[Lin Yin: Rain Crow and I have already talked. I hope to use this opportunity to root out the 'mole' that Clock Maker planted among us.]
[Lin Yin: But I need your cooperation. Remember... you absolutely cannot give yourself away.]
[Blue Pigeon: Received.]
...
...
Thirty minutes later in Leijing, inside a closed-off underground bar.
An electronic sign reading "michi" flashed in the darkness, marking the name of the establishment.
A deck of cards lay spread open on a table. Half-finished drinks sat abandoned on the counter, the glasses still holding a rich red liquid.
No voices could be heard inside; the bar was completely silent in every direction.
"This recruitment drive is aimed at individuals with abilities between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two.
"Professional internal staff from Hero Company will assess the potential of every interviewee. Students with high potential will join Hero Company as superhero interns;
"As for those who score poorly on the assessment, we will provide a certain amount of financial aid to ensure they can return to school and continue their studies..."
A moment later, a deafening roar erupted. An ink-black blur smashed through the iron door at the entrance and shot inside.
Blue Pigeon charged into the bar first, his figure carving wild arcs of electricity through the air. He zipped around the perimeter at top speed, causing even the television screen to flicker and dim for a split second.
But after completing his circuit, he hadn't seen a single soul. The entire bar was completely empty.
A moment later, Blue Pigeon slowly came to a halt. He rested a hand on his hip and looked around.
"Strange... why isn't anyone here?" he muttered in confusion.
Ke Mingqing considered his acting skills to be top-notch. Or rather, having been born into a family of villains like the Xia-Ke household, he probably would have kicked the bucket long ago if he didn't know how to act.
But if someone nearby knew he was acting and was watching him constantly, his performance would unconsciously become unnatural.
Take this moment, for example: Commander Lin Yin was counting on him to put on a good show to flush out the mole.
But in reality, Ke Mingqing still had no idea what was going to happen in this bar. He could only improvise as things unfolded.
"Maybe our timing is off." Shadow Girl walked in, typing on her phone screen as she faced Captain Blue Pigeon.
The young Invisible Giant followed closely behind, strolling in lazily and muttering, "Another underground bar. Are these copycats not even willing to change locations? Why do I remember our Captain Blue Bird getting dragged into a bar by a copycat last time?"
Dark Crocodile remained silent, the last one to step into the bar.
"True," Blue Pigeon said. "I didn't expect them to be so stubborn and hide their base in a place like this again."
Invisible Giant crossed his arms behind his head and narrowed his eyes, his face full of disdain.
"Why don't you mention who saved you in that bar?"
At his words, both Shadow Girl and Dark Crocodile cast glances at Blue Pigeon.
Blue Pigeon shrugged. "Rain Crow saved me. I know you guys are jealous, but don't look at me like that."
"Oh, so it was Rain Crow. That makes sense... I was wondering why the magical girl Ember would come to rescue you. Turns out everyone mistook Magical Girl Crow-Crow for Ember. You two sure know how to have a good time."
By the end of his sentence, the boy was winking and wiggling his eyebrows, his tone growing increasingly teasing.
Ke Mingqing imagined the body of the magical girl Ember topped with his foster father's head. He shivered, a wave of revulsion washing over him.
"I won't allow you to insult my idol. A man is a man, how could he become a magical girl?" Blue Pigeon crossed his arms, his tone serious.
As if unable to stand their nonsense any longer, Dark Crocodile crossed his arms and asked, "Since no one is here... are we going back to the company, or are we staking this place out?"
Blue Pigeon lifted his head, scanning the bar's ceiling as he spoke.
"Let's head back for now. This bar definitely has hidden cameras. It's unlikely those copycats will return... and even if they do, they'll definitely bring a bunch of ruthless guys with them. There's no need for us to take that kind of risk, okay?"
Dark Crocodile made an "okay" gesture.
But feeling the gesture was a bit unnatural, he tilted his head and silently pulled his hand back with a cold expression.
Blue Pigeon looked down at his phone. Lin Yin had just sent him a message at that exact moment.
[Lin Yin: Right now, get Shadow Girl, Dark Crocodile, and Invisible Giant away from the bar counter at top speed.]
"What the hell?" he muttered silently.
The next second, a series of ticking sounds abruptly echoed through the absolute silence of the bar.
Everyone froze for a moment before whipping their heads around. Tucked inside a glass cabinet behind the counter was an exquisitely crafted pocket watch.
Embedded in the face of the pocket watch was a medium-sized mirror, and the glass reflected the faces of the four of them.
Behind his goggles, Blue Pigeon's pupils shrank. The shadows on Shadow Girl's body danced erratically. Invisible Giant's arms trembled and dropped from behind his head. Dark Crocodile, however, merely narrowed his eyes slightly, a flicker of surprise passing through his gaze.
Without a doubt, it was Clock Maker's pocket watch. As long as someone was a superhero, they had seen this thing to some extent—it was a nightmarish symbol to them.
'What is this thing...' Blue Pigeon thought to himself, feigning a look of terror.
'The commander said this is just a test for the mole. This shouldn't be a pocket watch made by the real Clock Maker... so why does it look so similar? Did Hero Company replicate a bomb based on Clock Maker's esper ability? They really went to great lengths just to test who the undercover agent is.'
The moment his thoughts reached this point, someone in the squad let out a low roar. It was Blue Pigeon himself:
"Get away! It's Clock Maker's pocket watch!"
As his voice fell, deep blue lightning violently erupted. Blue Pigeon grabbed Shadow Girl and Invisible Giant. Time was too tight; Dark Crocodile was the only one he had no time to manage.
Blue Pigeon quickly spun around, stomped the ground, and sprinted backward as a faint wave of heat began to wash over them.
In the next instant, cracks spread across the pocket watch. The temperature spiked, and explosive flames ravaged outward, nearly swallowing half the underground bar.
Dust and smoke billowed up. The smell of gunpowder permeated the air.
In another corner of the bar, Blue Pigeon had pinned Shadow Girl and Invisible Giant beneath him. After a moment, he slowly released them.
He raised his eyes from the floor. A sea of flames filled his vision. Everything near the bar counter was blanketed by a blazing fire.
Amid the roaring flames, Dark Crocodile's silhouette was visible. Pitch-black crocodile scales covered his body, and his dark red pupils had narrowed into vertical slits. Half of his body was still being eaten away by the fire.
But the next moment, with a wave of his hand, the flames quietly died out.
"Are you guys okay?"
Dark Crocodile asked as he walked over, his back to the sea of fire. The glow of the flames illuminated his shadow-shrouded eyes.
Blue Pigeon shook his head, looking at the other's scales, which had been scorched red by the fire.
"We're fine. Sorry, I didn't have time to grab you just now."
Dark Crocodile clenched his right hand, snuffing out the last wisp of flame in his palm, and said expressionlessly, "It doesn't matter."
Blue Pigeon met Dark Crocodile's gaze, then turned to look at Shadow Girl and Invisible Giant. 'What can this kind of test even prove?' he thought. 'What exactly is Commander Lin thinking?'
Right at that moment, Invisible Giant suddenly pointed at the bar's entrance, shouting brokenly, "Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Following the brat's gaze, Blue Pigeon turned his head. Looking past the sea of fire, he spotted a bizarre figure at the bar's entrance.
A man entered his vision. He wore a brown suit and a brown bowler hat. A monocle rested over his right eye, and his gaze was wicked, a smile curling the corners of his mouth. His figure flickered in the firelight, blurry and indistinct.
'Clock... Maker?' Blue Pigeon's heart skipped a beat.
Judging solely by appearance, this person was absolutely Clock Maker. Whether it was his facial features, his outfit, or even something as subtle as his aura, everything was exactly the same. But the super-human species interface floating above his head said otherwise.
Blue Pigeon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly.
[super-human species codename: "Mimic"]
[Type: esper]
[Danger Rating: C Rank]
[super-human species introduction: Mimic, a hidden agent of the Super Hero Company. His esper ability allows him to freely change his appearance, voice, and body shape.]
'Isn't this just ripping off our White Jack? Did he pay royalties?' Blue Pigeon clenched his fists.
On second thought, he realized, 'Wait, doesn't that mean I could just take out this Mimic one day, impersonate him, and infiltrate Hero Company's agent network?'
Flames crackled clearly around them, and the ceiling continually scorched, cracked, and crumbled, yet the four members of Team Blue Pigeon were completely mute. They all stood slightly stunned, looking as if they hadn't fully processed what was happening. A deathly, suffocating silence blanketed the air.
The next second, Blue Pigeon broke the silence. He raised his eyes, staring at the fake Clock Maker, and murmured in a hoarse, disbelieving tone:
"That person is... Clock Maker..."
The name landed in Shadow Girl and Invisible Giant's ears like a clap of thunder. Their pupils shrank, and they jolted as if waking from a dream. Unconcealable shock surfaced in their eyes and on their faces.
Yet at this moment, Dark Crocodile was the only one among the four who remained silent.
The dark red boy slightly lowered his helmet and quietly watched the man in the suit, his face devoid of expression.
"You guys go. I'll pin him down for as long as I can," Shadow Girl said softly, immediately lowering her center of gravity.
She pressed her hands to the ground, manipulating a tide of shadows that leapt over the sea of fire and surged toward the fake Clock Maker.
Invisible Giant suppressed his trembling right hand and wiped his nose. He gritted his teeth and said hoarsely, "What are you talking about, sis? We're already here. If we die, we die together. Worst case, we all go see Top Hero together with our heads held high! Bah—! We go see the King of Hell together."
But just as his words fell, a sudden rumbling sound echoed throughout the area.
Everyone present followed the abrupt commotion and looked up. A pitch-black flock of crows poured in through the main entrance.
It was like a black tide, or a black torrential rain.
In an instant, the surging sea of flames was extinguished. Only the ear-grating, hoarse cawing of the crows remained lingering in their ears.
'Old man?' Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow, watching the scene unfold through his helmet as he mused, 'Is he here to act too?'
Immediately after, something even more unimaginable happened: the pitch-black tide of crows didn't stop. Instead, it swirled forward and completely enveloped Dark Crocodile.
Dark Crocodile stood in the center of the crow tide, looking around as his face and body were gradually hidden by the flock.
In the blink of an eye, the boy wearing the dark red crocodile helmet was whisked away.
Meanwhile, at the entrance, the fake Clock Maker shoved his hands into his pockets, turned around, and left the bar.
Before leaving, the fake let out a yawn, his eyelids drooping. "Old brother Rain Crow really is something, dragging me out here to play pretend with kids when there's nothing going on... If it weren't for his sake, I'd be at home watching the game by now," he muttered silently, his back receding into the distance.
Dead silence.
At that moment, the entire underground bar felt utterly empty. The only ones left behind were Blue Pigeon, Invisible Giant, and Shadow Girl.
They slowly turned their heads and looked at each other, their faces filled with bewilderment.
"Why were there so many crows? Was that Rain Crow just now? And why did Clock Maker leave?" Invisible Giant scrambled up from the floor, asking blankly. "Fuck... what the hell is going on right now?"
He clutched his head. "I feel like my brain is going to overload."
Blue Pigeon shook his head, his face calm.
He pulled his phone from his combat suit pocket and glanced at the message Lin Yin had sent.
[Lin Yin: We are using a certain method to monitor your heart rates in real-time, and one person was noticeably strange. Shadow Girl and Invisible Giant's heart rates spiked upon seeing the bootleg Clock Maker, but Dark Crocodile's didn't. He looked shocked on the outside, but his heart rate remained perfectly steady. He most likely knew deep down that it wasn't the real Clock Maker.]
[Lin Yin: As of now, he's the biggest suspect.]
[Blue Pigeon: Oh, I get it... so he's the mole?]
[Lin Yin: He's just the biggest suspect, it's not certain yet. But Rain Crow's interrogation skills are no joke.]
[Blue Pigeon: That doesn't add up. If the mole is Dark Crocodile, that still doesn't explain who tipped off Clock Maker when we were executing the "Train Hero Rescue" mission that day.]
[Blue Pigeon: You have to remember, Dark Crocodile hadn't even joined our team yet back then.]
The person on the other end of the phone pondered for a long time before sending the next message.
[Lin Yin: Perhaps it was White Jack.]
[Blue Pigeon: Sigh, how can this White Jack be so evil?]
Blue Pigeon secretly rolled his eyes beneath his helmet. 'Commander Lin, can you not talk nonsense?' he thought. 'My White Jack is completely innocent, alright?'
He turned his head, glancing at Invisible Giant and Shadow Girl, who were still enveloped in massive shock and confusion, and mused, 'Could it be that the other mole is hiding between these two?'
'But why did they act so naturally today, without exposing a single flaw?'
After a long while, Blue Pigeon shook his head and dismissed his thoughts.
[Lin Yin: It's time to come back. Rain Crow has already brought Dark Crocodile back to the interrogation room. You guys can witness the interrogation in person.]
[Blue Pigeon: On our way.]