Chapter Seven: Shattered! The Titan of Strength! (Part One)

"Absolutely not, absolutely not! The mere sight of you five losers makes me nauseous. I’d rather die than join you. Save yourselves the trouble!" Ye Ling stared at the five people before her, her face resolute as if she would rather die than yield.

Xie Liu, Lin Yang, the super-fat Gong Hou who still sported a spiky hairstyle, the dull mushroom-headed Li Shizhu, and finally Xu Xiong, who seemed to be missing a screw. Ye Ling could hardly imagine what would happen to her if she had to stay with these people; she doubted she’d be able to eat a single meal every day.

"Oh, is that so?" Xie Liu stroked his chin, back to his usual physique, but Ye Ling found his very presence irritating. "This is troublesome. The organization has rules: our affairs must not be discovered by ordinary people. If you refuse to join, that's a problem. Damn it, don't wave that lollipop in front of me. I hate them!" Fury flashed in Xie Liu’s eyes as Xu Xiong, looking indifferent, offered him a lollipop.

"Confirmation: after your transformation, your physical functions mutate. You need lollipops to maintain balance," Xu Xiong said calmly, unwrapping the lollipop and licking it himself.

"These five..." Ye Ling felt a headache coming on. She cradled her head, then quickly looked up, tossing her long hair with pride. "I, the young lady, will not join you. As for solving this problem, you figure it out yourselves. I won’t accompany you." She raised her chin and turned to leave. The five did not stop her, merely watching as if they were enjoying a show.

Ye Ling took two steps, then sighed in resignation, turned back, and nodded, "Can someone tell me how to get down from here?"

"Shh—" All five whistled at once, each looking up at different spots in the sky. Ye Ling bit her lip, her eyelids twitching, her little tiger tooth showing. "You win!"

At this moment, the six were on top of a TV tower in S City. Don’t ask how they got up there—Ye Ling herself wasn’t sure. The real problem was she had no way down.

"Fine, tell me your terms," Ye Ling said grumpily, inwardly cursing all five.

"I’ll explain," Xie Liu pushed up his glasses, speaking gravely. "According to the organization’s statutes, there are three ways to deal with such incidents. The first is… silencing."

"Silencing," said Xu Xiong, half a second later, expressionless.

"Silencing," Li Shizhu followed a second later, nodding solemnly.

"All three are silencing?" Ye Ling’s expression darkened, collapsing to her knees, looking thoroughly defeated.

"Could you stop interfering? Don’t repeat the same option, and why are you all saying it a beat late? Are your reaction times off the charts or something?" Xie Liu roared. The slow-witted ones dug their ears, completely ignoring him.

"Ye Ling, don’t misunderstand. There are three options. The first is silencing, which I doubt you’d choose," Xie Liu hurried on. "The second is to use the organization’s equipment to erase this segment of your memory."

"Erase my memory?" Ye Ling raised her head but quickly shook it. "I don’t want to become an idiot, not when you’re all doing these… these… humph, these ridiculous things."

"Uh… ridiculous?" Xie Liu felt overwhelmed. "If dying counts as ridiculous, then yes, we’re ridiculous every day."

"If you won’t pick that, then the third option is to join us. Let’s just happily settle on that." Xie Liu snapped his fingers.

"Wait!" Ye Ling spread her arms wide. "You want to trick me? No way!" She glared at Xie Liu. "I’d rather die than join you. If I must choose…"

"Whoosh—" Ye Ling took a deep breath. "I choose the second: erase this period of memory."

"Alright, that works," Xie Liu interlaced his fingers. "However, our organization’s technology, though far ahead of modern society, is still immature when it comes to memory erasure. There are some issues… But since you’ve decided, I won’t stop you."

"Hmm?" Ye Ling sensed a plot brewing. Sure enough, she overheard Lin Yang and Gong Hou whispering behind Xie Liu.

"I hear if it goes wrong, you turn into an idiot. Is that true?" Lin Yang whispered, but Ye Ling caught every word.

"That's not all. They say you might lose all your hair," Gong Hou covered his mouth, leaning in closer. The more Ye Ling listened, the colder her sweat became. Xie Liu became furious, shouting, "What do you know! That’s a rumor! A rumor, you hear?"

Ye Ling secretly breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear Xie Liu solemnly address the two behind him, "At worst, your skin gets burned clean off and you’re disfigured."

Ye Ling immediately raised her hand. "Enough, I’ll join you…"

…

"Hello, I am Vladimir, liaison for the Misfortune Unit." The handsome young man waved in greeting. Ye Ling stared wide-eyed at him.

"Aren’t you Lin Hao from our class? What are you doing here, mixing with the five losers?" Ye Ling pointed at Vladimir’s nose. "And what’s with Vladimir… Trash?"

"It’s Vladimir," he replied, not looking pleased. Ye Ling nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. "Why such a strange name? And aren’t you our classmate?"

"Aren’t these five your classmates, too? Is that a problem?" Vladimir pointed at the five at the next table. Gong Hou snapped, "Enough with the nonsense, the prices here are steep. Whose idea was it to come to Pizza Hut?"

"You have the nerve to complain? I picked this place considering your finances. If we went to some revolving restaurant, you’d be selling blood and kidneys," Vladimir sipped his juice, looking down on them. "You all make a hundred thousand a week; surely you can afford Pizza Hut?"

"You know nothing!" Xie Liu cried, tears streaming. "Equipment maintenance costs money! I’m barely scraping by!"

"Alright, maintenance is reasonable for you and Lin Yang, but Gong Hou’s gear repairs itself, doesn’t it? No money needed?"

"You know nothing!" Gong Hou’s eyes welled up. "The alloy armor self-heals, but it burns energy blocks! Each block costs ten thousand, and it’s gone in minutes. Do you think I can afford that?"

"True enough. What about Xu Xiong? He just needs a computer."

Xu Xiong replied calmly, "Due to high computational demands and neural interface, I burn through a computer every two or three days. Each one costs thirty thousand."

"Alright, what about Li Shizhu? He doesn’t seem to have any equipment…"

"He spends it all on comic books, buying in bulk from bookstores," Gong Hou sighed. "He claims he’s training his mental fortitude by reading manga."

"I think I understand now. So, would you like to earn some extra cash?" Vladimir glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention. Quietly, he beckoned them closer. "According to the rules, the hunting team can only accept as many missions per week as it has members. You’re five, so five missions a week. But now that Ye Ling has joined, you can take one more mission this week, worth a hundred thousand. Don’t say I’m cheating you."

All five’s eyes lit up. When it came to money, they instantly became idiots. "Enough talk, hand over the mission!"

"This mission is rated D, not particularly difficult. Any one of you could handle it." Despite his words, Vladimir looked at Xie Liu, Lin Yang, and Gong Hou. The other two’s combat abilities could be ignored.

"I’ll take it. These two suffered enough lately," Gong Hou patted Xie Liu and Lin Yang’s shoulders, grinning smugly.

"If you insist, I’ll leave it to you," Vladimir nodded, but added, "You have to take her with you," pointing at Ye Ling.

"Me?" Ye Ling pointed at herself, incredulous. "I can’t do anything!"

"Precisely because you know nothing, you need to experience it firsthand. Before the organization develops your abilities and enhances your body, you must understand the world you’re about to face," Vladimir said seriously. "Well, Power God, you won’t fail to protect a rookie, will you?"

"Are you kidding? If I can’t protect her, I’ll give you my head," Gong Hou declared loudly. Nearby diners looked over in surprise. Realizing his blunder, Gong Hou shut his mouth, but Vladimir replied coolly, "Better keep your head on your shoulders. I don’t need it right now."

"You—" Gong Hou wanted to retort, but Vladimir lowered his voice, "This mission is in B City, seven hundred kilometers north of S City. According to our intelligence, a space-time distortion occurred there this afternoon, most likely caused by your battle. Your task is to arrive by three o’clock this afternoon and eliminate the target."

Gong Hou nodded, but Ye Ling was dumbfounded. "Afternoon? It’s almost eight at night! Are you kidding?"

Vladimir sneered, "Do you think I’m joking? Little girl, the world is vast, with things beyond your imagination. Now that you’ve entered this world, it will completely change your perspective."

"Little girl?" Ye Ling glared, unwilling to accept, "Hey, why are you acting old? Aren’t you the same age as me?"

Vladimir merely smiled, then placed a sheet of paper on the table. "The enemy’s information is here. I have other things to attend to," he said, and left the restaurant.

"What’s he so smug about?" Ye Ling complained, but Xie Liu sighed, "He’s not wrong calling you little girl. The six of us here combined aren’t even a fraction of his age."

"You’re joking!" Ye Ling clearly didn’t believe him. Xie Liu shrugged, letting her believe what she wanted. Gong Hou picked up the paper.

"There are seven targets. Five are ordinary genetic modifiers, the other two are semi-cyborgs," Gong Hou read, his finger tracing the bottom of the sheet. "The five genetic modifiers are all grade E, no special abilities. The semi-cyborgs are a leopard-type melee and a mantis-type ranged, both grade D."

"Looks like it’ll be a breeze," Gong Hou tossed the paper aside. "Let’s hurry back and finish it early."

"Let’s go!" The five pushed and shoved their way to the counter, arguing over who’d pay.

Ye Ling curiously picked up the paper Gong Hou had discarded, looking over its contents, unsure what to make of it.

"Honestly, how did I end up with such a strange bunch?"