56: Chapter 56 This guy isn't following the script!

Source Abyss, edge of the Ash Belt.

Three figures presented the temporary pass code of the Hunter Terminal.

The guard glanced at it and waved them through.

No one asked a single question.

People from the Hunter Association entering the Source Abyss are as common as flies entering a latrine.

If they die inside, no one collects the bodies.

At most, the status on the terminal is changed from "Active" to "Lost Contact."

They even save on the obituary.

The one walking in the middle was a burly man.

He was wearing a set of B-grade exoskeleton armor that looked very pieced together.

Every step he took emitted a dull metallic friction sound.

He was the captain of this temporary squad, Grey Wolf.

Tier 3 Intermediate Awakened, Special Class [Mechanical Mastery].

He was considered a rough-and-ready mecha master.

On the left was a lean man whose movements were as light as a civet cat.

He was scanning around with tactical binoculars.

His name was Lynx, Tier 2 peak.

Special Class [Shadow Control], a born assassin and scout.

He was just a bit loose-lipped.

"I really don't get it. That wimp Zhao Kuo paid five million to hire the three of us just to kill an F-grade high school student?"

Lynx lowered the binoculars and pursed his lips.

"Did he get his brains sucked dry by some little harlot?"

"As long as the money arrives, that's all that matters."

Grey Wolf didn't even turn his head, his voice muffled coming from inside his helmet.

"Who cares if his brains are dry or not."

Walking at the back was a short man named Weasel.

He kept rubbing his hands, looking a bit nervous.

He was also a Special Class, but a rarer [Beast Speaker].

He could use mental power to simply control insects and low-tier exotic beasts.

He was responsible for reconnaissance and gathering intelligence.

"Boss Wolf, the information I gathered says that the kid has a case of Osteoporosis," Weasel shrunk his neck.

"What if we haven't even made a move yet, and he dies from falling over after taking two steps? Zhao Kuo will turn around and accuse us of fraud..."

Lynx sneered, his face full of lewdness.

"Does he dare? At worst, we'll just film a video when the time comes."

Grey Wolf touched the heavy alloy armor on his chest, full of confidence.

"Even if that kid really has some tricks, can he break this B-grade armor of mine? I could stand still and let him hit me, and he wouldn't even leave a mark."

"Brother, don't go around setting flags like that."

Lynx immediately began to undermine him.

"Last time at the West City abandoned mine, you said the same thing, and ended up being pushed into a mud pit by a Tier 2 wild boar. Weasel and I had to fish you out for half an hour."

Grey Wolf's face darkened: "That was an accident, the terrain was slippery."

"Fine, fine, blame the terrain."

Lynx couldn't be bothered to argue and changed the subject.

"I found out clearly that the kid came in with the young lady from the Shen family."

Weasel continued: "Shen Qingci, last year's top scorer in the Jiangcheng college entrance examination.

Now she's at least Tier 2, maybe even Tier 2 peak. She probably won't be easy to deal with."

Grey Wolf's footsteps paused.

"Just kill Su Ming. If Shen Qingci is sensible, let her go."

He paused, his voice dropping by half.

"If she isn't sensible, a few people disappearing in the Abyss won't even make the Hunter Association blink."

Lynx licked his lips: "What does that young lady from the Shen family look like again? I heard her legs are especially long..."

Grey Wolf turned back and glared at him.

Lynx immediately raised his hands in surrender: "Just a joke, business is more important."

Weasel took three dark red syringes from his pocket and gave one to each of them.

"The down payment has arrived. Tier 2 Berserk Potion, one for each."

"After injecting it, all stats increase by 50 percent, and it can last for half an hour."

Lynx held the syringe up to the light and looked at it, then clicked his tongue.

"Zhao Kuo is quite generous. This thing costs at least two hundred thousand a pop."

"He's the only son of the Zhao Group."

Grey Wolf tucked the syringe into his waist.

"Five million to buy a life, plus the promise of three top-tier pieces of equipment."

"Since we've taken the money, we'll do the job. Don't any of you screw this up."

The three of them advanced rapidly along the edge of the Ash Belt.

Weasel released a few thumb-sized beetles to act as scouts.

The bugs crawled rapidly along the cracks in the ground, feeding back information about the terrain ahead.

After walking for about twenty minutes, Weasel suddenly stopped, his expression changing.

"What's wrong?" Grey Wolf looked back.

"Up ahead... there seems to be a situation."

Grey Wolf frowned and quickened his pace.

They bypassed a patch of withered bushes.

Then all three of them stopped at the same time.

On the ground in front of them, a giant crater with a diameter of over ten meters lay across the path.

It looked as if it had been plowed by a heavy cruise missile.

The rocks at the bottom of the pit were in a strange powdery state.

The soil at the edge was still emitting wisps of heat.

The surrounding ground was cracked outward with the pit as the center.

The cracks extended nearly thirty meters at the furthest point.

Even for the three of them, who had seen much, they were stunned by this scene.

Lynx spoke first, his voice not very steady:

"This... was this caused by a Tier 3 or higher heavy Source Beast?"

Weasel swallowed a mouthful of saliva:

"Good grief, did they smash a building into the ground?"

"Quick!" Grey Wolf immediately ordered,

"Speed up! Don't let that kid die in the mouth of a Source Beast first.

Our bounty has to be exchanged for his head!"

Lynx opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back.

Weasel had already started to retreat slightly.

"What are you afraid of." Grey Wolf glanced at him,

"This pit must have been left by a Source Beast. A Tier 1 piece of trash, even if you gave him a ton of explosives, he couldn't create this effect."

Grey Wolf raised his left arm.

Embedded on the outside of his forearm was a fist-sized mechanical device.

It was the core medium of his talent, a micro-mechanical control terminal.

He activated the scan mode, and the light path in his mechanical prosthetic eye switched.

He locked onto heat source tracking.

"Northeast direction, there are three heat sources within three kilometers. One big, two small."

"The big one should be an exotic beast, the two small ones are the targets."

"Move."

...

Meanwhile.

Su Ming was carrying the wreckage of the thermostatic cabin that had been completely flattened on his shoulder, sighing as he walked.

He looked just like a poor guy who had been kicked out by his landlord while moving.

Shen Qingci walked in front, trembling with anger, saying nothing.

Su Ming muttered behind her:

"The tent is gone, the thermostatic cabin is ruined. If we don't have a place to shelter from the wind and rain tonight, we'll really have to squeeze into a dog kennel with Da Huang."

Da Huang turned back and licked Su Ming's hand.

Shen Qingci stopped and looked back at him.

"Shut up, I'm punishing you to lift weights until dark."

"Fine, fine, I won't say anything."

Su Ming had a strong desire to survive and immediately changed the subject,

"Da Huang, hurry up and find some exotic beasts! Tag all your enemies! Let's finish earning enough points early and go back."

"By the way... see if there are any unlucky bastards passing by, so we can borrow a tent."

Shen Qingci's mouth twitched.

"Where would there be an unlucky bastard in the Abyss? And borrow a tent?"

What kind of brain structure does this person have?

"What if there is?" Su Ming looked serious.

Shen Qingci couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him anymore.

Su Ming began to look down and inspect the traces on the ground.

He wanted to determine if there was any prey nearby by the freshness and composition of the feces.

The wilderness survival programs he watched in his past life finally came in handy.

Just then, Da Huang's ears perked up sharply.

It stopped licking Su Ming's hand, but instead bit his pant leg and pulled him backward, then let out three low barks.

"Woof. Woof. Woof."

Su Ming: "Are you hungry again? I just fed you."

Da Huang stomped its feet in anxiety. Seeing that Su Ming didn't react, it turned its head to look at Shen Qingci.

Shen Qingci understood instantly: "Are there enemies?"

Da Huang saw a smart person and nodded its dog head like a pestle pounding garlic.

Shen Qingci scanned the area and quickly flashed behind a thick, greyed-out ancient tree, keeping her posture low.

Su Ming also crouched down, placing the wreckage of the thermostatic cabin at his side, and squinted to look ahead.

In the grey-white mist, three figures slowly emerged.

They were walking neither fast nor slow, not even deliberately hiding their tracks, and just swaggered up in a triangular formation.

The burly man walking in the front had a piece of metal armor welded to his chest, followed by a tall, thin man and a short man.

However, what happened next caused the brains of these three experienced hunters to crash on the spot.

They saw the slim youth who was the number one target. After seeing them, not only did he not show any fear on his face, but instead, it was as if he had seen long-lost relatives.

His eyes lit up with a "whoosh."

The youth stood up, patted the dust off his pants, and strode to meet them, a smile blooming on his face that was impossibly bright.

"Holy crap! Living people!"

With this shout from Su Ming, Lynx, who was just preparing to deliver threats according to the procedure, was stunned.

The three looked at each other. Grey Wolf's mechanical prosthetic eye scanned rapidly.

Height 1.85 meters, slim build, young face. Except for being a bit taller and more sunny and handsome, it seemed to basically fit the target characteristics.

Oh, and there was an extra big dog!

But this kid's reaction... had an eerie quality to it.

Something was wrong, very wrong!

Immediately after, Su Ming walked directly in front of them.

His burning gaze skipped over the weapons in their hands and the murderous aura on their bodies, locking firmly onto the bulging marching bag behind Weasel.

Inside that, there was clearly the outline of a tent!

"Brothers!" Su Ming opened his mouth enthusiastically, "Did you bring a tent?"

Lynx: "..."

Grey Wolf: "..."

Weasel subconsciously took a half step back.

The three fell into silence at the same time.

What the hell? The script wasn't written like this, was it?

Lynx was the first to react and sneered, preparing to unfold pre-battle pressure according to the original plan.

He said in a deep voice: "Kid, you are Su Ming, right? Someone paid..."

Su Ming interrupted him eagerly:

"A tent! Is there a tent? A double one is fine too, I'm not picky!"

Grey Wolf coughed, deciding to take control of the situation himself.

"Su Ming, someone paid to buy your life. If you're sensible..."

"Is there a tent?"

Grey Wolf's words were cut off again.

Lynx finally couldn't help it: "You're only concerned about this in the Abyss?"

"Of course!"

Su Ming nodded as a matter of course and pointed behind him.

"See that? That person."

The three looked along his hand. Behind an ancient tree, a beautiful figure was hidden in the shadows, looking at this side expressionlessly.

The sunset light leaked through the mist and fell on her cold eyebrows.

Lynx's eyes went straight. The legs were really long.

"Her thermostatic cabin was broken by me, and she's in a very bad mood right now. If there's no tent to sleep in tonight, the consequences will be very serious."

"So I urgently need a tent now to make up for my mistake, understand?"

His tone didn't sound like he was facing three people who wanted to kill him; it sounded more like he was borrowing salt from a neighbor.

Weasel, who was hiding in the back, had already started to tremble. He muttered:

"Boss Wolf, this guy isn't following the script..."

Grey Wolf's face was already livid. He felt his profession had been insulted.

He had been a bounty hunter for ten years, and this was the first time he had been left hanging like this by his prey.

"Cut the crap!"

He roared, and the exoskeleton armor on his body made a harsh noise.

"Idiot! He really is just a student who hasn't seen blood!"

Lynx also sneered.

"This Abyss really has fewer and fewer entry requirements now. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry can come in to die."

The two were afraid of being interrupted again, so they couldn't help but speed up their speech.

Weasel gritted his teeth and released two black flying insects from his cuffs, which quietly circled to the flank.

Grey Wolf looked at Su Ming one last time. This kid's expression was still that punchable look of "is there a tent or not."

Grey Wolf waved his hand violently.

"Do it!"