Chapter 286: Two Reporters

Chapter 286: Chapter 286: Two Reporters

Ye Zheng’s mind raced. "You mean intentionally feign weakness, expose an opening? But that might attract other Alien Species. After all, the points for a hidden Boss are a huge temptation."

Feng Ling was nonchalant. "Whatever we manage to kill is a win. If I can’t fool Xing Guang, I’ll just come up with another plan."

Ye Zheng snorted. "Tricking Xing Guang won’t be easy. You’ll have to solve at least two problems."

"What problems?" Feng Ling asked.

Ye Zheng said, "First, your Card is the Nest. The Star Association has fought you before, so they must know you have a powerful Self-healing Ability. What kind of wound would be so severe you couldn’t recover from it? Second, you emerged from the Maze unscathed, so where would this injury come from? How would it happen? With how high-profile you are now, if you were hurt in a fight, there’s no way it wouldn’t make the news. So, you have to provide a reasonable explanation for these two points. Otherwise, forget fooling the Star Association—even the average netizen will assume it’s just a rumor."

Feng Ling replied without a second thought, "Then I’ll leave it to you."

Ye Zheng froze. "...What?"

"You come up with a reasonable explanation for those two points," Feng Ling said. "I’ve helped you so many times, it’s only fair you do a little something for me, right?"

Ye Zheng fell silent.

Feng Ling gave her a once-over, her words laced with a challenge. "If you’re going to nitpick someone else’s proposal, you should be ready to offer a solution of your own, wouldn’t you agree?"

With that, Feng Ling turned and walked away, heading back to bed.

Ye Zheng watched her leave, lost in thought.

...

「Late at night.」

The city lights gradually went out, leaving only the black silhouettes of the skyscrapers.

On a street near the Qingjiang Financial Center Building, a streetlight flickered due to faulty wiring, moths dancing frantically in its glow.

A car crawled to a fork in the road and came to a silent stop.

A man and a woman were in the car.

The woman, wearing a baseball cap, slunk out of the car. She ran in a low crouch to the front of the vehicle and dragged the warning sign that read "CONSTRUCTION AHEAD - NO ENTRY" to the side of the road.

The street was so quiet that the screeching of the metal sign was exceptionally jarring as she dragged it.

The man in the driver’s seat looked like he wanted to shrink into his collar. When the woman got back in the car, he whispered, "Ms. Sang, are we really going in there?"

"That’s a stupid question. Why else would I bring you here?" the woman in the baseball cap urged. "Hurry up and drive in before a patrol spots us."

The young man still hesitated, his hands trembling slightly on the steering wheel. "Maybe there really is construction up ahead..."

"If it really is construction, we’ll just turn back. Now drive!"

"And if it isn’t construction..."

The woman said impatiently, "Are you going to drive or not? If it isn’t construction, then our intel is correct, and the top Hunter, Feng Ling, lives right on this street! We have a massive scoop right in front of our eyes, are you just going to sit in the car all night?"

"But Ms. Sang... even if we get the story, there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to publish it. Remember what happened with Black Mountain Town? That story got buried..." The man’s voice trailed off.

Black Mountain Town was a remote town near Daling Forest where a massive pollution incident had occurred. The news was kept under tight wraps until the authorities finally released the information when the Hunter program was launched.

They had been the first media outlet to find out about the incident in Black Mountain Town. But because of the timing, all their hard work had been for nothing.

The woman’s patience completely ran out. She hissed, "Get out, get out! I’ll drive. You get the camera."

"You’ve got some serious guts, Ms. Sang," the young man said with a shrug as he got out and swapped seats with her.

Sitting in the passenger seat, he muttered under his breath, "Hunters aren’t like Inspectors. Each one is weirder than the last. And that Feng Ling keeps a bunch of Pollution Bodies. What if we run into them? ...Ms. Sang, Pollution Bodies aren’t kittens and puppies. If we really run into them, we’ll be sitting ducks... we’re toast..."

"Just shut up!" The woman gritted her teeth, her leg trembling as she pressed the accelerator.

The car slowly drove into the gloomy street.

Both sides of the road were lined with low, abandoned construction sites. Old buildings slated for demolition, work sheds, and strips of greenery all blended into indistinct silhouettes in the dark. Straight ahead, the towering Central Building loomed like a giant, exuding an intense, oppressive feeling.

The car slowed to a crawl. The woman was clearly on edge, but her thirst for a story won out. Gripping the steering wheel, she resolved to get pictures of the inside of the Financial Center Building tonight, no matter what!

TAP—

A small black bird landed on the windshield.

Even though it was a faint sound, the two people in the car jumped, slamming on the brakes and breaking out in a cold sweat.

The little bird on the other side of the glass tilted its head, watching them.

Inside the car, the two reporters didn’t dare move a muscle.

After a few seconds, the bird’s head swiveled 180 degrees, pressing the human face on the back of its head against the windshield to keep watching them.

"Holy shit!" The man gasped, his back pressing hard against the seat.

Seeing a human face pressed against the dark glass late at night like this was an immense shock. Even though the face wore a kindly smile, they felt nothing but terror.

"Don’t panic, don’t panic..." The woman swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. "It’s one of the Human-faced Crows Feng Ling keeps. The Qingjiang Inspector’s Office issued a notice saying these birds won’t hurt anyone... Let’s just figure out a way to get it to leave."

"The... the wipers..." the man suggested.

"Where are the wipers..."

"Th-this one..."

After a frantic fumble, the wipers activated with a SQUEAK.

The Human-faced Crow, perched on the wiper blade, rode along its path as it swiped across the glass—once, and then back again.

SQUEAK...

SQUEAK...

The two people in the car fell silent.

"Wh-what do we do now, Ms. Sang..." the man stammered.

The woman gritted her teeth. "Forget it. It’s not like it’s blocking my view..."

She pressed the accelerator and continued driving. A few more Human-faced Crows flew down with a series of THUDS, then more and more, until a dense flock of them, big and small, completely covered the hood of the car.

She started to panic. She couldn’t see the road, and her hands were shaking so badly she could barely keep a steady grip on the steering wheel.

To make matters worse, the Human-faced Crows outside seemed as excited as kids on a coin-operated ride, bobbing up and down as they began to shriek:

"I want to be beautiful! Want to be beautiful!"

"I want money! Want money!"

"I’m so hungry, so hungry~"

The quiet street instantly erupted into a cacophony of countless chattering, clamoring voices!

The two people in the car were losing their minds!

Sensing that the car swerved more violently whenever its occupants were startled, all the Human-faced Crows on the car turned their human faces around and pressed them against the glass!

"AHHHHHHHH!!!" the pair shrieked in terror as the car veered sharply onto the sidewalk and crashed head-on into the shrubbery!

"Hit the brakes! The brakes!—"

CRASH!!!

The car crashed into a corrugated metal fence. The airbags deployed, leaving the two of them dizzy and disoriented.

When they came to, they saw that the Human-faced Crows had all scattered.

The two opened their doors and stumbled a few steps away from the car. Their panic had yet to subside when a new, immense wave of dread descended from above, seizing their hearts in an icy grip.

They looked up to see a massive black shadow diving toward them from the night sky!