Editing City Series:Volume3a Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 4===

Hong Kong Cave was a large hole.

It was a massive pit about a kilometer across and three kilometers deep. When standing on the edge, the other edge was so distant it felt like a cliff.

But it was more than just a large hole.

The inside wall of the hole was divided into layers about ten meters thick to form three hundred stories of residential areas. This was a “manmade hole”.

But man had long since abandoned it.

The pit sank down below the dark night and it was almost entirely blocked off by reinforced concrete barricades. Avoiding those and descending below would reveal two facts.

First, most of the three hundred stories of residences were unused.

And second, the only people inside were Nein Engels.

Even they were not a common sight. The only signs of them were a few lit houses on the inside of the cylindrical cave.

Following those lights down would eventually bring the bottom level into view. It was a stone-paved space about one hundred meters across.

It resembled a park lit by torches.

It was three kilometers below ground and the barricades covering the top of the hole prevented any sunlight from reaching it even during the day. The park was filled with moss instead of trees, but even that could not just grow as it pleased. It was maintained into something like a yard.

If there was moss, there had to be water.

No water could be heard, but it could be smelled. There was a pond in the center of the park.

It was a Western-style pond surrounded by stone.

A single monument stood to the side of the pond. When compared to the pristine stone paving, the monument looked intentionally aged and mossy, but the reason for that could be read in the inscription.

“1842. Blocked by the water, the construction of the cave will end here.”

Below that, the Flight Song was inscribed.

“彼街通天地

墜朝地仰雲

昇夜空謳月

惟望再笑君”

The first inscription had a name underneath it, but the Flight Song’s author had been chipped away for some reason.

But comparing the two inscriptions suggested the Flight Song had also been inscribed there in 1842.

That was the year Hong Kong had become British territory.

Evan after approximately a century and a half, the pond still had water.

There was no sign of the water flowing away, but it was not overflowing the stone either. It had likely come up from below just like a well.

The pond’s water was clear. It must have been moving because it would sometimes ripple a bit.

A single white feather rocked as it floated in one of those ripples.

It was a Nein Engel’s feather.

Three Nein Engels were gathered by the pond.

The six-winged Seraph named Double Lee sat on the stones.

He flipped through some documents and read them by the torchlight while looking at Genius and Fei who stood in front of him.

“I see. Even as a crumbling corporation, it can still be useful. And you say J-Gun’s younger brother has arrived in Hong Kong?”

“J-Gun called him here. To, well…”

“Attend his marriage with you?”

Genius frowned at Double Lee’s comment.

“No, not that. He had always had his brother destroy the attack Devices he created.”

“If that is why he is here, he is our enemy. We must kill him.”

“Yes, but from the picture, he looks like your average good-natured person. Also, he was eliminated from the Maldrick family’s records and he keeps his Wild Name hidden, so he seems to have been driven out of the family.”

“Well, a one-handed Buster ''would'' be useless,” concluded Double Lee.

He stroked each of his six wings.

“With 622 Nein Engels in total, I cannot believe that we are the only ones with no deformities who are willing to risk our lives for this mission.”

“Double Lee, that isn’t the only reason you’re the leader.”

“I know that. That has more to do with the technique I inherited from my parents. And if I had never joined Archs RDC, I would have only ever thought they were normal Tuners.”

He gave a meaningful smile and reached for the monument next to the pond.

[[Image:City_v03a_123.jpg|thumb]]

“Hong Kong Cave was built by man, but the Nein Engels will use it to ascend into heaven. This city truly does connect heaven and earth.”

“Another one of your interpretations of the Flight Song? You always have been obsessed with that song.”

“Yes. Even now that I know its significance, I am still obsessed with it.”

“It only seems like a nice song to me,” said Genius.

“I will tell you everything eventually,” quietly answered Double Lee. “But it is a shame. …Just as Master Huang said, Nein Engels and humans won’t be able to smile together. It’s no different from one hundred and fifty years ago.”

“History here is filled with unfortunate events. After the biological weapon was released here during the Second Divine Punishment War, angels just so happened to have a better resistance than humans or your average Glossolalian, but that led to suspicion and retribution during the Fourth Divine Punishment War. Who do you think made the vaccine back then?”

“The excellent are always targets of envy.”

With a gritty sound, Double Lee tore the moss from the monument.

“We cannot get along with humans as well as most demons and monsters, but we are not revered like an angel who has just descended from heaven either. We are…”

He swallowed his last words and tossed aside the moss in his hand.

The damp moss fell in the pond, producing a small splash and ripples.

Suddenly, Fei spoke quietly.

“Someone’s there.”

Double Lee and Genius turned to the Galgallin in mirrorshades.

He gently pointed at the back of his neck.

“Double Lee, someone has arrived at one your three ceremony locations.”

“Which one?”

“The southwestern one on Lamma Island. They are definitely investigating us.”

“Oh? They are skilled enough to have sniffed us out already?”

Fei nodded and concluded what they had to do in just a few words.

“We must fight.”

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