Owl Judge and Rain Crow

The morning light was thin, and a drizzle had started up again outside the classroom. Summer vacation was only a few days away, and the students' minds had begun to wander.

But they still had final exams to deal with, so the classroom was steeped in lifeless gloom, like a group of prisoners about to be released, miserably working sewing machines.

Nothing felt more pleasant than a dim classroom on a rainy day.

Ke Mingqing was staring absentmindedly at the curtain of rain outside when he suddenly received a message from the player list. A red dot appeared in the upper-right corner of his vision.

He turned and glanced at the girl with the tear mole, then opened the chat panel.

[Hitomi Kuroki: I made plans to meet the other three Dawn Capital players at my house at five this afternoon. Are you coming?]

[Ke Mingqing: I won't be going. Tell me what they're like afterward so I can get a sense of them.]

[Hitomi Kuroki: If they find out there's another Dawn Capital player like you, how am I supposed to explain that?]

[Ke Mingqing: They won't find out. If we run into them later, just tell the other players that I'm your Super-species boyfriend, and that you have a "main quest" related to me. If I die, you won't be able to complete the main quest. That should keep them from rushing to kill me.]

This was Ke Mingqing's judgment based on his own experience.

After all, his own main quest revolved around a series of interpersonal relationships. Having Hitomi Kuroki use that excuse would make it more believable.

[Hitomi Kuroki: Got it.]

The day passed quickly, and the clock on the classroom wall pointed to four in the afternoon.

The dismissal bell rang.

The screech of desk legs scraping against the floor rose one after another. The students grabbed their backpacks from their desks and left, while the hallway became crowded and noisy.

Ke Mingqing called Hitomi Kuroki over and left the classroom with her. The boy and girl walked down the road leading away from school, bathed in the glow of dusk beneath a blood-red sky.

Since they were publicly pretending to be a couple, they could not act too distant. The passing students watched them and whispered among themselves.

"Should we hold hands?" Hitomi Kuroki suddenly asked.

Ke Mingqing fiddled with his phone without looking up. "No need, right? Not every couple has to hold hands. We're just putting on an act."

Hitomi Kuroki nodded quietly.

Once they stepped over the school gate's threshold, Ke Mingqing boarded the school bus while Hitomi Kuroki got into a black Maybach.

That was how they parted ways.

After returning home, Ke Mingqing took an ice-cold bottle of Coke from the fridge, held the rim of the bottle in his mouth, and sat down on the sofa. A while later, Ke Mingwei walked in with a cigarette between his lips, his expression grave.

He had not shaved that day. Dense stubble covered his jaw, and his eyes looked tired.

Ke Mingqing glanced at his expression and thought, Dad probably already knows about the "players." Tonight, I need to watch out for a crow peeping through the window.

Ke Mingwei sat in a leather chair and closed his eyes for a brief rest. As the setting sun slanted westward, a beam of blood-red afterglow shone through the floor-to-ceiling window onto his face, making his exhaustion plain.

A moment later, Ke Mingwei's phone suddenly rang.

"I'm going downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes," he said as he headed for the door.

"Want me to buy them for you?" Ke Mingqing teased. "Look how busy you are, old man. Why don't you get some more rest?"

"I'm afraid you'll buy the wrong kind."

Leaving that behind, Ke Mingwei put on his black leather shoes.

Whatever. I've got nothing better to do, so I might as well make my presence known to Crow Man. Maybe I can even pick up some scraps and finish off the criminals he catches. With that thought, Ke Mingqing pressed the button on the Tracking Sunglasses and locked onto Ke Mingwei's location before he could get far.

He then got up and went upstairs to his bedroom.

Next, he released the Theater Puppet onto the rooftop of the neighboring building. White Jack made another grand entrance.

As he watched Ke Mingwei's location on the map, he also kept an eye on the latest revelations on the Voyeur Association website, trying to predict where Ke Mingwei was headed.

Then White Jack threw that snow-white top hat into the wind.

The top hat spun and danced through the air like a white bird, soon vanishing beyond the clouds.

The top hat continued flying, drifting and swirling through the steel jungle of downtown Lijing City, illuminated by neon lights and the glow of billboards. Passersby who saw it raised their phones and filmed it with astonished expressions.

White Jack, meanwhile, remained where he was, sitting quietly atop the railing of a residential building in the complex. An evening breeze blew beneath the blood-red sky, and he rubbed his bald head.

This was a hidden effect added after the Theater Puppet skill was upgraded: the Theater Puppet could throw out the top hat and then teleport its body directly beneath it at any time.

Moreover, while the top hat was in flight, White Jack could see its surroundings. It was essentially a miniature reconnaissance drone, making it extremely practical.

In less than three minutes, the top hat arrived at the crime scene.

It was inside an office on the twenty-fifth floor of Syndico Tower. The Voyeur Association website claimed that a Super-species riot had occurred here.

But because the scene was too dangerous, no voyeur dared venture to the upper floors of the building.

Company employees had leaked the news immediately. Apparently, a Super-species had suffered discrimination and exclusion from coworkers in the workplace, eventually building up resentment and launching a brutal retaliation against them.

This Super-species' ability was to enlarge his body several times over. At that moment, he had transformed into a cyan giant, with purple veins pulsing all over his body, as terrifying as a yaksha from Japanese mythology.

At that moment, a B-rank hero from Hero Corporation had already been deployed.

The one sent to suppress the scene was a recently prominent rookie hero with explosive popularity: Bell Wing. A pair of enormous white bird wings grew from his back, with bells tied along their edges. However, he was also plagued by all kinds of negative rumors, such as suspicions of abusing women.

Bell Wing shot through the office at high speed. As his massive wings beat, the bells shook frantically, creating a violent wave of sound that pinned the giant to the ground.

Glass shattered in every direction. Amid the crashing sounds, printed paper fluttered through the air like a swirling snowfall.

"Animal, are you still refusing to give up?" Bell Wing crossed his arms and floated overhead, looking down at the giant crawling on the ground.

The cyan giant covered his ears, which were nearly tearing apart, with both arms and roared loudly.

Meanwhile, the top hat hovered silently beneath the sky outside the office.

White Jack used Top Hat Perspective to spy on the scene inside the office.

As long as he killed the Super-species, he could obtain experience rewards. This demonstrated the importance of landing the finishing blow, so he searched for a suitable chance to strike.

But in the next second, an uninvited guest suddenly emerged from the elevator and appeared inside the office.

It was a completely black figure, but it was not Rain Crow. It was a man wearing a black swallowtail coat and a black-and-red mask.

"Uh..." White Jack froze. "Big bro?"

[Super-species Codename: Owl Judge]

Owl Judge strolled out of the elevator car as casually as an employee clocking in for work.

Then, the instant he stepped out of the elevator, he suddenly raised a finger. A beam of black moonlight condensed at his fingertip and shot forward.

The attack was nearly faster than sound. Before Bell Wing could react, his heart had been pierced through.

Not even blood flowed out. White smoke was rising from the hole in his chest.

"First one." Owl Judge curled his lips.

He turned to look at the cyan giant crawling in the corner, raised his finger again, and sent another beam of moonlight down to sever the giant's arms.

"Second one." Owl Judge tilted his head.

Two arms as thick as tree trunks flew through the air, blood spraying down like a waterfall. In that instant, not only the walls but half the office was dyed red by the dripping blood.

The world was filled with the giant's wails. Glass shards on the floor trembled faintly. Before long, the cyan giant went still and slowly collapsed onto the ground.

White Jack was stunned and tilted his head slightly.

What side is Big Bro on? He kills heroes and criminals alike? he thought. Oh, I get it. He lets no bad guy go, which is why he's called an "antihero"?

White Jack stared at Owl Judge's figure when a quest panel suddenly appeared in his vision.

[Main Quest 6 (Phase One): Use your second identity to establish contact with the antihero "Owl Judge."]

But just as he was about to make a dazzling entrance, a pitch-black tide of crows suddenly descended from the sky, crashing into the high-rise like a waterfall before piling together into a humanoid shape.

Rain Crow appeared inside the office with his head lowered, a cold gleam flowing through his deep eyes.

Watching this through Top Hat Perspective, White Jack anticipated a major domestic dispute while secretly clenching his fists.

Awesome, old man, your timing couldn't be better! Hurry up and teach this shitty big bro a harsh lesson for me. Don't let him keep strutting around like he owns the place.