Curse Tribe

After asking a few questions, Rein snapped the assassin's neck, and then killed the corpse again, which had been resurrected by "Abyssal Demonic Qi".

He wiped the blood splattered on his face and exhaled a breath of stale air. He then looked at the several bullet holes in his already tattered robes and pursed his lips.

After all, the other side outnumbered them, and amidst the hail of bullets, they still took seven or eight hits.

Although it wasn't fatal, it still hurt quite a bit.

Deliberately avoiding vital areas, the musket bullets almost entirely struck large muscle groups. Even before his battle qi armor was fully formed, the maturation of the Bloodline Worms had endowed his body with exceptional resilience. The bullets didn't penetrate too deeply, not even requiring a scalpel. A simple finger pry was enough to remove the bullet. A quick stitch with the healing Gang Line, and he was fine in moments.

"Hiss~ A long-lost sense of crisis."

Looking at the corpse, Rein muttered something to himself.

The sensation of the musket bullet grazing his scalp and stimulating his adrenaline surge brought back memories of the days when the Weasel Bandit Group lived on the edge of their seats.

Without Bazel constantly by his side to protect him, he had to remain vigilant at all times. There was no way out; he couldn't afford to take any chances, for any chance meant certain death.

This is the process he had to go through to choose the path of the Transcendent instead of enjoying everything he has now.

However, ordinary Second Tier Transcendent don't pose much of a threat to Rein.

A hunting party led by Second Tier assassin would normally be considered an elite team even within a large phantom thief group like "Black Skull." With this setup, and the advantage of being well-rested, they could even kill lone, ordinary Third Tier Extraordinary.

Unfortunately, he encountered such an oddball as Rein.

Rein didn't linger. He went back and killed the few guys who had turned into "zombies," then collected his spoils. After that, he took the contribution tokens from the others and left.

Although City of Radiance has been established as a nation, this thing has been used as an identity token.

"Looks like we'll have to wait for the next Scavenger Gang."

Rein pursed his lips, heading towards the base while keeping an eye out for other Scavenger Gang. If it weren't for the fact that going to the "Black Wind Valley Base" alone would be too conspicuous, he really wouldn't want to bother.

It's probably because this place is not far from the "Black Wind Valley Base", so the chances of encountering the hunting team are very high.

It was also a stroke of luck. Rein chose a direction, found a small hill, and then saw billowing black smoke from a boiler in the distance. He followed the direction for more than ten kilometers and finally spotted the hunting team.

This was a mixed hunting force of over ten thousand people heading back to the hunting base. Leading the way was a "Ghoul-class" Mechanical City, its exterior walls painted white with "Radiant 77." Following it stretched a hunting force for several kilometers, entirely composed of various oddly shaped Steam Locomotive and troop carriers. The force moved slowly, seemingly in no hurry.

Rein had previously served in the Scavenger Gang in City of Radiance, and he knew that those who could be in the Mechanical City were all noble lords. Those following behind were all ordinary hunters. Judging from the messy equipment and Scavenger Gang insignia, he estimated that there were hundreds of Scavenger Gang of varying sizes in this group.

"Hmm, looks like my luck is pretty good."

Rein raised an eyebrow, quietly followed, and successfully blended into the large group of ten thousand people.

In these large-scale scavenging operations, with many people and all wearing gas masks, no one knew anyone else, and no one paid attention to the addition of a strange doctor to the team. Even if someone saw him, they would guess that he was just someone who had gone to relieve himself somewhere.

Rein, who was mixed in with the group, looked relaxed.

He didn't say anything, just listened quietly to the hunters bragging and joking.

Upon hearing this, they realized that it was a hunting party from the Rosas Family, Five Great Families in City of Radiance.

The main force in the Mechanical City consisted of members from the "Iron Hammer Brotherhood," a large Scavenger Gang formerly under the Xid Empire. Now, their leader has led tens of thousands of hunters to City of Radiance, where they have sworn allegiance to the Radiant Kingdom. The leader has also been granted the title of "Viscount" and become a vassal of the Rosas Family.

With the kingdom newly established, a large number of nobles were enfeoffed, which was also the best opportunity for commoners to become nobles, making it extremely attractive to large Scavenger Gang.

As long as the leader of the Scavenger Gang arrives with his men and swears an oath of citizenship, he can almost immediately obtain the corresponding noble title. Because of this population settlement policy, the population growth of City of Radiance in just the last half month has exceeded that of the previous twenty years.

This growth momentum continues to rise, showing no signs of slowing down.

The most excited were naturally the hunters in these small groups, who also gained a lot of real benefits because of the [Black Tide].

"Haha, we really made a killing this time. Three days of zombie hordes, I wore out three of my muskets, but we still earned more money than I would normally make in several years."

"It's a pity that the price of 'magic crystals' has dropped. Initially, one First Tier magic crystal could be exchanged for one Gold Kron, but now one is worth less than fifty Silver Nar. Otherwise, this trip would have been enough for us to return to Omar and live a comfortable life for the rest of our days."

"People from our hometown in Harax Province all want to come, and you still want to go back? I've heard that the two great empires have already issued laws prohibiting Straight Hunters from coming to City of Radiance; if caught, they'll be sent to the gallows! I have no plans to go back. Although it's a bit dangerous, the pay is much better. After a few years of risking my life, I can earn enough money to get a wife and settle down."

"Now everyone knows that you can make money hunting here, and treasures are everywhere. Commoners like us are eager to come here as soon as we hear the news, but the nobles of the two great empires are trying to block it from coming. I've heard that several provinces back home have started riots, and even a lot of border guards have secretly come. Everyone wants to come to City of Radiance to make a fortune, and many nobles have been killed in the process."

"Those damned nobles, they already exploit us all, and now they want to stop us from getting rich. They deserve to die! Heh, without us commoners, those damned noble lords can just stay in their empty city and be their own powerless lords."

"."

As Rein listened, his mind quickly processed and analyzed the situation.

I had seen some of this information from Canossa before, but hearing it from her own mouth now, I know that City of Radiance is still thriving, while the situation of the two great empires seems to be less than good.

This practice of granting titles to people who come to the country for naturalization is tantamount to leeching off the blood of the two great empires.

However, because City of Radiance occupied the "Howling Wind Pass," the only strategic choke point connecting the Alkolon Mountain Range, the two great empires could not do anything about it, even if they wanted to covet this "fat piece of meat."

City of Radiance has no shortage of resources; its vast undeveloped land can support countless people, not to mention the [Black Tide] that can make you rich.

If things continue like this, the glory of the two great empires east of the mountains, which are not covered by the Black Tide, will inevitably fade into history.

The power of those Established Nobles will rapidly decline, or even completely lose their ruling position. Without a large number of commoners for them to exploit, what makes the nobles noble?

As they chatted, Rein also heard them talking about prices.

"Sigh, I finally made it to the Second Tier of the Transcendent. Unfortunately, the price of potions in the city keeps changing every day lately, and the 'Sunflower Merchant Guild' potions are especially expensive. If I could use Contribution Points like before, the money I earned from hunting would have been enough to buy a silver-quality potion long ago. But now, even a decent Black Iron Potion is way too expensive."

"There's nothing we can do. Only the major merchant guilds sell high-quality potions. Besides, since City of Radiance became a nation, they've been levying taxes too heavily. Everything—food, clothing, housing, transportation—has gone up in price. Even if you set up a small stall in the base, after taxes, there's not much left."

"Which territory doesn't levy taxes? Aren't all noble lords like that? You should be grateful if they let you make money. Damn it, even the women in the taverns have gone up in price. Before, you could get a decent girl for 800 lisos, but now you'd spend thousands and still be a middle-aged woman."

"It's good enough to have something to do. You know how many hunters have come these days; last time I went to the tavern, there was even a line."

"."

Rein listened calmly.

Prices are always closely related to daily life, and the major expenses for hunters are potions, equipment, and tavern girls. Both are skyrocketing in price.

Previously, City of Radiance strictly controlled the price of potions due to its contribution system, eliminating the opportunity for professional merchants to inflate prices.

Now that free trade has been implemented, it's a good thing that you can buy potions of the same quality as before for ten times the price.

How can an ordinary person compete with a large, wealthy business association?

Those professional businessmen are incredibly adept at playing the monopoly game; they directly copied the exploitative model of the two great empires.

They monopolize the materials and the market, then quickly raise the selling price of the finished potions to reap huge profits.

"Sigh, I'm still a long way from being able to buy a good potion. Hopefully, I'll have another stroke of luck like this next time so I can earn enough money."

"You know what, that 'Ghost Girl' is really effective. Just a little blood and she can attract a whole bunch of zombies. On this hunt, the 'Iron Hammer Gang' got the meat, and we got some soup too."

"Tsk tsk, this girl is a bit strange, whoever touches her is doomed. Otherwise, with such a 'monster-attracting weapon,' would we ever lack magic crystals?"

"Who would dare to hold onto this? The 'Iron Wolf Gang' and 'Trident Gang,' which were mysteriously wiped out before, weren't they both large Scavenger Gang with thousands of members? They wanted to monopolize this benefit, but none of them survived for more than five days."

"Tsk tsk, this is really weird. Let's get away quickly, so we don't get caught up in this bad luck."

"."

Upon hearing this, Rein became interested. A thought flashed through his mind, as if he had just realized something.

It seems these guys are reaping a bountiful harvest because of some kind of "bait"?

His gaze followed the direction those people were pointing, and with great difficulty, he finally spotted a delicate figure running at the very end of the line amidst the billowing dust.

It was too far away to see clearly, so Rein slowed down his pace and then he could see it clearly.

She was a little girl, about ten years old, very thin, with messy black hair. She was barefoot, wearing a garment that looked like a tattered burlap sack, and her arms were wrapped in dirty bandages stained with what appeared to be dirt and blood. Some festering wounds were visible on her exposed skin; she looked terrible.

The hunters avoided her like the Plague God, and no one dared to approach her.

The little girl followed alone for several hundred meters behind the main group, her expression numb as she chased after the Mechanical City. She seemed lifeless, more like a walking corpse than a living person.

Rein's gaze froze slightly.

According to those around them, the little girl seemed to bring "bad luck," which is why no one dared to approach her.

"Blood can attract a lot of zombies and also bring bad luck. I seem to remember that it's some kind of legendary alchemical ingredient."

As soon as Rein thought of this, the "Mind Core" had already filtered out ancient records that met the relevant criteria for him.

He saw the description on his retina and was surprised.

"As expected, the alchemical material 'Curse Spirit Blood' mentioned in the Ancient Goblin Civilization is exactly the same as this description! Could it refer to the little girl's blood? Is this a special bloodline race from mythology?"

Curse Spirit Blood

Detailed Explanation: Advanced medium; fresh blood of the 'Curse Tribe,' cold in nature, high in magical power, and highly compatible with dark elements; able to attract the undead, a highly efficient medium for communication; this material is classified as Level VI dangerous, those with wicked intentions will be plagued by misfortune upon contact;

Seeing this, Rein glanced at the little girl again, slightly puzzled.

"The Curse Tribe?"

This is an unfamiliar term, which sounds like a special human race known as "werewolf."

Ordinary people cannot explain the reason for this "misfortune," but ancient books clearly state that those with evil intentions will bring bad luck upon themselves.

There is something in her blood that can affect the "luck" of those who come into contact with her, or perhaps a special existence in terms of "soul".

No wonder they're seen as a "Plague God" and avoided like the plague. Hunters are all people who live on the edge; how many of them are truly righteous?

Rein seemed thoughtful, but didn't meddle, and followed the team back to the "Blackwind Valley Base".

Rein followed the main group into the city. As expected, no one asked him about his background in detail. He took off his gas mask, glanced at it, and paid to enter the city.

The contribution system has been abolished, but the entry fee and shelter fee are still quite high, a thousand li suo per day.

It looks cheaper than the previous 10,000 per day in City of Radiance, but it's actually much more expensive.

Previously, hunters who didn't want to live in the city could at least pitch tents in the wilderness. But now, they are harassed by hordes of zombies almost every night. Without the high walls and iron ramparts of the Mechanical City, low-level Transcendent would be courting death if they spent the night in the wasteland.

No one dared to pitch a tent outside the Steel City Walls, and the nobles forbade any commoners from taking advantage of them. They would shoot any human attempting to spend the night at the foot of the walls as if they were a living corpse.

This place is much more lively than the previous "Plague Base". In the past, a base with 100,000 people was considered a lot, but here, looking around, there are at least several hundred thousand people.

The daily "shelter fee" is a considerable income, and it's sustainable.

As soon as Rein entered the city, he saw several Wanted Order on the official notice board at the city gate. He didn't stop, glanced at them, and walked straight into the city with a normal expression.

At that moment, the bounty poster that had just been seen was projected onto the retina.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Mafat, Bazel, Canossa, and even himself were all wanted by bounty hunters.

Four wanted posters were posted on the bulletin board, showing the four of them inside the belly of the "Moroshir King Flower".

Bazel was a familiar face on the Wanted Order; everyone recognized him, from his name to his rough features. But his bounty, previously 180 million lisos by the two empires, had now jumped to 1 billion!

Moreover, the bounty orders from the two great empires were originally ineffective in City of Radiance.

Posting it now is clearly a direct declaration of war.

The image of the Great Shaman Mafat was also clearly visible, but his strength wasn't listed on the list. Instead, it simply stated "Important Barbarian Leader," with a bounty of 1 billion. Presumably, they were afraid that accurately describing his unparalleled combat power would intimidate all bounty hunters.

The photo of Canossa wearing a gas mask doesn't reveal much, except that she's a woman; the Wanted Order isn't very useful.

Rein looked at himself and realized he was in a similar situation, with a masked appearance and a bounty of 100 million.

The Wanted Order also includes the following line: Hunt down a "Barbarian" and you can get 10,000 Gold Kron for his head; those who provide clues about the above wanted persons will also receive a reward.

Rein looked at him with a normal expression, as if it were something he had expected.

He raised his eyebrows and stepped into the bustling hunting base.

I'm experiencing writer's block, so only one update for now. I'm trying to make the recent plot more engaging; it would be a shame if it went flat. If I can finish a chapter this afternoon, I'll post it; otherwise, I'll make it up tomorrow. I just saw 'leo627's' 20,000-word reward; I feel undeserving for my slow update schedule. Sorry everyone.