Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 37

Tonight’s silence felt almost excessive, even more profound than during the day.

Meng Xuexiao tidied his sleeping bag while glancing outside. The swaying shadows of the trees painted a picture of tranquil serenity.

If not for the crimson crescent moon hanging directly overhead, he could almost mistake this place for the Federation Military Academy.

This must be the advantage of setting up camp in a secure location, he thought.

During their Team Combat Training Class, their instructor had casually mentioned the best spots for wilderness camping. Though it was just a passing remark, Meng Xuexiao had committed it to memory.

Back then, he’d often imagined that if his F-Class physique led to expulsion from the Academy, he’d find a remote, desolate planet to hide on. Survival skills would be essential.

He never expected to put them to use so soon!

And they were working perfectly!

This was practically the greatest validation of all his past efforts.

Meng Xuexiao stood rooted to the spot, desperately suppressing his urge to relax. He repeated to himself, we’re still in the Duel Arena. I can’t let my guard down. One slip could cost me my life.

But Meng Xuexiao couldn’t suppress the upward curl of his lips, a hint of youthful pride clinging to them.

If the aftercare auntie could see him now, she’d be so proud!

He straightened his back even further, humming a little tune as he spread out his sleeping bag. He even used some spare fabric to build a small nest beside it for the raven.

Though tiny, the nest was complete with all the essentials, and Meng Xuexiao had tucked a little fabric flower he’d folded into its edge. It looked utterly charming, brimming with girlish whimsy.

Meng Xuexiao stepped back slightly, examining the nest from various angles. Satisfied, he nodded and glanced at the time.

By now, the “Horned Raven” should have finished its meal, right?

Holding the nest in his hand, he walked toward the raven and the Enforcer.

The two were still locked in a tense standoff. If the surrounding air had a shape, it would have frozen into a block of ice and shattered.

In this oppressive, silent atmosphere, Meng Xuexiao’s footsteps rang out clearly.

A new line of text appeared on the control panel screen: [This felt like an ultimatum.]

[Meng Xuexiao’s walking speed is 3 kilometers per hour. You have half a minute to decide.]

“As if there’s any benefit to finishing this,” Raven scoffed.

His talons lifted from the ground, his sharp, hooked claws glinting coldly like a scythe ready to harvest wheat, capable of easily slicing through the thick iron plating of a Mecha.

Meng Xuexiao’s footsteps grew closer, and the young man’s gentle voice seemed to reach Raven’s ears, “Horned Raven, the food—”

At that moment, time seemed to slow to a crawl, as if running at 0.3 or 0.4 speed.

The Raven hovered in the air for a split second, then dove down with lightning speed. His pale yellow beak opened, revealing rows of fine, serrated teeth hidden inside. He swallowed the food on the lid in one gulp from top to bottom.

As an exceptionally perceptive Alien Beast, sensitive to both air currents and scents, Raven immediately tasted something off. The strangely flavored food forced his throat to convulse, nearly making him vomit it back up.

If not for the thick black feathers covering its face, the Enforcer might have witnessed the entire process of Raven’s complexion shifting from green to yellow, then from yellow to black.

Finally, Raven pressed his tongue against the back of his throat, forcibly crushing the mass of food and shoving it down his gullet.

He squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth, “Enforcer, sooner or later, you’ll fall into my hands…”

Before he could finish the word “day,” Meng Xuexiao’s footsteps had drawn dangerously close.

Raven cut himself off, letting out a couple of nonchalant “hmphs.” He lowered his claws to the ground, deliberately lifting one and tucking it into his fluffy feathers as if injured.

With awkward hops on one leg, he limped to Meng Xuexiao’s side, nudged the empty food container lid toward him with his beak, and tilted his fuzzy black head.

It was a textbook display of cuteness.

At that moment, Meng Xuexiao’s gaze was completely fixed on the empty lid before him, “Impressive! You finished it all! What an appetite!”

Even Meng Xuexiao himself had just pinched his nose and forced it down.

It seemed the “Horned Raven” hadn’t eaten before because the food was too cold.

Perfect timing, he had just finished building a nest for the raven.

This should… barely qualify as a surprise, right?

He crouched down, meeting  Raven’s gaze, and instinctively hid the nest behind his back, “As a reward for finishing your food, I have a gift for you. Can you guess what it is?”

The young man’s tone was light and cheerful, his hidden hand gently swaying behind him, causing his entire body to sway adorably from side to side like a playful kitten’s tail.

Raven’s single leg trembled slightly, nearly losing its balance.

With its exceptional vision, it had already seen the nest before Meng Xuexiao even tried to hide it.

Even if it hadn’t, the Enforcer would have made sure it did.

Raven’s peripheral vision caught a small screen rising from the control panel in a corner Meng Xuexiao couldn’t see. It stood upright, facing Raven directly, as if afraid it might miss it.

The screen displayed live footage. Meng Xuexiao’s hand occupied only a small portion of the frame. The rest was filled by the nest.

A close-up focused on the pale pink fabric flower nestled within.

Raven, “……”

A mechanical monstrosity, and yet it’s so damn elaborate.

Before Meng Xuexiao could utter those words, Raven had dismissed it as a whimsical craft project born of youthful impulse. Now, even this renowned master of deception could no longer delude itself.

If it were to use such a thing, its ranking on the wanted list would plummet several places.

Doing this during a mission might be excusable, at least there would be a veneer of disguise. But this was its true form!

In the past, when it glided gracefully above mission targets, wings spread wide, who wouldn’t hail it as “an elegant devil with a mysterious aesthetic”?

Strange, why isn’t there any reaction?

Meng Xuexiao hefted the nest in his hand, his expression puzzled.

Meng Xuexiao had watched videos of pet vloggers before, where their parrots would eagerly compete to help open packages, even if it was just a cardboard box.

Whether it was a domestic animal or an Alien Beast, that innate curiosity about the unknown should be the same.

Why wouldn’t it apply to the “Horned Raven”?

Perhaps, because the “Horned Raven” had lived in the wild its entire life, it was accustomed to a life of constant vigilance?

With this thought, Meng Xuexiao could understand.

Not wanting to startle the creature, he slowly brought out the bird’s nest and presented it to the “Horned Raven”. He then rotated the nest 360 degrees in front of the raven, demonstrating that it was completely safe.

The fabric flower was large, with numerous petals and leaves. Anxious that the raven might suspect something hidden inside, Meng Xuexiao showed it with meticulous care. His slender, pale fingers pressed against the petals, their pink-tinged tips appearing even softer than the fabric.

Yet Raven remained motionless.

Meng Xuexiao froze, momentarily stunned.

He had specifically researched this beforehand. Even Alien Beasts couldn’t resist a warm, secure nest.

Even now, many Alien Beasts are cave-dwelling creatures. In the Empire, despite owning vast villas and estates, they often recreate their bedrooms to resemble their most primitive nests.

This situation wasn’t likely due to fear, but rather… the nest simply wasn’t suitable.

Meng Xuexiao reexamined the nest he had made.

His craftsmanship was far from refined. The nest was a patchwork of mismatched fabric scraps, gaudy and somewhat shabby. The stitches holding it together were crooked and uneven.

His caregiver had passed away early, and Meng Xuexiao, plagued by poor health and preoccupied with making ends meet, had never had much time to hone such skills. His standard for his handiwork was simple, as long as it held together and served its purpose, aesthetics didn’t matter.

He hadn’t minded when using it himself, but now, offering this…

Meng Xuexiao’s face flushed crimson. He wished he could dig a hole and disappear into the ground.

He couldn’t help but recall the images he’d seen online. Imperial Beast nests were renowned as works of art, minimalist yet highly functional. And his creation?

Looking at the crooked, uneven stitches, even Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but avert his gaze.

This is so embarrassing!

No wonder no one wants this…

He gripped the nest tightly, instantly shrinking the palm-sized structure by half. Meng Xuexiao wished he could hide it entirely between his fingers as he strode back, as if a high-level Alien Beast were hot on his heels.

This is utterly humiliating! How could I not realize sooner that what I just did… was practically a public execution?!

Meng Xuexiao’s hurried step brought him crashing into something soft and fluffy, like a bird’s wing feathers.

He froze, his pace slowing, and saw the raven between his legs.

Earlier, the raven had been hopping on one leg, its other limb tucked up as if injured. Now, both feet were on the ground, taking small, hurried steps to chase after Meng Xuexiao.

The sight reminded him of the chickens kept by the caretaker auntie in the countryside courtyard, their stubby legs churning as they scurried about.

The Raven was so small that it was still a distance from Meng Xuexiao’s hand, which hung at his side. But it kept jumping, its little legs pumping alternately, until on its third leap, it finally managed to snag the corner of the bird’s nest with the tip of its beak.

Now that it had finally gotten hold of the nest, the raven refused to let go. It dangled from the edge, its feet dangling in the air. With each step Meng Xuexiao took, the raven’s tail swayed along with the nest.

It looked rather… like it was being a little rascal.

Meng Xuexiao, “Uh…”

What exactly was going on here?

Suddenly, a possibility struck him, and his eyes widened, “Could it be… you like this nest?”

Meng Xuexiao was so excited that he accidentally shook the nest again. Raven, worried about being shaken off, lunged its upper body further into the nest.

It was clear now, the raven really did like the nest.

If it liked it so much, Meng Xuexiao wondered why it had taken him so long to realize. His reaction time was truly…

Meng Xuexiao crouched down and placed the nest back beside Raven. The bird immediately burrowed completely inside, as if afraid Meng Xuexiao might take it away again.

Meng Xuexiao sighed helplessly, reaching out to gently tap Raven’s forehead. His pale fingers against Raven’s glossy black feathers looked like a jade stone fallen onto a black velvet carpet.

“You really aren’t picky at all, are you?”

Despite his words, he licked his lips, the corners of his pale pink mouth curving upward slightly.

Raven’s cooperation had stirred a restless itch in him, a sudden sense of having found a good friend, a true connoisseur, and he felt an urge to try something else.

Raven immediately flipped over and scrambled out of the nest. Gripping the edge with its sharp beak, it struggled forward.

The nest was too large for it, forcing the bird to half-push, half-drag it. To add to the difficulty, it occasionally paused to feign exhaustion, further slowing its progress.

Yet in the end, it managed to position the nest beside Meng Xuexiao’s sleeping bag.

After a moment, the raven raised its head to gaze at Meng Xuexiao. Spreading one wing, it gently patted the sleeping bag.

The gesture reminded Meng Xuexiao of scenes from Western dramas where aristocratic butlers urged their young masters to go to sleep. He had admired the butlers’ elegance back then, but seeing the same motion performed by a raven now…

“Pfft!” He couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

He flipped over and sat up on his sleeping bag, mimicking the raven’s gesture by patting the bag, “Alright, let’s rest together then.”

One by one, the lights inside the mecha dimmed, leaving only a few emergency lights and the faint glow of the control panel.

The control panel’s light was so dim it was barely distinguishable from the dark screen, which displayed a surveillance feed.

Meng Xuexiao huddled in his sleeping bag, clutching his blanket, his eyelashes fluttering with each breath. Halfway through his sleep, his hand suddenly moved, waving briefly over the blanket before quickly touching the raven’s soft feathers beside him.

They were warm, radiating body heat.

In the vast mecha, he wasn’t alone.

Meng Xuexiao gave an almost imperceptible smile, muttered a few indistinct words, and withdrew his hand contentedly.

His breathing gradually steadied.

[Heartbeat detected… normal.]

[Respiration rate… normal.]

[Confirmation complete. Initiating deep sleep mode.]

Even before landing on Yanxing, the Enforcer had sensed that Meng Xuexiao’s mental state was highly strained. He had repeatedly changed campsite locations and had stared blankly outside while arranging his sleeping bag, as if terrified some unseen danger might suddenly emerge.

Humans were fragile creatures, too easily killed.

Fortunately, the raven had willingly offered himself up.

While this feigned weakness was contemptible, it wasn’t without its merits.

The moment Meng Xuexiao left Yanxing, the raven would lose all value. The Enforcer would simply discard him, throwing him to those actively searching for the raven.

…

The Other Side of Yanxing.

“Have you found Raven yet? If he manages to steal President Chu’s property, we’ll have to return to him with our heads.” A tall man in a crisp black uniform, bearing Chu Sinian’s emblem, turned to address his subordinate.

Since Raven’s theft from Chu Sinian’s office, they had been relentlessly tracking him. But Raven, the Federation’s most wanted mercenary, proved cunning. He had been playing cat and mouse with them within the Federation Military Academy, all to stall until Meng Xuexiao and Li Hao’s duel began.

The duel required a teleportation device, allowing them to bypass the academy’s surveillance and escape in one swift move. Despite their carefully laid ambush, they had yet to find Raven’s trail.

This shouldn’t be happening. They had brought specialized tracking equipment specifically designed to locate Raven.

“Boss! Look at this data fluctuation, it’s from several hours ago! Based on the magnitude of the fluctuation, it’s likely…the Enforcer!”

The man known as “Boss” immediately understood what he meant. The Enforcer was the bane of all mechanical creations, and they were the only ones capable of influencing, or even blocking, their tracking signals.

But this was impossible.

The Boss frowned, “Didn’t you thoroughly review the data I provided?”

“The Enforcer, after all, originated from the Federation. While it’s methods might be extreme, their overall goal is still for the betterment of humanity.”

He paused suspiciously when he said “betterment,” as if even he found this justification somewhat dubious.

But he quickly refocused, “The Empire’s Alien Beasts are fundamentally opposed to humans and the Federation. Tell me, what reason would the Enforcer have to protect Raven?”

“Moreover, Raven himself is a deceiver, skilled in disguise. The Enforcer despises such types.”

“Therefore, it’s impossible. Keep searching.”