Tianming Mountain Gate, cemetery entrance.
Inside the security room, a warm orange glow spread through the air. The elderly guard cradled a mug of hot tea, lit a cigarette contentedly, and after taking a deep drag, a smile appeared on his wrinkled face.
He turned back in satisfaction and grinned at the two men seated on the bed behind him.
"Good cigarettes. If it weren't for you two, how could I ever have smoked cigarettes this good in my lifetime?"
"Heh heh."
The dry laugh came from the short, vicious-looking fat man. Sitting there, he resembled a rough-skinned ball, and when he smiled, his exterior looked all the more ferocious.
"Seriously, I think something big is about to happen."
The other man appeared slightly older, around fifty. He wore a black windbreaker and sat upright, his presence deep and steady, with a gravity utterly unlike that of the other two written across his face.
"The Old Yu Street mission... Clyde has gone silent, and Huang Banxian at the branch hasn't sent any word either..."
Wei Jiande rested a hand on his knee and flicked away some ash. After cautiously looking around, he leaned close to White Wolf and whispered,
"Even Lan Yu's location signal is gone."
The dry smile on White Wolf's face abruptly froze. He first glanced at the guard, then asked in a low voice,
"What exactly did you get from Lan Yu?"
Wei Jiande had been out of the military for years, but his hard-edged bearing had never faded. His back was ramrod straight, yet he kept his mouth shut. After a long while, he finally forced out eight words.
"Less than one in ten survived. Heavenly Sea is dead."
"Whew..."
The storm outside the window grew increasingly violent. The flimsy prefab room seemed unable to withstand