Chapter 128 - The Blue Room

At that moment Sansen Zhao was mingling with guests on the first floor. He was accompanied by his maid Chloe who stood quietly to the side, only acting if she was directly spoken to by her master.

A slender, serious looking lady with delicate glasses approached him. It was Lily Fang, wife of Police Chief Fang.

“Lily, how is your evening coming along?” Sansen Zhao smiled in greeting, bowing slightly with his hands crossed behind his back. “I’m afraid your husband hasn’t yet shown up, at least to my knowledge.”

“The ball is wonderful, it seems that you managed to invite quite a few prominent figures this year.” Lily smiled, “It seems your efforts in the political sphere have borne some fruit.”

“Perhaps, though I still haven’t had any luck with lifting many of the trade restrictions from the northern continent.” Sansen shrugged, “You’d think being part of the same nation would make trade easier, but they’re as strict as ever with imports from Banbajan.”

“Perhaps you could have a chat with Minister Warren. I saw him and his son on the dance floor not too long ago.” Lily suggested. It was a reasonable suggestion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was the key figure in the government who decided foreign policy.

“If only it were so easy.” Sansen sighed, “I’ve already tried talking to him tonight, but he evades any talk related to business. I feel like he treats me as just another businessman trying to swing a deal. Ah, that’s neither here nor there, I shouldn’t trouble you with my own issues.”

“Not at all.” Lily smiled, “We’re friends, of course. I’m familiar with Mr. Warren. Perhaps I’ll be able to warm him up to you.”

“I would be forever grateful.” Sansen smiled.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave and go find him.” Lily looked around the room briefly, scanning for the man in question. She gently placed her hand on Sansen’s arm, “I’ll leave you to your business, then.”

She ran her hand down Sansen’s sleeve and gently squeezed his hand before letting go and walking away. It was an affectionate gesture, one that was shared between two old friends.

Sansen turned and walked away, casually exiting the room with his maid following close behind. He excused himself from several guests who tried to start a conversation with him as he turned at the end of the hall towards a cordoned off area.

As soon as he was out of sight of the guests he opened his hand, revealing a small note that had been pressed into his hand by Lily.

Blue Room, 8pm

Sansen pulled out a gold pocket watch from his inside pocket. It was ten minutes to eight.

He turned to a passing wait staff, “Please tell Corbin that I will be occupied for a bit, and to take care of the party until I return.”

“Yes, sir.”

He folded the paper and placed it in his pocket as he headed into the manor.

~

A few minutes later Sansen entered into an office through a set of heavy oak doors. This room was on the second floor of the manor, one of several offices that Sansen used. It had a lush royal blue carpet with a diamond pattern that gave it a distinct appearance from the other offices. The walls were lined with dark stained bookshelves filled with various books, giving it a distinguished appearance.

A stonework fireplace occupied the center of one wall, with a set of couches made from light blue coloured leather. He glanced at Chloe, who had accompanied him to the room, sending her a wordless instruction.

She nodded, looking towards the fireplace, which spontaneously burst to life. The oil lanterns around the room also ignited, filling the room with light.

Though the room wasn’t officially called the blue room, Sansen immediately knew that this was the location specified by the sender of the note. Of course, coming from Lily Fang, it could only have been sent by her husband, Jintang.

After lighting the room Chloe bowed respectfully and left, closing the doors quietly behind her. Sansen walked over to a cabinet and opened it, revealing several glasses and bottles of liquor. He poured himself a glass as the clock struck eight o’clock.

The air in front of the fireplace shimmered as a rift opened in space. Out stepped a petite lady with shoulder length dark blue hair and blue eye shadow. She wore a top hat and a tailored double breasted men’s suit. In her right hand she carried an iron cane.

Her eyes had a piercing quality as she scanned the room once. “Where is Chief Fang?”

“I’m not sure.” Sansen hid his surprise as he finished pouring his drink. Indeed, Sansen had expected Chief Fang to show up through a rift, not this young, unknown woman in men’s clothing. “And you are?”

The woman did not reply, but lifted her cane and stamped the end against the floor, instantly disappearing without a trace.

Sansen raised an eyebrow as he glanced toward Chloe, “Do you know who that was?”

The maid shook her head, “No, sir.”

“She didn’t appear hostile-“ Sansen was about to continue his thoughts when another rift opened in front of the fireplace.

The blue haired woman walked out once again as she scanned the room in the same manner that she had only a few seconds prior.

“Chief Fang is missing.” The woman said, looking directly at Sansen.

“He sent me a message to meet here at eight.” Sansen said, not seeing a reason to hide the information, “Perhaps he is late.”

“No.” She said. There was a conviction to her tone that convinced Sansen that she was absolutely sure of this fact.

“Would you like a drink?” At a loss for words, Sansen held out the glass in his hand toward the woman, “It’s been a while since a stranger has popped into my study.”

“That won’t be necessary.” The woman said. She closed her eyes and muttered softly under her breath.

Sansen blinked and suddenly Jintang Fang was standing next to the blue haired woman. The stern looking police chief looked disoriented for a moment.

“Sansen? What are you doing here?” He asked. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked around, recognizing the room, “What am I doing here?”

“Gestalt summoning was successful.” The woman said calmly, facing toward Chief Fang, “Chief Fang, in twelve hours and thirty two minutes you will be missing. You have five minutes and twelve seconds to explain your situation before this gestalt expires.”

Chief Fang’s eyes settled on the blue haired woman as frowned seriously, “...I see.”

“Jintang, what’s going on?” Sansen was wholly confused by this point. “Who is this woman?”

Chief Fang stroked his mustache thoughtfully as he looked at Sansen and Chloe in turn, “This is Robin Lang, Lord Noga’s secretary. Simply speaking, she has summoned me from the past. Or rather, she’s summoned a version of me. It’s difficult to explain.”

He shrugged helplessly, “It appears that at some point in the next twelve hours I will go missing.”

“This has been established.” Robin said in an even tone, “You have four minutes and fourty two seconds.”

“Then I shall be brief.” Chief Fang’s expression turned serious as he faced Sansen, “Markus Gantt has returned.”

Sansen’s gaze hardened as his eyes flickered over to Robin. Chief Fang caught the look of caution. “She is aware of the situation, she was one of our secret supporters back in the day.”

“Is she pure?” Sansen asked.

Chief Fang nodded, pulling out a small object the size of a coin from his pocket. It was smooth, shaped like a flower petal with a pearl-like sheen that reflected light in a soft rainbow.

Only after Chief Fang had pulled out the object did Sansen react. He pulled out an identical looking petal from his inner pocket and held it out, making contact with Chief Fang, which Chief Fang mirrored with his own petal.

“Robin,” Chief Fang looked over to the blue haired woman, who was familiar with the item. She reached forward and touched the petal. She did the same with Sansen’s petal.

These petals were special tokens crafted as a specific counter measure against Exalted powers which were used to infect or control a person’s psyche. If a person’s mind was ‘pure’, the petal would retain its pearly appearance. If the person had a split in their psyche caused by psychic invasion, it would turn black and crumble into ashes.

This was one of the ways that the Order protected themselves against Exalted like Markus Gantt.

Seeing that the petals remained unchanged Sansen relaxed a bit.

“I’m aware that Gantt has been seen in Noga.” Sansen nodded, “Dr. Baolan came to see me yesterday and passed me the news.”

“Yes, I was the one that notified him. But where is Baolan now?” Chief Fang frowned, looking around.

“I’m not sure. He didn’t accept my invitation to the ball, I haven’t heard from him since I talked to him yesterday.” Sansen said.

“This is bad news.” Chief Fang said, “My last memory is telling Robin Lang to meet me here, tonight at eight o’clock. After that I planned to gather the rest of the members of the Order. But seeing that Robin is the only one here... I must have failed to even contact the next person.”

“Who were you planning to call?” Robin asked.

“Locke, Baolan and Quill, in that order.” Chief Fang replied.

“Locke? He’s in the city?” Sansen was surprised.

Chief Fang nodded.

“Wait, what about Chief Yun?" Sansen asked.

Chief Fang shook his head, “He died last week during a police operation, the details haven’t been released to the public. I called Locke in to help me investigate.”

“Why has Gantt returned? I thought we chased him off six years ago... Plus, he succeeded in his goal back then.” Sansen trailed off as he recalled the pain of the past, “He shouldn’t have any reason to return.”

Back then, their group had sworn to protect two refugees who were hiding in Noga. This couple had successfully escaped from their previous organization and had rebuilt their life anew with the help of Sansen and Baolan. They had originally thought they were safe and not only married but established a family.

A decade and a half after they fled from Banbajan, Markus Gantt came to Noga to find them.