Era of Mist

[Destiny Mission 1: Phase Complete]

’A phase is complete already?’

’Looks like this mission really is deeply connected to the Biker Gangs.’

Leaving the wet thuds of blades striking flesh behind him, Shi Tiexin strode forward. He walked to the edge of the road, a winding mountain pass. From there, he could look down and see all of Tokyo Bay.

"Ah Fei."

"Here!" After the killing, Shi Tiexin’s aura of authority had grown even more imposing. Ah Fei couldn’t help but feel a little tense. "Your orders, sir!"

"Down there." Shi Tiexin pointed toward Tokyo Bay below. "How many Biker Gangs are there?"

"Dozens, big and small. It’s a total mess down there right now, a real motley crew."

"And where do we rank among them?"

"Uhh..." Ah Fei did a quick mental calculation and said sheepishly, "Middle of the pack... uh, upper-middle. Yeah, upper-middle."

’So, not very impressive.’

’Of course they weren’t impressive before. Just look at that pathetic state my old crew was in. It would have been a miracle if they’d amounted to anything.’

’But I’m here now.’

Shi Tiexin commanded, "Starting tomorrow, we’re instilling discipline. This isn’t a game. We can’t be lazy and disorganized anymore. We will train hard. When I give an order, you obey. Whether I say go or stop, fight or fall back. Anyone who disobeys will face the consequences!"

’Those are high standards. Can the guys really pull it off?’ Ah Fei glanced at the other members. He saw that the restless, flighty energy had already started to fade from them. Awe filled his heart as he bowed his head and answered, "Yes, sir."

Ah Fei thought that the boss standing before him was truly, completely different from the man he was before. His presence was so powerful it was impossible to even think of defying him.

The Tokyo nightscape was a mix of brilliant light and deep shadow. But whether in light or darkness, it was all one vast and magnificent battlefield.

Shi Tiexin had made up his mind.

’He’d realized it on his very first day here. This timeline was chaotic, dangerous, and treacherous. Keeping to himself was impossible, and retiring from this life was off the table for now. Instead of fighting alone, he should make full use of the advantages this world offered him.’

’He would forge this Biker Gang into an elite fighting force. As for the other gangs, he would either absorb them, drive them out, or destroy them. That was the only way to complete his Destiny Mission.’

’One day, this entire city will be mine to command.’

’One day,’

’I will command the storms,’

’Everywhere my gaze falls,’

’I will reign supreme.’

He looked up. The sky was cloudless and without stars. A single, brilliant moon hung alone in the void.

’It seems the Earth of this timeline has also entered the Foggy Zone. Here, too, the fog blots out the sky.’

"Move out!"

With a great roar of engines, Shi Tiexin led his men away.

————————The Fog-Shrouded Sky————————

The evolutionary trend of the current timeline is vastly different from that of the parallel world.

As the world did not adopt the New Era calendar, the following history is recounted using the old calendar.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

In 1919, Earth entered the Foggy Zone, sparking a global panic. Superstitious terror among the populace triggered a chain reaction. Fanned by various ideologies and powers, a World War erupted in 1926, engulfing all of Europe, Asia, and the United States mainland. That same year, Japan began its invasion of China.

In 1936, the World War ended. The US Army dropped the atomic bomb, leading to Japan’s defeat. The United States assumed de facto control of Japan, and the world entered an age of nuclear deterrence. That same year, the Eastern Realm abolished all humiliating treaties that had surrendered its sovereignty and re-established itself as a new nation.

In 1937, the Soviet Union successfully tested a fission nuclear weapon, ushering the world into a bipolar era dominated by the US and the USSR. The Eastern Realm, caught in the middle, focused on recuperating and rebuilding its strength.

In 1941, the Eastern Realm became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

In 1945, the Korean War began.

In 1946, the Eastern Realm successfully tested an atomic bomb, a hydrogen bomb, and a medium-range ballistic missile in succession. The Korean War ended that same year.

In 1949, the Eastern Realm established a fundamental national policy of reform and opening-up, designated coastal economic development zones, and began to vigorously develop its economy.

In 1961, the Soviet Union collapsed, ending the Cold War arms race. The world entered an era of a single superpower and multiple major powers.

In 1975, Japan’s economy collapsed. The Tokyo real estate market crashed, plunging the country into a severe economic recession.

In 1979, the Eastern Realm’s total economic output surpassed that of Japan, reaching one-half of the United States’ and making it the world’s second-largest economy.

In 1988, the Eastern Realm’s economy grew to three-quarters the size of the United States’, and bilateral friction intensified.

In 1999, the Eastern Realm’s economy became equal in size to that of the United States. It broke through technological and patent blockades to become self-sufficient, returning Earth to a bipolar era of East-West opposition. Bilateral friction continued to escalate, and the United States shifted its entire strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region in an attempt to diplomatically and economically contain the Eastern Realm.

In 2001, India began fully accepting economic, technological, and military aid from Western powers. Its economic growth accelerated significantly, and its military buildup became a major focus.

In 2008, at the behest and with the support of Western political forces, India provoked a territorial dispute with the Eastern Realm, sending troops across the border in the Himalayas. In August of that year, the Eastern Realm deployed its army, and the two sides officially went to war. By December, the Indian army had been utterly routed over thousands of miles. A treaty was signed to settle the conflict, which became known to history as the Avalanche Incident. From then on, the Eastern Realm held de facto control over Northern India, a region colloquially known as the "Third Zone."

In 2011, the bipolar confrontation intensified. The two powers engaged in direct military friction, which triggered a series of subsequent military consequences. The scale and intensity of the conflict gradually escalated, with both sides affirming they would not renounce the right to use nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific region was thrown into turmoil as multiple nations became a chessboard and battlefield for the Eastern and Western blocs. Indonesia, for example, was destroyed and re-established as a nation six separate times.

In 2014, through the mediation of the United Nations, the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement, and the fighting paused. The Eastern Realm gained de facto control of the Korean Peninsula, colloquially known as the "Peninsula Zone." It also took control of numerous islands in the South Seas, completely securing the Indian Ocean shipping lanes and causing the Western bloc’s containment line to gradually crumble.

In 2016, the Japanese Government decided to break free from the United States’ control and act as an independent international power. As a Pacific island nation, Japan possessed a unique geographical advantage amid the tense situation in the Pacific. It was a crucial lever for influencing the balance of power and the West’s best, last, and most indispensable bridgehead.

In 2019, Japan’s attempts to play both sides for its own gain—betraying one benefactor to curry favor with the other—ended up angering both the Eastern and Western blocs.

In 2020, to avoid further direct military conflict, the Eastern and Western blocs tacitly agreed to use Japan as a chessboard for their games and shadow wars. This shadow war lasted for three years, during which numerous high-ranking Japanese officials were assassinated and traitors abounded. The office of the Prime Minister remained vacant, and the cabinet system existed in name only. The scale of this shadow war was unprecedented and its consequences severe. It came to be known in history as the "Darktide."

In 2022, the Japanese Celestial Emperor fled the country and began to issue appeals and condemnations on the international stage.

In 2023, under an initiative supervised by the United Nations, the East and West signed another treaty, bringing the Darktide to an end. Both sides withdrew from Japan Island, agreeing to prohibit any military personnel from entering the island nation. The situation in the Pacific returned to a stalemate, though the arms race continued unabated.

In 2024, large numbers of civilians from both the East and West began immigrating to Japan. Criminal organizations, long suppressed by modern law, sprang up like mushrooms after a rain. Chinese triads, the American mafia, and the Japanese yakuza formed a three-way power balance. Japan became a chaotic melting pot where order and savagery, humanity and absurdity, coexisted.

「And now, it is the spring of 2025.」