Chapter Fourteen: Nirvana! The Phoenix Maiden! (Part One)

"It's truly a miracle that you all made it back!" Vladimir looked at the battered group before him, his legs propped up on the high office desk, swirling a glass of '82 red wine in his hand. "Well then, tell me—what have you been up to these past few days?"

"We went to rescue this young lady," the five replied in unison, pointing to Ye Ling at the back. Vladimir set his wine down, eyeing the group with a meaningful expression. "Rescuing someone—did that require obliterating an entire Special Forces Alliance outpost?" He lowered his legs from the desk. "Now look what’s happened. In retaliation, the Special Forces Alliance has blown up one of our bases. Headquarters is already demanding answers. So, how will you respond?"

"Shh—" The five collectively gazed upwards. Vladimir sighed helplessly. "To be honest, while we've got overwhelming strength on our side, we've been trying to avoid open conflict. You know as well as I do—those maniacs on the other side, who knows what horrors they’ll unleash. Well, never mind. I’ll handle things over there; just make sure you manage your own affairs properly." Vladimir stood and knocked on the glass window behind him. What had been a panoramic city view vanished in an instant. "Follow me; it's time to report to the higher-ups." He stepped through the window. The five followed without a word, and Ye Ling, used to such strangeness, entered the bizarre space with them.

"You five have caused quite a stir this time. It’s bound to have caught the Special Forces Alliance’s attention, but don't be afraid. Any terrifying figure they send will be intercepted by our people in the city," Vladimir said as he led the group down a long corridor. After opening a mechanical door, they entered a hall-like area.

"The Hunters’ Club," Vladimir announced to Ye Ling, who was looking around curiously. "Our organization has established seventeen hunting squads in total—this is a branch for those squads." The place looked astonishingly like an American Wall Street stock exchange, bustling with people. The only notable difference was that the surrounding walls were lined with bar counters.

"Gene mutant from the Special Forces Alliance discovered in Sector 983. Requesting support."

"T-23 Special Forces Alliance fighter jet detected in Sector 348. Requesting ground assault support."

"G4H5 virus discovered in Sector 72. Over a dozen unrelated individuals infected. Requesting coordination and quarantine."

...

Reports echoed throughout the hall. Ye Ling glanced at the large, rotating display screens at the center, their surfaces awash with a dizzying array of information.

"Wait," Ye Ling nudged Vladimir. "You said there are only seventeen hunting squads, but there are thousands of people just here. How does that work?"

Vladimir glanced at the five. "You all go report in over there and get treatment in the medical bay." The five nodded and left.

"That's an excellent question, and one I’d planned to explain to you in time. Since you’ve asked, I’ll answer now. You're right—there are only seventeen hunting squads, but there are tens of thousands of bounty hunters. Of course, not everyone qualifies to join a hunting squad. The squads are elite government units, their members the best of the best."

"Elite?" Ye Ling was momentarily stunned, thinking of the five "losers" from before. "Even those five?"

"Except for them—their cases are unique," Vladimir explained. "The squads are scattered worldwide, reporting directly to the highest authorities. Naturally, the missions they undertake are the most difficult." He pointed to a large screen. "These are recent mission postings. Green means unclaimed, gold means claimed but still open to others, red means the mission is in progress and locked out to new applicants. Once a mission is completed, it disappears from the screen. If it turns green again, it means previous bounty hunters failed."

Ye Ling nodded and looked at the top mission. "Mission Code: Nine Lives. Hm? One hundred million city merit points as the bounty. City merit points—what are those?"

"You can think of them as our currency. We've abandoned physical money. Backed by high-level government credit, we issue virtual currency. Everyone in our organization has their DNA registered, and from the DNA sequence, a personalized credit card is created." Vladimir showed a small card. "Since it's DNA-verified, only the owner can use it. All points are stored here and function as currency."

"So how is the value of city merit points determined?" Ye Ling asked, eyeing the top mission—one hundred million points seemed a fortune.

"Points can be exchanged for external currencies, with rates loosely tied to global exchange rates. We use the dollar as a benchmark. Currently, 3.17 merit points equal one dollar. Of course, you can exchange for other currencies, but the process is more complicated. Honestly, external currency isn’t worth much here; few ever bother converting points into outside money."

Ye Ling nodded in understanding. So, the top mission’s one hundred million points equated to two hundred million yuan—a fitting sum for its rank. As she pondered, that first mission turned gold, instantly causing a stir.

"Someone’s claimed the mission—this is the sixth already, isn’t it? The previous ones all failed. Who’s so bold now?"

"If a mission drags on too long, the hunting squads will step in themselves," Vladimir said, leading Ye Ling to the bar. "A drink—no, never mind, I have pressing matters. Just a lemonade." The bartender, unbothered by Vladimir’s casual manner, served two glasses of iced lemonade. "All services here are on the house—you can help yourself," Vladimir offered.

Ye Ling found a seat. "It seems your benefits here are quite good, but the people seem odd—a lot of them look only seventeen or eighteen, practically kids!"

"Those are students. Here, you gain adult rights at sixteen. Many work part-time here while studying, but they rarely take on dangerous missions—usually helping with transport, locating missing people, or making deliveries. It’s a kind of work-study program."

"So, your system is quite humane," Ye Ling remarked, resting her chin in her hands and scanning the crowd. Suddenly, she asked, "Something puzzles me—does everyone here speak Chinese? But I see many foreigners."

"Good question. I didn’t expect you to notice so soon," Vladimir said with a smile of approval. "But first, tell me—what language do you think I'm speaking?"

Ye Ling gave him a look as though he were mad. "Are you joking? You’re speaking Chinese, or we wouldn’t be able to communicate!"

"Sorry, but I’m actually speaking Latin," Vladimir replied with a shrug. "Have you noticed my lip movements? They don’t match Chinese at all." Ye Ling focused on his mouth and was startled. "You’re right—your lips and pronunciation don’t match!"

"Exactly. Our city draws people from all over the world. Language barriers have always been a major issue. But with our technology, we developed the Global Unlimited Translation System. As long as you're on Earth and have legal city status, everything you say is translated automatically into the required language," Vladimir explained, sipping his lemonade. "Since I live in your country, my words are rendered in Chinese for you. I do speak forty-eight languages, but Chinese is fiendishly difficult—I never learned it well."

"Uh…" Ye Ling wasn’t sure whether to admire or mock him.

"I’ll have an '82 Sprite, no ice," came a voice from behind. Ye Ling recognized Xie Liu. The bartender, clearly familiar with him, smiled. "Coming right up!"

"Recovered so quickly? It seems a physical mutant’s recuperative power truly is remarkable," Vladimir noted, studying Xie Liu’s eyes. "Let me see your eyes." Xie Liu shot him a glare. Vladimir stared for a long moment, then frowned. "You’d best limit your powers. We can’t control your condition."

"It’s fine. Besides, I’m not the only one like this—others are managing just fine," Xie Liu said, sipping his Sprite with a smirk. Ye Ling, annoyed at being left out, protested, "Hey, have you all forgotten about me?"

"Well, if it isn’t 'Deadeye'!" a voice called out from afar. Xie Liu rubbed his face in exasperation and leaned against the bar. "At your service. What do you want?" Ye Ling turned and saw four or five eccentrically dressed youths swaggering over. Their leader sported a mop of multicolored hair, sunglasses with a single lens, and a knife scar across his other eye. He wore a black-and-white striped T-shirt and jeans with one leg cut off.

"Who are they?" Ye Ling whispered. Vladimir glanced at Xie Liu. "They’re from the 'Godslayer Squad,' ranked number one among the seventeen hunting squads."

"First? So, they're really powerful? Hey, what about Xie Liu's squad—what rank are they?" Ye Ling asked eagerly. Vladimir’s expression stiffened. "Ask him yourself later."

"Say, didn’t you steal our last mission target?" the odd youth said, crowding Xie Liu and speaking menacingly.

"We didn’t steal it—you failed to capture the target, so we took over," Xie Liu replied coolly.

"Nonsense! We were just having some fun with the target. Who asked you to butt in?" The youth was now face-to-face with Xie Liu. "You must have taken a decent reward—aren’t you going to hand over some of it?"

"Alexander, you looking for trouble?" Alexander was the code name of the strange youth. Xie Liu didn’t want to provoke him—his power was formidable.

Future Prediction was Alexander’s ability: he could foresee several seconds into the future, though the outcome wasn't unchangeable. Xie Liu glanced at him, a red light flickering in his eyes.

"Looking for trouble—from you? Your squad is number one—oh, right, number one from the bottom," Alexander sneered, then eyed Ye Ling. "Hey, who’s this chick? Looks good. Yours? Come, let me have a look." His hand reached for Ye Ling.

A flash of silver-white light—Alexander withdrew his hand, dodging Xie Liu’s knife. "Trying to get yourself killed?" his eyes glinted coldly.

"Didn’t you predict that?" Xie Liu shot back, a lollipop in his mouth. Alexander paused, then smirked. The two locked eyes for a second—a tense, silent second—

"Bang bang bang bang…" They launched at each other, movements so swift it was impossible to tell who struck first. They became blurred shadows—Xie Liu missed with two punches, flipped midair, and aimed kicks at Alexander’s face and stomach, only to be blocked. Xie Liu spun, grabbed a fork from the table, and lunged. Alexander parried with a piece of cutlery, the two fencing in rapid succession.

"Hey, stop it!" Ye Ling shrieked. At that moment, a breeze swept through. Both combatants sensed it and sprang apart, turning to its source.

A short boy stood there in a white shirt, his left eye hidden by long bangs, wearing ill-fitting trousers and a short sword at his waist, much like the katana at Xie Liu’s side.

"Big brother," Alexander called, startled. The boy snorted, stepped forward, and Xie Liu eyed him coldly. "Oda Nobunaga?" Clearly, his codename.

"Heh, Deadeye, we meet again," the boy smiled faintly, then addressed Alexander: "Enough. Stop making a fool of yourself here."

"But big brother, he—" Alexander hesitated, cowed by the youth before him. "Didn’t you hear me?" Oda Nobunaga’s expression chilled. Alexander’s face changed and he fell silent, retreating.

"Deadeye, I hope we’ll compete next time," Oda Nobunaga nodded, then turned and left.

"He acts so high and mighty—who is he?" Ye Ling muttered, dissatisfied. She noticed Xie Liu was tense as if facing a mortal enemy. Only after she spoke did he relax. "That one is terrifying. You’d best not provoke him."

"Why not?" Ye Ling protested. Vladimir interjected, "Xie Liu’s right. That young man is not to be trifled with. Do you know who he is? He’s one of only fifteen Level-10 Absolute Ability users in the entire city—known as the 'God of Wind,' Oda Nobunaga. It’s just a codename—his real name is unknown. Rumor has it he’s as ruthless as the historical Oda Nobunaga. Best not to cross him."

"Is he really that powerful?" Ye Ling glanced at Xie Liu, who sat down again and whispered, "You don’t understand what a Level-10 ability user means. That kind of power is unparalleled. If you angered him, he could conjure a Category 12 typhoon here."

"Level 10 means absolute—absolute power, absolute destruction," Xie Liu said, staring at his hands. Ye Ling was silent for a moment, then asked, "By the way, Gong Hou’s ability is Aerokinesis, Lin Yang’s is Teleportation, Li Shizhu’s is Telekinesis, Xu Xiong’s is Electrokinesis. What about you—what’s your ability?" Her curiosity was boundless.

Xie Liu sighed. "I’m an ability-less."

"Ability-less? What kind of ability is that?" Ye Ling asked, puzzled.

"It means he has no ability," Vladimir replied quickly. "Alright, let’s not get bogged down with this. They’re coming."

Ye Ling, sensing Xie Liu’s reluctance, didn’t press the matter. The other four approached from a distance. Vladimir said, "Now that you’re all here, let’s settle everything at once." The group nodded. Vladimir stood. "Let’s go."

"Where to?" Ye Ling feigned confusion. Gong Hou rapped her on the head. "To tell you all the secrets."

...

Ye Ling felt she’d seen more in one day than in the previous twenty-odd years of her life.

After leaving the hall, they boarded a massive ship, as luxurious as a Star Wars battleship. The warship soared into the sky, activated its cloaking system, and became invisible to those below.

Ye Ling pressed her face against the window, exclaiming in awe. Soon, they broke through the atmosphere. "Look, look! Are we in space?"

"This is just low Earth orbit—it makes travel easier. We’ll arrive in a few minutes, so fasten your seatbelt," Xie Liu said, securing Ye Ling, who was bursting with excitement. Indeed, within minutes, the ship began its descent.

"Is that the Bermuda Triangle?" Ye Ling asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Sit tight—we're going under!" Xie Liu warned.

"What?" Ye Ling was startled. Suddenly, she felt her heart lurch as the entire ship plunged in free fall.

"Aaahhh!" Ye Ling screamed in terror, attracting glances from the others. Like a falling meteor, the ship plunged into the waters of the Bermuda Triangle.