Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 209 - 129: Underground Deal

Chapter 209: Chapter 129: Underground Deal

Recently, many warmongers have emerged on Blue Star, each of them delving into how to use their abilities to kill others every day.

This made Duan Mingyuan feel that this planet was indeed somewhat dangerous.

In order to alleviate the tense and solemn atmosphere, he decided to treat Zheng Liu and this unnamed young hunter to a bowl of ramen. Jiuyue had mentioned more than once that ramen could quickly close the gap between people, it was just that every time Duan Mingyuan wanted to take her out for ramen, the little fox would be drawn to a fried chicken shop along the way and would change her mind to eating fried chicken instead.

Sitting in the ramen shop, which wasn’t particularly busy, and feeling the warmth emanating from the bowl, the young hunter finally snapped back to reality.

Her mind had been a blank before, even forgetting how she had arrived at the shop.

Or, perhaps her thoughts had stopped function when the bullet was fired at her head last night.

Dying in an unknown alley in such a manner seemed to fit the identity of a hunter; her mentor had told her many stories about hunters, mentioning those brave ones decades ago. Most of them had suddenly lost contact one day and never appeared at the Association again.

Everyone knew they were dead, having given their lives while investigating evil spirits.

The friends who knew them well would engrave their names on plaques and hang them on the Association’s memorial board to prove that such a hunter had once existed.

"Are you the new leader of the Royal Hunting Court that the liaison mentioned?"

This was the first thing the young hunter said after meeting them, but it cast Zheng Liu’s heart into turmoil.

He could surmise that the Royal Hunting Court was a superior organization to the Hunter Association, and that this person who seemed to be only a few years older than him had already become the leader?

"Yes, I am."

"I was rescued by my mentor from an accident, and people at the Association call me Xing."

Upon mentioning the missing old hunter, Xing’s mood plummeted.

It had been several days since her mentor’s disappearance, and combined with the assault she experienced in the alley last night, she realized that her mentor’s chances of survival were most likely slim.

Although her mentor had long said that his day would come eventually, and more than 80% of hunters would vanish without a trace, it was very likely to be his fate as well. He had repeatedly warned her that if he went missing one day, she must not try to find him, explaining that her ability was important to the Association and could help many people.

Yet, when the day finally arrived, she still went against the liaison’s warning.

This time, they were not dealing with evil spirits, but people like themselves.

Those who possessed strange abilities similar to the hunters, yet used them for evil deeds.

"There are two of them, one of whom can materialize weapons out of thin air."

Xing had no appetite, and tried hard to recall everything she had witnessed in the alley, "One of them said the missing corporate executive was the first, and they have many more people to deal with."

After that, her disguise was seen through.

She had wanted to run away, but as one of them set his gaze on her, she was paralyzed, unable to move or resist, watching helplessly as a gun with a strange design materialized in his hand, and without any hesitation, he pulled the trigger aimed at her.

Her consciousness then plunged into chaos, and when she regained clarity, she found herself in a ramen shop near the port.

Xing was filled with self-reproach, "It was too dark at the time, I didn’t dare get too close, and I couldn’t make out their faces."

"There’s no need to blame yourself too much, you performed your duty very well."

Duan Mingyuan consoled, noting that Xing’s Life Energy was only at 21\, still in the early stage of becoming a full-fledged hunter. Moreover, from what he understood\, Xing was adept at disguising and hiding herself, hence becoming the ace Intelligence Officer of the Siyang City Hunter Association.

He asked, "How did you come to be tracking them?"

"Before my mentor disappeared, he had been investigating a case for several years."

Speaking of which, Xing fumbled in the inner pocket of her clothing and pulled out a familiar card:

"Are you tired of your current life?"

"Do you want to make a change in your life?"

"Do you want to understand the real truth behind this world?"

"Come find us, and all your questions will be answered."

Duan Mingyuan had received a similar card while in a hotel.

The Association had only recently been rebuilt; his master was among the first to respond to the invitation, returning at the same time and informing the liaison of the clues he had uncovered.

The movements of the Wangxu Organization were also provided to the newly established contact station by him, "Master said the waters here are very deep, and he strongly urged the liaison to seek help from the Royal Hunting Court, but it wasn’t until after the disappearance of 13 people that the liaison finally contacted the Royal Hunting Court."

From Xing’s words, it was not hard to tell she did not trust the contact station in Siyang City.

This might also be the reason why she didn’t ask for help from the contact station and instead started her own investigation directly.

"How deep are the waters?"

Zheng Liu asked in a low voice.

"So deep that if the matter were exposed, countless big shots in Siyang City would fall from power."

The political and business worlds, even the corporations within Siyang City, couldn’t wash themselves clean.

Xing still remembered her master joking that this might be his last case to investigate; she would always scold him whenever she heard him talk like that, telling him not to speak like it was a premonition of his own death, but unfortunately, his words had come true. Like those hunters before him, the master had disappeared without a trace.

She looked at Duan Mingyuan carefully once more. She did not trust the people from the liaison station, but she had a natural good feeling towards this new leader of the Royal Hunting Court.

Though they had never met, after hearing about the events in Yunlong City, her master had praised this new leader more than once, calling him an ambitious man who could truly lead the hunters back to their former glory.

Having made up her mind, Xing was well aware that her strength alone was not enough to make any significant impact on Siyang City.

"Could you step out for a moment?"

She glanced at Zheng Liu.

"Sure, I’ll go out and have a smoke..."

Zheng Liu suddenly felt a bit awkward; he had only eaten half of his noodles.

"No worries, Old Zheng is an ambitious young man. Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of him," Duan Mingyuan said.

He trusted his own judgment of character; if this were an animated detective series, Zheng Liu would be the kind of character who could honorably be addressed as "Brother Zheng Liu."

While not strong in combat, he could drive and was very familiar with Siyang City, which made him a supportive character.

Along with Xing’s talent for stealthy investigation and intelligence, their team already consisted of two supporters and a healer, and if they could add a powerful DPS, their group would be complete.

"Alright then."

Xing said, "My master discovered that there’s an underground exchange in Siyang City. This card is akin to the exchange’s advertisement."

"An underground exchange, like an underground auction?"

Zheng Liu asked.

"I don’t know. My master investigated for many years and couldn’t locate its exact position, only that there, you could buy almost anything you desired."

Reputation, power, wealth, beauty.

As long as it existed in this world and you could afford the price, you could have it all.

Zheng Liu immediately thought of the 150 years of life that the evil spirit in the company building had mentioned; the thirteen missing executives had also made a deal, trading 150 years of longevity for their meteoric rise to the top.

He understood why Xing’s master had said the waters here were very deep.

Beyond the thirteen missing people, who else had patronized the underground exchange, and what had they bought?