New Job

"Now that you've become a hunter, your debt to the Federation has naturally been written off," Yang Qi said. "Besides that, every hunter receives an extremely generous monthly allowance. It includes not only money, but also many supplies that can't be bought with money."

"Like what?"

"Firearms and ammunition, restricted medicines... and some of the research institute's latest findings."

"Will you restrict my freedom, then? Dangerous individuals like hunters probably aren't allowed to wander around the city freely, are they?" Sun Hang asked.

"No, we don't restrict hunters' freedom." Yang Qi smiled. "We encourage hunters to integrate into human society, which helps reinforce their sense of identity as humans. Of course, we'll place a tracker on you so we can locate you at all times."

"This thing doesn't have surveillance functions or something, does it?"

"No. Other than tracking your location, its only function is to send an alert to the Investigation Bureau and the Anomaly Research Institute if a hunter's anomalization level exceeds the danger threshold." Yang Qi shook her head. "We won't interfere too much with hunters' private lives. When you don't have missions, you can enjoy life just like any ordinary Federation citizen."

"So do I need to clock in at work every day?"

"No."

"Are missions mandatory?" Sun Hang asked again.

"In principle, hunters won't be forced to carry out missions. However, hunters have annual mission quotas. If they can't meet those quotas, their benefits will be reduced or even revoked," Yang Qi said.

"So if I can support myself by working a regular job, can I just slack off?" Sun Hang shrugged. "You know, tightening screws on an assembly line is a lot safer than facing anomalous entities head-on."

"Before, it might not have been a problem if you wanted to slack off, but things are different now." Yang Qi said, "In the Taotie Clone attack, we lost eleven hunters. Including you, Tianfu City now has only two active hunters... If you refuse to carry out missions, anomalous entities will directly invade residential areas. When that happens, you naturally won't be able to stay out of it."

"Tianfu City only has two hunters now? Then aside from me, the other one is that 'humanoid mother lizard'?"

Sun Hang couldn't help recalling the scene from that day—the scales, bone spurs, and wings that had grown beneath that woman's skin; the thorns and roots she had torn apart with brute force; and the blue-white fireball that had nearly evaporated the entire blood pool...

In Sun Hang's eyes, that woman was even more "delicious" than Bloody Mary... Unfortunately, his appetite for her had lasted less than half a second before a stronger wave of nausea crushed it.

Sun Hang found it difficult to describe that feeling. If he had to make an analogy, that woman was like a plate of exquisite cuisine, except before it was served, the chef had sprinkled a lethal dose of cilantro all over it.

And Sun Hang happened to be a diner who utterly despised cilantro.

Sun Hang tried to erase that nauseating feeling from his memories, but then he noticed Yang Qi staring at him with an extremely strange look in her eyes.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Sun Hang asked.

"No... I was just curious how you knew her private nickname..."

"Nickname?" Sun Hang froze for a moment. "You mean Mother Liz—"

"Shh." Yang Qi cut him off, raising her index finger to her lips. "Whatever you do, don't mention that nickname in front of her. To maintain her human form, she needs to inject massive amounts of suppressants every day, and the most obvious side effect of those suppressants is that they make people extremely irritable..."

"Then what should I call her?"

"Tianfu City registered hunter number 115, codename Night Fiend," Yang Qi said. "You can call her by her codename or her real name, but remember one thing: if you call her by her real name, you must use both her given name and surname. Don't drop her surname just to sound friendly."

"Why? What's her real name?" Sun Hang couldn't help feeling curious.

"Wang Xiyi."

"Huh? Isn't that still 'lizard'?"

"It's Wang Xiyi, not Wang Lizard." Yang Qi picked up the tablet beside her and wrote the three characters on its screen.

"Oh, now I get it." Sun Hang nodded. "Come to think of it, what are her abilities? What kind of anomalous entity infected her?"

"I don't know," Yang Qi said bluntly. "Every hunter's detailed information is top secret and won't be disclosed until they lose control or die. Only my teacher, that hunter's direct supervisor, and the big shots in the Federation and military can view it. I'm not qualified."

"Then my direct supervisor is..."

"Me," Yang Qi said. "The relationship between a hunter and their direct supervisor is similar to that between a celebrity and their agent. If you have any problems, come directly to me. Don't worry about troubling me, because this is my job."

"Then who's responsible for that liz... Wang Xiyi?"

"My teacher, the director of Tianfu City's Anomaly Research Institute," Yang Qi said. "She's been employed for seven years and has completed a total of thirty-three missions, large and small. She's Tianfu City's ace hunter."

"Thirty-three missions in seven years... That means she gets a mission roughly every two and a half months on average." The frequency of anomalous entity incursions is still pretty high... Especially now that Tianfu City only has her and me left as hunters, the mission density will only become higher...

"I have one more question," Sun Hang said.

"Ask away. As long as it's within the permitted scope, I'll tell you everything I know," Yang Qi said generously.

"Tianfu City should count as a border region of the Federation, right? Can a major border city like this really be defended by only two hunters?"

"So that's what you were worried about... You can rest assured. The request for additional hunters has already been submitted, and the Federation's reinforcements will arrive in Tianfu City within two months at most. As long as these two—"

"Stop right there." This time, Sun Hang interrupted Yang Qi. "If you keep talking, then something is bound to go wrong."

"Huh?" Yang Qi didn't understand at first, but after two seconds, she couldn't help smiling. "You believe in that?"

"Better safe than sorry," Sun Hang said. "I have to say, you're quite pretty when you smile."

"Can I take that as you flirting with me?" A hint of amusement appeared in Yang Qi's smile.

"I was only comparing you with someone who always has a straight face. You two look a lot alike." Sun Hang shook his head.

"That's my younger sister, Yang Lian. She works for the Anomaly Investigation Bureau."