Chapter 102: Two from Rainbow Wing, A Gift from the Commander |
Inside the brightly lit cafe, the fan rotated lazily, blowing against Xia Pingzhou's profile and ruffling the black hair on his forehead.
One or two passersby stopped on the street, seemingly wanting to knock on the glass door, but upon looking up and seeing the "Close" sign hanging there, they could only turn away in disappointment.
"How did the previous Number 12 of the brigade die?"
Ji Minghuan asked while stirring his coffee with a spoon, looking up at the several members around the table.
Andrew, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, took a deep drag and shrugged. "That kid had bad luck. He ran into people from Rainbow Wing during his vacation and was slaughtered... None of us were there at the time, so no one could save him."
Ji Minghuan thought for a moment and said with a regretful tone, "The people of Rainbow Wing are all Calamity-Tier monsters. Running into them truly leaves one with no options."
"That is why I said the previous Number 12 had bad luck," Andrew replied.
Ji Minghuan took a sip of his sugared coffee and casually asked,
"Speaking of which... do you guys know exactly who the members of Rainbow Wing are?"
"Hacker knows. He dug up the identities of two Rainbow Wing members. According to him, Rainbow Wing's Number 12 seems to be India's Machine Soul Bodhisattva—Ajaya. Number 10 is Britain's Gothic Doll, her name is a bit long, Esther something or other, I forgot."
'Machine Soul Bodhisattva, Gothic Doll...'
Ji Minghuan maintained a neutral expression, silently memorizing these two Calamity-Tier codenames in his heart—perhaps one of these two was the murderer who killed the mother of Gu Wenyu's family.
Inside the cafe, a television hung from the ceiling. The host of the Tokyo News Channel was broadcasting a news report:
It talked about the Chinese Esper "Black Cocoon", who repelled the "Winged Man" at the Tokyo Tower the night before last, helping "Sakura Bud" rescue the hostages.
Drawn by the broadcast, Ji Minghuan silently looked up at that pitch-black, mummy-like figure.
Blood Progenitor caught sight of Black Cocoon on the television. She immediately lowered her crimson eyes and set down her wine glass. She said,
"Seeing someone who looks like a bug like that... it really makes me lose my appetite. I do not even have the mood to drink anymore."
She paused for a moment, a teasing arc forming at the corner of her lips. "Our little kitten is still the most pleasing to the eyes." Saying this, she cast a sidelong glance at Xia Pingzhou.
Ji Minghuan could not be bothered to respond, only rolling his eyes at her in his mind.
He always felt that being treated as the team favorite was entirely Blood Progenitor's doing. It was all because this woman thought he looked very much like the dream lover she had been searching for over a century, so she extended her affection to him, subconsciously developing a fondness for him.
Finally, she called him "little kitten" in front of Ayase Origami, causing the current situation to get out of hand.
As if wanting to oppose Blood Progenitor, Ayase Origami did not want to see him following Blood Progenitor.
The yakuza young mistress was quite childish in this regard, which actually suited her age—anyway, it was a childish notion of "I absolutely cannot let the person I hate have what they want". Therefore, she might not have actually seen Xia Pingzhou as a cat; she just did not want to see Blood Progenitor happy.
Speaking of which, Ji Minghuan really could not figure out whether the relationship between those two was good or bad.
However, for a yakuza young mistress lacking common sense like Ayase Origami, there probably was not a clear boundary between "hate" and "like". It was more of a boundary between "kill" and "cannot kill".
"My cat..." Ayase Origami closed her haiku collection. "You are not allowed to look at him."
"Aren't cats raised just for people to look at," Blood Progenitor chuckled.
"How nice... I want to be the cat of two young ladies too," Andrew raised an eyebrow and sighed with emotion.
Lan Duo Duo scratched the blue hair at her temple and cast a sidelong glance at him. "You are clearly just a stud in heat everywhere you go. What do you have to do with a kitten?"
"Plus one."
Ayase Origami did not even look up, using a napkin to form text in mid-air.
Lan Duo Duo rested her chin in her hand, watching the television as "Black Cocoon" sat on the railing of the exhibition platform, drawing.
She raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh right... Hacker told me that a couple of days ago, the commander chatted with him on the mobile phone about this guy called Black Cocoon."
"The commander?"
Blood Progenitor tilted her head, a hint of surprise flashing in the depths of her crimson eyes. "The commander is actually interested in a minor character like this?"
Lan Duo Duo nodded. "Yeah, Hacker said the commander is interested in Black Cocoon and wants to pull him into the brigade, but he cannot find Black Cocoon's contact info right now."
She thought for a moment. "It might be because he took a fancy to this bandage freak's ability. He seems to be able to suppress other people's abilities. If used well, many tricky opponents would be reduced to wild dogs... But thinking about it from another angle, if this bandage freak stands against us and ties you Espers up, wouldn't you all just be sitting ducks waiting to die?"
'Haha, my restraining bands can do more than just suppress abilities; they are equally effective against powers from other systems.'
Ji Minghuan added in his heart.
"You say that as if he would ever get the chance," Blood Progenitor said disapprovingly.
"Minnows," Ayase Origami glanced at Black Cocoon, her voice devoid of emotion as she evaluated him.
Andrew sighed heavily and said, "Are you kidding me, Lan Duo Duo? The most crucial point is that we are already full. Bringing in a weirdo like that would ruin our image!"
He paused. "At the very least, a member should be a handsome uncle like me, or secondly, a pretty boy like the newbie."
Saying this, Andrew patted Xia Pingzhou's shoulder and appraised his handsome face. "Am I right, Number 12?"
Ji Minghuan took a sip of his coffee and remained silently unresponsive.
"It is fine, one more member will not hurt. Besides, who knows... the newbie might just kick the bucket at the auction in a few days." At this point, Lan Duo Duo flashed a sly smile.
"That is not funny." Ji Minghuan raised his eyes from his cup and spoke calmly.
'If Host Body Two dies, and then Host Body One joins the brigade, wouldn't it still be me? Is there a difference?'
"With me here, the little kitten will not die," Ayase Origami declared.
If there were not so many people around, Ji Minghuan would have already started meowing.
Right at that moment, Oda Takikage suddenly emerged from the shadows behind Lan Duo Duo, carrying a large bag of ingredients.
He turned and stepped into the kitchen connected to the cafe. Everyone in the brigade was already accustomed to this unusual sight and showed no special expressions on their faces, continuing their own conversations.
Looking up at the television, the news host played a clip. Black Cocoon, using a cartoon drawing format, promoted the positive image of the Chinese Transgressor "Tun Yin" to the Japanese citizens.
For a time, the name "Tun Yin" topped the trending charts on Japan TikTok and Twitter, remaining there for an entire day and night before the hype finally showed signs of declining.
"Oh right... A year ago, Andrew and I were in Hong Kong and clashed with this little mouse Tun Yin," Lan Duo Duo mentioned in passing.
"Isn't Tun Yin... Dragon-tier?" Ji Minghuan muttered.
Lan Duo Duo tilted her head and said disapprovingly, "That is what the association's official website says, but I feel there is some marketing exaggeration. This guy is at best a relatively strong Commander-tier, right?"
"So who won in the end?" Ji Minghuan asked curiously. "You, or Tun Yin?"
Lan Duo Duo frowned, feeling like she was being looked down upon. She gave a cold scoff and said,
"Do you even need to ask? He was beaten to his knees by my big snowman. Hong Kong is my territory."
"Then why didn't you kill him?" Blood Progenitor took a sip of red wine, raising an eyebrow in curiosity as she asked. "He is still lively and energetic even now."
"Because that Blue Arc rushed over at the time." Andrew took a swig of alcohol. "We could only run. Goodness me, we almost didn't make it... that kid is seriously fast! Fortunately, I had a flash of inspiration at the end and used my gun to shoot down a few aerial work platforms that were under construction. That Blue Arc kid didn't stay to lock horns with us, but went to save people instead. Otherwise, it is hard to say what the outcome would have been."
"Blue Arc..." Ji Minghuan pretended to be absentminded. "I haven't met him yet."
"It is about time to eat. Clear up the table," Oda Takikage's voice drifted over from the kitchen.
Andrew stubbed out his cigarette and grinned. "Alright, alright, I am starving to death. It has been a long time since I tasted Number 4's cooking. The last time was when we were robbing a military transport ship over in Italy."
"But I am almost full from drinking. You guys eat, I am heading off first." Blood Progenitor smiled faintly. She set down her wine glass and rose from the table, pushing open the glass door and leaving. The wind chime tied to the door was still clanging.
"Then, newbie, please go upstairs and call Hacker down." Lan Duo Duo played with her mobile phone, patting Xia Pingzhou's shoulder without looking up.
"Oh."
Ji Minghuan gave a casual response, got up from the table, and made his way up the spiral staircase.
Upon reaching the loft, he saw Hacker sitting on the windowsill playing with his mobile phone. The moonlight fell, illuminating the childish face of the boy in overalls.
"Newbie, the commander told me to give you a gift," Hacker suddenly said.
"What gift?"
"Do you have a mobile phone?" Hacker pursed his lips and looked up at Ji Minghuan.
"Here." Ji Minghuan casually tossed his mobile phone to Hacker. There was nothing important on it anyway. He had prepared to be monitored from the very beginning, so it was impossible for him to leave any clues on his phone now, nor would he in the future.
Especially after knowing there was a child prodigy Hacker in the brigade, this was even more true.
Hacker caught Ji Minghuan's mobile phone, turned it on, and after a short while said, "Done."
He tossed the mobile phone back, and Ji Minghuan caught it.
Unlocking the screen, he saw a new app with a black skull icon on the home screen.
"What is this?" Ji Minghuan asked.
Hacker did not even look up. "I hacked into the Exorcist Association's internal system. After they use a special instrument to detect the presence of a demon, they upload the demon's location to the Exorcist website's private system. This allows every Exorcist with access to the system to see the demon's location. At the same time, it also shows which Exorcists are heading over to execute the extermination mission."
"Oh, so you mean I can rely on this app to know where demons appear in Tokyo?"
"Not just Tokyo. You can use it in any city around the world," Hacker said. "I will periodically help you update the system to prevent you from being caught by the people from the Exorcist Association."
'This thing sounds too useful. Tomorrow I will have Ayase Origami and Oda Takikage take me to grind mobs and level up.'
'I will cling to the yakuza young mistress's thigh and see if I can manage to upgrade Xia Pingzhou's Celestial Drive, International Chess, to the second tier before the auction starts.'
'That way, I can contract a new demon.'
'The key is, this system can also be used to observe the Exorcist Association's movements. I will not have to worry about bumping into Exorcists directly affiliated with the association like Ke Qirui while clearing out demons, like what happened last time.'
Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan silently pocketed his mobile phone. He looked up at Hacker and said,
"Thanks. Help me pass a message to the commander: I really like this gift."