Chapter Four: The Arrival of Nakamura

“Nakamura?” As soon as Tang Yi returned to headquarters, Professor Feng called him to the reception hall, informing him that Hiroshi Nakamura would be arriving soon. Hiroshi Nakamura possessed the ability to travel through time and space; now, only he and Peter had this power, with Peter having gained it by absorbing it from Nakamura.

“Yes, Hiroshi Nakamura, the one who can traverse time and space. His visit here represents a great opportunity for us, and that opportunity lies with you. If you acquire his ability, our strength will be greatly enhanced, and our international influence will grow. Japan is becoming increasingly restless precisely because of Nakamura’s existence. Fortunately, Nakamura isn’t an ambitious man,” Professor Feng said gravely.

“What’s his purpose this time?” Tang Yi asked, puzzled.

“It’s Sera. Sera has always been a nightmare for those with supernatural powers. Ever since he gained the shapeshifter’s abilities, he’s become even more elusive. Although Peter has been restraining him, Sera remains undefeated, and now there are signs of collusion among criminal and evil forces worldwide. The Peacekeeping Forces are stretched thin, and there’s even less focus on Sera.”

“So Nakamura is here on behalf of the Peacekeeping Headquarters?”

“Exactly. He’s already selected people from our headquarters around the world, and Shanghai is his final stop. The aim is to form a special task force to eliminate Sera.”

Even as Professor Feng finished speaking, a group of people appeared out of nowhere. At the center was a bespectacled, chubby young man, with the rest of the group each placing a hand on his shoulder.

“That must be Nakamura, the chubby guy with glasses,” Tang Yi thought, wasting no time as he absorbed Nakamura’s ability. He noticed that Nakamura’s inner landscape, the land, the trapezoidal forms, and the orbs of light were all much larger than usual.

“Different abilities, different mental structures. Not bad at all!” Tang Yi mused.

“Please take care of me!” the chubby man said in fluent Chinese.

“You’re welcome! Let’s move to the conference room,” Professor Feng suggested, leading everyone to the meeting space where Nakamura began outlining the mission.

With Sera growing ever stronger and the number of victims rising, the Peacekeeping Forces’ headquarters had decided to establish this team, tentatively consisting of sixteen members, with five from China. Nakamura had already chosen four candidates from China, and would select one more from Shanghai before immediately launching the mission.

“Let me introduce Tang Yi…” Professor Feng said, presenting him to the group.

Mexico

“Sera!” Peter appeared on a highway where several bodies lay sprawled, each with its skull cracked open and blood mixed with brain matter pooling on the ground. Burned-out cars were scattered along the roadside, some still smoldering.

“Oh, it’s you, Peter,” Sera said, pulling his hands from someone’s skull and wiping the blood on the corpse’s clothing. “You’re late again.”

“Sera, you’ve acquired so many powers—why can’t you stop? Are these abilities so essential to you?” Peter’s eyes began to blaze with fury.

“I’ve heard this from you countless times, but I’ll be on my way now. Unlike you, I can’t travel through time and space.” No sooner had he finished speaking than Sera vanished, slipping underground with a combination of invisibility and intangibility.

Peter, though furious, didn’t pursue him—he had people to save. He had recently absorbed a healing ability from a little boy; as long as any part of a body was still alive, he could restore it completely. He quickly sealed and healed the survivors’ skulls. By the time they groggily regained consciousness, Peter’s energy was spent, and he slumped by a car that hadn’t caught fire, gasping for breath.

A car soon pulled up, and a beautiful blonde woman got out.

“Uncle Peter, Sera got away again?” she asked, helping him into the car.

“Claire, I just lost my time-travel ability again, so I couldn’t catch him,” Peter replied, opening a bottle of water and drinking deeply.

Shanghai Special Abilities Headquarters

“With Mr. Tang Yi joining us, I believe we’ll catch Sera soon,” Nakamura said, bowing deeply. “Thank you for your support! Farewell!” And with that, he vanished.

“Ah Fu, come show our four guests to their rooms!” Professor Feng called out. “Tang, you should get ready too. In three days, you’ll all be heading to the new Peacekeeping Forces headquarters in New York!”

“Got it!” Tang Yi replied. “Will I get to meet Claire?”

“Certainly. As far as I know, Claire works at headquarters.”

“Great! Haha… Hey! Professor Feng, why are you zapping me again?”

“No shouting! Go get ready!” Professor Feng said, giving him another electric jolt before drifting away.

“Ow… old man! If you weren’t so old, I’d have smacked you by now!” Although Tang Yi wasn’t afraid of being shocked, the pain still annoyed him.

He straightened his spiky hair, a glint in his eyes. “Let’s practice teleportation. Here goes!”

“Ouch!” Using his newfound time-travel ability, Tang Yi tried to return to his room, but ended up slamming into a wall. “Ten minutes just to get here? I might as well have walked. Using time to buy space—clearly still needs practice!”

For three days, Tang Yi practiced his new ability without rest. The landscape in his sea of consciousness expanded, with more trapezoidal forms on the outermost ring.

Three days later, Tang Yi boarded the Peacekeeping Forces’ special plane. Seated, he closed his eyes, marveling at the wonders of his inner world—the drifting landforms, the dazzling orbs of light, a visual feast. One of the lands halted beside him, and a pleasant female voice sounded in his mind: “Sir, what would you like to drink?” Tang Yi opened his eyes, pointed to a beverage on the cart, and said, “I’ll have that one, thank you!”

“You’re welcome!” The voice was soothing.

Next to Tang Yi sat one of Nakamura’s group, Liu Shanquan, a garrulous fellow who never ran out of things to say. He also ordered a drink, and once the flight attendant left, he whispered, “Do you know what her ability is?”

“No idea,” Tang Yi replied.

“Didn’t you notice how pleasant her voice is?”

“Yeah, it’s calming and peaceful.”

“Heh, you’ve only seen the surface. Her real ability is super-hypnosis!”

“Super-hypnosis?”

“That’s right. Her voice can hypnotize people. Many cases back home have been cracked thanks to her voice!” Liu Shanquan boasted, launching into a lengthy monologue. Tang Yi tuned him out, closing his eyes to absorb abilities.

Currently, Tang Yi possessed forty abilities, with ten still not fully understood, and could absorb up to twenty-four more. He wondered about Sera’s powers—rumor had it Sera now wielded over a thousand abilities. If Tang Yi could get his hands on those, especially the healing one, he’d be invincible and immortal! He couldn’t help but grin at the thought, until Liu Shanquan nudged him.

“Is what I said that funny? I don’t find it amusing,” Liu said, snapping Tang Yi out of his daydream.

“No, no, I just remembered a joke. By the way, Liu, I hear flying is exhausting. Shouldn’t we rest a little?”

“Oh, right…” Liu barely finished before falling asleep.

“Wow, that super-hypnosis is no joke—so effective the first time! No wonder it’s a con artist’s essential skill!” Tang Yi thought gleefully.

An hour later, the plane landed at New York airport.

“These planes are fast—just an hour’s flight.” Tang Yi nudged Liu Shanquan. “Hey, wake up, time for a bathroom break!”

“Huh? How did I fall asleep…? You did something, didn’t you? I’ll—”

“We’ve landed. Enough talk!” Tang Yi was already off the plane.

“Hey, wait for me!”

New Peacekeeping Forces Headquarters, New York—

“Welcome! Welcome! So glad you’re here!” A tall Black man, nearly two meters high, greeted their group at the gate.

Hawaii Beach

A handsome man lounging on a beach chair suddenly vanished, followed by a brief, muffled groan that went unnoticed. Moments later, the same man emerged from the sand beside the chair, still drawing no attention. Glancing around, he smiled, gathered his things, and left.

Thirty meters below that very spot, however, lay a corpse identical to the man who walked away…

Peacekeeping Forces, 30th Floor Conference Room

A group of more than a dozen entered the conference room.

“Please take a seat. Would you like something to drink?” said Oriman, the executive director—the same tall Black man.

“Black tea.”

“Coffee.”

“Cola,” and so on.

Tang Yi sipped his cola, squinting as he wondered if Claire was present. Suddenly, his mind felt dull. Checking his inner world, he was shocked to see that, aside from his own orb of light, every other absorbed ability orb had turned gray and lost its luster.

“The Haitian!” Tang Yi thought, quietly observing the others, who seemed unaware. “Never mind, I’ll just absorb him too.”

“Let me introduce someone—Ludi the Haitian, team leader for this operation!”

“Ludi will now brief you on the mission details. Also, as you can see in your dossiers, these are the latest updates on Sera. One more thing—Peter’s abilities are failing, so he can’t join this mission.”

Tang Yi’s heart skipped. Peter’s powers were failing? He asked, “What exactly is the problem?”

“The abilities he absorbed are gradually fading. But as I understand, Mr. Tang Yi, you possess the same power as Peter—perhaps even stronger.”

“Heh, I suppose so,” Tang Yi chuckled. Just then, a blonde woman entered.

“Claire, reporting in!” she announced, her voice sweet. Tang Yi evaluated her instantly. “Claire?”

“Yes! With this, I’m immortal!” Tang Yi exulted inwardly as his mental orbs flared and he immediately absorbed Claire’s healing power.

“Claire’s here, please take a seat! For your information, all the latest intelligence on Sera came from Claire via Peter. Now, let’s divide into four teams of four and search in all directions to capture or eliminate Sera. We must stop him from threatening the world any longer!”

Due to his outstanding abilities, Tang Yi was appointed captain of the second team, with Liu Shanquan, Claire, and Hunter as teammates. Liu Shanquan’s power was formidable—he could summon geysers anywhere, rivaling volcanic eruptions. Claire needed no introduction, and as for Hunter, he could manipulate gravity, specifically within a thirty-meter radius around himself. He could increase gravity up to thirty times normal or reduce it to one-fifteenth, making anyone within reach as weak as a kitten or as weightless as a feather—completely at his mercy.

All sixteen members of this mission were exceptionally gifted, and Tang Yi unhesitatingly absorbed their abilities—he could, so why not?

The next morning, all four teams set out: Tang Yi’s team was assigned due south, Ludi’s first team to the east, Neil’s third team to the west, and Xie Li’s fourth team to the north.