Even the captain, who up at this point merely wore a mixed look of irritation and curiosity, seemed caught off guard at the man who could bring down armed men without so much as a glance at them. He draws a wicked looking blade, chipped and jagged at the edge. "I don't know who you are but you just signed your own death. There isn't a man alive who steps on my ship without my permission and lives to tell the tale." He says as he points his blade at you before whistling. The men around you draw their weapons and you hear more footsteps from beneath you approach. These steps are quickly mixed in with more screams and wails of pain and though more men do arrive on deck they look confused and frightned, unsure of what was happening below deck. "What is this? You have an inside man? Who did you pay off?" The Captain growls though his eyes betray the look of fear.

>What do you do?
>Talk to the Captain. See if you can get more information out of him.
>Strike at the Captain. Everyone is on edge and that means their minds are clouded in fear and will be too slow to react.
>Begin taking the crew down. Xin should be able to support you and you can leave the captain for last.
>Write in.

>>5479787
>Talk to the Captain. See if you can get more information out of him.

>You don't know who I am? Iwas under the impression that all of China knew the name Tai Lung. Anyway I'm a generous man. Lay down your arms and tell me what I want to know and you may get to walk again.

>>5479787
I will support >>5479871 but with the additional action of disarming the captain and holding him by his throat.

Discourage any stupid saps from thinking that they can get the drop on us.

>>5479928
Ah, now re-reading this, I'm reminded that we're not a nice person. Just a good one.

While we're travelling, we should also see about studying Xin Lan's focus and calm persona. I'd quite like to continue our progression towards peaceful style Kung Fu

>>5479787
>"Name's Tai Lung. And I don't need to be paid to put down mad gangs, like the Kai family from Zhengyi."
>"Now will you stand down, or are you going down like Jianguo, fighting while everything you built burns down around you?"

>>5479928
I like this action

>>5479871
>>5479928
>>5480013
Gonna try and make the captain talk. Writing.

>become interesed in the quest
>start reading the archive
>original QM flakes after 5 posts, now 2 other anons are running it 1 post at a time
wild

"I don't need payment to deal with the likes of you." You say. "Although I was under the impression that all of China knew of the name Tai Lung. Regardless, I'm giving you one chance. Lay down your weapons and tell me what I want to know and you may yet be able to walk after this." You add as you grab the aligator's wrist and twist his weapon out of his grip before lifting him up with a single hand. "It might be best if you tell your men to stand down. You've already lost so many and there isn't anyone who can come to save you. You're standing on floating coffin now."

As expected, a wave of murmuring goes across the crewmates surrounding you. They all look at you anxiously and stand at attention but none of them seemed to be able to muster the will to step forward and try anything. The captain struggles against your grip and part of you seemed slightly disappointed. You almost expected this to go as well as it did when you confronted the leader of the Triads. Instead you found yourself face to face with a coward who chose fire upon defenseless people rather than tackle their opponents head on.

"Y-yeah? And you know who you're facing? We're the Four Seas Gang. The most feared pirates in all the seas. We don't fear anyone." The captain taunts. You give him a rather bored looked.

"Frankly, I've never heard of you or your gang. Given how scared your men are, I highly suggest you start taking my offer seriously and soon because I'm slowly starting to consider rescinding my offer and simply beating the information out of you." You say and turn to look around at the rest of the pirates. "And if you don't last long enough to give me what I want then theres plenty more people I can move on too. So, I'm going to ask again. Did you want to talk and step down peacefully or do you want to find out first hand why people fear me across the nation?"

The captain strugglest some more but doesn't say anything as his free hand tries to pry his neck free. He hasn't denied your request nor accepted it and you wonder if he's worried about losing face in front of his men if he begged for mercy. A foolish notion if the rumors about you were to be believed but power and fear tend to do strange things to a person.

>What do you do?
>Start asking questions. It's the only way you can determine if he's going to cooperate. (What do you ask?)
>If he's no answering then begin doling out the punishment as you promised. His silence is basically a refusal to your terms.
>Knock the captain out. You don't know how much time you have to play this game and if he won't answer then perhaps another one of the factions will. Take the ship out.
>Write in.

>>5481761
Yeah that's mostly on me. Life kind of imploded on me this past year and I'm simply too stubborn to let it die so I post as frequently as I can which unfortunately isn't much given my current job. Still, props to whatever anons stuck to it and voted.

>>5481785
Are you the original QM or one of the people who picked it up?

>>5481785
He's talking about thread 1, Wild time it was.

When we had 3 GM's in one thread and you and somebody else competing to write out posts.

>>5481778
>Smash him into the floor with a choke slam, make a point.
>"Where are the other gangs leadership? Are there more ships? How many more have these fire-work weapons? Where did you acquire them."
>Further refusal, break his hand.

A thief has no need for his hand I don't think.
Though a small part of me really wants to say to him "The most feared pirates in all the seas? Do I look afraid?". Alas we are past that point, and it's already implied.

>>5481787
I'm the QM who continued the game after the first one flaked and all the dust surrounding who would continue it settled down. Wrote all 25 of these threads myself. Good and bad...man time flies. I think we're hitting the third year of this game soonish? Maybe I really should hurry and end this...

Ok so it eats my post then spits it out once I try and repost it. Board being weird then.

>>5481778
>If he's no answering then begin doling out the punishment as you promised. His silence is basically a refusal to your terms.
>Knock the captain out. You don't know how much time you have to play this game and if he won't answer then perhaps another one of the factions will. Take the ship out.
He chose violence.

>>5481868
It happens sometime

>>5481801
>Support

>>5481801
>>5481956
>>5482033
We will start smashing. Writing.

You raise the captain above your head and slam him into the deck with a single hand. The wood shatters like glass and collapses in on itself leaving a hole from which to dangle the aligator over. "Where are the other gangs leaders?" You demand.

"You can go to hell." The captain growls, wincing in pain as you pull him free of the cracked wood. You say nothing but merely grab his wrist and twist. You hear the bones pop as they're wrenched out of their sockets and soon they were drowned out in the captian's screams.

"You seem to think that I'm someone you can scare. Just another one of your many victims that you can push around on name alone. Allow me to remedy that misconception." You say as you continue to squeeze the wounded man's wrist. "Now, perhaps I misjudged your intellegence so let me ask a simpler question. How many more ships do you have?" You ask and begin to twist the broken wrist in the other direction. The aligator howls in pain. "How many?" You ask again. "Your hand still has plenty of bones to break. I can start with the ones in your palm and work my way out."

"3! We have 3!" He screams. "Each on has 30 men!"

"How many of them are in the city?" You growl.

"Just one. The others are are laying in wait posing as merchant ships just up the coast!"

"What about these weapons? Where did you get them?!"

"We stole them off some random gang. They were trying to muscle in on our turf! So we raided them and sank them!"

You lift the captain higher up and begin to place pressure on his throat, cutting off his air supply a bit. "What about the other gangs? They have this kind of weapons on them?"

"No. They don't even know who they're dealing with."

"You're right about that. They don't know what they just started with me and soon, they won't be a problem." You say as you glance around. Even as you tortured their captain, the crew seemed to slowly trying to work themselves up to attack. They weigh their weapons in their hands and shuffle anxiously though none seem to have the courage to make the first move. Even so, you knew better than to press your luck.

>What do you do?
>Knock the captain out and try to make your escape. You'll have to find a way to finish off the pirates another time.
>Throw the captain downstairs and let Xin deal with them. Hopefully you got through to them and they don't do anything extreme while you handle the crew of this ship.
>Demand more information. The captain seems much more talkative now.
>Write in.

>>5483810
>Toss out the captain to a crony, Address the crew
>"You all have about 20 seconds to get off this ship and start swimming. Otherwise you're going to meet the water when the boat goes down."

>Then, start sinking the ship

>>5483810
>Throw the captain off ship
>"You better throw down your weapons and amor, or you are going to drown."
>Jump to the mast, rip the sails. Then keep jumping around pushing the cannon in the water and setting fire to the gunpowder.

>>5484104
Lets not set off the gunpowder.

The ship sinking is enough, since we can be sure they have life boats, even for their injured.
Blowing it up, we have no assurance they won't die.

>>5484246
Ok, I still think we should push the cannons in the water.

>>5484443
Not really disagreeing with you, those weapons are too powerful to allow to just exist. So best we make them unrecoverable as possible, ie at the bottom of the sea.

You strike the captain across the face and knocking him out before you toss his limp body at one of the pirates. "You all have 20 seconds to start evacuating the ship before I bring it down. Best you make the most of your time." You accounce loudly before leaping down the hole you made when slamming the aligator against the deck of the ship. Around you the floor below is full of barrels of explosive powder and metal balls. If the pirates didn't take you seriously before, the sounds of the walls of the ship shattering as you kick one of the cannons out the side of the ship spurred them into action.

You move quickly punching and kicking the solid metal barrels on wheels and ejecting them into the ocean. The last one you lift high above your head and hurl it straight into the ground with all your might. The cannon punches through the floor and the floors of the lower decks until is goes clean through the bottom of the ship. You hear the sudden rush of water and the boat seems to lurch uncomfortably as it begins to take on more and more water. Even with your limited knowledge of ship repair, you know that there is no way that the crew could patch up the damage. Give how big of a hole something the size of the cannon would make, the rushing water would be coming in too fast for anyone to stop it in time. It would have been the equivalent of trying to fight against a waterfall. Even so, someone desperate enough could attempt to repair it once it had become submerged in water so you continue to damage the ship with whatever you had on hand. You grab the cannon balls and throw them against the bottom of the ship to make more punctures, shattered support beams with your forearms, and broke more parts of the upper decks to make safe paths to the damage hull in accessable.

Once you think there was enough damage done, you dive through the remains of one of the windows in to the sea. As you fall, you feel a weight crash into your back and hold on tightly to your neck before slipping into your shirt as you both come up for air. You and Xin Lan quickly leave the chaos of the sinking ship behind you and make your way back on shore. By the time you arrive to the docks the warehouse that had been under attack was nothing more than a smoldering rubble and the group of priates behind the attack were nowhere to be found. Despite the danger, it seemed that curiosity was getting the better of people and you can see civilians cautiously making their way to the destruction. It would be bad if they saw you anywhere near it and you don't doubt that they would attribute it to your doing if they saw you.

You slip into a nearby alley and plan your next move.

>What do you do?
>Find the other two pirate ships. Your certain the group that attacked you on land belongs to one but that leaves another unaccounted for. It would be better to have them out of the way first.
>Regroup with Tigress and the guard. Trying to find the other ships would take too much time and you need to prepare for the other gangs.
>Search for the leaders of the gangs. You need to begin picking them off. Tigress can help keep the city safe from their minions.
>Write in.

>>5487288
>Regroup with Tigress and the guard. Trying to find the other ships would take too much time and you need to prepare for the other gangs.

>>5487288
>Regroup with Tigress and the guard. Trying to find the other ships would take too much time and you need to prepare for the other gangs.

>>5487288
>Regroup with tigress

We're gonna have some issues with her, but lets give Xin the heads up.

>>5487486
>>5487475
>>5487311
TL will soon face every Harem protagonist's greatest foe. Two little sisters fighting over him...or in this case, two little sisters trying not to murder one another with the big guy caught mediating. Writing.

You lay in the cover of the darkness for a few more minutes while keeping an eye on the civilians hang around the scene of the crime. They hover around the ruins with an air of anxiousness before scurrying away and not wanting anything to do with what had occured there. You slowly stand up once you realized your knees were begining to ache from being locked in place and they ache in protest as they are forced to work even more. As the adrenaline also begins to fade away from your body, the general sense of weariness begins to come over you. There was still much more to be done and so you deny yourself the simple luxury of rest. Instead you reach over your shoulder and gently ruffle Xin Lan's ears though they don't react to your gesture.

"You've been pretty quiet." You say as you slink through the darkness. Xin Lan says nothing and simply adjusts their grip around your neck and rests their chin on your shoulder, a strange approximation of a hug but a hug nonetheless. With Xin Lan saying nothing you continue to speak, "We're going to regroup with Tigress and the guards. If we're going to keep the city from falling apart then we're going to need help." You feel Xin Lan wiggle from behind you and they slip their head beneath your shirt.

"No."

"We're not debating this Xin. We need the help. There's too many innocent lives in the balance."

"..."

You quickly make your way to the guard's headquarters where even as you approach you can see it busy with movement.

"We need more man power in the southern districts. Who can we spare?"

"There's tons of movement in the eastern edge of the city. I think something is starting up there!"

"Someone go find some doctors and craftsmen! We're going to need medicine and equipment!"

You land in the courtyard of the station and everyone freezes as they see you approach. It doesn't not help that you looked absolutely disheveled due to how soaked you were from your swims in the ocean. You ignore everyone's looks and simply ask, "Where is Master Tigress? She and I are traveling together." No one answers you as they struggle between speaking to you and possibly attempting to apprehend you. Fortunately for you you can see Tigress approaching you, the look of disapproval ever persistent on her face.

"I hope whatever madness you've been up to has been worth it." She says, "Explosions in the city, pirates attempting to ransack the docks. Now we have fights and looting flaring up all over the city. Whatever your friend has been doing, clearly it wasn't enough." She says and before you can reply continues, "We have reports coming in from all over the city. Several groups have started claiming parts of the city as their own and are harassing the others. So far it's been minor skirmishes with minimal damage and civilian involvement but the guards are understaffed and it's only a matter of time before these gangs begin to take more drastic measures to take one another out and drag citizens in as well. We think there's roughly 4 groups in total though their total numbers are still unknown and unfortunately it seems like they're not keen on each taking a quarter of the city. From what we can gather, they've begun making small outposts within the city masking where their main base of operations are located. We don't have the time or the manpower to begin evacuating the people to somewhere safe so there will always be the risk of someone getting hurt. Given that this is all your and your friend's fault, I damn well hope you have some kind of a plan here. If not, then I suggest you lock yourself in the nearest cell and don't get in my way while I clean this up myself."

>What do you say?
>Write in.

>>5488202
>Any chance you might know where their bases are located Xin?
if so
>The answer is simple. their are 4 hideouts and three of us. We all take one freeing up the guard to focus on the last one. alternatively we could split are forces in two, me and Xin you and the guards are focus on hitting their bases in groups of two. although it would give the other two a chance to try and escape and would probably lead to more damage.

>>5488202
>Inquire with Xin if they know the base locations.

>Relay to tigress that there are about 340 individuals all told, with 3 pirate ships with weapons that blow open buildings hidden out on the coast as merchant ships, each having 30 men apeice. We destroyed one leaving 3 behind. So while there should only be 250-240 in the city, the sea gang has reenforcements that can come from outside.

Now for the actual plan. . . If xin knows, I'm willing to relay to >>5488461 and have the guards focus on one while we smash the others solo.

If Xin doesn't know where the other men are. . . Then we head hunt trouble makers, find the one's with maps and use that to guide us. It will be putting out fires rather than stopping the arsonist, but it will get us closer to the desired end goal faster.

>>5488202
>"I say that we strike them all tonight, one or two gangs at a time. The guards needs to be defending in case one of them decide to be bold. Focus on the main hideout, the outposts need to be taken down too, but it can be done afterwards as clean up."
>"I sunk the ship in the city, they won't be bombarding it anymore. The Four Seas Gag still have 3 more up the coast, each with 30 men in it. We have to end this quickly before they notice what happened. But at least one of them is weakened now. I think we should foucs on finishing them up now to make sure that they don't send any message to theirs reinforcements."
>"Xin, do you have any idea of their main bases or their movements?"

>>5488461
I'll add this to my vote
>"I sunk the ship in the city, they won't be bombarding it anymore. The Four Seas Gag still have 3 more up the coast, each with 30 men in it. We have to end this quickly before they notice what happened. But at least one of them is weakened now. I think we should foucs on finishing them up now to make sure that they don't send any message to theirs reinforcements."

>>5488461
>>5488563
>>5488611
>>5489492
So the plan is to ask Xin for leads and then split up?

>>5490085
I would split up in two groups at maximum, with the guards always defending. And start by finishing up any Four Sea Gang remnants to avoid reinforcemnts.
But it seems the other anons want for each person to go for a different gang all at once.

>>5490085
Yes, basically.

Two groups or four doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. The doctrine at play is Blitzkrieg.
I'd prefer 3 masters take 3 bases, but if Xin doesn't want to get seperated again, I can bear 2 masters and a master/guard vs 2 bases each.

"I sunk the ship that was bombarding the city. It belonged to a group known as The Four Seas Gang. Though they still have ships out on the coast as reinforcements. I've been told that there are three out there, all disguised as merchant ships but the truth of that remains to be seen. Nonetheless, we should strike before they realized reinforcements are needed. The last thing we need is to fight a war out on sea as well as land. Right now we should focus on the gangs in the city while they're still organizing what they think their so called territories are before they manage to hunker down." You say and reach behind you to pull out a very scruffy rabbit from your shirt much to Tigress's surprise.

Xin Lan gives you a look that is borderline apathetic and you worry that perhaps they were resorting to burying their emotions again. "Xin, do you know the locations of any of the gang leaders? Somewhere we can strike?" Xin Lan hangs quietly from your hand for a moment before speaking.

"I know where the leader of the Flying Dragons are." They say. "The ones that that were situated here before all of the others came. They have an underground gambling den in the north side of the city. It's hidden under a silk shop that goes by the name of Gilded Silks. He likes to hide under there. Makes him think like he's some kind of lord of the underworld."

"Anyone else?"

Xin Lan shakes their head. "If the leaders would be anywhere it would be there so they could plot something out but given what's going on, I don't think that's the case."

"So we have the location of the one who brought all these gangs together. Given what we've heard, he probably had some plan to try and sneak attack them while they were supposedly weak. No doubt in some scheme to grow his forces. Obviously, it seems like all the other gangs had the same idea as well." Tigress summerizes. "We should strike at the head first. We might be able to drag some information out of this leader. If anyone would know something it would be him."

"We should split up." You say. "The guard can at least maintain some kind of protective measure for the people here while we strike at the gangs. Given the numbers we were told, theres several hundred gang members through out the city. We'll need to be decisive and quick. Otherwise we run the risk of some of them getting desperate and the last thing we need is a hostage situation."

"That or the remaining gangs will attempt to fill the vaccum we leave behind. If we're too brazen we'll simply leave a trail for them to pick up on and take over. We can't be everywhere at once to stop that and the guard will be spread out too thinly to cover the whole city."

>What do you do?
>Focus on the known leader and work your way from there. The more you know about the other gangs the better.
>Work the streets. Do hit and run attacks against the various gang members. With luck, it'll look like losses from skirmishes rather than a mass wipe out. Without their troops, the leaders will have no power.
>Try and lure the gangs towards you like with the pirates. If you can choose the location of the fighting, you can prevent a lot of damage and you might catch some important people in the process.
>Write in.

>>5490433
>Focus on the known leader and work your way from there. The more you know about the other gangs the better.
Luring is what Xin already tried, and they planned on bombarding the town instead of taking the bait.
So let's be proactive.

>>5490433
>Focus on the known leader and work your way from there. The more you know about the other gangs the better

>>5490433
>Hit the Flying dragons
>Take out any gang members on the way there

I get what they are saying, but we can afford to rip the heads off the serpent. We just have to double tap the body

"Xin and I will head to their base of opperations. We'll do what we do best in the shadows. We'll handle what we can on the way." You say as you tuck the rabbit back into your shirt. They immediately scurry around to find a place to cling on to. "It'd be better for you to put out fires around the city. You're one of The Five, people will be more receptive if they see you helping. They might be even more willing to speak to you things they've seen. Not to mention, you can help organize the guard better." Tigress opens her mouth but given your attitude and stubborness of the past hours ontop of the fact that there wasn't much time nor any good ways to refute what you said simply turns around and motions to the guard.

"Let's go! We need men posted in the edges of the city. Let's leave the animals to fight amongst themselves." She commands. You ignore the last comment. You know enough about the stubborness that runs in the family to know that Tigress was trying to save face and not admit you had a good point. More importantly, you were relived that she was at least level headed enough to not put the needs of others beyond her own personal feelings. At least that was the case when it really mattered. You'd eventaully need to find a way to convince her of your oppositing methodologies.

You leap over the headquarter's gate and begin your run towards the silk shop. Even now, you can hear shouts and the sounds of fighting mixing in with the screams of people trying to get away. They were distant but even now you can feel the tension coming to it's climax. Sooner rather than later, the thin barrier keeping all the chaos of an invasino would fail and you would have a full scale war within these streets. The thought of this serves to spurn you into action and you pick up the pace. You leap onto the nearest balcony, spin around a wooden beam and fling yourself further as you make your way across the city.

You land upon the roof of a shop but the sight of movement prevents you from taking another leap. You spot the a small group of pirates wandering the street below you with a crate of the same fire bombs they used against you in tow. Their eyes glimmer with a sadistic glee as one of them grabs a bottle. He weighs it and bounces it in his hand eagerly before setting it back as if to give himself a taste of what is to come soon. Their cockiness betrays them as unbeknownst to the group, another group of gang members is following just a few feet away. This group, clothed in the garbs of simple merchants, keep their distance but their weapons give them away. They each bore a dagger made the finest metal with hilts decorated with the finest jade. Though it they were well hidden under the folds of their garb and their demenor cautious, the aura of bloodlust is unmistakable for a warrior such as yourself even if it paled in comparison to what you felt Xin Lan emit.

There was no doubt in your mind that these two groups were going to clash in a few moments but your eyes lingered on the bottles of fire bombs for just a moment longer...

>What do you do?
>Continue onwards to the silk shop. These two groups would wipe each other out and you had no time to waste.
>Tell Xin to take care of them as you proceed onwards. They can catch up to you after wards.
>Send Xin ahead while you deal with this yourself. They can probably handle anyone else they come across as well.
>Leap in. You can't waste time planning or ploting. The quickest way is to simply deal with this now.
>Write in.

>>5495162
>Send xin to deal with them
>Prioritise the bombs first, but take them down and fast.

Xin knows explolsives, while we don't. They are also BRUTALLY effective.

I would have one suggestion, since we're going to move on quickly, which is
>Do a single hit and run attack, Jump down onto one of the dagger users, then springboard back up onto the roofs and keep moving.

It should give Xin an extra moment of confusion to utalise while allowing us to keep moving at top speed.

>>5495176
I'll support bomb snatching Xin.
Fire can end up causing collateral damage.

>>5495265
>>5495176
Buns for bombs. Writing.

"Xin, I need you to take them out. Those bombs will cause too much collateral damage if these two groups get into a fight. I'll distract the other group and meet you up at the silk shop."

You feel the wiggle of acknowledgment followed by something slipping out of the bottom of your shirt. Taking that as your queue, you grab a handful of roof tiles and hurl them at the disguised group head of you. You and the tiles fly true as three of them smash into the heads of the gang members while you drop down onto the fourth. There's grunts of pain and confused shouts but you're already in the air as fresh screams of pain fill your ears from behind. The rest of the journey was a mix of sneaking, fighting and running as you leap down into an alley and prevent a break in.

Two men lay broken in the open street and another is left hanging from a balcony, legs bent at odd angles. Another group is assaulted as they try to prey on a family attempting to flee the area. Their clubs are broken over their heads, chains pinning them to walls via daggers they had on their person. There was no sign of Xin Lan but you know that they will catch up to you as soon as they can.

Gilded Silks would have been like any other shop you had seen in your life. Unassuming with it's wares displayed outside on small stands and with a few mannequins peeking through the windows. This illusion of simply being anything but a gang's hideout was shattered by the dozen men patrolling the building. Unlike the other gangs you had seen so far, these men brazenly displayed their weapons out in the open rather than attempt to keep them hidden or disguised as regular objects. Majority of them wielded swords but you also noted one held a hatchet and one even brandished a large spear. You jump down from your perch and slip into the shadows of a nearby cart.

"Make sure the entrances are secure! The boss wants eyes on the perimeter at all times!" A fox commands as he shoulders his blade. "These punks think they can take our city? We're about to make them learn why we're called the Dragons! No one passes through these doors without my say so!"

You wait for a moment and pass through the shadows like a wraith and grab one of the men by the shoulders. Their scream dies in their throat as you slip your arm under their chin and squeeze. They struggle and try to claw at your arm to break free but your grip is like your will, solid and unyielding. Their struggle slows and they soon go limp but their body would not go unnoticed. Another patrol walks by and soon collides with the limp body of the man you knocked out as you hurl it at them. The two slam into the wall of the silk shop and your target is soon taken care of with a swift kick to the head against the wall. The noise gives away your position as you intended and you quickly climb to the roof of the shop. You see another three hurry over to check out the noise and quickly huddle over the bodies making them easy targets. None of the gang members even think to look up as one shouts, "We're under attack! We need back up!"

The first crumples underneath you when you land atop of him and aquatint his face with your fist. The other are knocked off their feet as you hit them with a leg sweep. You grab one by the leg and slam him into the other, knocking the two out. By now, the noise of your fighting has drawn in the others and you grab a nearby blade to defend yourself just as you see 4 more men turn the corner, their weapons at the ready.

"He's over here!"

You charge at the group, parrying one's blade with your own and driving it forward so it cut a gash into one of his allies' side. The attacker's face momentarily registers shock and causes him to over extend enough for you to pivot and slam your elbow into his chin. He falls and your opponents soon find themselves with their backs turn to you. One turns too slowly and is sent crashing into the same cart you hide behind with a single kick. The third attempts to take advantage as he presses forward to bring his hatchet down upon your extended leg. You swiftly swing it upwards, kicking his hand and knocking his weapon high into the air as you stamp the ground into the horse stance and thrust both arms out. You feel his ribs break as both your fists strike him in the chest and he flies backwards. The two injured men groan and begin to beg for their lives after witnessing such an assault. To them it must have been a silver blur, a storm of violence and destruction come to life, but it was enough to make them realize their place in the world when compared to you.

Your triumph, however, is short lived as your subconscious raises your blade to deflect another attack. The spear tip bounces off the flat of your blade and the fox takes the lead to swing at your open side. You use your size to your advantage and sidestep enough to avoid the sword then slam your body into the fox's. With your large mass it easily send him flying but surprisingly he simply flips in mid air and lands gracefully. This man was on another level than the grunts you had just faced. He motions to the remaining three around him and the spread out. "So the great Tai Lung chooses to grace us with his presence. Who paid you off? Was it the Silent Lotus? The Seas Gang?" He demands.

>What do you do?
>Say nothing and attack. Once he falls, the others' morale will crumble. After that it's simply a matter of entering once Xin Lan arrives.
>Subdue the man. Perhaps you can "convince" him to allow you to enter the building and talk to his leader.
>Try and get more information out of him. He's clearly someone in a high position.
>Write in.

>>5497424
>Say nothing and attack. Once he falls, the others' morale will crumble. After that it's simply a matter of entering once Xin Lan arrives.

>>5497424
>Stay silent and take him down.

Ah, a martial artist amongst them.

>>5497424
>Say nothing and attack. Once he falls, the others' morale will crumble. After that it's simply a matter of entering once Xin Lan arrives.

Actually, should we give a dragon roar? The gang is called the Flying Dragons, it would be ironic.

>>5497816
No, it alerts the one's inside that someone they can't handle is here.

We've only just been made as Tai Lung, so lets allow the other gang members to try and rush to their fellows aid.

>>5497872
Alright

>>5497599
>>5497706
>>5497786
No time to talk. We must fight. Writing.

You had no time for some criminal's interrogation. Your only goal was to get to his boss and if he wished to engage you then that is what you would give him. The shrill ring of metal scraping against metal fills your ears. The fox's reflexes were far sharper than you had anticipated and he had leapt as you strode forward to attack you. Though you were far stronger and heavier, your opponent had used your strength against you and used his momentum to slide across your blade as you blocked him rather than allow you to shove him aside like before. He spins as his blade leaves yours leaving your a mere fraction of a second to lean backwards and avoid the counter attack. Your opponent lands softly on the ground and leaps backwards high into the air as if defying gravity and landing on a nearby roof.

As you stumble backwards into a roll and are forced to contend with the spear wielder. They press their advantage as you're momentarily forced to move. The tip of their weapon bounces off the flat of your blade as you bring it up and side to side akin to swatting something annoying away each time they spear is thrust back towards you. You manage to get your feet and begin pushing forward, now dodging rather than parrying, but as soon as you manage to get a grip on the spear's shaft the fox leaps back into the fray. They fly through the air, twisting and spinning with their blade out becoming a lethal whirlwind of metal. You're forced to let go of the spear but the fox's leap put them in a predictable trajectory and you can easily dodge out of the way and get into position to strike.

The fox attempts to leap away as they land but you're simply too fast and by the time they are in the air, your hand has closed it's grip on his tail. With a grunt, you swing them over head and hurl them at the one of the two remaining swordsmen before he can bring his blade to bare upon your exposed arm. The swordsman, who was simply standing there in stunned silence, has no time nor the skill to avoid the body of his boss and the two are promptly knocked to the ground tangled up in each other. With two men momentarily taken care off, you turn your attention to the spear man. The man begins to back away as you approach and though he is skilled, it is clear that his role is to merely take advantage of openings left by his more skilled superior or more to the case is he had never had to face an opponent that could fend off so many people at once.

"Those who do not fight with their own skill soon find themselves to be inadequate once someone of equal measure faces them. Unfortunately for you, my skill is far beyond yours." You say before leaping forward. In a panic the man thrusts his spear forward but you are already out of the way and kicking off of the silk shop's wall. You tackle the man and roll with him using the roll to lift him up and then bring him back down to smash him into the ground. There is an ugly crunch as the body his the floor and your opponent remains motionless and his spear clatters to the ground. A swift flick of your tail and the spear finds it's way into your hand as you wield both weapons and brandish them with and expert flourish only someone who had dedicated their entire life to the craft could accomplish. You lead the fight, swinging your spear in a wide arc to force everyone apart. The two grunts cower in fear while their leader simply stops the swing with his weapon and slides forward and underneath the spear. Even so his attack is quickly stopped by your own sword and you force his blade hand to the ground. You stomp on his dominant hand, forcing him to let go of his weapon as his fingers are broken then follow it up with another swift kick to the chest. The man's body crashes through one of the windows leaving you a nice opening just in time for Xin Lan to show up.

"Took you long enough." You grunt as you drop both weapon. Xin Lan looks unmoved.

"It took some time to kill both sides." They say dully.

"..."

"That was a joke." They add in the same monotone voice their expression still emotionless and flat. "It seems like we won't have the advantage of stealth in this one."

"No. We won't." You say somewhat warily. "Though that might not be a bad thing."

>What do you do?
>Go right in. Subdue anyone who gets in your way.
>Take the lead and bring more men out. Xin Lan can use that as cover to sneak in and deal with the boss themselves.
>Force one of the remaining grunts to send a message to their boss. Come out and surrender or you and Xin will simply break everyone in the building. It'll be a lot less of a hassle for both sides for him to simply give up.
>Write in.

>>5498910
>Take the lead and bring more men out while Xin goes in.

We trust you buddy. But lets make sure that the fox stays down.

>>5498910
>Take the lead and bring more men out. Xin Lan can use that as cover to sneak in and deal with the boss themselves.

>>5498910
>Force one of the remaining grunts to send a message to their boss. Come out and surrender or you and Xin will simply break everyone in the building. It'll be a lot less of a hassle for both sides for him to simply give up.

>>5499068
>>5498965
Drawing Fire. Writing.

"Still, if they know that we're here. We can use that to our advantage. I'll draw as much attention as possible while you sneak through and deal with their leader. They expect a direct attack now. I doubt they'll even consider you to come back and finish what you started. They think either you've fled or are wounded and licking your wounds. Right now their only worry is the other gangs and they have their backs to the wall. They're focusing on the wrong enemy and we'll make sure it'll be too late for them to realize their mistakes. Do you know how to access their hideout?" You ask.

"The entrance is behind one of the massive shelves in the back of the shop. There's a switch that is hidden behind the many baskets of thread and knitting supplies. It's impossible for even the most avid and rough shopper to find. It makes it safer than having to rely on a paid shop keep of risk some thief finding it behind the main counter during a robbery. If you want to be loud about it, you can simply tear the whole thing off the wall." Xin Lan says as they slowly vanish into the darkness. You nod, though you can no longer tell if they were near you. You step through the broken window and into the shop proper.

Your last attack on the fox had sent them flying all the way to the back of the shop, knocking down smaller stands and mannequins. You find him getting up as he picks broken glass out of his shoulders with his only functional hand. He tests his broken fingers, winces in pain and stands up. "It's kinda hard to imagine what a legend will be like. I don't think anyone can ever come close to imagining what the real deal is like but you're nothing like the stories say." He says as he notices you enter. The man chuckles. "I know I can't beat you...so does it make me crazy to say that I'm excited to try and fight you, even in such a sorry state?"

You say nothing and merely continue your approach.

"Didn't think you'd say much. Guess I'm just trying to get myself going again. Fine, let's go!" He shouts and makes a mad dash towards you. Your opponent stomps down upon the neck of one of the mannequins, snapping the head off, and kicking it straight at you. You swap it aside with absolutely no thought as such things were now simply pure instinct. Despite his attempted distraction failing, the fox continues his assault and leaps forward to rain down punches and kicks upon you even with his broken hand. You block his attacks, side step others, and continue onward towards the back shelf that Xin Lan indicated. Even so, the fox's attacks do not stop has he does his best to stop you. It's not until you reach the back wall that you stop and face the man once more.

"You have made an enemy out of me and defeating me is impossible for you. Even in the face of such odds, you continue to fight. Our goals may be different, our morals in contrast to one another yet we are both unyielding and unafraid. I can at the very least respect that and out of that respect, I will face you with everything I have. Come at me one last time and I will show you how the stories compare to a legend."

>What do you do? Your opponent can never beat you.
>Use the fox to break down the wall. It'll cause a bigger commotion.
>Knock the fox out and carry him deeper into the hide out, it'll show these gang members who they're up again and why they need more men.
>Knock the man out and continue onward. You don't need to someone helpless to bring attention to yourself
>Write in.

>>5503190
We have truly gone full Wuxia.

>Use the Fox to break down the wall, then shout a challenge.
>"COME OUT, OR I'M COMING IN!"

>>5503190
>>Use the fox to break down the wall. It'll cause a bigger commotion.
We are the distraction

>>5503298
Also, I vaguely remember that last speech from somewhere.
Hits the same notes as Kiryu to Aizawa
>"Those born with talent never make it on talent alone. They endure trials and perservere. So if I'm the wall you need to try and scale, then I'll let you try, but you may find it so high you never want to try again. The taste will be enough"

Just really sticks at me.

The shelves shatter and come crashing down upon the fox as you hurl him at them and follow up with a kick. It was almost pitiful how easily you had dispatched him but in his current state it was simply inevitable that he would prove to be no threat. Still, you had to respect the attempt. Too many people would simply flee at the sight of you and even those that did not would refuse to fight you. You feel a twinge of yearning to those days when you could still find people who could give you a challenge and soon after you feel the slight burning of embarrassment upon realizing that you are becoming old..er. It would be best you keep those thoughts to yourself lest Xin Lan somehow discover them and use them against you.

Coming back to the world around you, you find yourself descending down a staircase that ran parallel with wall the shelf ran along. It seemed like the shop was building with a false wall to hide this stairwell. The interior was just big enough to hide the fact that it was smaller than the outside of the building while holding a fake stone wall. "Come out, or I'm coming in! Your guards have been defeated and your enemies slowly close in upon you! Tonight your face Tai Lung!" You shout down the steps.

When no one rises to your calls, you make your way down the stairs and into a large room that is a mix of a tavern and an upscale restaurant. There was a bar lined with fancy looking bottles, a myriad of tables and chairs. This all clashed with the fine rugs and dining ware as well as the decorations that consisted of paintings and statues among other things. All this of course was secondary to the large gang of men waiting between you and a large bear in the very back.

The bear wore clothing of the finest silk but your keen eyes can see the almost imperceptible layer of armor hidden beneath the folds of his robes. He may have felt safe in his hideout but even then he was still cautious.

You step over the body of the fox and into the the light of the candles. "Your time is at an end." You say. "You can all drop your weapons and come quietly or I will make you. How painful you want this to be is up to you."

"So it is true. The Great Tai Lung has come." The bear says. "Tell me, who has paid you off? How much money have my opponents offered you?"

"The last person who asked me that lies at the bottom of those stairs. I'm going to guess we're going to do this the hard way then?" You reply. "There is nothing you can offer me that will change my mind. I do this for the sake of justice, not some kind of ideals fueled by greed."

"Justice? Then I won't mince words. Who do you think keeps the law in this city? The guards? Those fools in the government? No, it is me. There is not a single crime, not a theft or bribe that does not go unnoticed by me. If anyone so much as harms a person under my protection then they will soon realize why I am king here. The citizens of this city know this. They pay their dues and can rest easy knowing that they have nothing to fear. What do you think is going to happen if I'm no longer here to keep order? Chaos is what. Every two bit thief and thug is going to think they're free to do as they wish. Every other gang will come here to sow disorder..."


The bear continues to drone on and on about his place as the true ruler of the city. It's something you've heard dozens of times. Excuses for their misdeeds and justifications for their crimes. You allow him to continue his monologue as you study your options because there was no way you would ever join someone like him.

>What do you do?
>Grab a piece of furniture and attack. Once you have everyone's attention, flee back up stairs. The bear would surely remain downstairs as he waits for his men to finish fighting.
>Start a fire. The man's taste for silks and paintings gives you enough things that are easily flammable. The fire will force everyone to exit the building giving you more room to fight and in the chaos allow Xin to strike at the gang's leader as he exits.
>Keep the fight down here but leave enough of an opening for the leader to flee. If he takes his chances he'll escape through the stairs and right into Xin.
>Write in.

>>5504392
>Keep the fight down here but leave him an opening to escape.
>Open up with a few precision bottle tosses, taking out a few grunts and pissing them off with destroying their toys.

>"You seem to have mistaken Order for Justice. Lets see how the reverse tastes."

>>5504392
>Keep the fight down here but leave enough of an opening for the leader to flee. If he takes his chances he'll escape through the stairs and right into Xin.
The fire could get out of control

"You seem to have mistaken Order for Justice. Let me show you how you're sorely mistaken." You interrupt when you've finally had enough of the gang leader's monologuing. You leap forward towards the group and kick a table at a few of the members sending them flying backwards and into each other in a tangle of limbs. You leap atop the fallen table to pin them down and grab the nearest bottle of alcohol to bring down upon the head of the nearest gang member.

It seems like this flurry of motion finally registers in the minds of your opponents and soon you're surrounded by nearly a dozen men as more attempt to squeeze past to get to you. You duck one swing and parry two more by snapping the legs off the table to use as batons. You swing backwards and someone loses their teeth, a straight kick and ribs break. Slowly, the the group is herded back into one of the bars and one attempts to seek revenge by breaking a bottle on you but the attack never reaches it's mark when a roundhouse kick sends them flying into the shelves of drink. You pull someone off of you as they jump on your back and kick another attempting to stab at your legs while your arms are busy. You throw the man across the room and begin to move once more. At this rate it would only be a matter of time before one of the men gets a lucky hit. You might be powerful but you weren't immune to bleeding out. Another bottle flies beside your head and hits an opponent across theirs causing enough confusion to create an opening for you to enact your plan.

You hop over to the back of the bar and begin to fight over the counter. As expected, the mob begins to try and climb over or move around to get to you leaving a large enough space for your real goal to pan out. Once it seemed like you were being overwhelmed and cornered behind the bar, the large bear adjusts his robes and begins to walk out in a vain attempt to seem in control of the situation. To you it only showed that he had never truly been in a situation where his life was in danger as anyone else would have seen the danger you presented. As he leaves, you note that a few of the men trying to get to you peel off and begin to form an escort group to protect their boss on the way out. You attempt to get to them but the rest of the group attempt to cut you off.

>What do you do?
>Allow them to leave, Xin can handle a few more men.
>Barrel through the group and take care of the escort forming. It might throw the boss into a panic and force him to run out without paying attention to the upcoming ambush.
>Maneuver the fight back upstairs, there will be more room and Xin can help you clean up.
>Write in.

>>5506502
>Barrel through the group and take out the escorts.
>"You think you can escape me, Bear?!"

Lets set a [figuritive] fire under his ass.

>>5506502
>Barrel through the group and take care of the escort forming. It might throw the boss into a panic and force him to run out without paying attention to the upcoming ambush.

"You think you can escape me?!" You shout as you viciously back hand a nearby gang member and hurl him at the group forming around you before leaping towards the leader and his body guards. You feel pain lance up your side as one of the men gets a lucky hit while you force your way through the crowd. Years of training help you suppress it and you pounce on one bodyguard while kicking behind you to hit another. The man behind you crashes into the wall and crumples to the floor while the one beneath you is quickly dispatched as you chop down on the man's neck. You roll to the side while carrying the limp body and use it to knock the third body guard to the ground.

The bear's eyes widen as his facade of being in control shatters. "Kill him! Kill him! If I find any one of you holding back then I'll have you killed myself!" He shouts as he begins to run up the stairs and right into Xin Lan's hands as planned. You punch the remaining body guard in the face and they simply fall to the ground, nose bleeding and eyes rolled back.

You touch your bleeding side and wince. Flicking the blood off your fingers you say, "You got one for free. Now, you get no more. I'm done holding back." You roar and the remaining bottles shake violently threatening to shatter from the sheer force. The men before you are similarly affected as they flinch and several of them clasp their ears and others are forced to take a step back. You take advantage of their stunned state and leap back into the fray. Two are taken out instantly when you grab them by the head and smash them together. Another 4 fall to a series of Chi strikes, each one sending golden ripples throughout their bodies. You feel a sense of pride and relief that your strikes remain just and virtuous like Oogway's despite all that had happened before.

One man tries to roar back but his is more of a desperate scream which is quickly silences to a knife hand strike to the throat. He chokes and clasps his neck, dropping his weapon and soon joining it on the ground when you grab both sides of his face and headbutt him. Three more advance towards you their eyes wide with desperation and fear. It was not surprising of course, they had just watched majority of their group fall within the span of a handful of seconds. Before them was a monster and they had spent the last minute poking the beast. Now it had been unchained. You catch a blade by the wrist and twist so hard that you see bone break the skin. The man screams in pain then horror as you lift him up and swing him around to batter the people around you like some kind of living whip.

The other men try to back away and try to keep their weapons from harming the poor man in your grip but they block each other's path as they try to scramble away. You throw your victim over the heads of your opponents which forces them to duck...right into your rising knee. Teeth are sent flying everywhere as your attack connects and the person next to your target soon meets your fists as you drop a hammer strike upon their shoulder, disconnecting it and tearing the muscle apart.

The remaining handful drop their weapons and fall to their knees. "We surrender! Please! We were just following orders!" They scream. "We're no match for you! W-we- We'll join your gang! Just let us live!" They flinch and back away as you tower over them, your golden eyes furious.

"Never touch my sister again." You growl. The men's confusion is cut short as you end their pleading with a series of quick strikes. However, you're given no time for basking in your victory or to catch your breath as you heart the sounds of fighting above you which had blended in and was drowned out by your fight downstairs. It was far too much for it to be a simple scuffle between the bear and Xin Lan and so you rush back upstairs.

A orange haze fills your eyes and they being to itch as your lungs burn with every breath. You make your way through the poison fog and see the body of the bear slumped in a corner, their arm pinned to a wall with a series of knives but you can't tell if he is alive or dead. Off in the distance, you can hear screams of pain and the sounds of glass breaking and through the fog you can see the vague outlines of people running around and approach. Every so often one of the bodies will crumple to the ground but the fog is too thick to tell what is causing their demise.

>What do you do?
>Write in

File: images.jpg (7 KB, 266x190)

7 KB JPG

Merry Christmas and all that holiday cheer! Figured I'd at least keep to the tradition of wishing you guys a happy and safe holiday. We're closing off another year for this game as well. Damn, what does that make this like...3 years now?

Thanks for putting up with the bullshit life has been throwing at us with me and here's to another year!

>>5508116
>Use a ki push to hurl the fog away from us, and keep a small bubble of breathable air for us.
>Go and check to see if the bear is breathing, if he's dead, the gas is a killer. If not, it isn't.

This isn't Xin's doing, too inprecise. Maybe another gang attack.

>>5508119
Merry Christmas man, and I'm really happy that this has endured as it has. We've had ups and downs, wax and wanes with popularity, but the writing has only gotten better and the investment is as high as ever.

>>5508116
>Hold breath
>Get Bear
>Go to second floor
>Flee
The fog should be thin in the second floor, and we can run away in the rooptops.

>>5508119
I got to agree with that anon, it's good to have a quest that stays. And your writing is consitently good.
Merry christmas.

>>5508242
we can palm push the air clear.

>>5508248
If it's possible then do that instead of holding our breath.
Still want to go upstairs and flee from there though, while carrying the bear.

>>5508172
>support

>>5508172
>>5508242
>>5508275
I can do both. Push the air away and put the bear to higher ground if he lives.

>>5508307
Sounds good to me.
Actually, should we get the bear even of he dies? It's kind of morbid, put it would stop another gang from getting the body as a trophy.

You thank the Gods for giving you the opportunity to live for so long within the Sacred Library. Training, studying, and working there had accustomed you to make the most of the thinner atmosphere and as such your already extraordinary lung capacity had grown and could more efficiently use what little air you already had before you ran into the gas.

Blinking back tears, you draw your arms back in a large sweeping motion before thrusting them back out and forcing all the air around you forward. The resulting blast of wind forces the gas apart and gives you some breathing room. More importantly, it allows your vision to clear in the nearby area. Hurrying over to the bear, you check his pulse and find it to be weaker but not dangerously so though his breathing was worryingly shallow. Examining the wounds, you can see that the blades and punched straight through the arm and embedded themselves into the wall pinning the arm in place with the hilts of the weapons. Even so, the bleeding that was occurring was being stifled by the knives themselves thus the man was in no danger of bleeding out anytime soon. Still, you couldn't leave him here. The gas would attempt to disperse evenly and it was more than likely whoever was behind this would be liable to spread more around. You wrench the arm free of the wall careful to keep the blades in place and hoist the large mammal on your shoulder. With a heavy leap, you jump up onto the roof of the building and away from the gasses around you.

With your new perch, you can see that the whole block was slowly being enveloped by the poison though you still can barely make out any figures within the fog. You can see several jars arcing over the gas and shattering on impact, releasing even more of the fog. The fog billows and slowly starts to rise almost as if it's stacking upon itself. Had Ming been here, surely she would have been able to discern what this was and how to counteract it. For now, you'd have to make do and figure out how to prevent more of it from being spread around.

As you study the clouds, you can see them shift and separate abruptly as something cuts through it. The line of separation speeds towards the figure of this new group and suddenly the figure collapses in a scream. Joining the screams are shouts of panic and fear. Turning to look behind you, you see several people opening windows on the upper floors of nearby buildings panicking and attempting to look for a way out as the poison slowly seeps into their home. A chill goes down your spine as you look around the block once more and realize that there might be even more people trapped or perhaps even those that might have succumbed to the poison in their sleep and were unable to move.

Compounding matters, you begin to hear loud explosions off into the distance. It seems that the worst has come to pass and a full scale gang war had broken out.

>What do you do?
>Leap back into the fog and being helping taking out the ones within it. Perhaps they might have some kind of antidote or at the very least, you can prevent more of the gas from spreading.
>Try and enter the buildings. You need to get the people out. Even if it runs the risk of allowing the bear to escape or be saved. If Xin is the one fighting in the fog hopefully they can survive long enough to stop it.
>Rush over to another part of the city. The guards are spread out as it is, they'll need help to keep the chaos at bay. Focusing two people here would do no good.
>Write in.

>>5508326
>Try and enter the buildings. You need to get the people out. Even if it runs the risk of allowing the bear to escape or be saved. If Xin is the one fighting in the fog hopefully they can survive long enough to stop it.
Couldn't we tie him to us or something? Or even tie him in the ceiling or a a tower in the rooftops.
Indigestion is not good for ideas.

>>5508326
>Leap back into the fog and being helping taking out the ones within it. Perhaps they might have some kind of antidote or at the very least, you can prevent more of the gas from spreading.

>>5508326
>Get the people out

tough call. But we're not here to let people die.

>>5508475
>>5508328
Quest shall resume tomorrow and we will be rescuing people trapped in a building.

"What's going on?"

"There's no way out!"

"We're going to die!"

Panicked shouts and screams ring out from the open windows of the building next to you as the people attempt to look for a way to escape the fog of poison. Though it may not be immediately lethal, or even at all in small doses, the average person would immediately assume the worst. Opening any doors or windows on the first floor would only allow more of the fog to get in and you couldn't risk anyone getting caught in it if you wanted to save them all. The only thing to do was to start at the top floor. With a leap, you sail across the street, over the fog below, and crash straight through the window of the building.

You land with a roll and find yourself in someone's home but you spend no time idling as you throw open the door to the main hall. You see nearly 2 dozen people now watching you in fear as you step out of the house you just seemingly flew into. "Is this everyone?" You ask but receive no reply. "Is this everyone?!" You shout in the hope of shocking people back to their senses. "I need to know if I'm going to save you all."

Your words seem to bring some to their senses. "I think this is-"

"My mom! You have to help her! I don't know where she is! When fog came around she disappeared! She was running with me!" A boy shouts and tugs at your shirt. I think she's still out on the street!"

"You can't go down there! What about us?!" An elderly man shouts. "By the time you're done looking in that hellscape, we'll all be dead here too!"

"Don't say that in front of a child! Have you no shame?! He's lost his mother!" A woman shouts back and soon the whole room devolves into screaming once more.

"ENOUGH!" You roar. "The city is under attack and we are under siege. In times of crisis we should be working together than pulling each other down. The men can scour the rest of this building. Bring anyone else back up here before the fog begins to enter the building fully. Everyone else start forming a barricade to the stairs. We don't know if whoever is behind this will try to enter the building for cover or to ransack. We'll need a defensive perimeter."

"What about you?" Someone asks. "What are you going to do?"

"Please mister...please find my mom." The boy pleads as he tugs at your arm.

"I'll figure something out." You say.

>What do you do?
>Go back out and search the streets for the boy's mother. There might be enough time to do that and get back but you'll be risking things getting worse or people in other buildings.
>Ignore the boy's mother. Smash open one of the walls and begin making a makeshift bridge to one of the nearby buildings away from the poison. From there people can try and escape while you search other buildings.
>Ferry people to another building. You can certainly carry many of them but doing so will take time. Time you're not sure other people have.
>Lead people downstairs. You can push the fog away as the group travels the streets. You can also search for the boy's mother while doing so. However, the group will need to be huddled close together and you'll be defenseless to protect them should anyone attack. Stopping to fight will allow the fog to close back up and there's no doubt that people will panic and scatter at that point.
>Write in.

>>5511611
Fuckin' damnit Luo. Twist the knife in my heart more why don't you.

>Punch out the wall to make a bridge, then use the time while they are escaping to search for the boys mother. Pick up anyone else we can get, ideally without separating them.

>Tell them that the fog is air, they need to keep windows and doors closed, stuff shirts and bed sheets and window blinds and anything fabric against the bottom to prevent it's entry.
It's the best compromise I can think of. Our roar isn't words, despite it's sound.

>>5511770
Oh and
>Wet material over the face should give you more protection

>>5511611
>Smash open one of the walls and begin making a makeshift bridge to one of the nearby buildings away from the poison
>Then search for the mother
Hopefully Xin is trying to get rid of the attackers

we could also try and comfort him somehow? Like uh

"You need to be strong now boy, Once you survive, we can find your mum."
A white lie, but a lie none the less. Maybe the others have a better idea.

>>5511770
>>5511772
>>5511818
Gonna make and opening before searching for the boy's mom. More than likely making a life changing impact on another person's life. Writing.

You slam both your palms into the wall at the end of the hall away and it explodes with enough force that the rubble lands on the other building's roof. "The rest of you. Grab what you can and build to the other building! The poison is in the air. Once you get in, close all the windows. Block all the doorways and gaps with whatever cloth you can gather. Warn the other residents and move on. Everyone wear something over your faces and go! Before it continues to spread further!" You order the remaining few people on the top floor before turning to the boy.

Kneeling you place your hand on the child's shoulder and say, "Boy. I will go find your mother but you must steel your heart. I see it in your eyes. Fear, desperation. There will be many more times when you will find yourself with your back to the wall and times of desperation. It is in these very moments that you must choose to do the right thing, not the easy one. That is the true measure of heroism, not just brute strength. If you believe this situation to be a failure on your part then I cannot convince you otherwise. However, do not be sorry. Only be better."

You stand back up and leap to the other building. As you hang from the side of it, you force one it's windows open and help guide the makeshift bridge through the window to allow the trapped civilians through. Simply smashing another wall open would give them an unsealable gap that would allow more gas to pour in. At the very least they could close the window behind them somewhat. Once you felt that the bridge was sturdy enough, you drop down back into the fog. It would be up to them to organize with the others and escape, spending time trying to help them with that would be time away from finding more people lost in the gas.

You land and immediately force the air around you to part with your hands once more and give your self some literal breathing room. The sounds of fighting seemed to have died down a lot more than when you had leapt to save the trapped people. Even so, you could hear footsteps running around and the sounds of bottles breaking though you weren't sure if that was according to the attacker's plans or if they were simply throwing them out of desperation to stop whatever was hunting them down in the mists.

You rush into the fog and begin to search through it but unsure of where to even begin looking. Part of you wonders if you were making a mistake once more, potentially sacrificing the lives of many for one but you simply could not shake the urge to save everyone. It was as if a weight bore down upon your shoulders and the only way to get rid of it was to save everyone you could regardless of the consequences.

You dash through the gas some more and feel the sting burn into your eyes. No matter how much you blinked or many tears your forced back, nothing seemed to wash away the irritation. You force the air around you to push the gas away once more and find yourself face to face with another person. They wore merchant's clothing but their face was obscured by a plain round mask adorned with an intricate flower. Though none of their facial features could be seen, the stiffness of their body suggested surprise and you see their fingers tighten around a flask with gas seeping out of it.

>What do you do?
>Ignore the person and continue searching. Taking down one of the attackers would achieve nothing and does not help your goal.
>Subdue the person. If they are one of the attackers then perhaps they have answers and even some kind of antidote.
>Write in.

Hope everyone enjoys their new years. Take care guys and stay safe.

>>5513457
>Subdue the person. If they are one of the attackers then perhaps they have answers and even some kind of antidote.

>>5513457
>Subdue the person. If they are one of the attackers then perhaps they have answers and even some kind of antidote.
Less gas being throw around.

>>5513457
>Subdue them, we don't want answers, we want an antitdote

The flask

Happy new years!

Happy new years guys! Quest will resume tomorrow as we search through the fog. Here's to a good 2023.

In a split second you pounce on the man and knock him out with a strike to the neck. He goes limp and you quickly begin to rummage through his person as the fog begins to close around you. You find a multitude of glass bottles on him but your knowledge of alchemy is too lacking to be able to determine anything that could be considered an antidote. You are assured that at the very least there is less of the stuff going around as you grab as many bottles as you can and wrap them up on a makeshift bag you make out of the attacker's clothing. Dumping the lump of cloth into a nearby barrel, you pull the mask free from the man's face. You recall in the distant past that Ming's mask bore various herbs and medicines that could help filter out the various fumes and odors that she worked with. Perhaps this mask worked the same in principal. It would allow them to wander their own poisons unhindered. You highly doubt anyone would go through whatever inhuman training the bunnies went through to build their tolerances.

Your hunch proves correct as you see the mix of green leaves and plant matter within a rather small crevice in the mask. Even someone as untrained as you can tell that this is far too small of an amount for someone of your opponent's size for anything truly dangerous. You're not sure if you want to feel relieved over the idea that this fog is simply meant to be an irritant rather than a lethal poison. Even so, if there was anything Ming had taught you during the brief lessons she gave you it was that anything could be lethal in high enough doses. Could it be that this gang was miscalculating the amount of poison they were using? Or were they so desperate to attack the Flying Dragon's hide out that they were willing to forgo any safety measures?

Regardless of what their intentions were, you hoist the unconscious man over your shoulder and continue onward. Enemy or not you shuddered at the thought of someone dying in their sleep unbeknownst to them that every breath they took was killing them.

Another thrust of your hand and more fog is dispersed. This time revealing a guard collapsed on the ground, coughing and wheezing. Their limbs tremble as they struggle to move but the weight of the armor is too much for him in his weakened state and was effectively pinning him down and holding him in the fog. You grab them as well and hold him under your arm. Even though you can carry both of them with no problem, you only had so many limbs and thus you leap on to a nearby roof above the cloud of poison.

The guard's coughing worsens for a moment as it seems his lungs detect untainted air and desperately try to empty themselves to replace with breathable air. You think he'll be ok once he catches his breath so you drop the gang member next to him to guard but standing this high up presents another problem as you survey the block. You had no idea where to look for the boy's mother. Thankfully it seems like all gang activity has ceased and you no longer hear the sounds of glass breaking but that didn't help you in your search for people lost there.

>What do you do?
>Shout into the void and tell Xin to look for survivors. You're needed elsewhere in the city.
>Talk to the guard. He might be able to appraise you of the situation around the city. At the very least he can tell you if there were others in the fog.
>Leap back down. You weren't one to give up in the face of adversity. If you had to single-handedly push the entire cloud away then so be it.
>Write in.

>>5516787
>Scream to the whole block "The gas isnt fatal in small doses!"
>Leap back down, never give up

>>5517035
I just want to keep the panic down.

>>5516787
>Leap back down. You weren't one to give up in the face of adversity. If you had to single-handedly push the entire cloud away then so be it.

The fog envelopes you once more as you leap back into the streets to continue your search. Somewhat secure in your theory that perhaps the poison was not intended to be deadly, you make a note to get out as soon as you can to minimize whatever damage it could cause but finding others was your first priority. "You can come out now!" You shout, "Quickly the fog is only dangerous in long doses! If you hurry you can get out of here before any more fighting begins again. You can run to safety!"


No one heeds your call whether they succumbed to the poison or had found other ways to flee you could not say. Nonetheless, you resume your search. There is a worrying lack of response as you move through the poison. Could you have spent too much time searching here rather than helping those whose location was certain? You begin to throw aside anything that could hide a body. Stands, carts, barrels and crates are sent flying and crashing behind you. In your frenzy, you finally find something. A small thin body laying in a heap. Their clothes are thing and threadbare a complete opposite to the merchant's robes that the bandits wore. You hoist them up on your shoulder and leap back up to the rooftops. Examining the body in the safety of fresh air, you see that you have found a woman. Whether or not this was the boy's mother didn't matter as you see that her pulse is weak but more importantly, she was no longer breathing. You push against your chest in hopes of forcing whatever poison is in her lungs to leave but to no avail. All you get is the rattle of empty lungs and so you place your lips against hers and force the air into her and repeating the motions to simulate some kind of breathing. No matter what you do, she remains still and unresponsive.

You don't know how much time she has spent comatose like this but you know that she won't survive much longer if you don't do something about the poison in her system. If this was the boy's mother, you can only imagine that she had gotten separated from the boy in the panic and succumbed to the poison as she wandered lost or perhaps she allowed her son to go to safety while she did something else to keep him safe. None of these speculations would matter if she didn't make it and the loss of Ming's presence was beginning to hit you now more than ever.

>What do you?
>Try and carry the woman to some apothecary. Surely you could at least find something for poisons there. Things tended to be labeled there at least.
>Call out to Xin. They were the only other person you know that was an expert in poisons. Surely they would have something or would know what to do.
>Dig out the small vial you found at the library. It was a gift for Ming. Xin said it contained a powerful antidote that could cure all but the most deadly of toxins. There was only one dose in it however, and would it be wise to use such a powerful cure this early in your war against the Mongols?
>Write in.

>>5518002
>Try and carry the woman to some apothecary. Surely you could at least find something for poisons there. Things tended to be labeled there at least.

>>5518002
>Call out to Xin
>Continue CPR

We can also check via what species the boy and mother is, with likely genetic traits.
Anyway, Continued CPR will keep her alive until Xin can arrive.

>>5518002
>Call out to Xin. They were the only other person you know that was an expert in poisons. Surely they would have something or would know what to do.
>Try and carry the woman to some apothecary. Surely you could at least find something for poisons there. Things tended to be labeled there at least.

New thread tomorrow.