Linda spoke indifferently: "These minor things makes no sense. With such a small means we will arouse his suspicions. This time, we have to wait for the little devil to get to the other side of the wall... I'll kill him there!"
Gale nodded: "There is no law outside the giant wall so there are no constraints. Dead will die! But this little daredevil just joined the hunter headquarters. He is going to receive vocational training and it may take a few months. Maybe a year or two. We may have to wait for a long time."
"Don't worry about that. If I'm not wrong he is going to choose 'archer' as his occupation. Because that job and the magic marks that he had inherited from the juranzhi beast are simply a perfect match. His ability is going to be a super smell. Once he makes the choice, I'll give him an ugly and miserable death! "
"Oh?" The trio looked at her curiously.
"In case of an emergence even the trainee hunter like him would be sent out of the wall!" Linda coldly looked at Gale: "You know that the number of hunters in the consortium is scarce. So lets say, Gale you have been injured and the other hunters are on task. There will be a need for a hunter. What would consortium do?"
Their eyes lit up as they heard Linda speak.
"Haha, the boss is clever as always." The other youth laughed.
Dark skinned girl exclaimed: "Indeed captain is smart. This way if the consortium intends to send him over to another team, as long as we talk to them the daredevil will be hindered. We are going to meet him outside the wall, in anycase!"
"Yes," Gale nodded.
Linda spoke: "This thing shall not be mentioned anywhere. We convened today because of our next task. We are going to area no 3. Have a good look. "
"area no 3?" The other three were surprised.
"Its been known for a long time that the level of monsters in the area no 3 are level 10 or more. I have heard that there have been level 20 monsters sighted there. Of course, if the captain takes the lead we won't encounter such a beast. But we can kill a number of level 10 beasts and make a fortune! "The tanned girl smiled.
The other youth's eyes shone as he said: "I heard that on area no 3 a giant infected deer has been detected. It's body is full with fat, but its skin... Its more expensive than gold!"
Gale slightly frowned, said: "Wealth and risk are symmetrical. There have been a lot of teams who have fallen in area no 3. We can't follow in their footsteps. "
Linda nodded: "Yes, but our goal is to find infected beasts anyway. In the area no 3 there should be a great chance to encounter a rare infected beast. If we could hunt it down, then you guys can make your magic marks evolve again! "
Hearing this, their eyes brightened.
...
...
Dudian closed the brochure.
The second
Chapter is about the details of the other privileges of the hunter. The main thing was the details of the occupation which he simple looked at. The carriage had already left the boundary wall of the commercial area and was already in the residential area.
Soon, the carriage stopped in the Lin Kang street.
Dudian got off and took his luggage. As it was consortium's carriage he didn't need to pay the fare. He looked at the familiar white colored fence. He had missed the place. He stepped forward and knocked the door.
"Who?" Jura's voice resounded beind the door. She opened and saw Dudian: "You came back fast."
Dudian nodded and entered the house.
It was dusk so Gray also had come from the work in the factory. He had no time in the morning to read the newspaper so he was skimming through it now. As he heard Jura talking he put down the newpaper and rushed over.
Chapter 85: Launch
Dudian saw the joy in their eyes. There were a few whites scattered between their hair. He felt that he had obligations before them even if he was an adopted son. Although three years ago they tried to 'sell' him of to Avril family but the shadow caused by that situation had long faded away from his heart. 'People are not saints!', his father had told him regularly back three hundred years ago.
"its been a bit more than 10 days but look at you... So thin." Jura spoke in a distressed tone as she looked at Dudian.
"Come in and sit down. We should talk." Gray smiled.
Dudian nodded slightly. He put down the luggage and came to table to accompany them to a chat. As the task was confidential he had to come up with a story.
"You have been promoted by the consortium because of your performance?" Gray was surprised as he heard Dudian talk. 'Its his first task and he gets a promotion? Too fast, right?'
"The consortium assigned a house to me so we can move on to the new place," Dudian said.
Jura was stunned: "They already allocated you a house? That sounds lavish!"
"Geez. Its indeed the Mellon consortium ah!" Gray apparently had heard a thing or two about Mellon Foundation news. He sighed loudly and then slightly shook his head: "But me and your mother have been living in this area for too long. The neighbors are familiar too. Moreover, my work is not far from home so moving to another place is abit uncomfortable."
"It so disappointing so. Ah, I will be living alone in the commercial district." Dudian said in a regretful tone.
"You are approaching the age of marriage and you are already capable of... ah? Wait, what you just said? Live in the commercial district? You are saying that the consortium assigned a house to you in the commercial district?!"
"Yes."
"You, you ... that, when can we move in?"
"... anytime."
"Ha ha ... ..." Gray suddenly laughed out loud. Pursuit of his life was to be able to live in the commercial district. He would never expect that such a desire would be realized so unexpectedly.
They chuckled. Jura and Gray looked at Dudian eyes with care and comfort as they never expected Dudian to give them such a big surprise.
Dudian couldn't help but smile as he saw their happiness. He thought of a matter and took out a gold coin: "Before the task I had borrowed a lot from you so I'm giving back in excess because of filial piety."
Gray and Jura's eyes went wide when they saw the gold coin. What kind of a task does he do to earn a gold coin in time of ten days? Their total annual wages couldn't be compared to the gold coin given by Dudian.
"This is your wage?" It was hard for Jura to believe. She couldn't help but said: " What kind of tasks do you do for the consortium? Is it very difficult? You have received the training to become a guard, but its just... " The years of life experience had taught her that there was absolutely no free lunch under the sun. Moreover wages and risk were directly proportional.
Dudian smiled and said: "No, we do not fight and there is no danger. The thing is the tasks are complex so there is a long and hard training. That's why most people fail by the end." He grinned.
Jura looked at him half-skeptically, "Really?
Dudian nodded with certainty.
Jura was assured down as she heard Dudian: "Yes, the abilities. You are really special. The first moment when I saw you, I felt that you were different from the other children... " As she was talking, she felt Gray's arm touch her. She looked at him and he winked back. She should not continue to mention the orphanage, lest she evokes Dudian's painful memories.
Dudian noticed Gray's little trick, but did not care much. Because he knew that although they were good to him but they would never make him forget his biological parents as well as sister. They had occupied a large part in his heart which no on could replace.
"After we move to the new house, I'll help you to get new jobs in the consortium." Dudian said to the two: "Most probably, you will not even need to work but receive the basic salary every month. By the way, don't save much and eat up to your hearts content as I'll be making a lot of money in the future." This was one of the priviliges given to the hunters. As long as the consortium wanted they could get many things done behind the closed doors.
Gray laughed: "No, I don't need your pension. Although you are mo
re than us but you can not squander money. You got to keep some for the future wife and children, you know?"
Jura suddenly smiled and said: "Dean, there is this woman who I know for a long time. And few days ago I was talking to her about her daughter. She is so sweet and good. Her daughter is approaching the age of marriage and we plan to make you meet her. What do you think?"
Dudian's face turned red in embarrassement: "This, this ... ..."
"You're nearing the age, too," Gray added.
Dudian was ashamed. His age was twelve and 13 was the legal age of marriage. From his perspective, a person who was 13 was only a kid. Getting married!? That was just too much of a pressure on him.
But in this era people were agin fast. There were diseases, plagues, poverty and other problems that took a lot of life every year. Moreover, as the body accumulated a lot of radiation, so the fertility was lost too as people aged. That was why the marriage age was so early, but he wasn't able to adapt to this condition.
"I'll consider it when I reach the age. " Dudian answered in an authentic tone.
Jura saw the persistence in Dudian's eyes so she helplessly said: " Well if you don't want to then I can't force you. But you really got to see the girl. She is very beautiful. I have seen her, she is definitely a little beauty!"
"I agree with that," Gray smiled.
Jura turned him a supercilious look.
Dudian shook his head again and again in refusal to meet to girl. However, he suddenly remember of the night where he was sitting side by side with the girl in the pavilion of the garden. They were looking up at the gray moon, chatting in the shadow of the night. His heartbeat slightly sped up. He secretly thought: "I wonder what is she doing now? If I went to directly find her, would it be too abrupt?"
He was lost in thought.
...
...
That night he accompanied Jura and Gray till the late hours of night as they chatted. The next morning, in the dawn, he woke up early and had a simple wash after the breakfast. He called a carriage and went to the slums.
Last night, when Jura referred to the orphanase few names popped up in his mind. Although he had only lived there for a few months and now three years had gone by, there was blurred memory of faces in his mind. He remembered Barton and the others who were by his saide when he first came to the Meishan orphanage.
He was well aware of what kind of a treatment they would get if not adopted by the age of thirteen.
Now, he had the qualifications and enough funds to adopt them. Moreover he was ready to start building a few alchemy laborotories and he missed a few hands. In addition to Mason and the other two, those few disabled kids from the orphanage could be his trusted aides.
Chapter 86: Disappearance
After a long time Dudian had returned to slums. The smell of urine in the air made him nauseous. He was much more sensitive to smell different form his past self. For ordinary people there was faint smell of rot, urine and excrement. But for him it was unusually strong. Sometimes he felt dizzy because of the irritating taste.
Dudian slightly covered his nose, waiting for the body to adapt to situation. Moreover he realized that strong sense of smell was a fatal weakness at the same time!
"In the future, if I face a situation where I'm up against a hunter or beast with super sense of smell then I can deal with it using this approach. The advantage can be turned in a shortcoming. It seems that everything has two sides. " A thought flashed in his mind as he was walking the street alleys.
Stay long enough in the toilet and the smell disappears. As Dudian walked more the feeling of discomfort gradually faded away. He didn't directly go to Meishan orphanage but along the path came to the garbage field that he visited three years ago.
As he got close to the dump, Dudian saw that the previous accumulation of rubbish mountains have been leveled to ground. Although he had expected the garbage to be cleaned up but didn't expect it so soon to be removed.
"I heard a plague broke out in the slums last year. It had casued a lot of people to be infected. 'Black dead season' has just come so the temperature have increased. I assume it has been long ago that the garbage has been cleaned up. " Dudian was in regret. If he was not selected for scavenger training camp three years ago, relying on the leftover energy in the frozen storage capsule he should be able to learn a lot of knowledge from the super-chip. At that time he couldn't resist and obeyed the arrangement. It was like the compulsory conscription from the old era, if you didn't have any influential background you must serve in the army.
"The frozen storage has also been moved away. Most probably it was found out while handling the garbage. As long as the news have leaked to various consortia and military through intelligence network, then they would not have let it stay at hands of others. After all, a metal warehouse of such size would be eye-catching. It should have been moved to somewhere secret to be studied. Fortunately there is not photo of mine inside, or else I would be facing an unneeded trouble. " Dudian secretly thought.
Suddenly he smelled few odors getting close to him.
This was the advantage of super smell. He could detect the advance of creatures before they were in his eye sight.
He turned around to see two middle-aged and one young man in ragged clothing come out from the back alley. They walked in different directions to outflank him. One was holding a wooden stick while the others had rusty machete and a dirty black stone in their hands. They approached step by step as they were staring at Dudian.
"Little guy!" The one in the middle with disheveled hair spoke out in low tone: " Be sensible! Surrender your money and clothing! "
"Three refugees." He identified them when he saw their dresses. They were the lowest level of existences even in the slums. All of them were homeless. Main reason for their exclusion from the society was the excessive level of radiation accumulated in their bodies. No place would accept them for work as not to affect the health of others.
"Don't you want to kill me? " Dudian faintly smiled.
All three of them knew from the fine clothing on Dudian's body that he was not from their slums. Their aim was to rub the money and leave. If they murdered him, they knew that there will be trail and investigations that would turn the slums up and down. However they didn't expect Dudian to be so calm and fearless as he face them.
"Kiddo, less nonsense or I'll waste you! " Middle-aged man in the middle shouted.
Dudian's body flashed.
Bang bang bang!
Dudian was lazy to listen to long-winded talk from them. So he took the opportunity to knock them out over the ground. He was preparing to inquire them about whereabouts of the rubbish when a thought passed by his mind. If the frozen storage was at hands of one of the consortia or military then they would start an investigation relating to find the people who knew about it existence.
He was anxious as he thought of the idea. If he asked about the frozen storage and this people leaked about him in the future, then it was equal to be asking the consortia or military to come over and arrest him. Dudian shouted as he kicked the middle-aged man: "I'm lost. Tell me the way to Meishan orphanage."
Middle-aged man was panicking. It was hard to understand how such a little kid was able to summon such terrible speed and strength. He didn't dare to think about anything as there were rumors of mysterious beings from commercial district: "Turn left from here and right after two street. Then ask someone else and you will be informed about the details."
Dudan turned away to leave. He naturally knew the way to Meishan orphanage. However, if there was a person or force who was secretly observing the area then they would not doubt him. It was just to cover his tracks.
"The energy source to run the frozen storage has long been exhausted. It would be hard for the people who found to study it. But this is the only thing left to me from my parents. If later on I find it whereabouts, then I got to get it back. " Dudian thought in secret as he walked away from the garbage area.
&
nbsp; In about ten minutes, Dudian reached the front of the Meishan orphanage. Its building was dilapidated, and in the last three years it just got more old and unrealiable.
Dudian saw a fat woman cleaning the sparse lawn in front of the orphanage.
"Auntie," cried Dudian.
Middle-aged woman was surprised as she looked back. She was a bit puzzled: "You are?
"Dean," Dudian smiled.
She was stunned. There were not so many children in the orphanage. So even three years had passed she hasn't forgotten the boy. She was impressed when she had seen him the first time. A white skinned child.
She looked up and down at Dudian. The contours of his face overlapped with the boy in her memories, except the skin color. : "Dean?! You are back! How's it going with your new parents?"
"Very good." Dudian smiled and said: "I came back to see Barton, Joseph and the rest."
"Joseph is still in the orphanage, but you won't be able to see Barton. He was sent to Colin mine last year."
Dudian frowned slightly. He remembered that Barton should have just turned thirteen years old. Even if he was sent to the mine, he would have to work through the 'Black Snow Season'. However, saying anything right now would be pointless so Dudian said: "Alright, I'll go to mine to find him later on. But, I would like to trouble aunt Dai to help call Joseph, Kroen and Barry. I want to redeem their household registration."
Aunt Dai was startled as she frowned: "Dean, you haven't secretly taken your parents money? Don't be confused but if you want to redeem their household registration you must have some background to do so..."
Chapter 87: Devil's cradle
Dudian nodded slightly as he was aware of the restrictions. But for his present status, lifting of a slave's house registration was not a problem. Not to mention the Meishan orphanage, his words wouldn't be taken lightly all over the Mel family businesses: "Let them come out while you go through the procedures. I'll take all of them away. "
The Dark King Page 35
