The Man in the Baseball Cap and the Crow

In the corner of that alley, a tall, thin man wearing a baseball cap stood silently, his gaze fixed on the guild entrance.

Perched on his shoulder, a black crow was likewise watching the guild entrance, staring at Song Xiaomei and the others.

This black crow differed from ordinary crows. Its body was stiff, its eyes ash-gray and steeped in lifelessness, utterly lacking the liveliness of a normal creature.

Being watched by such a strange pair was clearly not right.

Song Xiaomei and Qin Yue did not seem like girls who would easily offend others. Normally, they would not make enemies.

Instead, Blackie, who had just joined them, was somewhat suspicious.

First, she had offered a high price to buy porcupine corpses yesterday, and today, they had run into her by such a coincidence.

More importantly, her joining Dawn Team had gone too smoothly—far too smoothly.

It was hard not to suspect that Blackie had some ulterior motive, perhaps even a connection to the man in the baseball cap.

What should he do?

Li Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly, considering whether to stop this mission. But after thinking it over, he decided to continue.

First, he did not want to alert the enemy. Second, the farmland district was close to Blackstone City, and other hunting teams were there as well.

Third, Li Xuan was confident he could handle any danger, because that crow was a Black Iron-tier summoned beast. It was not particularly strong.

So Li Xuan lightly jumped onto Qin Yue's shoulder and used God's-Eye View to monitor the man in the baseball cap.

"I hereby announce that Dawn Team is setting out!"

Song Xiaomei's voice suddenly rang out. Li Xuan turned his head and saw Song Xiaomei raising her fair little hand as she proudly issued the order.

She really did look a little like a team captain. Her little face was just too youthful, lacking a bit of presence and gaining a few more touches of cuteness.

"The three of us can ride Big Black Bear. His back is wide enough for all three of us, and we'll get to the mission site faster," Song Xiaomei suggested.

"Okay, okay!" Qin Yue nodded happily, even looking forward to it.

"Feng Zuo, Feng You, you two ride the Gale Wolves."

"Okay."

A moment later, the team set off, quickly heading toward the city gates.

Hm?

Li Xuan suddenly glanced up at the sky. That black crow was flying overhead, silently following them.

Even after Li Xuan and the others left the city, the crow continued following them, with no intention of giving up.

"Kitty, what's wrong?"

Qin Yue noticed Li Xuan's alertness and blinked her big eyes as she asked curiously.

Meow~

Li Xuan gave a soft cry without saying anything, instead looking toward Blackie beside them.

There was nothing unusual about Blackie's expression. She was still the same as before, seemingly unrelated to the man in the baseball cap.

Still, they had to stay cautious. You could know a person's face but not their heart; no one knew what the other party might be hiding.

Under such observation, the group slowly arrived at the mission site—the farmland district.

"So many people! Are all these people here to hunt Fathead Rats?"

Standing at the edge of the fields, Qin Yue watched a group of boys and girls shouting as they chased and killed plump, oversized rats, then asked in surprise.

"That's right. Fathead Rats are the best prey for beginners. Whenever a mission like this appears, it attracts a lot of people.

"You're quite lucky. This mission wasn't available yesterday, but it appeared today."

Blackie smiled as she explained, seeming to have done quite a few Fathead Rat hunting missions.

"Fathead Rats are pretty cute. They look a little like groundhogs," Song Xiaomei said curiously.

"Yes, they're mutated groundhogs. They're incredibly harmful. They love digging holes in farmland and stealing grain, and they breed especially fast. They're absolutely hateful.

"This farmland is one of Blackstone City's four major farmlands and an important source of food for the city. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong here..."

Blackie continued explaining, sharing a great deal of information about the harm caused by Fathead Rats.

"I see. Then we need to properly clear out these Fathead Rats. They're too hateful." Song Xiaomei was eager to get started as she drew the short blade from her waist.

Qin Yue beside her also drew her short blade, skillfully twirling it in her hand as if she had learned such techniques before.

"Today, we have to exceed the mission requirements. Let's go!"

After saying that, Song Xiaomei called to Big Black Bear and charged toward a nearby rat hole.

Once they reached the area around the rat hole, she immediately ordered Big Black Bear to strike the ground around it.

Thud! Thud!

Dull sounds rang out, and the rat hole trembled slightly. Soon, more than a dozen Fathead Rats burst out of it and fled in all directions in terror.

"Kill them!"

With Song Xiaomei's shout, the battle began, and everyone plunged into the chase.

These Fathead Rats were extremely clumsy and timid creatures.

As long as someone struck the ground around their burrows, they would flee out in fright and scatter in every direction.

Awooo!

The two Gale Wolves howled as they gave chase. With their speed, they quickly caught up to the Fathead Rats and began biting them.

Yet, unexpectedly, Fathead Rats had extremely strong defenses. It took quite a bit of effort to bite one to death.

Fortunately, the Fathead Rats did not dare attack. They only knew how to run, posing little threat, so everyone hunted them without restraint.

But after killing Fathead Rats for half an hour, everyone was panting from exhaustion. Song Xiaomei, in particular, slumped to the ground without a shred of dignity, completely worn out.

"These Fathead Rats are way too tough, aren't they? You can slash them seven or eight times and they're still fine. And they keep running all over the place—it's infuriating!" Song Xiaomei said angrily.

"It really is infuriating. We chased them for ages and only killed nine." Qin Yue gritted her teeth in frustration. Her little face was filthy, and she had clearly suffered a setback.

"Don't lose heart, everyone. We're already killing Fathead Rats very quickly. Look at them—those people haven't even managed half as many as we have."

Blackie covered her mouth and smiled, pointing toward the boys and girls in the distance.

"Really!"

Song Xiaomei's eyes lit up when she saw the scene in the distance, and she instantly found her motivation again.

"We have Black Iron summoned beasts, two incredibly fast Gale Wolves, and my eagle. They're all experts at killing Fathead Rats.

"That's why we're hunting the fastest. As long as we keep at it, we'll definitely kill the most Fathead Rats." Blackie continued encouraging them.

"Mhm, that's true." Song Xiaomei nodded, feeling that it really was the case.

"Captain, why isn't the Wind-Wing Cat helping? It's very fast, and it's a natural enemy of rats. If it joined in, we could hunt even faster."

Feng Zuo, one of the twins, stepped forward and asked doubtfully.

"Th-"

Song Xiaomei froze for a moment upon hearing that, then hurriedly said again.

"The Wind-Wing Cat is still in its juvenile stage. Its body is rather frail, and it needs to save enough strength for healing, so it can't fight."

"I see. Then all right." Feng Zuo said nothing further, only glancing at the quietly standing Wind-Wing Cat.

"All right, let's continue." Seeing that the atmosphere had become somewhat awkward, Blackie immediately suggested that they continue hunting Fathead Rats.

"Okay."

Song Xiaomei hurriedly nodded, gripping her short blade as she charged out full of energy.

Roar!

Big Black Bear roared and swung both bear paws down at the Fathead Rats.

Big Black Bear was rather large, slow, and clumsy-looking, but his tremendous strength allowed him to swat a Fathead Rat to death in one or two blows.

On top of that, he had to keep striking the ground to frighten the Fathead Rats out.

It could be said that Big Black Bear had the hardest job. He was so tired that his tongue was hanging out.

The hardworking Big Black Bear formed a stark contrast with the quietly standing Wind-Wing Cat. Even some hunting teams in the distance pointed at the Wind-Wing Cat and whispered among themselves.

As for that—

Li Xuan paid it no attention at all, because he was using God's-Eye View to keep the black crow locked in his sight.

Just moments ago, the crow had suddenly split into two crows. One of them had flown away, and he had no idea what it had gone to do.

But Li Xuan felt that nothing good would come of it, so he stepped in front of Qin Yue and pointed at her pocket.