[Moments Later...]

The pudgy man had just opened a safe and was now holding a pouch full of green coins, "T-this is all I have left, besides my properties."

He looked up with hesitance at the boy across from him, tears forming in his eyes at the prospect of losing so much money as he shakily asked, "Y-You really have a plan in mind, right?"

Crow returned his gaze with a smile, "Of course I do."

SWISHHHH!

'What?!'

That was one of the last thoughts that went through the pudgy man's mind as he felt the floor coming closer, seeing his headless body in sight as his final thought uttered, 'I'm such a fool.'

With that last utterance, everything went black.

Meanwhile, Crow stood in the center of the office, now with a bag in hand.

He took a peek inside, spotting various green coins that shone with brilliance.

A smirk rose on his lips as he nodded his head, 'Not bad, got some pocket change now.'

The black boxes had removed all traces, and so, making sure everything was in order, Crow slipped out the door and left down the street.

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[Sometime Later In Another Part of the Market...]

'Where to go now?..'

Crow was walking down the bustling market, past lines of fresh produce and merchandise, all proudly showcased behind the counters of vendors showing their wares.

Crow chuckled to himself as he thought of the chubby merchant who took him here, 'Shame I had to kill him, but he saw those black boxes, so there's no way I could let him live after that.'

A pout formed on his lips as his thoughts continued, 'Probably could've actually gotten rich too... oh well, strength is the priority, and at least I got some money now... and plus, it's... it's just a game anyways.'

Pushing these thoughts out of his mind, he focused his attention on the weight of the jiggling pouch in his robes which put a smile on his lips.

He continued to survey the area as he walked.

It was crowded and lively, with it now being midday.

A smile lingered on Crow's lips as he walked, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere until he stopped in his tracks, an epiphany going off in his mind, 'Wait a minute... I don't even know what this girl, N0r's student, looks like...'

...

"Fuk."

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[1 Hour Later...]

Crow sat perched atop a 2-story building surveying the area, "Christ sake, how the hell do I forget somethin' so basic?"

Even after all this time, he was still beating himself up over not finding out that information.

In the past hour, Crow had surveyed the area in search of any notable figure.

He had gotten closer to Sector 3 to discover that the security was indeed much tighter, with each of the guards giving Crow a tingling sensation just by looking at them.

So he decided to do what he could.

He waited.

A bored sigh escaped Crow's lips as he pouted, 'I hope I'm not here too long.'

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[Another Hour Later...]

Crow sat atop the same roof of the building from afar.

His eyes were starting to feel heavy, and his back and ass ached from the roof's sturdy exterior.

'Fuk, a few Z's won't kill me, right?' Yet as he thought that, his eyebrows raised, and clarity swiftly returned to his eyes as he saw someone exiting out of the Sector 3 gate, best of all, it was a girl dressed in a white robe adorned in green patterns!

He couldn't make out much more of her features from this distance of about 25meters (82ft), but a girl leaving Sector 3 pretty heavily narrowed down his targets.

Crow leapt up onto his feet, his ass quivering in relief of it no longer having to rest upon this uneven jagged surface, 'Yeh, me too, buddy,' he groaned as he patted his glutes.

He then swiftly descended while doing his best to keep track of this girl.

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[Meanwhile... in another part of Sector 2]

"Hmph", a confident harrumph sounded from a girl's mouth as she strolled down the street, each person who saw her making way as they knew best to.

She had bronze skin and long silver hair that glistened in the skylight as it draped down in a long twisted-rope braid down her lower back with a messy front that nearly hung over her bright silver eyes.

She recalled the supplies her Master requested, making various stops, where people all respectfully lowered their heads and gave the goods for a steep discount if not outright free, while lobbing out compliments.

This put a smile on the girl's face as she continued with her tasks.

Finally, after only around 30minutes, the task for today was done, and the girl began making her way back to the gate with her brown satchel in hand.

Yet, at that time, a voice called out, "Yo, wait up!"

Question marks went off in the girl's mind, yet she closed her eyes and calmed her anger before turning around to confront this person calling upon her.

She turned to see a young boy who looked to be around her age with caramel skin and black twisted hair.

He gave a smile that looked like it was meant to be innocent, yet looked anything but.

"Yo!" The boy called out as he waved his hand and made his way over.

The girl looked at him with slight confusion and disgust; his face and clothes were still caked in dust, and his rather familiar attitude didn't sit right with her when she was almost certain she had never met this person before.

Yet, the boy spoke once more, "I'm Crow. My Sensei, Raz, told me to find N0r, and I'm guessing you're her student? So... I'll follow you back."

The girl narrowed her eyes as her thoughts raced, 'Teacher did mention something like this and did say that he would be about my age...'

She gave the boy, this "Crow," a suspicious glance as he just looked at her with the same slight smirk.

Finally, she sighed, 'Not like he'd be able to just know all the details without actually being who he said, unless...'

A look of fear struck her across her face, 'He was kidnapped and replaced...'

Yet, suddenly a realization dawned upon her, 'Wait a minute, Teacher is the strongest ever, if he's lying she'll just make him go POOF!"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" The girl started walking back to the gate as she laughed out loud while holding her stomach, causing onlookers to gawk at her with confused looks.

Meanwhile, Crow followed behind with even steps and his slight smirk never leaving his face.

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[Meanwhile, In Sector 1...]

Trash littered the alleyways, with rats scurrying about.

The alleyways were like a maze with strange twists and turns that didn't even come close to resembling any habitable land.

Along the alleyways were houses made of scraps, sticks, and any junk that could be salvaged for the cover from nature.

Yet, within this entire Sector, few buildings actually resembled anything remotely close to an establishment or home.

However, 1 building did, and was located not too far from where Crow had teleported into.

It was a 4 story building that looked like a castle of gray wood. 

With gates all around, it stood out from this wasteland, keeping the pests and people out.

Within the top floor of this building sat a group of men seated around a circular table.

The table had the logo of the side profile of a rat with its front legs of a rodent and the back end of a snake wrapping around to eat itself.

Discussions and talks were going on, and the room was cloudy with cigars being puffed up by the numerous users seated around.

Finally, the discussion came around to a topic of note: "Boss, one of our low-level members has gone missing."

The "boss" they were referring to was concealed by the thick layers of smoke and shadows, his upper half wearing a red fur coat over his all-white suit.

"Oh?" the boss responded, "Any signs of struggle or hints where the body is?"

"None at all," the gang member responded as he sifted through some papers in his hand. "And to make things stranger, some of our boys who were supposed to meet with a merchant for a deal today went missing in a similar way."

The room was quiet, all but the sound of inhales and exhales of smoke filled the room, before the boss spoke up once more, "Hmm, where is this merchant?"

The underling replied, "We've got word he's already back in Sector 2."

The boss's eyes glistened with a red light, "Hmm... have some of our boys reach out to 'im, let 'em rough 'im up if they 'ave to."

The underling gave a coy smile with a bow, "No problems, boss. That fatty merchant has always known his place."

The boss only nodded to this as he looked to his side and stared out the window, the gates to Sector 2 alit with torches, "Hmm."

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