The Meeting

During the morning, the chartered plane touched down at Dia Airport. Leading six Extraordinary stage walkers from Heaven's Punishment, Asano Ryo waited by the taxiway early, watching the plane land, taxi, and finally come to a halt. Airport staff drove a service vehicle towing a boarding staircase to align with the cabin door. Five minutes later, the cabin door opened. Asano Ryo watched as the Saints from Return of the Dead emerged one after another: the mixed-race beauty wearing a white shirt and a skirt suit; Zhao Chenghuang, aloof and arrogant in a black shirt and trousers; Sun Miaomiao, round-faced with a sweet demeanor; the serious and proper Shame of Fire Masters... no, the excellent Fire Master, Tianxia Guihuo. There was also Brother Red Chicken, loud and careless, radiating a fiery temper. Alongside them were official members of the Five Elements Alliance she didn't recognize. A bright smile blossomed across Asano Ryo's lovely face. Like a child who had finally found her organization, found her home, she dashed over and called out loudly, "Ohayo—wait, no! Hello, everyone! Hello!" Guan Ya and Sun Miaomiao smiled slightly at her, while Zhao Chenghuang and Tianxia Guihuo nodded in greeting. "Yo, Ryo-chan, good to see you again!" Brother Red Chicken was far more enthusiastic. He clapped Asano Ryo hard on the shoulder, sending her stumbling. "How've you been doing in New York? Have the foreign devils been bullying you? I hear these foreign devils love picking on you island devils most of all. Just stick with us big brothers from now on, and I guarantee nobody'll dare mess with you!" With him dropping "devils" left and right, Asano Ryo couldn't tell whether he was being friendly or sarcastic, so she could only maintain a stiff smile. "I—I'll take everyone to report in at the Heaven's Punishment branch." Seeing that everyone had disembarked, Asano Ryo hurried to guide them toward the shuttle bus. "Captain!" A blonde, blue-eyed female assistant leaned in and whispered, "We're missing someone." The Five Elements Alliance's aid roster listed eighteen people: six Saints, with two assistants assigned to each Saint. However, only seventeen had disembarked from the chartered plane. One person was missing. "No one is missing," Guan Ya paused, wearing a meaningful smile. "One member arrived in New York ahead of schedule. Ryo-chan, you've met him." The nickname "Ryo-chan" had been adopted from Zhang Yuanqing. He called her "Ryo-chan" constantly, so the others had picked it up. *Arrived in New York ahead of schedule?* Asano Ryo froze for a second, then realization dawned on her. *It's him. It must be him.* The group boarded the shuttle bus, made their way to the arrivals level, and entered the parking garage. There, they boarded the MPVs arranged by Heaven's Punishment and set off for the New York Bank headquarters building. Asano Ryo drove the lead MPV, with Guan Ya in the front passenger seat. Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang sat in the second row, while Brother Red Chicken and Tianxia Guihuo took the third row. "There are no bugs in the vehicle, but do you have any sound-isolating props?" Asano Ryo asked. Sun Miaomiao took out a music box and wound the spring, prompting it to play an elegant melody. "The music will mask all of our conversations," Sun Miaomiao said. Asano Ryo eagerly asked, "Is the last person the Guild Leader? Is it him?" "It is!" Guan Ya gave her a sideways glance with her round, alluring eyes, smiling faintly. "Why are you so excited?" Asano Ryo's face tightened guiltily. Guan Ya chuckled. "And here I thought you'd grown up, yet you still get guilty so easily." "I—I'll work hard!" Asano Ryo reflexively ducked her head to apologize. Guan Ya glanced at her and said with a slight smile, "No need to be so nervous around me. The women pining after the Guild Leader are too numerous to count. One more or less makes no difference—right, Sun Miaomiao?" Sun Miaomiao played dumb, looking completely engrossed in the New York scenery outside. *Good thing I don't have a keyboard in my hands right now, or I'd show this mixed-race woman the true firepower of a peerless Keyboard Immortal.* In the back row, Brother Red Chicken looked at Sun Miaomiao and spoke up indignantly on her behalf: "Miaomiao, Guan Ya is mocking you! Didn't you hear that?" *Brilliant observation, Sherlock! What was Fu Qingyang thinking putting you on this team, to drag us all down?* everyone in the vehicle inwardly cursed. Sensing the awkward tension, Asano Ryo thought to herself that it was a relief that Level 6 Scholar hadn't come, or the atmosphere would be even more mortifying. She quickly changed the subject and asked loudly, "Did you all come to New York for a specific mission?" Guan Ya shook her head. "Fu Qingyang didn't give us any specific assignments. He only told us to cooperate unconditionally with the Guild Leader. Why don't you fill us in on New York's situation first?" Asano Ryo nodded. "Heaven's Punishment in New York is dominated by two financial conglomerates and one family: the Gustav and Mede conglomerates, and the Berent family. Chief Prosecutor Winni Berent's family belongs to the faction of the Chief Prosecutor at headquarters. "Her rival is Chief Executive Sean Mede; you can tell which conglomerate he belongs to just from his last name. Winni and Sean each represent their respective factions and are locked in constant power struggles—the kind where each wishes the other dead. "Channing Lu, head of the Administration Department, is from the Board of Directors. His job is to mediate and keep both sides in check." She chattered on about the internal factions of Heaven's Punishment: the main factions were the two conglomerates and the one family, within which were numerous smaller cliques and factions. Listening to it gave the members of Return of the Dead a headache; Heaven's Punishment's factions felt even messier than those of the Five Elements Alliance. As a woman of mixed heritage, Guan Ya summarized: "Heaven's Punishment's factional layout is actually quite straightforward—a tripartite separation of powers: the Executive branch, the Prosecutor branch, and the Board of Directors. Each of the three branches has a demigod. Among them, the Board of Directors holds the greatest power and is composed of eight major conglomerates. "Furthermore, the Executive and Prosecutor branches detest each other and constantly clash, while the Board of Directors acts as mediator. As for the other smaller factions, they can essentially be ignored." The others mulled over the information and nodded slowly. Asano Ryo continued: "Things haven't been peaceful in New York lately. I heard the Dionysus Club and the Merchant Guild are locked in a fierce war that has begun spilling into both politics and business. Quite a few Saints have died, though Dominators haven't stepped onto the field yet. So your arrival couldn't have been timed better. Heaven's Punishment is in short supply of formidable Saints, especially Saints from the Second District like you." "The war between the Dionysus Club and the Merchant Guild still hasn't ended?" Tianxia Guihuo commented. "That has nothing to do with us. We're only here to assist the Guild Leader," Sun Miaomiao stated, making her stance crystal clear. Brother Red Chicken finally found an opening and asked, "Ryo-chan, has anyone in Heaven's Punishment bullied you? We'll settle the score for you!" Hearing that, Asano Ryo nodded vigorously. "Yes!" "Who?" Brother Red Chicken shouted from the back row. Asano Ryo puffed out her cheeks. "Brady Mede!" *** At the Hunter Guild. Catherine opened an email and read the investigation report. "Xiaoyao Sword Immortal, Level 5 Swordsman, from the First District. Identity unknown. Resides at 360 Pizza Street; landlords Yang Xiujuan and Cao Qing. Following Jia Zhangfei's death, accepted Deng Jingguo's commission to investigate Sect Master Tongtian and recover the Pope's relic." The briefing was very brief. Catherine skimmed past it with a single glance; this person held little value. A Level 5 Swordsman was decent enough, but in the eyes of a Dominator, he was insignificant. In the matter of the Pope's relic, this Xiaoyao Sword Immortal was merely a marginal figure caught up in events by chance. He could be skipped entirely. She focused her attention on Zhai Cai's dossier. On the surface, this man was the owner of a shipping and trading company, while also running businesses in entertainment, tobacco, and alcohol, boasting substantial wealth. He was frequently entangled in scandals with female celebrities, and rumored to bed all the attractive starlets under his company. He was a petty tycoon as well as a playboy. As for his personal reputation, beyond his wild, uninhibited ways, he had an appalling temper and bad blood with numerous wealthy elites. Mentioning him made people gnash their teeth, wishing they could pull out a pistol and gun him down, yet they could do nothing against him. Regarding whether he was a Spirit Realm walker, the file contained no record whatsoever. Before Sect Master Tongtian revealed that he was the inheritor of the Holy See's Knights, there had been no information or records indicating he was even a Spirit Realm walker. Yet according to the intelligence obtained by Sect Master Tongtian, Zhai Cai was indeed a Knight carrying the Holy See's lineage, possessing a fragment of the Holy Plate. Currently, this sole-lineage Knight had vanished without a trace; even the Hunter Guild couldn't pinpoint his whereabouts. After reviewing Zhai Cai's personal information, Catherine clicked open the surveillance video. She saw footage of Zhai Cai entering Deng Jingguo's villa and later leaving alongside Xiaoyao Sword Immortal. Having reviewed all the intelligence, Catherine's gaze turned solemn. She pondered for several seconds. "There is no doubt this Zhai Cai is a Knight carrying the Holy See's lineage. The information provided by Sect Master Tongtian is accurate. It's time to arrange an assessment mission for him." *** New York Bank headquarters building. On the 64th floor, Heaven's Punishment's Reception Department. Wearing a baseball cap and a surgical mask, Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the doors to Conference Room 6401. As the doors swung open, he saw the guild's Saints seated around a long conference table. Brother Red Chicken was devouring steak and gulping red wine with uninhibited gusto. The others were eating too, though far more elegantly. The Saints around the long table turned their heads in unison to look at the Guild Leader they hadn't seen in days. Zhang Yuanqing shut the doors and smiled. "Everyone, good to see you again!" Every single one of them rose to their feet in unison. Eyes met, glances intertwined, words rendered completely unnecessary. After a moment of silence, Guan Ya spoke first, saying with a beam: "The conference room has been soundproofed with props, and we've swept it—no listening devices. Guild Leader, Elder Fu sent us to assist you. What are your orders? Through mountains of daggers or seas of flames, just say the word and your subordinates will gladly lay down their lives." Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to reply, Brother Red Chicken suddenly burst out laughing: "Guild Leader, you've been in New York for so many days—did you ever hook up with anyone from the Association of the God of Beauty's Desire class? I hear women of the Desire class are incredible in bed. Also, why does your face look different?" The air in the conference room froze instantly. Zhang Yuanqing smiled faintly. "Brother Red Chicken, if I recall, you aren't a member of the Five Elements Alliance, are you? What are you doing here?" *Hurry up and scram, you liability.* Seeing the suspicious glances Guan Ya and Sun Miaomiao threw his way, Zhang Yuanqing quickly coughed twice and said: "An upright person like me would never associate with the Desire class! Don't project onto others, Brother Red Chicken. Besides, I signed a contract." Tianxia Guihuo took the initiative to smooth things over for the Guild Leader, saying: "Let's get down to business. Elder Fu assigned us to assist you, but didn't outline a mission; he probably wanted you to tell us yourself. We should hurry. We had to knock Yuan Ting unconscious before coming here. Once he wakes up, he'll definitely barge in to eavesdrop." Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes toward Zhang Yuanqing in unison. Zhang Yuanqing pulled out a chair, sat down, and glanced at the dismantled surveillance camera and the floor-to-ceiling windows covered by curtains. He asked in a low voice, "Let me confirm once more: can this soundproofing prop block eavesdropping by Dominators?" Guan Ya nodded. "It's a prop provided by Fu Qingyang. There's no problem." Zhang Yuanqing said without hesitation: "Allow me to explain why I called you all here. The clash between the Merchant Guild and the Dionysus Club involves the final battle between the two great factions." *The final battle between the two factions? What does that mean?* The expressions of the Return of the Dead Saints shifted slightly. "You all likely know by now that I am the Demon Lord's successor. In fact, the Demon Lord left something inside the character card—a Fragment of the Taiyin Origin. After my death, that Origin fragment returned to the Spirit Realm, and Ling Tuo may have already completed the fractured Taiyin Origin." Zhang Yuanqing's voice grew grave. "Remember the prophecy of the Compass of Light? 'When Sun, Moon, and Stars return to their places, the great catastrophe shall descend.' Now, both Stars and Taiyin have returned; only the Sun remains. Therefore, the war between the Orderly and Evil factions has already begun." These words, delivered without the slightest hesitation, detonated like a bomb in their ears and hearts.