Moreover, the hacker said that there seems to be a new member waiting for them in Venice.
This mysterious member had thoughts of joining the brigade earlier, but since the brigade was full, he didn’t want to challenge other members for their spots, so he had to quietly wait for an opportunity.
After the auction incident, members number 4 and 5 of the brigade died at the auction venue, and thus, this reserve member found his chance:
—He replaced the deceased Lan Duoduo and became the next number 5 of the White Crow Travel Brigade.
Ji Minghuan was quite curious; what kind of monster or demon could the new member, whom the captain selected, be? However, being anxious wouldn’t help. After boarding the plane tomorrow, they would arrive in Venice by afternoon, where they could meet this new member.
Thus, he leaned against the wall of the cargo hold, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep in the slight turbulence.
"Restricted level Superpower User, code number 1002 — ’Ji Minghuan’, quick wake up, be ready, Mentor has a message to convey." The sudden voice pulled Ji Minghuan out from the darkness.
In view was the unchanging silver-white ceiling and the constant surveillance cameras.
And... some changes had occurred to the broadcasting device.
Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, looked closely only to find the broadcasting device had been transformed into the shape of a "little blue penguin"; little did he expect the staff of the Salvation Society truly modified the broadcasting device according to his casual suggestion last time.
Not only that, he turned his head to see a TV in the corner of the detention room.
The TV was connected to a retro CD player, with a pile of CDs placed on the silver-white floor—upon a quick glance, the selection was quite rich, including animations, movies, and TV dramas, though most were works from the last century.
"You guys are quite thoughtful," he sat up from bed, yawning, "indeed... the morning grumpiness has lessened a lot."
Only the rumbling sounds responded to him. Following the source of the sound, he saw the layered metal doors at the entrance slowly opening.
Mentor walked into the detention room through the corridor bathed in white light with hands behind his back, dragging the bottom of his white coat, then pulled a chair before the table to sit down.
Ji Minghuan jumped off the bed, first picked up a bottle of milk from the plate on the table, and as he unscrewed the cap, he headed towards the TV.
He didn’t bother with the mentor behind, sat before the TV, turned it on with the remote, then inserted the disc of the animated movie ’The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’ into the CD player.
The CD player made two "ka-ka" sounds, swallowing the movie disc.
Then, the TV screen flickered slightly, starting the open scene of the movie, where two boys and a girl were playing baseball on an empty playground during summer, accompanied by incessant cicada songs.
"Do you still recall the last time I told you, asking you all to go outside to execute a mission?"
Ji Minghuan watched the TV while drinking canned pure milk, his pupils reflecting the movie scenes.
A while later, he leisurely replied, "I still remember."
That had been before the auction commenced; at the time Ji Minghuan thought the mission Mentor wanted them to execute was related to the Tokyo underground auction, but it turned out to be nothing. Until after the auction ended, Ji Minghuan hadn’t seen Mentor’s visit.
Mentor slowly spoke, "Your first outside mission’s target is to arrest a frenzied exorcist."
"A frenzied exorcist?" Ji Minghuan asked without turning his head.
Mentor clasped his fingers together on the table, turned to look at Ji Minghuan’s back.
He said, "Precisely, the exorcist’s code name is ’Traffic Lights’, whereas the real name is ’Kaki Ichimin’."
Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, pondering: Traffic Lights, that is—the former teammate suddenly gone mad whom Xia Pingzhou’s second aircraft mission line is looking for?
Traffic Lights, also the Evil Exorcist who leaves the Latin phrase meaning "Salvation Society" at the crime scene each time, along with the distinctive symbol of the Salvation Society—a hexagram enclosed within a circle.
Just as expected... Traffic Lights is directly tied to the Salvation Society, which is why the Mentor wants us to find him.
"Salvation Society will next send the kids imprisoned here to capture the frenzied Traffic Lights, my physical body and Kong Youling will certainly be included."
"So... if I can locate Traffic Lights before the Salvation Society, there’s an opportunity to set an ambush around Traffic Lights, executing a strategic ambush to rescue my physical body and Kong Youling."
"But the people I can call right now are only the lady and elder brother them; if we lay a preemptive ambush there, will we really have a chance to defeat the people of the Salvation Society?"
Upon this thought, Ji Minghuan opened the CD player tray, switched to the ’Masked Rider Geiz’ disc, then said, "Might as well call him ’Traffic Light’, sounds smoother than ’Traffic Lights’."
He paused for a moment, "So why do we need to catch this Traffic Light, has he committed any wrongdoing?"
"He used our Salvation Society’s name to wantonly slaughter innocent exorcists." Mentor replied, "This incident will adversely affect us because Salvation Society is a hidden organization and will never publicly reveal our existence."
"So we need to silence him by killing?"
"No, the primary goal is to bring Traffic Lights back; we must first confirm why Traffic Lights knows about our matters, secondly... if truly impossible, then even killing him doesn’t matter because he’s an incorrigibly evil maniac, a vicious villain."
Ji Minghuan remained silent for a moment, starting to suspect whether Traffic Lights was deliberately set up as bait by the Salvation Society outside, aimed at luring their target into the trap—for example, Ji Minghuan’s three gaming units.
He said flatly, "Alright, anyway, I’m just a mundane guy doing odd jobs, leave the fighting to the other elder brothers here, Kong Youling and I can just have fun."
"It’s good that you’re willing to cooperate." Mentor chuckled, "Rest assured, we will ensure your safety, for this is not just a mission; it’s also a test of your stability."
"Then when do we start the operation, I’m already itching to leave this crappy place."
Mentor shook his head, "Our people are currently tracking Traffic Lights’ movements, should find him soon."
"Tch, I thought you already found him." Ji Minghuan replied disdainfully, drinking the milk in the glass jug in one gulp.
"Rather than that, the kid I mentioned last time, he’ll come to see you shortly." Mentor paused, "I hope you two become good friends."
Ji Minghuan was taken aback, "The kid you mentioned last time... that myth-level extraordinary figure ’Great Sage Equal to Heaven’?"
"You’ve already forgotten, his name is ’Sun Changkong’." Mentor smiled faintly, "Anyway, be prepared, I’ll leave first."
After saying, Mentor got up from his seat without turning back, headed towards the exit of the detention room, leaving Ji Minghuan alone sitting on the ground, staring blankly at the images on the TV.