Blackguard

Lanshiang

It didn't take me long to find out where Lanshiang was located. The Eastern coast of China. What did take me a while was finding a plane there right away. Luckily, I still have some friends willing to help and lend me a hand.

The sound of the zipper on my jumpsuit cut through the air in the plane bathroom. It was heaven to get out of those wet clothes and into something more comfortable. With my ventilator set in place, I took one last look in the mirror. It was going to be a long night; I can feel it.

I dragged open the sliding doors and popped my head into the cockpit where an old ally flew the plane. "Thanks again for flying me over, Henrick—you're a lifesaver."

The man gave a throaty laugh and shook his head all without taking his eyes off the sky. The dim lights glinted off his balding head, making him appear older. "Not a problem Catherine. But seriously, what happened in Tall Oaks? The city—it's gone...just like Raccoon."

His voice trailed off as I gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, "If I'm correct, then it involves Ada and a man named Derek Simmons. I'm going to China to stop them, for good, if it comes to that."

He flung his eyes towards me, the whites of them bright and prominent as his jaw slacked. "Jesus Christ, I can't see Ada going that far for something. She isn't nice, but she isn't a mass killer of the innocent either. I hope you know what you're doing, kiddo."

I nodded firmly, "I do."

"So, what's the plan? Can't see you just going in there blind with your guns blazing."

I dropped down into the co-pilot's seat and stretched my legs out in front of me and gazed ahead. "No, but I don't have time to do an in-depth search either. I'm going to have to use the information I have along with any rumours floating around and go from there. Did you bring what I asked for?"

His smile flicked up, squishing his round face until his eyes were just slits. "Sure did. I called a few buddies to gather some info on any underground activity in, and around Lanshiang the last few months. It should be on the laptop on the desk back there." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder and back into the heart of the plane.

Leaning over, I gave him a peck on his cheek, making him grumble and myself laugh. "You're the best!"

"Hey! No kissing the pilot while he's flying. Of course, I'm the best. Just like I'm the best at collecting the money you owe me for this."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes and clapped him on the back before turning to the middle of the plane. "Yeah, yeah. Just give me until the end of the week, at least. I don't know how long this will take me to clean up."

"I'm a patient man, Cat. I can wait. I know you don't back out on a promise."

I left the man to his flying and ripped open the laptop with excitement. I hope Henrick's friends were able to dig something up for me.

The laptop brightened as I turned it on and began going through all the emails and notifications from Henrick's suppliers. Now that I had a fixed location and person to tack on, it was easier to locate anything related to Ada and her dealings. I scanned through all the emails and photos sent to me by these 'friends' of Henrick. I picked through the data one by one, scanning every line as I went. Some stuff didn't give me a lot to go on, but in nearly every email, they talked about gathering dangerous armed groups from the Waiyip district of Lanshiang.

The emails went on to talk about the strange activities going on there for the last six months. According to the accounts, the name of the group was called Neo-Umbrella. I froze at the mention of the name. So...Edonia and these were all connected. I read on.