The Moonlit City, 34th Province of the Jade Dragon[1].
Yueguang sat dead center on an artificial island nestled between the Hong Kong Bay and Taiwan. Once renowned as a bustling trade hub bridging the two nations, it had ultimately been forced to shut down, crippled by severe, unforgiving weather and a relentless onslaught of natural disasters. In the end, the island degenerated into a lawless warzone, a playground for syndicate thugs and black-market syndicates. Unable to endure the constant, suffocating paranoia, the majority of the population fled, leaving behind a ghost town with only a handful of souls remaining.
Towering skyscrapers in the heart of the city had been blasted apart, their peaks sheared off into jagged ruins. Amidst the decay, a sleek VTOL transport glided down, docking onto the rooftop of a dilapidated apartment complex tucked away in a grimy alleyway. A steady downpour drenched the concrete beneath a starless night sky. Nearby, a neon billboard advertising skincare products flickered erratically, casting a stuttering glow.
"Flaw-flaw-flawless skin... ra-radiant... no b-blemishes... @#@$$@#@#$%#%" the broken audio feed droned from the rooftop display.
The transport's hatch hissed open, and Rose and Eve stepped out, their boots splashing onto the rain-soaked roof.
"Where are we?" Rose asked.
"Yueguang Island," Eve replied. "A playground for savages. Mobsters, Triads, cartel punks, black-market tycoons—you name it. Legend has it that if you visit this place alone, you'll leave missing a few organs. The locals believe the city is cursed because even when the torrential rain lets up, you can never see the stars in the sky. Hmhmm. In reality, it's just severe light pollution from all these damn neon buildings. You can't trust a soul around here, Rose... except for us."
Hearing this, the machine's expression remained utterly stoic, as though the concept of savagery was completely foreign to him. "Us?"
Before Rose could process the question, the distinct sound of footsteps splashing through the puddles echoed from the shadows, closing in on them.
"Speak of the devil," Eve smiled, gesturing toward the figure emerging from the darkness. "Rose, meet the team: Baowei."
It was a portly man, aggressively stuffing snacks into his mouth with zero manners. "How... crunch-smack... how are you, Mr. Robot?"
"He's our tech-savvy one," Eve continued. "Looks like a total amateur, but he's actually a lethal asset. And my absolute favorite assistant, who I should also introduce, is..." Eve held her breath, pointing her finger up toward the tip of a towering antenna on the roof.
A purple light pulsed rhythmically up there until a sudden flash of lightning illuminated the sky, revealing a young Asian lady's face for a fraction of a second.
"A chasm divides us, as I stand high above your head!" she recited dramatically. "The executioner's lightning strikes, turning my flesh to ashes! Never shall my breath falter! Every raindrop shatters like glass to bring your deat—"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Enough with this show!" Unable to take it anymore, Eve snatched a heavy metal rod from the deck and hurled it straight up at the slender girl. Thwack!
"Gah!" The girl's silhouette flipped backward, tumbling off the edge of the building and vanishing from sight.
"Status: deceased," Rose stated flatly.
But a split second later, a pair of mysterious hands snuck up from behind, cupping over the machine's eyes. "If I'm not dead, then who just died? Hee-hee-ha!" a mischievous, giggling voice whispered in his ear. The hands pulled away from Rose's eyes, revealing the same lady. A purple comb was pinned dead-center into her hair, and her smooth, soft skin had a light cream-tan complexion. Her left eye had been replaced by a cybernetic prosthetic, accented by three distinct black fang-shaped markings trailing down her cheek.
"Wow~ why the long face, handsome? What's your name?" She tilted her head, peering curiously into his face.
"Rose. And you are?"
"Just because I'm gorgeous, don't go falling in love with me now, beautiful. Feng Mu Ling, or just Feng if you don't want your tongue tied, Ni-hi-hi! Though most people around here know me by my alias... the Phantom of Yueguang." Feng aggressively stroked Rose's face. "Ooh, this cold, emotionless face makes my heart skip a beat, ni-hahaha!"
"She's always like this. Just ignore her. Head's totally fried from all the meds," Baowei shrugged at Rose. Suddenly, the soft tip of Feng's tongue slid up the plastic laminate of Rose's cheek.
"Enzyme detected. Identifying blood group: A," Rose noted analytically.
Seeing that the girl was completely losing her grip on reality, Eve hoisted Feng over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Alright, let's get inside before we all catch a cold."
Eve led Rose through the door into a sprawling, open hall. The space had been converted from an entire floor of apartment units, their dividing walls knocked down to forge one massive, singular headquarters. Several active workstations lined the corner, while old but functional electronic appliances were scattered across the room.
Eve dumped Feng onto the sofa, tossing her a red panda plushie to cuddle with. Rose's head rotated systematically until his gaze locked onto a Japanese sword mounted on the wall. He tilted his head to the left as his pale green eyes caught the pristine, lethal reflection of the blade.
"Interested in that blade?" Eve asked.
"I see my own reflection within it."
Eve smirked. "A wakizashi. I call her Hitodama—The Spirit's Mercy. It used to belong to an operative of the Oniwaban, the Japanese covert shogunate network back in the Edo period. It was battered, so I had it completely reforged during my time in Japan. The swordsmiths over there are incredibly meticulous. It took three whole days of uninterrupted labor just to fold this one piece. I chose a dense high-carbon steel for the core, then modified it slightly. The edge is bonded with a diamond-composite weave that can slice through sheet metal like butter. You could chop through ten thousand bones, and the blade wouldn't even chip."
Eve walked over, unmounted the sword, and presented it to Rose. "If you like it, take it. I'd rather it be put to use than sit around gathering dust in this dump anyway."
The mirror-like sheen of the blade cast Rose's blank face right back at him. Rose extended his hand slowly, gripping the hilt wrapped in tight black fabric. He gave it an experimental flick, but the blade instantly slipped from his unfamiliar grip, slicing clean through the portly hacker's chair.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy there! That's a brand new chair, man!" Baowei yelled, jumping back.
"Ah, haha! No harm done, no harm done," Eve laughed, clapping a hand onto Rose's shoulder. "You still have a lot to learn. Feng and I will whip you into shape, though looking at our resident junkie over there, it probably won't be today."
Rose turned his gaze to the sleeping girl, whose legs were twisted over the back of the couch in a bizarre, unnatural contortion that defied normal sleep.
"Your first mission won't be like the others," Eve explained, using her hands to emphasize her words. "Our directive is a high-profile asset protection with an immediate strike protocol. Our primary VIP is the billionaire tech-mogul, Xu Wen. Our secondary objective is to eliminate a localized street gang that's been gunning for him. These punks have infiltrated high-ranking positions, ranging from low-level corporate suits to branch managers. But my true target... is the demon Zanlin. We need to locate their hidden nest as fast as humanly possible."
Eve's tone sharpened as she laid out the parameters.
"And there will be no unnecessary bloodshed. We must be calculated, choosing our approach like a cat—not a rabid dog that knows nothing but how to tear flesh! Only then can we trace this back to the mastermind. And when that happens, the moment I've been waiting for will finally arrive." Slam! Eve brought her hand down, splintering the wooden table clean in half.
"Uh... boss? I think we should focus on actually mapping out the strategy first," the portly hacker coaxially suggested, trying to pull her back to reality.
"You two go get some rest. I've got work to do," Eve said, patting Rose on the shoulder.
The machine nodded in response without a word, stepping away to stand alone by the window. A sharp draft caught the strands of his neon-green hair, sweeping them to the left. Rose tilted his face into the direction of the rain-chilled wind. Making an executive calculation, he spun on his heel, marching back up toward the rooftop facility, pacing deliberately toward the exact coordinate that had locked his focus.
[1] China