"A-Are you okay? What about them? Did they do anything to you?" Rainie Cheng rushed over, grabbing Shawn Young's shoulder with genuine concern. She noticed his face looked pale.
"I'm... I'm fine. But they—they all ran away..." Shawn Young replied, looking completely spaced out.
"What? We were just about to close the net, and you—you let them all get away!? Seriously, how could you mess this up!? Do you even know how much effort we put into today's plan? You—" Jade Swann instantly panicked at the news.
"I don't know? If you're so amazing, why didn't you catch them yourself? I didn't see you nab a single one! Seriously—" Shawn Young, already feeling down, snapped back at Jade Swann without holding back.
"Oh, you brat! You dare look down on me? You want a beating, huh?" Jade Swann's voice grew louder—her temper was always fiery, and she couldn't stand being talked to like that.
"What? Am I wrong? Did you catch even one? You can't even handle yourself, let alone catch anyone! What a joke—" Shawn Young fired back, going toe-to-toe with Jade Swann.
"Damn it, brat, don't think just because you went undercover you're some kind of hero. Watch me slap you silly—" Jade Swann was so triggered by Shawn Young's words, she started cursing, ready to throw hands.
"Jade, chill out. I believe Shawn did his best!" Rainie Cheng quickly stepped in to stop Jade Swann from going off the rails, then shot Shawn a look, hinting he shouldn't take Jade too seriously.
Seeing the situation, Shawn Young didn't want Rainie Cheng to get caught in the middle, so he quietly slipped into a police car.
"But Rainie, I just can't let it go! That was such a golden opportunity! And now it's gone—ugh! We totally botched this mission—" Jade Swann fumed, but since Shawn Young was Rainie's guy and the two women were like sisters, she didn't want to make things hard for Rainie. Still, she shot a fierce glare at Shawn, who was zoning out in the police car.
"Jade, none of us expected things to get so complicated. Andrew Qi actually betrayed us and took over, even teaming up with the Japanese! And the Thirteen Enforcers are way tougher than we thought. Forget those insanely skilled Japanese fighters—the way Andrew Qi fights, he's at least as good as you!" Rainie Cheng explained honestly.
Jade Swann thought back and realized it was true—everyone she faced today was a top-tier master. Besides Andrew Qi, there was that ninja who popped up out of nowhere, with skills off the charts. She stomped her foot in frustration and grumbled, "Ugh—if I'd known they had so many experts, I would've called in more aces from the Special Abilities Taskforce!"
"Jade, it's not like we came up empty-handed. At least we caught Tiger Cloud, and we found several Thirteen Enforcers hideouts. I bet these wins will cost them big and keep them quiet for a while. We'll get another shot to wipe them out later!" Rainie Cheng tried to reassure her.
"I hope so... Ugh, when we get back, I have no idea how I'm supposed to write up this mission report!" Jade Swann groaned, totally exasperated.
"Don't stress, Jade. I'll help you with the paperwork. After this mission, we've learned the Thirteen Enforcers are ancient and deeply rooted—their real strength is way more than we thought. And from what happened, they're tied to other organizations around the world. Trying to take them down all at once isn't realistic, so if we want to move against them, we need to be fully prepared." Rainie Cheng said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, even ninjas and the Nine Chrysanthemums Society showed up. Looks like Andrew Qi has some serious connections with the Japanese! If he can get their top fighters to help him, that guy must have a ton of secrets." Jade Swann said.
"Exactly. In Japan, not many groups can call on ninjas, and even fewer can get the Nine Chrysanthemums Society involved. Besides the Yamaguchi Syndicate, maybe only the Black Dragon Society, which is close to the government, could pull that off! So Andrew Qi isn't just grabbing power—he must have some huge deal going on with the Japanese!" Rainie Cheng analyzed.
"Ugh, all this tangled mess just gives me a headache. Best way to deal with these creeps would be to just shoot them all!—Oh right, Rainie, how did that guy pull off our Celestial Thunder Society's thunder magic? Didn't you say he was just a regular college student?" Jade Swann suddenly remembered Shawn Young using the Thunderstrike Spell on Tiger Cloud.
"Um—Shawn really is just a normal college student, you must've been mistaken," Rainie Cheng replied quickly, remembering Shawn's warning.
"I'm pretty sure I wasn't wrong. I've practiced the Celestial Thunder Society's thunder spells since I was a kid, so I recognized it the moment I heard the chant—and the spell was pretty strong, too. Weird, my sect's never had anyone like him before. Nope, I need to ask him myself—" Jade Swann seemed to forget their earlier spat and walked over to the police car, only to find Shawn Young already fast asleep in the seat.
Turns out, when Shawn Young unleashed the Fivefold Thunder Spell against Andrew Qi earlier, almost all his "Celestial Supreme Qi" in his spirit sea was drained. Using that kind of power takes serious mental strength, and Shawn was just a rookie at Daoist arts—no wonder he couldn't control it well. So the moment he got in the car, a wave of exhaustion hit him and he passed out cold.
"Seriously, kid? You just fall asleep like that! So unfair—wake up already!" Jade Swann complained.
Rainie Cheng hurried over to check. Even though Shawn Young still looked like 'Guo Fenglin', he was obviously exhausted. She said, "He must be really wiped out, Jade. Just let him sleep it off."
Jade Swann pouted helplessly, but suddenly felt something was off. She reached out and placed her hand on Shawn Young's pulse, sending in her energy to check for any thunder magic inside him—after all, anyone who practiced Celestial Thunder Society's true qi would have a unique surging vibe in their meridians.
But to her disappointment, there was no trace of thunder qi in Shawn's meridians—not even a hint of true qi at all. Jade Swann was totally baffled and muttered, "Weird, how did he blast Warren Cloud with that thunder spell? It's like I've seen a ghost, I just can't figure it out!!"
Rainie Cheng asked, "Jade, what can't you figure out?"
Jade Swann shook her head and said, "I don't get how he pulled off that thunder spell with no thunder qi in his body! That's just impossible. Nope, I need to go ask Master about this when I get back!"
"Alright, let's head back. We've still got a ton of cleanup to do!" Rainie Cheng said, waving to the surrounding SWAT officers. "Alright! Wrap it up!"