The Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team currently consisted of three squads, with a total of sixty members.
Twenty of them were Extraordinary Evolvers, led by the muscular Fan Si.
Another twenty were modified cyber-psychos, led by squad leader Slavi, the one Li Chang’an had sent flying with a single punch. The remaining twenty were a mix of top snipers and super-hackers.
Under normal circumstances, the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team was at full strength with sixty members.
Only when a member died on a mission were they permitted to recruit a replacement from various channels.
But Li Chang’an was clearly dissatisfied.
No matter how powerful sixty people were, it would be difficult to form an effective fighting force in a short amount of time. To achieve his goals, he had to expand their numbers as soon as possible.
Of course, before doing so, Li Chang’an had to make some preparations.
He locked himself in his room for three days.
Through his understanding of this world’s Extraordinary Power, combined with the Martial Dao he cultivated in his previous two lives, he finally succeeded in compiling a set of techniques that would allow Transcendents to systematically cultivate their Extraordinary Power.
He named this technique: the Extraordinary Breathing Technique!
Then, building on the Extraordinary Breathing Technique, he created a Body Refining Skill and a set of Combat Techniques for battle.
From now on, a Transcendent’s physique could grow along with their Extraordinary Power. Barring any accidents, a Transcendent who learned this Cultivation Technique would see their control over their Extraordinary Power increase by a huge margin!
After creating the Extraordinary Breathing Technique and its accompanying Body Skill Cultivation Method, Li Chang’an gave them to Melissa and the others, instructing them to begin learning.
When they heard that these two unassuming, so-called "Cultivation Techniques" were created by Li Chang’an himself—and that they could not only help Transcendents systematically train their Extraordinary Power but also included Fighting Skills that could at least double their close-quarters combat ability—nearly all sixty members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team scoffed.
Absolutely no one believed it.
If they hadn’t been concerned about losing face and didn’t dare offend Li Chang’an, who had already begun to establish his authority, they probably would have broken out into loud discussion long ago.
However, when they saw the contents of the two small manuals and began to practice as instructed...
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
—because they were shocked to discover that the breathing technique Li Chang’an had created could actually nourish the Superpowers within their bodies, making them stronger!
One had to understand that after a Transcendent injected an Extraordinary Potion, their bodies would mutate. During the subsequent evolutionary process, the slightest carelessness could lead to the risk of genetic collapse at any moment.
The problems of ’how to systematically train Transcendents’ and ’how to ensure stable growth for Transcendents’ had long been conundrums that Advanced Technology Companies had spent vast amounts of manpower and resources on, yet had never been able to completely solve.
And now, an invention significant enough to rewrite the world had been created by Yunxiao Technology Group...
No, to be more precise... it had been effortlessly cracked by a ten-year-old child?
After snapping back to reality, all the members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team were both shocked and overjoyed. Aside from their mandatory daily missions, they dedicated almost all of their time to practicing the Extraordinary Breathing Technique.
...
「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」
After resolving the various instabilities within the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team, Li Chang’an officially began to implement bold, sweeping reforms.
He issued a public recruitment notice to all of Night City!
The recruitment targets for the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team included, but were not limited to, elite special forces veterans, lone gang operatives, and desperate, vicious wanted criminals.
In a word:
—anyone with sufficient strength could join the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team.
And as the young master of the Yunxiao Group, and currently its only publicly acknowledged, legitimate heir, Li Chang’an gave his personal guarantee—that for any Newcomer willing to join the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team and able to pass the entrance assessment, he would wipe their slate clean, no matter what heinous crimes they had committed in the past!
At least here in Night City, on his own turf, his words carried significant weight.
Therefore, the recruitment notice ignited a firestorm across Night City almost overnight.
When countless citizens and politicians saw the news, they first assumed it was just a baseless rumor.
But after it was repeatedly confirmed to be true, all of Night City erupted in an uproar.
While the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team had secretly turned cyber-psychos into members on many occasions in the past, those had always been clandestine operations.
Although politicians and the public were aware, most chose to turn a blind eye.
After all, the public security situation in Night City was indeed quite dire. Especially in recent years, with the rampant abuse of Extraordinary Potions, the level of chaos had reached new heights.
News of Night City residents being torn to pieces while simply walking down the street was not uncommon.
In such a climate, while an extremist organization like the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team felt inherently unstable, its existence was at least somewhat justifiable.
But for the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team to publicly announce it was recruiting all sorts of criminals was, even for a city renowned for its chaos and surrealism like Night City, a first in its entire history!
Everyone thought Li Chang’an had gone mad. By extension, Charles and the entire Yunxiao Group were hit with a barrage of snide remarks from enraged citizens and politicians.
For a time, eye-catching headlines like ’Yunxiao Group is Done For,’ ’Charles is a Fool Who Can’t Even Control His Own Son,’ and ’Little Charles is Destroying Night City’ flooded the media, dominating public discourse and having an extremely negative impact on the Yunxiao Group itself.
It was precisely because of this incident that even Charles, who had planned to stay behind the scenes and enjoy the show, was bombarded with dozens of frantic, angry calls from the old fossils on the board of directors.
After taking a harsh reprimand from the board members, Charles’s expression flickered, and his face gradually turned livid.
After a long moment, he finally calmed himself and used his neural interface to call Li Chang’an.
Meanwhile, Li Chang’an was at the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team’s headquarters, interviewing the ’Newcomers’ who had arrived from all corners.
Hearing the call, he glanced at it, answered, and said, "Father, is there something you wish to instruct me on?"
Charles’s tone was somewhat cold as he said flatly, "What the hell do you think you’re doing?"
Li Chang’an replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "I’m forging the sharpest blade in the world for you. Didn’t you say so yourself, Father? This is my destiny!"
Charles was not so easily fooled, of course. He snorted coldly and said, "I’m giving you two choices now. First, immediately retract the recruitment notice, apologize to the media, and personally take full responsibility for the damage to the company’s reputation!"
"Second, you can choose not to apologize. However, I will revoke your status within the family and cut off all financial support. The choice is yours!"
With that, Charles immediately hung up. His tone left no room for negotiation or compromise.
Clearly, Li Chang’an’s recent actions had crossed his bottom line.
Not only had it damaged the company’s reputation, but it had also caused him, the chairman, to repeatedly take the fall, facing criticism and calls for his removal from numerous board members.
For Charles, either of these consequences was intolerable.
Therefore, the ultimatum Charles delivered to Li Chang’an was just as simple: ’You want to defy me, your own father?
Fine!
I’ll start by cutting off all your reputation, status, and financial support as the heir. And in Night City, once you’re out of money, it doesn’t matter who you are or what status you have—you’ll end up worse off than a dog.
At the very least, you still need to pay base salaries to your new recruits, right?
The budget for the sixty members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team can’t possibly feed one or two hundred people.
Once Li Chang’an’s financial support is cut off, with the pathetically small amount of resources he currently has, he won’t even be able to afford the monthly salaries for his new recruits.
Delaying salary payments for ordinary people might be negotiable.
But delaying payment for this bunch of violent thugs who live on the edge...
...is asking for a death wish!’
In other words, to deal with Li Chang’an, Charles didn’t even have to do anything at all. He just had to take away the financial support he was giving him.
Then he could just sit back and wait for the news of Li Chang’an being torn to pieces.
This was the biggest reason why Charles had never, from the very beginning, worried that Li Chang’an could escape his control.
...
After Charles hung up, Li Chang’an’s expression remained unchanged.
Looking at the dozens, nearly a hundred, monsters before him, all exuding a ferocious aura, he laughed loudly and said, "My father just gave me some good news. Because I’ve recruited all of you, he’s decided to cut off all support from the family. He thinks that will be enough to stop me..."
Here, his voice paused for a moment before he continued, "But little does he know, the future of the world will no longer be decided by so-called plutocrats and corporations! The future will be decided by me, by you, by the Extraordinary Evolvers who hold sufficient power in their hands!"
At this moment, he seemed somewhat maniacal, even more of a criminal than this band of blade-licking thugs.
Although the newly recruited members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team found it all rather absurd, they surprisingly held their tongues.
"To welcome the coming of a new era, I have compiled for you a system of combat tactics that can double your close-quarters fighting ability, and I have also summarized a training method that can effectively enhance your Extraordinary Power..."
As he spoke, Li Chang’an turned his gaze to Melissa and said coolly, "This beautiful lady is named Melissa. She is the Captain of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team. From now on, she will be in charge of your intensive training!"
Hearing this, the crowd of thugs below him all exchanged bewildered glances.
’A system of combat tactics that can at least double our fighting ability... and a training method to effectively enhance our Extraordinary Power?
Is this guy high or something?
Does he even know what he’s saying?’
But Li Chang’an clearly had no intention of explaining further. After handing the materials to Melissa, he turned and left.
With Charles cutting off the money, he had to sort out the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team’s financial situation as soon as possible, or all his previous efforts would be for nothing.
「Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team Logistics Department」
Seeing him approach at an unhurried pace, Regina—who had been forcibly transferred to the logistics department a while ago—looked grim.
Her tone was laced with resentment as she asked, "Lord Little Charles, you’ve angered Lord Charles. Now that the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team is filled with these thugs and their sordid pasts, what are you going to do?"
...