So-Called Karma 5

It was clear the Church had used some means to confine the entire town's population. How long this had been going on before Mirror stumbled onto their supply runs was anyone's guess. Lu Mingqiu figured the Church had relocated their strongholds hundreds, if not thousands, of times before. If she'd known the scale of their operation, she would never have killed a single member of the bar branch; she wouldn't have wanted to tip them off. Luckily, thanks to her earlier preparations, she could pretend she'd gleaned the information from the dock's outer perimeter and decided to launch a surprise attack that day.

The five captives were released after being brainwashed; the new memories implanted through their neural interfaces would overwrite the originals, making them forget everything that had happened. Over the following days, the Resistance would send people to kill each of them one by one, just to be safe. She could only hope that would put the Church at ease.

The drone disguised as a sparrow spread its wings and took off, circling the town. It spotted four groups of food deliverers, one for each cardinal direction, dividing the town into four zones. Why would the Church go to such lengths to control everyone in the town? And from the look of it, they hadn't converted all the residential buildings into prisons. So what method were they using to keep the townsfolk so obedient? There had to be a big secret hidden here. She shouldn't risk herself; she should retreat at once. With that thought, Lu Mingqiu was about to recall the drone when, at that very moment, several more figures emerged from the wall. They wore yellow protective suits, like spacesuits, covering themselves head to toe. The level of protection was clearly a step up from what the food deliverers had worn—thicker and tighter. Lu Mingqiu recognized the style. It had excellent seals and was mostly used in experiments involving radioactive materials.

Her finger, which had been inputting commands, froze mid-air. In that brief hesitation, something she could never have anticipated happened. Two figures in yellow suits crouched down, placed some kind of device on the ground, then went back through the wall. The drone was about to zoom in when thick green gas burst from the device. It swelled with the wind and instantly spread over several meters. The green fog grew faster and faster, encroaching outward. In just a few blinks, it had already blanketed the entire town and was still slowly expanding.

Yan Xianchuan said, "I think we should get going, don't you?" Just as she finished speaking, the thick fog had already rolled past the farmland, advancing toward the river.

"Go!" said Lu Mingqiu.

The two turned and ran. Going downhill was easier than climbing. Using the slope, they flew down like the wind. The path to the car was in sight when Yan Xianchuan's ears caught a low hum. Her heart inexplicably restless, she was about to keep running when she heard a heavy thud behind her. She spun around to find Lu Mingqiu collapsed in the dead leaves, fragments of foliage and black soil clinging to her. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, her body curled and back arched like a boiled shrimp. Both hands clutched her head, as if something monstrous inside was trying to bore its way out, launching an invisible assault on her brain.

Yan Xianchuan rushed over to help her up. "What's wrong?"

Lu Mingqiu gritted her teeth, grinding them together as she forced out a few words. "It's a sonic repulsion wave."

Yan Xianchuan didn't fully understand, but she gathered it was some kind of device that drove people out. Unlike Lu Mingqiu's violent reaction, she only felt a bit uncomfortable. Setting her down, Yan Xianchuan took a few more steps forward. The further she went, the more agitated she felt. Her mind seemed to fill with auditory hallucinations, a buzzing in her ears. Her body felt terrible, as if everything in her chest had a mind of its own, each organ trying to leap out of her throat one by one. If she felt it this strongly, what Lu Mingqiu was experiencing had to be twice as severe.

Yan Xianchuan strode back and scooped Lu Mingqiu into her arms. "If we get through this area quickly, can you hold on?"

Lu Mingqiu took several deep, ragged breaths. "The closer we get, the stronger it gets. It'll shatter my internal organs."

The delay had allowed the green fog to creep over the hill where they'd been standing and begin rolling down toward them. They were in a wooded area now, with trees as far as the eye could see—no sealed space to hide in. Facing the unknown fog, Yan Xianchuan wasn't panicked. What truly worried her was the person in her arms.

As she hesitated, the green gas had already swallowed half the distance; it was right on top of them. Holding Lu Mingqiu close, she could feel the other woman's heart pounding violently. "Give me control of the drone," she said.

Lu Mingqiu said nothing; even that short sentence had drained nearly all her strength. Control was transferred. The next instant, Yan Xianchuan hugged her tight and walked straight into the thick of the fog. They couldn't leave; facing the green mist was inevitable. Since that was the case, there was no point staying there any longer, letting Lu Mingqiu suffer.

The surging, rolling green tide silently swallowed them. The fog was wispy and completely odorless, as if someone had simply run an experiment and dyed the air. Yan Xianchuan took several deep breaths, focused, and noticed no strange changes in her body. She looked down at Lu Mingqiu. Out of range of the sonic repulsion, the other woman seemed somewhat better. The thick fog didn't appear to have any effect on her either.

"How do you feel?" Yan Xianchuan asked anyway.

"Normal for now." Lu Mingqiu shifted her legs, and Yan Xianchuan set her down. When her feet hit the ground, she wobbled unsteadily, and only Yan Xianchuan's grip on her arm kept her from pitching forward.

The Church wouldn't release something like this without a reason; it had to serve some purpose. The sparrow drone was still active. Yan Xianchuan guided it higher, checking on the town that had first been enveloped by the green fog. This fog definitely wasn't poison. If the Church wanted to kill, they wouldn't use such a troublesome method. Besides, the sonic repulsion device was still on, a measure to keep people inside from coming out.

Silence.

The town was as quiet as death. This silence was deeply ominous, not the stillness of a grave, but the calm before a storm.

"We need to get to the town," said Yan Xianchuan.

"We need cover and food. We can't stay in the woods forever." Lu Mingqiu was injured; her long-unused mind began to churn. "The Church is running an experiment. Being out in the open will be dangerous."

And the other woman needed a place to recover.

The Church had to be closely watching the town. How could they get in? She didn't even know where the surveillance was. If only Hei Ge were here… At that thought, Yan Xianchuan opened her contact list and realized the signal was gone. Along with the sonic weapon, a signal jammer had also been activated.

"Let's wait on the outskirts for a while and see what happens." She glanced at the drone's feed, then took Lu Mingqiu's arm and moved them toward the edge of town.

The moment Lu Mingqiu's signal was cut off, Hei Ge's subsystem lost contact and immediately fed back to him. He sounded the alarm at once and planned to send someone to her aid. In this age of pervasive networks, how could there be a place with no reception—unless it was deliberately caused? Anything involving Oriole warranted excessive caution. Even if it turned out to be a false alarm, he'd rather waste a resource deployment than risk an error.

With Lu Mingqiu absent, he was the highest authority. Hei Ge didn't make a big show of rounding up personnel. He simply messaged the selected members, asking them to return to the Nanjin City base. Bai Ge was within his notification range.

Ever since Hei Ge's consciousness had been uploaded, his twin brother Bai Ge had sunk into depression, staying in his room all day without going out. In recent missions, Lu Mingqiu, considering his state, hadn't called on him. Hei Ge talked to him every day, just like before, though Bai Ge always gave him the cold shoulder. Faced with this younger brother, he was at a loss.

If it weren't for the possibility that Oriole was in danger—a matter of utmost importance—he wouldn't have called Bai Ge.

When his message came through, Bai Ge was lying on the couch, tossing a yellow-green tennis ball up and catching it again. A month had been enough to whittle down the boy with the baby face. The chubby cheeks had vanished, his chin turning sharp. The whole person radiated a chill. His silver-gray hair had grown longer but remained uncut, falling messily over the throw pillow.

Hei Ge's projection quietly materialized in the living room, watching him, not speaking at first. Bai Ge didn't even look at him, absorbed in his game of catch.

"There's a mission. I need you." After a moment, Hei Ge finally spoke. His voice sounded exactly as it had when he was alive—calm, steady, like an older brother, like a pillar of support.

"What mission?" Bai Ge finally glanced at him.

"Oriole has gone off the grid. It's a serious matter. I need you to lead a team to investigate." Hei Ge swiped a hand through the air, and a map appeared. He pointed to the location of Walnut Town. "She went there to investigate Church activity. Just now, I lost contact with her, and I'm not receiving any feedback from her subsystem."

Bai Ge's eyes shifted. He sat up abruptly from the couch. "The Church…" Something flickered in the depths of his gaze. Bai Ge asked slowly, "When do we leave?"

"Pepper and Gold Ring will go with you. Once they return to base, you'll take an airship directly there," Hei Ge said.

"Fine." With that, Bai Ge stood up at once and headed for the door.

"You—" Hei Ge started to speak. He could see his brother was acting out of character, but Bai Ge was an A-rank esper with formidable combat power; he was the obvious choice to lead the team. Still, Hei Ge couldn't shake his concern, not for any other reason than the fact that his brother was far too fixated on the Church. He wanted to offer words of caution, to tell him to stay calm and careful, but the words died in his throat. "Don't forget to pick up some gear from the armory."

"…I will." Bai Ge tightened his grip on the door handle.

He opened the door and stepped out. Just as he was closing it behind him, he could have sworn he heard a sigh. Hei Ge's projection remained in the living room. Every camera in the base was his eyes; he could watch Bai Ge as he walked down the corridor, saw the flame of vengeance burning in his gaze. No matter how many comforting words were spoken, he wasn't truly alive anymore. After his consciousness was uploaded, the mental link between the two had been severed. They had relied on each other for so many years, never once considering they'd be separated, and in such a brutal way at that.

Hei Ge sighed again, silently withdrawing his projection, and went through his usual routine of admonishing Bai Ge—introducing him to the new equipment in the armory, helping him pick out gear worth bringing along. Only in the past, he'd done this through their mental link; now, he had to send him messages one by one through a screen.