give a clear promise?

Nemo stood outside the safe house, trying to recall the details.

He was horrified to realize that after Matthew suggested the idea of teaming up with Angie, he conveniently left out how to explain Nemo’s powers to her. Matthew had played it off as "respecting Nemo’s decision," showcasing that classic American attitude—where "acknowledge" doesn’t equate to "recognize"*.

Nemo was free to explain his powers to Angie whenever he chose, but that didn’t mean Matthew had any obligation to keep it a secret. Technically, Matthew hadn’t broken any verbal agreements with Nemo.

That sneaky businessman! What a jerk!

Just as Nemo was caught in his storm of thoughts, the door suddenly opened, and a delicate hand quickly pulled him inside, locking the door behind him.

"Why are you standing at the door for so long? Trying to get the paparazzi’s attention? Not just me, you’re a public figure now, be more aware!" Angie, the Taiwanese supermodel, had her long hair tied in a bun and was dressed in a camisole and shorts, showing off her great figure, but some dark scales were still visible on her skin.

"I haven’t had work lately. I went to Matthew’s training camp in the wild forest for some personal transformation training. I just got back this morning." Angie had started referring to the safe house in Lone Star City as "home."

After all, her apartment in Los Angeles was empty as well, and it was nice to chat with a fellow Formosan and comrade rather than being buried in work-related socializing as she had been in the past.

"How have things been going for you?" Nemo knew Angie didn’t lack money, but being in the competitive world of supermodels required constant networking and attending social events.

"I am still processing the terms of the contract I signed earlier this year. Everyone knows poor Angie broke up with the world’s richest man, is secretly in love with some mysterious superhero, and got attacked by bloodsucking mosquitoes at a charity gala. I’m dealing with depression and panic attacks. After work, I either hide at home or go abroad for vacation and therapy. Lately, my time is pretty free! Of course, it’s all about extra training! Getting stronger!" Angie said, full of battle spirit.

"I’m glad you’re fine. Stay safe." Nemo couldn’t help but say these words a thousand times without tiring.

"I went for special training at a cabin, which made me miss the KS man’s first appearance on the superhero rankings. But now you’re a superhero, we have to celebrate! You must cook me something delicious!" Angie pulled Nemo to the couch and sat him down.

"...I don’t think I’ve told you who KS man is." Nemo was shocked again.

Later, Nemo interrogated Tolya for a long time, and the Russian roommate always answered with a sense of grievance, saying he had naturally recognized Nemo without identifying any specific part that revealed KS's true identity. Finally, he reluctantly came up with an answer, claiming that KS's vibe resembled his roommate’s, and that he had recently seen Nemo throwing darts, which led to the association. It made it seem as though Nemo had forced a confession from him.

This meant he had to adjust his unconscious body habits and movements, or even familiar people might instinctively pick up on the similarities.

"Who else would it be?" Angie blinked, then slapped Nemo on the shoulder in realization. "Don’t worry, the disguise worked. Unless someone knows your personality well and has had too much physical contact with you, they wouldn’t link KS with Nemo Captain."

Nemo didn’t say that his roommate had recognized him right away, but the curly-haired young man almost started to suspect that Tolya had some sort of psychic ability without realizing it, considering Russia was known to be a land of mysticism.

"Want to know how I figured it out?" Angie leaned in and mischievously blew on Nemo’s temple.

"Stop messing around, Angie. I was planning to wait until I was ready to tell you, but damn Matthew… Did he tell you?"

"No, I figured it out myself. Otherwise, how could I call myself a comrade?" Angie shrugged.

"I’m asking seriously. If there are flaws in the KS disguise, I need to fix them right away." Nemo became earnest.

"Since you told me how your amulet turned into black scales to block armor-piercing bullets, I thought you might awaken superpowers too. Then a new Asian hero appeared, with a similar height, build, hair color, and skin tone, and their background connected to Grimm Group’s superhero climbing gym. Their vibe was so similar to yours, I just thought it had to be you. Anyway, confirming it face-to-face wasn’t hard." Angie had invited Nemo to meet at the safe house to confirm.

"You're not telling the truth. In the KS videos, the skin tone was lightened, and only the lower half of the face was visible. But when we were on vacation in the cabin, I got tanned, and even though I haven't been out in the sun much since, I've lightened a bit, but it's still different from before!" For the second time, the word "vibe" was brought up. What on earth did it even mean?

"I just happened to catch a glimpse of the lips close-up, and it felt familiar. Then I remembered—after all, I was the one who put lip balm on you!" Angie quickly ran her fingertip across Nemo’s lower lip while he stood stunned. "How could I forget the first man I ever put lip balm on?"

"You’ve never done that before?" Nemo was surprised. At the charity gala, Angie had applied lip balm with practiced ease to a man she had just met.

"I’ve helped female friends with their makeup when shopping, but all the boyfriends I've had made me apply lip balm to their lips directly, mouth-to-mouth. Male models have their makeup artists, and I do too. When working, I’m not in control of my own body," Angie said with an eye roll when mentioning her ex-boyfriends.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Then why did you suddenly want to apply lip balm to me that night?"

"Your lips were chapped, and I just happened to have extra unused lip balm. Plus, you were the first man who didn’t refuse when I offered to put it on, so I did!" Angie explained with a mischievous smile. It was a rare opportunity to tease Nemo, and since they shared similar values as fellow compatriots, she figured Nemo would let her do it. After applying the lip balm, she noticed his lips turned red, but he didn’t get upset, so she decided to make him a solid friend.

Later, Nemo had killed the first bloodsucking mosquito, and when he caught up to Matthew, they were trapped in the car, surrounded by a swarm of giant mosquitoes. Then, the second-ranked Michael appeared. Angie thought Matthew didn’t need her to intervene, but unexpectedly, the archangel just grabbed the Mosquito Man and flew away without hesitation.

In that moment, Angie was struggling with whether to reveal her own superpower, but she couldn’t care less. After all, Nemo was already her friend, and how could a friend not be saved? As for the boyfriend... well, that too!

To be honest, Angie was afraid that her wealthy ex-boyfriend would call for air support to deal with the suddenly appearing giant lizard with heavy firepower.

Matthew had even stopped Nemo from leaving the car, his suspicious attitude making it clear he was wary. But Nemo insisted on trying to communicate with the lizard and immediately realized that it was Angie transformed.

A man she met for the first time saw her soul through her beastly appearance.

Angie secretly observed Nemo’s hesitant and guilty expression through the cat’s eye. She genuinely thought his reaction was cute.

Secrets like superpowers that were a matter of life and death should be kept hidden, and Nemo handled protecting Angie’s secret identity with ease. But when it came to himself, he was so inexperienced.

"If you want to make up for not telling me about your superpowers, then like in the video, put on your full gear so I can take some photos as a souvenir!" Angie, being Taiwanese, naturally utilized the skills of bargaining whenever she had the chance!

"Can’t you just look at it in your hands?" Nemo had brought his gear to satisfy Angie’s curiosity, but he still thought it was a bit much for her to ask him to put it all on again.

"I don’t care! You should’ve told me earlier, and I missed the moment when you became a superhero. Over a billion people have watched the KS video, and there are thousands of discussions about it. I just found out about it this morning!" Angie realized with a sigh that she had indeed been left out of the loop.

Getting Angie, a Taiwanese girl who grew up competing with boys, to use her "charm" skills was no easy feat, but for Nemo, it was worth it.

Nemo had little resistance to pleading from his two female friends (the other being Sunny Jie), and since Angie would be his future combat partner, it made sense for her to be familiar with his superhero persona.

"Fine, I’ll change. The bathroom?"

Nemo went to change into his superhero suit again, holding the staff in both hands.

Angie screamed and snapped photos from every angle as if she were at a superhero cosplay photo contest. Nemo was speechless.

"Your figure is really good!"

"I don’t care if you’re just buttering me up with compliments, I’m going through your phone. Any inappropriate pics, I’m deleting them myself!" Despite being a little soft on Angie, Nemo was still Nemo.

"I’m being sincere! If your muscles were too big and you wore tight clothes, it’d either look sleazy or too gay. This outfit, though, isn't tight, and even though you’re muscular, it looks just right. You look like a cool, agile game character!" Angie gestured as she spoke.

"I envy your superhero costume more, the full-body robe with the hood and veil." It looks so breezy and cool, like something from a desert style.

"Please! I was already undressed before transforming, okay? You want to undress too?" Angie’s sarcasm skills are also impressive."Besides, you have a hood too! Matt specifically designed a hood for you like the one from Assassin's Creed, with a lower hem. That’s so cool!"

"You don’t play video games, do you? How do you know about Assassin's Creed? And the hood design has a practical use; it's for protecting against harmful liquid splashes and attacks on the neck and back. The important thing is to cover the shape of the ears—this is basic criminology. Ear prints were used to identify criminals long before fingerprints." Nemo never thought Angie, who’s always in the spotlight, would suddenly show off her geeky side like that.

"You once said you liked playing ninjas and thieves in games, so I searched for images using keywords, thinking I could get some ideas." Angie, a professional supermodel, instinctively designed Nemo’s superhero outfit and the ideal scenarios for it, imagining the scene where Salamander joins the shot.

Nemo, injured from battle, was being held by her—Salamander—in her arms. That scene was just breathtakingly beautiful! Angie had already gotten an AI to draw a fan art of it, setting it as her phone wallpaper and computer desktop. She wasn’t sure if the AI was overtrained with superhero information, but the fan art looked incredible.

Even in summer, Nemo had to cover his skin and wear tactical gloves. This was because computer forensics technology was too advanced now. Even though the superhero suit was tight, at least it could hide his body features and smooth out his lines.

As for the many heroes who expose their lower faces, why hadn’t they been recognized by facial recognition systems? It’s because the meteor shower had struck the global technological power and servers too severely, causing many image records to disappear.

Moreover, Matthew Grimm must have taken advantage of the situation when governments were repairing or building new systems to tamper with population databases, or ordered his hackers to deploy viruses to cover up the search results.

The latest activities of superheroes and major headline-grabbing cases were another matter. Old records would gradually become distorted and confused due to repeated editing and dissemination. New information often carried high risks.

Angie finally got tired of taking photos. She was true to her word and didn’t secretly upload the photos to the cloud. She obediently handed her phone to Nemo for inspection. They both knew they couldn’t joke about superhero identities, especially not letting clues slip beyond their sight.

Nemo checked the photos Angie had taken and found that he didn’t quite understand the angles women liked for shooting. Why so many close-ups of his calves in long boots? His hands with tactical gloves? His lower face and neck? And there were a lot of lip shots. However, Angie cleverly chose side profile shots of his lips to avoid Nemo deleting everything in one go.

In short, for practical reasons, photos revealing his full body and clear details of his headgear and weapons—such as close-ups of reflections in his goggles showing the interior of the room—were potential issues, and Nemo made sure to delete them after explaining clearly.

Probably because Nemo had said he would review the photos beforehand, Angie was very skilled at avoiding taking shots that would reveal too much. The promotional video’s limits were okay, and Angie made the most of the opportunity to imitate them.

But Angie was so good at taking photos that she quickly snapped hundreds in a short time. Nemo had no choice but to carefully inspect each one, to prevent Angie from accidentally leaking not only Nemo’s secrets but her own safe house information too.

During this time, Angie, in a senior hero’s manner, gave Nemo a crash course on the important precautions.

"Matt said some heroes' identities were definitely exposed by accident. We don’t know which organization or government discovered it first or took action, but those heroes who no longer appear likely meet a grim fate. Some heroes might have hidden in uninhabited zones, planning to get stronger or find reliable allies before re-emerging. Matt has also helped heroes who were exposed to undergo transformations and assume new identities, though there are few examples of those who made it out safely."

"I’ve heard him mention many such severe cases of victims." Still, Nemo was gratified to see that Angie had listened to these warnings and was passing them on to others.

"Nemo, you need to be careful. Fortunately, my transformation is significant enough to cover up my identity. But now the media is watching both of your identities, and KS relies solely on superhero gear for concealment," Angie said, also growing concerned.

"When I take action, I’ll wear a voice modulator, just like you. After all, I’ve had several public interviews with voice recordings, and the internet is full of images. Fans also imitate and use AI to generate virtual photos to confuse people. Actually, getting caught in a photo is not that bad, but voice recordings are more dangerous. They can be used for voiceprint identification." Nemo and Matthew would never overlook this crucial aspect, and aside from heroes like Leviathan and Salamander who can’t speak after transforming, direct communication is still necessary.

"I originally wore the voice modulator to hide Salamander's gender, but I didn't expect I'd need to take precautions to this extent," Angie said, frowning.

Technology truly is a double-edged sword.

※※※

*Nemo here refers to the widely discussed topic in Taiwan regarding the U.S. stance on Taiwan's legal status after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. The U.S. only "acknowledged" China's position, without "recognizing" China's sovereignty over Taiwan, as part of the so-called One-China Policy. However, since the two English words can be translated into the same term in Chinese, this has long misled some native Chinese speakers.