Sector 102 // Welcome to Hong Tong
Peps here. You ever visit a place that feels like it’s smiling at you while checking your pockets? That’s Hong Tong. Officially, it’s an Asian megacity grown out of old Hong Kong. Unofficially? It’s where business, crime, corruption, and survival all got stuffed into the same overcrowded streets and told to figure it out themselves. And somehow… it works.
Sino-Cit’s Dirty Secret
See, Sino-Cit likes to present itself as disciplined, orderly, pure. Hong Tong? Not so much. According to the official line, the city’s been “contaminated” by foreign capitalism and decadent western culture. Which is funny, because Sino-Cit still happily takes all the profits pouring out of it. So Hong Tong exists in this weird space, technically part of the system, but always held at arm’s length, a necessary evil territory and when a government calls something a “necessary evil,” trust me, things are already bad.
The Streets Belong to the Triads
In Hong Tong, the line between commerce and organized crime is basically invisible. The city runs on triads, gangs, backroom deals, protection rackets, and enough illegal trade to make Mega-City One look subtle. At the bottom are the tong gangs, street-level crews recruiting kids straight off the blocks. Survive long enough, prove you’re ruthless enough, and by twenty you might get invited into the real organizations. Assuming you live that long. A lot don’t.
The Walled City
Official population? Around twenty million. Real population? Nobody knows. Because hidden beneath the neon and commerce is the Walled City, a lawless sprawl packed with unregistered residents, refugees, mutants, undocumented workers, and people the system decided didn’t matter anymore. No real laws, no real protection and a perfect recruiting ground for gangs and triads. Some crews even convinced desperate residents to carry out suicide attacks by promising their families would be cared for afterward. That tells you everything about how hopeless life gets down there.
Chop Shops and New Faces
For years, Mega-City One criminals disappeared into Hong Tong for one reason: New identities. The city has become infamous for illegal body modification clinics “chop shops” where fugitives could buy new faces, new bodies, sometimes entire new lives. If you have enough credits, Hong Tong could erase you. At least physically.
Enter Johnny Woo
Now every city like this eventually gets one legend walking the line between cop and criminal. In Hong Tong, that was Johnny Woo. Real name? Inspector Liu Chan Yeun, Organized Crime Division. Undercover operative, and Triad hitman, depending on who you ask. Woo spent years buried deep inside the gangs, carrying out missions so brutal even Mega-City One Judges respected him. At one point, he wiped out rival gangs in MC-1’s Sino-Town just so Hong Tong’s tongs could move in easier. And the scary part? Sino-Cit apparently wanted the operation to succeed.
Ghosts, Gang Wars, and Worse
And because this is Hong Tong, regular organized crime apparently wasn’t enough. Amongst the gang wars, assassins infiltrating triads and corrupt leaders using illegal rejuvenation tech to cling to power. Things then had to get supernatural. During the Hungry Ghost Festival, Paranormal Affairs started investigating murders linked to what looked like a vengeful spirit, a nu gui, the ghost of a murdered girl. Turns out? It was a weaponized psychic experiment an artificial ghost! Seems like a possible psi-war weapon being tested between Mega-City One and Sino-Cit. Because apparently future cities looked at nuclear war and decided psychic warfare sounded more fun.
Final Thought from Peps
Hong Tong’s the kind of place where neon lights hide bloodstains. Where businessmen dine upstairs while triads execute people downstairs. Where cops pretend to be killers just long enough, so they stop remembering the difference. And somehow, through all of it, the city keeps moving. Fast!
So if you ever find yourself walking the crowded streets of Hong Tong late at night? Keep your head down, mind your business and if someone offers you a brand-new identity for cheap?
Run.
