Crow Task Force

After wandering aimlessly through the Jamaica Community for a few laps, Lin An had Darnell stop at a public bench not occupied by any homeless people; he needed to think about how to make some money.

"Bro, I'm hungry."

As soon as Darnell parked his bicycle, he held out his hand toward Lin An.

"Get me some food, and a drink while you're at it."

Lost in thought, Lin An reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a Chinese-style baguette the size of an arm and a bottle of watermelon juice, handing them to Darnell.

The latter was fine when he received the bread, but once the watermelon juice appeared, he sat on the bench and fell into deep contemplation.

"Bro, are you discriminating against me?"

Darnell held the bread up and waved it in front of Lin An, like a lawyer presenting evidence in court.

"You gave me watermelon juice, so why didn't you give me fried chicken, but a baguette instead?

Do you know what the relationship is between a Black man and a baguette? There is no relationship! We only have a relationship with fried chicken and watermelon!"

"So?"

"Where's the fried chicken?"

He tucked the bread under his armpit, freed his left hand, spread both hands with palms facing up and fingers splayed, his expression as exaggerated as if he were performing a one-man Broadway show.

"Where is my fried chicken?"

"Get lost!"

Lin An waved his hand, rejecting Darnell's unreasonable fuss.

"Let's talk business. How are we supposed to make money now?"

"Don't ask me."

Darnell tore open the bread packaging and began to wolf it down.

"If I knew how to make money, I wouldn't have to resort to looting."

Fair point.

Lin An turned his gaze to the live chat. The viewers were also brainstorming; after filtering out the content that was clearly just trolling, there were quite a few suggestions worth considering.

[How about gambling? Poker, mahjong, that kind of stuff. We can help you see your opponents' cards in advance, so you can completely control your win rate.]

That sounded feasible, though it was a bit too risky for Lin An at the moment, so he kept it as a tentative option.

New York didn't have legal casinos. If you wanted to engage in card or board game gambling, you had to go to underground dens run by gangs, and the safety of such places was... well, you can imagine. If you actually won a big pot, there was a high probability you wouldn't be walking out.

Don't talk about credibility; that stuff was a joke to New York gangs. They were the type to live for today, not knowing when they might end up dead on the street, so what was the point of talking about credibility?

[Buy stocks.]

[Impractical.]

[Just sell stuff. There's a pile of items in the streamer's reward list. Take them out, and whether you sell retail or wholesale, you can make a huge amount of dollars.]

This was a viable path, though it was a bit troublesome for the time being. Selling goods in New York, USA, wasn't as easy as ordinary people imagined. All kinds of monsters and demons were like the obstacles on the journey to the West; without a Sun Wukong to protect you, it was easy to be swallowed whole, skin and bones included.

Even if you did a little business, you couldn't avoid paying protection money to local gangs and nearby thugs.

[Streamer, sell medicine. I've tipped a lot of medicine, including many antibiotics. I remember antibiotics are very expensive in the US; this is a great business opportunity.]

[That won't work. This isn't something the streamer can touch right now.]

[What do you mean?]

[First of all, selling prescription drugs is a felony in the US. Whether it's the police, the FBI, or other US law enforcement agencies—the DEA, the Department of Homeland Security—they can all arrest you.]

[A fun fact: the US has over thirty departments with armed enforcement powers, and all of them can arrest a streamer who sells antibiotics.]

[Exactly. If you sell fake medicine and get reported, the local police might be too lazy to care, but if it's the real stuff, you're in big trouble.]

[Besides the authorities, selling antibiotics will offend doctors, American pharmaceutical groups, and the local gangs. All three rely on selling medicine for profit. So, if you sell medicine on the street, within three days, gunmen wearing bulletproof vests and carrying military-grade automatic weapons will come knocking.]

[So the path of selling antibiotics isn't that it's impossible, but that it won't take you far. You might make a few bucks at most, and then disaster will strike.]

Lin An memorized the content of the chat.

Selling medicine was temporarily unfeasible.

What about another path?

"Darnell, if I hire homeless people to work, like setting up a stall to sell things, will anyone give me trouble?"

"That's not a good idea. Stalls have to pay protection money to the Rainstorm Gang, and it's the same in other communities."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Lin An shook his head.

"It seems it's not that I don't want to make money the honest way, but the environment doesn't allow me to be a good person."

"Bro, you're saying things I don't understand again."

"Alright, Darnell, I have an idea that requires those homeless people... hmm, wait, it seems I can use the homeless to make a fortune and get rich overnight!"

"Ah, how do we do it?"

Darnell perked up.

"Not yet. We need some money and to hire the right people before we can really get started... For now, let's do something else."

"Ah, damn it, damn it all!"

Lin An looked toward the sound. Darnell had already stood up on the other side of the public bench, waving his fists and shouting at the Ginkgo Tree nearby.

"Hey, you little thief, you damn thief... No, you black bandit, do you know whose stuff you just snatched?"

Lin An followed Darnell's gaze and realized that over a dozen crows were perched on the Ginkgo Tree a few meters away. They sat on the branches, a dense, dark mass like black fruit growing from the tree, completely silent.

The one perched on the highest, thickest branch was the largest.

It was nearly a size bigger than the crows below. When its wings were folded, the feathers on its shoulders puffed up, looking like it was wearing a black cloak.

Its beak was thick and curved, with a bit of gray-white keratin peeling off the tip like a hook that had seen too much use. It didn't huddle up like the other crows; instead, it stood tall, claws gripping the branch, its body leaning slightly forward like a person standing on high ground looking down.

[Holy crap, these crows are huge.]

[They're American Crows, which are actually on the smaller side for corvids. Even though they're bigger than pigeons, their wingspan is nearly a meter.]

[I kind of like them. How's their intelligence?]

[Very smart. Remember the 'Crow Drinks Water' story from school? American Crows can learn to use tools, remember a person's face and voice, and they're notoriously vengeful and stick together.]

[For example, American Crows are like the mafia of the bird world. They're big on family ties. Not only do they have clear divisions of labor, but the prime-aged crows take care of the young and the old in the family. They really respect the elderly and cherish the young.]

[Also, if you mess with one crow, you've messed with the whole family. They'll take revenge on you, sometimes for up to five years.]

[Damn, no wonder after I hit a crow with a rock, I had bird poop landing on my head for a month. I thought I just had bad luck, but it turns out I was targeted by the mafia.]

Lin An watched the comments, the corners of his mouth curling up. When he looked back up at the Ginkgo Tree, he happened to see the largest crow using its claws to tear apart the bread in its beak, then hopping to other branches to distribute the food to the other crows.

The other crows didn't scramble for the bread; they stood in line on the branches, orderly receiving the bread their leader distributed.

Lin An noticed that the leader crow prioritized the old crows with dull feathers and slow movements, followed by the young ones with incomplete plumage, while the prime-aged crows waited until the end.

There were about a dozen crows gathered on the Ginkgo Tree, and the piece of bread the leader had snatched from Darnell clearly wasn't enough to go around.

By the time it reached the sixth crow, the bread in its beak was gone, yet the leader hadn't eaten a single bite itself.

Observing all this, Lin An suddenly found himself quite fond of this American Crow leader.

"Darnell."

"Bro, what's up?"

"Go stand further away."

Lin An reached into his jacket and pulled out a bag of small bread rolls.

"I want to ask the crows something, and you'll scare them off."

"What!!!"

Darnell's face was full of shock.

"Bro, you're actually going to chase away your best friend for these 'ni-ge' birds? You're just..."

"Stop nagging!"

Lin An waved his hand.

"I'll take you out for a big meal later!"

"Really? Not KFC?"

"Of course not!"

"Excellent, bro. I know you're such a kind-hearted person. If you're even willing to talk to a bunch of 'ni-ge' birds, you definitely won't let your best bro down."

Darnell grumbled as he pushed his bicycle further away. Once he stopped ten meters off, Lin An took out a small bread roll and tossed it onto the open ground under the Ginkgo Tree.

The crows in the tree looked at the bread, then at Lin An, but didn't move.

Lin An tossed another piece next to the first, then a third, a fourth, until he reached a fifth piece near the bench.

The largest crow stood on the highest branch, head bowed, watching for about ten seconds before it flew down from the tree and landed beside the bread.

It didn't rush to eat. Instead, it tilted its head and glanced at Lin An.

Lin An stayed still. The crow picked up the small bread roll, used its claws to help tear off a small piece, swallowed it, and then picked up the rest of the bread, flew back to the branch, and continued tearing it apart to feed an old crow.

The comments section was filled with sighs of admiration.

[Such smart creatures.]

[Seriously, they really respect the elderly and cherish the young. I wish my neighbor could see this.]

It flew back and forth, transporting the bread from the ground to the tree.

Darnell's piece of bread had only been a small scrap, not enough to share, and Lin An's five rolls weren't enough either. They ran out by the fourth piece, and the leader hadn't eaten anything but that first bite.

After finishing, it crouched back on the highest branch, looking down at Lin An.

Lin An pulled another five rolls from the bag, this time tossing them to the other end of the bench.

The American Crow leader flew down again. It wasn't afraid of Lin An at all, landing directly on the seat to snatch up a piece and swallow it, then carrying the rest up to the Ginkgo Tree to feed the other crows. This time, it ate two pieces itself.

When it crouched back on the branch for the third time, it didn't wait for Lin An to throw any bread. It tilted its head, looked at the bag in Lin An's hand, and let out a short, hoarse caw.

Lin An poured out all the remaining small pieces of bread—about fifteen in total—and piled them on the seat.

The crow flew down. It didn't rush to grab the bread; instead, it stood beside the pile, looked up at Lin An, and then lowered its head to pick them up one by one, transporting them up to the tree.

It distributed the bread among the old crows, the young ones, and the adults. This time, it ate two pieces itself.

After finishing the distribution, it didn't fly back to the highest branch. Instead, it hopped to the lowest one, crouched there, and tilted its head to watch Lin An.

Darnell shouted from a distance.

"It's watching you."

"I know."

Lin An said. He looked into the eyes of the crow leader and suddenly, with a flash of intuition, raised his right arm across his chest.

Without hesitation, the crow leaped from the branch, wings spread wide—a wingspan of nearly a meter—its black feathers flashing in the sunlight.

It landed on Lin An's forearm, its talons digging into the sleeve of his coat. Its body swayed slightly before it steadied itself.

Lin An didn't move. The crow crouched on his arm, tilting its head to look at him. Its black, bean-like eyes were so close that he could see his own face reflected in its pupils.

It let out a short, hoarse caw.

Lin An raised his left hand and gently placed his fingers on the top of the crow's head.

The feathers were dense and smooth; he could feel the shape of the skull beneath them as his fingertips touched it.

The crow didn't dodge. It tucked its neck in and closed its eyes.

[Good bird.]

[So well-behaved.]

[I want to raise one too.]

The comments drifted densely before Lin An's eyes, and just at that moment, an anomaly occurred... the comment [I want to raise one too] happened to drift right over the head of the crow leader, and then...

It got stuck there, motionless.

At first, neither Lin An nor the viewers realized what was happening, until the stuck comment refreshed right above the crow leader's head.

[Hey, what's going on? Why can't I move my perspective... wait, no, why is my perspective stuck on top of the crow's head?]

[Hahaha, you've been kidnapped by a crow.]

[What's happening? Can comments even get stuck?]

[Can you see anything?]

[Wait, I think I can switch over to it too.]

[Damn, maintaining this split-screen costs ten points an hour, a bit pricey... wait, I see an arrow button, let me try clicking it...]

The crow leader suddenly jumped up, flapping its wings to fly back to the Ginkgo Tree. Then, it tilted its head and looked around in confusion, especially at the top of its head. It stared for a long time, looking completely baffled.

[Oh my, this is fun. Let me try. It seems I'm the proxy streamer for the split-screen now; I can command this crow.]

The crow leader suddenly flapped its wings and flew down again. This time, it landed on Lin An's shoulder and gave his ear a gentle peck.

It didn't hurt; it actually felt a bit ticklish.

[Streamer, streamer, give it some food quickly!]

Seeing the comments, Lin An reached into the inside of his coat again. Using the fabric as cover, he took out a bag of bread slices from his reward list, and this time, he poured the entire bag onto the open ground.

The crow leader didn't rush to eat. Instead, it turned back and let out a caw, and over a dozen American Crows from the Ginkgo Tree swarmed down, surrounding the pile of bread and eating together.

[I've figured it out. Opening a split-screen is simple; it happens as long as a comment gets stuck on the crow's head. It costs ten points an hour. Others can switch to the view, but they can't control the camera.]

[And if I want to command the split-screen—that is, control the crow's actions and where it flies—it depends on whether it's willing to cooperate. Just now, I saw a line of small text floating out of the crow's head: it demands that the streamer feed its flock before it's willing to keep cooperating with me.]

[Holy crap, that's awesome.]

[The streamer is going to become a Druid.]

[A flock of little spies is about to arrive.]