Ten Days

"Thirty-five thousand? Come on, rich boy, thirty-five thousand doesn't match your status."

Hearing that the other party wanted to buy it, Su Ren naturally had no intention of refusing. Thirty-five thousand was a reasonable price, and it saved him the trouble of gathering the remains.

Still, after glancing at the other man's bug, Su Ren couldn't resist needling him.

"Then forty thousand. Not a cent more. This damn thing has practically drained me dry."

The young man spoke helplessly.

The price had risen by five thousand so easily, reminding Su Shijie of a legend from the game.

It was said that every year, the bug race auctioned off ten special bugs that could be separated from the collective, selling them to the highest bidder.

This had given rise to the Earth Federation's native professions: Bug Knights and Bug Tamers.

There was no doubt about it—every practitioner of these two professions was an absolute tycoon.

Rumor had it that the bugs sold this way possessed only a single thought. By enhancing the corresponding genes, these two special professions could turn that solitary thought into one of their own.

In other words, the bugs controlled by Bug Knights and Bug Tamers were theoretically thoughts of their own, rooted in the vast sea of their subconscious. This allowed for truly seamless coordination between human and bug.

With sufficient flesh and blood to replenish themselves, the bugs could rapidly reach the same evolutionary level as their Bug Knight or Bug Tamer without bottlenecks, effectively giving them an extra combatant.

This guy's premium purchase of flesh and blood was obviously for that reason.

Because of Su Shijie's soul traits and his ability to sense emotions, he could tell that the bug truly possessed only a single thought. Its existence was attached to the man before him. If its master died, the bug would die with him; if the bug died, its master would fall into weakness from losing one of his thoughts, and would probably need a long time to recover.

It truly was fascinating.

According to unverified rumors, many civilizations had invited the Hive Mother of the bug race, but the bug race's strongest Transcendent Tier Hive Mother had refused. She was also the only Earth Transcendent who had never once stepped into the stars.

The general assessment was that she was a shut-in...

But thanks to their fully autonomous environment and their sweatshops, the bug race was actually very wealthy. The Hive Mother apparently loved hoarding money.

It was said that the Hive Mother had even used her authority as a federal senator to push through a physical currency bill. Coins had supposedly been minted specifically for her, but later, after they were all corroded beyond recognition by the environment around her, she tearfully demanded to exchange them back for a string of numbers.

Of course, these were merely rumors Su Shijie had heard in the game, and might not be reliable. But without question, anyone who could ride bugs was an enormous tycoon.

While Su Shijie was recalling those rumors, Su Ren had already completed the transaction without hesitation.

The price was already above market value. Knowing when to stop was enough; it was a win-win situation.

After the transaction was completed, the young man in aviation goggles directly signaled the bug in his mind to descend and eat.

"This damn thing is way too picky. Ever since it transformed, it'll only eat Transformation Tier flesh. I bought it fish in Coastal City a while back, and it got sick of eating them. It nearly pissed me off to death."

Seeing the bug begin to gnaw on the flesh, the young Bug Knight seemed to have some complaints.

"Isn't it controlled by your thoughts too? You're just spoiling it too much."

Su Shijie remarked at the right moment. If the man ordered the bug to eat fish, it would definitely eat them.

"Haha, we'll be together for life. I can't exactly mistreat it."

That doting expression made Su Shijie feel that he was expecting the bug to repay his kindness.

Then the Bug Knight turned to Su Shijie again.

"The spiritual energy hasn't dispersed yet. If you want to guide it, go ahead. This damn thing mainly relies on eating."

"Thanks, then."

Su Shijie did not hesitate and immediately began guiding it.

The star crossbow and gun under his control had already been hidden around them. The drone had prepared everything as soon as it spotted the other man, and he had intended to wait until the man left before setting out.

This also showed just how important drone warnings were.

Transformation Tier bugs were naturally sensitive to the smell of blood. It flapped over far faster than Su Ren could collect anything, and in a few bites, it had devoured all the flesh of this Transformation Tier Spirit Deer.

It even took a few bites out of the blood-soaked soil.

"All right, carry on. Hope we can work together again next time."

After finishing the flesh, the knight mounted the bug in one motion. It swiftly rose into the air and disappeared into the distance.

Neither side had introduced themselves from beginning to end. After all, it had only been a wilderness transaction.

Moreover, Su Shijie could sense that although the other party had been polite throughout and showed no arrogance, there was a pride in his bones.

That made sense. He was so young, already at the Transformation Tier, came from a wealthy family, and likely had bloodline inheritance as well. He was indeed on a different level from those who normally scraped by in shelters, and they generally had no overlap.

However, over the next few days, the three of them discovered that they seemed to run into each other rather often...

"You again? You're incredibly efficient. Let's properly introduce ourselves—Huang Jiangyong. As you can see, I'm a Bug Knight."

When Huang Jiangyong landed before the father and son once more, the trace of pride in his heart had completely vanished.

"Su Ren. This is my son, Su Shijie."

This was Shelter P-314, and Su Ren's appearance was so distinctive that he did not use a false name. Otherwise, they might offend some young master for no reason. There was no need for that.

"Impressive. I'm genuinely impressed. You hunt Transformation Tier creatures faster than I do? Do you have a drone?"

Huang Jiangyong looked around and quickly reached that conclusion. His main problem was finding targets. Although his bug could fly, its massive body was clearly less efficient than a small drone in this dense jungle.

And the commotion could easily scare the target away.

"Trade secret."

Su Ren neither confirmed nor denied it. The drones were obvious enough, while the traces of battle at the scene could be passed off as traps laid in advance.

Su Ren had even considered that, should traces of a mechanist truly be discovered by accident, he could step in and take the blame himself.

After all, this rare opportunity for improvement could not be missed. With drone warnings, the risks were still entirely manageable.

Besides, if it came down to it, exposing his bloodline was not unacceptable either.

"Alright. Are you interested in joining some company? I might be able to recommend one for you."

After paying, Huang Jiangyong let his insect feed while casually making conversation, without pressing for details.

Still, his intention to recruit them was quite obvious.

"That would be great. We were actually planning to head to Binhai City."

Su Ren did not refuse outright.

"Haha, here's my card. If you make it to Binhai City, you can contact me, or use the card to find one of our family's companies."

Huang Jiangyong was not surprised that Su Ren had seen through his background. He handed over a business card and left after his insect had finished feeding.

"Dad, you know him?"

Su Shijie asked curiously. Ever since Su Ren had known even the name of a dandy in Prosperous City, he had realized how capable his father was in such matters.

"I don't know him personally. But his surname is Huang, he rides an insect, and he's eaten fish in Binhai City. He's most likely from the Huang Family, one of Binhai City's four great noble families. They have their own Floating City as well, a Count Bloodline family like the Earl of Prosperous."

That explanation brought Su Shijie to a realization.

And if the other party could afford an insect, he was very likely a direct descendant.

"You've used up most of your ordinary arrows. Don't hunt Transformation Tier creatures from now on. It won't be much slower to hunt the others anyway."

"Mm, okay."

Father and son both chose to play it safe for the time being.

The Deer Herd Migration lasted a full ten days. Those ten days were relatively peaceful, and while hunting, the two of them even encountered members of the Floating City Task Force.

Su Ren specifically went over to chat with them for a while and learn about the current situation. He heard that searches were being conducted both inside and outside the city, and that this area had received special attention because of the Spirit Deer migration.

Without a doubt, that also relieved the father and son.

Amid this day-and-night, high-intensity slaughter, Su Shijie also gained massive benefits and underwent tremendous improvement...