A Day Full of Surprises

Jin City.

In a shadowy corner beneath the lights of the bustling city, three figures huddled together, cautiously discussing something.

"Second Brother, how did the investigation go?"

"The target has recently been looking up information on Black Cloud Continent and Desert Mad Ants. I checked—this creature's Blood Essence can't be preserved for long. If the target really wants it, he'll have to make a trip to Black Cloud Continent. We can follow him there and take him out in secret!"

"Is the information accurate?"

"Absolutely! I paid a hefty price to have a hacker break in and check. I looked into both the Craftsman Association and Chen Feng's side. No problems!"

"Good. Third Brother, get the gear ready."

"Mm."

Their voices gradually lowered.

The three figures vanished into the darkness of the night.

The next morning.

The three brothers arrived at Black Cloud Continent.

Taking the fastest Cloud Rail, they reached Black Cloud Continent in just an hour and arrived at a camp near the area where Desert Mad Ants appeared.

To help explorers complete their missions, the Gene Guild had established camps near cities, at the furthest points explorers could reach. Private fighting was forbidden within the camps, which were monitored at all times and even guarded by dedicated combat robots. They were the best places for explorers to rest.

The three arrived at the camp.

The blazing sun beat down.

Sunlight streamed through the entire camp, reflected through layer upon layer of glass in a strangely beautiful sight. However, most people here had no time to appreciate it.

"Has Chen Feng arrived?"

the eldest brother asked quietly.

"Yeah. He's already boarded the Cloud Rail and should arrive here in about an hour."

Second Brother checked the message that had just appeared on his Wristband.

"Good."

The eldest brother nodded in satisfaction. "Our plan is simple. His goal is to hunt Desert Mad Ants. We just need to pretend to be passersby and strike from the shadows while he's hunting one. We'll be able to kill him easily."

"He might hire other people."

Third Brother spoke softly at that moment. "Chen Feng is only a craftsman. If he wants to hunt Desert Mad Ants, he'll definitely hire two E-Class Warriors."

"We expected that."

The eldest brother nodded slightly and sneered. "Whether there are two or three, the enemy is in the open while we're in the dark. That's our advantage! Chen Feng is our only target. Ignore everyone else—kill him and run. And don't forget, we still have that thing..."

Second Brother and Third Brother could not help nodding.

That was true!

With that thing, even if he hired several E-Class Warriors, he would still die!

An hour later, Chen Feng was about to arrive at Black Cloud Continent.

"He'll be here soon."

Second Brother spoke in a low voice.

"Let's go."

The eldest brother gave the order decisively. "Following him would expose us too easily. We need to get there ahead of him."

"Mm."

The three of them arrived at the Desert Mad Ant territory in advance.

They waited for something.

Sure enough.

Less than half an hour later, several people appeared in the long-neglected Desert Mad Ant territory. To avoid making the others suspicious, the three brothers also found a Desert Mad Ant to hunt. However, to their surprise, Chen Feng was not among the group hunting the Desert Mad Ant!

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. There are three people in that group, and Chen Feng isn't among them!"

"How could that be..."

The eldest brother was somewhat puzzled. "Could they just be a team that happened to come here to hunt Desert Mad Ants?"

Then.

More figures soon appeared in the distance.

"Someone's coming!"

The eldest brother perked up. "This time, it should be Chen Feng."

So they hunted another Desert Mad Ant to maintain their cover. But when those people drew near, they realized in astonishment that the newcomers still were not Chen Feng!

Chen Feng was still nowhere to be seen!

Desert Mad Ants were not so easy to kill. It took them quite a while to wear the Desert Mad Ant down, and then that team slowly left.

"What's going on?"

The three of them were confused. Why had Chen Feng still not come over?

"Do you think Chen Feng might have already noticed us?"

Third Brother thought for a moment. "Could he have deliberately sent those people over just to throw us off?"

"That's very possible!"

The eldest brother jolted upright.

"Wait!"

"Chen Feng must be hiding in one of those teams!"

"He deliberately had other teams come over to create chaos and confuse us, then hid within one of the teams before making his real move."

"He'll definitely show up!"

The eldest brother was certain.

Yet over the next few hours, they repeatedly saw people nearby hunting Desert Mad Ants, but there was still no sign of Chen Feng!

Once!

Twice!

The entire morning passed like that, and they still had not seen Chen Feng. If the second brother had not been certain that Chen Feng was still on Black Cloud Continent, they might even have thought Chen Feng had already left.

"Something's not right."

Third Brother wore a miserable expression.

"You think?"

The eldest brother sneered. After thinking for a long time, he finally slapped his thigh. "Let's go back to camp and see what's going on."

"Alright."

The three returned to the camp.

However, to their surprise, a long line had formed inside the camp. Many people were gathered there, making it impossible to see what was happening within.

"Third Brother, go take a look."

The eldest brother gave him a meaningful glance.

"Understood."

With a determined expression, Third Brother charged into the crowd. Ten minutes later, he squeezed back out, looking utterly bewildered, with a large wad of cash stuffed into his arms.

"What's going on?"

The eldest brother hurriedly asked, "Are they handing out money in there?"

"N-No..."

Third Brother looked as if his entire worldview had collapsed. "You'll know if you go look for yourself."

"Useless!"

The eldest brother glared at him. "Second Brother, you go take a look."

"Sure."

The second brother shot Third Brother a disdainful look, then squeezed into the crowd with equal fighting spirit. Ten minutes later, he too pushed his way out in a rather disheveled state.

The same baffled expression! The same wad of cash!

"Second Brother?"

The eldest brother asked.

"Huh?"

The second brother looked just as though his worldview had collapsed and was nearly in tears. "I... I can't explain it... Eldest Brother, you'll know if you go see for yourself."

"Hmph!"

The eldest brother sneered. "I want to see what kind of trick they're playing!"

"Move!"

The eldest brother forcefully shoved his way through the crowd.

The people around him looked at him and frowned, but after giving it some thought, they decided that getting inside did not necessarily mean they would be chosen. So they said nothing and let the eldest brother squeeze all the way to the center.

Then, the eldest brother saw someone who shocked him—Chen Feng!

That's right.

The person surrounded at the very center was actually Chen Feng!

"What's going on?"

The leader's heart skipped a beat. He sensed trouble.

Just then, Chen Feng seemed to notice him and waved. "You. You'll do."

A chorus of sighs immediately rose from the crowd.

The leader calmly walked over to Chen Feng, his dagger already at the ready. But when he saw the combat robots in the distance locking onto him, he silently gave up.

There was no way he could kill Chen Feng here.

"Hand over your Desert Mad Ant Essence Blood."

Chen Feng spoke flatly.

"Hm?"

The leader's heart jolted. How did this guy know he had Desert Mad Ant Essence Blood? Had those two bastards, Second Brother and Third Brother, sold him out? Just as he was about to say something, he saw the crowd surrounding him and the murderous looks in their eyes. In a panic, he handed over the essence blood he had just obtained.

"Mm, the quality is pretty good."

Chen Feng inspected it, then named a price.

"Here's your money."

Chen Feng grabbed a stack of bills and tossed it to the leader, then shouted at the crowd, "Next! I'll say it again—I'll pay a high price for only the best quality! Don't come if yours isn't good enough."

"Mine is good!"

"Mine's even better! Freshly harvested, absolutely top-grade!"

Countless people scrambled forward.

Still clutching the bills, the leader was shoved out of the crowd with a bewildered look on his face. Only after being pushed out did he finally understand what had happened!

Chen Feng was actually buying Desert Mad Ant Essence Blood here!

He had never planned to leave at all!

An assassination?

The guy had never intended to give them a chance!

And the most tragic part was that the Desert Mad Ant Essence Blood they had hunted all morning had been sold to Chen Feng just like that. The genes the three of them had obtained were all of the highest quality, and Chen Feng had picked every single one of them?! So after working all morning, they had basically been working for Chen Feng?

At that thought, the leader was completely dumbfounded.

Only then did he understand why Second Brother and Third Brother had those expressions like they had eaten shit.

"What do we do?"

The leader looked utterly lost.

"Maybe Chen Feng will still come out?"

They guessed.

However, the day passed just like that.

As evening fell, Chen Feng took the Cloud Rail back to Jin City. The three brothers followed him back with equally blank expressions. Disguises?

Was there even any point in disguising themselves now?

Even after returning to Jin City, they still failed to find any opportunity!

Night.

The same corner.

Three figures sat on the ground, utterly bewildered. Why had things turned out like this?

They had carried out many missions before, and their targets had all been Beginner Producers, F-Class Gene Warriors, and the like. But someone as cowardly as Chen Feng...

There had absolutely never been one!

From beginning to end, he had stayed in safe zones!

What could they do?

"He isn't going to stay under surveillance forever, is he?"

Second Brother was nearly despairing.

"Who the hell knows."

Third Brother muttered to himself.

"Forget it. We'll look for another chance."

The leader gritted his teeth. "There's still some time left for the mission. Don't give up yet. What if he goes out?"

What if...

A sigh.

The three figures vanished into the night.

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