Chapter 60 Five Layers of Disguise
Two pens rolled and rolled on the table, falling to the floor beneath with a soft thump-thump.
Chi Feichi calmly bent down to pick up the pens. "Sorry, did I scare you?"
Non-Ink turned its head to look at Hissashi: *Master really walks silently, it's too scary for a Crow. Is my hearing getting worse, or were we too engrossed in chatting? You know what I mean, right?*
Hissashi looked back: *So you were scared too. What a coincidence!*
Non-Ink wanted to discern from Hissashi's face whether the other understood what it meant, but finally despaired. A snake face has no expression, not even a flicker in its gaze.
Hissashi also looked at Non-Ink's black face, then at Non-Ink's red eyes darting around, confused. What was his little buddy trying to express?
Chi Feichi put the pens back on the table. Just as he was about to reach for the homework book, he saw a small paw and a tail tip press down on it, inching backwards.
"Master, this is privacy..."
"Master, maybe you shouldn't look at it..."
Chi Feichi didn't insist. He withdrew his hand, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "I think you guys need a different way to communicate. Paper and pen aren't very convenient."
Non-Ink nodded, glancing at the homework book. *This thing definitely needs to be destroyed,* it thought. "Then... how about Morse Code?"
Hissashi also nodded. "Chatting too much makes me dizzy. Drawing characters with my tail is easier than biting a pen to draw strokes..."
"Morse Code won't work. If you both tap at the same time, it'll probably get confusing. Finding a sand table to draw characters isn't convenient either. Sand tables are hard to carry around. Computers and mobile phones are better. I'll get you each one..." Chi Feichi realized his slip of the tongue.
"One..."
"Strip..."
"..."
Silence.
A moment of silence hung in the air.
Chi Feichi decided to skip over it. "Tomorrow, I'll buy two computers and two mobile phones. I'll get you phone cards. Oh, right, Non-Ink, can you see things at night?"
This was an important question to clarify, because apart from owls, nightjars, night herons, and other nocturnal birds, most birds are somewhat night-blind.
"Dim places?" Non-Ink recalled. "If I'm slowly searching on the ground, I can still find things. If I'm just flying in the air, I can vaguely see human figures. But cities have lamplight, so places with lamplight are no problem."
"Hissashi has told you about the bounty, right?" Chi Feichi asked again.
"Told me, told me!" Non-Ink nodded frantically for a moment, then shook its head, forcibly stopping itself, and gave a dry cough.
Chi Feichi: "..."
He'd only heard that Erhas were highly contagious—don't raise other animals with them. He hadn't expected Hissashi's contagiousness to be weak either...
Non-Ink pretended as if nothing had happened and said seriously, "Sorry, Master. Hissashi said there's an action tonight, and I got a little excited and lost my composure. Master, let's analyze this first. For night searches, Hissashi is enough. I'm better suited to find those wanted criminals. I can command my brave subordinates to search together. Also, anything convenient to do in the air, I can do it, like surveying terrain, group fights, high-altitude attacks."
Chi Feichi nodded. *This crow has ideas.* He continued rummaging through the drawers. "That's about what I thought. But no need for fighting. You can usually wander around and look for people. When there's an action, you'll be responsible for reconnaissance, or maybe destroying surveillance cameras."
From a personality and habit perspective, Hissashi likes to stick to him and is suited to stay with him, like having his own infrared detector. Non-Ink, on the other hand, prefers to go out and wander, and that really plays to Non-Ink's strengths. It can play around and look for wanted criminals at the same time.
"No problem!" Non-Ink nodded again like a chick pecking at rice, then forcibly stopped. Seeing that Chi Feichi was still rummaging through the drawers, it breathed a sigh of relief.
It couldn't help it. Before, it saw Hissashi nodding all the time and curiously learned it. Suddenly nodding like this to express excitement was very addictive. Nodding and nodding, there was also a sense of relaxation, like emptying everything...
Addictive!
Chi Feichi rummaged through the four drawers under the table. He found a pile of homework books, game cards, Kamen Rider models, and marbles, but nothing that could be used as a whistle.
After rummaging, he realized he'd fallen into a mental rut.
Whistles for training birds serve two purposes: first, birds have sensitive hearing and can catch whistle sounds even from a long distance; second, they provide a location so birds can confirm their position and find their way based on the sound.
There was no communication problem between him and Non-Ink. They both carried small communicators; they could just report their locations directly.
"Master, it seems something fell out!" Hissashi reminded.
Chi Feichi looked up and saw a thin piece of paper fall out of a comic book. To be precise, it was an old invoice with printed words that were already a bit blurred. He picked it up and looked at it. "Chicken Hot Pot?"
Had he eaten this kind of thing before?
Japan has more cold dishes, and hot pot restaurants are rare. In all his memories, he'd only eaten hot pot two or three times, and those were all seafood hot pot.
Considering it was left by the original consciousness, Chi Feichi didn't throw it away. He put it back in the comic book and put everything except the homework books used for pet communication back into the drawer.
He checked the time. It was already 10:06 PM.
"Non-Ink, go see if the others are asleep."
"Okay!"
Non-Ink flew out, circled the Villa, and quickly flew back. "That big Driver is keeping watch in the Living Room. Everyone else is asleep."
"You go wait for me outside." Chi Feichi held out his hand, letting Hissashi crawl into his sleeve.
Before Non-Ink flew away, it also grabbed the 'chatting' homework book from the table with its claws and took it with it.
Chi Feichi opened the door and went straight downstairs.
Judging by the Driver's physique and posture, he'd definitely trained. Not just general fitness, but a master of close-range combat or killing. Probably a Driver and Bodyguard.
Chi Shinnosuke only brought one bodyguard, which meant this one person was enough to put Chi Shinnosuke at ease. His qualities in all aspects must be top-notch.
Someone like that would more or less have mastered some tricks of counter-tracking, safety checks, and night watch. Sneaking out rashly and being mistaken for a thief would be more trouble. It was better to go out openly and honestly.
As soon as he reached the First Floor, the Middle-aged Man was already standing by the stairs, greeting Chi Feichi in Japanese with a strange pronunciation. "Young Master Hissashi."
Chi Feichi nodded. "I'm going Outside."
"This..." The Middle-aged Man subconsciously glanced upstairs, then quickly looked back. "Do you need a car? I have to keep watch here tonight, so I'm afraid I can't drive you."
"Give me the car key," Chi Feichi asked casually, "How about we have a Close-Range Combat competition another day?"
The Middle-aged Man was a little surprised and raised his eyes to scrutinize Chi Feichi.
Asians aren't as burly as Europeans in terms of physique, and Chi Feichi was wearing loose Clothes, looking no different from any other student. But to a trained eye, you could see clues as to whether someone had practiced combat.
The Middle-aged Man was a bodyguard, so his Eyesight wasn't bad. After observing, although he couldn't gauge Chi Feichi's level, he could roughly tell that Chi Feichi had practiced Close-Range Combat. He nodded and handed the car key to Chi Feichi. "Tomorrow is my day off, and I'll be resting at the Villa. I'll be awake by afternoon. Young Master Hissashi can call me then. Please be careful out there."
"Thank you."
Chi Feichi took the car key and went Outside, returning to his Apartment. He got his gun and Disguise Kit and went out, finding a secluded Public Toilet to Disguise himself.
Hissashi and Non-Ink watched curiously from the side.
Chi Feichi did a Disguise as an ordinary Middle-aged Man, then suddenly stopped. He tore off the Disguise Fake Face, fiddled with it, and changed to a Skull Head Disguise. He applied a Barrier Layer, then put on a Saitama Disguise over it...
He applied a Barrier Layer, then put on a Balding Middle-aged Man Disguise. A little chubby...
He applied another Barrier Layer, then put on an ordinary young man Disguise. His face was rounder...
He applied another Barrier Layer, and finally put on a Fat Person Disguise. His face was practically a pig's head.
"My technique still needs improvement."
Chi Feichi turned his head and looked at the image in the Mirror.
Although tearing off faces was indeed satisfying, his main goal was to test if he could apply multiple layers of Disguise. If he needed to change faces, he could just tear them off.
However, even considering that too many wigs would pile up strangely, he'd added three images—Skull Head, Bald Head, and Balding—at the beginning to control the height on top. But facial padding plus Barrier Layers still made his face unable to hold its shape.
Five layers of Disguise were about the limit.
And he had to be careful when tearing them off. If the Barrier Layer wasn't secure, he could easily tear off too much by accident...
By the time Chi Feichi went into the Toilet Stall, changed into Loose Clothing, and stuffed Inflatable Padding to round out his Body Shape, Non-Ink couldn't watch anymore. It lowered its head and muttered to Hissashi, "Humans really like to torment themselves..."
Hissashi listened to Non-Ink cawing in its ear, thought for a moment, and said softly, "I feel like I've gone blind too."
Chi Feichi was speechless as he applied Fingerprint and Palm Print Concealing Film to his palms. Did these two think their whispers were quiet?
He'd heard everything, okay...?
The most amazing thing was that even talking past each other, they could still complain together. It was definitely a friendship that transcended species.
He left the Public Toilet, 'borrowed' a car on the street, and drove all the way to near Beihu Town Station. Non-Ink flew out the car window.
The car didn't stop, circling around before parking on the Overpass across from the Station.
Ten minutes later, Non-Ink flew back and darted through the open car window. "Master, there are three drunks wandering around inside the Station, a couple is lovey-dovey on the chairs in front of the Waiting Hall, and a homeless man is resting in the Wall Corner near the Lockers..."
"Is there a problem?" Chi Feichi had estimated that Non-Ink wouldn't need this long to scout the Situation.
"The couple and the three drunks are fine, but that homeless man definitely has a problem," Non-Ink said firmly. "Although his Clothes are old and dirty, and his palms are dirty too, I saw that his wrists are very clean and his skin is delicate. He keeps glancing towards the Lockers and watching those three drunks on the other side."
"Is anyone carrying guns or other Weapons?" Chi Feichi asked.
"No!" Non-Ink was very sure.
"Non-Ink, you're an excellent scout," Chi Feichi praised. He took Hissashi and got out of the car, walking towards the Station. "Let me tell you about my Situation. Generally, if there aren't more than three people in an ambush and no snipers, I can get away safely. If no one's carrying Weapons, I can consider myself Safety in Disguise. In the future, you can also plan our advance and retreat routes."
"Advance and retreat routes..." Non-Ink thought for a moment, then asked excitedly, "Master, can you climb in through the Ventilation Window? If you can, we can go in through the Ventilation Window. Using the Back Row Lockers for cover, I have a route to take the Things without alerting anyone."
"ok, go try it." Chi Feichi agreed.
Any partnership needs a process of understanding and working together. Only with enough understanding can you develop a Tacit Agreement.
(End of chapter)