May 2, 2013, Shanghai streets.
On the railings of the Huangpu Bund, 13 stretched lazily. It was a fine, sunny day, though the temperature was a bit high. 13 wore a tight-fitting short-sleeved T-shirt, straight-leg jeans, and casual leather shoes, all black – a gift from Xiao Wu. Such an outfit, combined with his handsome face, attracted the gazes of quite a few ladies, even in a big city like Shanghai.
Lately, 13 had taken a liking to sunbathing. For some reason, his left arm became exceptionally cold whenever he stopped using it; hot blood flowed in, only to come out feeling almost like cold water. The first few days, the pain in his heart was almost explosive. After a month, he had barely adapted, but now he felt like a snake.
As 13 was stretching, a long motorcade approached in the distance. The license plates indicated it belonged to Shanghai's Vice Mayor, Xia Song. Since the mayor went to Beijing for a meeting yesterday, Xia Song was handling all activities. Normally, with assassins rampant, going out was too dangerous. But today was the opening day of a closely related group; they usually sent a lot of black money his way, so not attending was out of the question. He had to summon a large number of security personnel to accompany him. Giving it only a glance, 13 didn't pay much attention, turning around to sunbathe his back, leaning on the railing.
The motorcade stopped across the street. Bodyguards from the total of fourteen vehicles got out first to secure the scene. Xia Song's so-called "connection" was also an influential figure in Shanghai. Many socialites had turned up today, a rather grand occasion, so a press corps was definitely present. Although spacious, the ribbon-cutting platform still seemed cramped.
It took about fifteen minutes before the security personnel signaled that everything was okay. Only then did Xia Song slowly get out of the car. Walking on the blood-red carpet, flanked by constantly flashing cameras, he had quite the celebrity air. Looking at the scene before him, Xia Song was filled with emotion. He recalled studying late into the night at home, even wearing headphones to listen to English while sleeping, finally getting into Fudan University. While others enjoyed a leisurely university life, chasing girls and hitting bars, he was still eating instant noodles and studying. What was it all for? If not for the glamour of today. Look at him now, compared to his carefree classmates from before – many were white-collar workers, but if the boss wasn't happy, they could be fired on the spot. So they had to flatter and give gifts. Look at himself now, damn it, others were flattering him, others were giving gifts to him! Just the day before yesterday, a boss needing a business license had obediently offered his under-17 daughter for him to play with. In today's society, frankly speaking, whoever is willing to pave the way is the damn master! Officials were no longer parent-officials, but Gods. If you have a good relationship with God, of course, you live more comfortably than others.
He slowly walked onto the ribbon-cutting platform and chatted casually with several bosses. The ceremony began. The bodyguards formed three circles around the entire platform, making it almost impossible even for the reporters holding cameras high on the periphery to see the people. This was exactly the effect Xia Song wanted.
"Say, Vice Mayor Xia, please take care of us more in the future. Don't rush off after the cutting; I've prepared something good for you," the connection standing beside him smirked lewdly.
"Things are tight lately. Orders from above say to stop everything. Do you really not know, or are you pretending? Trying to harm me or what?" Xia Song glanced sideways at the person next to him.
"No, no," the connection quickly said. "It's just that I've received so much care from you and the Mayor, I feel a bit embarrassed."
"Consider yourself sensible." Xia Song showed his signature smile. "Your sentiment, the Mayor and I accept it. Keep a record of it all. Once this period passes, just transfer it all to my and the Mayor's accounts."
"Yes, yes, yes..." The connection smiled obsequiously.
"By the way, Vice Mayor Xia, Old Hong has been too arrogant lately. His Genesis Group acquired two of my subsidiaries at once, showing no face at all," the connection said aggrievedly.
A hostess brought the scissors on a tray. Xia Song gently picked them up, "accidentally" brushing his hand against the hostess's chest. The lady blushed like a peach. Xia Song's smile carried a hint of lewdness.
The connection noticed something. "Vice Mayor Xia, do you like her? As long as you help me deal with that old man a bit, let me regain some face, I'll send her to your residence tonight."
"Are you stupid?" Xia Song said contemptuously. "Who is Hong Yang? Don't you know? His network is larger than mine and the Mayor's combined. Which official, big or small, across the country doesn't know him, the former Director of the State Administration of Taxation? If he really wants to target you, your company would probably go bankrupt before it even opens. Don't mess with him. Focus on your current business; we'll protect you."
Although he didn't gain anything, Xia Song's words were somewhat comforting. A red ribbon was pulled in front of Xia Song, with the largest red flower directly facing him.
Having sunbathed for half a day, 13 seemed satisfied. He stretched lazily again, crouched, leaped up, and landed precisely on the railing. Turning around, he could vaguely see Xia Song's figure on the ribbon-cutting platform a hundred meters away.
He took out the note written for Xia Song from behind his back and wrote a single character on it with a black Parker pen. He looked up again at the ribbon-cutting platform. He took out a blue utility knife from his pocket, extended the blade fully and locked it. Passersby didn't pay special attention to 13's strange actions. After all, it takes all sorts to make a world. This was the difference between Shanghai people and Wuhan people. If it doesn't concern them, they absolutely don't care.
"I really don't like swimming." 13 sighed, bending his body backward. The note was threaded onto the blade. The knife was held in his left hand.
Suddenly, the veins on 13's left hand bulged, and the character "Wing" on his arm swelled. A forward throw. The knife disappeared from 13's hand. Without confirming the result, 13 jumped backward a step and fell into the water. Above the head of Xia Song, who was still smiling and cutting the ribbon, the vanished knife appeared. Without feeling anything, he collapsed to the ground. Looking at his corpse, everyone present was speechless for a long time. Until the connection saw the note covering his face, clearly written with a character everyone recognized: "Wing". Screams echoed in the Shanghai sky.
Inside the Beijing Special Operations National Defense Force Headquarters, in a lounge, 1 was concentrating on throwing darts. 36 was boredly watching cartoons, while 24 was reading a novel. Suddenly, all three of their phones rang simultaneously.
Five minutes later.
"There's news about 13. The latest victim is Shanghai Vice Mayor Xia Song." 1 looked seriously at the other two. "This is Adam's order. We head to Shanghai immediately to capture him."
"My call was from Chairman Zhao. The content is similar, also saying 13 is in Shanghai." 36 turned off the TV. "But we are ordered to protect an old man named Hong Yang."
"Gentlemen, my call was from Liu Tao." 24 smiled and closed his book. "The content is vastly different from yours."
"Regardless, let's head to Shanghai first. We can talk about everything on the way," 1 clapped his hands.
Everyone quickly returned to their rooms to pack their gear.
Looking at the photo of 13 taped to his wall, 24 couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He remembered after the battle in Taipei, there was no news of him for a long time; all evidence indicated he was dead. 24's heart shattered into pieces. He only truly recovered about a month ago when news broke that officials were being killed by a terrifying figure. 24 knew it must be 13.
"It's good that you're alive!" 24 silently thought to himself.
On the plane, 1 was reviewing the information provided by his superiors.
"Every victim died by a utility knife. The person killed must have had a reason to die. Even with hundreds protecting them, escape was impossible. Everything fits 13's style." When mentioning the number 13, 24 felt the tremor in 1's voice. It seemed he wasn't the only one happy that 13 wasn't dead.
"But the way these people died is too bizarre. Take the recently deceased Shanghai Vice Mayor, for example." 36 held Xia Song's death report. "Surrounded by over eighty national first-level security personnel, yet still killed by a utility knife from a hundred meters away. With such accuracy, I have no doubt 13 could do it. But have you noticed? The blade penetrated the skull. This was a horizontal projection from a hundred meters away. For a utility knife to pierce a skull, in terms of force alone, 13 absolutely couldn't do it. Even I wouldn't dream of it unless I was within twenty meters."
"There's only one possibility." 24 gazed out the window continuously...