Good Morning

On a narrow path leading up to the Mid-level Plaza, Jinx shielded Isha with one arm and held a flare in the other. The old-fashioned flare had stopped firing after only a short while, so Jinx shook it hard.

"Pfft, pfft—"

Two puffs of smoke burst out. Jinx frowned and angrily flung the flare away.

"I treasured that thing for years!"

"And it's just a piece of junk!"

Isha looked up at the fuming Jinx, then ducked her head again and looked toward the group blocking the way ahead.

They carried weapons. Two of them were huge, wearing massive helmets. Purple Liquid ran through tubes fitted into the outside of their helmets, and a pair of terrifying purple eyes glared fixedly in their direction.

Isha felt afraid, but Jinx just spread her hands nonchalantly.

"Hey, what, you trying to drag me back?"

She raised the arm shielding Isha, then stretched both hands out together, wrists tilted upward. Rolling her eyes, she made a face and said, "Come and try."

Someone in the crowd swallowed, then took an instinctive step back as Jinx stepped forward.

Only those who worked for her knew how terrifying this seemingly crazy, cute, and frail woman really was.

"Don't scare them, Jinx. This is my decision."

A voice spoke, followed by the sound of dress shoes striking the ground. The people surrounding Jinx and Isha parted, leaving a path.

A man emerged from the crowd, wearing a red-and-black trench coat over a small vest. His hair was slicked back without a strand out of place. He was short and slender, but stood ramrod straight. Sevika followed behind him.

Silco stood at the head of the crowd and looked at Jinx. His expression was calm, but when he saw Isha beside her, he visibly froze for a second or two. Then he lifted his gaze from Isha and met Jinx's eyes.

"Come back with me, Jinx. You've had your fun. This is the first time you've been away from me for so long," Silco said gravely.

Jinx saw Silco and lowered her hands. She seemed to lose some of her bravado, but still thrust her chin forward as she said, "Go back? In your dreams! You lied to me, you know? You lied to me!"

"I didn't lie to you." Silco shook his head. "I would never lie to you, Jinx."

"Marcus was the one who lied to us. I'll make him pay."

"Us?" Jinx scoffed. "Who said you and I were 'us'?"

Those words sounded familiar. Silco had once said the same thing to Sevika right in front of Jinx.

Now Jinx had turned those words on him.

But Silco didn't get angry. He raised a hand to his forehead and sighed. Then he lifted his hand and said softly, "Your rebellious phase seems to have come a little late, but I understand. All right, go on. Don't hurt her. Bring her back, and remember, don't hurt her."

Silco raised his voice for the last sentence.

Sevika, standing behind Silco, frowned as she looked at his back, but quickly returned to her usual expression.

At Silco's command, two Glow Alchemical People sprang into action, lunging at Jinx.

Jinx quickly pulled out her pistol and fired three shots. The bullets tore into the Alchemical People, but they charged at her as if they couldn't feel pain.

"Fuck!" Jinx cursed.

If only she'd brought her machine gun. Her little pistol couldn't put a dent in these guys!

"Isha, come here! Hide behind me!"

Isha hurried to move. Silco noticed Jinx glancing at Isha from time to time and frowned. He raised a hand and pointed at her.

Jinx watched one of the Alchemical People follow Silco's order and run toward Isha. These Glow Modified People were far stronger than ordinary people, and incredibly fast. Isha was nimble, small, and clever, but the Glow Modified Person steadily drove her into a corner.

Looking up at the enormous figure, Isha gritted her teeth, gathered her courage, and threw the stone she'd just picked up at the Glow Modified Person.

Seeing Isha trapped in the corner, Jinx panicked. She rolled across the ground, dodging the Glow Modified Person who was moving slowly because it had been told not to hurt her. She looked at Silco and shouted, "Silco, no! Don't hurt her!"

Silco ignored Jinx and simply waved his hand.

The Glow Modified Person reached out its huge hand and grabbed Isha.

Seeing this, Silco turned his back and said, "Take them both back."

Sevika grew even more irritated. Taking the older one wasn't enough; now they had to take the little one back too?

The trouble just kept piling up!

In the past, Silco would have simply ordered a Glow Modified Person to strangle the child!

Silco raised a leg to leave.

But he'd barely taken one step when—"BOOM!"

A terrifying blast rang out. The shockwave swept dust and rubble through the air, and Silco felt his body jerk. For a moment, it was as if he'd been lifted off the ground. When he came to his senses, his ears were still ringing. Sevika had already stepped in front of him, while smoke and dust clouded his vision, hiding what was happening inside.

The earlier blast, combined with the fact that Jinx hadn't come out yet, sent Silco into a panic.

He shoved away Sevika, who was shielding him, and charged inside in a disheveled rush, no longer the elegant, composed man he'd been moments ago. He shouted, "No, no, no! Don't fucking joke around like this!"

"Jinx! Jinx!"

"Can you hear me? Jinx!"

"Clang—"

The only answer was the sound of metal hitting the ground.

As the dust cleared, Silco saw a metal helmet rolling to a stop by his feet, with a head still inside. He knew that thing all too well. It belonged to a Glow Modified Person.

A sharp crack sounded, and Silco looked up. Everyone behind him was also staring inside.

Purple blood covered the wall. Glowing Shimmer seeped from the tubes of the headless body and spread across the ground. The floor at the center had been smashed to pieces, with cracks spanning a radius of about two meters. Spiderweb fractures spread across the wall, too.

A black-haired young man stood before them, one foot planted on the back of the Glow Modified Person—the headless one whose head was now by Silco's feet. The young man held a brown-haired little girl in both arms, carefully shielding her and pressing her head down so she wouldn't see the ground. His expression was calm as he looked at Silco.

Silco's pupils contracted, but he ignored the young man and searched the area with his eyes. Only when he spotted Jinx sitting on the ground, her mouth hanging open as if she'd been badly frightened, did Silco seem to relax.

Then he looked at the young man.

Li Ke was already looking at him. He smiled.

"Good morning, Silco."