Footsteps from cloth shoes echoed around a tall black building. The footsteps and chatter hovered about, but the building itself was silent. The building had enough decoration to not look poor, but there was also not enough decoration to look fancy. All in all, it was normal. Nobody paid it attention despite its immense size.

Behind its walls was a bustling factory. More than a hundred people worked inside. They ran up and down its stairs, delivering boxes of products from one factory line to another.

On the top floor, Jing and Hui Ming sat in a room closed off from all the others. They were the only two who weren’t working.

The room was cluttered with boxes identical to the other ones being handled in the building. Other large circular objects lie next to each other, like a row of car tires. Fresh forest scent filled the room.

Jing was examining a piece of paper. The paper was covered in words, but nothing on it made sense. Jing had told Hui Ming it was a coded message she found after raiding another cartel. “Hui Ming, come on, help me!” she pleaded.

“I wouldn’t be much help anyway,” said Hui Ming.

“Please. I’m running low on funds, gimme some help,” she replied.

“I wouldn’t be able to help even if I wanted to.”

“But you can help fund me. Wait, I got this. I’m your boss’s daughter, which means you serve me. Which means I can ask for money from you. The logic is flawless. Can I have a couple million?”

“No.”

“Come on,” she begged.

“No.”

“How bout’ you buy a gift for your boss’s daughter? It was my birthday a couple days ago, and you didn’t even give me anything!”

“You were born a couple days ago.”

“Technicalities.”

Three knocks on the door. Jing put on a mask, straightened her back, and squared her shoulders. “Come in,” her voice morphed, the playfulness from before replaced by formality.

A woman in ragged robes burst into the room panting. “Mistress. Somebody is here to see you. I don’t know who they are, but they look important.”

“How many are there. Tell me everything you can about them,” said Jing. Hui Ming stood as well, feeling the sword hilt at her waist.

“They have upwards of twenty people. I suspect they’re from a different cartel. They’re waiting in the lobby,” she said.

Jing ran her fingers down the edges of her mask. “Stay here,” she said to the worker.

Hui Ming headed for the stairs, but Jing grabbed her shoulder. “Wrong way.” She jumped out the window, pulling Hui Ming with her. They both landed without a noise, but attracted many eyes from the commoners on the streets. “This way is faster.”

They opened the front door, the door to the first story of the building. They entered a dim lobby. Everybody but the newcomers had cleared out of the room.

Twenty two men turned to stare at the two girls. Each wore a symbol of an eye on some part of their clothing. Some had it on their chest, and others had it on their sleeve or back.

A clear hierarchy was present within the group. Most of them were minions, but five stood taller than the rest.

But there was one that stood at the top of their command chain. His behavior was nonchalant and graceful, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Despite having the appearance of a person in their late teens, he owned the demeanor of a king.

His eyes swept across the two women. “You are the ones who have been wearing my symbol.”

His voice resonated in the room, leaving an echo. A silence proceeded his words.

This man called himself Dao. Dao was the word for how people used Qi, but it was also the word for truth, the proper path, and the essential being of the world. He had named himself after truth and this was not undeserved.

He had appeared in the city with nothing but himself and one follower. He formed a cult like following with a week. He was a black hole that attracted everything. He attracted wealth and infamy, followers and enemies alike.

Jing tapped the surface of her mask and it crumbled to dust.

Vincent had crafted her to be the pinnacle of beauty. Regardless of gender, everybody who laid eyes on her felt their hearts tremble.

Her robes hung loosely on her body. Her robes let their imaginations run wild, whispering hints of what lie underneath. Her slender fingers peeked out from her sleeves, further feeding their imaginations. She appeared to be almost twenty years old, filled with youthful vitality.

What flawless skin! What perfect hair! What splendid fingernails! No china was as delicate, no newborn as pure, no dancer as graceful. The soft tap on the mask resonated within everybody's minds. The weak-willed had the sound seared into their heads. They would never to forget it again.

With the mask destroyed, her features were put on display for all to see. Resisting her was impossible. Flawless red lips and bright pink cheeks glowed in the dully lit room. Even Hui Ming couldn’t resist gulping when she saw Jing’s untouchable beauty.

Then she smiled. A pair of cute dimples appeared on each of her rosy cheeks. Everybody gulped a second time. She brushed her hair behind her ear. She was the undisputed queen, the forbidden apple, an unreachable star.

“So we’ve been wearing your symbol. What of it?” she said. Dao’s men shook themselves back into reality. They had almost forgotten about what they had come here for.

Dao took four long strides, standing toe to toe with Jing. He was taller than her. Jing tilted her head up to maintain eye contact.

From this moment on, Hui Ming and Dao’s subordinate knew they would be mortal enemies. They would be destined to clash if they couldn’t make peace here.

Although she was starting to get hints of it, Hui Ming was blind to who Jing truly was. Hui Ming thought of Jing as a disorderly lazy little girl, which was true. But Jing held a terrifying intellect. Nobody was her match in pure problem solving ability.

Dao was her equal and opposite. He held a terrifying amount of information. Nobody was his match in pure knowledge or memory.

They were both more than capable enough to dominate the black market and more. Dao had arrived first and amassed massive power and followers. Then Jing had appeared, the brightest star against the darkest void.

He put a hand on his chin. There wasn’t a drop of lust in his eyes. “It’s a privilege to see a beauty such as yourself in person. Even more of a privilege to see such a beauty wearing my symbol.”

“Thank you. I’ll continue wearing it.”

“However, it's still the symbol of my organization. No matter how great the honor, I can’t have somebody outside my organization wearing my symbol. Would you like to join us? Otherwise, I would prefer if you wouldn’t wear it.”

“I’ll keep your preference in mind.”

He frowned. “Do you think you can afford to make enemies out of us?”

“That goes both ways. You can't afford to make an enemy out of me either, especially if you already know who I am. I suggest we both take a step back. You don't want to fight us, and we don’t want to fight you. We would both come out of this exchange with a bit less than we entered with,” said Jing.

“You’d come out with far less, seeing that this is your production facility.”

“Thank you for being considerate.” Jing nodded lightly.

“But we have more important matters to discuss, don’t we?” he said.

Jing put her hands behind her back. “Indeed we do. You came here to discuss us using your symbol. You see, your symbol has been quite convenient for me. Me and my people get to work undercover, while all the blame gets shifted to your guys. Frankly, it’s a bit too convenient for me to give up.”

“Let me state this plain and simple. I can’t have people running around under my symbol. Do you understand?”

She nodded again. “We can reach a compromise. I’ll openly operate under your name. We’ll make it clear we are part of your ring. It’ll give your ring a fair bit of credibility. Having my cartel under your symbol would be quite a boon for you, no?”

“You little rascal. Your offer doesn’t change anything. Stop with the wordplay.”

She sighed, “Then allow me to offer a different deal.”

“Go ahead.”

“You gift me twenty quarter-million shard power rods, so five million shards worth in total. Then we’ll stop.”

“That’s not happening either.”

Jing and Dao stared each other in the eye. The room filled with an intangible tension. Everybody else held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

“We’re done here,” said Jing, “Leave.”

“You won’t give an inch, will you,” he said. Jing shook her head, her hair rippling like ocean waves. Dao scrutinized her before bending into a fake bow, “We’ll meet again.”

He walked past her. Qi swelled around him and vented at the door. The wooden gate splintered apart, flying into the streets. Dao gestured at his group and they followed. His eyes lingered on Hui Ming for a while before they left.

After they had walked to their own base, Dao kept his eyes on Jing’s base. The distance between them didn’t stop his eyes. He saw through the hundreds of buildings between them as if they didn’t exist. He continued watching them for any weaknesses.