What Disney?

As expected, searching the Ochima Federation and Ghost Island along with keywords like ghosts and spirits mostly turned up supernatural tales and urban legends.

What caught Jing Yang's attention was that, judging by their publication dates, these related search results had no concentrated spike. There had been scattered interviews, news reports, and rumors in recent years, over the past decade, and even twenty years ago...

Rumors might not be false, and ghosts might not be real, Jing Yang thought. In Hunter World, practically every strange tale is tied to Aura in some way.

That deathly pale boy he had glimpsed by chance in the forest might have had something to do with some peculiar Aura ability.

"Huh? That's strange..." Menchi muttered as she looked at the search results on the screen.

Jing Yang casually asked, "What's the deal with that Blanchette Company, the one in charge of the Fanged Moon Tiger Sanctuary?"

"What do you mean, what's the deal? This is the deal. They're responsible for maintaining and operating the sanctuary on this island," Menchi said strangely.

"This amusement park belongs to that company too?"

"It's a huge company. I heard it's a world-class corporate giant."

"Blan... whatever. How do you spell that name?"

"Oh, 'Blanchette.' It's easy to type. It's a surname."

"Then you do it."

Jing Yang stepped aside and gestured for Menchi to sit down.

Menchi did not stand on ceremony. Her fingers clattered over the keyboard, and she pulled up an introduction to the Blanchette Company—

"Blanche Company, also known as Blanchette Elf Company, was founded in 1987 by its founder, Allantrail Blanchette. Its businesses include film and entertainment, media networks, theme parks, amusement parks, ancient cultural collection and preservation... Its video website iTube has become the world's largest online video publishing platform... According to the latest financial reports, the company's total assets amount to 12.9166 trillion Jenie..."

What Disney!

Jing Yang could barely suppress the urge to complain internally. Founded in 1987—less than eight years ago by now—and it had already made nearly thirteen trillion? Why didn't it just fly into the sky?

Wait...

He pushed Menchi's hand aside and clicked on the founder's name.

"Allantrail Blanchette, Hunter Association member. Information strictly confidential. His estimated personal assets rank among the world's top five richest individuals..."

Only fifth?

Jing Yang let out a breath. Of course he was a Hunter. Then it made sense.

In this world, roughly sixty of the top hundred richest people were Professional Hunters.

With a Hunter License in hand, everything became incredibly convenient in every line of work. Governments in most countries around the world gave that little card a measure of respect. Most ordinary people also placed considerable trust in the abilities of those who held one...

All that excitement had made him hungry.

Jing Yang looked outside. After spending half the day in the Internet Cafe, evening clouds had already appeared. They cast their glow over the amusement park, now somewhat less crowded than during the day, lending it a different kind of beauty.

"I heard my teacher mention that this Allantrail Blanchette..."

Menchi pointed at the computer screen and turned her head.

The boy who had just been standing beside her, pointing things out, had vanished. Even the Little Gray Bird he had brought with him was gone!

When had he slipped away?

How had she not sensed a thing...

"What incredible strength." Menchi leaned back in her chair with her hands clasped behind her head, gazing at the screen before her. "Back outside the sanctuary, after he dealt with those five poachers, he probably didn't have much strength left..."

When her teacher took over those poachers, she had pointed at the groggily awakening Galo and told Menchi, "If you had faced him alone, you would probably be dead by now. Don't act recklessly or run off by yourself again. You may have gotten your license, but you haven't truly qualified yet. Of course, I bear responsibility for that too..."

Menchi could not help feeling secretly guilty. Her mindset was still stuck in her identity as a gourmet and chef. She really needed to train properly.

After leaving, Jing Yang bought some feed for the Little Rock Sparrow, which had been chirping nonstop, then casually ate at a small restaurant by the street.

He had thought that spicy little girl Menchi would come looking for him again. He had even been ready to order an extra meal for her, but she never showed up.

Had he made her angry by messing with her again and again?

Jing Yang did not particularly care. He only preferred to avoid meeting legitimate Professional Hunters like Menchi because the Hunter License in his hand was a "black card." But it was not as though he was afraid to interact with her—after all, he had picked up this license himself. So what if someone found out? The Hunter Association did not care in the first place about what became of lost licenses.

After eating his fill, Jing Yang took the bird for a walk through the pleasant night breeze and found a small inn to stay at.

Faint moonlight slanted in through the window, covering half of Jing Yang's body as he lay on the small bed with one leg crossed over the other.

When he had been in the wilderness, keeping company with tigers and wolves and training single-mindedly like a savage, he had felt nothing. Yet now that he had entered a town and spent most of the day amid the lively crowds, a powerful loneliness had instead risen within him, as though a piece of his heart had been hollowed out...

Stop.

"Is it because Wu Er isn't here?" he murmured.

He could not keep thinking about it.

He sensed the location of the Star Mark. He had not issued Wu Er any commands, so the Star Mark on it was in a dormant state and could barely be sensed. But the two white birds he had assigned to follow Wu Er and obey it had Star Marks in an active state...

Let the past drift away with the wind. Why trouble himself?

Sure enough, he could sense the Star Marks on the two white birds in the forest outside the sanctuary. It was not very close—somewhere around the middle section of the towns along the East Coast. One of them had barely moved. Wu Er was probably happily taking care of dinner...

"Chirp?"

The Little Rock Sparrow lost its footing on Jing Yang and tumbled over. Flapping its wings, it rolled around groggily before finally hopping back up.

"..."

After staring blankly for a long while, Jing Yang could not help laughing. He raised a finger and nudged it aside, making the Little Rock Sparrow peck at him indignantly with its beak.

He opened the window and looked at the crescent moon in the sky. Jing Yang decided to set aside his previous life for now. Since he was alive in this world, he should first look at what was before him!

What was before him?

He ought to have a goal worth pursuing too. At least then his days would have something to look forward to...

Jing Yang stretched out a hand as though trying to grasp the moonlight.

That girl Menchi was a Gourmet Hunter. Her goal was naturally to seek ever more delicious food, or something like that. This world also had all kinds of Hunters—Trouble Hunters, Crime Hunters, Lost Item Hunters, Ruin Hunters, Treasure Hunters, Beast Hunters, Poacher Hunters, Hacker Hunters, Poison Hunters, Ancient Document Hunters, and even the simplest and most straightforward of all, Bounty Hunters...

What about him?

Jing Yang suddenly recalled something the unreliable father of Gon, the protagonist in the manga, had said: "What I want has never changed—from the beginning until now, it has been 'something' that is not before my eyes... In truth, I do not care whether I can truly obtain it. The truly important rewards have already appeared during the process of striving for it, before obtaining it..."

"I've decided."

Jing Yang closed the window, sat on the edge of the bed, and raised his palm. A white ball of Aura popped into his hand, hovering silently in the air, invisible to the naked eye.

"I'll choose an ultimate goal that's almost impossible to achieve. That way, I can chase it for the rest of my life and won't have time to think about pointless nonsense." His gaze grew firm as he smiled. "Since supernatural power is real, why not try to truly transcend it all and become an eternal, undying, indestructible existence?"

"Chirp?" The Little Rock Sparrow stood on the bedsheet and tilted its head at him.

"What do you think? Does that have potential?" Jing Yang laughed.

Just then, his expression changed slightly as he looked north beyond the window.

A faint signal suddenly came from an activated Star Mark.

It was from the two birds he had sent to keep watch on that small cruise ship. They had seen humans approaching the vessel!

Jing Yang immediately switched his mode of control, projecting his consciousness onto the two little birds many kilometers away...