The Raven's Funeral

It had been almost a month since the anomaly in Anya’s character card first appeared. Throughout this time, Xu Xiaoyou had been closely monitoring the news from the Star of Art, not letting a single clue slip by, yet she still hadn't found anything suspicious.

If the character card weren't still resting perfectly in its slot, she would have thought the other girl had vanished from the world entirely.

It seemed Anya had just woken up and regained her mobility. Had she already left the Star of Art?

That grade 5 standard-bearer had searched the city for an entire month without a single word leaking out. Aside from the possibility that she was hiding in the snowfields, the only other option was that she had already left the Star of Art.

Regardless of the angle, the latter was a good thing for her. As an unknown variable, an out-of-control Anya would draw too many unpredictable troubles and disrupt her current plans.

It just so happened that Xu Xiaoyou was the type of person who only felt secure when she held the initiative in most matters.

Noticing the change in the girl’s expression, Tang Xin looked up. "Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened."

Xu Xiaoyou stood up and walked out the door, leaving behind one last instruction.

"Clean up and get ready. I’ll be back later. We’re boarding the ship tonight."

At three o'clock in the afternoon, at Victoria Harbor.

In the blowing sea breeze, a one-armed youth squinted his eyes. The collar, shoulders, and cuffs of his long black robes were tattered, hanging off him like rotten strips of cloth and drawing the eyes of the harbor workers. A black-gray cloth cloak fluttered loudly behind him.

A black-gray raven stood on the youth's shoulder. Its eyes were as bright as obsidian, reflecting the peaceful coastline. As it spread its wings, the glossy black feathers refracted a rainbow of colors under the golden sunlight.

Noticing the girl's arrival behind him, the one-armed youth nodded and extended his remaining arm. The raven slowly took flight and eventually landed on his forearm.

The youth had changed a lot. His once-pale face had darkened considerably, covered in fine cracks as if parched by a scorching sun. Only his eyes remained bright, though their sharpness was now restrained.

"It’s been a while, Miss Xu," Lin Xing said.

Such a drastic change in the youth surprised Xu Xiaoyou. Having not seen him for a month, it felt like he had become a different person. Had he become even more taciturn?

She hadn't forgotten the scheduled email he sent her two weeks ago regarding matters related to the company.

Glancing at Lin Xing’s empty sleeve, Xu Xiaoyou remarked casually, "Aren't you used to the arm the puppeteer gave you?"

Lin Xing paused for a moment before responding.

"Only by remembering the pain can I remain alert at all times."

"So, why did you call me here? Is it about the company?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.

Lin Xing didn't answer directly. Instead, he slowly approached the shore, stopping before the guardrail made of curbstone and iron chains. He gazed toward the distant horizon. The raven on his arm seemed to sense the youth’s emotions; it spread its wide wings to shield him from the sea breeze and the blinding light, letting out a few soft cries.

"Did you know, Miss Xu? Within the company's shadows, every child who fights their way out of the underground receives a codename and a companion raven. For every year we spend in the shadows, or whenever a major event occurs, we use a dagger to carve a mark into the raven's leg."

"This raven might accompany a shadow for their entire life, going on missions and entering dangerous enemy territory together, through thick and thin. When death truly arrives, a comrade will release the raven for the deceased, returning its freedom."

At this point, Lin Xing chuckled silently.

"But ravens are very loyal creatures. They are beautiful and spiritual. When they are released into the sky, they often realize that the person who accompanied them for a lifetime has disappeared—or rather, will never appear before them again to feed them sticky rice or smooth their ruffled feathers."

"Without exception, all released ravens eventually die of depression. Some are found starved in the wilderness, some frozen in valleys, and others die after flying head-first into a cliff."

"There are even those who return to their master's former residence and die quietly, refusing to eat or drink."

"That's why the day we release a raven, we shadows call it 'the raven's funeral.'"

Lin Xing spoke with a bitter smile, leaning against the stone. He let the sea breeze toss his black robes, sighing softly as if those brief sighs had aged him by decades in an instant.

"These ravens follow us like shadows. In a way, aren't they shadows themselves?"

"Shadows don't have funerals. The raven's funeral serves as a mutual mourning."

With that, Lin Xing gently cupped the raven in his hand, unfastened the band on its leg, and lifted it toward the blue sky.

As if sensing something, the raven beat its wings with all its might, crying out loudly. Every feather shimmered brilliantly in the light.

"Go on, you're free. My brother is gone. Just go."

Lin Xing hummed a soft tune. It was the melody Lin Sheng used to hum when comforting the raven.

Hearing the familiar tune, the raven's movements suddenly stopped. Its loud cries ceased, and its spread wings slowly folded back.

Xu Xiaoyou watched as the raven edged closer to Lin Xing. Its black crown feathers pressed lightly against the youth's forehead, and a streak of pure water silently trailed down from its obsidian-like eye.

Finally, it tilted its head back and let out a long cry toward the sky. It was unclear if it was mourning or celebrating its newfound freedom. It spread its wings and flew toward the sky it once yearned for. Its glossy black silhouette streaked across the sky before disappearing into the blue.

"My brother loved this raven very much. My own died from a stray bullet during an infiltration mission, so we took care of this one together."

Lin Xing seemed to remember something else and fell silent. After a long time, he let out a heavy sigh.

"Since the incident with the puppeteer, I’ve been investigating the company. I went to Chichutian first and looked into matters regarding that Iron Hand."

Lin Xing recalled the girl with dark red hair who looked like a camellia. He had promised to help her lure away the Chi family's lookouts, and in exchange, that little family head had told him even more insider information.

The puppeteer Yorick—or rather, the Yorick brothers—had once stood at the peak of power in Chichutian. Known as the shadow family heads, their invisible silk threads had formed a massive web over Chichutian. From the heads of the Great Families down to the various department heads of the Izumo Group, his associates were everywhere.

Such a person, if not limited by his own strength, could have completely subverted the Chi family’s regime and conducted a bloodless coup to officially take the position of the great family head.

Yet the company's intelligence claimed that he was exiled for trying to install a puppet family head and that he fled to the company for protection after the plot was exposed.

His intuition told him there was definitely something wrong. So, he hijacked a high-level company executive and used them to reach the company's headquarters, R'lyeh—the satellite hive city orbiting the planet. After a series of infiltrations and escapes, he learned more about Yorick from the head of the market expansion department.

The information was fragmented, but it all pointed to one thing: Yorick definitely didn't betray the company on his own. The death of Emerald 1 was suspicious.