Chapter 14: Countering the Investigation

“Only Time Attendant himself knows about that. Most of the people he deals with are ability users, so there's very little information to be had from the Books of the Heart. One thing we can be sure of is that he's an eccentric. Nothing he does would surprise me,” Tian Yi said. “Let's get back to what we were discussing…

“The effect Time Attendant's appearance had on the original plan… The key is that bullet. In the original plan, the puzzle was figuring out how a Celestial Guard could be killed with a single shot. But judging by the information I've gone through over the past two days, once they got hold of the bullet from that sniper rifle, the puzzle became a straightforward clue.”

“What's the difference?” Gambling Snake asked.

Tian Yi replied, “The metal that bullet was made from is doomsday ore.”

“Never heard of it,” Gambling Snake said.

Tian Yi put down his cup. “That's only natural. Even the Empire knows nothing about this material. In fact, it's more valuable than things like meteorite fragments. It's a rare resource you can only obtain from this bookshop.

“The material Gunsmith uses for the submarine's armor, dark alloy, is made by using energy from the Eternal Core to smelt a tiny amount of doomsday ore together with ordinary metals. Even with so little of it, the resulting alloy outperforms pure alloy. You could call it a dream metal.”

Gambling Snake thought for a moment. “Under the original plan, by the time Time Attendant arrived, the scene would already have been a shambles. His investigation would have focused on the Celestial Guard's cause of death… But as it turned out, he was right there, so he could get his hands on the crucial bullet immediately…”

Tian Yi said listlessly, “Ah… Exactly. By now, the Empire's experts have probably sent that piece of doomsday ore to the Royal Research Institute, where they're treating it like a sacred treasure. Within ten days to a fortnight, they should be able to learn at least something about the material.

“And the Empire's higher-ups won't bother dwelling on Tosaka's murder anymore. The question they need to consider is what sort of threat we pose to the Empire, given that we possess a substance like doomsday ore.”

“So…” Gambling Snake was beginning to understand.

“Exactly. Originally, all we had to deal with was Time Attendant—an eccentric, misunderstood EAS deputy director called in at a critical moment as Tea Immortal's friend. He wouldn't have been much harder to deal with than Tea Immortal,” Tian Yi said. “But now the Empire realizes that ‘danger level six’ wasn't a rating His Highness the Seventh Prince tacked on out of a personal grudge or on a whim. The Inverted Cross is a dangerous organization that demands serious attention.”

“Is that different from what you intended when you had us send the signal?” Gambling Snake asked.

Tian Yi said, “I had you send the signal to leave Time Attendant a clue. Plenty of people shoot fireworks into the sky these days. Steel Commandment does it, and so do lots of little gangs. We kill a Celestial Guard and send up a signal, and at most we're rattling a few cages, putting people on their guard. As long as they don't get the bullet, who can say for sure what happened? They might even think Tosaka and Xingtian's men had worn each other down fighting, leaving him vulnerable to a surprise attack.” He leaned back in the armchair. “But now… Hmph… At least two ‘organizations that technically don't exist’ have begun investigating us.”

“Secret agencies, in other words… So the Empire does have people specifically tasked with doing its dirty work,” Gambling Snake said.

Tian Yi smiled. “HL has done plenty of dirty work too, but they have all sorts of ways to dress it up with high-minded justifications. Failing that, they can always control the media afterward, put a good face on it and cover it up.

“And institutions like EAS, evolution, the Royal Research Institute and factory already qualify as what you're calling secret agencies. Each department has its own duties and areas of responsibility, as well as extensive authority…

“But the ‘organizations that technically don't exist’ I mentioned are the real thing. Their members don't even have official positions or identities. They're ghosts. When they aren't on assignment, they could be anyone you pass on the street.

“Assassination and infiltration aren't what we need to worry about. But these organizations excel at gathering intelligence and tracking people down. My bookshop isn't completely safe either. If Gu Wen were on the Empire's side and had the same resources as Tea Immortal, he could pinpoint my location anywhere on Earth within a hundred hours.

“I can't entirely rule out the possibility of the Empire tracking me down while I'm sitting in my shop. That's absolutely unacceptable. I need insurance. I need to be certain nothing can go wrong.” He sat up and rested his arms on the table. “So I need you to help me find someone.”

“I think I know who you're after. I've met him once, haven't I?” Gambling Snake asked.

Tian Yi named him outright. “Wei Sheng.”

Gambling Snake said, “I see. Use my ability to get close without warning and subdue him.”

Tian Yi continued, “I could send Darkwater, but I need to keep at least one subordinate around to run errands. So I'll have to trouble you to make the trip. You've subdued him before, after all. I doubt bringing him back to see me will take much effort.”

Gu Wen returned just then, having finished dumping the men. He pushed the door open in time to hear Tian Yi's words and hurled the paper bag he was holding at Tian Yi's face. Tian Yi caught it neatly with one hand.

“Bought it when I went to pick Gambling Snake up at the airport. Left it in the car,” Gu Wen said as he walked over. “And speaking of keeping someone around to run errands, you just mean fetching food from places that don't deliver, don't you?” His voice was full of mockery.

Tian Yi took the mockery cheerfully and, without a trace of shame, opened the paper bag and took out a box of takeaway, ready to dig in. “I hate sunlight.”

“You can go out at night.”

“I hate moonlight too.”

“Pick a cloudy night.”

“I have night blindness.”

“Take a flashlight.”

“You just want to see whether I'll come back to life if my head gets cut off outside the bookshop, don't you?”

Gu Wen said, “Since you've seen through me, why don't you go out front right now, stick a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger? Then I'll know where things stand.”

Tian Yi said, “If that would kill me, I would never have left the bookshop twice half a month ago to meet Xingtian's people myself.”

Gu Wen shrugged. “Fair point. All right, where were we? Acupoints?”

Through a mouthful of lunch, Tian Yi said, “No, we were discussing… This afternoon you'll put on the upgraded Destiny those shut-ins made, hack into Matrix and negotiate with the Freedom Front over the network. If that doesn't work out, you'll have to make the trip in person.”

Gambling Snake stood up. “Then I'll go find a hotel. Let me know once you've confirmed which commandery Wei Sheng is in, and I'll leave immediately.”

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