Chapter 26: Continuing

Red Lion Commandery, Steel Commandment's Madrid branch.

Vanessa sat at Apostle's central console, her delicate brows drawn together in irritation. She had already crunched her way through most of the lollipop in her mouth.

Naturally, she already knew that the Beijing base had been taken out half an hour earlier. What troubled her, however, was not the loss of personnel but the abnormal behavior of that branch's Apostle terminal before its data was wiped.

Suddenly, the video call window on the right side of Vanessa's broad console activated by itself, and a fair-skinned face appeared.

“We meet again, ma’am,” Gu Wen greeted her with a smile.

Vanessa kept typing. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she replied, “So you really have tampered with Apostle.”

“Reaching that conclusion only now hardly deserves praise,” Gu Wen said.

“Young man, I imagine you've already looked through everything the system has on me, yet I still don't know your name. Isn't it a little rude to strike up a conversation with a lady without introducing yourself?”

“My apologies. I am no gentleman, merely a rogue. Forgive me, but I cannot disclose my name just yet.”

“Hmph... A well-spoken rogue, at that.”

“Heh...” Gu Wen laughed. “I'm generally quite proper in civilized company. Of course, if you prefer vulgarity, I can adjust. I'm perfectly capable of saying something like, ‘Hey, sweetheart, give your young master a smile.’”

“Do you intend to drift from provocation into flirtation and chat with me for an hour, or will you say something of substance?” Vanessa asked evenly.

Gu Wen said, “Oh... You failed to pry information out of me, and now you're embarrassed and angry. Very well. I'll give you something of substance so you'll have something to report to your superiors.”

At that moment, a set of data appeared on Apostle's main screen, covering all the other windows.

Gu Wen continued, “This is the final set of data from the Apostle terminal at the base that just clashed with HL. It contains an instruction I forged. Using your grand master's voiceprint, I delivered an order to the person in charge there. It went roughly as follows: ‘According to our intelligence, you have been surrounded by an HL assault team. They are lying in wait in the surrounding streets. Look out of the east-facing window and you will see an HL surveillance van parked across the street. That vehicle is directing the operation. Destroy it immediately with heavy weapons to buy time for your retreat. Destroy all data within the base as quickly as possible, then have everyone break out. If retreat proves impossible, give your lives for the faith.’”

Vanessa was still busy at Apostle's console. “Issuing false orders through our internal system, using HL to eliminate our forces, and somehow even directing HL's troops... Just which organization do you work for?”

“Oh? So you ruled out my working for the Empire from the outset? It seems someone in your organization correctly analyzed our actions after the last incident.” Gu Wen smiled. “Though you're working away with your head down, desperately trying to trace me over the network before I end this call, I would advise you to stop wasting your energy.

“Today I can connect to Apostle's central computer and talk to you. Tomorrow I can switch on the webcam on your bedroom computer while you're changing.

“So, technically speaking, there's nothing more you can do. All that remains is to convey my boss's intentions to yours. Listen carefully. First, Apostle is completely under our control. What just happened could happen at any Steel Commandment base in the world, at any time. Second, don't expect Xingtian to ally with you, much less come to your aid. Within three days, all their forces in Asia will be moving to Southeast Asia. They have already handed the Dragon Commandery over to us. Third, remember that the Dragon Commandery is our territory now. You have three days to dismantle all your bases yourselves and have every one of your members in the commandery pack up and leave.”

Vanessa had indeed stopped working at the computer. She simply propped her chin on her hand, affecting an air of indifference. “From what I know of our esteemed grand master, he's certainly going to be very angry about your boss's demands.”

“That's his problem,” Gu Wen said. “One last thing. Our organization is called the Inverted Cross.” Before cutting the connection, he added, “Goodbye, then, ma’am.”

The video screen went black again. Only then did Vanessa let out the laugh she could no longer suppress. She casually tapped a few keys, and a new set of data appeared on a small screen in the corner. Studying the information with a smug smile, she murmured, “We will meet again, Gu Wen...”

...

The car stopped outside Jixian Garden in the western suburbs. The surveillance team and the reinforcements also stayed outside, at Tian Yi's request, of course. Once again, he called at the precise moment they reached the designated location.

This time, however, one thing was different. Tian Yi specifically told Ji Cheng to accompany Li Wei inside. The two of them entered the cemetery together.

A cemetery lends a touch of desolation and sorrow even to broad daylight, clear skies, birdsong, and blooming flowers. If a pale-faced little boy with a bizarre hairstyle suddenly sprang out from behind a gravestone, he might well give someone visiting a grave a heart attack.

Li Wei put on the Bluetooth earpiece, and Tian Yi guided him along the route. Since entering Jixian Garden, Ji Cheng had been very quiet, and his expression had grown rather strange. Li Wei had never seen that look on his face before.

“Go a little farther. In Section Four, find the twelfth gravestone in the third row. That's your destination,” Tian Yi said over the phone.

Li Wei soon found the gravestone. He stopped and asked, “What now? Do you want me to dig up this grave?”

Tian Yi laughed. “Look at the photograph on the gravestone.”

Li Wei bent closer. His expression changed abruptly when he got a clear look at the dead man's photograph. This was the grave of the journalist he had killed. That face had gradually begun to fade from his memory, but the slides Gambling Snake had shown in the conference room an hour earlier had brought it back.

“What did he say to you?” Ji Cheng suddenly interrupted. His expression was very strange now.

Li Wei replied, “I don't know what he means... He told me to look at this man's photograph.”

“Do you know him?” Ji Cheng asked, sounding almost as though he were interrogating a suspect.

“I...” The words caught in Li Wei's throat. As he tried to think of an answer, Tian Yi said over the phone, “You don't need to answer that. First ask Captain Ji what his relationship to the deceased is.”

A chill ran down Li Wei's spine. What? Could Ji Cheng have known the journalist he had killed? His eyes returned to the gravestone, and he made out the dead man's name and dates. “Kong Zaiwen, 2072–2097.”

Different surnames, different professions. At most they could be distant relatives, friends, or schoolmates, Li Wei thought, feeling a little reassured. He said to Ji Cheng, “He wants me to ask what your relationship is to this Kong Zaiwen.”

Ji Cheng hesitated for a few seconds, then said, “We're brothers.”

“What?” Li Wei exclaimed.

Tian Yi spoke in his ear again. “Now ask him why the two brothers have different surnames.”

Li Wei froze for a moment, then relayed Tian Yi's question.

Ji Cheng explained, “My father died young. My mother remarried when I was four, taking me with her, and a year later she had my younger brother with my stepfather. My stepfather never made me change my surname. Why is he asking all this?” His eyes grew suspicious. “Mr. Li, did you know my brother?”

Guilt made Li Wei break out in a heavy sweat. Tian Yi was still laughing over the phone. “Look at him. Now he's starting to suspect I didn't tell you to ask those questions. He thinks you're asking them yourself.”

“Shut up!” Li Wei shouted.

“What?” Ji Cheng said.

Li Wei told him, “I wasn't talking to you. I was telling him to shut up.”

But Ji Cheng's expression became even harder to read. “Just what is he saying to you?”

Li Wei pulled off the Bluetooth earpiece and thrust it at Ji Cheng. “If you don't believe me, talk to him yourself!”

“That's not what I meant.” Despite saying this, Ji Cheng took the earpiece and held it to his ear. “Why are you asking these questions?” he asked Tian Yi.

Tian Yi did not answer. Instead, he told Ji Cheng bluntly, “Tell him how your brother died.”

Ji Cheng seemed to struggle with himself for several seconds before telling Li Wei, “He wants me to tell you how my brother died.” He paused, then continued, “The truth is, I can't really explain it myself... All I know is that three years ago, Zaiwen got mixed up in something, I don't know what, and suddenly disappeared for several days without a word. Then someone found pieces of his body in a rubbish bin. I overstepped my authority to take part in the police investigation and did everything I could to track him down, but the rest of his body was never found. There also seemed to be pressure from higher up to make the police close the case in a hurry. It remains unsolved to this day. No complete body, no suspect. Even the coffin beneath that gravestone is empty.”

Li Wei's face was deathly pale. He avoided Ji Cheng's eyes, terrified the man would notice something, but he still had to keep up the act. “Why did he want you to tell me all this?”

Ji Cheng shook his head and handed the earpiece back. Li Wei put it on again. “What exactly are you playing at?” He lowered his voice. “You promised...”

“What did I promise?” Tian Yi interrupted. “All I said was that my subordinate would destroy the evidence on the USB drive and kill those rich men to silence them. I never said I would help you conceal your crimes.”

Li Wei said, “Then what do you want now?”

“What do I want? Ha...” Tian Yi laughed. “Haven't I already given you the proposition?”

Li Wei thought those words over and suddenly understood. Tian Yi wanted him to choose between “repentance” and “crime.”

After several seconds of silence, Tian Yi said, “It's a little awkward for you to speak right now, so I'll talk and you listen. You must have noticed by now that Captain Ji isn't someone to trifle with. Serious, capable men like him tend to have strong principles. If he finds out you killed his brother, the best outcome is that he'll haul you straight off to HL for prosecution. At worst, he might lose his head in a fit of rage, pull out his gun, and shoot you.

“Do you really believe he lowered his gun in the conference room because of my threats? Perhaps I'd already told him the truth by then, and everything since has been an act to test you. Your behavior just now has convinced him that what I told him was true, and he's getting ready to deal with you.”

Li Wei's heart was almost in his mouth. Instinctively, he glanced sideways at Ji Cheng and moved a few steps farther away.

Just then, Tian Yi changed tack. “Of course, I said perhaps. It's only a hypothesis. It's also possible he knows nothing and wouldn't connect you with his brother's death even if he thought about it for another few decades.

“Heh. So, once again, I'll give you two options. Your choice will be your answer to this proposition.

“First, turn yourself in to him. Confess to your crime three years ago and seek his forgiveness and leniency from the government. Of course, I'll end the game at the same time and release Jiang Yun.

“Second, say nothing and simply hang up. I guarantee that from now on, you will never have to worry about this case again. No one in this world will ever threaten you over it, including Captain Ji standing in front of you. Next, though, I'll send you the information that follows completion of the third proposition. The game will continue, and from the fourth proposition onward, you'll have to leave HL behind and act alone.”

This time, Li Wei thought for a long while. Deep down, he already knew which option he would choose. He also knew which one he ought to choose by any proper sense of right and wrong. But in this world, taking a step back often left you facing a bottomless abyss rather than giving you room to breathe. Turning back did not necessarily bring the shore into sight, either. All you could see was purgatory.

That was how Tian Yi's bargains worked. Each decision was harder than the last, and every choice took you deeper into the mire.

A few minutes later, Li Wei took the phone from his pocket and pressed the button to hang up. His expression grew cold and numb. After letting out a long breath, he told Ji Cheng, “He said that's all the propositions finished for today. He told me to go home.”