After the three of them finished the family set, Gao Shou left to pick Lin Yue up from work, while Gao Yang and Little Qing Ling headed back to the Li City University together. Just when they were going to enter the subway station, War Tiger called.
Gao Yang tapped on his phone. “Hello?”
“Elder Seven Shadow, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” War Tiger sounded like he was in a good mood.
“Bad news.”
“Heavenly Dog left Team Heavenbreaker for the moment to go on a mission I assigned him. Do you grant permission?”
You’ve done it already, Gao Yang grumbled, and you ask me for permission now, just to look proper?
“Permission granted.” Gao Yang didn’t ask what mission Heavenly Dog was sent on. If he could know, War Tiger would’ve told him.
“And the good news?” asked Gao Yang.
“We’ve got clues about life monsters,” War Tiger sounded pleased with himself. “I heard from an old friend.”
“Where is it?”“The Spice Nation.”
Gao Yang thought for two seconds. “Have all members of the Action Unit gather on your end.”
“You want me to notify the members?”
“It’s easy to send the message to the encoded group chat.”
“But I’m the deputy captain of the Zodiacs and your former supervisor and teacher. How can you order me to do something like this?” War Tiger sounded a little vexed. “I have a reputation to maintain.”
“Uncle Tiger, I’m the leader of Team Heavenbreaker. I can’t be the one doing it, can I?” Gao Yang was a little exasperated. He had a reputation to maintain, too.
“I don’t care! Have someone else do it!” War Tiger hung up.
Gao Yang awkwardly glanced at Little Qing Ling.
Having heard their conversation, Little Qing Ling took out her phone and typed away with a disapproving look on her face. “Men are all children.”
…
In half an hour, all members of the Action Unit of Team Heavenbreaker—sans Heavenly Dog—gathered in the Mouse Room on the underground sixth floor of the Millenium Tower. When Gao Yang and Qing Ling opened the door and entered, War Tiger, Gray Bear, Nine Frost, and Lithe Snake were already there.
Gao Yang paused, noticing the framed picture on the wall of the meeting room; it was the photo they had taken together back in Naldives.
Electric Mouse was crouching at the very front with his arms extended, looking not so much overbearing like he wished to, but punchable in a somewhat endearing way. Behind him were his companions in swimsuits. standing from left to right were Joker (disguised as a local), Green Tea, Scarlet Fox, Can, Ronnie, Vermilion Bird, White Rabbit, Qing Ling, and Chen Ying.
The sky was blue and the clouds were white. With the beach and the ocean as backdrop, the good looking men and women had played beach volleyball in swimsuits. It all felt like a dream.
Many of those in the picture were now gone. Electric Mouse, despite having declared that he would photoshop all the men out of the photo, hadn’t actually done so.
Gao Yang activated Psychic Armor to compartmentalize his emotions, quickly calming himself down.
“Now that Elder Seven Shadow is here, too, let’s start the meeting.” War Tiger took the main seat with his legs crossed and propped on the conference table, as if he was the one in charge here.
Gao Yang let that slide, finding a seat with Qing Ling.
“Report,” Gao Yang said concisely while reinstating his authority.
War Tiger smothered a pleased smile. You’ve grown, Yang Yang.
He held a cigarette and twirled a square gas lighter in his other hand. It didn’t seem like he was going to light it just yet.
“I have an unaffiliated friend, Dr. Jia, with Talent: Genius. He lives in the Spice Nation.”
“Dr. Faker[1]?” Gray Bear snorted. “Nice name.”
“If you don’t have anything to contribute, just shut up,” Lithe Snake retorted with his arms crossed, scowling. “The pun isn’t funny.”
“Seconded,” Nine Frost added.
“Keep going.”
Gao Yang shifted the conversation back to the matter at hand and thought back to the information provided by the Talent list: Genius, serial number 56, Knowledge-type. It granted supernatural intelligence.
War Tiger said, “You should know him quite well. The mathematical model predicting a civil war among awakeners and the Prophecy of Seven are his doing.”
“So that’s him.” Gray Bear realized.
“The encoding on our phones and other cutting edge techs are all thanks to him, too, so is the development of most Black Gold equipment,” War Tiger added.
“He didn’t come to the White Lake Hotel during the Crimson Tide for shelter.” Lithe Snake was good at remembering those he had met, and he didn’t remember a Dr. Jia.
“I notified him, and he agreed to come.” War Tiger scratched his cheek with the hand holding a cigarette. “Then he failed to show up.”
“Did something happen?” Gray Bear was curious.
“No, he said he simply forgot.” War Tiger scoffed. “He always gets so invested in his damn research that he forgets to eat or drink for days until he passes out. Then he’ll get taken to the hospital by his butler.”
That was a loaded response. The man was far from mundane.
“Get to the point,” Gao Yang got back to the track.
“That’s it.” War Tiger shrugged and lit his cigarette.
“That’s it?” Gray Bear was confused. “What about life monsters? What’s the clue?”
War Tiger took a drag of his cigarette and blew a perfect smoke ring. He explained at a deliberate pace, “This noon, I called him and asked him for another batch of SOS buttons since we’ve run out. Then I mentioned life monsters, asking him if he had any clues. He said he did, but he would only tell us if we visited.”
“He could be lying,” said Lithe Snake.
“That is a possibility,” War Tiger admitted. “But we have nothing to lose, right? We’ll consider that a little trip abroad.”
Gao Yang didn’t know much about the Spice Nation other than the rumor that the air smelled like spice there, and that the largest river wasn’t the cleanest and really shouldn’t be drunk from directly unless one fancied a trip to the ICU.
He glanced at Nine Frost, who was sitting across from him. “Check the plane tickets to the Spice Nation.”
Nine Frost took out his phone and quickly looked up the information. “The earliest flight is tomorrow morning at eleven.”
Gao Yang turned to Gray Bear. “Have the back office send us some Medicine M. We’ll have a cramming session for the speaking language of Spice Nation tonight, and we set out tomorrow.”
“Roger that.” Gray Bear made the call.
Gao Yang glanced at Qing Ling. “Go to Nainai and have her prepare a few more necklaces, Green Snake.”
“Understood.” Qing Ling nodded.
Gao Yang raised his voice. “Tomorrow at seven, we meet in the Walled City of Ten Dragons and head to the airport together.”
He turned to War Tiger, “Deputy Leader, anything you'd like to add?”
“No,” said War Tiger.
“Okay, then the meeting’s dismissed.”
1. The surname Jia is pronounced the same as the word for “fake”. ☜
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