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He stood in the middle of a cemetery, standing over a small yet new headstone that signified where the buried deceased was laying. The male quickly scanned over the burial like it was a piece of technology, letting the information process in his head piece by piece. It seemed like it was rather new, the lining broken up dirt from the burial, still rather new and unclaimed by nature. "How unfortunate," He mumbled, crouching down on his knees to see the writing on the grave's stone.

He had the squint to see the slight writing on the headstone, whoever had carved out the name seemed to be rather amateur at their job. "Oh, Taeyong," A voice called, catching his attention easily. He peaked over his shoulder to catch the sight of another man walking toward him, running his hands through his messy jet black hair and checking the time on a gold-tinted watch that sat on his wrist. "I guess you found him? I'm surprised, there are so many headstones here and they all look the exact same."

He stood up off of the ground, his eyes turning back towards the grave he stood in front of. "We should have brought Renjun or Chenle along," Taeyong spoke, though it was mostly to himself. "The writing is all in Mandarin, so I had to rack my head around to be able to understand the writings, but this is him."

The boy glanced from Taeyong to the headstone before peering towards it to get a closer look. "Jung Yoon Oh, yeah that's Jaehyun alright. It's a shame he had to be buried in Beijing, China instead of his homeland in Seoul."

"So, do we have any clues as to what could have happened?" Taeyong inquired, eyeing down the gravestone like a hawk. "How he died, who he was last with, any potential murderers, why he was out in Beijing of all places in the first place?"

His partner sighed, shoving his hands into his dress pants and shifting his weight onto his opposite leg. "I've done as much work as I can on the plane ride here, and I've only found out a few things while digging around. Mark said Jaehyun was invited to some sort of party here in Beijing by a friend of his, a trustworthy associate of ours even."

"Myungho I'm guessing? Or Xu Minghao as that's his real name," Taeyong suddenly asked, turning towards the boy with an intrigued spark in his eyes.

He nodded in response, "I think it was him, yeah. Usually, this would be something we'd overlook, but instead of returning back to Korea after the party was over, he ended up dead. Several gunshot wounds in his chest and head, too many to count if I'm going, to be honest. I would say that this was a trap set up by Minghao, but..."

"They were too close of friends for an ambush of any kind to be considered," Taeyong finished, thinking long and hard about the statement. "What are you suggesting then, Doyoung?"

He gave Taeyong a toothy smile, almost sickly sweet even. "An idea, an idea you're not going to like very much," Doyoung explained, glancing back down to the grave their former member was in. "Jaehyun and Johnny were the main ones tasked with finding Ten dead or alive for a few months. It was a constant game of cat and mouse between those three, and Jaehyun was very slowly beginning to lose his mind trying to catch that man. It's a very high possibility that when Ten had fled the country... he came here to China to take refuge."

"So you're telling me there's a possibility that Ten weaseled his way into China," Taeyong criticized, crossing his arms as his impatience began to grow. "And somehow got into Xu Minghao's party and caught sight of Jaehyun and killed him? As crazy as that bastard is, he has never been one to deliver the killing blow. Someone always does the dirty work for him."

Doyoung nodded in response, thinking Ten's overall nature and physique. "While you're right, he's never had it in him when he was with NEO, there's no need to say that he wouldn't become subject to the thought after Johnny had exposed him. Everyone is subject to change, and Ten was no exception. Though this is all based on my own conclusions and what information I've found so far, so I could be wrong."

"We need to get into contact with Minghao," Taeyong concluded, turning on his heel and walking down the path out of the cemetery. "The incident happened at his party, he should know who attended his event and what went down at it. He's never been a host that doesn't know what's happening at his own event."

"But that's the problem," Doyoung explained, running after him to keep up with him. "I tried to get in contact with him as soon as we landed and stepped off the plane but he hasn't answered his phone since then.  All his work and personal numbers keep getting directed to automated voice mail. I tried calling some of his subordinates as well but they either don't have any info on his current location or why he is not answering his calls, or they hang up on me immediately."

Taeyong groaned, the Chinese millionaire was giving Doyoung a run for his money. His partner was one of the best intel gathers in Korea, but due to them being outside of their natural habitat and away from their more technical equipment, he couldn't use his abilities to their fullest. He tried to soothe the growing pains of a headache that began to ring through his head at their situation, thinking much harder than he needed to be. "Where is everyone, who can get Beijing the fastest? If we leave the country now, Xu Minghao and Ten could be getting farther away from us."

Doyoung scratched his head in thought, choosing his next words carefully. "I believe... Renjun and Chenle are currently in Shanghai, it'll take them at least four hours to get here by train. I doubt they'll be prepared for any sort of operations here since they arrived here with the intent of visiting family. And Yuta he's off in Osaka handing some "personal business"."

"That crazy bastard is back in Osaka?" Taeyong mumbled to himself, though the black-haired boy seemed to have overheard his words. Wisely enough, he chose to shrug off the NEO Leader's off-handed insult. "What about the others? Are they still back in Korea?" With a quick nod yes, the male immediately relaxed his muscles, relief washing over his shoulders.

He turned towards Doyoung with a devilish smirk on his face, a devious plan beginning to form in his head to draw both Ten and Xu Minghao out of hiding. "Tell them they're all needed to report to here in Beijing by tomorrow night, we've got some very important work to begin soon. Ten thought he could simply run to another country to escape his judgment day... but unfortunately, he thought wrong."

"This is a Japanese war fan, a Tessen," Ten explained, opening up the white fan with one swift and fluid motion. Yangyang awed at the weapon, his eyes shining like a child's as he watched Ten handle it with care. "They were used by samurai during warfare and usually manufactured during feudal Japan. They went out of style as the country quickly became industrialized, so it's rare to find one actually being in use nowadays."

The former gang member handed the war fan towards the child genius, watching him try to contain his energy as he held the weapon in his hands. "This is... so cool. If you're looking at it from afar, it looks like a normal decorative folding fan," Yangyang mentioned, flipping it around on his back instead. There sat several finely sharpened blades on the back of it in place of wooden ribs. "But look at these iron blades! Xu Minghao must sharpen these things every day to get them like this!"

"The leaves of the fan are covered in a very thin, malleable but strong bullet-resistant metal. It makes it heavier to carry, but it definitely explains why Minghao was able to use it as defense when we were attacking him." Ten casually explained, leaning up against the boy's revolving chair. "Using one of these things requires lots of core training and skill, as you are becoming dependent on your quick thinking and body flexibility. Not to mention the probably hardcore arm strength you must have to not only hold the war fan but fight with the thing."

Yangyang nodded, soaking up all the information Ten was dropping on him. "You sure know a lot about war fans Ten," the youngest agent told him, glancing up at him with a curious look in his eyes. "Where'd you get all this information from?"

"One of the members in my gang was Japanese," Ten shrugged, not thinking much of his answer as he acknowledged the existence of Yuta. "NEO manufactures its own weaponry and sells them worldwide as a way to make a big sum of their money as well. When we had recruited our Japanese members, we thought it would be a great chance to try and modernize some traditionally old weapons. But then we found out that he wasn't one for his culture's weaponry once he had gotten his hands on a glock and baseball bat."

Yangyang scowled at Ten's last statement, his face twisting in clear disdain for Yuta's chosen fighting style. "He sounds like some cold blood heathen."

"You're right," Ten nodded after a moment's silence. "Though he wasn't just a heathen. He was practically a murderer, nearly a serial killer if NEO didn't start regulating him. He loved every second of his job and every drop of blood he got to spill with it. I hope you never have to meet him, I'd rather be in the way of his killing blow than you having to even look at him."

Yangyang visibility shivered, getting goosebumps from Ten's distant tone.  Though, the former gang member couldn't help it every time he spoke of the Japanese man's existence. He was the borderline definition of a psychopath even before he was in NEO and Taeyong had still taken him in without question. If anything, being in the Korean gang only amplified his stone-cold yet bloodthirsty attitude.

"It doesn't make any sense to me!" Hendery's voice echoed through the hallway, followed by the closing of a door. It caught both of Ten and Yangyang attention, both of the boys peering through the doorway to catch a glimpse of the common room. "He's been apprehended by Branch V already and is probably the most restrained he's ever been in his life for his crimes, there's no point in trying to hold out on information now. Once Branch V has you in their grasp, they aren't letting you go."

"Kun must have returned from his interrogation with Xu Minghao," Yangyang declared, taking the context clues Hendery's disappointed tone to come to the conclusion. "They've been trying to get information from that man for awhile and they still haven't gotten anything?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Ten mumbled, spinning the youngest agent in his chair before walking towards the common room. "He's got ties to so many people in China and Korea. Taking out just one of those threads would lead to him exposing everyone who has ever interacted with him for illegal means."

Yangyang gripped the arm of his chair tightly as he spun in place, trying to regain his composure to join Ten and the rest of the squadron to hear whatever news Kun's interrogation team had potentially gotten. Though the former gang member was already walking down the hallway, greeted by the bright white lights that couldn't be found in the technician's rather dimly lit room. He held his hand up to cover his eyes, adjusting them to this new light source as Kun's heavy sigh could be heard across from him.

"The more interrogations we hold with him, the more hopeless each one seems," Kun complained, rubbing his forehead in a soothing motion. "What is this, day three of trying to squeeze information out of him? He hasn't budged at all since we were able to capture him, only throwing petty and empty insults and getting on my everlasting nerves."

Ten snorted, almost laughing at the defeated men as his vision finally came back to him. "You make it sound like you've never forced information out of someone before? I promise you, it's the easiest thing possible, I'll show you—"

"We cannot just hold a pistol up to his temple and threaten to kill him if he doesn't hand over the information, Ten," Sicheng quickly intervened, reading the boy's mind like he was an open book. "We aren't villainous thugs. We are secret agent vigilantes who only harm those when necessary."

"That takes the fun out of the whole thing!" Ten complained, visibly upset with the agent's quick shutting down of his marvelous idea. If someone wasn't going to willingly give you something, why should you continue being gentle with them? They'll only take advantage of you in the long run, so it made more sense to use violence right then and there so that he could get what he wanted and leave.

"There is the possibility of... us trying to negotiate with Xu Minghao for information instead, but that sounds hard," Kun suggested, doubting his own idea the moment he threw the thought out there. "We want information and have no clue what he would want in return. Freedom? We can't do that, he's an underground criminal, letting him go would cause this whole cycle to start right back over again."

Ten frowned at Kun's words, struggling to figure out any suggestions that could possibly help the squadron in their objective. He was slightly in the dark about what they actually needed Xu Minghao and his information for, so that would be a good start to making him more useful in this scenario. "What exactly do... you need Xu Minghao for anyway? I know he has lots of connections to help your cause but I don't even know what your cause is. I'm just blindly following everyone in this room because I have no choice but to do so."

Kun and Sicheng gave each odd looks, almost hesitant to reveal such information to Ten. He couldn't blame them, he was still considered a newcomer into Branch V's ranks. He didn't have any sort of proper training under his belt either, Ten was just thrown into the fray and forced to work things out as he went on. Sooner or later he'd like to know the cause his hard work was being put towards. "Well? You going to tell me or what?"

"He's an information bank, Ten," Kun explained, trying to put his words as lightly as he possibly could. "He's simply the first step in helping us find a man that's been on the top of our assassination list. The Branch has been chasing him down for years for his countless crimes and yet we still can't find him. So when we caught word that Xu Minghao knew a lot more than what he usually lets on, we thought maybe he knew where that man was or people who knew him."

"Wu Yifan and Zhang Yixing are undercover spies from our sister agency," Sicheng told him, bringing back the names from when they had confronted Minghao at his party. "They were supposed to be working to gain the trust of Minghao and his subordinates so that we can get our hands on more personal information that a simple party visit couldn't get us. But they went missing a few days before your arrival. Either Agent Yifan and Agent Lay gave up on the cause or Xu Minghao did something or knows something about their whereabouts."

"Kyulkyung is a traitor we're also hunting down," Hendery groaned, rolling his eyes at the woman's name. "We were working together on a joint agency mission, and she betrayed before she was working with and nearly killed me in the process of her getaway. We need to find her, apprehend her, and scrap any information out of her that she may have or dropped to everyone else. But the last time anyone had ever seen her was by Xu Minghao's side."

"So he's the glue that's keeping this whole thing together huh..." Ten noted, falling into the couch's cushions next to Sicheng. "How annoying is that? So you need him for all this information but you can't touch him? At all?"

"If we harm him, he's less likely to give us what we want," Hendery told him. "He may be a long-legged lanky man, but you saw how he fought back at his party. He nearly killed you and Sicheng with a folding fan! He's way more skilled that his physical figure lets on, he's got much more strength mentally than any of us combined may have. Xu Minghao will use it all to spite us and die with the information he has in his mind if we even lay another finger on him."

Just as Ten was going to reply to Hendery, desperately trying to change their minds on leaving Xu Minghao unharmed, Yangyang's voice piped up. "What if we bribe him with this?" He questioned, holding up the weapon the man had used to fend off Ten, Hendery, and Sicheng at once. "This seems to be his most prized possession, the Tessen war fan. Especially made for him by what I assume to be Ten's former alliance?"

The boy looked towards him expectantly, waiting for his answer to the offhanded question. "Oh, yeah. It was... the Chinese writing engraved the guard of the fan? I know that handwriting, it's from one of our Chinese members, Huang Renjun." He explained, noticing Sicheng's increasingly hard stare from Ten to the war fan. "I can't really read Chinese very well so I had Yangyang translate for me earlier what the writing had said. From your faithful patrons, may the infinity continue to grow."

"So what are you saying?" Kun questioned, unsure of whether the two agents were going with this sudden information spill. "We offer his war fan in exchange for information? We can't do that, he'll be even more of a threat once he gets his specialized weapon back in his hands.

"You're right," Yangyang nodded, a smile creeping upon his face as he opened up the fan. He was a lot clumsier than Ten, putting too much weight on his wrist and nearly throwing himself and the fan off of the revolving chair he was scooting in on. "But I think there's a way to bribe him with this and his connection to Ten's former gang, don't you think so? It's a two in one pack, double the damage for just one hit if we get him where it's super effective. If you can trust me with an entire base of technical knowledge, then you can trust me on this simple plan."

Kun glanced towards both Sicheng and Hendery, trying to silently listen to their judgment on this call. When neither of them rejected the youngest agent's idea, he held in a deep sigh before giving Yangyang a gleaming look of interest. "Alright then, what do you need us to do?"

The boy's smile grew even wider at the squadron leader's answer, closing the war fan tight as he stood up out of his revolving chair. "There's just a few steps we need to follow and little more information we need to gather first before we face him again. Then we'll hit the containment chamber and set our plan in action."

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