Another Approaching Crisis

Meng Shan spoke candidly: “Drop the act. I don’t believe for a second that you were unaware of the modifications I made to the car. You drove it out yesterday with such fanfare specifically so I could track your location, didn’t you?”

“True. You installed the tracker right in front of me. No need to deny it—I’m not a mechanical illiterate; I recognize hardware when I see it.”

Ever since Meng Shan and Ran Jiuyi had “doxxed” each other’s secrets, they had become far more transparent. Although it was unclear exactly how they viewed one another now, they were certainly no longer enemies.

“Yes, yes, I know. You’re the best. So ‘best’ that you got beaten until you had less than half a head left.”

Ran Jiuyi shot back: “You have a problem? That’s because the opponent was too strong. What does that have to do with me? Don’t tell me that back in your military days, you never met an opponent who completely outclassed you.”

“If we limit the enemies to ordinary humans, I honestly never did,” Meng Shan recalled his past. “But if we aren’t limiting it to ordinary humans, then I met one every few days.”

Ran Jiuyi sighed. “That frequent? It seems no one takes international treaties seriously anymore.”

Decades ago, a war erupted between humanity and superhumans. Though it spanned the globe, the conflict lasted less than a year. The high-ranking leaders of various nations realized that while humanity was stronger in total numbers, winning against superhumans required a price they likely couldn’t afford. Furthermore, aside from long-range nuclear strikes, humanity had no effective solution for the top-tier “Apex” superhumans.

When those elite superhumans jointly declared they would hunt down world leaders, the politicians—realizing the war had become personal—finally agreed to peace talks.

Aside from ending the war, the negotiations produced two famous results:

1. Autonomous Zones: The establishment of superhuman territories ruled by Apex individuals, separating most superhumans from humanity.

2. The Non-Interference Treaty: Any unapproved interference in the other’s territory was deemed illegal. Humans were to be handled by humans, and superhumans by superhumans.

Even a globally wanted superhuman like Ran Jiuyi had to follow this treaty, or face a hunt by numerous powerful beings. Of course, minor issues like cults or small rogue organizations were often overlooked, provided they didn’t cause too much of a stir.

For a powerhouse like Ran Jiuyi, as long as she didn’t interfere in national internal affairs and stuck to freelance commissions, other superhumans rarely bothered her with treaty violations. To counter rogue superhumans active in human lands and randomly generated “monsters”—and to prepare for a potential second war—nations began forming their own superhuman organizations.

The New Common Alliance, where Ran Jiuyi currently resided, focused on developing Magical Girls. The Superhuman Realm seemed indifferent to this; they didn’t even bother with token protests and even sent their own members to participate in human-organized superhuman events. This abnormal behavior made human nations even more cautious.

Regardless, superhumans were strictly forbidden from participating in human wars. Overtly intervening in a war between human nations was considered an open provocation of the treaty.

“Didn’t those powerful old fogies try to wipe out the superhumans who joined the war?” Ran Jiuyi asked. “In my memory, they usually have too much time on their hands.”

“Are you talking about the powerhouses ruling the superhuman nations? They didn’t lift a finger.”

“Why?”

“Likely because they didn’t want to get sucked into human political feuds. Plus, at the time, only the opposition had superhumans in combat. It’s said not a single Magical Girl from this country joined the war. The government probably intended to use the treaty to force powerful superhumans into becoming their free support.”

Meng Shan continued: “After weighing the pros and cons, they didn’t intervene directly. However, they did provide a lot of ‘extra’ aid. According to my inside sources, they made a deal with The Laboratory. The Laboratory would supply the New Common Alliance with advanced equipment capable of rivaling superhumans for a fee. For instance, the exoskeleton armor my squad used was supposedly Laboratory tech.”

Ran Jiuyi pondered this. “I see. Playing the proxy game. No wonder there have been so many superhuman hunting contracts lately. I thought some organization had gone on a genocide spree and gotten itself blacklisted globally.”

Meng Shan looked confused. “You didn’t know? That shouldn’t be right. Given your status, you should have received plenty of commissions related to this.”

“Most of those paid too little. Besides, I don’t like taking ‘kill-only’ contracts. Call it a personal style.”

“What’s your usual style then?”

“Let me think…” Ran Jiuyi paused. “Saving people, taking down illegal superhuman organizations… things that help people without necessarily requiring a kill. Of course, if the pay is high enough, I don’t mind a hit. But only if the target is an irredeemable scumbag. I won’t kill anyone else.”

“You sound surprisingly principled,” Meng Shan noted. “So why do so many countries have bounties on you? I’ve seen your wanted poster—it’s a full deck: massacre, treason, the works.”

“Probably because my actions were too much of an eyesore to the people at the top,” Ran Jiuyi smiled. “You should understand. Often, helping one group of people means offending another, even if you never meant to provoke them.”

Meng Shan nodded. “I understand. I’ve been through that myself. Anyway, back to the main topic. I can stop investigating Cheng Ya, but are you sure that’s a good choice? If she comes back, what will you do?”

“Don’t worry about that. If she wanted me dead, she would have finished it. I’m useful to her, so I won’t be dying anytime soon. Besides, she actually likes me—because in a way, we’re very similar.”

“Fine. If you say so, we’ll leave Cheng Ya alone for now,” Meng Shan added. “What about Werewolf Ken? Is he a problem?”

At the mention of Ken, Ran Jiuyi suddenly remembered something vital. “Right, I forgot to tell you. During my chat with Cheng Ya, she mentioned that Werewolf Ken is currently evolving. It’ll probably be finished in a week or two.”

Meng Shan was speechless. “…That’s the kind of thing you should have told me at the very beginning. But whatever, I’m used to it by now.”

“I just forgot, okay?” Ran Jiuyi said sheepishly. “There’s more bad news. My body is too damaged. To recover to my peak, I’ll need about two weeks.”

“Can you fight during those two weeks?”

“Not really. The damage from the Cheng Ya fight was too severe.”

Meng Shan slapped his hand to his forehead. “So you’re saying that in a week or two, we have to rely on the three kids to fight an evolved werewolf of unknown power?!”

“Don’t be so pessimistic,” Ran Jiuyi said. “In the last fight, the three of them performed well. Their tactics perfectly countered a brawler who only knows melee. I’ve met Ken once; if he’s still at his previous level, they should be fine.”

“I know. I taught them that tactic. The problem is we don’t know how strong he’ll be after evolving. What if he develops long-range capabilities?”

“Oh, you taught them? I thought the three of them had actually grown a brain.” Ran Jiuyi thought about their combat power and added, “If he really evolves like that… then it’s in the hands of fate.”

Meng Shan was silent for a moment. “…In the hands of your fate?”

“You could put it that way… or rather, in the hands of Bian’s fate. Same thing.”

“Fine. I think I get the gist. I hope you know where the line is.”

“By the way, aren’t you going to ask how those three are doing?” Meng Shan asked. “You beat them pretty badly last time.”

“Badly? I don’t think so.” Ran Jiuyi seemed indifferent. “I was very precise. I just gave each of them a small nick and drained a bit of their life force. With Yiziling’s healing and the vitality of a Magical Girl, they just needed a good night’s sleep to be bouncing around the next day. Unlike me—I fought someone and lost half my life.”

Meng Shan shook his head. “I’m not talking about their bodies. I’m talking about their heads.”

“In the six months since they became Magical Girls, they’ve solved every opponent with ease. Once or twice is fine, but after six months, they’ve become conceited. They think combat is simple, easy, and that victory is a given. I’ve told them many times, but they never listened. Fortunately, this city is safe and the monsters have been weaklings, so I let it slide.”

Ran Jiuyi smiled. “Isn’t this a good thing then? I shattered their delusions early. I let them realize how dangerous being a Magical Girl actually is. It’s better than them dying pointlessly because they didn’t know their own limits.”