Looking at the Advanced Hunter in front of her, Jiang Baimian raised her hand and scratched her ear. “Ah, what did you say?
The words that the Advanced Hunter had prepared were immediately stuck in his throat.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao turned around and helped translate. “He asked us what we found in that woman’s room.”
Jiang Baimian looked enlightened and smiled. “The clues we found have been submitted to the guild. When they are done reviewing and announcing it, you will know what was found.”
The black-haired, blue-eyed Advanced Hunter gave them a deep glance and didn’t ask any further. He turned around and prepared to leave.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly said, “How rude.”
“How is he rude?” Jiang Baimian asked cooperatively.
“Isn’t it common sense to introduce yourself before asking questions?” Shang Jianyao replied seriously. He didn’t seem to have any fear of being dragged out and beaten up.
The Advanced Hunter paused and didn’t turn around. He sullenly said, “Oudick.”
“His Ashlandic is pretty good.” Shang Jianyao was already chatting with Jiang Baimian about something else.
Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “He looks to be of mixed heritage. Maybe Ashlandic is his mother tongue.”
With his back facing them, Oudick fell silent for a few seconds before finally walking away.
After the Advanced Hunter left the seating area at the edge of the lobby, Jiang Baimian chuckled and said, “You sure know how to do it. Your taunting skills are pretty good. Haha, you also don’t introduce yourself when you question others.”
Shang Jianyao replied seriously, “Brothers don’t need to introduce themselves.”
“...” Jiang Baimian had no retort. She pretended not to have conversed with Shang Jianyao about this matter. Bored, she shook her legs and waited for the review to be completed.
Suddenly, she looked up at the lobby’s ceiling.
After a few seconds, she said in confusion, “A group of people passed by... One of them has an electric signal pattern that’s different from humans. It doesn’t even appear to be that of an animal... A robot?”
Shang Jianyao also looked up at the ceiling and said, “It’s all human consciousness.”
Jiang Baimian turned her head and looked at Shang Jianyao. “They’re all humans?”
“I can make them corny at this distance.” Shang Jianyao didn’t answer her question.
Jiang Baimian easily understood what he meant and frowned. “Human consciousness... Inhuman electric signals...”
After combining these two descriptions, there seemed to be only one answer—an Eternal! Or rather, a mechanical monk from the Monks Conclave!
“Could it be an old friend?” Jiang Baimian asked herself. “No, Jingfa would’ve long gone crazy in such an environment.”
There were a large number of female employees in the Hunter’s Guild.
“You can go up and ask.” Shang Jianyao suggested.
Jiang Baimian shot him a glance and couldn’t be bothered to answer.
She tersely acknowledged it and thought for a moment. “It’s not necessarily a mechanical monk. Back then, not all Eternals were converted to the conclave’s faith. There were exceptions...”
At this moment, the group of people upstairs had already gone beyond their perception range.
Due to the lack of information, Jiang Baimian stopped discussing this matter. She observed the coming and going of Ruin Hunters, attempting to summarize some of the local customs.
After about ten minutes, a voice sounded from the loudspeakers in the lobby.
“May the Hunter—who submitted new clues to Liu Dazhuang’s mission—please head to Counter 11’s Su Xiaoman to receive your payment.”
Jiang Baimian stood up, took out her Hunter’s Badge, and quickly walked to the circular platform.
“How much do I get?” she asked Su Xiaoman with a smile.
Su Xiaoman smiled and replied, “100 Oray. Each person in your two-man team will then receive 100 credits. Congratulations on becoming Official Hunters!”
Jiang Baimian did not hide her smile. “Not bad.”
For the four of them, it would cost about 4 Oray a day just to eat. Adding on rent, it cost them nearly 5 Oray a day. 100 Oray was enough to sustain them for another three weeks.
After handing the Hunter’s Badge to Su Xiaoman and letting her swipe it, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao became Official Hunters.
They then took a receipt and their Hunter’s Badges from Su Xiaoman before heading to a finance kiosk on the first floor, where they received a thick stack of notes.
Oray was dark green in color, with 10 being the highest denomination. However, they were also given some notes with denominations of 5 and 1.
After returning to the mission area, Jiang Baimian realized that the clues she had submitted had been publicly released. There were even Lei Yunsong, Lin Feifei, and the others’ names.
Jiang Baimian was just about to sigh at Shang Jianyao when she suddenly saw the Advanced Hunter walk over.
Oudick—who was wearing a thick, black coat—stopped in front of them and asked, “You didn’t discover anything in that woman’s room?”
Jiang Baimian didn’t pretend not to hear him this time because his voice was rather loud. She smiled and said, “The corresponding payment is needed to obtain any clues of value. Isn’t this common knowledge among Ruin Hunters?”
Without waiting for Oudick’s response, she added with a smile, “I’ve already received 100 Oray as a reward. I’ll only accept equivalent clues as payment in the future.”
Oudick fell silent and didn’t speak.
“It seems like you haven’t thought it through. Come find us after you’ve thought it through.” Jiang Baimian smiled as she walked past him.
Shang Jianyao followed behind her and left the Hunter’s Guild with her.
On the street, Jiang Baimian looked back and thoughtfully said, “Before the new clues were released, this Advanced Hunter knew of Lin Feifei’s existence. He also confirmed that we went to Lin Feifei’s room... He has a good relationship with the local Hunter’s Guild’s higher-ups and knew about the clues we submitted in advance?
“No, if that were the case, he should’ve already known that we only mentioned the gunman’s accomplices and not our subsequent search... It seems like he knows something? Or did he discover clues that allowed him to quickly determine that the gunman had a female accomplice?”
As she muttered to herself, Jiang Baimian turned to look at Shang Jianyao and realized that he was staring at her.