5: Chapter 5 Human Friends, Mountain Rangers

"I see. In any case, thank you. If you don't mind, we can call each other brothers, help each other out, and face difficulties together."

Bai Xuan was not surprised by this suggestion.

The crow agreed without hesitation; this was exactly what he wanted to see: "Good, good brother."

Following that, he began to introduce himself: "My name is Xiao Hei, you can just call me Brother Hei; 'Brother Crow' sounds a bit awkward."

"You have a name?" Bai Xuan was a bit curious.

The crow nodded gently, his tone revealing pride: "Yes, it was given to me by a human friend of mine. Do you want to pick a name too? If you need help, just say so. My vocabulary is quite extensive, and if all else fails, I can ask my human friend to help you name yourself."

"A human friend?"

Bai Xuan hadn't expected the crow to have such an experience. That was fine, too; since the crow had interacted with humans, he should know some information about this world.

The crow explained: "Before, I was attacked by other birds and was seriously injured. After escaping, I hid in the grass to avoid that bird, and I happened to meet a human. He saved me, fed me, played with me, and gave me a name. He is a very, very good person, and we are very, very close friends."

"Could you take me to meet him?" Bai Xuan asked after a moment of contemplation.

Being close to humans was the only way to get more useful information.

The crow hesitated, his tone becoming serious: "I can, but you have to promise me that you won't hurt him."

Xiao Hei's concerns were not unreasonable. After all, with Bai Xuan's size, if he wanted to hurt someone, it would be fatal. Xiao Hei had to get Bai Xuan's promise before he would be willing to take him to see his human friend.

"I promise, as long as he doesn't hurt me, I will never hurt him."

Bai Xuan wouldn't kill Xiao Hei's friend for no reason. If the other party hurt him, Bai Xuan would choose to fight back.

"Good. By the way, have you thought of a name yet? Do you need me to help you pick one?"

"Just call me Xiao Bai."

His surname was Bai, so he might as well be called Xiao Bai; it was easy to remember.

"Xiao Bai, Xiao Hei, we're actually quite a good match. Hahaha."

"Indeed, we are quite compatible. Then, Brother Hei, I'll be counting on you in the future." Bai Xuan smiled.

Xiao Hei had a large vocabulary, which he must have learned from that human friend.

This made Bai Xuan even more eager to meet the human friend Xiao Hei spoke of.

Only by meeting that human friend could he learn more about this world.

"Let's not delay, let's go. I promise that person is a very, very good person and will never hurt us."

Xiao Hei was enthusiastic, and after saying this, he flapped his wings and flew into the air.

Bai Xuan followed closely behind, following Xiao Hei to the residence of that human friend.

At the same time, he remained vigilant at all times; it pays to be careful.

After some time.

In the forest, there was a two-story wooden cabin belonging to a human.

There were flowers and plants planted at the entrance, as well as clothes hanging out to dry, various tools, and so on.

Bai Xuan and Xiao Hei arrived there, and Bai Xuan stood on a tree branch, not moving any further forward: "Brother Hei, I'm a bit shy around strangers, you go on ahead by yourself."

To be safe, it was better to hide in the tree and observe first.

Bai Xuan looked at the modern tools and clothes in front of him, observing them carefully, wanting to glean more useful information from them.

"It seems this isn't ancient times, so what world am I in now? Is this a parallel world? What kind of weapons are used here, and what is the power system? Or perhaps I didn't travel to another world at all, but am still in the original world, only reborn as a Goshawk with my memories intact? Then why are there levels and the ability to evolve? And where exactly am I?"

All these questions left Bai Xuan somewhat confused for the moment; now he could only see if there was more useful information to be found.

Meanwhile, the crow arrived at the entrance of the house, stood on a chair, and called out to the house several times: "Caw, caw, caw."

A moment later, the house door opened, and a young man walked out of the house: "Xiao Hei, you're here."

"Damn! Xiao Hei, how did you get so big?!"

The young man was suddenly so startled that he sat down on the ground, speaking in disbelief. Upon hearing Xiao Hei's voice, the young man had walked out of the house, not bothering to check the surveillance at all.

Xiao Hei tilted his head proudly and called out a few more times: "I knew I would startle you."

It was normal for him to feel disbelief, as in just one month, Xiao Hei had grown from a tiny bird to this size.

How could the young man not feel shocked? He examined Xiao Hei carefully, reached out to stroke Xiao Hei's back, and clicked his tongue in wonder: "This is not a size a normal crow could possibly have. Could Xiao Hei have mutated too? That would explain it, after all, there have been frequent news reports recently about animals exceeding normal sizes, even rats bigger than cats. Sigh, what on earth is happening to this world?"

The young man was wearing green clothes with "Forest Ranger of the Xiaoxing Mountains" printed on the back, military-style trousers, had bronze-colored skin, and was wearing a straw hat.

Seeing this, Bai Xuan also roughly understood the situation.

He was located in the Xiaoxing Mountains of the Dragon Kingdom, and at the same time, the world was changing, with animals exceeding normal sizes appearing frequently.

It must still be the early stages now, so it would definitely get more serious later.

This also meant that once Bai Xuan was discovered, it would likely lead to a fatal disaster.

"It seems it's about the same as I expected; the disaster is coming."

Xiao Hei could understand the Forest Ranger's words and had his own thoughts and opinions on the matter.

"Xiao Hei, you wait here for a moment, I'll go get some meat for you to eat."

The Forest Ranger rubbed Xiao Hei's head and said with a smile. After saying that, he walked into the house.

"Xiao Hei, I keep feeling like something is wrong, let's leave quickly."

Bai Xuan whispered; if that person went to get capture tools, then Xiao Hei would be in danger.

Xiao Hei, standing on the chair, could hear Bai Xuan's words: "Don't worry, he and I are very good friends, there won't be any danger."

Bai Xuan was speechless and thought to himself: "This silly bird, he's being sold out and is still counting the money for the other person."

Even if he was a Forest Ranger, there was no guarantee he wouldn't hurt Xiao Hei.

Or perhaps he might be captured and turned over to experts for research. After all, Xiao Hei was not a human, but a bird.

At this point, who cared about protecting animals? The future of humanity was paramount.

Under these circumstances, Xiao Hei was very vulnerable to being harmed. Ordinary crows might not be harmed by humans, but now Xiao Hei was a mutant creature with significant research value.

"Xiao Hei, can you trust me just this once? Leave quickly, don't delay any longer."

Bai Xuan continued to persuade him and did not leave on his own.

"Relax, my life was saved by him, how could he possibly hurt me?"

Xiao Hei believed from beginning to end that the Forest Ranger would not hurt him.

"Xiao Hei, the meat is here, eat up."

At this moment, the Forest Ranger walked out of the house, carrying a large basin of meat, including chicken, beef, pork, and fish.