Twenty-three

After seeing Tomie off, Suo Ming found his drowsiness had mostly dissipated. Rubbing his forehead, he walked to the refrigerator to pour himself a glass of milk. Carrying the milk to his computer, Suo Ming glanced out the window.

"Is there really such a thick fog tonight?" Surprised by the dense mist that seemed to have swallowed the world, Suo Ming walked over to the window and, after a moment of hesitation, decided to open it.

A damp, icy chill surged into the warm room like a crashing wave, yet the fog itself seemed blocked by something, unable to penetrate the interior.

Suo Ming stepped back, feeling that the sight before him was not quite right. Fortunately, nothing else happened.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Suo Ming told himself he was just being too sensitive. The bizarre and magical events he had experienced lately had made him a bit paranoid.

It was probably just unusual weather. He waved his hand through the mist, feeling nothing out of the ordinary; the fog, despite its density, lacked any peculiar qualities—it didn't even carry the scent of damp earth.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A violent pounding at the door erupted, accompanied by a man’s frantic cries for help. "Help me! Save me! Open the door! Please!"

Suo Ming pulled open a drawer and retrieved a handgun. He had bought it recently as a precaution, especially after seeing people openly attacking each other with submachine guns in the street.

Fortunately, he had some experience; as a child, he had pestered his parents to take him to a shooting range during his rebellious phase.

Gripping the cold firearm, Suo Ming went to the door and peered through the peephole. Outside stood a man covered in blood, his expression one of extreme fear and panic. He kept glancing back at the street as he pounded on the door, as if something were hunting him.

"Please! Open the door! Save me, someone is hunting me down! I’ll pay you whatever you want!" The man was practically begging. Suo Ming slowly unlocked the door.

The man squeezed inside immediately, locking the door behind him with the frantic air of a survivor, then nervously peered through the peephole again.

"Who are you?" Suo Ming pressed the cold muzzle against the back of the man's head. The man stiffened.

"I’m not a bad guy! I’m really being hunted!" The man immediately pleaded, raising his hands to signal his harmlessness.

Suo Ming hid his own nervousness, his voice cold as he demanded, "Who?"

"It’s my ability! I don’t know why, but when I opened my eyes, there was no one around, and my ability had transformed into a person and started hunting me! It’s this fog! This fog must be someone’s ability!"

With a gun pressed to his head, the man dared not hide anything and spilled everything he knew. He had no intention of resisting. He knew all too well what had happened; the outside world had inexplicably turned into a deserted city of the dead—no people, no lights, just the pervasive fog and his own ability hunting him from behind.

Only this house, amidst the gray-white world, remained lit with warm yellow light.

Suo Ming’s heart sank as he listened. He slowly lowered the gun. The man swallowed hard and turned around cautiously. "Please, let me stay here! If I go out, I’ll die... uh..."

Before the man could finish his sentence, the front door was blasted open by immense force. A non-human creature composed of energy, bearing a striking resemblance to the man, charged in wielding a glowing longsword. Its target was clearly the man who had sought help.

Suo Ming reacted much faster than the exhausted man who had been fleeing. He pulled the man aside and fired three shots at the non-human entity.

Fortunately, Suo Ming’s aim was true. Of the three bullets, one was deflected, but the other two hit their mark—one in the thigh and the other shattering the prominent crystal on the creature's forehead.

With the sound of shattering crystal, the non-human figure instantly dissolved into white light, returning into the man's body.

Having been pulled to the ground, the man stared at this scene in shock. In this moment, Suo Ming looked like a god descended to earth.

Touching his own unharmed body and sensing his ability restored, the burly man, covered in tattoos of demons, burst into tears. He clung to Suo Ming’s leg, blubbering, "My savior! You are my savior!"

Suo Ming hadn't even fully processed what happened until the man started howling while clutching his leg. He calmed down. *That last shot to the forehead must have been the only one that mattered.*

*Is the crystal on the forehead its weakness?*

The burly man was still crying. Suo Ming’s mouth twitched. He had been shaking a bit himself, but seeing the man in such a state made him suddenly calm. He tried to move his leg, but the man held on too tightly.

After enduring it for a moment, Suo Ming couldn't stand the thought of the man wiping snot on his pants any longer and kicked him away. "Enough. It’s over now. You need to leave."

*If this fog can strip away an ability user's power, then Tomie, who just went out...*

The mere thought made Suo Ming’s stomach churn.

The burly man wiped his face, finally calming down a bit. He glanced awkwardly at the world of white mist outside and said tentatively, "Can I stay here for a while? I’ll leave once the fog clears."

The house seemed special, like a safe house. Stealing a glance at Suo Ming, the man concluded that the house was likely so special because the young man before him was a powerful ability user. In the fog zone, ordinary people had vanished, leaving only ability users behind.

"Fine, you can stay." Suo Ming started to walk toward the door. The burly man hurriedly grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"

"To find someone. You can watch the house; I saved you, so you watch the house—it’s a fair trade." Suo Ming swatted the man’s hand away; he didn't want to be entangled with a man who was basically a bear.

The man fell silent for a moment, then said sheepishly, "I’ll go with you. Two people will be faster."

Suo Ming raised an eyebrow. The man closed his eyes with a "do or die" expression. "I just feel safer staying by your side! Please, finish what you started!"

Suo Ming, the "ordinary person," looked at the man—who was stronger than him and possessed an ability—with confusion. *Where did you get that idea? Don't you think something is wrong here? At your size, one punch from you and I’d be in the hospital; you think it's safer by my side?*

In the end, they set off together. The man said his name was Sanman Ryuta, a thug for a security firm. Although it was a security company, they dealt in gray-market work, though unlike the proper mafia, they didn't do contract killings—at most, they handled cargo escort.

Suo Ming’s expression shifted. Sanman Ryuta gave him a glimpse of the true, dark side of Yokohama: chaotic, brutal, and cruel. What he had known before was not even a thousandth of the reality.

Yokohama had its own slums, the lawless Suribachi City; the mafia was already woven into the very marrow of the city. In places the government refused to manage, the mafia maintained basic order. This city was divided into day, night, and twilight, with a delicate and fragile balance maintaining its stability.

After walking for a while, Suo Ming saw in the distance a youth fleeing in a panic, pursued by a giant white tiger.

"There’s someone over there." Suo Ming tightened his grip on the handgun and ran toward the youth. A flash of green light flickered in the eyes of Sanman Ryuta, who was following behind.

"Run! Get away from here!" Atsushi Nakajima shouted a warning as he saw someone running toward him. The "Beast Beneath the Moonlight" that had detached from him was extremely aggressive and could easily attack others.

No sooner had he spoken than the giant tiger lunged at Atsushi, who rolled on the ground to narrowly evade the attack.

Immediately after, the sound of gunfire rang out. Suo Ming couldn't see any crystals on the tiger, so he aimed for its eyes.

The white tiger was distracted and leaped to a spot some distance away from Atsushi. Suo Ming took the opportunity to run over and pull the youth up. "Are you okay?"

Atsushi caught his breath. "I'm fine, thank you." He looked nervously at the white tiger, which was now circling in the distance, seemingly afraid to approach, as if deterred by something.

"Brother Suo Ming is a powerful ability user, so don't worry," Sanman Ryuta said, having been frightened himself, but feeling relieved now that the tiger dared not approach.

"I’m not," Suo Ming retorted, feeling weary. Neither of them believed him. "Thank you. My name is Atsushi Nakajima."

*Atsushi Nakajima?* Suo Ming blinked. Another name from a literary giant.

"嗡——————" Before Suo Ming could respond, a deafening hum resonated through the air. The three of them covered their ears as pale blue energy rippled outward.

The surrounding white mist seemed to have been struck by a heavy blow and suddenly thinned significantly. Suo Ming looked up at the sky. On the black curtain of the heavens, a point of blue light burst forth like a star.

Stellar power gathered in the sky, cold blue energy coalescing until it formed a massive, majestic silhouette. A colossal blue crystal floated in the sky, and then it began to crack and dissipate, revealing what lay within.

It was a magnificent and solemn giant sword. Blue, mist-like energy swirled around it, and a deep blue gem at the hilt emitted a steady, dazzling light. However, if one looked closely, fine cracks could be seen appearing on the blade.

"The Damocles Sword of the Blue King," Sanman Ryuta muttered, a flicker of fanaticism in his eyes, which he quickly suppressed.