After confirming that the other party was indeed the contact, Xu Xiangwen and his two companions also stepped out from their hiding place.
"I’ve prepared top-notch steaks for you. Let’s sit down and enjoy them together," Lylek said with warm hospitality.
Wang Lan shook her head. "Activate our assessnt."
"The assessnt began the mont you stepped into my apartnt. I don’t know if there are any hidden rules in your assessnt, but I will relay the rules that I know to you.
This place is your base, your ho, your den. If your residence is discovered and attacked by others, your assessnt is over. An attack can be as minor as throwing a pebble.
Therefore, you must never reveal your whereabouts. Don’t even arouse suspicion. Those gang mbers would rather kill mistakenly than let anyone slip by. They wouldn’t hesitate to blow up an entire building rely on suspicion.
Next, the mission you are undertaking is to fight evil. The bracelets on your wrists will collect data, which will be transmitted to the central computer for scoring. All candidates will be ranked by their team.
From the beginning to the end of the mission, you must not let anyone know your identities. You are legends. Depart without a trace, conceal your deeds and nas. During the assessnt, you belong to no one, and once it’s over, you have no connection to this city.
Oh, and one more thing, there’s a senior detective at the Black Brilliance Area police station nad Jas. He was secretly dispatched by the New Blue Governnt to cooperate with the International Security Council. You can trust this man. Except for him, trust no one. If you need police cooperation or any information, feel free to work with him."
"Didn’t you say we can’t let anyone know our identities or whereabouts?"
"This exception doesn’t conflict with that rule. Firstly, he knew your identities before your assessnt even began; if we counted that, then everyone would be out. Secondly, he is aware of the faction you belong to, but this doesn’t conflict with the previous conditions. You still cannot let him know your true identities or the location of your den. He knows you are with the International Security Council, but that’s all he’s permitted to know."
"Basically, you’re telling us to act as the superheroes of White Eagle Country," Jiang Xinyu remarked.
"You can see it that way. However, superheroes in White Eagle Country are idols worshipped by the nation, while you are rely a dream to the citizens of St. State. Here are your keys. I must go now. Good luck." With that, Lylek nonchalantly departed, leaving Wang Lan and the others staring at each other in bewildernt.
"What do we do next?" Xie Sisi broke the silence.
"Let’s first search the apartnt for supplies to see if there’s anything useful."
Searching for items was a job Xu Xiangwen could handle alone. With his Heavenly Eye activated, a casual scan was all it took to find everything. In the apartnt, the four of them found 50,000 Jade Coins and 50,000 Green Currency, totaling 100,000. Besides daily necessities, nothing else special was discovered. This money was likely the starting funds for Wang Lan’s team.
"Since they want us to play superheroes, let’s do it the superhero way. First off, we need equipnt that can hide our true identities," Wang Lan suggested.
"Do we have to wear tights? That’s so embarrassing!" Xu Xiangwen said, clearly opposed to the idea.
"Who said we have to wear tights? A cloak and a mask should be enough to hide our identities," Jiang Xinyu retorted, also disliking the idea of tights. To her, wearing tights was almost the sa as wearing nothing at all.
"Sothing like that. Let’s go buy cloaks first. Ideally, they should be raincoat-style cloaks, usable on rainy days, and the material must be good enough not to hinder combat."
"Sisi and I will go buy them at a nearby supermarket," said Jiang Xinyu.
"What about our next move? Should Xiangwen monitor the entire Black Brilliance Area and we act when a cri occurs?"
"No problem."
"For now, let’s do this. Xiangwen and I will cook at ho, while Xinyu and Sisi go shopping," Wang Lan said, then threw all the top-notch steaks from the table into the trash.
This was the City of Sin. One couldn’t be too careful here; it was best not to eat food they hadn’t prepared themselves.
Jiang Xinyu and Xie Sisi left imdiately, while Wang Lan and Xu Xiangwen started cooking. Xiangwen casually turned on the TV in the living room. To their surprise, the news was overwhelmingly reporting severe crackdowns on criminal forces in other areas the previous night. There was talk about heroes finally erging to protect the city.
"Damn, did Lylek set us up? Candidates in other areas have already started, and we’ve only just been activated? How many points are we behind?" Xu Xiangwen cried out indignantly.
"It might not necessarily be a bad thing for us. Those criminal gangs targeted by other teams can’t stay where they are, right? When they look at our Black Brilliance Area and see no one cracking down here, won’t they all co running over?"
"That sounds reasonable, but my gut tells it’s definitely not that simple," Xu Xiangwen said while chopping vegetables.
Less than two hours later, Jiang Xinyu and Xie Sisi returned. They brought back eight waterproof cloaks and several masks. The masks were the full-head type, so they wouldn’t fall off easily. The waterproof cloaks were plain black—an earthy color, but the style was quite novel.
Xu Xiangwen put on a cloak and then the mask.
"It looks quite good, just a bit monotonous..." Wang Lan said, stroking her chin. Suddenly, a quirky idea struck her, and a mischievous smile appeared on her face.
Wang Lan took a cloak, placed it on the ironing board, and then found several cans of colored spray paint in the storage room. She cut auspicious cloud patterns out of paper to use as stencils. After a burst of red spray paint, a red cloud soon appeared on the cloak.
After spraying seven or eight more auspicious clouds, she donned the cloak. Instantly, her aura completely changed.
"Not bad at all! Just a few red clouds on the cloak, and the image imdiately becos vivid. It exudes a serious, mysterious vibe. Wang Lan, I didn’t realize you had a talent for costu design."
"And this type of cloak looks good on both n and won," Xie Sisi comnted after trying on a cloak and looking at herself in the mirror. Her aura seed to rise a whole level.
"Now that we have costus, what about our public identity?"
"’Dawn!’" Wang Lan declared. "’Externally, we’ll be abbreviated as Xiao.’"
"’Dawn? The darkest mont before the actual dawn! To end the night and welco the light of a new day—this na has deep aning and fits our role perfectly,’" Jiang Xinyu’s eyes sparkled, as she imdiately grasped the na’s significance.
For Wang Lan, though, ’deep aning’ could go hang; she just wanted to cosplay.
They waited at their residence for a day. Throughout this ti, Xu Xiangwen occasionally activated his Heavenly Eye to scan the area. The city was truly as rumored. By day, it was a bustling, civilized place with well-dressed, courteous individuals. There were no signs of brawls or altercations on the streets.
The sun gradually disappeared below the horizon, and nightfall ca swiftly.
After eight o’clock in the evening, the dayti populace all returned ho. They would either sleep, browse the internet, or watch TV. No matter what happened outside, they wouldn’t even peek.
The outside world no longer belonged to them; it had nothing to do with them.
"Lanzi, about three kiloters away, it looks like two groups are about to clash. Combined, there are almost a hundred of them."
"’Dawn’s first mission! Move out!’" Wang Lan commanded.
With a WHOOSH, the four of them disappeared from the apartnt.
In an abandoned vehicle graveyard, two distinct groups of people were cursing at each other. Most were oddly dressed, sporting tattoos or piercings—basically, the weirder the better.
"General Star Street is my turf! You dared to snatch it while I was away on business? Who gave you the guts?"
"Put, you’re washed up! Still think you’re the Put of old? So what if I took your turf? Not only am I taking General Star Street, I’m gonna devour you too!"
"Alright, it seems so idiot is going to die by my fists today."
"I’ve also broken through to the peak of the Star Cloud Stage now! It’s not certain who’ll live or die yet. Get ’em!"
"’Hack ’em to pieces!’"
Have the underworld mbers here beco so crude and direct? No scheming, just straight to fighting? Compared to the syndicate bosses back ho, these gangs fighting over turf are like kindergarteners, Wang Lan thought, watching from the shadows with the others.
Each side had about a dozen Star Martial Warriors. The strongest were at the peak of the Star Cloud Stage, while the weakest combatants were just ordinary people wielding clubs and bats. These ordinary folk were mostly just shouting and making a scene; the real fierce clashes were between the Star Martial Warriors.
"’Lanzi, two kiloters away, two other groups are exchanging gunfire!’" Xu Xiangwen reported, having spotted more chaos in the distance even before they acted here.
"’Quickly, let’s finish things here!’" As soon as Wang Lan’s words fell, she and the others descended from the sky.
"Who are you?"
Both groups imdiately halted their actions and looked at the four newcors, but what greeted them were not answers, but rciless fists.
Against such trash, they didn’t even need to use Star Martial Skills. Wang Lan took down one gang leader with each punch, directly crippling their Star Palaces. Xie Sisi, wielding a tachi, and Jiang Xinyu, with her ice sword, charged into the enemy ranks as if wading into an unmanned realm.
The plan, decided en route, was simple: cripple the Star Palaces of Star Martial Warriors, and chop off one hand of any ordinary fighters. With about a hundred people in total from both gangs, it took less than a minute for Wang Lan and her team’s assault to leave them all on the ground, wailing.
The two gang leaders, in particular, stared at Wang Lan’s group, clad in their black cloaks with red clouds, their faces etched with despair and terror.
"’Who... who are you people? Why are you targeting us? Who sent you...’"
"’We are Dawn. We have co to pass judgnt on you sinners.’" Wang Lan deliberately lowered her voice, speaking in Japanese, delivering the line with an air of forced coolness.
"’People from the host nation...!’" another gang leader roared, his face contorted with fury.
With a SWOOSH, the four vanished into the night.
BRRRING—
The jarring ring of the telephone sounded. A hairy hand reached out from under the blankets and turned on the bedside lamp. A balding, middle-aged Caucasian man sleepily fumbled for the phone and picked it up.
"Hello, this is Director Qiao Sen of the Black Brilliance Area Police Departnt."
"Director Qiao Sen, there’s just been a gang fight in the abandoned vehicle graveyard."
"’Understood. I’ll send soone to clean up once they’re done fighting.’"
"’They’ve already finished,’ a voice on the other end reported."
"’Got it.’" Qiao Sen muttered and hung up. Wait, which bastard called just now? Doesn’t matter. I’ll make sure he’s fired tomorrow.
Saying this to himself, Qiao Sen crawled back into bed and drifted off to sleep again.
BRRRING— A few minutes later, the irritating sound pierced the silence again. Qiao Sen reached out and grabbed the phone once more.
"’There was a fierce gunfight between two gangs on Clever Thought Street. It’s over now.’"
"’Alright, alright! And listen, I want your resignation letter on my desk before I get to work tomorrow! What’s your na, anyway?’"
"’Dawn!’"
"’Okay, Dawn, you’re fired!’"
It took Qiao Sen several attempts to finally hang up the phone. He burrowed back into his blankets, muttering, Dawn? Is that one of the new recruits?
BRRRING—
Qiao Sen bolted upright in bed, his face now an exceptionally livid shade.
"’Hello?!’"
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