In Terra, a Hunter, and Also a Bad Woman

Maria looked up at Little Regret. Though her expression did not change, Little Regret could sense the other woman's dissatisfaction with her.

Clearly, Maria was not satisfied with these gains.

She had no idea what Rhodes Island or Bolivar were, nor did she care in the slightest about her affinity with them.

These two rewards could only be considered better than nothing.

What displeased Maria was why the only thing she could use was merely a blueprint.

Luoyang was the name of a double-ended sword she had once been exceptionally skilled with. When necessary, it could be snapped apart at the middle of the hilt, becoming a long blade and a short blade, specially suited to her unique fighting style.

It could be said that if she had that weapon, Maria's abilities could improve by more than double.

But what dissatisfied Maria was that it was only a simple blueprint. She could draw one herself, yet it had somehow become a quest reward?

Wasn't that a little too shabby?

But Little Regret had something to say about that too.

It was not that she did not want to give her something. The main issue was that if Maria had merely been an ordinary host, she would have directly granted her some abilities as upgrades... but the key problem was that Maria was not an ordinary host.

She was an existence of the same rank as herself, perhaps even a rank above her!

People had always heard of superiors rewarding subordinates, but never of subordinates rewarding superiors.

The hierarchy was upside down!

Faced with Maria's body, which naturally shut her out, there was nothing she could do.

Helplessly, she could only offer some tangible rewards.

Such as weapon blueprints.

And when she saw that Maria did not seem satisfied with the blueprint, she became somewhat conflicted.

Logically speaking, a system had to act like a system and keep its word.

Once a reward was given, there was no room to raise the price!

Take it or leave it!

But the problem was that Maria was the big boss. If she was unhappy, she could pull Little Regret off herself at any moment and crush her.

Under such circumstances, she did not dare provoke her.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke to Maria in an exceedingly humble tone.

"Then... shall I change it for you, boss?"

Her voice was weak, making her seem like a pitiful employee being exploited by a client.

"Mm..."

Maria crossed her arms and gave a simple response.

Having received Maria's approval, Little Regret hurriedly got to work.

After fiddling around repeatedly for a while, a new panel appeared before Maria.

Nothing else had changed. Only the quest reward had changed from a weapon blueprint into something else.

"Canine Operator Affinity Increase? What is that supposed to be?"

Looking at the panel before her, Maria only felt increasingly confused and irritated.

She had accepted the other's proposal and tried using her abilities because she had previously heard that she could gain improvements in strength.

But this reward... wasn't it a little too vague?

Wouldn't it have been better to give her some money from this world? Or some weapons?

Useless stuff!

Maria sighed. Little Regret, having been criticized, looked aggrieved but could not voice her suffering.

She wanted to give her something good too, but the problem was that Maria was already max level!

A newbie item could do a great deal for a new player.

But a max-level expert had already finished everything there was to do back in some prehistoric version.

No matter what she gave, there was not much difference.

It was nothing more than the difference between ordinary trash and golden trash.

And this affinity boost was already the most useful thing she could find for Maria at present.

If you're still not satisfied, then I'll...

I'll...

I'll cry for you to see!

Faced with such a pitiful Little Regret, Maria did not choose to squeeze anything more out of her. She merely sighed, then silently turned around.

She began planning her next journey.

"Do you have a map of this world?"

Maria asked.

Eager to show that she was actually useful too, Little Regret hurriedly began searching.

Very quickly, a rough map of this world appeared before Maria.

The Bolivar from Maria's dreams lay at the westernmost end of the entire continent, while she was here on the eastern side.

To get there, she would practically have to cross the entire continent.

At that thought, even Maria could not help furrowing her brows.

Strange!

Little Regret quickly noticed it as well.

Recalling her earlier suggestion that Maria simply walk there herself, she felt rather embarrassed.

Fortunately, Maria did not say much about it. After some simple consideration, she settled on one thing.

"If I rely on walking, it will be absolutely impossible to reach that place."

Maria had experienced this world's environment as well.

It was not merely barren... it could even be called completely devoid of vegetation.

There were very few places capable of supporting human survival. If she truly crossed this continent, even someone as powerful as her could hardly avoid accidents.

"The best way is still to follow people heading that way and investigate along the route?"

After thinking for a while, Maria silently made her decision.

Of course, even so, this journey probably would not be easy.

The simplest problem... was that Maria currently had nothing.

Other than being able to fight, she had nothing at all.

No valuables, and no social connections...

And to cross such a distant stretch of land, money was indispensable.

So...

"I'll have to take a look at this Lungmen too."

Maria silently raised her head.

And at that moment, the entire camp began to stir.

Many people looked up, their faces showing varying expressions.

A terrifying roar approached from afar.

At the edge of her vision.

An enormous platform was slowly approaching...

"So this is... a Mobile City-State?"

Maria lowered the brim of her hat and spoke softly...

Texas with Her Fur Standing on End

Maria rarely used this word to describe anything else.

Awe.

For Maria, who had faced the indescribable Outer Gods head-on and slaughtered them one by one, she had seen far too many things.

No matter how powerful or savage a monster was, before her it was merely a troublesome enemy.

It had been a long time since she had felt awe.

Yet the Mobile City-State before her made Maria feel that long-lost emotion once more.

Awe... awe beyond measure.

Previously, Maria had thought that Little Regret's Mobile City was merely an exaggerated description, and that its true form was likely some oversized battleship.

But the problem was that this battleship was simply far too enormous.

Its terrifying tires were comparable to small mountains.

Some unknown technology drove these colossal objects forward.

She could not even imagine what kind of energy it would take to move such a thing across the ground!

It even made Maria wonder whether this might be some device powered by Outer Gods.

Of course, those thoughts merely flickered through her mind.

Very soon, the vessel arrived beside Maria's camp.

There were still some people in the distance hurrying toward this place.

But after only a few glances, Maria silently withdrew her gaze.

Then she turned and followed the crowd toward the Mobile City-State...

"Name."

"Maria... no surname."

"Age."

"Sorry, I don't remember such things."

"Race."

"Human."

Standing at the entrance, Maria followed the line and quickly arrived before the personnel conducting the questioning.

The other party was a young woman who looked to be only in her twenties, her face filled with the exhaustion of being ground down by work.

The most obvious proof was her drooping tail.

She looked utterly listless.

But even so, she still restrained herself and completed her duties at her post.

Beside them, a loudspeaker was calling out with all its might.

"Infected personnel, please come here for inspection."

But unfortunately, the mechanical announcement could not truly make those "Infected" step forward. Only a small number of people would voluntarily head toward the passage on the other side. No matter how crowded the normal line was, everyone would rather remain here.

Only after the staff identified them and forcibly pulled them from the line would they leave unwillingly and join the queue on the other side.

Maria could see that whenever an Infected person was dragged out, the people around them would also be made to suffer, being sent to the other queue as well. Panic and unease would rise onto their faces.

Some even chose to abandon the line altogether and leave.

The Lungmen staff would not stop them from doing so.