Hoshino fell downward.
A pitch-black shadow was cast from the sky, and everyone witnessed her arrival at the same moment.
The instant Hoshino hit the ground, the tide-like crowd instinctively parted around her. She did not step on anyone's head, instead landing directly on the concrete. Her expression was somewhat strange, as though her feet had gone numb from stomping.
She subtly rubbed her thigh.
The dispute continued. The wooden box was still flying back and forth within her sight, landing in the east one moment before being snatched away to the west the next.
In just a few minutes, it changed hands dozens of times.
Hoshino held the hilt of her sword with both hands and calmly advanced toward the wooden box. Wherever she passed, the people around her voluntarily retreated, leaving her an empty space that advanced and receded with her steps. It was as though her authority extended exactly as far as the length of her arm plus her sword.
A circle drawn with the blade's length as its radius.
Hoshino pursued the wooden box. Her steps were neither hurried nor slow, yet she could never catch her target. After pacing back and forth through the crowd four or five times, she finally frowned.
Hoshino walked over to Ch'en.
"Pull the team back."
Her tone was light, giving Ch'en the strange impression that she was being ordered around.
"This operation never aligned with Lungmen's spirit to begin with. Besides, they haven't broken any rules. Let civilian matters stay among civilians. Let a civilian expert like me teach them a lesson."
"A civilian expert?"
That title immediately commanded Ch'en's respect. She could not overlook it.
"And I'll secretly tell you something. Swire didn't call you entirely of her own accord. Someone put her up to it."
"Who?"
Just