Chapter 49: Could You Have Lived Just a Little Longer?

Red-Eyed Crow felt brushed off and sulked for a while but eventually gave in. Recalling the past with a deep tone, he said, "A long, long time ago, I was just a happy crow..."

Chi Feichi: "..."

He had a feeling this story would be a long one...

"I found life with the flock too boring, so I left and ventured out on my own. Then I met another group of crows..."

Red-Eyed Crow spent a full minute recounting his heroic deeds. "That’s how I became their leader, leading them through life..."

Chi Feichi silently switched to treating another crow’s wounds.

Afterward, Red-Eyed Crow spent another minute describing life with his followers, then sighed gloomily.

"But after many years, they all died. I lived on. Then after a few more years, their offspring died, and I still survived. Eventually, I left again, wandering from place to place. When I found a place I wanted to stay, I gathered a group of crows as my followers, led them to hunt, watched them die. I’ve traveled to many places, and my followers have changed generation after generation..."

Chi Feichi paused his movements and looked seriously at the crow. "How many years have you lived?"

"I'm not really sure. Most of the time, I’ve been on the road. The places I passed used to have many rice fields, but now there are more and more tall buildings. I can’t even find the place I came from. All I know is that the crows who followed me died off batch after batch. If one generation counts as a cycle, I’ve led fourteen generations of crows. This is the fifteenth..." Red-Eyed Crow said with a sigh. "Their lifespans are too short. I came to you because I wanted to find a creature that lives longer to keep me company."

Chi Feichi raised his hand and massaged the bridge of his nose, exhaling deeply, trying to stay calm. "You might have misunderstood human lifespans. Wild crows live about thirteen years. You say you’ve led fourteen generations, which, if you’re right, means you’ve lived at least 182 years—and that’s a conservative estimate. Meanwhile, humans living to eighty-two is considered quite good."

"Huh?" The Red-Eyed Crow cocked his head mischievously. "I’ve lived that long?"

"How did you manage to live so long?" Chi Feichi asked.

After estimating the crow’s approximate age, his first thought was: I must be insane—hearing animals speak must be a hallucination. Otherwise, how else could there be a crow that’s over 180 years old?

But then again, he did receive information from animals and plants that he otherwise couldn’t have known. Fei Chi had indeed guided him through the darkness, and as a human alone, he wouldn’t have been able to see or pinpoint Conan’s location perfectly in such darkness.

So that possibility could be ruled out.

Then... could it be that this crow was a spirit? Had it cultivated?

"I don’t know why I’ve lived so long," the crow lamented. "That’s a question I wish I knew the answer to as well."

"Have you ever had any extraordinary encounters?" Chi Feichi prompted.

"What kind of extraordinary encounters?" The crow looked puzzled. "It’s just been a life of searching for food and playing around when full."

Chi Feichi looked at the Red-Eyed Crow again. Slightly larger than the others, with sleek black feathers, but what stood out most were those red eyes. Suddenly, an idea struck him...

Genetic mutation!

Normally, crows have black eyes. It’s rare for disease to cause red eyes, but genetic mutation is a possibility.

If this crow is healthy, then the red eyes are likely a sign of genetic mutation, which might explain its extended lifespan.

Though this world’s time is chaotic, sometimes even defying Newton’s laws, and there’s a mystical being like Koizumi Akako, science still has its place—there are even drugs that turn people into children. So a crow with a mutation that extends its life isn’t impossible.

Just because the Red-Eyed Crow can speak human language doesn’t mean it’s a spirit; it might simply carry starling genes...

"Do you know about genetic mutations?"

"A bit," the crow stared into Chi Feichi’s eyes. "Like your eyes? Purple eyes aren’t common in humans."

"My eyes are hereditary," Chi Feichi explained. "They started with my maternal grandmother, who had a genetic mutation. It’s been passed down to my mother and me." He then settled back down to treat another crow’s injury.

Having reasoned this through, a long-lived Red-Eyed Crow—whether due to mysticism, science, or detective logic—didn’t seem so strange after all.

The crow looked at the others’ eyes one by one. "My eyes are different from theirs. So you think I live long because of a genetic mutation?"

"That’s just my guess. But if you’re looking for a companion, you might want to consider lizards..." Chi Feichi hesitated. "Well, lizards don’t live as long as you, and turtles’ lifespans aren’t that exaggerated either. But on some islands near the Pacific, there are herbivorous turtles that can live up to 300 years. If that’s not enough, you could try clams, which are known to live over 500 years."

"They don’t understand what I say. How can they be companions? I don’t want to just stare blankly at each other every day," the crow took two steps back and, very human-like, flapped his wings. He patted a nearby crow and sighed, "Actually, they don’t really understand me either. I’ve had to teach them bit by bit. After all these years, you’re the only one who understands me clearly... Hey, can’t you try to live longer?"

What a thing to say!

Chi Feichi shot the Red-Eyed Crow a glance and continued wrapping the bandages on the injured crow in his hands. "That’s not something you can just will. There are many accidents in this world. Who knows when either of us will die? You should think about whether you want to stay."

"No need to think—I’ve already considered it. Your lifespan may be shorter, but it’s still better than a crow’s. You understand me, you’re good at fighting, you’ve got that crow spirit, and you don’t blame that snake for fighting—you even help heal animals. Of course, I’ll stay with you." The crow finished his list and then frowned. "But what if you die and I don’t? What should I do then?"

"Don’t jinx it," Chi Feichi said, knocking the crow lightly on the head. "Let’s get through this year first."

Who knew how long this year would last, or if it would even pass.

"That’s all we can do," the crow sighed and then turned his head toward Chi Feichi. "If you die, should I die with you? I don’t think I can take it..."

Chi Feichi paused and set the wrapped crow aside. "Die with you?"

"Isn’t that what humans say? One dies and the other follows," the crow muttered gloomily. "That’s the idea..."

"Read more books," Chi Feichi said as he picked up the next injured crow. "And if you’re with me, you’ll have to help out."

"No problem. Just tell me what to do," the crow lowered his head, scraping the ground with his claws. "I don’t have much to do anyway—just lead them to find food and drink, and have some fun."

Chi Feichi added, "I can provide food and lodging."

"Not for now. Finding food is fun. When there’s nothing to do, I still want to go out and hunt myself," the crow pondered, continuing to scratch the ground. "I want to fly outside—I don’t want to live in a cage."

"Alright." Chi Feichi nodded.

The Red-Eyed Crow stopped scratching and flapped his wings, patting the neighboring crow. "I’ve numbered them all from 2 to 22. Number 1 is empty—that’s me. How about you help me pick a name? If you die and I don’t want to follow, I won’t change my name. It’ll be a permanent memorial..."

Chi Feichi was speechless but ignored the crow’s ominous words. "Feimo."

"Great name! Now everyone will know we’re a team," the Red-Eyed Crow nodded happily, jumped beside Fei Chi, and flapped his wings. "From now on, we’re companions. Please take good care of me!"

Fei Chi lay sprawled on the ground, exhausted. Although he couldn’t understand the crow’s excited chatter, based on Chi Feichi’s earlier words, this guy had been recruited. Fei Chi didn’t mind Feimo’s antics and lazily rolled to one side. "No fighting today. We’ll fight another day. Next time, don’t cheat by recruiting so many crows—one-on-one!"

"You don’t have to feel guilty. Although we just fought and you attacked my dear followers first, I enjoyed this fight," Feimo said earnestly, then turned to Chi Feichi. "By the way, master, I have a gift for you..."

With that, he flew up into a tree.

Chi Feichi: "..."

Gifts weren’t important; what mattered was that he needed to think about communication between his two pets.

Ten seconds later...

Chi Feichi silently retracted his earlier thought that the gift wasn’t important.

Who could explain why Feimo had detective armbands? Two of them!

Considering the crow’s style and the fact that Red-Eyed Crow had appeared outside Ayumi’s apartment before, it was easy to guess—they were definitely stolen!

But Ayumi should only have one, which meant Feimo had encountered other members of the Junior Detective League and stolen from them?

Though he didn’t know which two were stolen, he felt a dark cloud looming over his head.

If Conan and the others saw the detective armbands in his possession, would they think he was the one who ordered the crows to steal from the children?

Feimo placed the two detective armbands on the ground and proudly said, "The little girl you saved today used one of these tiny communicators to contact others. I thought it was pretty handy, but I didn’t steal it... well, the little girl’s communicator didn’t suit me. Then I saw two kids with these armbands, and they looked good. I wanted to take them as toys, but now I’m giving them to you as a gift!"

Chi Feichi picked up the armbands and confirmed they weren’t communicating, then said, "I know those four kids well, too."

Feimo immediately felt embarrassed, though only for a second or two, then said seriously, "Master, no rush. Let’s analyze this first! I didn’t show up at the time. To you humans, all crows look alike. They probably won’t recognize me. Since we’ve taken the items, we can’t just return them—that would be too suspicious. How about we destroy the evidence?"

Chi Feichi placed the armbands back on the ground. "Do it as soon as possible, and throw them far away."

"I’m on it!" Feimo’s eyes gleamed. His taste really was impeccable—he even found a human companion that suited him so well. He looked around, grabbed one of his less seriously injured followers, and flew off with the detective armbands in their beaks.

When Mori Enyue approached, she just happened to see two crows flying away. She didn’t think much of it, only noticing the animals lying all around, wrapped in bandages, looking as if they had collectively fallen after treatment...

Are these animals really going to be okay?