The world was peacock-colored, with various billboards flashing and changing, as skyscrapers filled one's view.
At Shinjuku San Chome, the bus station.
Li Qianxia was busy with her phone, one moment taking selfies, another snapping street views.
Sometimes she had Li Changzhou take a photo of her and Yang Qinglan, sometimes Yang Qinglan would take one of her and Li Changzhou, and sometimes all three posed together.
Nearby the bus, there was a building named Wald9 that housed a cinema.
"Turquoise Pool, the event for 'Stone Sea' is on the ninth floor of this building; the organizers rented out a cinema for the premiere,"
A group of people stood on the escalator.
It wasn't obvious they were together, except for the Player explaining the situation to Turquoise Pool; the others looked as though they were there to watch a movie on their own.
Even so, Turquoise Pool's presence was particularly striking, not many could ride an escalator and exude such nobility, especially since she was very beautiful (her eye-catching white hair having turned black).
Li Changzhou and friends similarly attracted attention.
"Bro! Bro! Look! The movie version of 'Female Protagonist of the Road' animation!" Li Qianxia excitedly pulled on Li Changzhou's sleeve.
Scanning around, their eyes met a variety of international anime movies that hadn't been released at home but were all available here.
"They don't have subtitles here; you won't understand them," Li Changzhou said.
"Can't I just listen to the sound?"
"You think it's money?"
"Qing Lan, do you speak Japanese?" Li Qianxia, disregarding her brother, asked Yang Qinglan.
"No," Yang Qinglan replied.
Light shone down, and a few Shadow Cats darted out from under her shadow.
When Yang Qinglan joined the chat, Li Changzhou naturally had to chip in a bit more, "Actually, I know a little Japanese."
Embarrassed, Li Qianxia hugged her arm and glared at Li Changzhou.
Upon reaching the ninth floor and standing in the cinema's lobby, the place was abuzz with people, possibly because it was Saturday, which was not advantageous for upright Players to battle.
Turquoise Pool instructed her subordinates to disperse to prepare for the upcoming fight, then walked towards the trio.
The four of them found a small table and sat down to start their final strategy meeting — also their first.
"Did you all finish reading the material?" she asked.
On their way from Shimokitazawa to Shinjuku, the Special Warfare Bureau had sent the trio information on the traitor.
Player code name "I Am the Storm," real name Cao Liang, Value Level 4, Instinct "Storm," could spontaneously generate a storm up to three meters high, and after breaking limits, his body could turn into a storm.
Skills:
"Fiery Fire Burning Body," a layer of flames emanates from the body, which doubles in power after becoming a storm;
"With the Wind," speed increases by 30% when there is wind;
"Light Mass," the lighter the body, the quieter the actions; after becoming a storm, it's possible to deliberately hide movements, appearing almost as a light breeze to ordinary people; lighter mass increases storm speed;
"Wind Sword Technique," using wind as a blade, wind can be sharp like a sword, very secretive, extremely sharp, and can carry the special effect of "Fiery Fire Burning Body";
"Wind Pressure," a feeling of oppression, the stronger the wind, the greater the pressure, can be so intense at full power that an ordinary Player of Value Level 3 might struggle to breathe;
"Wind Sound," allows sounds to travel with the wind, also enabling one to hear voices carried by the wind.
Carried items:
"Paper Crane," used to deliver messages;
"Universal Medicine," treats injuries, cures poison, relieves paralysis, and other negative statuses, always carries 3 doses, remaining amount unknown;
"Wind Folding Fan," creates a whirlwind when used with Instinct, significantly reducing "Ability" consumption;
"Vine Armor," reduces damage by 5%, very robust.
This is what the national team Players are like; all skills are built around their Instincts.
And every team within the national team, the members' skills complement each other.
During the First Stage, Li Changzhou could single-handedly fight three national team Players with a one hundred percent win rate;
In the Second Stage, he alone facing a group of the national team (six people), the outcome was unpredictable, depending on specific performances and skills compatibility.
It was somewhat like Pokemon, even a mighty Seadra might occasionally be defeated by a Turtwig.
Game data always depended on performance, let alone actual fights between Players.
"There's no information on the props he stole," Li Qianxia said.
"I'm also unclear; it seems quite important," Turquoise Pool said with a meaningful smile that gave off a feeling of 'if the prop is good enough, betrayal is possible'.
"What do we do now?" Li Changzhou asked, "Are we really going to kill the voice actor of 'Stone Sea'?"
"For the greater good, sometimes unethical actions are necessary," Turquoise Pool said.
"Impulsive, childish reasoning," Yang Qinglan interjected.
Turquoise Pool looked at her and suddenly laughed, "True to the philosopher who loves to ask 'Who are you? Where do you come from? Where are you going?' So self-righteous."
"Self-righteous? That's you. Security guards also like to ask 'Who are you? Where do you come from? Where are you going?'—I suggest you avoid stereotypes, or you might end up regretting it,"
The siblings snickered.
Turquoise Pool looked over with a giggly smile.
Qian Xia stopped laughing, and though Changzhou felt it wasn't that funny anymore, he didn't stop but laughed even harder, driven by what he considered his combat intuition, or maybe just his survival instinct, yes.