The Creatures that We Are

The booth's dim interior shimmered with wall-mounted screens displaying an ever-changing aurora. Two men occupied the long sofa against the wall. The slim one on the left wore a casual shirt and suit pants, while his tall, broad-shouldered companion on the right dressed in a t-shirt and jeans—both aimed to be inconspicuous.

Though they wore no hologram masks, their faces were altered with simulated muscles into unremarkable features. Still, Gao Yang instantly recognized them: Gui Zhe on the left, Yan Feng on the right.

“You’re late by two minutes,” Gui Zhe said in a steely voice, but didn’t sound displeased.

“Traffic,” Vermilion Bird said, the hologram masking her face vanishing.

“Should’ve used a triphibian car.”

“That attracts too much attention. Doesn’t suit me.” She shoved Gao Yang ahead. “Here’s the ware. Where’s my money?”

Gui Zhe took a coin-sized black card from his breast pocket and tossed it to Vermilion Bird.

She caught it, her prosthetic eye flickering as she confirmed that it contained 3000 credits, but locked behind a password.

“Miss Vermilion Bird, we’ll first check the ware before telling you the password,” Yan Feng said. His voice was velvety smooth; even with the face of an average man, he still seemed unusually elegant.

“As expected of the Roamer of the Heavenly Ocean,” Yan Feng said with a hint of admiration. “You exceed your reputation.”

“You flatter me.” Vermilion Bird settled on another sofa, twisting her body around with her legs crossed. Her eyes flitted across the purple metal box the size of a small drawer hidden under the table.

It was known as “Silencer”. It disabled all wiretapping devices and hidden cameras, and wireless connection to the Neunet would be impossible, so was hacking the brain of an S Chip user. It effectively rendered Vermilion Bird’s ability useless.

Berserking Lion stepped forward and punched Gao Yang in the lower abdomen. He collapsed to his knees with a grunt. Then Berserking Lion kicked him down.

“Is he not going to fight back?” Gui Zhe observed coldly.

“Believe me when I said that he tried,” Vermilion Bird said with a smirk. “Didn’t end well for him.”

Berserking Lion crouched down, clutching Gao Yang’s head with a large thick hand. He could crush the young man easily. His other index finger disassembled, revealing about a dozen white strands. They combined into a cable and buried into the back of Gao Yang’s head.

Gao Yang convulsed and went limp.

Of course, it was only an act.

Gao Yang didn’t have an S Chip, so Vermilion Bird fabricated a surface-level database for him. It wouldn’t withstand a thorough inspection, but enough to fool a simple identity check.

Not long after, Berserking Lion pulled the cable back and nodded at Yan Feng. “Confirmed to be a Jupiter Traveler. All personal information matches.”

“Good.” Yan Feng smiled. “Pleasure working with you, Miss Vermilion Bird.”

A knock interrupted them. The door's external feed projected as a hologram inside: a young bartender waiting with a drink tray.

Berserking Lion caught Yan Feng's glance before moving to answer.

Outside, Xiran smiled politely. “Your order, sir.”

Berserking Lion stared at Xiran’s face and accessed his basic information. After making sure that he was an employee at the bar, he snapped, “Piss off!”

Xiran blinked, maintaining a polite smile. “Sir, I received from the Mirror Booth—”

Clack. The “muscles” of Berserking Lion’s left arm lifted and shifted, the arm quickly transforming into a charged shotgun. He pressed the large barrel to Xiran’s head.

“I told you to piss off! Do you not understand?”

“So-so-so-sorry…I’m…I’m going…” Xiran blanched and trembled, almost tilting the tray.

“Wait.” Vermilion Bird gracefully lit a cigarette. “It’s my order.”

She took a drag without sparing Berserking Lion a glance. “If you will.”

Berserking Lion's face twisted with barely contained rage. He was about to snap when Yan Feng silenced him with a look. The shotgun collapsed back into an arm.

Suddenly, a blonde woman stumbled forward, crashing into Xiran and vomiting across his clothes.

“Ah…”

Xiran recoiled.

Alerted once more, Berserking Lion's attention snapped to the woman retching on the floor, scanning her identity for threats.

“Honey, don’t leave me… How am I going to live without you? Take me with you. Take me…”

She heaved again, clutching Xiran's leg while wailing drunkenly.

“Dear customer, you got the wrong person…”

Berserking Lion suppressed the urge to crush both their skulls. He stalked out of the door and grabbed Xiran’s tray from him. “Get the hell out of here!”

“Yes, yes! I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…” Terrified, Xiran helped Can up. “You’re drunk, dear customer. I’ll take you to the restroom…”

The moment Xiran helped Can up, her figure blurred for a moment with another figure superimposed on her, but no one noticed under the dim light.

At that moment, Can went invisible. The Green Box had created a holographic Can to take her place perfectly.

The real Can, now invisible, had seized the moment Berserking Lion took the tray of drinks to dive into the booth, hiding in the corner for the right time to move.

Berserking Lion slammed the door and dropped the tray onto the table. Four glasses floated with multi-colored particles in the circular rack.

“The signature cocktail of Mirage, the Corridor of Thousand Dreams.”

Vermilion Bird took a glass and tilted it, the multi-colored particles in the drink swirling like flowing stars.

“As the name suggests, it gives you the feeling of standing in a long corridor of dreams. Like mirrors facing each other creating countless reflections, you may freely roam the countless dreams. It’s said that the owner of Mirage is a Jupiter Traveler, and the inspiration for the cocktail came when the owner was getting treated by Bodhi.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Yan Feng said smoothly. “A shame that I don’t drink.”

“You’re missing out.” Vermilion Bird chuckled and took a sip. “I always go for a drink after a trade well made. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t.” Yan Feng quietly watched her.

Vermilion Bird’s eyes gleamed. “I provide quite a wide range of services, and I’ve been looking for a long-term partner. Would you be interested?”

“Of course. Unfortunately, we have a busy schedule tonight. Rain check for more discussion?”

“Alright.” Vermilion Bird could tell that Yan Feng was in a rush to deliver the ware, so she didn’t say anything else.

Yan Feng shot Berserking Lion a look. In response, Berserking Lion took out a mechanical device resembling a leech, the bottom of which was a sucker covered in silver needles.

In the field, it was known as the Corpse Herder. Attached to the back of a target, it clasped onto the spine to exert control. Should the target disobey any order, they would suffer hell.

Berserking Lion lifted Gao Yang’s shirt, about to attach the Corpse Herder to his back.

Pzzt—

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