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History Road wasn’t the city’s only attraction. Battletown hosted lesser racers, cage matches, and crueler games. Yuan briefly watched one on a screen where slaves were thrown at a Firewheel and people bet on the order in which the monster would crush them. It took all of his willpower not to shoot it down in disgust.

The city did feel safe, in an oppressive kind of way. Groups of oni thugs and yaoguai warriors bearing the Khan’s insignia patrolled the streets and promptly reacted to any commotion. Yuan had passed by a wall covered in the nailed hands of thieves who thought they could prey on tourists. Those were the lucky ones. Most criminals were enslaved and then sent to die fighting spirit-beasts in one arena or another.

The city housed so many slave auctions Yuan found it nauseating. The city hosted a market’s worth of flesh auctions near its docks, where yaoguai slavers from beyond the Oil Sea bet gold and pills on the finest flesh-crafted workers this side of the Fanged Coast had to offer. Yuan had seen Human Pillars younger than Holster forced to board a ship run by giant spiders.

The more time Yuan spent in this town, the more he struggled against the urge to blow it all up. He knew instantly which place he would select should he ever win the Right of First Annihilation, even if the Yinyang Khan laughed it off.

For now, he forced himself to behave and keep a low profile. Yuan, Bucket, and a few others had spread across Battletown to gather information and learned a few interesting tidbits since.

First of all, Slash apparently acted as the Yinyang Khan’s majordomo and right-hand man. Not only was he in charge of managing Battletown’s biggest events and overseeing competitor recruitments, he also served as the city’s chief of police. Information about his actual capabilities remained sparse and elusive. Slash rarely got his hands dirty, and few survived to tell the tale when he decided to.

Second, Yuan gathered some tidbits on his fellow racers at a bar serving as a gambling den for the games. Its owners had compiled lists of contestants and the current bets on them, along with some other details like which sects sponsored them.

Yuan scoffed as he reviewed the list while sitting at the counter, his beer glass still full—he hadn’t been thirsty in days, but the patron wouldn’t give him what he wanted if he didn’t pay for something. As a relative unknown, Yuan’s own team was relatively low in the rankings, which served him just as well.

Nearly all the Wayfinders’ sects had sent a representative too, with that weirdo Duckman having apparently been recruited by the Spiral Dancers of all people. The current favorite, however, was an independent racer called Coyote. From what Yuan learned, he was a Speed Path follower who had won the previous History Road competition. His vehicle wasn’t listed though.

Yuan sensed the approach of two cultivators long before they sat on each side of him with a beer in hand. They were twins, both grizzled men in their forties with short dark hair, black eyes, three-day old beards, and matching leather jackets adorned with racer bracers. The only thing that set them apart were the color of their scarves and height; the shorter one wore a red piece of cloth, and the taller of the two wore a green one.

Yuan pretended not to notice them, knowing they would make the first move; which they did.

“Scouting out the competition?” Red Scarf asked while reading Yuan’s list.

Yuan instantly recognized his voice. “You’re the sibling racers from yesterday.”

“You’ve got a good ear.” Red Scarf offered him his gloved hand. “Name’s Mel, and that’s my brother Hardy. I’m the older one by a minute, but Hardy’s taller.”

“You make me blush, bro,” the other replied with a chuckle.

Yuan stared at the hand offered to him, but didn’t take it. “You’re with the Dyad Sect,” he said with a grunt, having read their names on the list. “You’re working for the Khan?”

“Hey, don’t lump us with that asshole!” Hardy spat in his glass. “We’ve chosen brotherhood and complementarity, not competition. Bro and I balance each other. We don’t go around picking fights.”

“What bro said,” Mel replied. “We represent the Dyad Sect, but the only thing we share with the Khan is our chosen Path. He gives us all a bad name.”

“Which is why we figured we should talk to you,” Hardy added. “Since you’ve challenged the Khan’s right-hand, bro and I assumed we could help each other out.”

Yuan remained too wary to take them at their word. “This could be a setup.”

“Could be,” Mel said while shrugging his shoulders. “We can form an Unspeakable Vow if you want. We don’t mind.”

The offer was so bold it took Yuan aback. “You would risk your cores?"

“It’s not like we’re promising a service,” Mel replied with a shrug. “We’re just swearing that we’re telling the truth right now. Seems safe enough to build up trust.”

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He had a point. Yuan hadn’t heard of any Path that could violate or trick a Unspeakable Vow, so he might as well go along with it. He stared at Mel’s hand for a moment before taking it. His grip was strong, but friendly enough.

“Name’s Yuan,” he said before proceeding with the vow. “I swear on my core I’m not an ally of the Yinyang Khan.”

“And we swear on ours we aren’t allied with or employed by the Yinyang Khan and his forces,” Mel and Hardy said at the exact same time. Yuan felt a brief pressure on his bullet-core, then nothing. “See? Not too bad.”

“No, it’s not,” Yuan conceded. He did love their forwardness. “You’re looking for information?”

“Same as you, I suppose,” Mel said. “Bro and I figured we could pool our knowledge.”

“You scratch our backs, we scratch yours,” Hardy added. “In?”

Yuan nodded sharply. He didn’t entirely trust these two, but forming a loose alliance with fellow racers could only make his job easier; at least for a time. “In.”

“Alright then,” Mel said. “First thing first, that Right of First Annihilation, think that’s a bluff?”

Yuan’s jaw clenched. “No, it’s not a bluff. The Khan has gained access to a power that may be able to destroy a city with the right setup.”

Mel raised an eyebrow. “May?”

“I’m not sure he can control it,” Yuan replied. After seeing the Gun in action, he doubted that anyone could truly handle a demigod of ultraviolence; let alone an incarnation of nuclear devastation. “It could blow up in everyone’s face for all I know.”

“I see…” Mel sipped his beer. “What’s that power exactly?”

“Can’t say,” Yuan replied. He might have already given too much away. “All that I can tell you is that it has to go away.”

“Withholding info isn’t very fair-play,” Mel said with a frown. “But we can agree on that last part."

Yuan looked at him. “You don’t want the prize?”

“No. We don’t have any enemies, we just don’t want our place to disappear. Important distinction.” Mel shrugged his shoulders. “We’re participating to ensure nobody blows up our home.”

“We’ll likely pick an empty spot in the desert if we win,” Hardy said. “Or the least populated place, should the Dickhead Khan insist on blowing up a city.”

The nickname made Yuan chuckle. “Same,” he lied before asking a question of his own. “What do you know about the other racers?”

“All the Wayfinders’ sects except the Sky-Biter’s brood have at least one representative crew,” Mel replied. “The Flesh Mansion and Metallist were supposed to send people from Fleshmarket. Gayak and Gatling Boy, I think their names were.”

“Gatling Man,” Yuan replied. It surprised him to hear of those two again, but from the casual way Mel spoke of them the news about the city’s destruction hadn’t reached Battletown yet. “They aren’t coming.”

“That’s what we heard too. Both got roped up in some elder feud in Fleshmarket.” Mel finished his beer and ordered a second. “Which is good for us. Their sects still field two vehicles of their own, that big mutant centidead and the plane, but without a good cultivator driver at the helm we’ll have an easy time blowing ‘em up.”

“‘Plane?’” The word confused Yuan. “What do you mean? Like it comes from the Nowhere?”

“Not that kind of plane,” Hardy replied with a laugh. “The Metallists’ vehicle can fly.”

“Fly?” Yuan stared at him in shock, half expecting a joke and receiving none. “Is that allowed?”

“Why not?” Hardy chuckled. “So long as it passes by the landmarks.”

“The Khan’s Barrier extends upward, so the plane can’t fly too high though,” Mel said. “Should still be within shooting range if you wanna take it down.”

“The Deathsong Sect sent that bizarre ship thing,” Hardy added. “I’ve heard that its crew is made up of hungry ghosts. Bro and I got that covered.”

Yuan was confident his team could take out specters too. Holster and Orient both possessed powers that could purify them.

“What about Duckman?” Yuan asked.

“That weirdo?” Mel scoffed. “The Spiral Dancers hired him, so he must be more dangerous than he looks. Don’t know much about him otherwise.”

“Coyote is the one you should watch out for,” Hardy suggested. “That one’s a bloodthirsty psycho. He won last year because he killed a fourth of the contestants on his lonesome.”

“His vehicle isn’t listed,” Yuan said. “What does he drive?”

“Nothing,” Mel replied. “He runs.”

Yuan choked. “On foot?”

“He’s on the Speed Path, remember?” Hardy replied with a shrug. “Using a car would slow him down.”

“The other nutjob to watch out for is Chemzard,” Hardy said. “She’s a Drug Path cultivator and last year’s runner-up. She gains different abilities based on which drug she consumes at any given time, but as you can guess, cocaine and techniques don’t mix well. You never know how she’ll act.”

“You’re offering me a lot more information than what I gave you,” Yuan noticed.

“Someone needs to give something away to build trust, otherwise nobody’s gonna cross the bridge.” Mel set his second glass aside. “Bro and I have a proposition for you.”

Yuan guessed immediately. “You want to form an alliance?”

“Sort of.” Mel joined his hands. “We get out of each other’s way until we reach the finish line. Afterwards… Well, no hard feelings.”

“It doesn’t have to end that way,” Yuan pointed out. “I won’t blow up your hometown.”

Mel shook his head, much to Yuan’s surprise. “That’s kind, but from the way you challenged Slash, that psycho will ask the Khan to blow up our place if you swear to spare it just to piss you off.”

“Only way we can ensure its safety for certain is if we win,” Hardy added. “Can’t reduce our options by agreeing to a vow with you.”

“I see,” Yuan replied. It was a shame, but he didn’t begrudge them for choosing that option. They had no idea how the race would go, so any alliance might prove counterproductive past a certain point. At least they could avoid becoming enemies until the very end. “About Slash… someone told me half of his qi seemed to be elsewhere.”

“That’s because it is,” Mel replied. “The Dyad Path is unique in that it requires two cultivators to walk it together, whether as foes, rivals, or allies."

“Bro’s core and mine are intertwined,” Hardy said. “We can fuel each other’s qi at will and combine our techniques.”

“It’s the Path of duality,” his brother continued. “Yin and Yang, reflections, eternal rivals, master and student…”

Yuan’s jaw clenched as an idea crossed his mind. “A tyrant and his right-hand?”

Mel scowled grimly. “That’s our guess too.”

Yuan pondered that information. The Yinyang Khan and Slash had likely formed a Dyad bond. This explained why the former trusted the latter with the cube’s recovery… and why the Khan would never allow Yuan to kill his right-hand even if Slash agreed to a fight.

“I suppose you won’t tell me about your sect’s techniques?” Yuan asked. He doubted they would agree, even if they opposed the Khan, but it didn’t hurt to inquire.

“No way,” Mel asked with a warm laugh. “But we’ll tell you this: the further a duo progresses along the Dyad Path, the stronger the bond becomes. At one point, it can transcend death itself.”

A chill traveled down Yuan’s iron spine. “How so?”

“Our Elders can bring each other back from the Nowhere so long as one of them lives, and both fear the Yinyang Khan.” Mel gave Yuan a long hard look. “If you want to kill the student for good… then you’ll likely have to kill the teacher too.”

Yuan could only hope that Arc undersold herself then.