A Smile Backed by Money Is Always Especially Sweet

"Dark Night Hunters?" Zong Ruoan frowned. After a moment, he nodded. "You have a point. I'd forgotten about them. But I still don't understand. At most, the Dark Night Hunters are a spontaneously formed civilian bounty hunter organization. How could they be packed with experts? If they have such formidable people, why haven't they been recruited into our Special Security Bureau? Are the terms we offer not generous enough?"

Yi Nanping thought, You're the Young Master Zong Family, always looking down from on high. You probably have no idea how deep the waters run in civilian organizations like the Dark Night Hunters...

He coughed. "I'm only speculating. I'll need to investigate carefully to determine who was responsible. Also, traces at the scene showed that those tentacle remnant species were killed by Zong Military Industries' 085 and Number 093 bullets."

Zong Military Industries was an asset of the Zong family, and Zong Ruoan happened to be a direct descendant of this generation of the Zong family.

Zong Ruoan looked up in astonishment. "They were made by our Zong Military Industries?!"

His first instinct was to deny it, but he quickly felt that would be inappropriate. The words circled at his lips before he changed his phrasing and asked doubtfully, "Could the bullets killing them merely be a surface appearance? Could they have been used to conceal the Mental Strength Rank A Peak expert behind this?"

Yi Nanping frowned.

He had not considered that angle, because the scene had been far too shocking. He had almost immediately concluded that this wave of remnant species had been killed by conventional thermal weapons.

Although there had never been such a precedent before.

From that perspective, Zong Ruoan's analysis did make sense.

But whatever the truth was, they needed actual data to support it.

Yi Nanping stood at attention. "Yes, Colonel Zong is insightful. We will continue the investigation."

Zong Ruoan frowned deeply and nodded. "All right, continue investigating. Have you uploaded all the data? Our technical personnel are waiting to conduct modeling analysis."

"It has all been uploaded."

"Mm. Keep up the good work."

Zong Ruoan ended the call after saying that.

As soon as the call ended, the light and shadow in the room shifted, restoring it to the simple and unadorned appearance it had when they first entered.

It looked like an utterly ordinary residential house.

While Yi Nanping was being questioned, Xia Chujian and the others were also discussing the rapidly arriving "regular army" inside their team's combat aircraft.

"Captain, this was clearly an operation by us Hunters. Why are these 'regular army' people sticking their noses in too? Who are they? Where did they get the news?!"

Li Fu was the first to voice his dissatisfaction.

"Could someone have leaked the information?" Song Mingqian had always been an overly suspicious skeptic.

Yet he was only worried about one issue. "Our mission was to kill the human traffickers and rescue the abducted hostages. We completed the first requirement, but we weren't able to take the abducted hostages with us... Will that affect our performance settlement?"

Ping Qiong also said, "If Ye Dui hadn't urged us to leave so quickly, I would have woken those people up and taken them with us no matter what. At worst, we could have squeezed together. They weren't very big anyway..."

Ye Shijie was also puzzled, but he did not show it. He merely said calmly, "After I sent the situation at the scene to the branch's Cloud System, higher-ups confirmed that we had completed the mission. It shouldn't affect our performance settlement."

As for why the "regular army" had been able to interfere in this operation, that was a matter for higher-ups.

Ye Shijie did not say that aloud.

It was not their concern.

The group grumbled, but gradually, the joy and secret thrill of having survived disaster overshadowed their dissatisfaction. Their moods were not too gloomy.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Mulan City branch of the Dark Night Hunter Association.

This branch was located on the top floor of a commercial building in Mulan City Central District.

Standing atop a building hundreds of stories high, clouds streaked beneath their feet, and the people on the ground looked like ants.

The small combat aircraft slowly landed on the rooftop balcony.

Xia Chujian followed her teammates out of the aircraft.

It was already one-thirty in the morning. There were not many people in the branch, but given its nature, it was certainly staffed Twenty-Four Hours Non-Stop.

Beyond the bulletproof glass door from the balcony was the branch lobby.

The interior was decorated simply and discreetly. Silver-white special metal filled the entire space from ceiling to floor.

Walking inside was like entering a gleaming silver, high-tech oval snow cave.

A huge square counter stood in the middle of the lobby, handling matters such as task release, performance settlement, personnel allocation, and complaints and reports.

Xia Chujian ran first to the performance settlement counter and told the staff member on duty, "I'm a member of Team 321 from Guiyuan Branch District 3 Group 9. We accepted Ding Grade Task Number 2578. The task was completed today, and we successfully killed all the human traffickers."

She emphasized that they had killed all the human traffickers, hoping to blur the mission's other key point: rescuing the abducted victims.

The staff member searched for quite a while on the supercomputer before him, then nodded. "The system confirms that Team 321 of Guiyuan Branch District 3 Group 9 successfully killed five human traffickers, rescued the abducted victims, and completed the mission. You may claim B-Grade Merit."

"Huh? A Ding Grade task can earn B-Grade Merit?!" Xia Chujian's eyes lit up, though she still remained calm as she asked, "How much money can B-Grade Merit be exchanged for?"

The staff member was greatly surprised and finally looked up at her.

Xia Chujian wore a black mask, obscuring her full appearance, but she had removed her helmet. Her eyes were like autumn water, bright as stars beneath the faint silver-white indoor lighting, radiant and unparalleled.

Yet when she spoke, she tilted her head slightly, revealing the birthmark on her face.

Against skin white as first snow, the red birthmark at her left forehead temple was especially conspicuous.

At first glance, it looked like a blooming, vivid Other Shore Flower. Upon closer inspection, fine red blood vessels were clearly visible.

Her extremely beautiful and pure eyes, clear black and white, were encircled by the ferocious red birthmark. Amid that striking face, glimpsed only fleetingly, there was an understated trace of killing intent.

The staff member was so shocked that he could not speak for a moment.

Only when Xia Chujian's eyes showed doubt and she raised her hand to tap the counter, whose material was unknown, producing a crisp tinkling sound, did the staff member come back to his senses and ask once again, "Are you sure you want to exchange B-Grade Merit for money? No one has ever exchanged B-Grade Merit for cash before."

"Yes, I'm sure." Xia Chujian spoke lightly, her gaze sharp and resolute as she looked at the staff member.

The staff member lowered his head and calculated for a while. "It can be exchanged for five hundred thousand Beichen Coin."

Five hundred thousand?!

Xia Chujian still maintained her composure, but brilliant sparks called "money" nearly burst from her bright eyes.

Five hundred thousand!

Li Fu happened to come closer. When he heard that, he happily slapped Xia Chujian on the shoulder. "Five hundred thousand, that much?! Before this, the most we ever exchanged was five hundred yuan!"

"Five hundred thousand Beichen Coin is enough to buy a large apartment with five bedrooms and three living rooms in the best location of Mulan City's best West District! It even comes with independent bathrooms and a kitchen!"

Ping Qiong also came over and said enviously, "My parents' combined annual income is less than ten thousand! Chujian earned fifty years of my parents' income in one go!"

Because the wages of ordinary people in Mulan City were truly too low, five hundred thousand Beichen Coin was unquestionably a huge sum of money here.

Xia Chujian tried hard to remain calm, though the corner of her mouth slightly raised.

While waiting for the staff member to exchange the money for her, she glanced back at Ping Qiong and said casually, "Cai Jie can exchange hers for money too."

She knew that what Ping Qiong hated most in life was the name her parents had given her. Thus, ever since elementary school, Ping Qiong had given herself the nickname Cai Jie.

When Xia Chujian called her by that nickname, Ping Qiong beamed with joy and said excitedly, "I need to think carefully! Think carefully! It's actually B-Grade Merit! B-Grade!"

Song Mingqian flicked his long bangs, always striking a pose, and said with a solemn face, "Many teams may not earn B-Grade Merit even after fifty years of tasks. What was so special about this mission? Why did a Ding Grade task earn B-Grade Merit?"

Ding Grade tasks corresponded to D-Grade Merit. It looked like only a two-grade difference from B-Grade Merit, but the value gap was exponential.

Like the difference between five hundred yuan and five hundred thousand.

But why?

"Yeah, why?"

Li Fu and Ping Qiong muttered to themselves as well, unable to understand.

Xia Chujian's eyes flickered. She lowered her head and sent a message in the team group through her smart bracelet: I suggest you exchange yours for money too. In case the staff member made an error, cash will not be easy to take back...

As soon as she sent that message, Li Fu, Ping Qiong, and Song Mingqian immediately nodded in agreement.

After all three of them had exchanged their merits for Beichen Coin, team captain Ye Shijie finally entered the lobby.

"What are you all huddled together and acting so suspiciously for?" Ye Shijie was quite displeased with his own team, always feeling they failed to live up to expectations.

"Captain, hurry and exchange it for money... B-Grade Merit! It was probably a mistake..." Li Fu, tall as a brown bear, came pitter-pattering over to deliver the message to Ye Shijie.

Ye Shijie's pupils suddenly contracted. "Wasn't it a Ding Grade task?! How could it be B-Grade Merit?!"

"Exactly! That's what we thought too! So we all chose to exchange it for cash! It's safe in the bag now!" Li Fu happily patted the pocket of his long fur coat.

As though the five hundred thousand in cash were tucked inside his pocket.

In reality, the money was digital currency and had already been transferred into their personal accounts.

Ye Shijie gave him a glare. "Pathetic! Do you know how many good things B-Grade Merit can get that low-grade merit cannot?! All you know is money! Money! Money! Why don't you crawl into a money hole and hang yourself there?!"

Li Fu shrank back after being scolded and said resentfully, "...What are you talking nonsense about, Captain... Once that staff member comes back to his senses, I bet it'll be too late for you to cry!"

Ye Shijie strode towards the counter. After revealing his identity, he confirmed repeatedly, "It really is B-Grade Merit? There's really no mistake?"

The staff member had been driven crazy by them. He directly projected the page onto a screen for them. "See it? This Ding Grade task corresponds to B-Grade Merit."

The group stared at the suspended virtual screen in mid-air and all fell silent.

Only then did Ye Shijie relax. Breaking the silence, he said, "I don't want money. I want to exchange it for high-grade supernatural defense weapons, as well as Mental Strength Training Duration in the Association's virtual system."

Li Fu, Ping Qiong, and Song Mingqian looked at the money in their accounts and instantly found their huge sum of money not appealing anymore.

For Gene Evolvers like them, supernatural weapons and Mental Strength Training Duration were the hard currency! What's the use of money...

They had truly been led astray by Xia Chujian, an ordinary person whose genes could not evolve...

The three cursed inwardly, then rushed to the performance settlement counter again.

"I want to exchange it back!"

"Me too!"

"And me!"

The staff member's expression changed. "Do you think this is a market?! Exchange whenever you want?! It's not that easy! Unless we deduct a handling fee!"

"Deduct it, then! How much can it be?! I'll transfer it to you now!"

After much noisy arguing, they ultimately exchanged the money for supernatural weapons and Mental Strength Training Duration.

Only Xia Chujian remained unwavering. Looking at the amount of money in her smart bracelet account, she occasionally revealed an enchanted and captivated smile.

Looking at her, everyone instantly felt that a smile backed by money was always especially sweet.

With his hands behind back, Ye Shijie advised Xia Chujian in a low voice, "You're a Hunter. What use is money to you? You should exchange it for some advanced defensive supernatural weapons. You have no Mental Strength, so you need to guard against others using Mental Strength against you..."

Xia Chujian refused. "Captain, I'm just an ordinary working person. Being a Hunter is merely a job to me. If I don't want money, what should I want? Don't use mental attacks as mental encouragement to fool me. We don't play empty games!"

Seeing that she was utterly determined, Ye Shijie stopped trying to persuade her. He shook his head and said, "Do as you like. Today's mission is over. You can go home. We'll notify you when there's another task..."

The moment he finished speaking, the suspended virtual screen above the task release counter in the lobby emitted a tick-tock sound like water droplets falling, then updated the day's task list.

The first new task scrolling across the virtual screen was to go to the Exotic Beast Forest north of Mulan City and search for a rare plant called Blood Kirin.

This task was not even Ding Grade. It was Geng Grade, three grades below Ding Grade.

Ye Shijie let out a snort. "Searching for a rare plant like Blood Kirin, and in a dangerous zone like the Exotic Beast Forest, is actually only a Geng Grade task. Anyone who accepts this task is an idiot."

At the same time, Mulan City remained asleep in the early morning.

Yet West 001 District, the best residential area in all of Mulan City, was brilliantly lit, like the Most Dazzling Pearl Under the Night Sky.

Most of the residences here were detached villas. There were also high-rise buildings, but every building was relatively far apart; they were not close enough for neighbors to greet each other simply by opening their windows.

The detached villa residential community was filled with carefully maintained beautiful scenery. Once night fell, all kinds of light shows lit up, making it breathtakingly beautiful.

Several private flying vehicles of various sizes were parked on the landing pad of a beautifully landscaped detached villa in the central area of the residential community.

Among them was the large private flying vehicle that had just departed from the six-story small building at West 089 District, No. 334.

All the detached villa's windows were covered with soft pinkish-purple velvet self-heating blackout soundproof curtains.

Thus, although the villa was bright as day inside, nothing could be seen from outside, making it seem as if no one lived in this villa at all.

A tall noblewoman wearing a veil sat beside a bed in a third-floor bedroom of the villa, watching the young girl lying on the bed with a nervous expression.

She was the one the noblewoman had just rescued from that dirty room.

The young girl's face was covered in swollen, bruised blood stains, making her features impossible to discern.

She had presumably just changed into clean, tidy clothes, but the dark brown whip marks across her exposed shoulders were horrifying.

A doctor in a white protective suit was giving the young girl a comprehensive examination.