Owl Judge and White Jack, Those Who Came Home

A vast flock of crows swirled around the high-rise like a black tornado, and the world seemed on the verge of collapse amid their piercing cries.

The office on the twenty-fifth floor of Syndico Tower was a complete mess. Printed papers littered the floor, while blood stained most of the walls and ceiling red.

Owl Judge and Rain Crow locked eyes, neither willing to yield.

Rain Crow wore a pitch-black cloak, while Owl Judge was dressed in a black tailcoat trench coat. Both wore birdlike masks.

If an uninformed outsider were shown photos of the two separately, they might have assumed they were different outfits of the same superhero—like the difference between Shadow Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Watching from the "top hat's perspective," Ke Mingqing could not help but say indignantly, "Plagiarism, this is absolutely plagiarism! Compared like this, Big Brother is blatantly copying him! Could he secretly be a Crow Man fan?"

The next moment, Owl Judge slowly spoke, breaking the silence that had shrouded the office.

"Isn't this the esteemed Mr. Rain Crow?" he said with a smile. "I didn't kill this criminal. I spared his life and merely crippled both his arms. After all, his crimes were far less severe than that superhero's over there."

"You shouldn't have killed either of them. You have no right to do that," Rain Crow said coldly.

"Please don't condemn me with such righteous words. Aren't we essentially doing the same thing?" Owl Judge said. "My scope of work is simply a little broader than yours."

He paused. "After all, criminals aren't the only ones capable of producing evil. Some superheroes abuse their power and commit all kinds of atrocities. From your position, you can't deal with them, but I can."

"That is the Hero Control Bureau's job. How he is sentenced is also the Bureau's business."

Rain Crow's tone left no room for doubt.

Owl Judge kicked Bell Wing's corpse aside and sneered.

"If they truly cared, that would be one thing. This so-called 'superhero' raped and murdered countless girls, yet scandals enough to shock the world were forcibly covered up by the Hero Corporation's investors. You should know about that too."

"You think you stand above the law?" Rain Crow asked.

Owl Judge lowered his gaze and tugged at his black glove. "I don't think I stand above the law. After all, only humans deserve to be judged. Beasts only need to be slaughtered."

Rain Crow said nothing, but the crows' cries grew louder, deafening amid the silence between the two. The storm-like flock circled the entire building, blocking White Jack's view.

After a moment, he asked, "What about you?"

"I'm just a law-abiding, righteous citizen."

As he spoke, Owl Judge turned to look at a plume of smoke suddenly rising in the distance. A sea of flames was spreading through the streets. "You should go, Mr. Rain Crow. It seems another crime has occurred over there. Or do you believe arresting me takes priority over criminals?"

Rain Crow silently stared at Owl Judge. He knew this was the city center.

If they fought here, even the best possible outcome would result in nearby high-rises collapsing one after another. The destruction would be no less than a natural disaster, and countless people would be caught up in it.

He fell silent for a moment. "I don't know why you appeared in Dawn Capital, but I'll give you one piece of advice."

"Go ahead."

"Go back to your city. If I see you again next time, I'll arrest you and make you serve your sentence." Rain Crow spoke almost word by word.

"Understood, officer." Owl Judge spread his hands.

Rain Crow's body suddenly transformed into a flock of crows. Like a black rainstorm, they carried away the unconscious Azure Giant and Bell Wing's corpse, leaving only crow feathers scattered across the floor before vanishing above the high-rise.

"Damn, I forgot to ask him for a photo." Owl Judge realized belatedly.

He shook his head and sighed softly before moving toward the elevator.

But at that moment, a white top hat suddenly flew in from the sky, passing through the shattered window and landing inside the office.

Immediately afterward, a completely pale figure flashed beneath the top hat. He caught it and placed it atop his head.

"What a disappointment. Where was the domestic violence scene I was looking forward to? Why didn't Dad beat Big Brother up before leaving?" White Jack lowered his head, his face hidden beneath the brim's shadow.

Owl Judge stopped and turned his head slightly. "And who is this?"

White Jack slowly raised his hollow eyes and looked at Owl Judge, who was about to leave, staring directly at the V-shaped strip of light on his mask.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Judge. My name is White Jack," he said. "Hey, I think we could be friends. What do you think?"

"Oh, White Jack. I think I've heard that name before..." Owl Judge murmured. "Hmm, but I don't remember much. Didn't you blow up a warehouse? And wasn't your ass stuck on the Dawn Capital Iron Tower?"

"That's right. Actually, my ass isn't as perky as the internet says. That was just—" White Jack abruptly fell silent before he could finish.

Because he discovered that his head and body had been separated in that instant.

In the previous tenth of a second, it seemed as though a swath of black moonlight had swept through like a blade, slicing open his neck—but he had not seen it clearly.

His body was still held upright by momentum, standing where it was. A moment later, before the pale body could even topple to the ground, it was chopped to pieces by crisscrossing streaks of black moonlight.

White Jack's head spun through the air, quietly watching as his body was sliced into fish-flesh-like fragments that slowly scattered into the distance.

Owl Judge's technique was so clean and swift that not even a drop of blood spilled.

White Jack's head crashed to the ground and rolled several times, yet he was still talking.

"You're being way too unfriendly, Mr. Judge."

"I don't make friends with criminals. Please understand..."

Owl Judge said indifferently as he tugged at his black glove and walked away without looking back. Before leaving, he even raised a hand. A streak of black moonlight immediately descended and sliced White Jack's head apart as well.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world.

The bedroom was quiet. Ke Mingqing opened his eyes from the leather chair, and a series of crimson panels reflected in his pupils, like the "Game Over" screen that popped up after losing a game.

[Notice: Your "Puppet No. 01" has died. It may be deployed again after the 12-hour cooldown has ended.]

[Main Quest 6 (Phase One)—"Establish contact with Owl Judge" has failed. The player may try again later.]

This was the first time Ke Mingqing had encountered a failed mission.

He sat there stunned for a very, very long time. Big Brother, why aren't you following the script? Usually people are willing to play riddles with me for ages.

"Good grief, establishing contact with a lunatic like Big Brother seems harder than I imagined." Ke Mingqing sighed. "I'll have to find an opening later. At the very least, I need to make him willing to listen to what I have to say."

He leaned the back of his head against the chair and spun around a few times.

"Then the only one left who hasn't come home is Second Sister..." Thinking this, Ke Mingqing looked up at the family portrait hanging on the wall.

In the photo, Xia Lingxue stood in the corner with her arms folded and a lollipop in her mouth. Her eyelids drooped slightly, her expression cold and aloof, as though strangers were forbidden from approaching.

"From what Big Brother said earlier, Second Sister knows the authorities. Her position might even be high enough to contact Toy Doctor from the Superhero Round Table," Ke Mingqing thought. "Maybe Second Sister is the person I need to be most wary of."

Just then, he heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

"A-Qing, go open the door. Mom is still hanging the laundry," Xia Wenna's lazy voice drifted over from the rooftop connected to the hallway, speaking as slowly as if she were about to breathe her last.

"Got it, got it."

Ke Mingqing slipped into his house slippers, opened his bedroom door, hurried downstairs, crossed the silent entryway, and opened the front door.

The moment the door opened, blood-red afterglow poured into the entryway, stretching out his shadow.

At that moment, a young man in a black trench coat was leaning crookedly against the doorframe. His tall, six-foot-one frame blocked most of the sunlight.

His features were delicate and androgynous, his eyes clear and bright, and a pair of black earrings hung from his ears.

"Did you miss me?" Ke Linye looked up and asked with a smile.

Without even raising his head, Ke Mingqing fiddled with his phone. "Fuck off."

He silently raised a middle finger at the man who had just sliced him into pieces, then turned and walked back into the house.