The Crows' Benny (Combined Chapter)

Although Hodge Town is called a "town," its actual area and population are roughly the same as a city in the Kane Plane, except it doesn't have city walls. Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi, assuming their orphan identities, live on Windmill Street in the North District where the sheriff is located, while the "Akea's Cauldron" shop is in the South Commercial District. It's perfectly normal that they haven't seen Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi there.

"I have some private financial disputes, but for certain reasons, I can't handle them personally," Bai Xiaowen said. "So I'd like to find some... professionals to help me resolve them."

"A professional? Which area are you referring to?" Akea's expression was somewhat intriguing, but his tone became more serious.

Bai Xiaowen added, "It means professionals who can resolve issues through means outside the law, and who, when necessary, don't mind getting their hands dirty with a little blood."

Akea frowned and flicked the gold coin of the Gorseflower Empire in his hand. "Young sir, for the sake of the gold coin, I can provide you with a clue. However, let me state beforehand that I am a law-abiding merchant."

Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. "Of course, I'll pretend I've never been to this store."

Akea nodded. "Alright. Actually, the professionals you're looking for are in Blackwater Alley —that's at the end of this street, turn left. They have a unified organization called the Crows. A decent businessman like me would never want to deal with those maggots."

Bai Xiaowen got the information he wanted, nodded his thanks, and then took out another Gold Coin from the Gorseflower Empire.

"My second question... Are there any hidden religious sites in Hodge Town?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

"Isn't the North District Cathedral a place of religion?" Akea frowned and said, "If you're talking about a hidden church, there's also a small chapel in the commercial district, but not many people go there for services because not many residents of the South District are religious."

"What I want to ask about is not the church of the Lord of Light," Bai Xiaowen said.

"I don't know about that," Akea shrugged. "Looks like I won't be earning the second gold coin, kid."

Bai Xiaowen nodded thoughtfully, then left "Akea's Cauldron".

Walking down a secluded street, Li Shuyi asked, "I roughly understand what you meant by the two questions you just asked. The second question was about inquiring about the Voodoo Cult, but we didn't get any information from that, so let's leave that aside for now. The first question should be a clue to the main quest, right?"

Bai Xiaowen nodded.

"You suspect that the mastermind behind this is this underground organization called the Crows?" Li Shuyi asked.

"It's not certain yet," Bai Xiaowen said with a smile. "However, in cases of mass disappearances in this city, the only places that can provide clues, besides the sheriff, are the underground gangs. I don't believe that these underground gangs are completely unaware of so many disappearances."

As they walked and talked, Li Shuyi speculated, "I think this Crow Organization is definitely involved in the missing persons cases. Even if they aren't the mastermind, they must at least be a peripheral organization that takes orders from the mastermind to kidnap people."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "Don't be so quick to condemn us. Let's go and see what's going on first."

They reached the end of the street and turned left, entering Blackwater Alley.

"Hey, where did these two lambs come from?" A burly man with a scar on his arm stopped the two, looked them over carefully, and said mockingly, "This isn't a place for good kids."

Li Shuyi glanced at Bai Xiaowen, and after seeing Bai Xiaowen nod slightly, she immediately took a step forward, grabbed the scarred man's arm, pulled hard, and then bent her knee to push him down!

With a dull thud that sent shivers down the spine, the burly man's eyes nearly bulged out, and his body quickly bent into a shrimp-like shape. Li Shuyi followed up with a kick to the back of his Han Empire, sending him crashing to his knees.

Before the scarred man could even curse, he felt a chill on his neck as a nobleman's longsword was placed against it.

"Who are you people!" The scarred man, though outwardly fierce, hissed in pain, and said, "If you dare kill me, you can forget about living in Hodge Town! We the Crows will never let any enemy go unpunished!"

Bai Xiaowen said calmly, "Just maggots in a latrine, do you really think you're so great? Listen, we're under the commission of Sheriff Ahan to investigate the missing persons cases in Hodge Town. The Crow Organization is our primary suspect... If you don't want to die, lead the way to your boss."

The scarred man was filled with shock and rage. "Ahan? That damned sheriff was already here, and Boss Benny explained it very clearly, the missing persons have nothing to do with us..."

"Enough with the nonsense." Li Shuyi applied slight pressure with her longsword, and blood immediately seeped out.

The scarred man had no choice but to raise his hands. "Okay, okay, don't do this... I'm willing to take you to Boss Benny, can you please move the sword aside first?"

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi exchanged a glance, and Li Shuyi sheathed her longsword. The scarred man walked ahead somewhat timidly to lead the way, while the two followed closely behind.

Walking through Blackwater Alley, the two encountered several members of the Crow Organization. Bai Xiaowen scanned a few with his Insight and found that their strength was similar to that of the scarred man; they were all Standard Template, around level five or six, and there wasn't a single Elite Tier member among them.

Bai Xiaowen assessed the strength of the Crow Organization and concluded that he and Li Shuyi could easily roam freely in Blackwater Alley.

In fact, Bai Xiaowen was quite confident that he could determine that the Crow Organization was not involved in the missing persons cases; otherwise, he would not have stated his purpose so clearly as soon as he opened his mouth.

From Sheriff Ahan's perspective, investigating missing persons cases would inevitably involve visiting every gang in the city, big and small, but ultimately yielding nothing, which is why he issued a bounty. The scarred man just mentioned that Sheriff Ahan had been here before and communicated with Benny, the leader of the Crows.

Knowing all this, Bai Xiaowen still insisted on breaking into the Crow Organization's headquarters, actually to subdue this underground organization and bring it under his control! Otherwise, as an awakened individual who was getting in the dark, how could he possibly conduct any investigation?

Deep within Blackwater Alley, in an underground casino, Bai Xiaowen met Benny, the leader of the Crow Organization.

Benny was a tall, thin man with sinister eyes and a gaunt face, hidden beneath a black cloak, inexplicably resembling a vulture hunting for food.

Bai Xiaowen immediately cast Insight, indicating that 25 Psionic Points would be deducted.

[Benny (Elite Tier Level 8)]

[Race: Human Species / Human Race]

[Occupation: Night Exile]

[Attributes: Strength 35, Agility 49, Constitution 32, Spirit 20]

[Skill 1: Night's Sanctuary: Activates stealth, making you difficult for enemies to detect. Passive effect: Stealth priority +1 at night.]

[Skill 2: Combo: Successfully hitting the enemy multiple times in a row will deal additional physical damage. The more Combo, the higher the additional damage.]

[Skill 3: First Strike: The first attack without being detected by the enemy will temporarily paralyze them.]

[Skill 4: Thief Boss: Passive, Life Value.]

After seeing the shared information, Li Shuyi quietly said in the Team Channel, "Wow, it's level eight!"

Given that Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi are level 5 Awakeners, it's somewhat surprising that they were matched with level 8 characters from the Spirit Realm. Normally, the level of the characters matched with from the Spirit Realm would be one or two levels higher than the Awakeners.

However, there are exceptions. If you have a "location" item and are matched to a specific Spirit Realm Plane, the Spirit Realm character's level may be "abnormal"—for example, three levels higher or lower than an awakened being.

Of course, the Spirit Realm Rules will also provide a corresponding balance. Where is the balance point? It lies in the point of entry for the awakened one.

For example, the Aaron Plane World where Bai Xiaowen underwent his Class Change trial was a plane with a generally high level, and Bai Xiaowen had not yet Class Change at that time. Therefore, according to the Spirit Realm Rules, Bai Xiaowen's starting point was the Northern Frontier, which was sparsely populated and desolate. The Spirit Realm figures that Bai Xiaowen had to deal with were all below level 3. Of course, he foolishly attracted the level 7 Boss Tier Goliya, so he was no longer subject to the preferential treatment of the Spirit Realm Rules.

The level 8 Elite Tier in front of me, Benny, the leader of the Crow Organization, is roughly equivalent to a level 5 or 6 Boss Tier. He is at a disadvantage in terms of priority and skills, but because he has crossed the level 7 threshold, all his attributes are relatively high, and he also has a 150-point Life Value.

But this poses no threat to Bai Xiaowen.

After listening to the scarred man's tearful and aggrieved account, Benny nodded slightly, his sinister eyes turning to Bai Xiaowen.

"Are you really sent by the sheriff? I don't believe it."

Bai Xiaowen said calmly, "Whether it's true or false isn't important. The important thing is, do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

Bai Xiaowen's direct threat angered several Elite Tier members of the Crow Organization.

"You arrogant little brat, go back to your milk!"

A bald, burly man Pounce forward, his fists, covered in black iron gauntlets, swung with powerful force as he struck Bai Xiaowen.

Li Shuyi drew her twin swords, crossed them in a cross shape, first blocking the punch, then swiftly slashed back, unleashing three sharp blows in Double Slash, each sword precisely striking the bald, burly man's throat.

Blood gushed forth, and the bald, burly man, in disbelief, clutched his throat and trachea, making a gurgling sound. His body slowly collapsed, finally lying dead on the spot!

This bald, burly man was a Mid Elite with a strength-based attack. However, Li Shuyi's strength stat was already as high as 27 points, making it more than enough for her to Block his attack without losing her balance. And the speed of her counterattack after Li Shuyi the attack was something the bald, burly man could never match. Three sword strikes, one of which triggered Critical Hit, instantly killing her.

Seeing the bald, muscular man fall to the ground and die, the other members of the Crow Organization were even more shocked and angry, but a clear sense of fear appeared in their eyes.

Benny's eyes were icy, and his hands, hidden beneath his black cloak, silently reached for a dagger.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaowen coughed, and a flash of white light appeared. The bloated and tall Voodoo Stitched Monster Fatty appeared in front of him, accompanied by four Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier henchmen.

Fatty's ferocious and menacing face chilled many to the bone, and someone cried out in alarm, "This is Voodoo Cult..."

Benny's stern gaze fell upon the man, who immediately fell silent. Bai Xiaowen understood, and said with narrowed eyes, "It seems you are unwilling to cooperate."

Swish!

Fatty made a move, hooking the iron chain and tightly binding the man who had just spoken, dragging him over.

An ordinary person might not be able to find the person who exclaimed from among so many members of the Crow Organization, but Bai Xiaowen's Insight and memory were extremely strong. He instantly found the other person's location and ordered Fatty to take action through mental link.

Bai Xiaowen's nonchalant behavior further enraged Benny, who roared, "All of you, get him..."

However, just as all the Crow Organization members were about to draw their knives and attack Bai Xiaowen, a chilling Overawing Presence emanated from Bai Xiaowen! Apart from a few Elite Tier members, most of the Crow Organization members were stunned on the spot and collapsed to the ground.

The Crow Organization Elite Tier who were still able to stand, as well as their leader Benny, were not knocked unconscious, but were gripped by Fear Status.

Bai Xiaowen grabbed the unfortunate guy who had been hooked over by the fat guy by the Fatty: "Hey, now it's your turn to answer the question..."

After being woken up, the man looked terrified and said, "I... I don't know anything."

"Tell me about the Voodoo Cult you just mentioned," Bai Xiaowen said with a smile. "What do you think my servant has to do with the Voodoo Cult, hmm? Don't play dumb with me anymore, or I'll kill you."

The man said with a mournful face, "I heard from Boss Benny that the Voodoo Cult has a kind of modified giant corpse with extremely strong fighting power, capable of taking on ten enemies at once... This monster looks a lot like it, so I..." He was filled with regret, realizing he shouldn't have spoken so hastily.

While Bai Xiaowen was interrogating the unfortunate man, Benny and his men finally Clarity out of their state of fear and dizziness. Seeing the unfathomable Bai Xiaowen, they couldn't help but feel apprehensive, and dared not approach him again.

Bai Xiaowen asked a couple more questions, and after confirming that the unfortunate fellow he had captured no more valuable information, he tossed him aside, dusted off his hands (which were not actually dust), and said to Benny:

"It seems Mr. Benny has realized the difference between you and me, and understands that I can end your life at any time."

Benny's expression changed several times, and finally he said in a hoarse voice, "Yes."

"I'm glad we've reached an agreement. Now I'll state my conditions," Bai Xiaowen said. "If you cooperate, you can survive and even receive a considerable sum of money. If you don't cooperate... you should know the consequences."

"... What are your requirements, Your Excellency? We will do our best to fulfill them."

Benny didn't believe Bai Xiaowen's talk of money at all; his only thought was to save his life.