[b][i]Intermission Five - Aftermath of Victory[/i][/b]

[b]Municipality of Lubao, Pampanga Province, Philippines - 1/1/2023, 9:21 AM, UTC+8[/B]

Jin Li decided to demonstrate his continued usefulness by saying, "I have an answer as to why you were facing only one member of the Zodiac in both the last mission and this meeting. Suffice to say, there's been serious attrition among their ranks in recent months, according to our sources in the Mainland. The war has become unpopular the longer it goes on without the easy victories of its first few months, and Laos and some of Cambodia defecting has not fixed that. So only one Zodiac member - One who survived, by the way - was there to face Task Force Obsidian in the decisive battle of the war and only one Zodiac member was able to try and take us on here."

He smiled at that and continued, "I guess the Chinese Communist Party is running out of A-rank Arms Masters to send at you..."

Then Jin took out a USB from his sleeve and handed it to Cristina, saying, "No, they don't have the Cat, but here's the data I got on the CCP's 'Zodiac'; I have been gathering my own version of the group, by the way."

Looking at Callie, Jin would pre-empt any accusations of holding back information from them by saying, "I was going to reveal that information if the meeting had not been interrupted by Feng, by the way. Consider it a... gesture of reciprocity."

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[url=https://imgchest.com/p/ljyqzzwwdy2][img]https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/myd5cw8olg4.jpg[/img][/url]
[i]Po Xinfu[/i]: B-Rank Arm Master and the Rat - 1st Seat and Captain of the Zodiacs. His dagger is capable of temporarily, and sometimes permanently, severing the bonds between an Arms Master and their Noble Arm upon contact with the latter, making him the terror of groups such as the Hammer of Masters. Not merely that, but when confronting another Arms Master or a group of Arms Masters, he becomes as swift as the fastest Arms Master in the room (and able to endure air resistance, G-Forces, and friction caused by the increase in speed). Hates Aircraft and their Pilots for being able to go around his strengths.
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[url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/06ce1da3bf17.jpg]Originally Uvogin from HunterxHunter; picture is too large for posting.[/url]
[i]Zhi Zhengjian[/i]: A-Rank Arms Master and Ox - 2nd Seat of the Zodiac. His Noble Arm is a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazen_bull]Brazen Bull[/url] that can move independently with animal-level intelligence. This bull can also open up its body, and chains come out of it that pull in enemies inside its structure to drain their lives to strengthen Zhi’s Arms Master Survivability and physical strength to absurd levels; a sufficiently strong victim could theoretically render him capable of withstanding several nuclear explosions. Yes, this is similar to Feng's.
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[url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/eb9cf85189a2.webp]Originally Disney's Mulan, picture is too large[/url].
[i]Hua Zao[/i]: A-Rank Arms Master and the Horse of the Zodiac, her Noble Arm is the Blade of Vitality, a Chinese double-edged longsword (Jian) whose blade is capable of resurrecting those who had died before 72 hours have passed since the exact moment of death, bringing them back to true life, fully healed of all injuries, sicknesses, and genetic disorders. However, Arms Masters who are brought back to life lack their Noble Arms, but may regain them later if no one has inherited their existing Arms before their resurrection, or failing that, form a new one from their next rapid personal development. It also functions as a regular sword, with the capacity to kill people on its own and not resurrect them if Hua Zao wills her blade not to resurrect. Also, finally, Hua can only resurrect a person once; twice won’t work. 
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[center][url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/7lxcp2lmnb7.png]Originally the other Goku from Saiyuki[/url]
[i]Wu Shufen[/i]: The Monkey of the Zodiac, Wu loves food, parties, and playful pranks on people, but has a hidden scholarly side and a craving for knowledge that sometimes puts him at odds with the rest of his group. His Noble Arm, the Ruyi Bang, can copy one Noble Arm ability from one summoned Noble Arm within the range of his sight, hearing, and, in some cases, smell. This makes him weak against mundane troops or a single Arms Master, but when confronted by an entire party of them…

Secret Tip: Unsummon your Noble Arm and he cannot copy its ability.[/center][/hider]

Then Jin added, "The Dragon and Rooster are already dead; good riddance. The Snake, Lei Qingshe, was both our forces' cornerstone until she was killed through treachery. As for the Rabbit and Goat... they're either dead or defected."

He left it unspoken as to [i]who[/i] they defected to. Then he finished the discussion by saying, "Well, there doesn't seem to be much damage to the town due to Feng's actions, but the nearby river still needs to be cleansed of IEDs. So if you'll excuse me..."

And then Jin Li, formerly the pretender to the Qing Empire, now Party Secretary of the New Chinese Democratic Party, walked off, giving no instructions for the party; not that it was his place to give them anything to do.

As for Bahram, the Persian Mercenary from Broken Sword, he had vanished along with Levi Orienko, the other young merc. Crown Prince Shinyahito, meanwhile, glanced at Callie and Cristina, waiting for [i]them[/i] to give orders; Myron assigned them authority, after all...

But what to do in this war-ravaged town?

[@Chiro][@Nimbus][@Digmata][@Gerlando][@Lloki][@Creative Chaos] (if returning) [@Paths of Parity]