九龍フロント (FRONTA) 2/5

Will you participate in seminars? Have you attended Orientation?

What's wrong? Did something happen?

Keep sticking your neck out, and the Snakes'll want to chop it.

You must've made some money if you're waltzing in here.

Did you EARN that money, or did you... ... Sorry. Anyways, the store upstairs ain't open just yet. One of these days, though!

We received an official notice asking us not to do any flashy business today, not that I ever have...

I can't wait for the store upstairs to finally open, know what I mean?

It was so spacious up there, but once the twin registry expanded without permission, things here got real tight.

You haven't caught hide or hair of Zhang Ling around, have you?

... Nope? Haven't seen him? I guess that's just as well.

An old man with a silly hat came here looking for you.

... Huh? Where'd he go after? Sorry, I have no idea where he went.

Y'know, that weird old guy who came in earlier had this sorta feminine charm.

Eh, maybe he's at the Seafood Centre.

Bug-stuffed Turtle acquired.

Sure took your time, huh. And here I thought for sure you'd be a goner... Huh? What's that? You say you caught the Three Corpses? Here! H-Hand me the bottle! Let's see if we have a winner...

There's no mistakin' it, hehe! These are the Three Corpses.

Even with a fen' shui master around, I don't suppose anyone would feel safe around these babies.

Your prize is my masterpiece: this lavishly stuffed bug-turtle!

The turtle ate so many bugs, it eventually turned into one! Hehehe, you are what you eat, right?

Plus, it's worth a whoppin' 500,000z! Perfect for buyin' more guilü balls!

If you want to exchange your special prize for money, sell it to a pawner.

That Li Hong schmuck, though? He'd rip you off at the drop of a hat.

"Earnest" is my favourite word. Everyone here is so "earnest", I'm trying not to fall behind! It's thanks to the efforts of all twins that I'm able to push myself every single day.

Yes, it's the twins' efforts that give us all hope. You should join the cause too!

Thanks to the Twin-child policy, everyone supports one another with our hearts as one!

Orientation will begin soon. You don't want to be late.

You're our only filer today. Everyone who registered as a producer will come in later. Do your best. That's all we ask.

Today's seminar was provisional.

It's always different, but typically, a lead opens the seminar. Lady Mafei may or may not be mediating. Once things get started, you're to emit your mingli in response to your superiors in order to create resonance. You'll learn all of your superiors' names as you go along.

When that wraps up, Orientation will conclude.

That's the whole run-down. Afterwards, depending on how you did, you may be invited to attend seminars.

What's the matter, space brain?

If you dawdle for long, you'll miss Orientation.

Show your access card to the staff on the second floor.

Don't be nervous! Just walk out around the front, then take the first set of stairs you see up to the second floor.

What, giving up already? In case you didn't notice, Orientation isn't over yet! Everyone thinks they can hone their mingli on their own... at first. But that's why we "join forces". Doesn't that sound peachier? Hehe. Very, very peachy.

I hate to say this, but we were forced to call off Orientation. If you have no business here, leave. We'll be trying again tomorrow.

You're... definitely up to something. Listen up: you'd better NOT stir up trouble in our city, understand?

If you have no business here, leave. We'll try again tomorrow.

Men's Wig acquired.

Are you looking for Hongtou, or the guy who dresses like Francis Xavier? Either way, none of them are here!

Are you looking for Hongtou, or the guy who dresses like Francis Xavier? Either way, none of them are here!

Hmm, I could have sworn I saw that Francis Xavier-looking mushroom dealer around here...

That Francis Xavier-looking guy is an expert lockpicker.

Supposedly, his main job is selling... mushrooms... "mushrooms"... Nah, see? That can't be all he's got going on!

I bet they closed off Lung Chun Road to keep its negative influence from bleeding into Kowloonfront.

We used to have travel access to several different districts.

The malice in the hutongs is too strong now for us to go anywhere.

Ah, you must be the one who cleared out Lung Shing Road!

Our partner e-mailed us, praying that that the stones which severed their district's feng shui might finally go. Will you get rid of the stones? How? The way to Lung Chun Road has been blocked for some time!

Hongtou is looking for you. Have you seen any members yet?

They must be around here, but where? Do you work with them...? Well, good. Come back later, I have a favour to ask you that concerns a certain wig.

Might I ask you a favour? See this? It's a mens' wig.

I'd like for you to deliver it to someone on Lung Chun Road.

Please. It's for our business partner. People all over are teaming up in order to break the seal stones. The new plan is to gather sawdust and sprinkle it over the stones.

You should go to Lung Chun Road and lend its people your aid.

When the malice there subsides, our business can return to normal.

Our business partner told me that breaking the seal stones will expel the malice nesting in Lung Chun Road.

Kowloonfront links to Lung Shing Road, but it used to link to more districts: West City Road and Tai Chang Road.

Hyo-hyo-hyola, mi cielo! Need a lockpicker, do you? Well, you came to the right guy! I knew from the second I saw you that you welcome this sort of "actividad". No need to explain. Consider it done! I'll get ready and meet you at Xia's.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

You met Mr. Xia, did you? What on earth is he like?

That guy keeps himself homebound, so we rarely ever get to see him!

Those guys that drifted by just now weren't Hongtou, were they?

They're showing up more and more, like they're up to something!

The Hongtou butt heads with the Snakes. "The Snakes" is short for "Old Snake", and "Old Snake" is a street name for the Shelao Assocation.

I shouldn't say this, but Mr. Chen, a powerful man around the Seafood Centre does a lot of the Snakes' dirty work.

The Snakes are doing all they can to draw in twins.

Mingli is a power that no ordinary person can develop.

A strange dude was skulking around Blood Nest Alley. Apparently, he was looking for you.

Those Gemini grunts have been creeping around the area for a while.

Sorry. I hate to scare you, but they aren't... targeting you, are they?

We used to have Lung Chun Road access through Blood Nest Alley, but not anymore...

They're like... a secret society. They control everything about Kowloon. There's no standing up to them!

Twins have a dormant power within them called "mingli".

Orientation and seminars were designed to train mingli users.

Who the heck was he, anyhow? Another feng shui master?

Heehee! I see a filthy stone... The stone wants to speak to you. Blech, what good are stones, anyways?

Heehee, I'm afraid I see a young woman, all locked up. She's firm in her beliefs. I've seen that woman run around here before. I'm certain of it!

We're not supposed to let strangers wander through here.

But if you play your cards right, hehe, people learn to keep hush.

Hey, I think the Man is asking for you.

I imagine he wants to make some sort of deal with you? You'd better not make him wait.

So, what brings you out here? Surely you're not sniffing around here solely to piss off the Man. Let me guess: you're looking for a way to break into Xia's place.

Bull's-eye? Hehehe. I've got an idea for you. Are you up for a trade?

See, I know the best lockpicker in the city is in Kowloonfront!

He sells magic shrooms in his spare... Oops! I just... spilled a secret. Well, it's too late now, hehe. Since you got my secret, grab me my favourite snack, okay? Yeah! And if you return without it, you'll be sorry!

You don't know my favourite snack? If you're so good at getting secrets, go find out, or you'll be sorry!

Don't go telling everyone I'm taking bribes from people...

I don't want my brother standing out by Mens' Street to find out.

Is that weird gent your friend? Who in the world is he?

Hey, it's you! The taxidermist's pawn!

I can't believe you handed over the Three Corpses like nothing!

I thought you would use them to break those damned seal stones!

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Wait, you didn't know about the seal stones blocking Lung Chun Road?

The seal stones are what's blocking Lung Chun Road's dragon vein...

It's proof Anita's efforts haven't been realised. Man, I wish I could go help her, but how would I get there?

Get anything cool done? I think you-know-who was waiting for you to hurry back, but...

Xiaohei was fiddling with the terminal earlier.

Maybe she sent an e-mail to someone. After that? Gone, but maybe she's at that loner's in the Seafood Centre.

Weird. Xiaohei's not back yet. Where the heck did she go?

I just checked Xiaohei's room. Where did she disappear to? She didn't even lock her door!

Word going around is the Twin Centre has some big flashy event today. Talk about last-minute, huh.

I assume Xiaohei gave up halfway through using this terminal, given how it keeps acting up.

Did Xiaohei go to the Twin Centre to use their indoor terminal? Tch. Whatever the case, someone needs to go ask Kidz to fix mine for me.

Avoid talking to strangers so much, or you risk putting crosshairs on yourself. Take those two for example...

The Gemini threatened them, and now they're like that... and you're an even bigger troublemaker than they were!

By the way, have you met my brother? He and I are of siblings of extraordinary renown.

My brother and I aren't twins, and I'd hate it if we were.

You see, twins can't live an ordinary life in Kowloon anymore.

One of those, "Tut! Tut! Cheerio!" gentlemanly types waltzed by here earlier.

If you wanted to catch a glimpse, he tut-tutted towards the Cyber Centre.

500z acquired.

Xiaohei stopped by again.

This time, she asked me to find a taixi doll for her. Know what that is? "Taixi" is a form of breath control,

and a "taixi doll" lets you to talk to anyone who has been holding their breath for an extended period of time.

I do think a statue of a taixi hermit could get the job done just as well.

Luckily for her, I've a fairly solid idea where I might find such a statue. It's a long ways from here, though.

And so, I beg the timeless question, "Where did Xiaohei learn about THIS?!"

Whelp, if this WEREN'T a fake, I could see this going for... 500z, at best? Here. I'll buy it as a show of mercy.

Xiaohei stopped by again.

This time, she asked me to find a taixi doll for her. Know what that is? "Taixi" is a form of breath control,

And a "taixi doll" lets you to talk to anyone who has been holding their breath for an extended period of time.

I do think a statue of a taixi hermit could get the job done just as well.

Luckily for her, I've a fairly solid idea where I might find such a statue. It's a long ways from here, though.

And so, I beg the timeless question, "Where did Xiaohei learn about THIS?!"

It isn't in my blood to slap monetary values onto inanimate objects. That's why I don't buy from people.

Hehe, don't tell me you seriously let the taxidermist rip you off! There's a reason no one likes him.

Xia's Access Card acquired.

You registered, did you? Give me your card.

A new face, are you...

Well, we're starting soon. Log on to Rhizome and wait.

This is your card, is it... Wait, what the hell?!

This access card is counterfeit! I can't register you with this! Come back with a REAL access card!

A new face, are you...

Well, we're starting soon. Log on to Rhizome and wait.

Lady Mafei has arrived. Do NOT make her wait!

What's up? Did you get rid of the seal stones once and for all? ... Well, nothing's changed, has it. Talk about getting down to the wire.

Do you use Hyper-Comm too? A young lady used it just now.

What's the deal with everybody logging on all of a sudden...?

Anyways, the seminar is about to start, so don't do anything weird while it's underway.

Ugh, what a freaking headache!

Someone left the Kowloonet terminal with Hyper-Comm on. Some guy's hollering from inside the terminal at the Twin Centre.

You know, the girl I saw on Hyper-Comm was talking to that same guy.

Was that the onmyoji's voice I heard? ... Yeah, I thought so. I've seen him around on Men's Street before.

What's up? I thought you were done with Hyper-Comm for now.

Did you need to grab something from Connie Yang's house?

Why're you muckering here still? Let me guess: you're at a loss as to what to do next, huh. Swaying the malice here wasn't as easy as you thought, am I right?

So, what are you and the onmyoji planning to do?

He lives deep within Men's Street, always up to who-knows-what. Must be some kind of research. Still, you can't enter Men's Street if you have no good reason to.

Zhang Lu's been missing for a while. Have you seen him around recently?

Last I saw him, he up and hobbled out of here to go who-knows-where. Poor guy, didn't quite look himself.

Hey, you ever hear the story about Zhang Ling's older brother?

He's "inside" one of our cabinets. Creepy, ain't it? I've never seen him, but Zhang Ling does when playing "Starbattle Arcadia" late at night. In the game, Zhang Ling's brother sends a distress signal to him from inside an enemy base on a small planet.

Course, Zhang Ling tries to save him, but each time, his poor brother gets surrounded and shot down by the enemy, all while screaming Zhang Ling's name.

... And that's game over. To this day, Zhang Ling has yet to save his brother.

D'ya think video game characters can pop out of their respective games?

Is that a thing that happens?

Maybe Zhang Ling's real problem is that he gets too "into" the game.

We don't have any games where his brother is a character.

Eternal youth! Everlasting life! That's the miracle of immortality for you: a marvellous miracle!

Do you believe in miracles?

Everyone in the city does. We're working together for one cause!

It's what we were born for...

You're looking for candidates to help feng shui flow through Kowloon?

Pfft! Feng shui is pure superstition!

That horseradish won't save us!

Say, have you joined forces with the Hongtou?

They're either quadruplets or quintuplets, but not twins.

You delivered the wig, did you? You see, wigs are a valuable form of protection in Kowloon. I bet that e-mail that just came in was from my business partner.

They must be thanking me and confirming the wig arrived.

Only, the text was so garbled up, I couldn't read it! What a bummer.

I couldn't read the e-mail. Is Kowloonet broken?

SCHOLAR -LAR -LAR! SCHOLAR -LAR -LAR!

MAGNET -NET -NET! MAGNET -NET -NET!

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!

I heard that "Orientation" whatchamacallit got cut short. Are they finally giving up? They'd been going at it on the second floor of the Twin Registry.

Very weird place, but I hear it's even weirder at the Twin Centre.

The Fortune-telling Machine is acting even weirder than normal. The lil' guy's getting too excited.

The girl working at the Dragon Hotel just raced out of that alley!

I didn't think that alley led anywhere!

The young lady I saw was with the "all-knowing scholar", Mr. Xia. Is he a feng shui guy like you then?

A grown man, dressed to the nines... Heehee, so scared, he's trembling! What a miserable performance!

Hee, hee! Hey, don't you feel that? All that magnetic energy, coursing through your body? It's like a really strong magnet. It's stronger in the Seafood Centre.

Are your shoulders stiff as mine? A bath in the magnetic field should do the trick! You can't have my place in line. If you wanna go through... give me my favourite thing! Don't know what that is? Guess.

Man... I could really use some freshly-peeled shrimp right now.

I heard Xiaohei got herself into some trouble over in the Deep.

That was reckless of her, rushing in alone like that!

Xiaohei has no business butting her head into all this nonsense! We can't draw attention like that,

but maybe she'll listen to you. For now, she took that hermit statue out to show Mr. Xia.

... It wouldn't take this long for him to appraise it, would it?

The terminal's busted. It wouldn't stop making weird noises earlier, so I unplugged it.

Did Xiaohei mention a hermit statue? I think the onmyoji told her about it. What I want to know is... How did she get in touch with that onmyoji in the first place?

Did Xiaohei mention a hermit statue? I think the onmyoji told her about it. What I want to know is... How did she get in touch with that onmyoji in the first place?

You're going to some faraway time, huh. I heard that the onmyoji said so. ... Oh, Xiaohei. She sure says the most random things sometimes.

This is no place for dillydalliers. That includes you, got it?

Not giving up on Men's Street? If you have business there, show me.

What's this weirdo's deal? Is it related to that girl?

Ah, you work under the Man too, eh?

All right, you can go in, hehe. But just so you know, the nightclub's not open yet, got it? Yes, heartbreaking, I know.

Make sure you're out before the seminar starts, or I'm toast!

Sorry, who are you again? Aren't you the...

Right. You're the one the Man... Sure... You can come in.

Paid 1000z.

Guilü Ball (x3) acquired.

Do you have guilü balls on you?

I pinched a few off the taxidermist. I'll share some of the loot with you. How's three for 1000z? It's a bargain!

A guilü ball can cancel out any element of malice you use it on.

You don't need to hunt down the countering elements as much. It's really convenient stuff. They only work on the guilü wandering in the hutongs, though.

Guilü with all five elements have no counters to speak of, so you have to defeat those via exorcism.

Aww, too bad you can't afford it. A guilü ball can cancel out any element of malice you use it on.

You don't need to hunt down the countering elements as much. It's really convenient stuff. They only work on the guilü wandering in the hutongs, though.

Guilü with all five elements have no counters to speak of, so you have to defeat those via exorcism.

A guilü ball can cancel out any element of malice you use it on.

You don't need to hunt down the countering elements as much. It's really convenient stuff. They only work on the guilü wandering in the hutongs, though.

Guilü with all five elements have no counters to speak of, so you have to defeat those via exorcism.

Keep an eye out for guilü balls next time you search the hutongs.

Our nightclub, Great World Venus, is a sister branch of Club Siu Tse, which operates over on Siu Tse Road. If you truly need a table, go there. We're in the middle of something.

Hehe, how's about I pluck a hair or two from your head...?

Hehe, and implant a cursed hair back into your scalp...

What, finished already? Geez, they can't be serious...

Okay, so we had a minor slip-up. I don't want any lip from you!

Since it's none of your business, keep your nose in line until the seminar is finished... or else.