Crow!

"Out this late at night, dressed head to toe in black, walking down the middle of the road instead of the perfectly good sidewalk, and standing on a dark, deserted path like this? Bet he's trying to scam us." Zhou Hong grumbled.

Hibiki Gousuke's little car was so small that his head nearly touched the roof. All he could see was a figure dressed in black.

Sweat covered Hibiki Gousuke's forehead. "Damn it, what do you mean, scam us? We were going so fast, and he flew so far. How could anyone think this was a scam?"

Before he could finish, he threw open the car door and ran toward the victim.

Bright red blood bubbled as it splattered from the front of the car, stretching all the way to the still-twitching body.

"Hey, there's no way you can look at this and say he's fine!" Hibiki Gousuke anxiously muttered to himself.

His well-trained body carried him to the unlucky victim in just a few strides.

Blood had spattered across the car's headlights, turning their pure white beams a faint red. As the light fell on the victim, Hibiki Gousuke noticed something strange.

The back of the figure's head, which was sprawled on the ground, was clearly pitch-black—but unlike a human's.

It wasn't hair. It was something else, with a kind of hard, keratinous texture.

"Hey, Hong, something's not right." Hibiki Gousuke began to panic.

They'd just come from that area full of monsters, and now this humanoid figure looked just like one of them.

Zhou Hong got out of the car and saw the figure sprawled on the ground, too.

He hadn't expected Crow Men to appear on Earth so soon. Unlike other aliens, who might simply have a desire to conquer, the Crow Men were a race of man-eaters.

His brow furrowed. He quickly stepped forward and gently patted Hibiki Gousuke on the shoulder, reassuring him. "It's not a monster. Looks like you might be earning another merit, Captain. This guy's an alien."

"And not a peaceful one. He seems to be one of those vicious aliens who invade and wreak havoc." Zhou Hong kicked out hard without mercy, sending the still-twitching Crow Man flying. Its body slammed into the wall, then slowly slid to the ground.

Before the thud of the impact, the sharp clang of metal drew their attention.

It was a metal gun.

"With a face like that, he's an alien with crow genes."

The Crow Man's orange-yellow eyes had gone dark, leaving them a dull gray.

"Damn it, you scared the hell out of me." Hibiki Gousuke cursed under his breath and immediately pulled out his communicator. "Hello, is this GUTS Command Room?"

The familiar sound of Hibiki Gousuke's voice seemed to wake Munakata, who had been answering calls with a tired air.

"This is the Command Room. What's happened this time, Hibiki?" Munakata hit the nail on the head. "You've certainly had a lot happen to you today."

"Yes. On our way back to base, we hit an alien with the car. He was carrying a firearm." Hibiki Gousuke reported the details one by one. "Our initial assessment is that he's an invading alien."

Munakata's eyes widened like saucers. He immediately pressed the emergency button, and red lights began flashing wildly.

"Wait where you are. We're on our way to help!"

After ending the call, Hibiki Gousuke saw Zhou Hong examining the Crow Man's gun. He walked over. "Hong, find anything?"

Zhou Hong didn't answer. He simply held up the Crow Man's gun for Hibiki Gousuke to see.

The gun was made mostly of metal, but one section was made of some unknown transparent material.

Through that section, they could see several tiny people staring out in terror.

Hibiki Gousuke's jaw dropped. There was no way those lifelike little people were dolls.

The veins on his forehead bulged, and his fists clenched tight. "Damn it, what are these bastards planning to do?"

"Are they going to treat us humans like cargo or slaves?"

"You know, crows are omnivores, and they like to live in flocks."

That was certainly how crows behaved in Japan: when one appeared, a whole flock usually followed.

Hibiki Gousuke's fists were clenched tight. His eyes seemed to burn. If a Crow Man appeared in front of him right now, he'd probably swing at it without a second thought.

Several caws suddenly rang out in the surrounding darkness, sounding especially eerie in the cool summer breeze.

As if he'd remembered something, Hibiki Gousuke hurried back to his half-destroyed car and turned off the engine.

With the headlights gone, the surroundings plunged into deep darkness.

"I heard you run into trouble every time you take a break, so I brought two guns."

Hibiki Gousuke tossed Zhou Hong a Hyper Gun, then leaned his back against the wall of the underpass and kept his weapon raised, staying alert.

Normally, Rookie Squad wasn't allowed to carry GUTS Hyper Guns, but they kept running into monsters and the like.

For safety, the leaders on both sides had agreed that every member of Hibiki Gousuke's squad would carry a Hyper Gun.

Zhou Hong didn't think they'd run into a second Crow Man so close by, but he leaned against the wall too, staying alert for any that might appear.

In human form, dealing with those shrinking beams was still a real pain.

They didn't get a Crow Man. Instead, two fighter jets slowly descended.

After hearing Hibiki Gousuke's report, Munakata, who had been keeping a stern expression, furrowed his brow. "This is bad."

GUTS had so few people. Trying to stop every Crow Man from invading was simply beyond their capabilities.

"Let's ask Obiko and the others for help. Ordinary people will have a hard time dealing with these aliens," Megumi Iruma said gravely.

Without special equipment to counter those shrinking beams, sending in more people would only mean more casualties.

"Give me a little time. I'll whip up something to counter this weapon," Horii said, promising to develop some new piece of high-tech gear to take down the Crow Men.

Ever since their encounter in Shishinohana Forest, Horii had been keeping all kinds of equipment aboard Guts Wing 2. He immediately got to work.

The night grew darker. As the breeze rustled the leaves with a soft whisper, pairs of eerie green eyes filled the forest beside the tunnel.

Obiko rubbed his head helplessly. "These kids want to help you, too. I couldn't talk them out of it."

Munakata's expression softened. He lowered his head slightly and said gravely, "We're counting on you."

Unlike ordinary people, who had to rely on all kinds of technology to search for the Crow Men, the monsters could track them just by sniffing out their scent and running after it.

A pure white White Fox led several members of GUTS toward the place where the scent was strongest.