A pitch-black night. An abandoned factory. The gunfire had ceased—mission accomplished, total annihilation. Jonathan Black erased all traces that could identify his team's involvement, then ordered everyone to retreat. Far off on a hillside outside the factory, Jill Young checked her phone: "Time's almost up. Let's see what this so-called SD Syndicate rescue is all about."
From the distant sky, a streak of light flew in like a meteor tearing across the heavens. It was a missile, slamming into the factory's outer wall and burrowing deep inside. In the blink of an eye, a blinding flash and a violent explosion swept through everything. Roaring flames clawed at the sky, turning all to molten iron and drifting ash.
On the hillside, Fran Adler, Jill Young, Beatrice Bliss, and the Little Blind Girl stood shoulder to shoulder, silently watching the blaze. Suddenly, Fran threw her arms around Jill and the Little Blind Girl. "Sisters, I won't bother with the thank-yous. We've been through hell together. If you ever come to Israel, I’ll be your guide, your party buddy, your chef, and your Airbnb. Oh, Queen, you could even kick my ass one more time!"
Jill Young patted Fran’s buzz cut and laughed, "Wait till you grow your hair out, girl." She waved her phone. "So, what’s everyone planning next? I’ve got some intel here—just a bunch of transaction records, but if you want to do something, come grab a copy."
Sadly, she hadn’t managed to download the Project Zombie transaction records. Just thinking about it made Jill’s hair stand on end. Could there really be zombies in this world? Sure, it looked the part, but if zombies were real, things would’ve gone completely off the rails by now. The internet would’ve exploded—no way things would still be so calm.
"No thanks, I’m not making any moves for now," Beatrice Bliss shook her head. "With stuff like this, the media’s useless, and the government can’t protect us. If we go public, we’re just putting ourselves in danger. First, we keep ourselves safe, then we investigate in secret. When we finally get a lead on them, we’ll team up and take them down!"
After this short journey, even the so-called angelic healer girl was starting to enjoy the idea of 'taking people out.'
"Yeah, you’re right. We’re too small to make a move. Gotta keep a low profile," Fran agreed. "Firing a missile out in the open? That’s not something any old organization can pull off. Far as I know, any missile launch here gets flagged by multiple countries, especially the US and Russia. Their power is off the charts. But hey, if there’s ever a chance, don’t forget to call me. Oh, Little Blind Girl, we still don’t know your real name—‘Little Blind Girl’ doesn’t sound great, does it?"
The Little Blind Girl smiled sweetly. "Sisters, just call me Nan Nan."
"Hey, you don’t know my name either, do you? Why aren’t you asking me?"
"Doesn't matter. I think 'Queen' suits you perfectly. Chinese names are hard to remember, so I'll just call you 'Queen.'"
The flames lit up the hillside, shining on the four friends' bond. What they didn't know was that, at this very moment, far away, someone else was watching everything unfold.
Someone knelt on the ground, face full of reverence: "Base No. 3 has been wiped out. We'll do a deeper clean-up—no word will get out. We've confirmed today's incident started because of four 'commodities.' They were originally Six of Spades merchandise, but for unknown reasons broke free and fought back hard, ultimately destroying the entire base. They hacked our database and pulled some moves, but our techs shut it down in time—no critical info was leaked."
Across from him, a person seated on a throne slowly opened their eyes: "What are the identities of these four commodities?"
"The other side deleted the database's personal info. Since this was a Base No. 3 solo operation, HQ doesn't have detailed records. But our spy satellite happened to pass over Ukraine—here are the photos." The kneeling figure shuffled forward on their knees, presenting several photos.
It was night in Ukraine, and with clouds and smoke, the images were blurry. Still, you could make out the four figures. Fran Adler and Beatrice Bliss wore steel helmets and weren't recognizable, but Jill Young's platinum hair was impossible to miss. Most crucially, Nan Nan happened to look up at the sky during the shot, her whole face visible in the photo.
But when the person on the throne saw Nan Nan, their brow furrowed sharply, as if they'd seen something unbelievable.
The kneeling figure spoke carefully: "I'll start an immediate investigation and further clean-up."
But the person on the throne waved a hand: "No need. Let them go. This ends here. Don't touch those four again—especially her, understand?" The person pointed at Nan Nan, emphasizing, "Especially her!"
After the kneeling figure left, the man on the throne muttered in confusion, "One of the Six Pillars of the Global Observation Agency... Nan Nan, why are you there?"
Back to Ukraine.
Jonathan Black’s border-crossing skills were next-level. He’d gotten Jill Young, who didn’t even have official documents, into Hong Kong; now he could get all four of them back home. Without Jonathan, they probably wouldn’t have made it out of Ukraine. After saying heartfelt goodbyes to her new sisters, Jill also parted ways with Jonathan.
"I’ve got some business back in the mainland, no idea how long I’ll be gone. Don’t bother me with the little stuff, but if you really need help, call me. If I can come, I’ll come."
After saying goodbye to Jonathan and the others, Jill Young raced home under the night sky. Not to that Beijing hotel, not to Dumb Moe’s place, but to the apartment she’d rented for work. It felt like she’d quit ages ago, but it’d only been a little over a month. The six-month lease was still under Jack Young’s name.
This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page for more!
She tidied up the apartment and checked her gear: pistol, grenades, firepower galore. Then came the jerky, meds, antidotes—fully stocked. Jill took a long shower and changed into loose kung fu clothes—no bra, obviously. She lay down on her long-lost bed, closed her eyes, and drifted into a deep sleep.
Goodbye, complicated feelings…
Time to reunite—bring on those eight-pack abs and all that manly glory!
Open up, unknown world—a brand-new adventure begins!
...In dreams, you forget you’re just a guest; when night falls, you suddenly return home...
Clunk, clunk—the rhythmic sounds and gentle shaking brought Jack Young’s senses back. He didn’t even open his eyes before hearing the breathing and chatter around him. The noises merged into a world of sound, letting him know he was in a foreign subway car.
Insight Technique, third layer—listening to the rain. So handy.
Jack Young opened his eyes—just as he’d heard, there weren’t many passengers. It wasn’t packed. Mostly white and Black folks, with a few more whites. The ads were all in English, and Jack silently thanked Max and all the English-speaking friends—if it weren’t for them, he’d be totally lost right now.
But what kind of world was he in, anyway?
The subway was old, definitely not some futuristic place. Looking at the passengers—tall, short, fat, skinny, all dressed casually, and their energy levels were totally normal. No superpowered dictatorship here. Maybe this really was just a chill foreign vacation? He’d brought some US dollars in his pocket space, so food and drink weren’t a problem. But if that’s all there was, well, kinda disappointing.
Oh well, you can’t change the world. If this place isn’t special, might as well treat it like a vacation. I just conquered the underground fighting world—taking it easy sounds great. Funny how Jill Young closed her eyes fired up for adventure, but Jack Young opened his eyes and thought, "Eh, this is fine."
A normal world. Nice—not even disappointed anymore.
Just then, Jack’s ears twitched—he heard a commotion in the next subway car. Curious, he glanced over and saw three young people—a handsome guy and two pretty girls—all freaking out.
"No, no, stop!" The young man grabbed the emergency brake and yanked hard—nothing happened. "Damn it!"
A skinny girl banged on the subway door, yanking the handle, trying to force it open. But she wasn’t Jill Young, so her kicking and screaming did nothing.
The last girl, a little round-faced, seemed frozen with fear, clutching a metal pole and crying nonstop.
"Hey, chill out, what’s going on?" An afro-haired Black guy walked over to the young man, gesturing like he was breakdancing, rapping slang, a ring in his chin.
"This train—it’s about to derail!" The crying girl stared wide-eyed. "Trust me, it’s going to derail, and we’re all gonna die!"
"Yeah right, did you escape from a psych ward?" The Black guy jumped back, exaggerated. "Whoa, I get it, you’re a terrorist, huh? But babe, remember to get off before you blow it up!"
The commotion drew other passengers. A few gathered around. The crying girl kept repeating, "Derailment," "Death." A bald guy with wild makeup got fed up, clenched his fist and roared, "If you don’t shut up, crazy lady, I’ll make you shut up!"
Seeing the bald guy about to get violent, Jack Young raised his eyebrow and walked over. Whatever her deal was, a grown man threatening a girl with violence was just wrong.
But to be fair, the girl was pretty weird—how did she know the subway was about to derail? Suddenly shouting, "We’re all gonna die"—this scene, this feeling… Where had he heard that before?
Just then, a huge crash rang out—the subway wheels hit something. In a flash, everything flipped upside down. The subway—derailed!
(Folks, time to rewatch the 'Final Destination' series. I’ll try to design even more clever death scenes, and recreate that killer vibe from the movies. It takes some brainpower, so I’ll need to think it over—today, just this chapter.
Also, here’s an Easter egg: In this world, a few 'death god attacks' are based on real-life incidents. When the story wraps up, I’ll post a thread to see if you can spot which ones are real.
Remember, death is everywhere.)