Over the next few days, Li Ang bustled about various places in Japan, inspecting factories by day and going out for drinks and als with local businesspeople by night.
After six days of busy work for the company, Li Ang could finally relax and go sightseeing at places like Skytree Tower, Ginza, Asakusa Temple, Shibuya, and Akihabara, buying figurines and rchandise.
Tokyo Sky Tree, iji Shrine, Disney...
Li Ang sat on the subway returning to the hotel, his finger sliding across the phone screen, editing photos to post on his social dia feed.
BUZZ BUZZ—
The phone vibrated, displaying an unknown caller.
Li Ang hesitated before pressing the answer button. As a corporate "slave," it was very likely to be a call from a prospective client, and he had to take it.
"Hello? Yes?"
His greeting went unanswered, and the earpiece crackled with dense static. Even when he increased the volu and pressed the phone closer, all he could make out were so extrely muffled voices.
"...if... encounter... danger, look at... your... right hand..."
The voice seed to be that of a woman. Li Ang said "hello" several tis, but the call on the other end hung up automatically.
What the hell... Li Ang frowned, putting down his phone. A prank call? And what’s this about looking at my right hand?
He glanced at his right palm, which was intact, with a normal life line, wisdom line, and marriage line.
As for the back of his hand, there was indeed a scrape. He’d gotten it accidentally when he picked up the teorite on the beach. The wound was very shallow and had already scabbed over, its color nearly identical to the surrounding skin.
The subway stopped, and eight individuals wearing masks, dressed in black suits, and carrying briefcases entered the carriage, each looking for a seat or holding onto a strap while standing.
Li Ang hooked his foot around the large pile of shopping bags he had accumulated and, as the subway started moving again, continued swiping on his phone screen.
DING-DONG.
A notification popped up at the top of the screen about recent news of a joint military exercise in the Western Pacific conducted by the permanent mbers of the United Nations.
It seed pretty serious.
He clicked on the news article. The military exercise site was filled with a large number of fighter jets and warships, including eight aircraft carriers. Besides the permanent mbers, vessels from Canada, Australia, South Korea, and India also participated, or rather, observed the joint exercise.
Is this the build-up to a world war? Or have humans finally encountered hostile aliens?
Li Ang’s thoughts drifted idly as he recalled the frequent sounds of jet fighters zooming overhead in Tokyo these past few days.
"Everybody, freeze!"
A roar jerked him from his thoughts. Li Ang, belatedly aware, looked up to see the black-suited n, who looked like corporate employees, had stood up.
They pressed buttons on their briefcases, and the sides automatically opened, revealing hidden UMP45 submachine guns.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
One of the n in black aid the silenced muzzle at the carriage’s cara.
The sharp and loud gunfire, the bright flash from the gun barrel, the tal shell casings clattering to the ground, and the surveillance cara shattering in response—all of it shattered the fragile hope that this was just performance art or a flash mob.
People imdiately started screaming in terror. A group of high school students at the end of the carriage panicked and ran towards the next carriage. Just as they reached the door, they were targeted by the muzzles of the black-suited n’s guns.
Gunshots rang out, and the three high school students fell almost simultaneously, their blood splattering onto Li Ang’s bewildered face.
What—what’s happening?
He subconsciously wiped his face, feeling the warm blood, and seeing the three bodies lying not far from his feet, his brain montarily froze.
"Everyone, hands up and stay seated!"
The apparent leader of the n in black shouted in Japanese. One of his subordinates took out a tripod, cara, and a laptop with a Bluetooth network card from a briefcase, expertly and quickly setting up the live broadcast equipnt.
Facing the dark muzzles, people dared not resist and followed orders—the situation was the sa in at least the adjacent carriages, where other n in black suits had also produced weapons and taken hostages.
"This world is sick."
The leader in the black suit removed his mask, revealing a face with a scar. He addressed the cara that had been set up and connected to the livestream platform, "People have lost their faith, are selfish, and have forgotten the teachings of the True Father.
"The world will eventually be destroyed, and only by doing the right things can we delay the day of destruction. The recent teorite is a revelation from the True Father!
"I will fulfill the True Father’s will and cleanse the world."
A fanatical expression crossed his face, and he turned towards a middle-aged woman holding a basket of vegetables, her face stricken with fear. Despite her pleas, he pulled the trigger.
The crowd erupted in even louder screams, but it was futile.
The black-suited n, caught in their fervor, ignored the pleading and resistance, cruelly pulling their triggers. Under the watch of the live-streaming cara, they harvested life after life.
It was almost Li Ang’s turn.
Blood rushed to his brain, intense fear triggered goosebumps all over his body, and his raised palms trembled uncontrollably. Blood seeped from the scratches on the back of his hand.
A man in a black suit stood in front of him, the muzzle of his gun angled towards him. At such a close distance, any sign of resistance would result in instant death.
Gunshots from the left side of the carriage grew increasingly nearer. Li Ang swallowed hard, his feet slowly moving under the seat, hooking a wrapped figurine package.
He kicked fiercely, and the package slid across the floor, hitting the base of the opposite seat.
The black-suited man in front of him heard the noise and instinctively turned, gun raised.
Now!
Li Ang leaped up, his left hand shooting under the black-suited man’s left armpit to grip his neck, while his right hand forcefully smashed the man’s right arm.
Taken by surprise, the black-suited man’s submachine gun fell from his grasp.
Li Ang lunged forward, forcing the man to bend over while he snatched the gun from the ground and aid it at the black-suited leader at the end of the carriage.
"Drop your guns!"
The black-suited n yelled loudly, their cries interspersed with Korean, all muzzles pointed at Li Ang and the man he held hostage.
"You drop your guns!"
Li Ang shouted back just as loud, clinging desperately to the "hostage," and retreated to a corner of the carriage.
One against seven. Having only been through two weeks of military training at university, Li Ang had no confidence he could kill them, let alone escape unhard.
During the standoff, the scar-faced leader of the black-suited n inhaled deeply and suddenly smiled. "Dear brother, the True Father will welco you to heaven."
He swiftly raised his gun and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
Several bullets spun towards Li Ang. Since the "hostage" wasn’t wearing a bulletproof vest, the bullets would surely pass through him and hit Li Ang.
Am I going to die?
Ti seed to stand still at that mont, every detail vividly clear before his eyes: the fearful crowd, the muzzle-flashes, the reflections on the tal handrails, and the scratches on the back of his right hand from which blood continued to ooze.
The blood surged, shifting from red to black, rising like ferrofluid into sharp spikes.
That wasn’t blood, but sothing else.
PFFT.
The bullets had undoubtedly passed through the hostage’s body, splashing droplets of blood, but they ca to a sudden halt and ricocheted off Li Ang’s clothes.
It was the black blood’s doing.
A large amount of ferrofluid-like substance erupted from the wound on the back of his hand, seeped into Li Ang’s clothes, and deflected the bullets.
The unknown caller had told the truth.
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