**The Aftermath of the Jade Tower**
The *Cloudstrider* sliced through the sky, leaving the opulent *Chaoge* building far behind. In the backseat, Merkel finally allowed his form to ripple back to human, shaking out his limbs with a groan.
"Next time," he grumbled, finger-combing his tousled hair, "I'm *not* being the damn dog. Do you know how degrading it is to—"
"Find anything useful?" Qin Hong interrupted, his gaze fixed on Naya's tense profile.
Naya's fingers tightened on the wheel. "Good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"
"Good news," Qin Hong said without hesitation.
"The ruby neckce is confirmed. It's real, and it's on Da Fei's neck."
"And the bad?"
Naya's lips thinned. "The bad news is... that ruby *suppresses* Devil Fruit powers."
Qin Hong's brow furrowed. "Expin."
Merkel leaned forward, rubbing his chest as if remembering phantom pain. "The moment Da Fei touched the ruby, both Naya and I felt like our hearts were being crushed. My transformation started failing—I could *feel* my human form fighting to resurface."
Naya nodded grimly. "He knew *exactly* what he was doing. That wasn't just jewelry—it was a *weapon*."
Qin Hong exhaled through his nose. "That tracks. I ran into Bze Bett on the 19th floor."
Merkel's eyes widened. "*Bett*? Since when does a Bck Arm agent work for a jade merchant?"
"Since never," Qin Hong muttered. "Which means Da Fei's either being maniputed... or he's far more connected than we thought."
"What about the 18th floor?" Merkel pressed.
"One guard at the elevator, two more outside a room at the end of the hall. Both wearing pink ties—probably identifiers for the girl's handlers."
Naya's grip on the wheel turned white-knuckled. "So what's the pn?"
Qin Hong watched the cityscape blur past. "We need allies. And a *very* precise strike."
---
### **The Promise**
Merkel's voice dropped, uncharacteristically earnest. "Qin Hong... if we pull this off, you'll really introduce me to Master Guan Lan? Get me a position under him?"
Qin Hong met his hopeful gaze in the rearview mirror. "You have my word. You're Wynroth-born anyway—it's where you'd end up after training."
Merkel slumped back, a dreamy smile tugging at his lips.
Naya, however, stiffened. "You're cutting me out."
Qin Hong turned to her. "Not cutting you out. *Protecting* you. If your family gets dragged into this—"
"—my father's entire mining empire becomes colteral damage," Naya finished bitterly. She exhaled. "...Fine. But if you die, I'm resurrecting you just to kill you again."
Qin Hong grinned. "Noted."
---
### **Gathering the Pieces**
Back at Akatai HQ, Qin Hong activated his communicator. The holographic screen flickered to life, revealing Xiao Yu's furious face.
"*You bastard!* Two weeks without a word, and now you—"
"I'm sorry," Qin Hong said, bowing his head. "It's been... chaotic."
Xiao Yu's gre softened marginally. "*What do you need?*"
"Da Fei's schedule. Movements, habits—anything this week."
"The jade magnate?" Xiao Yu's fingers flew over a keyboard. "Give me an hour." The screen went dark.
Qin Hong turned to his assembled team—Merkel, Worso, and Haruko. "We wait. Then we move."
Worso cracked his knuckles. "Finally! A real mission!"
Haruko adjusted her gloves. "Field experience is invaluable. Better to make mistakes now than during life-or-death ops."
Merkel practically vibrated. "And if we impress Guan Lan—!"
A knock interrupted them.
Bel stood in the doorway, her smile razor-thin. "Qin Hong. Director Yu Hang wants you. *Now.*"
---
### **The Crystal Reunion**
Meanwhile, in Philon's upscale *Crystal World* restaurant, Guan Lan stepped through the doors.
"Reservation?" the host asked.
"My friend invited me," Guan Lan said mildly. "...Though the invitation was years ago."
The host blinked. "And your friend is...?"
"*Apo.*"
The name sent the host scrambling. "O-our owner isn't—"
A voice cut through the tension. "Since when do I miss appointments with old friends?"
Apo emerged—sun-bronzed, cd in white silk, his sharp eyes belying his calm demeanor. The two men embraced, the years between them colpsing in an instant.
In the private *Crystal Hall*, walls of refractive gss cast fractured light across a table carved from a single quartz sb.
Apo poured *baijiu* into square crystal gsses. "You're te."
Guan Lan downed his drink in one go. "Fashionably so."
Twelve dishes arrived in synchronized perfection.
"You remembered my favorites," Guan Lan noted, spearing a piece of sweet-and-sour mandarin fish.
Apo lit a cigarette, the smoke curling between them. "Remember when you told Old Man Boros he had dementia?"
Guan Lan nearly choked ughing. "*Because he said the Copy Heart had no Absolute Domain!*"
"The look on his face!" Apo wheezed. "And then you *proved* it by stealing three instructors' techniques mid-demonstration!"
"Which got me banned from rankings," Guan Lan added ruefully. "'Bad for morale.'"
Apo's ughter faded. "...We were invincible back then."
Guan Lan studied his reflection in the gss wall—distorted, fragmented. "Some of us still are."
