August 25, noon. Somewhere in Leijing, inside an abandoned building.
Torrential rain blew through the shattered windows, sweeping into the lonely old structure. An old-fashioned television had been embedded in the wall.
The screen displayed a live broadcast, a clamor of voices drifting from its speakers.
On screen, White Jack kept his head lowered, his hands resting lightly on Blue Pigeon's shoulders. He was speaking to the superhero Rain Crow from halfway across the city.
After a moment, he raised his hollow, profound eyes and spoke slowly:
"Since the broadcast has begun, it's about time to start our game, Mr. Rain Crow.
"Oh, right—before we begin, I must make one thing clear: this game belongs exclusively to the two of us.
"That pathetic Clock Maker can't interfere. He's just a fool left behind by the times. For him to crawl out and try to prove his relevance now just shows how desperate and ugly he truly is..."
For a smart man, the cheapest provocations were often the most effective, or so White Jack thought.
Jiang Qingzi sipped a cola, staring at the screen, and broke the silence.
"Boss... just as White Jack said, the broadcast has started."
He had already changed into his pitch-black cape and put on his black magic gloves and top hat, though he still kept the owl mask used by Black Magic Hand tucked inside his coat.
Heimeng zipped her hoodie all the way up and tapped away on her phone.
"I hacked the city's central network, just as White Jack asked. Every single billboard on every high-rise in the city center is broadcasting his stream... I've also forwarded the link to platforms all over the world."
Her tone was unhurried, as if she were discussing something trivial that had nothing to do with her.
In reality, Heimeng's actions had sparked a tsunami across the internet. The livestream link was spreading like a virus through global social media platforms.
Office workers and students around the world dropped what they were doing to stare at the split screen. On one side, White Jack wore a mocking expression, lightly pressing down on Blue Pigeon's shoulders from behind. On another, a furious Rain Crow tore through the skies above Leijing, scattering flocks of crows toward factories all over the city. Meanwhile, in yet another desolate, abandoned factory, an ordinary-looking blindfolded man struggled in absolute silence.
Lorenzo, dressed in black clerical robes and a black round hat, leaned against the hallway wall. With his grayish-blue eyes lowered, he quietly leafed through the Bible.
After a moment, he lifted his gaze from the pages, his eyes dark and profound. "And then... Clock Maker will go to that factory."
"Exactly," Heimeng nodded. "It's about time we got going, Boss."
Jiang Qingzi stared at the unmoving Blue Pigeon tied to the chair on the broadcast, a slight frown on his face.
Even though he knew that, according to White Jack's plan, the Blue Pigeon on screen was nothing more than a puppet, seeing him so severely wounded still made his heart clench.
Lorenzo considered this for a moment and said expressionlessly, "No rush. White Jack is about to give an address and force Rain Crow to choose... and Clock Maker will most likely choose the opposite answer to Rain Crow. Clock Maker wants to make sure Blue Pigeon survives. To him, Blue Pigeon is his personal toy. He won't allow Blue Pigeon to die by anyone else's hands."
Heimeng replied without hesitation, "You mean Clock Maker believes that as long as he and Rain Crow each head to a different address, one of them is guaranteed to find Blue Pigeon."
Jiang Qingzi understood what they were saying. He spoke up, "So, we need to choose a different direction from Rain Crow, right?"
"Yes. That's where we will find Clock Maker." Lorenzo closed his Bible, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. "A time-based superpower... it would be fascinating to get my hands on."
"Then let's go." Jiang Qingzi turned to look at Bai Ziling. "You stay here and wait for Giovanni to come back. Be good."
He leaned down slightly, hesitating for a moment before reaching out to pat the white-haired girl's head.
Bai Ziling nodded, her red eyes a little dim.
"Does Giovanni... not want me anymore?" she muttered softly, her head bowed.
Jiang Qingzi froze. After a long while, he shook his head and said gently, "No, he just got lost, that's all."
...
...
Meanwhile, directly above a district in Leijing, a pitch-black figure wrapped in a swirling flock of crows tore through the dark, oppressive sky.
The torrential rain poured down.
Water cascaded from the heavens, drenching the feathers of every crow. From a distance, they looked like a massive, wet python writhing in the air.
"Tell me where he is!" Rain Crow roared furiously, emphasizing every word, absolute madness swirling in his eyes beneath the bird beak helmet.
"I will. Playtime is over, after all, and the countdown for our little blue bird to burn to death is about to begin..."
"Where is he?"
Rain Crow asked again. He was engulfed in such profound blackness that he looked as if pitch-black water might drip from his form.
On the projected screen, White Jack lowered his head. His hollow eyes stared unblinkingly at him as he mocked, "Listen here. I'm only giving you four minutes, Mr. Rain Crow... And now, the two addresses you've been so eagerly waiting for: your beloved little, little, little blue bird is currently inside the abandoned factory at 89 St. Honghu Avenue, while I've stashed that innocent passerby at the abandoned factory in Leijing's Port No. 4."
At this point, he bit his own lip and licked his ghastly pale fingers. With his fingertips dyed red, he traced a bloody streak across Blue Pigeon's face just beneath the helmet.
He continued in a ghostly whisper, "So, will you come to save our little blue bird? Or will you keep playing the selfless fool and rescue that pitiful, innocent passerby who accidentally got swept up in all of this?
"Let us wait and see, Mr. Rain Crow—"
Rain Crow stared into White Jack's hollow eyes. He remained silent for a long time, his thoughts churning like the torrential rain.
Last time, White Jack had swapped their positions...
This time, White Jack might do the exact opposite... Given his personality, he would never use the exact same setup twice. That meant the address he spoke aloud was most likely the true one.
89 St. Honghu Avenue...
Without a doubt, Rain Crow chose Blue Pigeon. He would make the same choice a thousand, a million times over, because that was his child... Before he was a hero, he was first a father.
Rain Crow furrowed his brows tightly, deep and stern wrinkles creasing his forehead.
In midair, thousands upon thousands of crows shrieked in unison. They slowly shifted their direction, violently cutting through the curtain of rain like a colossal ship, stirring up a tornado-like black tide as they charged toward the edge of the city!
The rain swept up scattered crow feathers... Looking through his mask at the torrential downpour, Ke Mingwei suddenly recalled an event from many years ago.
...
...
Several years ago, late at night, in the second-floor corridor of the Xia-Ke household.
"What's wrong with the kid?" Ke Mingwei asked.
He had just watched a rain-drenched Ke Mingqing run into the living room and disappear into the second-floor bathroom.
"He got bullied at school. The other kids mocked him, calling him a parasite," Ke Linye said, putting away his copy of And Quiet Flows the Don. "Dad, I plan to head to his school and have a chat with those kids, but their parents are a bit troublesome. You understand what I mean?"
Saying this, his clear eyes curved into a slight smile.
Ke Mingwei was silent for a moment. He rubbed the stubble on his cheek. "Don't take it too far... Linye, you're the eldest child in the family. I've been busy with work all these years and haven't had time to be with you guys..."
"Alright, alright," Ke Linye interrupted. "We know all that, Dad. We're sick of hearing it..."
He shrugged. "But A'Qing won't understand. The way he sees it, he came to a new family, yet nine days out of ten he never sees his new father. If you don't find time to sit down and talk with him properly, he's just going to think you hate having him as an adopted son..."
At this, Ke Linye paused. He suddenly lowered his gaze. "He ran away from home last night."
Ke Mingwei frowned. "Where did he go?"
"He went back to the orphanage." Ke Linye's face was devoid of expression. "Maybe he thinks this house is worse than the orphanage." With that, he turned and left.
With one hand on his hip, Ke Mingwei stood silently outside the bathroom.
A moment later, the door opened.
Drying his hair with a towel, Ke Mingqing walked out in a daze. He looked up at the tall figure and gave a stiff nod.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ke. I've caused you trouble..." His eyes darted away, and he quickly lowered his head.
Ke Mingwei stared at the cut on the boy's forehead, frowning. He reached out in silence to ruffle Ke Mingqing's hair, but the boy slipped away as fast as he could.
He turned around, about to call out to the boy's retreating back, when the phone in his police uniform pocket rang. A Pop-up message appeared on the screen.
[Lin Yin: Grey Owl has been kidnapped by Clock Maker! We have to find the kid fast, otherwise tomorrow Clock Maker will...]
Ke Mingwei's pupils shrank slightly. He shoved the phone away, threw on his police jacket with a dark expression, and strode toward the stairs.
Right before heading down, he grabbed the handrail and glanced back. Through a crack in the door, he suddenly saw the boy watching him cautiously.
The moment their eyes met, Ke Mingqing blinked in the darkness, panic flashing in his eyes.
In a flash, the boy shut the door tight.
...
...
Rain Crow furrowed his brows and slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a complicated emotion flickered through his blazing gaze.
A'Qing, I'm sorry. For all these years, I have failed as a father to you.
I should have known long ago...
You were always trying to prove something to me. You always wanted me to notice you...
The torrential rain poured down. Rain Crow looked up at the projection, his eyes locked on Blue Pigeon's hunched figure. The boy's arms and legs hung limp, like slashed reeds.
At that moment, White Jack's voice echoed from the broadcast once more, dragging Rain Crow's thoughts back to reality. The man spoke in a chilling tone:
"It seems you have made your choice. You chose Blue Pigeon... How decisive. You didn't hesitate for even a single second. It makes this whole trial feel a bit ridiculous. Won't you even leave me a scrap of dignity? I wanted to show everyone the agony of your struggle."
"Shut up..."
Rain Crow spat, his tone incredibly bleak.
White Jack shrugged, speaking at a leisurely pace.
"Oh, right, Mr. Rain Crow, a friendly tip for you: that other guest I mentioned kidnapping is quite good at setting up harmless little traps, and these traps just happen to be scattered all around the abandoned factory you're heading toward..."
He held up a finger, his mouth suddenly stretching into a grin.
"For example, right now, you are about to pass through one."
Rain Crow was just about to dart between two skyscrapers. At that very second, something shifted on the elevated work platforms to his left and right. Rows of silver, horn-shaped metal devices turned simultaneously, locking onto Rain Crow in midair.
An instant later, sonic waves powerful enough to rupture eardrums blasted out from them.
"Boom—!!!" In a flash, the deafening sonic waves diffused outward, instantly shattering the glass curtain walls of both high-rises.
Broken glass cascaded down alongside the torrential rain, drawing screams of terror from the pedestrians on the long street below.
Caught in the sonic waves that were intense enough to warp human flesh, Rain Crow let out a shrill roar.
His pitch-black figure stiffened mid-flight. The escorting flock of crows burst apart under the sheer force of the sound.
They were reduced to a mess of shattered bones and blood, splashing against the facade of the building and instantly painting the entire high-rise red.
The torrential rain washed the blood away, carrying the dead crows down to the earth.
Soon, the entire street was dyed a hideous, blinding crimson. Even the warm, smiling face of the celebrity on the giant billboard was smeared with an unsightly red from the crow corpses, looking utterly demonic.
Across the high-rises of the city center, thousands of LED screens zoomed in on the same image:
Rain Crow's hunched figure convulsing in midair. His teeth were gritted, his eyes ferocious and enraged. Every inch of his face seemed to tremble, and even the falling rain was warped into bizarre shapes by the sonic blasts. Each drop of water spiraled around him in reverse, like some cruel, twisted dance.
"How pitiful... Look at how panicked you are. If it were the old you, would you ever have fallen for such a clumsy, transparent trap?"
White Jack spread his hands, gazing at him with pity as he spoke languidly, "What an ugly display. You really should see how the livestream comments are judging you right now... They're calling you a selfish fool. They're saying you chose Blue Pigeon but abandoned the life of an ordinary man. Yet, our countdown is almost up, Mr. Rain Crow, and you won't be able to save either of them... Blue Pigeon will die, and that unlucky bastard you abandoned will die too!"
By the end of it, White Jack's mouth had split into a crazed grin.
Rain Crow struggled to speak. "No... no..." His expression contorted as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. "He won't die... I won't let him die..."
He muttered hoarsely, slowly lifting his head. A flock of crows once again surged wildly from his cape. They twisted, danced, and ultimately ruptured in the sonic waves, transforming into a gruesome curtain of blood and flesh that swept through the row of giant horn devices.
In that instant, the sonic devices finally came to a halt.
Rain Crow's figure plummeted heavily toward the ground, only to shoot violently back upward the moment he was a foot away from the street. Like a black firework, he disappeared into the dark, oppressive cumulonimbus clouds!
"Very good. Another friendly tip... There are only thirty seconds left. If you don't reach St. Honghu Avenue in time, you will lose the most important person in your life."
White Jack spoke slowly. Suddenly, he cupped Blue Pigeon's chin from behind and lifted his face so he was staring directly at the screen.
Deafening explosions echoed through the city one after another. The entire world trembled in blinding red light, so intensely that even the torrential rain seemed to pause.
Rain Crow completely ignored the traps planted around the factory, crashing through like a mindless beast. His helmet cracked slightly, a corner of his cape burned away, and his skintight armor was scorched by fire.
Soon, he reached the edge of St. Honghu Avenue and laid eyes on that lonely factory.
The next instant, he descended from the sky, plummeting right into the roof of the abandoned factory, smashing a hole straight through it as he crashed inside.
The moment Rain Crow lifted his head, he froze in place.
Before his eyes was a blindfolded, middle-aged man tied to a chair. A flaming torch burned through its plastic bindings and broke free, plummeting from the ceiling toward the oil-slicked floor.
"Oh, what a pity," White Jack's voice rang out at the worst possible time. "You chose wrong! You ruined everything! Truth is, the locations I gave you at the start were swapped, exactly like the first time we met."
He paused. "You've repeated your mistake all over again..."
The world was dead silent. Rain Crow could no longer hear anything. His eyes widened, the ringing in his ears from the explosions still lingering.
It was as if a nuclear blast had stripped away all sound.
But he did what he had to do.
In the utter silence, the black flock of crows lunged forward, freeing the middle-aged man from the chair and carrying him away from the spot.
Before the torch could even hit the ground, the crows enveloped it, snuffing out the flames without a sound.
Rain Crow jerked his head up, glaring fixatedly at the projection screen.
White Jack covered his face in mock distress. "How could a man step into the same river twice? Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Rain Crow?"
Saying this, he slowly raised his cane, using the flicker of flame at its tip to ignite the oil flooding the floor.
Instantly, a sea of fire erupted, swallowing Blue Pigeon's body in a heartbeat. His figure, bound to the chair, warped in the flames, obscuring his appearance.
"No, no, no, no—!!!" Rain Crow fell to his knees, staring wide-eyed at the scene, roaring hoarsely.
At that moment, the entire factory exploded. Soon after, the ceiling collapsed, burying Rain Crow beneath the rubble as if it were a tomb.
A moment later, the crows surged upward, breaking through the debris.
Rain Crow stood perfectly still in the midst of the violently shrieking tide of crows, like a puppet with cut strings.
The crows covered the entire ruins, blocking out the torrential rain. The entire world was dyed in a pure, ferocious black.
Hunched over, he slowly lifted his head. The pitch-black bird beak jutted forward like a sharp blade, and his deathly still, hollow eyes looked at the projection.
White Jack watched him with pity. Meanwhile, the blazing fire crept up Blue Pigeon's body, the flames scorching every inch of the young man's skin.
"I..." Rain Crow spoke, the corners of his mouth stained with blood.
"Will..." He bared his bloody, ferocious teeth, looking exactly the same as Saturn from the illusion.
"Tear you..." Rain Crow's pupils were swallowed by crimson.
Amidst the sharp shrieks, the tide of crows churned. Like a raging tsunami bursting toward the sky, it completely engulfed Rain Crow's figure.
However, in that very instant, something strange occurred on the broadcast.
"You are still as incompetent as ever, Rain Crow." Suddenly, a mocking voice—distinct from White Jack's—rang out across the livestream.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze. An eerie, mercurial silver washed over the entire world. Immediately after, a man wearing a brown suit and a monocle abruptly appeared behind Blue Pigeon.
Clock Maker stood completely still amidst the sea of fire, his figure swaying like a ghost.
Rain Crow froze. He stared at the figure, his bloody lips twitching slightly.
"Oh, Rain Crow. I told you, he is my toy. How could I ever let him fall into someone else's hands?"
Clock Maker lowered his head, murmuring in an ancient voice. He reached out with a white-gloved right hand, gently stroking Blue Pigeon's jaw.
He turned to look at White Jack in the distance. White Jack narrowed his hollow eyes slightly and pulled his lips into a wide grin, staring back at him without moving an inch.
"How could I let anyone else participate in our game? He is not qualified. This white thing is far from qualified."
Clock Maker said disdainfully, shifting his gaze away from White Jack.
"So what do you plan to do? Will you beg me like a dog, or watch the scene from years ago replay right in front of your eyes?" Saying this, Clock Maker looked toward the camera once again.
His eyes glowed with a bewitching charm, like blooming poppies, staring straight through the screen to meet Rain Crow's gaze.