“So it means - whoever sent those men was never expecting them to live, not for long.” Gloria nodded at Marcus, unable to hide the disdain and what little shock she had.

Marcus nodded back. He knew those that were willing to perform that kind of sacrificial rituals were not above this. It still gave him the chills and unease in his stomach whenever he came face to face with the evidence of their deeds.

“Smart, huh?” Chef Tang chuckled, then sighed: “It’s not that difficult a thing to do. Sloppy and crude, even, but they’ve got people who believe them enough to wear these.”

“Wait. These are not from the - those fighters in cloaks right?” Gloria scratched her head while looking at Marcus: “It’s from one of those suckers - I mean lowly henchmen.”

“Yes. And they don’t know how to fight either. They are pretty much doing grunt work for them. In our case they are the ones trying to flush us out, while the cloaked ones would be the ones to actually take the shots.” Marcus nodded: “Their employer definitely didn’t care enough about them. The cloaked assassins would have finished them off if they did get us.”

“Speculations, likely, but still speculations, and not that helpful to me.” Chef Tang raised his left eyebrow: “What else do you have for me? And what else do you want?”

“What happened to the guy’s allies, family and friends? I mean the one who got killed for trying to launch the campaign.” Gloria asked: “We want ways to track them down, if there’s any - ”

“That’s - you may not know about this. But this is a hefty secret to own and know. And what you have told me so far is still a long way to go to cover it.” Chef Tang looked Marcus straight in his eyes before turning to Gloria: “But here’s the thing - tell me what else you can about what the Lady in White said, and what her place is like, what her situation is, and we’d call it even, how about that?”

Marcus sighed and exchanged looks with Gloria. Neither of them was very willing to do this. For in some way, it felt like betraying the trust given to them.

“We can share what we can - what is justified to.” Marcus narrowed his eyes: “What do you want to know?”

“You mentioned her identity - her being from - from that folktale of our childhood.” Chef Tang scratched his jaw: “Is it true? How can you be so certain?”

“It is true. I am fairly certain of it.” Marucs nodded: “And we saw evidence of it - but as for what kind of evidence it is, I’m afraid I can’t just tell you, for it would be disrespectful to her and her memory. Just know that the old ruins were once their place of rest - and retirement, until things changed.”

“Okay.” Chef Tang could not control his smile, his eyes even glimmered: “And - I assume she told you a lot of secrets, and I assume she would have her eyes over the city, even if she stopped showing herself to us. So tell me - what does she know about what’s going on in the city? How much does she know?”

“She knows enough. She saw a lot of it.” Gloria answered.

“Okay, now weigh your answer carefully on this one.” Chef Tang considered for a moment: “What did she say regarding those that orchestrated and organized all of this - where are they operating from, are they still as powerful as they were in the last cycle?”

“Oh!” Gloria almost jumped at this question, pleasantly surprised and almost unable to suppress her excitement: “She said they were no longer very organized, and - and they dwell in buildings of liquid lightning, so basically - ”

“Power corporation buildings, yeah, just as we suspect.” Chef Tang nodded: “It’s - it’s a reasonable course of action, actually, albeit somewhat - somewhat pitifully dark.” After this sentence, the Chef submerged in his thoughts without posting another question.

“Would this be enough?” Marcus asked: “Chef?”

“Oh, my apologies.” Chef Tang came to, seemingly having made a decision of sorts: “Just had some - some things come up.”

“Do you think this would be enough? ” Marcus nodded, not minding this at all.

“Yes. Yes. I think so.” Chef Tang smiled.

“You - you’re not going to go after them directly, are you Chef?” Gloria asked, frowning and worried: “Please don’t - even if they’re disorganized for now, they’re still very powerful and we have no idea what they’re capable of. They just set up a trap trying to murder a police officer, for goodness sake.”

“No. And what I’m about to do with this information shouldn’t concern you. ” Chef Tang shook his head, returning to his stern, kind but slightly distant state: “But - thank you for your concern.”

“But - but if you do. Please let us know.” Gloria added: “I have some bones to pick with them.”

“I’ll - I’ll let you know.” Chef Tang chuckled, before turning to Marcus: “That man was single for all his life. He had some friends and allies in his campaign, most of whom either betrayed him, or disappeared. There remained only one - an extremely gifted young fighter at the time, who was only tangentially involved, but was so powerful, that even they as a whole could not do anything to him. Thus, a pact was made - for peace to remain, and for the man’s efforts and legacy to remain unsullied and unruined, they would stop going after him, and devote what resources they can to keep everything in check. While he would be locked in oblivion, serving as the silent pillar of this fragile peace. You know him, Detective Cai.”

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