Two figures dressed in black—a man and a woman—arrived in Hong Kong.
"Big Little Group, Ren Water and Ding Fire have reached the designated location."
"Big Little Group, pay attention. Your mission this time is to retrieve everything connected to the objective. Details are in the intelligence brief. Exercise caution."
"Understood."
Ren Water ended the transmission. A black sedan rolled up in front of them.
They got in, and the driver immediately handed over a document.
Ren Water flipped open to the first page. "Target's temporary designation: The Gambler. Age: 26. Sex: Male. Real name: Zhang Yuanqing.
Has a criminal record—previously arrested for illegal gambling. Recently relocated to Hong Kong, frequently spotted entering and leaving a certain private casino.
According to intelligence reports, the target has not lost a single game in the past several months, suspected of possessing either an abnormally strong luck ability or some device for cheating.
Preliminary probe: we deployed four separate teams, setting up conditions where losing was inevitable. Yet the target always withdrew early without realizing the setup.
Therefore, the possibility of a mind-reading ability cannot be ruled out.
Currently shows no signs of aggression. Danger level provisionally rated D+."
After scanning through, Ren Water passed the file to Ding Fire.
Ding Fire, a slender woman with delicate beauty, handled matters with meticulous care. She was highly attuned to information and excelled at reading people.
When first paired with Ren Water, their mission count wasn't high.
Because in those early days, Ren Water was often injured during operations, requiring long recovery periods.
Ding Fire never complained. She frequently visited him in the hospital.
As Ren Water gained more missions, his injuries grew fewer, and his execution improved.
Ding Fire's perception of him also changed.
To her, Ren Water was no longer just hardworking and eager to learn, but also genuinely talented.
This was already their fourth mission of the month.
From barely one mission per month in the beginning to four within just half a month—it was a clear breakthrough.
Still, they couldn't match Jia Wood's team.
Jia Wood's group was the most efficient, completing over ten acquisitions each month. But their work intensity was brutal.
They almost never rested, departing on missions the moment new orders came in.
If Ding Fire had to keep that pace, she wouldn't last.
Being partnered with Ren Water, with his steady, deliberate approach, suited her far better.
"Zhang Yuanqing, from Baoding, Hebei. Parents divorced when he was ten. Raised by his father. After serving time for gambling, lost contact with family."
Ding Fire frowned. "From the intel, he seems far too ordinary."
As the car moved through Hong Kong streets, Ren Water looked out the window, voice flat. "The more inconspicuous an acquisition target, the greater the danger it can hide. With unknown powers, caution comes first."
Ding Fire nodded. "So, same as before—I go in disguise and make contact?"
Ren Water usually preferred conservative tactics. When intelligence was lacking, Ding Fire would take the first approach.
"This time, I'll go."
"No problem?"
"No problem."
"Alright then."
Hong Kong.
An upscale club.
Ren Water adjusted a tailored suit as he stepped out of the car. Before he left, the driver handed him a black card and a black briefcase.
"This mission's operating funds. Use them wisely."
Ren Water slipped the black card into his pocket, picked up the briefcase, and walked into the club.
The moment he stepped inside, a man blocked his path.
"Do you have a reservation?"
Ren Water casually flashed the black card. The man's hand dropped at once.
He moved on, and Ding Fire's voice crackled softly in his miniature earpiece.
"Check if there are any jamming devices inside. Can you hear me clearly?"
Ren Water answered with a quiet hmm, then, under the receptionist's lead, took the elevator up to the third floor.
The third floor opened into a lounge bar. Dozens of people sat scattered at tables—since the casino wasn't open twenty-four hours.
It only came alive at night.
Some came early to wait, killing time here with drinks and chatter.
Soon, Ren Water spotted Zhang Yuanqing sitting in a shadowed corner.
"Mission target in sight."
He approached the bar, ordered a glass of wine, and carried it over.
"This seat taken?"
Zhang Yuanqing glanced up. "No."
Preliminary judgment: unlikely to be direct mind-reading.
Then could it be contact-based?
No—if that were his method, it would be exposed instantly inside a casino.
Ren Water sat down, casually laying the black card and briefcase on the table. He checked the watch on his wrist, his voice low and unhurried.
"This is always the slowest hour of the day. Tonight I brought plenty of chips."
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes flicked toward the card and case.
"Ah, bro, which table you planning to hit later?"
Bait taken.
Ren Water crossed his legs. "Depends on my mood. I'm here for fun, nothing more. I'll sit wherever feels right."
Zhang Yuanqing leaned back, a faint grin curling his lips. "How about a desperate hand?"
"A desperate hand?"
"From the way you talk—are you a master?" Ren Water asked.
Zhang Yuanqing pulled a cigarette from the pack and placed it between his lips.
"Hardly. Just a bit of luck, that's all. I play by instinct."
A bit of luck.
Ren Water let the words hang, then drew a deck of poker cards from inside his coat.
"What a coincidence. So do I. Since we're both waiting, why not kill some time with a round?"
Zhang Yuanqing's gaze lifted, subtle and sharp.
"With a stake?"
Ren Water's smile was faint, confident.
"Whatever you put in, I'll match."
Zhang Yuanqing chuckled. "Alright. Generous."
Zhang Yuanqing pulled a thick wad of bills from his pocket and slapped it onto the table.
"Not much—10,000 Hong Kong dollars."
Seeing this, Ren Water recalled a detail from the intelligence brief.
The target always carried only a small stake, yet every time he walked away with a fortune.
A faint black gleam flickered in Ren Water's eyes. Behind him, a shadowy humanoid phantom slowly emerged.
"I told you—whatever you put in, I'll match."
He slid the deck toward Zhang Yuanqing. "You deal first."
Zhang Yuanqing shuffled lazily, no flourishes, no tricks.
When the deck came back, Ren Water simply cut it, then drew a card from the middle and laid it face-up.
An Ace.
Both picked up two hole cards. Ren Water gave the silent order, and the phantom drifted behind Zhang Yuanqing.
Zhang Yuanqing lifted a corner of his hand—an Ace and a King.
A strong start.
Ren Water glanced down at his own: a 2 and a Jack.
"So," Zhang Yuanqing asked with a faint smile, "still in?"
Ren Water drew three more cards. Zhang Yuanqing followed—and drew another Ace, now holding two Kings and an Ace. Nearly unbeatable.
"Bro, win some, lose some," Zhang Yuanqing said lightly, tucking the cash back into his pocket.
No tampering with the cards. Then what was his ability—just pure luck?
"Alright. Another round?" Ren Water suggested.
Zhang Yuanqing didn't answer immediately. Instead, he flicked a coin into the air.
It landed—tails up.
He flipped it again, casually, and smiled.
"Let's not. If you're serious about playing, we can sit at a proper table when the casino opens."
The coin?
Ren Water's thoughts sharpened. Zhang Yuanqing had been clutching that coin since the moment they met. Tossing it again and again.
Could it be an Object?
"By the way," Zhang Yuanqing asked, still toying with the coin, "you're not local, are you? That accent isn't Hong Kong."
Ren Water gave a mild smile. "I used to be a police officer on the mainland."
The coin spun once more in Zhang Yuanqing's fingers—tails again. He smirked faintly.
"Bro, that joke's not very good. I'll believe you're from the mainland. But a cop? That part's harder to buy."
Yes—the problem was with the coin. That coin had to be an Object.
Zhang Yuanqing's smile thinned. His voice grew cold.
"Spreading false rumors."
Outside, Ding Fire caught the signal. She swung the car door open without hesitation.
"Code B."
As Ding Fire stepped out of the car, a black sedan screeched to a stop at the club's entrance.
A man climbed out, his face painted like a clown, idly twirling a small knife between his fingers.
The instant she saw him, Ding Fire's eyes widened. She immediately slipped back into the car.
How could he be here?
"Ren Water—The Clown has appeared! Do you want to continue the mission?"
The Clown.
Inside the club, Ren Water's brow furrowed. The Clown—one of the Chaos Insurgency. The only one Kitsune hadn't tracked down during the last decapitation op.
And now he appeared openly here?
Was his target Zhang Yuanqing?
If so, things had just gotten much more complicated.
Before Ren Water could dwell on it, Arthur had already led a group into the club.
Shouts and chaos erupted below.
The elevator doors on the third floor slid open with a wet metallic screech—blood drenched the walls, corpses slumped inside.
Arthur stepped out, splattered in gore. Before the horrified crowd, he cocked his pistol, aimed it skyward, and fired.
Bang!
"Ladies and gentlemen—good evening!"
Screams erupted at once across the floor.
Zhang Yuanqing bolted, but Arthur's gaze instantly pinned him.
"You're easier to find than I thought. 029."
Arthur spun his pistol, striding toward him. Panic broke loose. People surged toward the elevator in a frenzy.
"Let me in!!"
"Out of the way, fatass!"
Some desperate ones even waved money—but no one cared.
Bodies clogged the elevator, jamming it in place, while Arthur ignored the chaos entirely.
He tossed the pistol aside, pulled out a cigarette, and lit up.
Amid the panicked shouting behind him, Arthur exhaled smoke with a casual sneer.
"Jump~"
Boom!!!
The elevator shaft erupted. Fire swallowed the crowd, blasting bodies apart and scattering severed limbs across the floor.
Zhang Yuanqing froze in shock. This man—he's insane. A complete monster.
Arthur advanced, step by step.
Ren Water suddenly stood, the black phantom erupting into form behind him.
Arthur's grin faltered into irritation.
"Ah. Kitsune's colorful squad."
He twirled the knives in his hands, voice mocking.
"How does it go? Enemies cross paths on narrow roads."
Ren Water's will snapped forward. The phantom swept its arms, hurling a storm of black ice spikes at Arthur.
Arthur only grinned wider. Two knives flashed into existence, spinning in his hands. He slashed with such speed the blades tore the air, shattering every ice spike in a blur.
"Ding Fire!"
Even as Ren Water called out, the third-floor windows exploded outward.
Ding Fire burst through with a purple female phantom looming behind her. Without hesitation, it snatched Zhang Yuanqing and vaulted out into the night.
Arthur's eyes narrowed. He spun his knives, leaping after them—only for Ren Water's phantom to seize his legs midair.
"You're so damn annoying!"
Arthur snarled, whipping around. His blades sliced clean through the phantom's arms.
At that exact instant, Ren Water's own arms split open, blood spraying in twin arcs.
Puff, puff!
"Aaaaah!"
The damage sustained by the phantom rebounded onto his own body. Ren Water had suffered from this curse more than once.
Arthur leaped from the building, directly pursuing Ding Fire!
"Little girl, that man beside you is dangerous! How about you hand him over to me?"
At his voice, the purple phantom behind Ding Fire twisted mid-air, coiling a blazing serpent of violet fire. As Arthur dove after them, the fire snake lashed out, snapping toward him!
"Playing with fire, are we?" Arthur sneered, bringing a blade down in a vicious arc. With one slash, he split the serpent clean in two!
Ding Fire choked and spat blood from the backlash.
Zhang Yuanqing seized the chance, slipping free of her grip and bolting. Arthur caught sight of him and instantly picked up speed.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Zhang Yuanqing staggered back, flicking the coin from his hand—heads up! Without hesitation, he swung a fist straight at Arthur!
Boom!
Somehow, his punch exploded with monstrous force, smashing Arthur straight into the side of a parked car!
Crash!
"What the hell was that?" Arthur snarled, dragging his head out of the shattered window, his face streaked with blood from the broken glass. "Is that your ability?"
Zhang Yuanqing opened his mouth, but before a word left his lips, a metallic thud hit the street. A robot dropped from the sky, clamping iron hands around both his arms!
"Robot?"
Before he could struggle, flames burst from the machine's feet and back, rocketing him upward into the night.
"029 captured."
A voice echoed: "Don't be so quick to leave. Computer, did you see those two Kitsune operatives behind you? I've got a birthday present for them."
At 009's words, Arthur grinned darkly. He yanked his keys, dove into a black sedan, and slammed the accelerator to the floor.
"My boss is still here!"
In the next instant, an intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Africa, its trajectory locked on their position.
"Countdown: 52 seconds."
Arthur barked laughter, swerving through the streets at breakneck speed, smashing through streetlights as he raced the clock.
Ren Water, clutching his bleeding arms, staggered out of the building—only to look up and see the missile already descending.
Damn it…
"Hahahaha! Happy birthday, Kitsune scum!!"
The missile came down, striking squarely beside Ren Water and Ding Fire!!
Boom!!!
The blast tore through the city—skyscrapers crumbled, streets collapsed, and a smoking crater swallowed the ground where they stood.
A helicopter cut through the smoke overhead. Two figures descended from the sky.
The leader carried a faint azure phantom at his back. He strode into the crater and looked down at the two bodies lying at the bottom.
"How are they?"
Jia Wood knelt by Ren Water. "The light shield activated. He'll live."
Ji Earth turned to check Ding Fire—then froze, his pupils shrinking. "Her light shield… it shattered?"
"What?"
Jia Wood quickly leaned over her. Ding Fire's body showed burn marks, but no fatal wounds.
Yet her life signs had already vanished.
Every one of them carried YSW-049, military-grade energy shields from the Armaments Depot. Triggered instantly, they could block nearly any damage for a short span of time.
Ren Water's shield held. Ding Fire's… had not.
The next day.
At the Kitsune base inside the United Nations, Ren Water awoke on a medical bed. His vision cleared—and he saw them: four men and four women.
The Deca had gathered once more.
Ren Water suddenly bolted upright. "Where's Ding Fire?!"
At his words, silence fell like a weight.
"What… what do you mean?"
Seeing their expressions, dread coiled in Ren Water's chest. His pupils shook violently. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Jia Wood shook his head slowly. "Her shield shattered."
"What did you say!"
"Calm yourself first, Ren Water."
"How can I possibly calm down!!"
Jia Wood rubbed at his temples. "We grieve Ding Fire's death as much as you, but what's done is done. We must look ahead."
Beside him, Geng Metal's frown deepened. Without a word, he pushed open the door and left the medical room.
Yi Wood hurried after him. "What's wrong?"
Geng Metal's expression remained grim. "Something doesn't add up. Our light shields have never failed during missions. Ren Water's shield stayed intact, which means that strike wasn't powerful enough to shatter one."
He paused. "Two shields, one fine, one broken. If their positions had been different, it'd be simple to explain."
Yi Wood blinked, startled. "You're saying someone tampered with it?"
Geng Metal lifted his head. "Objects fall into three categories: living, dead, and exploitable."
049 Military Armaments Depot is nothing more than a colossal junk recycler. Feed it scrap metal and a batch of Objects, and it compresses them into various technological devices.
The light shields are one of its standard outputs.
They can't be repaired. Once shattered, they're collected and thrown back into 049 for reconstruction.
Before every mission, logistics issues each of us a fresh, undamaged shield. Afterward, no matter its condition, it's collected again.
"Our gear always passes through logistics. If a shield was faulty, the problem leads back to them."
Yi Wood's eyes widened. "But… logistics is the second-largest division, second only to acquisition. Headquarters' logistics is even overseen by two O5 Council members. How could such a basic error slip through?"
"Exactly."
Geng Metal didn't say it outright, but the implication was clear.
There was a traitor inside.
Three days later.
Africa.
The last remaining base of the Chaos Insurgency.
Zhang Yuanqing hung from the ceiling, limbs bound, his whole body strapped down with tape.
Before him stood three figures: a man with a clown painted face, another in a white fur suit, and a robot straight out of a sci-fi nightmare.
This robot wasn't improvised. Its development had begun long before 009 ventured into the other world.
020 Computer had built an independent production workshop. With his superhuman computational ability, he'd driven rapid breakthroughs beyond anything current human technology could achieve.
And during 009's journey elsewhere, Computer finalized the design of a mechanical frame—this very prototype.
Chaos Unit 01.
Its overall skeleton was forged from titanium alloy, reinforced with carbon fiber, and driven by nuclear power.
020 had independently developed a micro-nuclear reactor, and from that achievement pioneered stable nuclear fuel rods.
Chaos Unit 01 was powered by these rods.
This first prototype carried no weapons—only a rudimentary jet propulsion system. As a proof of concept, many features were incomplete, its biggest flaw being flexibility. Current human materials simply couldn't support full production.
But 020 wasn't bound by current limits. He had compiled countless scientific conjectures, extrapolated further, and from them envisioned a perfect synthesis of technology and biology.
Eternal Biotechnology.
Conventional mechanical frames suffered two fatal weaknesses: fuel depletion, and over-complexity. Without energy, they stalled; with systems too intricate, a single fault could trigger total shutdown.
This was unavoidable—unless technology advanced to the point of converting arbitrary matter into energy, or harnessing stellar radiation at will. Even Computer himself couldn't yet claim that.
Nuclear rods, while stable, carried a built-in catastrophe: if ruptured, they detonated.
But living organisms were different. When low-grade energy leaked into this world, Computer noticed that biological life could directly absorb it.
So why not make living organisms the fuel core?
Combine that with the unique properties of this world's monsters—their flesh stronger and more ductile than steel—and the solution emerged.
A biological-technological hybrid frame. A biotech battlesuit.
If successful, even ordinary humans could wear such suits. Fifth-Step monsters, Fourth-Step horrors—they would cease to be invincible nightmares.
The concept was magnificent.
What Computer lacked was material. A monster's body.
He glanced at the figure bound to the ceiling. Unfortunately, Zhang Yuanqing—though marked on the monster list—was still, at his essence, human.
Zhang Yuanqing struggled against the ropes, voice raw. "What do you want from me? If it's money, I don't have any!"
009 watched him for a long moment, frowning. "Did you catch the wrong person?"
Chaos Unit 01 turned its steel head, its voice metallic and calm. "No mistake. It's him."