Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 187: Phoenix Rising

Chapter 187: Phoenix Rising

"Welcome to Retribution," said the stranger as he opened a set of doors down the hall from the receptionist’s desk.

Si Dong didn’t know what to expect. Well, that wasn’t true. In his head, he had a very firm idea of what a guild room should look like. And the fact that it coincided with an 18th-century County E tavern had nothing to do with his obsession with DnD.

He expected wooden floors and men dressed in furs sitting around tables with a mug of beer in their hands.

What he got was an office building, complete with marble floors, a receptionist behind her desk, and couches.

"Hello, Chang Guo Zi!" smiled the woman as she popped her head up from behind the high desk. "A few missions have just been sent out if you want to look at them. They are posted in Conference Room D on the fourth floor."

"Thanks, Lai Dan Dan; I’ll take a look at those when I’m done. I’m just showing the newbies where to find the lists of teams still looking for additions," replied the man, Chang Guo Zi.

"There are a lot after that latest confrontation with the Zs. In fact, there are a few team leaders looking to personally recruit new people in Conference Room A, on the second floor, if you want to bring them there."

"Which teams are looking?" asked Chang Guo Zi as he leaned an elbow on top of her desk.

The woman shrugged. "Just the usual," she said, meeting his eyes for a second before looking off to the side.

"Ah," nodded Chang Guo Zi. "Are there any looking for newbies that aren’t part of that group?"

"Um, let me see," answered Lai Dan Dan as she went through some of the files on her desk. "Things were so much easier when I could have just pressed a few buttons and got the information," she continued, wrinkling her nose before finding the folder she was looking for.

"Betrayed, Oath, Vengeance, and Phoenix."

Chang Guo Zi nodded his head. "I am still surprised that the others were hit. They normally turn tail and run at the sight of a horde."

"The Princess had specifically requested those supplies," replied Lai Dan Dan as if that explained everything, and with how the other man was acting, it did.

"Is the first floor Conference Room A still open?" he asked, leaning over the desk to check something on her desk.

"It is."

"I’ll book it for the next hour or so if that is okay?"

"Of course." The receptionist wrote something on a piece of paper before handing it to Chang Guo Zi. "I’ll keep it empty for you; just let me know when you are done."

"Thank you so much," smiled Chang Guo Zi, and the woman blushed. "Let’s go," he said, turning around and looking at the other four men.

"How long have you two been going out?" asked Si Dong with a smirk as the five of them went into the conference room. Chang Guo Zi pinned the paper Lai Dan Dan had given him on the door before closing it behind him.

"Never," growled the man, a flash of anger passing over his face before he could control his emotions. "She is at least ten years younger than me."

"Ten? That’s it?" smirked Cheng Bo Jing. "There are a few more years than that between me and mine."

Bai Long Qiang’s face darkened for a moment before he shook his head. "Nine between me and mine."

"If you think about it, age is really just a number, and she is definitely interested in you," chuckled Si Dong as he grabbed a chair at the massive table and sat down. Realizing that it could move, he spun around a few times while the others took their seat.

"Do you want to know how to survive in this new world? Or do you want to discuss my lack of a love life?" sneered Chang Guo Zi.

"I don’t see why we can’t do both," replied Si Dong, but he stopped spinning around and sat down properly at the table, his rifle beside him within arms reach.

"Fine, let’s start with introductions. I am Chang Guo Zi, leader of The Phoenix Rising team. There are currently nine members on my team left alive after the last attack, and while I am looking for one more, I don’t have to."

"The rule of ten doesn’t apply to you?" asked Ye Yao Zu, wishing that he had brought a pen and paper to be able to write everything down.

"No, we were grandfathered in. We’ve technically been a team before the end of the world and were registered two years ago when the guilds were first starting to form."

"Phoenix Rising, does that make you part of the Phoenix Conglomerate?" asked Cheng Bo Jing.

Phoenix Conglomerate was the corporation under Wang Chao when he pretty much ruled City A before the downfall. Almost every business or organization had some link to them, whether they were owned by Phoenix or simply did business with them.

They had their hand in almost every pie, from food to security, real estate, multimedia, and entertainment companies.

It had gotten to the point that if you weren’t old blood already established in City A, you weren’t going to succeed without Wang Chao’s approval.

It was no wonder Zhou Jun Jie hated him so much. His family had to bow out of the business market and go into politics simply to be able to stay alive.

Chang Guo Zi snorted at his question. "We were part of his troops that he felt he didn’t need anymore," he said, a look of irritation on his face. "Well, that isn’t strictly accurate. He broke away from his grandfather before the world ended, and we were part of the troops that were assigned to the old man."

"Ah," nodded Cheng Bo Jing. It happened a lot, especially with private armies. But the idea that men and women who had sworn their lives to protect someone could be dropped at any moment didn’t settle well with him. At least there was job security in the country’s military.

"Those assigned to the older sister went with her when she broke off from the family shortly after. When the world ended, it was just Wang Yi Chen and the second branch of the family."