The army men, half a battalion cut through the dense crowd of the southern market boulevard. The shoppers and commuters parted as the military entourage passed. They protected at the center expensive merchandise. Pearls, crystals as rare as diamonds, and diamonds themselves, all packed neatly in zip lock bags locked inside a thick steel safe. Guns at the ready, chambers to the ground. A thick unapproachable air wafted from them.
Their destination, the Heavenly Mirage, an important store near the end of the massive market road that traveled along the hundreds of portal gardens. It was not at the front of the shop, but where the two streets met that the trade would be carried out. Scheduled, thought over, the perfect deal if all was right on this day. Amongst the armed men a familiar bearded face marched with hard cap on his head, gun at the ready. Joseph whistled a little tune, his eyes roamed from faces, to curves, to buildings, and much more as sweat dripped inside his clothing from his neck to his lower cheeks. It was hot as always in this city. Anything and everything was a welcome distraction.
Atlas, streets across, parallel to the boulevard kept pace. Jumping from one mound of crates to a balcony, the roof of a warehouse and under the gate of a shrine as old as time. He zip-lined across clothe drying cables at times and walked on the ground slithering between obstacles in the narrow alleys. Eventually he knew the moment had arrived. He rushed forward, with no Qi use in the least, he climbed, lunged up buildings until he stood on the wooden roof of a balcony. It overlooked the Crystal Palace entourage perfectly, did not stand so close that he would be spotted.
He crouched, like a gargoyle atop an old stormy castle. Large wooden planks painted a dark blue, under his feet. A morning breeze ruffled his tightly bound headscarf from above, a few loose hairs playing in the Array propelled wind. Fake like the peace of this city. It felt hot, excited.
The Army had arrived. The old, half crooked shop manager walked forward, arms held together in front of his chest and slightly below, at the height of his navel. A representative of the NUN bowed at the waist, a solemn silence overcame the onlookers as the treasures were brought forward. Eyes met, hushed gossip was exchanged and the heat turned to up to a boil.
Atlas rolled his eyes in that moment. High in the sky across from his three figures crouched in waiting. Carius along with Cao and Lui had come as well. Worry about the children left behind flashed over him, but he shrugged it off. He had enough trust in those three to have come up with a solution. That, and the importance of the current exchange was too much to ignore. He stretched his legs and cracked his neck and knuckles as he waited for the pleasantries to end.
The Sealed Wooden Box, covered in silks and aromatics was opened up and the array of perfectly carved and shaped necklace Crystals, came to light. They glimmered of reds, blues, greens with golden or blood red liquid flowing inside the body. Like living things they radiated heat and power and Qi.
On the other side there was much less fanfare over the pearls and diamonds. Atlas didn’t sit still and watch. He pulled up the black mask he had made, with the waning moon painted over his lips. He dove, arms and legs spread wide, black suit slowing his descent to the roof of the building right ahead. Without any use of Qi Atlas touched the ground silently, cat like. He rolled straight into a run. His feet slapped the slanted clay tiles as he run around the ornate head of the roof. He dove once more. Those below looked in surprise as Atlas rolled right near the exchange sight, past the crowed, in no man’s land.
Two smoke capsules exploded right near him with purple-gray smoke. Atlas stormed forward, a deluge of Qi behind him. He lunged for the case of crystals and grabbed it, flying over the table it sat on. He slid to a running start on the other side and pushed his Qi even more, it burst out of his body, and Atlas was almost thrown into the sky by his own explosive force. It was then that something latched onto his leg. The Case flew out of his arms as he was brought to the ground like a rag, he slammed down hard. His head buzzed as his body melded into the hard paved stone. The old arm with white hairs sparsely dotting it picked Atlas up once more. Atlas struggled as he was being flipped over the furious store managed, curved blades flew out of his arms but broke apart on contact with the Manager’s clothes. Shining etchings on the robes protected the old man. Atlas folded in on himself as his head met the ground once more. Bile and spittle flew out of his mouth despite the protective layer of Qi he diffused around his whole body. His imprint on the hard earth.
Atlas plunged his nails into the ground and held strongly against the old man, Qi seeped into it and as if pulling on a carpet Atlas, old stones flipped and curved form under him as he resisted. The old man lost his grip and stumbled forward. His long mustache flying in with delay. Before Atlas could use his regained freedom in the hands of the old Cultivator two whips of crystal formed and were brought down with a crack of the wrist. Atlas was barely to late to move and the crystals lashed into his skin as he rolled away, the rest of the damage being dealt on the painted cobble, two perfect lines etched themselves deeply.
Atlas held in his grunt and kept rolling from the expected barrage, but he found silence as the only response. He looked around, the case of crystals had been snatched away as the smoke cleared up. It had never crashed to the ground as green and purple poison pouches announced the presence of the Chasm Scavengers.
The cause of silence was the appearance of the youth, the black hair young master with a growing stubble around his chin and upper lip, the high ponytail tied twice over so as to not let the hair fall below the waste. The hard bottoms of black martial shoes, those without any shoelaces, slapped against the cracked rock. Layers of Silk garments of peridot and jade, with golden threaded embroidery, billowed in the airs of his own glory. Young Master Chen Sui had arrived.
“Twice now, I come for an inspection, twice now my time is wasted, twice now I meet you here, the cause of this waste.” The young master’s eyes were curious as they glanced at Atlas’s bleeding, dirty form. A hidden fire burned within them. Men from the Crystal Palace rushed forth and pulled Atlas up by the arms.
“Such disturbances had been accounted, and it was because of your word that we took the initiative to hold this matter away from the shop, so as to not disturb business. It would also work as advertisement for our new and improved line of products.” The Old shop manager tried to excuse himself.
“Yet you failed at every level. Mister Wen. Your prized Merchandise is gone. Your Honor is ruined, your trade partners left empty handed.” Chen Sui did not take his eyes off Atlas. Who instead looked at the sky with a pacifying look. An understanding was being shared with someone and Chen Sui did not like that. “You shall look at me, little worm from another world. Not at your allies, wherever they are hidden.” Chen Sui crouched down above Atlas, stealing his view of Carius and the rest.
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“Young Master Chen. Let me deal with this vermin scum. I Can use his life blood to make new crystals on the spot. Perfect recreations of the promised pieces.”
“No. This silver eyed freak will be coming with me.” Chen Sui stated, and it was fact. He stood and spared a glance at the confused, shaken army men. “Even though this thief, rogue cultivator is from your world, you know nothing of cultivation and come to establishments like the Heavenly Mirage for help in your little trials. You other worlders are fascinating creatures, filled with disappointments and pleasant surprises all over. Hold onto your raw materials. This trade shall be held out once more in two weeks under my supervision. Nothing will be permitted to go wrong this time, you shall have your power boost if you so wish.” There was no negotiation as Chen Sui spoke. A truth of the world had been uttered, a future set in stone. There was naught to be done against the young master of one of the 8 Great Clans. Even if he was part of the disgraced Branch, the prisoners living inside Eternal City. Honor and Blood were taken very seriously when one lived for thousands of years.
Atlas stayed silent as iron cuffs connected with chains were locked around his wrists and ankles. He stumbled and hopped in front of Chen Sui. The entourage of beautiful women parted for the two of them to pass and the bed of ethereal wood appeared below Atlas’s feet. He was carried silently amidst the young flowers to the very top of the Eternal City, it’s majesty never to fade.
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Carius stood shell socked, still. Cao and Lui on his sides panicked, frantic in their movements as they plucked their hair out of their scalps in an effort to compute what they had just seen. From despair, to a different type of despair, they did not know what to make of Atlas’ new circumstance.
“We need to save him.” Cao stated the facts.
“But how? We don’t have the strength to do anything against them. We only have two weeks!” Lui questioned.
“We don’t even have a second. If we are too late he’ll branded with the Slave Seal!” Cao shouted, his voice mingled with the crowd’s outbreak below. Noise filled the city.
Carius quickly pulled the two kids away from the balcony. When he caught a sound and his head snapped backwards. He saw a young teen waving back at him with a smile on his face through his crystal clear mask. Next to him stood Al-Sen, back straight, gaze familiar yet distant. That would have to be the extent of their interaction. They were no allies.
None the less Carius bowed in thanks to the two of them and waved goodbye to Bi-Ran. He took the two kids and left the seen. The moment Carius jumped off, Bi-Ran’s face twisted. It darkened as guilt entered his crooked smile. “Weren’t you going to tell them?” Al-Sen asked, staring at the young trainee. He had been vehement in his desire to spread the news, just a few moments ago.
“I couldn’t. They should first deal with the problem on hand. If then they want to communicate with Archeseus, or Ru Shi, or whoever is left, they should do so. I don’t belong in that.” Bi-Ran was downcast, but still moved along, ahead of Al-Sen towards the dark entrances to the Undercity.
“That’s right. You are one of the Chasm people. And we belong on the outside with a Qi of poison cloud not made from our spirit and blood, keeping us safe and alive in its eternal confines. They, are against that goal. We can’t have too much sentiment for them.” Al-Sen said, reminding the teen of the horrible situation their people, his parents, his cousins, his brothers, himself, were forced in. They whisked away like smoke.
Carius and the other two reached the shadows in moments, and soon enough they would be reaching the in-between. A serious look formed on Carius’ face. “We’ll leave the Slave branding to be dealt with, by Atlas. What we need to do is work our way up. Get close enough to pull him out. Be prepared you two. We will cheat, scam, exploit, and work our way up the Chen Clan hierarchy in 13 days.”
“Wait.” Cao said, puzzled. “Wouldn’t it be better to have Atlas stay there so that he can be close to the trade once more when it happens?”
“Do you think he will have grown strong enough to face the Old Manager in those two weeks?” Carius shot down the thought. “If Atlas is serious about stopping the trade, he will get out with our help or without it in less than two weeks and attack the faction that he can get away with. The army.” Carius saw that there was no other way. Whether it was stealing the diamonds or forcing the Army to never leave their portals, it didn’t matter what they would have to do. They’d just do it. If it meant protecting his cousins and brothers still left on the other side.
For now though, infiltrating the Chen clan and all its businesses was the first task that needed to be done. With Atlas flying up a thousand floors into the sky where the sun was bright and hot so far away from them they had many climbs to attempt, trials to overcome. And a short amount of time to do so.
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It had been a constant rush. Hours of sleep had been minimized as the Mission rushed through the forest. It was the peak of the third night of their trip, and Xanthip had finally stopped. Her feet digging into the dirt, her fist raised shut above her head. Starting with Archeseus the group behind her halted.
Right in front of them, hidden under the dark of the night, past the thick mist, stood the underground passage which they had taken to escape the take over of their Home. Hidden perfectly in between trees, rocks, and cracks within rocks covered with moss and foliage only visible to those that knew the secret signs.
It was unusable now, the exits in the Clan compound having been destroyed by the Laertis people themselves as per protocol. Just the thought sent a searing hot wave of anger through the Revenge squad.
“Rest here. It will be our last chance to do so.” Xanthips led by example, grabbing a few piles of leaves and forming a layer of thin bedding over the hard ground on which she stretched her tired body. Archeseus followed suit. “Do not think. Truly Rest. Gather your Qi. Gather yourselves.” He gave the same advice as he entered meditation, just like his sister.
The ease with which the two siblings entered the meditative state shocked for the umpteenth time the men who followed. If it was the talent of the bloodline it was impressive, if it was through sheer effort, even more so.
The pair had had great leaps in their Cultivation. Tough environments it seemed pushed Cultivation with greater speeds than one would think. The metaphysical pores through which the Qi flowed into their bodies, gates between the two dimensions. The Real and the Ethereal. They were growing strong, stable and in number as well. If they were just given the time, they would be reaching the peak of the Qi Gathering realm soon.
It could be said that this time limit had been placed upon themselves out of their own choices. That would not be the whole truth. Both Archeseus and Xanthip know that a Cancer is better dealt with in a swift manner. This group of proud warriors had not been chosen randomly, nor for their ability, their wives were not crying purely out of anxiety but also anticipation. They did not brand themselves as the Suicide Squad purely because of the fact that they would be going against hundreds of armed men and women. They knew what they were getting into.
The moon glowed a refined yellow onto the sleeping forms of the Laertis people. The Night was warm, humid. It lingered on them, in them, around them, yet as the hours went by, the water in the air moved, a breeze picked up, clouds hid the light of the stars above. A storm seemed to be brewing once more.