The tails were good. Professional. Lin Mo led them through the neon labyrinth of Jiang City's entertainment district – holographic dancers flickering, bass throbbing through sidewalks.
He ducked into a sensory-overload arcade – "Neo-Nirvana." Strobing lights, screaming teens, VR pods humming. Perfect.
[ENERGY: 42 UNITS]
[SCANNING… 3 TAILS. COMBAT ESTIMATE: LOW 2-STAR WARRIORS. TECH-ENHANCED]
He spotted an empty VR pod. Not for immersion. For its power feed. He ripped the access panel, jamming his ring against live wires.
[ABSORB: ELECTRICAL CURRENT]
Raw voltage flooded him. Painful. Crude. [ENERGY +15 UNITS (WASTED 58%)] Sparks flew. Alarms blared.
The tails converged, pushing through confused gamers. Lin Mo burst from the pod, smoke curling from his sleeves. He fired three Void Fist pulses – weak, draining only 1 Unit each, but precise.
FZZZT!
Each pulse hit a tail's concealed tech – comms earpieces, subcutaneous trackers. They shorted out in bursts of sparks and pained yelps. Blinded and deafened, they faltered.
Lin Mo vanished into the chaotic crowd.
He delivered the credits to the hospital via anonymous drop, watching from afar as Dr. Liu's sour face transformed into shock, then greed. Yu would get her medicine. For now.
Back in the storm drain, the ring pulsed urgently. [INCOMING DATA BURST - ENCRYPTED]
A holographic screen flickered from the ring:
[Sender: ██████]
[Subject: Your Sister's Condition]
[Body: Not poison. Not disease. She's a Catalyst. Her body absorbs ambient ki but can't process it. The Elixir is a stopgap. Find the source of her exposure. Or she crystallizes. Attached: Energy Signature Analysis (Match: Mistveil Canyon)]
Lin Mo's blood turned to ice. Mistveil Canyon. Where Chen Tianhao betrayed him. Where Yu had waited outside the entrance… innocently picking wildflowers.
The canyon hadn't just held the Nineleaf Spirit Herb. It held something else. Something that had seeped into his sister while he fought for his life.
Chen Tianhao knew.