#hanlengjun 01

He may only be armed with a wooden sword, but Jin Ling knows a demonic creature when he sees one. Not one to let prey slip away, he is already drawing his wooden blade.

“I trust you’re enjoying yourself,” Giovanni says tonelessly, his hands clasped together in his lap. His voice breaks the quiet, echoing ever so faintly in the large, nearly-empty expanse of the room. The dining area is lavish and built to accommodate a large gathering of people, but is currently occupied only by Giovanni, Mobei, and their guards.

The large table at which Giovanni and Mobei sit is full, however, covered in the sort of food that’s almost too expensive to waste by actually eating it. Giovanni has barely touched his own meal beyond an initial demonstration that nothing here is poisoned-- not that offering such proof is particularly necessary. Mobei must know that such an indirect method of murder is not Giovanni’s style, and that even if it were, the mob boss wouldn’t dare try anything of the sort tonight.

Not with Silver’s location still unknown and his safety uncertain.

“I would usually save the business talk for after dinner, Mr. Mobei, but I think it appropriate to begin now. You have bested me; I must say, I am impressed. No one else has ever before dared to cross this particular line, much less manage to succeed. You have my attention now, and I suggest you make good use of it.”

This one wasn’t the first and would never be the last. ‘The chosen’, the ‘powerful’, ‘the targets’, the ones carefully elected to be part of their faceless mindgame where a few could pull the strings of a company, of a nation, and behind them, the shadows cast by their throne. 

This ‘Mobei’ had proved to be a powerful, dangerous and equally interesting candidate. Judar never chose them, but they were chosen for him. But this one? This one was promising. He could sense it.

The meeting had been arranged on one of the towers overlooking the city. A tall, magnificent building of glass which reminded him of the surface of a frozen lake. Inside that tower, it felt colder. 

Judar’s presence was announced and quickly communicated to the CEO. A meeting, an invitation, that dangerous man probably knew the reasons behind his visit. Few of the most powerful received him, those worthy of becoming ‘dark kings’ as they called them. And Mobei had been chosen. 

This was a mixture of ‘obligation’ and personal interest. And Judar wanted to believe it was only the latter. It made his life feel less controlled and more chaotic.