Chapter 2: Strong Man Zhou

"I'm here," Feng Biao thought as he stared at the only building one would call pristine within the slums. Walking into the building Feng Biao went straight towards a recruiter sitting down at a desk.

"Here to join the up?" a gruff voice belonging to a large, tattooed man inquired.

"Yes sir," Feng Biao replied.

"Then sign your name here, here, and here and fill out these pages," the man said as he slid a paper over to Feng Biao.

It was then Feng Biao noticed and thought to himself, 'His right arm, it's gone.'

The man followed Feng Biao's gaze and said sternly, "I used to be a Marked, but I lost my Mark and my arm with it in America."

"I'm sorry to hear that sir"

"No," the man said with a bitter tone, "It was nothing compared to what could have happened. I got out of there alive."

'As opposed to captured,' Feng Biao couldn't help but think.

Feng Biao shook off that thought and read the title of the paper he was to sign. It read "China Coalition Forces."

"Sir, I'm Marked," Feng Biao said showing his right hand to the recruiter.

"Then you should have said something earlier. Here, sign this document here, here, here, and here. Make sure you fill out these pages as well. I'll go inform the camp about you."

The man gave Feng Biao new papers titled "Heroic Coalition Forces" and walked away to a back room. Feng Biao began to sign the paper.

'Parents? I have none, but I'll sign Wang Hao's name and residence here. If I die in combat, he'll at least receive some money.'

'My Mark? Two stars, a True Divinity.' Scrolling through the document Feng Biao found a question he couldn't answer, 'The identity of the Divinity? I'll have to check unknown.'

A few minutes later while Feng Biao was finishing up signing the document the man returned and began to speak.

"You're lucky, camp is beginning in 2 days. Take advantage of that luck. Like an idiot, I joined while it was already ongoing."

Feng Biao raised an eyebrow to this, and the man shrugged with one arm.

"My recruiter had advised me not to, but I was like you. Chosen by a True Divinity. If I can give you any advice it will be this, take the opportunity to train seriously and get as strong as possible."

"There are things out there that don't even notice the will of humans as they kill them. They only recognize equal or greater force."

Feng Biao looked into the man's eyes that were now fixed seriously on his and said, "I'll take that to heart, sir. By the way, I don't see a nametag, what is your name?"

"My name? Unimportant, most have probably forgotten it and I'm ashamed of it. The nickname I was given though, some might remember that," the man said as he looked nostalgic.

"I was quite infamous you know, they called me Strong Man Zhou. Hercules had chosen me as his Marked."

For a moment, the man almost seemed like he would smile, but instead, a frown replaced the expression on his face.

"I got cocky, because my Divine Abilities made me feel like I was stronger than anyone and anything. I was made leader of a search and rescue mission in America. When the Smoking Mirror appeared rather than listen to the group and retreat I foolishly ordered us to fight."

"Many died, some were taken, I lost my arm, and now I'm here," Feng Biao could see Zhou growing visibly sad, remembering the past seemed painful for him.

"You should hurry I wasted enough of your time talking," Zhou said as he slid Feng Biao a map.

"I've called the camp and informed them about you, they already sent transportation to pick up a group of Marked ready for the camp here," Zhou said pointing to a place Feng Biao could vaguely recognize on the map. "If you hurry you should be able to make it in time," Zhou said waving Feng Biao off.

"Thank you, sir. I'll be going now," Feng Biao said respectfully. Leaving the only building in the slums that received regular maintenance for the purposes of aesthetics.

As he walked away towards his destination Feng Biao thought about Strong Man Zhou. 'Even chosen by a True Divinity like Hercules he was still maimed. By the sound of it, he wasn't alone either, meaning even with a large force of Marked they were unable to defeat the Smoking Mirror...'

Everyone knew who the Smoking Mirror was. When the only Mythological Marble to fully undergo a Burst Event released him and a horde of monsters onto Mexico the world was changed permanently.

"They say after the Burst that the parts of South America that weren't caught in the radius of the expanded Mythological Marble were then almost immediately conquered," Feng Biao mused.

This was also a well-known story. The USA, what parts of it weren't caught in the Burst, was then forced to become the frontlines in a war for its own survival. That constant war raged in the USA between the Smoking Mirror's empire and America's remaining United States.

Eventually, Feng Biao made his way to the location that had been marked on the map. It was what had once been the plaza of a shopping center. Decayed and broken it had been left this way and incorporated into the slums.

Sitting at what was once probably a fountain sat a tall youth. He motioned for Feng Biao to come towards him

"Oi, over here, we're all still waiting for them to show up," the young man, who Feng Biao could see was clearly not Chinese, shouted towards him.

Feng Biao decided it was probably not a trap to mug him. While those did happen in the slums it would be especially unlucky for him if it happened where a Coalition rendezvous had been set up.

"Who are you?" Feng Biao asked the person now standing in front of him.

"I'm Hunter Jackson, from the looks of it, a fresh recruit like you," he said holding out his hand for a handshake.

"I'm Feng Biao, how long have you been waiting here?" Feng Biao said as he felt a firm grip on his hand when he shook Hunter's hand.

"About an hour? The others have definitely been here longer though."

"Others?" Feng Biao asked quizzically. As far as he could see only Hunter and himself were in the plaza.

"They're not waiting here, I've seen them come in and out of the buildings around here from time to time, but otherwise we're the only ones waiting outside," Hunter said motioning towards the few standing buildings surrounding the plaza.

Feng Biao examined the buildings surrounding the plaza. Personally, he wouldn't risk entering them. They had been looted hundreds of years ago for anything valuable and were so torn apart they had become structurally unstable before they had even begun decaying.

"Aren't they afraid of a collapse? Something could go really wrong really fast," Feng Biao asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

"Heh, nah they're all Marked same as you and me," Hunter said with a grin. "A two-story building collapsing on them shouldn't be much of a problem."

Feng Biao contemplated to himself about what Hunter had said. 'Are we supposed to be physically stronger now? I've never really had anybody explain to me how a Mark of Divinity actually works. I don't feel any different.'

'As far as I know, 16 is the oldest you can be and receive one. While 10 is the youngest, meaning a lot of these people have had more time adjusting to their Marks and being told who their Divinity is. I'm not sure if telling Hunter how clueless I am would be a good idea.'

Interrupting his thoughts, the sound of an engine could be heard. A well-armored bus painted in tactical camo rolled into the plaza. It parked near what had once been a curb and the door opened. Two heavily armored men stepped out, landing on the pavement with a heavy thud. They both stood in place surveying the area holding a large gun in their hands.

Then from the bus emerged a somewhat mean-looking fat old woman in a suit smoking a cigar. She locked her eyes onto Hunter and Feng Biao and moved the cigar from her lips.

"Well? Did you expect a fucking parade? Get your asses over here now."