Chapter 44: Death of Grey Owl, Blue Pigeon Battle Suit

Ke Mingqing blinked. "The battle suit is already finished? It's only been a few days."

Controlling the chat panel with his mind, he typed on the virtual keyboard, replying to Miss Kuroki's message.

[Ke Mingqing: That fast?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Template-based crafting is routine for that underground merchant. It's essentially just recoloring a nearly finished product. The only part that required actual effort was the helmet you designed.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: As for the helmet, he asked me if you're sure you want to go with that design.]

[Ke Mingqing: Is it weird?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: He said that the moment a Rain Crow imitator appears in Lijing, they'll be swarmed by Clock Maker's fanatic followers. Because of that, practically no one mimics Rain Crow's appearance. It's an unspoken rule in the battle suit industry—a taboo.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: He also said that Rain Crow trained a successor many years ago. Clock Maker caught the successor, sliced his body parts to pieces, and hung them outside the Super Hero Company for all to see.]

"Oh, I know about this. That sliced-up superhero was called 'Grey Owl,' right?" Ke Mingqing thought for a moment. "That photo is still circulating online."

Logically, a photo documenting such a gruesome scene should have been completely scrubbed by the authorities. But as long as it had left a trace on the internet, it could definitely be found.

Using a few dark web links in his bookmarks, Ke Mingqing quickly dug up the photo.

It was a gloomy, rainy day. Rain Crow stood at the entrance of the Super Hero Company, his head raised, quietly staring at the aerial work platform above.

Twenty-one threads were wrapped around the edge of the elevated platform, each tied to a severed part of the superhero Grey Owl's body: intestines, arms, fingers, a head, feet, ribs...

The photo was silent and dead, yet the brutality and despair of the scene seemed to pierce right through the rain, striking directly at the heart.

The culprit had even left a message in blood-red spray paint on the company's glass facade: "My respected Mr. Rain Crow, here is a gift to celebrate your twentieth anniversary—from your good pal, Clock Maker."

Ever since then, Rain Crow never tried to train another successor.

Whenever an imitator popped up, he would immediately use the most brutal and ruthless methods to force them to give up, or he would use his authority within the Super Hero Company to shut them out completely.

[Kuroki Hitomi: He told me to confirm with you one more time. Do you really want to keep that design?]

Ke Mingqing tilted his head. I'm imitating the old man on purpose, he thought. It'd be perfect if Clock Maker caught me and sliced me up. I could take off my mask right in front of the old man just before I die. That would give me another perfectly logical way to fake my death and escape.

[Ke Mingqing: Are you worried about me?]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Yeah. If you die, I'll be all alone. You're the only person I knew from before who also came to this world.]

[Ke Mingqing: Don't worry. I know what I'm doing.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Alright. Where do you want me to put the battle suit?]

[Ke Mingqing: There's an abandoned train station in the Old Jingmai District. It's been out of use for a long time. You can have someone leave the suit in Locker 7 on Platform 7. I'll pick it up tomorrow.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: How do you know about a place like that?]

[Ke Mingqing: The original owner of this body liked to play hide-and-seek there with his sister when they were kids.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Aren't you afraid she'll find your suit?]

[Ke Mingqing: It's fine. I'll tell her sooner or later anyway. That way, she'll come running to be my bodyguard the second school lets out.]

After sending that message, Ke Mingqing saw that she didn't reply for a long time. He yawned, set his phone by his pillow, and slowly closed his eyes.

The moonlight was quiet. It was another wordless night.

...

...

[Good morning, dear player "Ke Mingqing." Today is Friday, July 6, 2026. Time remaining until the "Exterminate Superhumans" quest deadline: 175 days and 17 hours.]

Ke Mingqing scratched his messy hair and yawned.

He got up, boiled water, and brushed his teeth. Xia Wenna couldn't get out of bed today, so she sent the siblings some breakfast money and told them to go out and find something to eat.

At a roadside stall, Ke Mingqing bought a cup of almond milk and a bag of shumai, while Xia Zili bought a serving of black sesame tangyuan.

After breakfast, the two went to the bus stop. Following a brief wait, they boarded the school bus.

On the bumpy ride, Ke Mingqing turned to look out the window. Suddenly, a string of text materialized in his vision.

[System Prompt: Starting today, the "Player Instance Index" function is officially unlocked.]

[Description 1: Every week, there is a certain probability for "City Instances" to spawn in cities around the world. These instances will randomly appear at specific locations within the city and vanish at the end of the month, at which point a new batch will spawn.]

[Description 2: As time progresses, the difficulty of clearing these instances will gradually increase. Furthermore, during specific holidays like "Christmas" and "Halloween," there is a chance for special Holiday Instances to spawn.]

[Description 3: Players can invite friends from their list to clear instances together. Upon successfully clearing a City Instance, players have a chance to obtain rewards such as Experience Points, superhuman coins, Skill Enhancement Cards, and Item Roulette spins.]

Since the instance spawn locations are random, it'll be hard for me to find them all alone, Ke Mingqing thought. With this in mind, he opened his friends list and found Kuroki Hitomi's name.

[Ke Mingqing: Did you see the prompt for the new function? If either of us finds an instance somewhere, let's contact each other.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Just the two of us?]

[Ke Mingqing: Two people should be enough.]

[Kuroki Hitomi: Okay. I trust you.]

"Why are you always spacing out lately?" Xia Zili suddenly asked from beside him.

"What else am I supposed to do on the school bus? I'm dead tired, sis." Ke Mingqing didn't turn around. He just quietly watched her reflection in the window. The girl's silhouette was bathed in sunlight, overlapping with the scenery outside.

Xia Zili thought for a moment. "Snake? Minesweeper? Tetris?"

"You even remember exactly what games I play on the bus?" Ke Mingqing sighed. "You've actually started caring about me lately, even though you used to completely ignore me."

"I feel like you've gotten stupider," she said mildly. "I suspect you have early-onset dementia. If I didn't care about you at least a little, I'd be too embarrassed to call myself your sister."

"Then thank you so much for your concern," Ke Mingqing said sarcastically.

"Right, about that topic we discussed the other afternoon," Xia Zili said in a low voice.

"What topic? Little Red Riding Hood?"

"No." Xia Zili shook her head. "I didn't want to like the same person as you before, but now I feel like it doesn't matter."

Ke Mingqing's eyes lit up. He turned his head and asked, "You like Little Red Riding Hood too?"

Xia Zili frowned. "I'm talking about someone else."

"Oh, magical girl Ember," Ke Mingqing realized.

Xia Zili tilted her head slightly. "Right. I think it's fine if you like Ember now."

"Really?" Ke Mingqing asked suspiciously. "So I can keep wearing her fan T-shirts?"

Xia Zili lowered her face, hesitating for a moment. She nodded and said softly, "Do whatever you want."