The autumn wind was desolate, the leaves withered and yellow.
Li Chang’an stood on the mountainside where the basketball court was being built, gazing down at the crimson scene below.
Beside him, Regina stared at the small, thin girl whose chest had been run through with a sharp weapon.
Her face contorted with rage. She gritted her teeth and spat, "The Voodoo Gang... those animals. To do this to a child so young... I want to fucking kill every last one of those bastards!"
Li Chang’an glanced at the girl, then back at Regina. "She’s not dead yet," he said. "Go get a Nanorepair Potion."
At his words, Regina’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
She looked down at the girl, who was already silent and still. ’A pierced heart... If she’d gotten treatment the instant it happened, she might have survived...’
’But now... with all this blood pooled on the ground, there’s no way she could still be alive.’
This time, however, she didn’t question Li Chang’an.
She simply turned and hurried off to get the potion.
A few minutes later, at Li Chang’an’s command, Regina injected the Nanorepair Potion into the girl’s body. After a few dozen seconds, writhing nanites began to slowly knit together the girl’s gaping, fatal wound.
The wound closed, but the crimson bloodstains on her body and her pallid face made her look even more like a soulless puppet.
Li Chang’an walked over to the girl and sliced through the steel wires binding her. He then channeled his own energy into her body, slowly warming and restoring her vital channels.
As Regina watched.
About three minutes later, a miracle occurred.
The girl slowly opened her deep, brilliant, gem-like eyes. She stared blankly at the handsome young man before her. As his energy flowed into her, she felt a warmth spread throughout her body, chasing away even the bone-chilling cold of the late autumn air.
Her gaze flickered. She asked timidly, "Mister... who are you?"
Li Chang’an didn’t stop channeling his energy into her.
He only withdrew his energy once her body had fully recovered.
He took off his jacket, draping it over the girl’s frail body, which looked as if a strong gust of wind could knock it over. "What’s your name?" he asked casually. "Where are your parents?"
Hearing Li Chang’an’s voice and feeling the warmth from the jacket, the girl’s eyes suddenly shimmered like water. "My name is Anna," she said. "Anna Kafelina..."
As she spoke, she seemed to remember something. She turned her head, her gaze sweeping across the blood-soaked court, finally pointing to a young couple lying on the ground. "That’s my mom and dad. They’re dead... Mister, did you kill them?"
Li Chang’an patted her head and shook his. "They were already dead when I arrived."
The girl’s eyes flickered.
It was impossible to tell if she believed him.
Li Chang’an wasn’t concerned. He withdrew his hand and glanced at Regina. "I’m leaving her with you. Send her to an orphanage or whatever you see fit, just make sure she’s properly taken care of. I have things to do."
With that, he turned to leave.
Regina nodded, her eyes, as she looked at Li Chang’an, filled with a complex mix of emotions.
’At first, her impression of Li Chang’an, the Crown Prince of the Yunxiao Group, had been terrible. Utterly abysmal, even.’
’He’s so young, yet so arrogant, obstinate, and utterly contemptuous of everyone...’
’He was nothing like a qualified heir to a corporate dynasty.’
’The fact that Charles later abandoned him only confirmed her suspicions. Li Chang’an wasn’t the true heir at all, just a decoy pushed into the spotlight. The Yunxiao Group’s real successor was someone else.’
’But now, after spending more time with him...’
’...Regina was finding that she couldn’t figure the young man out at all.’
’This man, who should have been utterly despicable, possessed an extreme arrogance and madness. He dared to trample all over societal norms and rules, ignoring the condemnation of all of Night City to recruit a horde of criminals, lunatics, and psychopaths into the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team. He had completely transformed the unit into a terrifying monster that even its own colleagues in other departments wouldn’t dare approach.’
’In him, you could see the obstinacy and ruthless cruelty of a tyrant.’
’But you could also see his immense personal power and the courage to face any challenge without fear.’
’Yet, in front of a girl as helpless as this one, this very same man—this tyrant, this emperor of her impression—had shown a gentleness that was completely unexpected.’
’He was like a normal big brother from next door, with none of his usual sharp edges.’
’And this was just fifteen minutes after he’d ordered the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team to gun down the hundreds of civilians on this court. The blood of the Witch God’s followers was not even cold yet!’
’As much as Regina hated to admit it, she had to: following a leader who was so decisive and deadly, yet hadn’t lost his gentle heart, was truly intoxicating.’
’That sliver of charisma he showed so casually was like a poison, potent enough to make any subordinate who knew him willing to fight to the death for him!’
’Charles and the Yunxiao Group thought that by cutting off Li Chang’an’s funding, the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team would mutiny and tear him to pieces...’
’Clearly, they had gravely underestimated both Li Chang’an and the sheer insanity of the madmen in the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team.’
’After all, it takes a genius to command geniuses, and a madman to manage madmen...’
’And Li Chang’an perfectly fit both descriptions. He was a super-genius among geniuses and a super-madman among madmen. The ambition he occasionally revealed was so vast it was difficult for outsiders to even comprehend.’
’That was why, whether they were cyber-psychos with heinous criminal records or utterly savage Extraordinary monsters, they all became tame kittens once they were under his command.’
’It also went to show...’
’...that in this world, there is no absolute good or absolute evil.’
’The line between good and evil is simply a matter of who holds the hilt of the sharp blade.’
...
Just as Li Chang’an was turning to leave, the girl suddenly grabbed the corner of his jacket. "Big Brother," she said, "Anna doesn’t want to go to an orphanage. Can you take me with you?"
Her body trembled, and a look of panic and unease crossed her face.
She was like a lost little animal.
Li Chang’an stopped and turned back, a slight smile on his face. "I’m going to kill people. Do you want to come with me?"
Hearing this, Anna hesitated. After a moment, she bit her finger and asked, "Are the people you kill all bad guys, Big Brother?"
Li Chang’an shrugged, his tone noncommittal. "Who knows? Maybe they’re bad people, maybe they’re good people. When I start killing, I don’t really care. Anyone who stands in my way dies."
He was baring his fangs, deliberately trying to scare away the timid little kitten before him.
He had too much to do.
He didn’t have time to raise a child.
A flicker of fear crossed Anna’s face. This Li Chang’an was completely different from the one before. He was like a fierce beast, baring its fangs, ready to devour someone at any moment.
Her face went pale, and she swallowed nervously. But then, her tone suddenly became firm. "Anna understands," she said seriously. "Anyone who stands in your way, Big Brother, is a bad person!"
Hearing her reply.
Not just Li Chang’an, but even Regina shot the girl a sideways glance.
’Is there something wrong with this kid?’
But Anna, who had been trembling just moments ago, seemed to have found her resolve. A fire ignited in her once-gentle azure eyes, and it began to burn fiercely.
Her left hand, chapped with chilblains, desperately clutched the corner of Li Chang’an’s jacket. She held out her uninjured right hand, and a sphere of real, yet distorted, flame slowly materialized in her palm.
Controlling the flame, she spoke again. "As long as you don’t send me to the orphanage, Big Brother, I can burn anyone who stands in your way to cinders!"
He looked at the little girl clutching his jacket, her bright eyes filled with desperation.
Li Chang’an’s heart finally softened. He stopped and patted her head, smiling. "Anna, you’re a good girl. I won’t send you to an orphanage. From now on, you’ll stay with me."
Seeing that he had finally agreed to let her stay, Anna’s face lit up. She threw her arms around Li Chang’an’s waist, greedily soaking in his warmth.
...
After clearing out the Voodoo Gang members on the basketball court, Li Chang’an had no intention of pulling his team back. After all, he hadn’t brought this many members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team out just for a breath of fresh air.
If blood didn’t flow like a river today, it would be an insult to the civilians ravaged by drugs and brainwashing, and an even greater insult to Anna, who was treated as a ’sacrifice’.
The Voodoo Gang were clearly a clever bunch.
To convince civilians to willingly offer up the rare, spontaneously awakened Transcendents—people with Extraordinary Power as scarce as giant pandas—the gang had used their so-called "doctrines" to label them as ’unclean’.
They exploited the ignorance, foolishness, and greed of the lower class to orchestrate sacrificial rituals like today’s. On the surface, it appeared they were executing the ’unclean’.
In reality, however, they were secretly transferring the ’unclean’ to the Voodoo Gang’s headquarters.
The Voodoo Gang had flourished in Taiping State over the past few years, their power gradually beginning to eclipse other factions like the Animal Gang, precisely because they had established this pipeline for reliably recruiting Transcendents to bolster their ranks.
Now that he had made his move, Li Chang’an had no intention of letting this continue.
That was why he had brought so many men today. His true intention was to annihilate the Voodoo Gang in one fell swoop.
...
After waiting on the court for about ten minutes.
The Voodoo Gang’s deputy leader and his top enforcer, both of whom had escaped earlier, were captured alive and brought back by members of the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team.
The enforcer was a cyber-psycho loaded with full-body augmentations, while the deputy leader was a Tier Three Peak Transcendent.
With their combined combat prowess, even being targeted by the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team shouldn’t have been a life-threatening situation under normal circumstances.
The current situation, however, was clearly an exception.
They were shocked to discover that the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Team they’d crossed paths with before seemed to have been replaced by a completely new crew, every one of them brimming with ferocious energy.
Even the deputy leader, a Third-rank Transcendent, had ended up getting completely overpowered.
If Li Chang’an hadn’t given the order to take them alive, they would have been beaten half to death within a few short exchanges.
Gazing leisurely at the two core Voodoo Gang members at his feet, Li Chang’an smiled. "Tell me, where are your boss and your headquarters?"
Looking at the warm smile on the young man’s face...
...the two men felt a chill run down their spines. They even broke out in goosebumps.
After a long moment, the core Voodoo Gang enforcer, whose cybernetics were smoking, forced himself to speak. "I... We don’t... we don’t know..."
Without another word, Li Chang’an raised his gun, aimed it at the man’s head, and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The large-caliber handgun barked.
It blew the Voodoo Gang enforcer’s head wide open. Red and white matter splattered across the ground. The smart-core inside his skull, now short-circuiting, continued to smoke, sizzling as it cooked his brains.
Li Chang’an moved the gun, aiming it at the Voodoo Gang’s deputy leader. "Tell me," he said coolly, "where are your boss and your headquarters?"
...