Chapter One: Escape · Shock · Superpowers

The capital beneath the vault of heaven, Dingyi District, Clear Sky International Airport.

“Don your wings of white wax ♪ Say farewell to the past ♪”

“Fly to the sun and moon ♪ To the world above the clear sky ♪”

The new song had barely begun when the environment grew noisy. A tourist, reluctant, removed their headphones and, with the others disembarking from the plane, began to examine the building around them.

This elliptical, semi-transparent structure, built beneath the left wing of the colossal dragon, was the first point of contact for most outsiders entering the floating city. The tourists, filled with curiosity, glanced about, eager to glimpse the legendary superpowered youths. Meanwhile, a few who had come not by choice but out of work or family obligations wore pained expressions, muttering curses about dragons in their native tongues, whether aloud or in their hearts.

No matter what thoughts the tourists harbored, what they saw seldom matched their imaginations. The airport looked much like any other, with no dragon-scale floors engraved with strange patterns and no stylish young people leaping from wall to wall. Instead, there were repeated inhibitor checks, security at least five or six times stricter than elsewhere, and enormous banners raised by human rights activists, accompanied by their angry shouts.

“5.7 million families torn apart because of you! Save the children!” “They have lost their freedom; they cannot lose their lives as well!” “The dragon’s corpse brings new disasters! Who can guarantee the children’s safety?!”

The airport staff smiled as though nothing were amiss—those of weaker disposition had already resigned—and kindly reminded all tourists to mind their safety as they ushered them away from the banners and slogans. Some travelers, feeling detached, experienced a fleeting sympathy but found it all a bit noisy.

Only a few tourists wondered what those truly connected to the activists’ cries—superpowered youths, for example—might think of all this.

·

“So noisy!”

One level above the arrivals, in the departure hall, a boy in a baseball cap kicked the toilet hard.

“What’s the use of just shouting? Why have I never seen you in the city? All paid actors!!”

A voice came from the neighboring janitor’s closet. “Actually, a few are parents of students… Some people just can’t accept reality, Miles.”

Still unsatisfied, Miles kicked the toilet twice more, then rapped on the adjacent stall. “Yeah, just like us right now! So what’s the plan?”

“I’m working on it, I’m working on it! Okay, the surveillance in this area is taken care of for now, you can come out. Everyone else can come in, too.”

Three more children, dressed in various styles, entered the restroom and gathered with the two who emerged from the stalls. All were just into their teens, most sporting flourishing acne, their skin tones spanning a spectrum, and their hair colors all different—together, they looked like a crew that had slipped away from some international summer camp.

As the group’s leader, Miles confirmed the details with each one. “Li, false identity. Liang Ya, costumes. Anthony, inhibitor checks. Report.”

“The Tawawaku family here to visit relatives—five people, perfect cover.” “I can make the clothes in three seconds.” “Visual and audio interference are set; I hope we’ll succeed.”

The boy in the baseball cap rubbed his face fiercely. “Remember, if anything goes wrong, we switch to the backup plan and hijack the flight we scouted. I don’t want to be locked up here for life! We have to make it!”

“Oh!” his companions replied softly in unison, their eyes betraying their tension. They were about to trick airport security, masquerading as tourists visiting relatives…

Who knew if the plan would work? Preparation could go on forever; they had to try. There was no guarantee they’d ever get such detailed intel again, so all their hopes rested on this one chance.

All their hopes rested on this chance! The five children shouted in their hearts. Li slid the “Cleaning in Progress” sign aside and was the first to leave the restroom. According to plan, they would knock out the tourist family and hide them in the janitor’s closet.

No sooner had his companion left than the boy in the baseball cap grew uneasy. Damn it all—he hadn’t been in a fight since arriving in this city. But it was fine; nothing would cause real harm, and their powers would handle it.

Miles desperately reassured himself, trying to quiet his conscience. What else could he do? Give up now?

“I… I still feel bad… dragging innocent people into this…”

Someone muttered quietly, and Miles almost agreed aloud. Damn! The plan had been solid, but now, at the critical moment, both conscience and confidence wavered. He glanced at his watch and noticed a minute had passed since his companion left.

…

The boy in the baseball cap swallowed hard.

Something had gone wrong. No need to worry about innocent tourists now—their own safety was at risk.

“Li isn’t back—go for the plane directly!”

Everyone panicked. No one expected trouble so soon; for a moment, nobody moved until the boy in the cap dashed out, and the other three followed, shouting, “Aaaah! Aaaaaah!!”

They ran out one after another, and then, one after another, they stopped. Not because fear rooted them in place, but because some indescribable force gripped their bodies.

It was a strange, dreadful sensation that nearly made them scream. They could not lift their arms or move their legs—held fast by some invisible weight, their bodies frozen as if pinned by unseen hands. Miles finally found an apt comparison: it was like waking in the dead of night, fully conscious but paralyzed, staring at the ceiling, unable to move—a sensation his classmates from the Empire called “sleep paralysis.” It was uncanny, as if a demon or ghost pressed down on him—exactly how he felt now.

Li, who had left earlier, stood just a few steps away, his teeth chattering. Miles had never seen that usually optimistic boy wear such an ugly expression.

“Good morning, everyone. Looks like you’re all here. So, what’s going on?”

Miles heard the voice then.

It came from in front of Li, where a man stood facing them.

“Judging by your reactions, I’d guess you’re all newcomers—been here around two years? That’s the most anxious stage. Judging from your ages, all middle schoolers, generally well-behaved at school, virtually no combat experience. Am I right?”

Terror squeezed Miles’ heart. How did he know? Was it some psychic power, or had they encountered someone who could hack the database? There was no reason their information should have been leaked!

“How shall I put it… It’s not mind-reading, nor am I the master hacker you might imagine. It’s simply obvious from your reactions. Not to mention you all look worse than a takeout meal left for three days, I only restrained your bodies, unlike a certain narcissistic woman who forbids all attacks, yet none of you have tried to retaliate. That says enough.”

The man continued, speaking a bit faster than normal, his tone calm but exuding an undeniable authority.

“I don’t think my appearance is so fearsome as to warrant such expressions. Such a strong reaction likely means you were already extremely tense. Understandable, since superpowered individuals aren’t allowed in here. To sum up: a group of good students, here for only a couple of years, almost no combat experience, risks sneaking into the airport. The most likely reason is—”

“Aaaah! Static Shock!”

Miles, crushed by the pressure, finally lost control. He shouted and fired a small bolt of lightning—his pride, his superpower—capable of knocking a person unconscious, if it landed—

Snap.

But all that followed was a soft sound; the bolt dissipated halfway, as though it had struck an invisible, solid wall.

Cold sweat broke out down the boy’s back.

Now he understood why Li had been so frightened. The greatest power he could rely on had simply failed, inexplicably—anyone would be scared!

He ransacked his memory for any explanation. Suddenly, Miles remembered the advice an older student had given him soon after he arrived in the city.

·

Listen, Miles. It’s good that you remember the rules the teachers taught you. But there are things, important things, that the teachers won’t tell you. Most of the time, you won’t need them, but believe me—it’s better to know.

In this city, there are people you must never provoke.

They’re superpowered, like you, but different. Their abilities are not the little tricks you know; their power is far beyond your imagining. Outwardly—at least most of them—are human, like you. But never mistake them for people. Think of typhoons, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, or any inhuman terror.

Here’s a good example: dragon disasters.

Does that conjure an image? Good. Remember, they are terrors of that scale. I don’t know if they can fight dragons, but they could crush you as easily as a dragon would.

I’ll tell you how to recognize them and their powers, but first, you must remember one thing:

Never provoke them. Never.

·

“You planned to sneak onto a passenger flight and escape the capital. And you had help from a third party who hasn’t shown up, right?”

The man continued, unfazed by Miles’ earlier attack.

Their plan had been exposed before it even began; he’d even guessed about the collaborator without a word from them.

Miles began to observe the man’s appearance, matching details to the intelligence he’d heard before…

·

…When you encounter him, you’ll find you can’t do anything.

Your tricks are useless. They’ll fail, misfire, and you won’t be able to move, as if a spell held you fast—a demon’s invisible claws reducing all your efforts to dust.

Even if you stay silent, he’ll state your intentions, your secrets, your plans, everything you tried to hide—as if a demon reached into your heart and dragged your secrets out with its claws.

All the while, he stands there, watching you calmly. Believe me, Miles—it’s terrifying. You’d never want to feel that helpless.

Fortunately, most of the time, he’s very friendly.

Very friendly, in that he doesn’t attack unprovoked. If you get into trouble, he’ll probably help you.

But if—just if—I hope you never face this: if you accidentally anger him, give up immediately on whatever you’d planned, and apologize sincerely. He’ll let you go, if you haven’t gone too far, but that doesn’t mean you won’t end up in the hospital. It doesn’t mean you won’t be beaten to the point of nightmares for months.

He’s easy to spot: gray hair, glasses, young man, talkative with others, sometimes muttering to himself when alone. He hates rudeness, despises senseless violence, and loathes insults.

He’ll tell you his name, but we all call him…

·

“By the way, attacking without introducing yourself is rude. You reacted exactly like the one who left a minute ago. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have restrained you all.”

Gray hair, glasses, rudeness.

Miles’ teeth began to chatter too. He knew who he’d run into.

One of the most terrifying people in the city—a man like a demon. He was… he was…

“The Demon! It’s the Demon!!!”

His companions wailed in terror. Miles burst into tears. “I’m sorry! Really, I’m so sorry! Please! Spare us! We didn’t know—we really didn’t know the Demon was here!”

The gray-haired youth pushed up his glasses, sounding especially troubled. “Why do people insist on giving me such a strange nickname?”

They heard the Demon say, “My name is Gongsun Ce, and I’m a superpowered individual just like you.”

·

At their age, they ought to know right from wrong. Don’t let strangers incite you into harming yourselves or others. Don’t worry—you won’t end up in jail, but when you return to school, your teachers’ scolding is inevitable. Be ready to spend more than a month of your holidays doing community service…

After a routine lecture, Gongsun Ce handed the crestfallen middle schoolers over to airport staff. Any further investigation was the officials’ business, not his—he was just a university student working part-time.

He walked out the airport doors toward the nearest bus stop.

The weather was fine, the sky clear and blue.

There were no arbiters of fate, no dragon worshippers, no dragon disasters, and no bizarre individuals falling from the sky. Shiyu Ling might have escaped death, but who knew what would happen next; as for the other dragon worshippers, their fates remained uncertain. But none of that concerned him.

All that mattered to him today were the human rights activists’ chants, the newcomers who’d never seen combat, and yet another failed breakout attempt by children, foiled before it even began.

All in all, nothing unusual. Such things happened every week, every month. In the eyes of newcomers, the so-called “Great Escape” was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure worth staking everything on; to veteran residents, it was no different from firing a machine gun at the sky—a grand show, utterly meaningless. And because it was meaningless, it became part of the city’s everyday scenery.

Gongsun Ce stretched and sighed contentedly. “Ordinary life is truly wonderful.”