Chapter One: 25th Century Deadliest Assassin
December 31, 2179, A.D, Shanghai, China
Towards the end of the 21st century, Earth''s population underwent a tremendous change. Due to the flourishing economy and new discoveries in renewable energy, mining, farming and genetics; humans had longer, healthier and easier lives.
The population doubled and now numbered 16 billion people. New cities were built, floating in the air and on the sea. In China, the major cities had their own floating counterparts, gigantic structures that hover in the skies above them. These huge habitats could house up to five million citizens on their own.
Advancements in renewable energy using sea water healed the world and restored the atmosphere. The clean technology encouraged plant growth, turning the world lush and green. Trees grew taller and stronger, the air became purer and the environment began to balance itself.
Each floating city was at least 3,000 miles square large and was able to house up to five millions of people at the least. Because of the new discovery of using sea water as energy, the earth''s atmosphere undergo a change that is noticeable in a mere 50 years. Greens started to spread everywhere due to the air, which results in plenty of trees growing taller than a hundred years ago.
In one of these floating city, the Tiankong Beijing Floating city, a big accident was currently happening. Hundreds of airship were leaving the floating city in a panic. In the middle of a large scientist lab that has thousands of different kinds of tools and machine, a girl with bright green eyes, long black hair, white porcelain skins and have the body of an hour- glass was walking calmly to a monitor.
On the left side of her ears was a headset that is showing her a map of the building that she is in. On her hands was two long, over a meter long, swords. The girl was wearing nothing but a pure white wedding dress that fit tightly into her body, showing her legs and the white high heel that she is wearing. The white wedding dress was rather simple yet elegant, making the girl look like an angel descended from heaven. However, this angel isn''t a heaven angel but rather a hell angel in white.
As new energy got developed alongside with everything else, Martial Arts also got stronger as the air get purer, resulting in China gaining another additional patch of masters of Martial Arts. Unknowingly, Tao Jinghua is one of the top three Grandmaster of Martial Arts. She doesn''t have a specialty but that is why the assassin known as Airless Grandmaster is the most feared individual in the current time.
Even when the girl is wearing a high heel, surprisingly, she made no sounds at all when she walks into the room with a huge monitor. Naturally, that was the control room for the Floating cities.
"Mei Mei, what is the current status?" The voice from the girl in the wedding dress was clear and calm. Naturally, this girl is Tao Jinghua. The deadliest assassin of all times. Today was her wedding day, however, to her surprise, the city started to shakes and warning alerts sounded throughout the whole city. Her soon to be husband was killed when he pushed her out of the way from a falling pole right outside the wedding hall. He wasn''t the only one that got killed from it.
While everyone else was fleeing all over the place towards the airship, Tao Jinghua instead sighed out loud and take out her cell phone and called her trustee-partner.
"Air Mei, about 80% of everybody is now aboard already. In about 10 minutes, another wave of airship will get there. You have another 2 hours left until the city exploded." A pissed off voice answered from the other end. Naturally, the voice belongs to a girl whom Tao Jinghua called Mei Mei. Air Mei was Tao Jinghua''s code name while Mei Mei was the codename of the other girl.
"Did you find out what is the cause?" Tao Jinghua asked calmly as she started to search the system for the cause of this calamity.
"Yeah. I found the cause. Those stupid pig heads accidentally knock over dead''s door by accidentally infusing the hydro system with a virus. Causing the underground systems to be unstable. What of your end? You found everything?" Asked from the other end.
"Yes, I found the system''s files. I am now forwarding it to you. Is Shinny there with you?" Tao Jinghua asked with a small smile on her face.
"Yes, the boss is here. He is very pissed right now so he doesn''t want to talk to you." Mei Mei chuckled.
"It can''t be helped. I am quitting so naturally he is very mad at me. Not to mention, I rejected his proposal too. I did tell him that I will still help him when a mission of rank SSS are available but he still wasn''t happy with it." Tao Jinghua replies with a calm voice. The room shakes a couple of times as she pushed a couple of buttons on the keyboard before the monitor shut down.
"Airless Mei, you do know that our organization doesn''t like it when one of our members quit since that will cause a lot of trouble in the future. All the Elder agree only because they are scared of you." Naturally, all the elders will be scared of Tao Jinghua since she is the strongest, fastest, deadliest of an assassin that their organization, The Silence Walkers, had ever created.
Tao Jinghua was an orphan who was born blind. However, when she was only 5 years old, an accident happen at the orphan that she is staying at. The orphanage was targeted by a group of terrorist. She was born blind but her she doesn''t look like she was blind. As a result, one of the men grabs her to use as his hostage and injuries her eyes. Even though she can not see, when her eyes are hurt that badly, naturally she will feel the pain.
Tao Jinghua had always been a calm girl even when her eyes are hurt. She didn''t make a sound because she knew that crying will only get her kill faster. However, because she made on sounds at all when her eyes are injuries, one of the men have the brightest idea of changing the hostage to another kid who will get scared easily.
That was her last straw. Tao Jinghua has no family but the orphan kids were her brothers and sisters. The Headmistress was her mother, the old man who like the headmistress was her father. She was happy there with everyone. However, suddenly someone is threatening their lives?
The next thing that Tao Jinghua know, she had already grab the men''s knife and cut his throat open. The scene that followed, Tao Jinghua remember everything clearly even though she can not see the scene. Her hearing was more than enough to make up for it.
Because of her surprise attack, the other three man didn''t have enough time to get over their shock so Tao Jinghua killed two more men in a flash. Tao Jinghua had always been the quietest one, the smartest one, the most intelligent one out of all the kids at the orphan. She can not see but she learned how to read and write when she was only 3 years old. By the age of 5, there were no Chinese characters that she doesn''t know. All the books in the orphan''s library were read by her.
If you think that being blind made Tao Jinghua into a shut-in then you are mistaken. Tao Jinghua is blind so she doesn''t play with all the other kids like normal. However, she''s very athletic for her age. Her running speeds allow made the terrorist blinked in surprise.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Maybe it was because she was blind that she can sense a lot more things than normal people.
By the time that the last terrorist come to his sense, all his comrades were already dead. In his panic, he accidentally pulls the triggered on his hydro gun and blasts a hole through the corpse of his former companions.
The triggered off the hydro gun caused Tao Jinghua''s hearing to suffered. However, luckily, that group of a terrorist was being chased by an assassin group. The assassin caught up to the terrorists just in time to prevent him from killing Tao Jinghua.
From then on, Tao Jinghua had been living with the Assassin group. That group is The Silence Walker. Since she was alway been blind, she doesn''t really care if they help her eyes but the Young Master, who at that time was already 18 years old and had already earned his nickname of Shinny, force her to healed her eyes.
Back then, she was only 5 years old but now she is 25 years old. When Shinny is 15, he earned his nickname but Tao Jinghua earned her nickname when she was only 13 years old. Now, Shinny is the Boss of the Silence Walker and she is their top #1 assassin.
However, Tao Jinghua grows bored of a life of killing so she wanted to quit and get marry. She didn''t earn her nickname Airless by being a normal assassin.
And just when she finally get to married, her soon to be husband died right in front of her and the very city that she was born on is collapsing.
Tao Jinghua sighed out loud as she walks out of the lab and the airship''s platform. All the around her was chaos all over however, Tao Jinghua was strangely calm. She didn''t feel panic nor worried that she will die. On her way toward the Airship, she picks up a baby around 3 to 4 months old whose mother was dead. A couple minutes later, she also helps a small child of 3 years old who was shaking her dead mother, trying to wake her up.
"Alright, Mei Mei, I will talk to you later when I am home." Tao Jinghua said as she click on a button on the headset and the line went dead.
She didn''t care if all the human in the world all die but seeing a child crying for their mother made her instinct as a woman awake so she helps any kids that she came across with. By the time that Tao Jinghua made it to the airship, there were more than 40 children following her. Some were still sniffing while other were shaking in fears.
"Miss! Please hurry!" One of the public workers saw the children behind Tao Jinghua, who is still in her wedding dress, and come running toward her to help her with the children. One by one, all the children get in the airship, including the baby in her arms.
The man that went to help the kids and the girl in the wedding dress look at the girl in a bewildered way. He doesn''t understand why the girl was so calm. Her expression doesn''t change even after he takes the baby in her arms away. She didn''t come into the airship either. Instead, he watch as the girl in the wedding dress turned toward a direction and narrowed her eyes before she vanished.
"!" A martial Artist! No wonder the girl didn''t panic when all this chaos was going on. The man thought as he got into the airship with the baby in his arms.
Tao Jinghua looks at the temple in front of her with a narrowed eye. In her profession, naturally, she knew what this temple of Taoist believes is.
Spreading her senses around the whole Temple, Tao Jinghua sensed that there were still another couple of people who is still alive. Narrowing her beautiful green eyes, Tao Jinghua vanished and reappeared inside the temple. She looks around as her eyes were met with an elderly man who was struggling to get up since the concrete pole was on top of him. Strangely enough, there was no blood on him.
Tao Jinghua walks over to the man and pushed the concrete pole with nothing but a small push and the concrete pole was smashed into the wall with a bang.
The elderly man looks at Tao JInghua with a surprised look in his for a split seconds before he calmed down. Tao Jinghua helps the man up.
"Can you walk okay?" She asked quietly with no emotion in her eyes.
"Yes, I can Miss Airless." He answered calmly. Of course, he would know who Tao Jinghua is.
Tao Jinghua didn''t care either way. She let go of the elderly man''s hands and walk toward another elder who was still knock out. Tao Jinghua hit an acupuncture point in the man''s neck and he wakes up nearly instantly.
She continued to wake the other two elderly man up before opening the door for them, which was jammed shut by a fallen stone pillars.
"This way." Tao Jinghua said as she held the door for the elderly men until the very last one. Outside of the building that they come out of, a large ginkgo tree that acquires at least ten full adults to link arms to fully embrace it was lying in front of them.
"Let''s hurry. There aren''t much of time left." Just as Tao Jinghua said that the whole city shakes as if a great earthquake was occurring. The building behind them collapses with a bang as the other building started to shakes like there is no tomorrow left for them.
"!!!" All the elderly men''s face pale in fright as they nodded and start running toward where the airship are located. Tao Jinghua looks at the panicking elderly man and signed in her heart. To think that the 6 Great Elder of the Taoist Temple panics this easily. They still have a long way to go in their belief, she thought to herself as she taking out her two big swords and start to hacks the fallen debris of concretes from the fallen buildings.
Just as she slashed a large chunk of fallen concrete away from the Elderly Taoist, Tao Jinghua accidentally kicked a black pearl under her feet, causing it to bounce on her sword and rebound it toward her face. Seeing the small pearl being bounced back toward her face, Tao Jinghua calmly used her other hand to grab it.
However, what caused Tao Jinghua to be surprised was that the pearl just passed right through her hand like it has no physical form in the beginning.
"What-" Just as she was about to asked herself, her mouth just happen to open a bit, causing the pearl to get inside her mouth and passed right through her throat like it have it''s own conscious.
"!!!" Feeling the pearl traveling down her throat, Tao Jinghua simultaneously control her throat muscles to stop the descending of the pearl. However, it was like the pearl is a ghost that doesn''t have a physical body as it travel down into her lung without a care.
The head Elder Taoist just happen to turned back to see an image that will shock him for the rest of his life, making him unable to forget about it even if he hit his head until he has amnesia.
He watched as the girl that everyone in the underworld and the Day world fear suddenly closed her eyes as her body fall to the ground as dark air suddenly started to form around her body.
"!!!" His eyes widen in fear as the dark air started to make the girl''s body vanished until only the two swords, a black and red design pistol, and her headset was what is left.