Ke Mingwei stared at the screen on his phone. He halted in his tracks, as if time around him had suddenly stopped.
He just stood there at the entrance of the police station, not making a sound.
It was a bright, beautiful day. Sunlight spilled over his face, and the chirping of cicadas mingled with the laughter and chatter of his colleagues behind him. Yet, a dark mass of cumulonimbus clouds was gathering in the distant sky. It crept slowly toward the city, carrying a damp scent on the wind.
Beneath the scorching sun, Ke Mingwei lowered his head, his eyes locked onto the face on the screen.
For the first time, pure shock and disbelief surfaced in his eyes. Exhaustion, numbness, and the violent rage bred from them had filled his heart for far too long... He could no longer remember how many years it had been since his eyes had borne an expression like this.
Why?
Why?
Why...
Why did it have to be like this...
Bewildered, Ke Mingwei stood rooted to the spot, muttering the questions in his mind over and over again.
Overhead, a massive flock of crows seemed to join the cicadas in a deafening chorus, their harsh caws echoing in every direction. The pedestrians along the street covered their ears or scrambled into nearby shops.
Panes of glass shattered. The rainclouds rolled in, gradually blanketing the sky. It was as if a corner of the gloomy heavens had been peeled back, allowing a pitch-black, crow-like figure to reveal its face through the rift and bare its bloodstained teeth. Saturnus. Like a towering giant, it looked down upon Ke Mingwei's tiny, insignificant figure.
There was no doubt... absolutely no question about it. The young man on the screen in the blue combat suit was his son.
In that moment, using the hoarsest voice he could muster, Ke Mingwei slowly breathed his name:
"A'Qing...?"
Ke Mingqing sat motionless in the chair, his head hanging down.
Iron chains bound his wrists and ankles, digging deeply enough to leave blood-red marks. Fresh, undried blood still lingered at the corner of his mouth. The bruising on his face was severe, clear evidence that he had been brutally beaten.
Ke Mingwei desperately wanted to squeeze his eyes shut. The scene before him was blinding, like staring directly into the sun. He hunched over, gasping heavily for breath.
Every sound on the street was drowned out by the cawing of the crows. The flock surged over the electronic billboards of the commercial district, the remnants of last year's Christmas trees, and the heads of the pedestrians, swirling up into the sky like a raging black storm.
The sky plunged into darkness. Through the sudden dead silence, the piercing, frantic wail of police sirens tore through the air, their red and blue lights flashing brilliantly against the gloom.
The rookie officers inside the station cast their gazes outward, taking in the sight of a silent, unyielding back.
Ke Mingwei stood there for a long time before finally raising his head. He dragged his heavy feet forward, step by step. His eyes, now burning with a violent light, remained locked onto White Jack's empty stare through the screen.
Their eyes met. One gaze was dark and brooding, while the other was hollow and full of mockery.
"Respected Mr. Rain Crow, why are you slouching?" White Jack asked, mockingly raising a hand in a solemn salute. "Don't you always tell your child to 'keep your back straight when you walk'? Why are you allowed to break the rules? As the old saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be slanted. So please, straighten your back this instant."
He paused, leaning closer to the screen and lowering his voice.
"You're on a video call with your son right now. Even if he isn't awake, you still need to set a good example."
Ke Mingwei cut him off. "I don't care who you are. Listen to me." He paused, his hoarse voice dark and predatory, like a beast grinding its teeth for a kill. "If you dare touch my son... I will tear you into a thousand pieces."
White Jack kept a straight face in silence for a moment before shaking his head. He picked up a piece of chalk, scrawled a "60" on a blackboard, and let out a long sigh.
"What a boring line. That barely gets a passing grade. I expected you to be a little more creative. After all, I've heard that exact same line far too many times from a certain Owl judge. People should try to avoid being so unoriginal in their creations. But I suppose it isn't strange for a son to take after his father. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Rain Crow...?"
Ke Mingwei could no longer stomach White Jack's nonsense.
All he knew was that with every word the man spoke, the rage in his heart burned deeper, like a volcano on the verge of erupting.
"Oh, did you know...? Our little friend Blue Pigeon took Invisible Giant's death quite hard. He actually hates you. Over the past twenty-some years, you've had countless opportunities to kill Clock Maker, but your strict no-kill rule let him slip away every time."
"And then, you used Blue Pigeon, sending him brushing past death's door time and time again."
"If he knew that Rain Crow was actually his father, can you imagine the look of pure disappointment he would give you? Think about it, Mr. Rain Crow. You are an utter failure of a father."
Ke Mingwei narrowed his eyes.
White Jack paused and held up a finger.
"Well, no matter how much you hate me, I hold all the cards right now. If you want to hate someone, hate yourself... Blame yourself for not making the decision to lift Blue Pigeon's mask sooner. You were far too indecisive. You thought you wouldn't feel guilty as long as you didn't see the boy's true face, but instead you caused a catastrophe."
He clutched his cane and let out a heavy sigh, deliberately showing off the fresh blood on its tip. Then, he spoke slowly.
"Three strikes and you're out. This is no time for hesitation, Mr. Rain Crow. What I just showed you was, at best, a mandatory cutscene, and this game is about to begin."
"And out of respect for our past friendship, Comrade Crow, I will put your son's helmet back on for you. We wouldn't want the whole world finding out that 'Blue Pigeon is Ke Mingqing'. Consider this my final mercy to you..."
With that, the ghastly white doll on the screen crouched down. It slowly picked up the cracked Blue Pigeon helmet and slipped it over the unconscious Ke Mingqing's head.
Ke Mingqing's face disappeared. Blue Pigeon was back to being Blue Pigeon, yet the furious, brooding expression on Ke Mingwei's face had not shifted even an inch.
"You're welcome. You should be thanking me for not broadcasting your son's identity to the world..."
At that exact moment, a message Popped up at the very top of his screen.
[Xia Wenna: I haven't been able to reach A'Qing since this morning. Did he say anything to you?]
[Xia Wenna: Honey, it looks like torrential rain is starting outside. It's almost time for lunch. Go bring A'Qing home.]
The rain poured down in sheets, as if the floodgates of the sky had burst open. In the blink of an eye, the entire world was smothered by a gloomy curtain of water. The sirens, the screams of the crowd, the frantic chatter—all of it was drowned out by the downpour as Ke Mingwei stepped forward into the flock of crows.
Moments later, his figure dissolved into pitch-black feathers, merging with the swarm. When he stepped back into the torrential rain, Rain Crow was completely shrouded in a dark cape, the sharp bird beak on his helmet jutting menacingly forward.
Rain Crow swayed. He staggered forward step by step, his cape snapping like a dark battle flag. His back was saturated with such a thick, suffocating blackness that it looked as if dark water might drip from his silhouette.
The next instant, his figure rose with the wind. Defying gravity, he shot upward against the torrential rain, vanishing into a river of jet-black crows that surged wildly across the sky in a Berserk frenzy.
Hidden within the rain, he remained silent for a long, long time. His mind suddenly flashed back to a night a month ago, standing face-to-face with Commander Lin Yin in silence.
...
One month ago. The rooftop of the Superhero Building.
"Are you really planning to use this kid...?" Lin Yin asked after a long silence.
Rain Crow stood near the edge of the roof. It took him a long while to slowly answer,
"Yes. Clock Maker will show up, I'm willing to bet on it."
"You'll regret this. If the you from ten years ago were standing here, you never would have made this choice."
"I will never regret it..." Rain Crow said. "Lin Yin, I'm old. I don't have much time left. If I don't take Clock Maker out for good, I can't ever retire. As long as he is in this world, I won't be able to sleep in peace."
He paused, lifting his profound gaze. "This is also for Grey Owl."
Lin Yin remained silent for a long, long time. "Sacrificing one child for the sake of another who is already gone?"
"Yes..." Rain Crow said. "I have no choice."
...
"A'Qing... what have I done? What the hell have I done...?"
His thoughts snapping back to the present, Rain Crow suddenly raised his head, muttering hoarsely.
A moment later, he tapped a button on his wrist. A holographic screen Popped up, hovering directly in front of his helmet.
It was still the same livestream. White Jack was boredly flicking Blue Pigeon's helmet with a finger. He raised his hollow eyes and spoke casually,
"Hear that, Mr. Rain Crow? A nice sound makes for a good head..."
Rain Crow glared at him, asking almost word by word, "What exactly do you want from me?"
"Oh, I thought you hung up my video call, Mr. Rain Crow," White Jack said. "Don't be impatient. The real show is just getting started. We haven't even finished introducing the cast, after all. Next up is our other guest—"
He spread his hands. "We'll keep his identity a secret for now. Let's just assume he's a remarkably ordinary man. And this completely ordinary man has done absolutely nothing wrong. His only mistake is having terrible luck, which is why he was dragged into this absurd, sensational broadcast."
Rain Crow stared silently at the projection.
The livestream feed suddenly switched, cutting to the interior of a different abandoned factory.
The setup was identical, exactly the same as the broadcast from a month ago. A blindfolded man sat bound to a wooden chair by heavy chains.
A pool of oily water spread out beneath him. Above his head, a lit wooden stick dangled vertically from the ceiling. A plastic chain secured the stick in place, and the chain was slowly, steadily burning away.
"If I recall correctly, during our first broadcast, you chose a very obnoxious, inconsequential guy and didn't come to save me," White Jack said, a grin splitting his face. "Of course, I understand. I'm a criminal, after all. Anyone would value an ordinary civilian's life over a criminal's."
He paused.
"But this time, can you be just as impartial and selfless? After all, the person in the chair changed from me to your son. This time, will you choose him, or will you continue to choose this inconsequential bystander?"
Rain Crow remained silent, his pupils glowing like molten lava.
The next instant, the projection split in two, displaying the feeds from both abandoned factories simultaneously before Rain Crow's eyes.
White Jack suddenly let out a sigh and corrected himself:
"Fine. Just so you don't think I'm a terrible, horrible person, I'll clear the air right now. This 'inconsequential bystander' is actually a murderer on the run from the police, and his crime is simple: slaughtering a massive number of the super-human species.
"Because his parents were accidentally crushed to death by an out-of-control member of the super-human species, he harbors a deep-seated grudge against them.
"One day, about a year ago, he obtained a rifle from the underground trade network, went to a super-human species training camp, and unloaded on a classroom full of teenagers. In the end, he lost an eye and an arm, but over a dozen kids in that class died. Sometimes, we just have to admit that low-level espers aren't necessarily as dangerous as firearms.
"But that didn't do anything to relieve the resentment in his heart. So, he learned a lot of new skills after that, like building traps and hacking electronics. He took to it like a fish to water. He acts more like a superhero than a superhero, and more like a player than a player.
"Whenever he crosses paths with a member of the super-human species, he won't let them go. So far, he has Hunted over a dozen high-profile members of the super-human species, including famous politicians, well-respected lawyers, and doctors who use their superpowers for evil."
"He's done good things, but at the same time, his crimes are unforgivable."
At this, White Jack lowered his voice, emphasizing his next words with an eerie tone.
"You wouldn't happen to reveal his identity to our audience, would you, Mr. Rain Crow? If you do that, I won't be able to publicly put you on moral trial.
"Blue Pigeon is still in my hands. You'll protect our game's rules, right?"
Rain Crow finally spoke, cutting him off:
"Blue Pigeon. My son. Where is he?"
White Jack fell silent for a moment, curling his lips into a thoroughly bored pout.
"It's not time to reveal the location just yet. I'm about to take this livestream public, after all. Countless netizens are going to flood in here next. You'd better watch your mouth. Don't go telling everyone that Blue Pigeon is your son. Got it?"
"Where is he?!" Rain Crow roared hoarsely.
The very next second, every digital billboard across downtown Leijing City lit up, simultaneously displaying three split feeds: the bound man in the abandoned factory; White Jack standing quietly behind Blue Pigeon in the other abandoned factory; and Rain Crow, screaming hoarsely at the screen.
The citizens passing by with their umbrellas paused. One by one, they lifted their heads through the rain, casting their gazes upon the massive screens.
Soon, they raised their phones, spreading the scene playing out before them to the world.
The livestream's feed was sweeping across the globe at breakneck speed.
...
...
Meanwhile, inside an art gallery in Leijing.
Clock Maker raised his head. Staring through a one-way mirror at the television mounted on the wall, he suddenly narrowed his eyes.
"Who is playing with my toy...? What nerve..."
He muttered under his breath and tugged his hat low. His expression beneath the brim darkened instantly. Spinning on his heel, he strode down the gallery corridor, step by step, heading straight for the end of the corridor.
His footsteps were deafening, as if accompanied by the relentless tick-tock, tick-tock of ten thousand stopwatches.