At least Li wasn't smug about it. Instead, he almost seemed distrustful, the way he just... looked up from his reading and into their direction from the corners of his eyes, and stared quietly for a moment.

"... Very good, then," he finally said. He looked off behind them. "Dian."

The one troop they had returned with, the one wearing the bandoliers, stepped forward from the entry doorway. He was no longer wearing his mask, and as thus discernible as some sort of... stocky-built lynx, or similar feline. For some reason, his very broad, scruffy, wild-haired face looked more formidable than it did with the mask on.

"Inspect it quickly," ordered Li Fang. "We don't want to delay our associates from receiving their pay and leaving."

While he went about opening the crate (and tussling with a very formidable-looking lead box inside), Li addressed Tracer and Archer again.

"The offer still stands, regarding those foreigners. Whatever it is they are or aren't up to, people like them are... trouble. Do you understand what I mean? They're bad to have in my territory at a crucial time like this."

Apparently, he was referencing the instability and changes the area was facing in light of the aforementioned news. What exactly he meant was unclear, but, perhaps it again related to something he knew about the group. It certainly seemed he had done his homework, either way.

"For now," replied their employer simply. He apparently didn't have much reason to take interest in the others yet, or he felt his goal would be accomplished with only Ace.

Before much else could be said, Dian finished unpackaging their prize, and lifted it free from its lead-lined box.

A crawling cold moved through the room, standing hairs on end. The environment suddenly felt tiresome to be in, not peaceful, sleepy, or restful, but languid. Whether or not anything actually changed was a matter of discerning imagination from reality, but for a moment, it almost seemed as though the well-lit room dimmed — or was it the edges of their collective vision darkening?

Dian stared into the object in his hands, a mirror wrapped in a black ring. Metallic leaves, feathers, thorny vines, and other filigree wound ornately around its circumference. Its reflective surface was unlike any normal mirror, undulating, shimmering like mercury, flowing with every light perturbation.

The troop extended a single index finger toward the moving surface, mesmerized.

"Put it back," said Li, grave in tone.

Dian blinked in a flutter, paused, then lowered it carefully back into the box, and closed the lid. The sensation vanished.

The vanilla-colored mouse watched in intrigued awe from his somewhat-distant spot as the one called Dian examined the mirror. He could feel his hands start to shiver as his eyes gleaned across the twisting, ornate metal and the strange "glass" of the artifact. It was clear to him that there was something eerie about the "Circle," but he kept his expression blank, mostly easy to do while his eyes were hidden by the dark lenses he wore. He gave the quietest sigh of relief when the object was placed back in its storage. "Repoussant," he couldn't help but whisper to himself. I don't want to see that ghastly thing again unless I absolutely need to...

The mouse set to straightening his clothes, attempting to look nonchalant and casual about the small ordeal that just happened.

Li Fang looked to Archer, failing to emote in any discernible way; "A gift for my mother-in-law," he answered dryly.

...

"Shouldn't you be taking my money from my secretary and rendering more of your gratuitously overpriced services, now?" he asked and tiredly gestured toward the door, where they might leave. "I do believe there's a yellow cat somewhere waiting to be skinned."

The rat quietly watched the pair of mercenaries go. Soon as they were out of sight, he slowly and listlessly strolled his way closer to the box containing the dark Norden Circle. His eyes lingered on the lead box for a moment, with only the slightest twitch at the corner of his mouth to express his displeasure with the object, before he turned to Li Fang.

"Do you think those two are trustworthy enough?" he inquired, shifting into a serious, all-business tone of voice, while maintaining the blank expression. "Should I keep an eye on them? I can send a couple of scouts to keep tabs. They seem to be the...unpredictable sort," he said with a weak frown.

"When people lust after money as much as those two do, they cease to be 'unpredictable,'" replied Li Fang, matter-of-fact, leaning back in his chair and toying with his computer some more. "Dangerous, yes; dishonest, yes; but you can always count on them to reliably, predictably do whatever profits them most. The only thing I need to do is ensure that I remain their greatest source of profit for as long as I actually need them."

Just when it seemed he was about to turn the rat down on his offer, the lizard did just the opposite; he glanced up with a bored, yet somehow wry look, gestured toward the lead-lined box, and said, "You should follow them anyway, though. Take Dian and the Circle with you."

"No," interrupted Li Fang before his employees could get far, "don't you see? The point is to open it."

Buh-what? Dian had begun to follow with the box in his grasp, but stopped abruptly, wearing a confused face. Fortunately, his boss explained.

"Take only a very small force. Remain undetected, and open the container at the opportune moment. If this 'Ace' is truly who we think he is, our hired help," by which he meant Tracer and Archer, "will be... outclassed — both by him and his associates. We may consider it an ideal opportunity to test the artifact's effects, and hopefully tip the scales in our side's favor."