The night in Yuanxing City’s First Commercial District was no different from the day; neon lights illuminated the entire street as if it were broad daylight. Electronic billboards at the street corners cycled through advertisements for everything from Punisher equipment to gene potions and new weaponry—the more expensive the item, the more airtime it received.
The shops on both sides were brightly lit, with goods in the display windows shimmering under the lights. The foot traffic was slightly thinner than during the day, with office workers in suits replaced by young men and women in casual wear. Some carried bags of newly bought clothes, while others stood in line in front of milk tea shops.
Occasionally, students wearing Punisher Academy uniforms could be seen, likely out to purchase equipment before their curfew.
The air was a mismatch of scents: the smell of caramel wafting from milk tea shops, the savory aroma of frying oil from chicken stands, and the perfume sprayed outside a cosmetics store. They blended together in a discordant yet not unpleasant way.
Luo Yang was very familiar with this place. He led Yan Zhi across half the pedestrian street, circling around the fountain sculpture at its center.
The sculpture was an abstract humanoid figure holding a ring, with a glowing energy stone embedded within. The artificial water system churned with silver-white waves under the lights, and the night breeze scattered droplets that felt cool against the skin.
Several couples were gathered around the fountain taking photos, and a street performer held a guitar, singing a song that was muffled by the sounds of water and the crowd.
Turning into a narrow alley off the side of the pedestrian street, they reached a digital products shop at the end of the short path.
The shop wasn't large, and the sign above the door had been there for many years. The words were written in large, hand-painted gold leaf, though half of the last character of “Digital Port” had peeled off. Regular customers recognized it nonetheless.
A few new phone models were displayed in the glass window next to a small, hand-written sign that read: “Cangliu Technology flagship new arrivals.” The handwriting was sloppy, and the ink looked fresh. Anti-collision strips were pasted at the bottom of the window, speckled with a few uncleaned coffee stains.
Luo Yang pushed open the glass door. There was only one person inside: the owner, Old Xing, who was leaning on the counter with one hand propping up his chin and the other scrolling through something on his phone.
Hearing the movement, he looked up and squinted at the light from the door before suddenly sitting bolt upright.
“Oho!” Old Xing slapped his phone down on the counter, the screen still lit. “If it isn't Luo Yang? What wind blew you in today?”
“The north wind,” Luo Yang said as he walked to the counter, tapping his fingers against the glass surface. “Old Xing, your shop is still open? I thought you’d have gone bankrupt by now.”
“Bankrupt?” Old Xing walked out from behind the counter. He looked to be in his early forties, slightly plump, with a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a gray T-shirt with the words “Cangliu Technology Authorized Dealer” printed on it.
The hem of his T-shirt was tucked into his jeans, and a large ring of keys hung from his waist.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Out of all the phone shops on this street, mine actually has the best business.”
“The last character on your sign is about to fall off.”
“That’s called vintage style. What do you know?” Old Xing dragged a round stool over from the corner. “Come, sit. Who’s this little girl? Did you kidnap her?”
“She’s from a relative’s family.” Luo Yang pulled Yan Zhi in front of him, resting his hands on her shoulders. “A-Zhi, say hello to Uncle Xing.”
“Hello, Uncle Xing,” Yan Zhi said obediently.
“Hello, hello.” Old Xing crouched down, rummaged under the counter, and pulled out a lollipop to hand to her. “Here, take this.”
This time, Yan Zhi didn't wait for Luo Yang's permission. She took it, unwrapped the paper, and popped it into her mouth. Her cheek bulged once again, this time with a strawberry-flavored candy.
Luo Yang didn't pay it much mind; his gaze was already scanning the display models in the counter.
“So, what brings you here today?” Old Xing sat back behind the counter. His fingers tapped the keyboard twice, and the screen lit up to an inventory page for several phone models.
“My phone is broken; I’m here for a new one,” Luo Yang said.
“I remember you bought that phone just last year, and it didn’t take long for the screen to get smashed like that.” Old Xing sighed. “How did it break this time?”
“Bitten by a mutant beast.”
Old Xing’s hand stopped mid-tap. His fingers hovered in the air, and he didn't speak for several seconds.
He slowly turned his head, his expression suggesting he was trying to determine if Luo Yang was joking.
Then he saw the small patch of pale pink skin peeking out from the edge of Luo Yang’s collar, just below his collarbone.
“I see. With the chaos in South City yesterday, you were bound to be there.” He didn't press further and placed two bottles of mineral water on the table. “Since it’s for a Punisher, we need something durable. Cangliu’s products have top-tier quality.”
“Don’t you say that about every brand?”
“This time is different. This model from Cangliu is a real beast.” Old Xing pulled a display model from under the counter and set it down. The body was all black with a matte texture, and the frame glinted with a dark gold metallic sheen under the lights. The camera module on the back was arranged uniquely, following an irregular diagonal line rather than the standard circular design seen everywhere else.
He flexed his wrist and suddenly raised the phone above his head, slamming it hard against the ground.
With a muffled thud, Yan Zhi even paused her sucking on the candy. The phone bounced twice on the floor and landed in the tiled aisle.
Old Xing bent over to pick it up, wiped the screen with the hem of his T-shirt, and turned it around to show Luo Yang.
There wasn't even a scratch on the screen.
“What’s wrong with you, smashing things the moment we start?” Luo Yang couldn't help but laugh.
“It’s a sales tactic.”
Old Xing placed the model in front of Luo Yang. “Cangliu Technology’s latest flagship, the RiseX9 Pro. It’s only been out for two months. It uses the Heaven’s Sanction series, the most powerful processors on the market. The protective outer shell is a new alloy co-developed with the military. It can basically ignore pure physical impacts from anyone below the Clear Heart level.”
He added, “Other brands would be bragging if they said that, but Cangliu is a military-licensed enterprise, you know that.”
Luo Yang picked it up and weighed it; it had some heft. The beveled edges were comfortable, fitting perfectly in his palm.
He flipped the phone over and noticed a tiny inscription next to the camera module, engraved with “Cangliu Technology” and a serial number.
“How’s the signal?” Luo Yang put the phone back on the counter. “I don’t just use it in the city. Sometimes I have to go into combat zones where the signal is very weak. If the reception is poor and I can’t get in touch at a critical moment, it’s no different from a brick.”
Old Xing leaned back in his chair, twirling a ballpoint pen between his fingers. The curve of his lips widened as if he had been waiting for Luo Yang to ask this.
“I knew you’d bring that up.”
He set the pen on the counter. “The signal module in this phone is specifically customized for Punishers like you. It has a built-in signal enhancement chip independently produced by Cangliu Technology. Their boss spent a fortune to buy the patent technology from Tianlan Group. Its signal sensitivity is a massive step up from ordinary phones.”
“Tianlan Group?” Luo Yang raised an eyebrow. “Isn't that a company from the capital? A global giant in the electronic information industry.”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Cangliu bought their best signal chip technology and used it in their own phones. As long as there’s even a tiny bit of signal around, this machine can connect you.”
He said, “Let me demonstrate.”
“Sure.” Old Xing took the model he had just slammed, opened the settings, found the signal strength detection page, and showed it to Luo Yang. At the same time, he took out his own phone and opened the same interface, placing the two phones side-by-side on the counter.
Old Xing’s older model showed a signal strength of three bars, occasionally dropping to two. The X9 Pro beside it held a steady four bars with almost no fluctuation.
The shop itself was deep in an alley, with the surrounding buildings blocking most of the signal from the base stations. Reception generally took a hit once inside. Luo Yang looked at his own phone, then at Old Xing’s, and gave a small nod.
“Alright, I’ll take this one. How much?”
“Normally, I have to at least recover the cost,” Old Xing said with a look of utmost sincerity. “But given our years of friendship, I’ll give you a discount. I’ll round it down and charge you six thousand eight hundred.”
Luo Yang was silent for a few seconds, his brow twitching. It was unclear if he was doing mental math or hesitating.
“...Charge it.” He tossed his bank card onto the counter.
Yan Zhi sat on the round stool, her legs swinging back and forth as her soles brushed against the floor tiles. She sucked the last bit of sweetness from the candy and began to fidget with the plastic stick, making it creak between her fingers.
Old Xing quickly handed over the invoice and the receipt. Luo Yang picked up the pen and scribbled his name, picked up the bag containing the phone box, and then took Yan Zhi by the wrist.
“Let’s go. Time to head home.”
“Come back again soon!” Old Xing shouted from behind them. “And don't ask for a discount next time; my heart bleeds every time I give you one!”
“You're just stingy!” Luo Yang replied without looking back.
The spring hinge on the glass door slowly closed with a long, drawn-out creak.
Walking out of the alley, the crowd of the pedestrian street surged before them again. Luo Yang stopped, wanting Yan Zhi to grab the hem of his shirt again so they wouldn't get separated. His gaze drifted past the crowd and landed near the fountain in the center of the street.
The fountain had been turned off, but the lights on the pool's surface were still on, the shallow water shimmering with reflected light. A few people sat on the edge of the pool in casual clothes, some on the phone and others just staring into space.
And among these people, one person stood quietly beneath the fountain's sculpture.
Her long, grayish-white hair took on a cold tone under the warm yellow lights. She wasn't wearing her academy uniform, having changed into simple, dark-colored casual clothes. She looked like she had also just finished shopping somewhere.
Luo Yang couldn't help but marvel at how small the world was.
He was about to walk over to tell her that he could help source the breakthrough materials when a sense of danger made him halt abruptly.
Three figures stood on three sides of the fountain, maintaining a precise distance from Qiu Shubai. They were neither too close nor too far, perfectly sealing off all paths of retreat.
It was a perfect triangular formation, leaving no way to bypass them.
All three were elderly men, dressed simply and blending into the crowd with zero presence, looking no different from ordinary old men. Passersby wouldn't even give them a second glance.
But Luo Yang’s powerful mental power could see through their disguise. Their auras were suppressed to the extreme, like three stones that had been tossed into a fire for days—gray and dull on the outside, but hot enough to burn through a palm on the inside.
These three men were at least Dao Manifestation level powerhouses!
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