A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

On the afternoon of July 11, inside a remote, abandoned building in Leijing.

Only two figures, one tall and one short, occupied the dim floor. A young man in a train attendant's uniform sat cross-legged on the ground, huddled close to a white-haired girl in a white dress.

The two were playing gomoku in a notebook.

Bai Ziling squatted on the floor, clutching her dress. Her red eyes were downcast as she stared unblinkingly at the notebook.

Giovanni handed her the pencil and waited quietly, not making a sound to disturb her thoughts. A moment later, three figures slowly walked in through the exit.

Silhouetted against the sunlight, their faces were shrouded in shadow. They possessed an imposing aura; these were clearly no ordinary people.

Cosimo stood in the middle, speaking unhurriedly. "Giovanni, come meet these two."

The Italian man wore a spotless butler's suit, a smile gracing his handsome face. His tone was as humble and gentle as a true butler's. If Ke Mingqing hadn't seen his werewolf form, he might have believed the act.

Giovanni rose silently and walked over to them. Bai Ziling, hugging the gomoku notebook, pinched his sleeve and followed behind him.

"This cool girl dressed like a pirate with the black eyepatch is our Miss Scarlett. Some also call her Red Captain."

Cosimo introduced her, his hands tucked into the pockets of his butler suit.

Following his gaze, Giovanni looked at the red-haired woman in the brown fur coat.

She appeared to be around twenty years old. An eyepatch covered her left eye, leaving only her right exposed. A smattering of freckles dusted her face, and the corners of her lips curled into a teasing smirk.

At that moment, a super-human species panel slowly floated up above her head.

[Superhuman Codename: Red Captain]

[Type: Esper]

[Danger Rating: A Rank]

[Superhuman Profile: A member of Death's Crow. She controls a floating pirate battleship and commands a crew of ghost pirates aboard it.]

"So this is the newbie?" Scarlett asked, striding over with vibrant energy.

She raised her right hand and pinched Giovanni's chin, her lively eyes sizing him up. "I didn't expect you to be this cute. Come on, give big sister a kiss."

With that, she tilted Giovanni's chin up slightly and pressed her cheek toward his.

Right then, a white-haired girl rushed over and forcefully shoved her.

Scarlett raised an eyebrow and turned her head. She saw Bai Ziling pushing hard against her thigh, looking like a bristling little penguin. "Go away," the girl muttered.

"The little brat sure knows how to guard her food." Scarlett snorted twice and reached out to ruffle the girl's white hair. "It's just a joke. No one wants to touch your good brother."

Bai Ziling peered up from beneath her snow-white bangs, baring the small fangs unique to vampires.

"Are all you pirates this open?" Giovanni asked nonchalantly.

"Sorry, sorry, Scarlett is just like that." Cosimo walked over with an apologetic smile and rested his elbow on Giovanni's shoulder. "She loves teasing the newbies. You aren't the first victim; she swings both ways."

"Don't make me sound like some kind of villain." Scarlett yawned and pulled off her eyepatch, revealing a scarred eye clouded by a white cataract.

"I'm going upstairs to rest." With that, the red-haired woman headed up the stairs without looking back.

Giovanni pulled his gaze from her retreating back and looked toward the other figure.

It was a teenage girl in a black hoodie with an indifferent expression. She held a handheld console in both hands, her head bowed as she played in silence.

"This is Black Dream. She's Chinese, but none of us know her real name," Cosimo introduced. "'Black Dream' is her online handle, and she prefers we use it, so we usually just call her Little Sister Black Dream."

He paused. "She's a master gamer. If you're into that sort of thing, you can chat with her."

"Hello." Giovanni nodded. "My name is Giovanni."

Black Dream kept her head down, absorbed in her PS Vita. She suddenly pulled up her hood to avoid his gaze and replied in an indifferent tone, "Hello."

[Superhuman Codename: Black Dream]

[Type: Esper]

[Danger Rating: B++ Rank]

[Superhuman Profile: A genius gamer girl who once caused a massive sensation on the internet before becoming one of the ten members of Death's Crow. Her ability is 'Game Space,' which allows her to drag herself and her enemies into a data space. They can only escape when one side reaches a 'Game Over.']

'The weakest combat power in this organization is B Rank. Are even the support-type members this strong?'

Giovanni raised his eyes, absentmindedly staring at her super-human species panel.

"Little Sister Black Dream is a bit shy around strangers," Cosimo said with a smile. "By the way, she's also a hacker. If there's a girl you like, you can ask her to hack into her phone to take a look."

Giovanni shook his head. "I'm not that bored."

Bai Ziling tugged at his sleeve, wanting him to go back and continue their game of gomoku.

Cosimo suddenly lowered his head, chuckling as he scratched the bridge of his nose. "Right. If you're thinking of using an electronic device to tip anyone off, Little Sister Black Dream will report it to the Boss immediately."

At that, he turned to look at Giovanni. "So, I'd strongly advise against trying."

"That's all well and good, but I don't have a phone."

Giovanni spoke bluntly.

'Why does it feel like I've joined a pyramid scheme?' he thought to himself. 'The very first rule is no contacting the outside world. And more importantly, I don't even need a phone to tip people off, okay?'

"True, you're like a caveman who suddenly time-traveled into modern society." Cosimo ruffled his own blond hair. "Otherwise, Little Sister Black Dream wouldn't have come up empty when investigating your background."

"I spent most of my past wandering through gray areas," Giovanni said. "It's not convenient to explain the details."

"I get it, we're all like that," Cosimo said quietly. "It's just that the number of people in this world who can leave her without a single trace to follow is very small indeed."

As the two chatted, the hoodie-wearing girl playing her console suddenly stood up from the stone slab and walked over.

She didn't say a word, simply holding out a pink-cased phone to Giovanni.

"What's this?"

Giovanni looked down. The phone case was decorated with a pink rabbit.

"A phone," Black Dream said. "The contacts list has the other members' information. You can reach out to them when you need to."

Giovanni raised an eyebrow, took the phone, and turned on the screen.

A cartoon version of the hoodie-wearing girl appeared on the home screen, and a pink text box popped up above her head: [Hello, I am AI Black Dream. Please contact me if you need anything].

"And this is?" he asked in confusion.

"An AI I designed."

"To monitor me?"

"No, just to make it easier to contact you. I don't like making calls, and I don't like sending texts." With that, Black Dream went back to find a spot on the floor to sit, resuming her game of Persona 4 Golden on her PS Vita.

Giovanni looked at her, then turned back to Cosimo. "Who else haven't I met in Death's Crow?"

Cosimo stroked his chin in thought for a moment. "Uh, let me think. The Boss, Bai, Bandage Man, Jiang Qingzi, Black Dream, and the Red Pirate... you've met all of them. So that just leaves two people."

"Sorakagehime and Guchen."

Giovanni, looking at the names in the phone's contacts, read the answer out a step ahead of him.

"If you already knew, why did you ask me?" Cosimo raised an eyebrow.

"Just asking."

Cosimo shrugged. "Those two are also top-tier experts. Guchen, especially, is very good at dealing with Espers. As for Little Sister Sora, her specialty lies in infiltration and reconnaissance; ninjas are all like that."

Giovanni glanced down at the names in the contacts list, mentally compiling a rough roster of their combat power.

No. 1: Lorenzo (The Pope) (A++ Rank) (Esper; holds a Bible capable of stealing the abilities of others, and can simultaneously pull people into a church domain)

No. 2: Cosimo (Wolf Butler) (A Rank) (mutant; able to transform into a werewolf)

No. 3: Bill (Bandage Man) (B++ Rank) (Esper; able to manipulate pitch-black bandages)

No. 4: Guchen (Ability unknown, Rank unknown)

No. 5: Jiang Qingzi (Black Magician) (A Rank) (Esper; ability unknown, but manifests similarly to magic tricks)

No. 6: Red Captain (A Rank) (Esper; able to create a floating pirate battleship)

No. 7: Black Dream (B++ Rank) (Esper; able to create a game space in reality)

No. 8: Bai (A+ Rank) (Esper; controls puppets)

No. 9: Sorakagehime (B+ Rank) (Shadow Warrior; excels at combat styles utilizing shadows)

Mascot No. 1: Giovanni. Mascot No. 2: Bai Ziling. 'The average combat power of this organization is seriously high, and that's even after accounting for the removal of Stroh, that A-rank vampire,' he thought.

'But that bunch of monsters in my family isn't bad either. They have an off-the-charts S Rank combatant among them, plus the old man and big brother, two top-tier A Rank combatants. Logically speaking, fighting them to a draw shouldn't be hard.'

'Of course, the premise is that I can successfully drag them over to act as muscle—'

With his thoughts landing there, Ke Mingqing manipulated Giovanni to speak, asking Cosimo, "Since the introductions are done, can I go back to playing gomoku with her?"

"Go do your thing, taking care of kids is really not easy," Cosimo said. "But in Death's Crow, you're the one with the most free time, so she's in your hands."

"I heard her mention something—" Giovanni suddenly asked. "Were you guys planning to abandon her?"

Bai Ziling hadn't actually said any such thing.

She looked at Giovanni curiously, not understanding how he knew about this. Giovanni merely reached out and ruffled her white hair.

Cosimo fell silent for a moment. "This matter needs a vote once everyone is assembled. After all, our operations are highly dangerous, and always dragging a little girl along isn't a solution. If an enemy catches her one day and uses her to threaten you, what would you do then?"

"Where could she go?" Giovanni posed a question from another angle.

"Don't underestimate a vampire's ability to survive," Cosimo said in a low voice. "In your eyes, she might just be a harmless stray cat, but she won't hold back when it comes to hunting mice."

He lowered his voice further. "And that scene would definitely be far bloodier than you imagine."

Giovanni paid it no mind, but being reminded of the subject, he asked the white-haired girl, "Are you hungry?"

Bai Ziling hesitated for a moment before nodding gently.

The two walked over to a corner. Giovanni sat cross-legged leaning against the wall and pulled aside the collar of his shirt, exposing his shoulder.

Bai Ziling sat in his lap, silently leaned in close to his shoulder, and bit down.

Giovanni gazed out the window at the expanse of wasteland. His mind suddenly flashed back to the scene he had witnessed in the bedroom just moments ago—Xia Zili, with blue flames drifting from the corners of her eyes.

He let out a long breath, thinking to himself, 'Everyone in Death's Crow, you'd all better pray that a witch doesn't suddenly emerge out of nowhere in Leijing.'

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