331 Hunter

Four minutes later, Li Aoz was invited to sit down at the tea table on the balcony. He sipped the iron-rich milk, a special product of Kailan Star —a sweet, vermilion-colored animal milk rich in iron ions—while chewing on blueberry biscuits, acting as if he belonged there.

He did this not because he was impolite, but because he was of the same status as the owner of the mansion, Disville, and such audacity was in accordance with the hunter's code.

"Welcome to Kailan Star. It's been a long time since we've had any new blood—you've come at just the right time, 'Mechanical Exterminator' Lioz."

The speaker was no ordinary person; he was Disweier Luduncike, the Silver Hunter, the savior of Luer Star, the great savior of Bieerjiangsi City, and a survivor of the Red Moon Incident.

From the outside, the old man looked no different from other people of advanced age. His hair and beard were white, and his face was covered with wrinkles, but he had a sharp and distinct appearance. Although he was at home, he was still wearing a black combat trench coat and holding a cane. Anyone with a little knowledge could tell that it was a cane sword. The switch inside could be pressed with Mental Power to release a Light Sword.

This is the technology of the Adele Civilization, not belonging to this layer of the Star Abyss, but from a large civilization in the Second Floor of the Star Abyss —the Realm Abyss.

Disville is a Cosmic Human Race has lived for seven hundred years. Although his cultivation level was stopped at Zeta-rank (6) due to the damage he suffered from society in his early years, no one dared to underestimate him.

On the contrary, almost everyone in the major forces within the Abyss held this old man in the highest esteem.

Why do I say that? Did you see the series of titles above? This is only a small part of his life's struggle against society, perhaps less than one-tenth.

The Hunter Association operates on a contribution-based tiered system. Due to the unique nature of "Society," no matter how high one's cultivation level is, if one has never fought against "Society," one will suffer losses.

Newcomer, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, Top.

This is the ranking of the hunters; it has nothing to do with Combat Power, but is entirely based on your experience in fighting against "society".

Within the Abyss, no one has had more contact with "society" than Disville. As for why there aren't any higher-level ones? Because there are only a handful of "society" entities within the Abyss. Higher-level Golden Hunters would have already descended into the Star Abyss long ago.

Instead of diving down, Disville focused on his hunting career in the Abyss, making a final contribution to eradicating the monsters in this layer of the Star Abyss. He spared no expense in sharing his techniques and experience, and even spent a lot of money to train new hunters. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the 'hunter mentor' of the entire Abyss.

For Disville, the recent situation is not optimistic. On the one hand, he is getting old and it is impossible for him to make any further progress.

On the other hand, the increasingly frequent invasions of [societies] have added a huge burden to the already small number of hunters. The number of hunters in the Layer Abyss is already the largest among the Sixth Layer Star Abyss, approaching 100,000. They usually freely choose the [societies] to hunt, instructing the local civilizations on how to identify these virus hosts that have infiltrated their civilizations, and then kill them in advance.

But this does not mean that hunters can fight against society.

If he had to put it bluntly, Disville believed his group was closer to a Daoism organization like Doctors Without Borders, except that their surgeries were performed using violence, a quick and decisive approach.

Just as the pressure was mounting, he saw a new hunter of the same level emerge.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Disville. But you should already know me, right? The lower-level Hunter Association should have already informed you, so I have nothing more to say."

Li Aoz's attitude was impartial, even audacious, and he spoke directly and bluntly, which made Disville appreciate him even more.

Unlike other hunters, he was already familiar with Li Aoz's deeds, and his way of fighting against "society" was simple and brutal: kill them all.

"Five years ago, when you defeated Mashige Gang of the Machine World Society, there was discussion about whether to mention the Golden Hunter to you. But Xu Erya thought you were too young and not yet capable of shouldering such a heavy responsibility. Not long ago, I heard that you also eradicated the Melodycal Society that was parasitizing Violet Star —I think no one should question you now."

Disville was not shy at all; even with a stranger, he treated him with openness and said bluntly, "To be honest, I think you Lioz, are more suitable to lead the Hunters than I am."

[' Disville ' extends an invitation to you: Take over the position of [Hunter Mentor]]

"Thank you for your kindness, but I am now the president of a country, and my position does not allow me to do so."

Li Aoz politely declined with a smile.

He knew Disville would do this, which is why he wanted to take down the White Candle Star government.

The Hunter Association requires its mentors and administrators to have no political affiliation, especially not with Narrative-level Civilization, to prevent hunters from becoming tools in the struggle between civilizations.

But Li Aoz was destined to associate with Narrative-level Civilization, and as Deified Person on the path of the Starcaller, he couldn't possibly not become the controller of a civilization. He couldn't let the big fish slip away for the sake of small fish.

"It's a pity, but you're welcome to join us anytime after you retire."

Disville shrugged and said regretfully.

Li Aoz is clearly a talented person. The moment he saw the other party, he was able to judge his strength with his experienced eyes—it was definitely not just Zeta (6).

The strength of the [Dominator] faction is hard to hide. The common characteristic of their Deified Person is beauty, Transcendent and Refined beauty that attracts everything unconsciously.

Li Aoz was just like that; his charisma was even extremely rare among the [Dominator] type powerhouses that Disville had ever seen.

"You are a genius, Lord Lioz. Among the [Deified Person] lineage of the Abyss, there has been no Capa (10) in charge for nearly 200 years. I believe you will be the one to break the two-hundred-year gap."

Disville raised his teacup as a sign of respect.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Disville, but before that, I have some matters to report to the organization."

Disville knew that Li Aoz's fleet was engaged in colonization activities, which was normal for the Abyss Civilization and not a scandal. He was just curious what a hunter of Li Aoz's status would be so eager to report to the Association: "What is it? What did you discover during your exploration of the universe?"

"It's not convenient to say this, you'll understand when you see it."

Li Aoz nodded without hesitation and handed over the information about Gaia from the [Hidden Society] that he had previously compiled.

Disville picked up the floppy disk from the table, inserted it directly into the interface on the back of his hand, and quickly read its contents. Data streams and images lit up before his eyes, and his expression gradually became serious.

"Gaia... Earth... Hidden... Three Speakers? This is simply unprecedented..."

He pulled out the floppy disk and looked at Li Aoz in disbelief:

Are you sure you're not joking?

"I'm quite certain that the [Hidden Society] has existed since at least the time of the Abyss. There was once a civilization on White Candle Star established by refugees from beyond the Abyss, and their legends record the [Hidden Society]'s defeat of the [God of the Present World], Lioz. On the other hand, 120 years ago, the [Hidden Society] came to White Candle Star to launch an invasion in order to gather councilors..."

As Li Aoz continued speaking, he realized something was amiss.

Disville looked at him with a confused expression, as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

"... Mr Disville?"

He gazed into the other person's eyes, suddenly understood something, and asked:

"You mean... you've never even heard of the ' Hidden Society '?"

"White Candle Star is less than 45 light-years away from Kailan Star; it's practically on our doorstep."

Disville muttered, shaking his head. "I've never heard of this [society] before, and nobody in the association knows about it either. Damn it—what you're saying is unheard of to people in the Layer Abyss, no, in the Sixth Layer Star Abyss. If you didn't have evidence and a copy of your memory cells as proof... Damn it, damn it!"