Hunter of Mysterious Creature

Chapter 868 - 106: Cheng Ming

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Cheng Ming squeezed through the crowded masses and finally found his seat. Before he could even set down his backpack, three people around his age sat down beside and across from him. The instinctive connection between infectees made Cheng Ming instantly aware that these three were his "kind".

It’s not just these three; roughly half the passengers in this entire train car were infectees... or rather, Mysterious Creature Hunters.

As for the remaining half, they were either partners of these hunters or free mercenaries who also pursued hunting mysterious creatures as a profession—though none of these people carried weapons, Cheng Ming could easily tell from their distinct auras that they were unlike ordinary people.

"Hey, looks like we’re all in the same business?" said the young, fashionably dressed woman sitting across from Cheng Ming. "You guys have all taken that mission too, right?"

"What else?" replied the young fellow next to Cheng Ming, clad in a dark gray jacket. He appeared to be over six feet tall, but the soft fuzz on his lip hadn’t turned into coarse stubble yet, and his features still seemed quite youthful, looking like an overly well-nourished high schooler.

"The railroad authorities in Liangzhu specifically grouped all hunters and mercenaries going to Chang’an into this carriage," said the man next to the young woman across from Cheng Ming. "Probably worried that a sudden gathering of so many infectees would cause public panic."

Cheng Ming turned to look outside the window. The platform wasn’t as crowded as before; disembarked passengers were either dragging luggage towards the exit or staring at their phones, checking navigation apps or booking rides. A tall girl in denim shorts ran into the arms of a boy in a white shirt; a young man in a red volunteer vest squatted beside an elderly person, assisting in fixing a malfunctioning wheelchair.

This high-speed train’s service number is G1944, departing from Liangzhu West Station and terminating at Shuofang City, covering a distance of 2,099 kilometers in 11 hours and 30 minutes... However, for those in this carriage, their destination is all Chang’an North Station, where G1994 makes a stop along the way, a journey lasting a mere eight hours.

Cheng Ming withdrew his gaze from the window, only to find that in the brief minute he had been daydreaming, the three beside him had already become fully engrossed in conversation.

"If we complete this mission, I’m going to book ten, no, twenty male models at the nightclub!" the young woman chuckled, "And have them line up to lick my toes one by one!"

The youthful-looking hunter shook his head: "Lame... If I get the money, I’d buy those limited-edition sneakers, then load up on ten 648s, oh and..."

"Hey, little brother, are you still a virgin?" the young woman asked, suddenly eyeing him.

"Why do you ask?" The young hunter blushed slightly.

"Just curious," the young woman tossed her hair, straightened up, and slightly pushed out her chest deliberately, "Do you think I’m pretty?"

"Average." The young hunter looked at the woman with a deadpan face, "Not as good as a fraction of Arturo."

"Who’s Arturo?" The young woman’s expression froze for a moment and she immediately asked.

"A character from a mobile game I play," the young hunter replied.

"Hmph... fictional characters," the young woman rolled her eyes and muttered quietly, "2D world otaku virgin... what a waste, having such good looks."

"This bounty is fifty billion, even if it’s divided among 500 people, each would still get ten million." The person next to the woman said, "You guys plan on spending it on this?"

"Then what do you plan on doing?" The young woman glanced at him and leaned slightly away.

Though this hunter didn’t seem much older, perhaps about thirty, he inexplicably gave off a lifeless air... the young woman thought, that she had only ever felt in those workaholics in the CBD who depended on coffee to survive, burdened with the smell of the office on them.

"Of course, I’d buy a place in Shen City so I could transfer my registration from Liangzhu to there... you wouldn’t believe it, the registered hunter benefits in Shen City are far better than Liangzhu’s. The personal consumption allowance alone is nearly doubled every month... No wonder it’s the Federation’s second-largest metropolis after Chunming City!" he said.

"You’re a registered hunter?" The young woman glanced at him, "With the Liangzhu Mysterious Creature Research Institute?"

"Yep." The worn-out hunter nodded. "The bounty issued by Dubhe Tower is open to both registered and free hunters, as long as they aren’t already on a mission... I figure this fellow opposite is likely also a registered hunter?"

"I just started two months ago." The young hunter scratched his head, "Yesterday, I just completed advanced training."

"A rookie taking on this kind of mission?" The young woman looked at him surprised, "Aren’t you afraid of dying?"

"My instructor told me participating in missions like this does more good than harm, as long as I don’t overexert myself. By observing and thinking more, doing things within my abilities, I’ll gain a lot of real-world experience and also get a share of the bounty." The young hunter said, "I have some confidence in my abilities... among the other rookies in my training cohort, even if they teamed up, they wouldn’t necessarily beat me!"