Jason hovered high in the air, watching helplessly as the Sanctuary's soldiers in the square were routed by the bck-cloaked figure, powerless to do anything. His communicator crackled again with urgent cries: "Lord Jason, this is the southern sector of the square — we're taking heavy losses under the Rebels' assault. We can't hold on much longer."

  "Hold your ground — hold it even if it kills you!" Jason roared into the communicator. Feeling the situation had completely spiraled out of control, he hovered in thought for a moment, then pulled out a second communicator and spoke with a grave expression: "Governor, it's me. Things are not going well. Our position at the square is close to colpsing. The prisoners may very well be rescued by the Rebels."

  "Useless," came Governor Suwen's cold, ft voice through the communicator. "Can't even handle something this simple."

  "My deepest apologies, Governor. What are your orders from here?"

  After a brief silence, Governor Suwen said, "Forget it. Let them rescue the prisoners. The Rebels' main force is already contained — focus everything on annihiting them first."

  "Understood. Also, Governor — the assassin you've been searching for has appeared. He's joined forces with the Rebels and has powerful allies with him. It's been difficult to make a move against him."

  "Ignore him for now. Eliminate the Rebels' main force first, then deal with him. Keep your eyes on that assassin — don't let him slip away."

  "Yes, sir. Understood." Jason ended the transmission, then ordered his forces in the southern sector to withdraw.

  With the Sanctuary's troops pulling back, the Rebels met no further resistance. Before long, they returned to the square — only to find it engulfed in roaring fmes, wreckage strewn in every direction, and a heap of charred bodies lying across the ground.

  Near the raised ptform in the square stood a bck-cloaked figure holding a silver staff, with the Sphinx prowling at his side, scanning the surroundings with sharp alertness.

  "Captain Guan, good timing. I've already cleared out the Sanctuary's soldiers. Get your people and rescue the prisoners quickly." The Masked figure spotted the Rebels arriving, spoke into his communicator, and strode toward them.

  "Everyone, go free our people!" Captain Guan called out. The Rebels surged up onto the ptform to untie and release the captive prisoners.

  Captain Guan and the other Rebel leaders gathered around the Masked figure and the Sphinx, eyeing them both with curiosity. The Bald scarred man looked at the Masked figure, then back at the bck-cloaked person still on the truck, and shook his head in bewilderment. "Commander, I'm completely lost. How are there two of you? Which one is actually you?"

  "C.C., you can come out now. No need to keep pretending to be me," the Masked figure said into his communicator. At that, the bck-cloaked person on the truck immediately removed the mask and outer clothing, stepped down from the vehicle, and walked over toward Rulu.

  Everyone turned to look — and found a young woman in white clothing, with long green hair.

  Once C.C. had joined Rulu, he said, "This is my partner. Her name is C.C. She was used to deceive Jason and draw the Sanctuary's forces away. If we had tried to rescue the prisoners by force, the Sanctuary might have attacked them directly or used them as hostages against us. Getting everyone out would have been nearly impossible."

  Captain Guan cpped his hands together, visibly pleased. "Excellent — a cssic luring-the-tiger-from-its-den stratagem. Not only did we rescue all our captured people, we kept our own losses to a minimum."

  The Bald scarred man broke into a grin. "Ha — who would've thought a young guy like you had something like this up his sleeve? You've got my respect."

  Rulu said, "Back in Haitian Town, I told you I would get all your people out. I've kept that promise. So what about the score we have to settle from before?"

  A thin, wiry old man with an embarrassed smile said, "Young man, you… no, this young hero — you saved our people today. That makes you our benefactor. What happened between us before was all just a misunderstanding. We won't give you any more trouble."

  Another chimed in, "Last time in Haitian Town we said some very unpleasant things to you, and that was wrong of us. We apologize. We hope you won't hold it against us."

  "We were the ones in the wrong before. A man of your character surely wouldn't hold a grudge against people like us, would you?"

  One after another, the Rebels offered Rulu their apologies and words of fttery. Rulu raised both hands to signal for quiet, and the crowd settled down.

  "Since you've all said as much," Rulu said, "I won't dwell on the past. But I should remind you — this isn't over. Don't forget, you're still in Blue Sea City, and your forces are still fighting the Sanctuary."

  The Bald scarred man spped his forehead. "Right! I almost forgot — General Li's troops are still engaged with the Sanctuary out there!"

  "No idea how things are going on his end. If they're surrounded, that's going to be a serious problem."

  "Surely not — General Li has a strong force. They should be able to hold their own, right?"

  While the Rebels debated among themselves, Captain Guan said, "Hold on — let me contact them right now and find out what's happening with General Li." He took out his communicator and stepped aside.

  A short while ter, Captain Guan returned to the group, his expression grave. "Things aren't good. The Sanctuary has far more troops on General Li's end than we anticipated. Their line of retreat has been cut off, and they've been under relentless attack from the Sanctuary's forces. It doesn't look like they'll be able to break free."

  "What do we do — do we go reinforce them?" someone asked.

  "With the numbers we have right now? Even if we went, it wouldn't make a difference," another replied. "We'd just be walking into our own deaths."

  "Then what? Are we just going to let General Li's forces be wiped out by the Sanctuary?"