Chapter 2: The Future Shockwave Girl

Chinatown was vast, in fact, encompassing a whole cluster of neighborhoods.
Old Wang lived on Wujie Street, which was pretty much the heart of Chinatown.
He had barely stepped out when he saw a truck, nearly rusted and ready for the scrapyard. A beautiful head with golden, wavy hair popped out: "Wang, over here, get in!"
This isn’t the kindergarten bus, I’m not getting on... Old Wang shrugged, leapt lightly, and slipped inside.
"I really envy your graceful moves," Sky said in halting Mandarin.
Though she was half Chinese, half American, she’d grown up in the States and spoke almost no Mandarin.
What little she knew, she’d picked up after meeting Old Wang.
That, too, had been thanks to his coaxing.
Sky was an orphan, abandoned at a welfare institute as a child. She was nineteen this year, just a year older than Old Wang, had attended school and dropped out, and anyone who befriended her ended up unlucky—she was the embodiment of the "Lone Star of Misfortune," radiating bad luck wherever she went.
She was independent, confident, stubborn, outgoing, skilled at networking, and a superb hacker—a livelihood, but also a way to search for her parents.
The pain of abandonment haunted her.
She dreamed of finding them, and asking why they left her.
Was she unlovable?
Did she eat too much?
Did she... become a burden to them?
Driven by this dream, she worked tirelessly, until she met Old Wang.
Three years ago, a white girl pursued Old Wang. A few Black men, jealous, tried to teach him a lesson late at night, but instead got a beating themselves, laid up for over a month. The white girl now avoided Old Wang like the plague, pretending not to know him if she couldn’t escape.
It wasn’t a big deal—the girl wasn’t even pretty.
But the crucial thing was, a wandering Sky witnessed it.
She was astonished.
She’d been bullied often, both at school and outside, for being parentless. Outgoing as she was, she immediately approached Old Wang, asking him to teach her martial arts to protect herself.
Once Old Wang realized she was the future "Quake," he agreed without hesitation, and told her, since she was half Chinese, one of her parents must be Chinese, so she’d need to learn Mandarin—otherwise, how would she find them?
Thus, Sky became Old Wang’s student.
Sky wanted to teach Old Wang hacking in return, but after two days, he had a splitting headache; his intelligence simply wouldn’t allow it!
Besides, there were other ways to repay him.
After spending some days together, Old Wang asked Sky to help him find the "Heart of Azeroth."

He’d thought, with Sky’s skills, it would take only a few days.
Unexpectedly, it dragged on for three years.
"Keep practicing, you’ll get there too."
Old Wang glanced around, frowning: "Ke Ying, your truck’s been around for a year, hasn’t it? When you bought it, it was already a decade old, right? If you leave it parked by the curb unattended, the sanitation workers might just toss it in the trash!"
"Let them try! Which trash can could fit it? And this isn’t just a truck, it’s my mobile office, cost me ten thousand dollars... Fine, it is a truck, but it’s also my home."
Sky retorted, mood dimming, glaring fiercely at Old Wang: "I warn you, if you call me ‘Wang Keying’ again, I’ll send your info to S.H.I.E.L.D., let their agents give you trouble! And money! Money! Money! I need to make money, to support myself! Do you know how long I spent searching for it? How many money-making chances I missed?"
"I haven’t killed anyone or set fires—S.H.I.E.L.D. still follows the law, right? Okay, okay, the law serves the rich, no need for your lecture. One day I’ll be rich, and the law will serve me."
Old Wang ignored the main point of Sky’s words, leaned close and sniffed at her shoulder, then, before she could get angry, straightened his face and stared at the laptop, as serious as could be: "Enough fooling around, let’s talk business."
"Eighteen years ago, there were no cameras—surveillance only became common recently. And this case is so old, it’s really hard."
Sky sighed, not mentioning that her earlier skills were lacking; now, with "Rising Tide" supporting her, her hacking abilities had soared, and with other members’ help, she finally found the necklace.
"You’ve worked hard," Old Wang said absentmindedly, his hands kneading Sky’s shoulders. "Shoulder massage, back thumping, cupping—the full service, want it?"
"Yes, yes, I want it all!"
Sky snorted, and said: "Eighteen years ago, the one who stole your necklace was Chen Tian, a habitual thief in your Chinatown. Chen Tian sold it to Li Xuan, the jewelry store owner. Li Xuan, who owed gambling debts, pawned his store to Lu Han from the Chinese gang. Seven years ago, Lu Han was killed, and the necklace was taken by Sun Yaoyuan, who sold it to..."
"Just tell me the outcome," Old Wang’s head was hurting, his hands kneading harder.
"Ouch, ouch, lighter! The necklace is in the hands of the Fifth Street Gang in Los Angeles."
Sky clicked the mouse, and a profile enlarged—a burly Black man.
"Peter, second-in-command of the Fifth Street Gang," Sky moved the mouse, a detailed info box popped up.
"Los Angeles?" Old Wang was troubled. "That’s pretty far..."
Travel expenses were steep.
Besides, he felt like he’d heard of the Fifth Street Gang somewhere before.
"Crossing all of America—you’ve got enough for a round-trip flight."
Sky closed the laptop, made a gesture: "I’ve sent you the info, you may get off now. You know my bank account, don’t forget to pay up!"
"You want me off after I get on? You think this is a kindergarten bus? The door’s welded shut! And I only know how to transfer money in games, not in real life!"
Old Wang shifted to a comfortable position, snatched Sky’s laptop: "What’s the password? Games still on the D drive? No shady movies, right? Which teachers?"
"I’m not going with you!"
Sky turned to Old Wang, very serious: "Fifth Street Gang controls Fifth Street in LA, dozens of people, cars, guns, real bodies on their hands. I need to stay alive to find my parents! I’m not you, I’m a normal person, nor-mal-per-son!"
You’re the abnormal one, your whole family’s abnormal, Old Wang thought inwardly.

A child of mutants and maniacs, the future Quake—and you dare call yourself normal?
Of course, he couldn’t say that yet, or he’d never be able to explain.
Old Wang opened the laptop, found "Happy Chick," started laying eggs as he spoke: "I’ve only got a thousand bucks, a round-trip flight will eat it all up. How’ll I manage after? And intelligence work depends on you. Drive me there, I’ll cover gas. Or should I treat you to a hotel, dinner, shopping, movies?"
"The order’s wrong... Get out!"
"Not happening!"
"If you don’t, I’ll call the cops!"
"Then I’ll tell the police you’re a hacker—that last month’s bank heist was your tech support, and the month before’s big smuggling case was your doing, and twenty years ago..."
"Wasn’t me, you’re lying! I wasn’t even born twenty years ago! If I’d done it, would I still drive this junk? I’d have a Bumblebee!"
"But the cops have to believe it! Cops serve the rich, do you have money?"
"You, I..."
"Want abilities like mine? Even stronger?"
"Yes!"
"Help me this time, and I’ll help you—deal?"
"Deal!"
"Then go drive, I’ll play some games."
"...Shouldn’t we make a plan?"
"Didn’t Peter post the Heart of Azeroth online? Contact him, say you want it, arrange a deal!"
"And then?"
"Then we snatch it! You think we’re really buying? I’m broke!"
"Is that necklace really that important?"
"Of course, it’s my golden cheat!"
"Wasn’t it a necklace? How did it become a finger, and golden?"
"...It’s just a hack!"