Poison City

One functional gun with twenty shots, two tasers, some knives, throwing blades and darts, that was all the old friend of Luoshan Zi could promise. Per Luoshan Zi’s understanding of everyone in there, the gun would probably be left for Turner Ouyang - a young academic who still had some edge to him. The throwing blades and darts would be taken by Gloria, while the tasers would be given to Tae Kuo and Sue. As for the knives, maybe they’d be taken by Gloria, or Tae Kuo.

The night was quiet, despite the rumblings earlier and the lightning storm rampaging through a not-so-distant part of the district. It was not a populated area, to her recollection.

The abandoned apartment chosen by Gloria and her friends was indeed quite a smart touch, as she and her friends did the same just moments earlier - only in a different neighborhood, one that was smaller in raw footage, but slightly higher in density of homes. She sent out signals to all of her old friends and comrades already, and hopefully they would come to meet her soon. Right now, she had something else in mind - she needed to find the noodle shop of Chef Tang.

The noodle shop was not that far away, and with her pushing her Qi, it only took her less than twenty minutes. It was already late at night, but the shop should have people on duty 24 hours a day.

After checking around her a few times to make sure no one was following her, Luoshan Zi walked up to a back window of the now closed up noodle shop. There were three metal bells, one red, one yellow, and one black. She ran her fingers at all three of them, then ran all three at the same time.

The red bell was meant for calling for help regarding urgent situations and incidents of paranormality; the yellow bell was meant for calling for help regarding dire civilian situations; and as for the black one, it was meant for severe emergencies of any kind.

“Ringing three bells? This better be something really, really important, or really, really bad. ” The staffer who opened the door sneered: “And you know what happens if what you’ve got is just some random request? ”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get a beating, probably permanently banned, and force fed your signature bitter soup.” Luoshan Zi sighed: “Save all of it, I’m an old returning customer. I want to place an order for a takeout delivery.”

“Takeout delivery, huh?” The staffer clicked his tongue: “What’s so important, or urgent?”

“I’d prefer we talk inside, and with the chef present.” Luoshan Zi handed a small wad of bills to the staffer, while handling a small wooden plaque with her name on it.

“Ms - Luoshan Zi, Cloud Walker, and owner of Zishan Cafe.” The staffer took the cash, pouted, then nodded at Luoshan Zi: “Alright, I’ll alert the chef. You may come in.”

Luoshan Zi went in through the back door. Another staffer served her some tea, and a small bowl of rice noodle soup.

“Is this a dish with new meaning, or is it just some kind of daily special?” Luoshan Zi frowned.

“Just leftovers from today’s experimental recipe.” The staffer shrugged: “The chef would like some honest feedback.”

Luoshan Zi took a sip and then put some rice noodles into her mouth. The noodles were just the right amount of spongy and soft, the soup was just a touch too salty but flavorful: “Mmm, not bad, actually. A bit too salty.”

“Is it now?” The voice of Chef Tang came through one of the interior doors.

“Chef.” Luoshan Zi stood up and bowed: “I didn't think you’d come this soon - ”

“I was just around the block, couldn’t sleep.” Chef Tang shook his head: “That thunderstorm, and that foul patch of dark cloud slowly moving up north are really messing up my sleep and my peace. So - what do you need for a take out delivery, Master Zi?”

“I need the map, blueprint and preferably personnel details in that unfinished, abandoned subway tunnel.” Luoshan Zi nodded.

“Okay, you wanna tell me the reason? ” Chef Tang asked.

“I - I can’t.  ” Luoshan Zi stammered for a brief moment, then still shook her head. It was not that she didn’t trust the chef, it was more that she did not trust those working for the chef - she barely knew any of them. And the act of them rescuing the scholars and sages would not doubt only benefit from this secrecy.

“Understandable. And payment?” Chef Tang smiled, shook his head and picked up his cup of tea served by the staffer.

“My ledger. And - I would like to trade in something.” Luoshan Zi lowered her voice and looked around.

Chef Tang understood the gesture, so he waved to dismiss all the staffers.

“This is gonna be a bit of a trade in and - and asking for a favor, if possible.” Luoshan Zi hesitated.

“Okay, I’m all ears. But the favor - it’s no guarantee.”

Luoshan Zi thought for a brief moment before speaking: “I’ve got pretty solid intelligence, that the people running the grand kidnapping operation are operating in some place hidden inside of a datacenter.” 

“A datacenter?”

“Yes, a data center. And I believe there is only in the vicinity of the city - ”

“The one in the Northern District, near the lake, and serving as an informational server location for all three major power companies as well as the city’s banks.”

“Yeah - yeah, that one.” Luoshan Zi’s stomach rumbled. This was a dangerous move. But hopefully it could serve as some kind of insurance policy for Gloria. As for Marcus, maybe he’d be insured as well.