Kill Steal Man

Nemo stared at the ID card, where the superhero codename was printed. It was the same codename he had once used in the forgotten vigilante group.

Having been in the WoW guilds for years, Nemo was familiar with the gaming term associated with the codename "Kill Steal"—commonly used to describe the despicable act of stealing the last hit on an enemy that someone else had been battling, in order to gain the experience and loot rewards. It could also refer to a player waiting for a low-health opponent in a PvP battle to steal the kill. It wasn’t exactly a compliment.

"Kill Steal" also had the connotation of "cutting off the root" in Chinese.

This explained Nemo’s past role in the vigilante group. While Matthew had described him as an all-around support-type character, the choice of this codename suggested that Nemo’s previous specialty had been dealing with the finishing blow—either by stepping in to clean up if the executioners failed or by exploiting openings to deliver the final strike.

The codename "Kill Steal Man" fit him perfectly now, considering his lack of power and reliance on tricks, hidden weapons, and high-tech gear for combat. He wasn’t planning on facing enemies head-on; survival and results came first. Nemo thought.

"There were executioners in your previous group, not just one. If they failed or if there were too many enemies, you would typically take over to handle the aftermath," Matthew’s voice interrupted Nemo's thoughts on his codename.

"I see, so this is what you meant by 'killing people,'" Nemo asked after hearing Matthew mention his past association with the vigilante group. He immediately asked whether he had a record of killing people, to which the answer was affirmative.

Matthew gave a half-smile, "I believe you’ve played the role of an executioner too. If the target was particularly weak, sick, or injured—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—it was so easy to infect the target beforehand."

"It sounds like I really could get things done," Nemo remarked.

What kind of tragic past did the previous Nemo have to voluntarily join the vigilante group and become an old-timer at "cleaning up" after others?

"Nemo, I’ve looked into your track record, and I’m certain that the people you killed were those beyond the law’s reach. You think I would casually admit who’s a good guy? I’m not a good person myself. The weapons I sell don’t only kill bad guys, but I’m not stopping either," Matthew locked his golden-eyed gaze on Nemo, as if trying to confirm whether he was wavering.

"I’m barely accepting this codename. I liked stealing kills in online games, but in reality, I don’t enjoy it at all," Nemo said, choosing his words carefully.

"I understand." Matthew truly understood. Nemo's impulsive nature wasn’t from a lack of courage, but from amnesia—he hadn’t been motivated to hurt anyone, yet his natural inclination was to act first. When he was fully prepared, he would become a seemingly unassuming, yet terrifying opponent.

"I don’t want you to enjoy this kind of thing. If you suffer from it, that’s fine," Matthew added.

"I’m not necessarily going to suffer. I actually enjoyed the scenes in the Beelzebub Files with the vigilante executions," Nemo admitted.

"As a vigilante, it’s fine to pick targets you find satisfying. But as a hero, sometimes you’ll have to deal with ambiguous targets, like victims parasitized by maggots or beings that pose a major threat to humanity despite having no ill intentions."

"Like Bohai Bay Kaiju?" Nemo wondered. He had suspected that the kaiju wasn’t actively attacking the China-Russia joint fleet and didn’t cause large-scale carnage when it slipped ashore. It simply moved in a specific direction under heavy fire from the People's Liberation Army.

"We’ll discuss that example later! I’m still investigating," Matthew said, cutting off the topic. "Actually, the meaning of 'KS' in the codename goes beyond that. Maybe one day, the person responsible will tell you directly. Since you don’t want to remember it now, there’s no point in talking more about it."

"Alright," Nemo replied, no longer interested in overthinking.

"Now, shall we dance?" Matthew extended his hand toward Nemo with his palm up.

"Are you inviting me to a sword dance battle with this gear? Here? Now? Just speak plainly," Nemo said, placing his right hand on the weapon’s hilt.

"Mr. Captain, could you please come with me to the experimental zone to try out the new gear? I sincerely and politely ask you to maintain civilized behavior," Matthew said, though he still casually draped his arm around Nemo’s shoulder.

"I’ll demonstrate for you once. After that, you’ll be able to freely enter and exit the experimental zone as a superhero. You’ll experience firsthand how superheroes are protected here. Different levels of ID cards will limit your access to different entrances. Some may even temporarily close off certain paths. Please wait in the designated lounge; you won’t randomly encounter other superheroes or research staff. The flow of movement will be designed to avoid that, like invisible traffic lights,"

the rich man knew exactly how Nemo’s solitary nature worked. If he didn’t explain everything in advance, Nemo would probably stash the chip ID card at the bottom of a drawer.

"I thought you’d want superheroes to get to know each other and make friends at the headquarters?" Nemo knew that Matthew, as the benefactor, often grumbled about the lack of connections and trust among the superheroes. However, if they all became close friends and one of them turned rogue, it would be a serious problem.

"You’ll need to listen to me more carefully from now on. This directly relates to your and Angie’s personal safety awareness. This is my headquarters and experimental zone, not a superhero base. The superpowered individuals coming here are either trying to befriend me or seeking something from me. Not all of them are my collaborators or allies. They trust me to protect their secret identities, but they could very well use any means necessary to probe into the true identities of other superheroes," Matthew warned.

Some superheroes sought friends due to loneliness, others for the need of allies, and some for more utilitarian purposes. After all, a superhero’s real identity was incredibly valuable. More radical individuals might try to start a survival-of-the-fittest competition, aiming to acquire Fragments or meteor shower energy from different systems to enhance their own powers.

Matthew couldn’t let his headquarters become a hunting ground for superpowered individuals. Let’s not forget the definition of a superhero: "super" aside, what mattered more was "hero." It could be argued, with a certain degree of detachment, that for the billionaire, the personal lives of these superpowered individuals held little significance.

"If the superheroes want to make friends with other superpowered individuals, they can only do so on their own, through shared battles, mutual connections, or other special circumstances. In any case, the Grimm Group is not a superhero representative organization. The government thinks I created the superpowered research area out of business interests and curiosity, aiming to build relationships with superheroes to facilitate research into this special group. Anyway, when it comes to secret experiments, I’m unbeatable. If they want to collaborate with me, they’ll come and request data. But they have no authority here," Matthew said. As the world’s wealthiest man and the power behind the U.S. military, he enjoyed many privileges, but in terms of his identity, he was still an ordinary civilian, always careful about boundaries.

The two of them passed through the wide corridors filled with hidden mechanisms and arrived at the experimental zone Matthew had prepared for Nemo.

The first thing that caught Nemo’s attention was the artificial rock wall, which looked almost like a real cliff, about three stories high. At first glance, there seemed to be no obvious climbing routes.

"Climb to the top and then use your superpower to jump down. No cushioning mats—can you do it?" Matthew knew that Nemo liked realistic training conditions.

Matthew had seen him attempt similar moves on the climbing equipment in the fitness area. From watching his landing techniques, Matthew could tell that Nemo had consciously trained himself to use his superpowers for high jumps, probably inspired by Angie or imagining how to escape from police pursuit in parkour-style. A few days ago, when his gunshot wound had healed, Nemo had been playing around like this in Matthew’s fitness area several times. That was when Matthew decided it was time to let Nemo officially test his gear.

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Unlike the fitness area, the rock formations in the experimental area were much more realistic, with tricky footholds that were frequently changed. There were no mats below; instead, the floor was lined with pressure and balance sensors.

First, Nemo had to wear the unfamiliar superhero suit and carry weapons to climb the artificial rock wall—something even many superpowered individuals had failed at.

"I can do it."

"Wait, before you start climbing, try a few combat moves! If you accidentally fall and get injured, we’ll have to stop the test for today. I need to see which parts of the suit need design improvements," Matthew instructed.

Nemo thought it made sense. He recalled his most commonly used combat techniques from games like Nobunaga's Ambition and WoW, and asked Matthew for two daggers. "I’m not planning on practicing fancy moves right now, but I’ll still work on the daggers. I’ll carry two on me in the future."

"No problem. Just test the suit’s ability to move and whether it meets your requirements," Matthew replied, keeping a careful watch.

So, Nemo executed a series of spins and slashes, each one aimed at vital points, as if striking into a target. After putting the swords down, he pulled out a Ryukyu Sai, rolling and performing a sweeping leg strike, followed by a thrust.

"It feels good, should I keep going? It’s a bit hard to perform moves in the air. If we had biomechanical robots, it’d be easier, but I haven’t had any experience with weapon combat yet," Nemo said, putting the sai back into his waist pouch.

"That’s enough. Today, we’re focusing on testing the basic performance of the suit and weapons, primarily to fix any flaws. If we really get to robot sparring, I’ll need to gather your combat data and reset the robot’s appearance parameters," Matthew nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, I’ll start climbing for real now." Nemo pointed at the top of the rock wall.

"Good luck! Now, we’ll test the suit’s durability under strain. Otherwise, if you do the 'Leap of Faith' in public and the pants split at the seam, that’ll be a classic moment for the rest of your life," Matthew said, referencing the soft body armor he had originally designed for wealthy, fearful elites, without considering that it would be worn in combat testing, especially the pants.

Matthew’s advice was far too realistic and terrifying. Nemo fully immersed himself in the rock-climbing challenge, putting the suit to the test by repeatedly using his Ryukyu Sai to gouge footholds into the rock, without sparing the material.

When Nemo chose the Ryukyu Sai as his weapon, he had already warned Matthew that he would jab it into concrete walls. The material had to be durable enough. If it couldn’t even handle this, what would happen when he faced monsters with armored scales? Angie’s scales could stop armor-piercing rounds.

Nemo was slightly slower, cautious but steady, reaching the top of the rock wall and maintaining a half-hanging position. It was enough to make anyone watching break into a cold sweat.

"I'm about to jump," he called out to Matthew.

"Be careful, make sure you're confident before you go," Matthew reminded him.

Nemo aimed for the landing point, took a deep breath, relaxed his body, and grasped the flowing sensation that emerged within him, as if a water droplet fell into a deep pool, where the droplet itself caused no harm.

He let go and adjusted his posture in mid-air, landing steadily with a loud thud of his boots on the floor. Nemo then performed a forward roll to dissipate the momentum and immediately patted his buttocks with a relieved expression.

"It’s too noisy. I still need more practice. The uniform is fine, but I’m still not used to it, especially moving in these boots," Nemo assessed himself with an unsatisfactory rating.

"I think it’s quite good. Not all superhumans who come to me can become ‘heroes.’ Just getting past this rock wall eliminates seventy percent. The remaining twenty percent don’t even make it down, so they’re out too," Matthew shrugged.

"But superpowers… can’t they climb up?" Nemo felt a bit confused.

"Using superpowers to light a cigarette still counts as having a superpower, I can’t deny that!" Matthew replied.

Nemo fell silent for a moment, suddenly remembering how many heroes on the superhero rankings seemed to have inflated records now. "If the superhero rankings only allow those who passed your filtering, then what about the many early heroes who have fuzzy or even no combat records?"

"They may not have fought any battles, but anyone on the superhero list is still a hero. It’s just that many didn’t leave clear records and either died or lost their abilities. For example, a firefighter used his superpower to rescue everyone in a nursing home when his oxygen ran out in a fire. He was severely injured and is still recovering, of course with no footage to back up the story. My investigator found him, and with his consent, I provided him with a new identity and support while waiting for him to recover and return. On the surface, all we have are vague witness statements from the surviving people in panic," Matthew explained.

By the way, some superhumans who later went astray or were found with criminal records were thrown onto the anti-hero list by Matthew, with similarly low survival rates.

"So people think having superpowers automatically makes you rank up, but that’s an illusion? There are actually far more superhumans than we thought?" Nemo was surprised by this truth—superhumans were born and faded in such a real way.

"That's why I say, superhumans who can’t even get up or down this rock wall—letting them into the superhero list is basically murder. As for Salamander, she can carry both of us across the Lone Star City skyline without a second thought. We don’t need to test such basics," Matthew commented with candor.

"What happened to the superhumans who failed the test?"

"I honestly advise them to go hide and be normal citizens, avoiding using their powers as much as possible. If they absolutely must become heroes, they should train their physical abilities, strengthen both their body and powers, then come back. At least I can offer consultations and ability tests. But few ever return. According to intelligence tracking, some of the superhumans I rejected found other sponsors and may be undergoing training, or they might already be dead. A few are in seclusion, occasionally sending me letters to check in. The rest are missing, like I told you."

"Didn’t you ever think about protecting them one by one and training them well?" Nemo asked, puzzled. Matthew clearly had a huge plan in place, a private land and shelter for training superhumans, but so far it seemed like only Nemo and Angie benefited from it. Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but Nemo and Angie had rarely encountered other superheroes in Matthew's territory, and even ordinary people were scarce.

"That’s something the state would handle, no matter which country it is," Matthew smiled ironically. "But how long would it take for these sheltered flowers to grow, and how long could they withstand the storm?"

Nemo remembered Angie had once said she didn’t want to fight like a beast. She thought of herself as just an ordinary girl.

"Angie and I are special cases because of connections," Nemo said, though he didn’t feel despondent. Matthew had indeed granted him and Angie many special privileges.

"Quite the opposite. You both have already demonstrated combat and virtuous deeds far beyond the current superhero rankings, and you have a strong sense of teamwork. That’s why I recruited you. Especially Salamander, she’s a born warrior with even greater potential," Matthew added with conviction. "And I believe the one to unlock that potential will be you, Nemo. What I can promise is to guard this growth process as much as possible from interference by the government or other forces, and protect your personal freedom."

"Then I’ll leave everything to you." Nemo was not one to be polite with the richest man.

Matthew led Nemo to a test point set up for hidden weapons, with a backdrop of a marble Venus statue. Nemo vaguely thought this statue didn’t look quite like the original, but since he wasn’t interested in art, he couldn’t point out why.

To do justice to his nearly twenty-year (in online games) assassination and ninja career, Nemo nostalgically chose shurikens and kunai. But for now, he only planned to practice his aim and lethality, without designing any special mechanisms into the weapons.

Kunai were dart-shaped, with a ring on the handle, and the shurikens were more varied. Nemo eventually chose a four-pointed whirlwind type of shuriken that could expose more edges. Since his gunshot wounds hadn’t healed, he couldn’t engage in intense exercises, so he hung a wooden chopping board as a target and kept throwing Matthew’s prototypes.

"This is real marble, not cheap. Where did you get it?" Nemo walked up to touch it, testing the hardness of the material.

"My father’s villa in France. This statue was sculpted based on his mistress’s face and figure. I’ve always found it an eyesore, so I asked you to deal with it. Make sure to wear goggles and get used to it," Matthew remarked that during his childhood, every time he went on vacation to France, he would see the real-life nude version. Keeping the statue of a child predator was just a waste of space.

"Oh, I get it. You want me to give it my all, right?" Nemo took a stance, slightly bending his back, and hurled the shuriken one by one into the Venus statue’s chest. He threw eight in total, adjusting the force with each throw. The statue’s chest began to develop a vertical crack extending toward its throat.

Nemo glanced back at Matthew, the golden-eyed man showing an expression that suggested he wasn’t quite done, motioning to Nemo’s waist, signaling that there were still unused kunai.

Nemo's senses were becoming a little hazy, as if he was about to break through a fog, his desire for battle consuming his entire heart.

He threw the first kunai, hitting the statue’s forehead, followed by the second, third... The cracks around its neck couldn’t withstand the repeated impacts to its head and spread further. The last kunai, with a whooshing sound, embedded itself in the statue’s brow. At the same time, the neck shattered, and the woman’s head fell to the ground in several pieces.

When the curly-haired youth came to his senses, his hair was soaked with sweat at the tips. He pulled his hood lower and was about to walk over to pick up his weapons, but Matthew stopped him.

"Leave it for me to inspect. It’s rare to see you use an attack close to a property-change move again. Have you figured out the trick?"

Nemo shook his head.

"Maybe it’s just been a while since it happened, and it occasionally flares up," Nemo recalled his first clear awakening of his powers when he almost shot through Matthew’s head with a plastic pen. The pen had even penetrated a stone wall and lodged into a steel plate.

Though this time he used high-hardness alloy shurikens and kunai against the softer marble, it still wasn’t an effect a normal human could produce.

"It only happens when I’m around, huh? Quite subtle! Let’s treat this second time as a coincidence, and see if it happens again next time?" Matthew speculated.

"Do you have an issue with your reasoning? You're the sole person I can talk to and experiment with regarding my superpowers! No one else but you can witness these unpredictable effects in real time. I wouldn’t deliberately destroy objects in normal circumstances!" Nemo didn’t like how Matthew seemed to imply a fixed pattern.

"But you threw eight shurikens and six kunai all at once. That’s quite the leap in performance. Are you okay?" Matthew asked, concerned.

"Of course I’m fine..." Nemo’s words were cut off as he suddenly collapsed forward.

Matthew quickly reached out to catch him, but Nemo simply hung off his arm and fell asleep.

"What’s been affecting your mind this time? Could it really be because of the small matters in my past?" Matthew muttered to himself.