Chapter 1 Encounter in a Northern Town

In a certain town in the Northern lands, there was a hunters' tavern.

With a creak, two tall and sturdy men pushed open the doors and stepped into the bustling tavern.

The noisy tavern immediately quieted down. Everyone present subconsciously turned to look at the two men. After seeing that the two newcomers were dressed as beast hunters, they resumed their chatter and curiously sized up the two unfamiliar hunters.

One carried a long spear and had flowing, medium-length hair. The other carried a giant axe and had... well, no hair.

It was indeed Balong and Weiss.

The two came to the bar, where the tavern owner was chatting with a familiar hunter. Seeing the two approach, he nodded proactively and said:

"You two hunters must be from out of town. What can I get you to drink? Or are you looking for some work?"

"Two Northern Fires... and any leads on beasts or hunter recruitment lately?"

Weiss sat down familiarly and knocked on the bar.

Hearing this, the tavern owner took out a booklet from a drawer in the table and handed it to the two, which contained recent hunter information.

Weiss took it and casually flipped through it, while Balong silently watched.

At this moment, a hunter who was drinking next to them turned to look at the two and casually asked:

"Are you two freelance hunters?"

Balong had been feeling withdrawn lately and didn't speak.

Weiss responded, nodding and saying, "You could say that."

The man carefully sized them up and suddenly smiled: "From Baiyuan City, right?"

Weiss and Balong simultaneously turned their heads to stare at him.

Seeing this, the hunter laughed and said, "Don't be surprised. We all know what happened in Baiyuan City. Most of the hunters ran away, and you're not the first to visit our town."

Hearing this, Balong and Weiss felt complicated. They only felt that good news doesn't travel, but bad news spreads far and wide.

Although the efficiency of information transmission was extremely low, such a sensational event as the assassination of the lord by a beast hunter had spread after half a year of fermentation. The hunters who ran away from Baiyuan City would be pointed at and watched wherever they went.

If they weren't involved, they could have happily treated it as gossip, but now they didn't want to mention it at all.

Their good friend Jason had died in this turmoil, and the biggest suspect, Lute, was still safe and sound. The Empire did nothing, and the two felt resentment every time they thought of this sad past.

At this time, both of them were silent and did not respond.

But the hunter didn't notice and continued excitedly:

"Speaking of which, that guy named Jason really did something shocking. Why didn't any hunter kill the lord like him before? Even our town's lord was paranoid for a while. We hunters could enter the city at will, but during that time, we had to accept inspection."

"If you don't have a guilty conscience, you won't be afraid." Balong's tone was indifferent.

During these days since they left Baiyuan City, they also discovered the impact of the Jason incident. Many hunters felt a sense of shared hatred, but some people felt that this was tarnishing the image of the hunter community.

It was hard to tell if it was good or bad.

At this time, a hunter interjected and sighed: "However, that guy named Jason was really amazing. I heard that he only experienced the initial strengthening, but he killed six or seven Different-Blood Warriors alone. It's really an incredible achievement. If he were alive, he might have become a big shot."

Balong: "..."

Stop talking, it's just getting more painful!

Noticing that Balong's face was not right, Weiss quickly pressed his shoulder and whispered repeatedly, "Calm down, calm down..."

He still remembered that Balong had picked up his axe and was about to rush to the lord's mansion at that time, and it took a lot of persuasion from the hunters to hold him down. Weiss was afraid that Balong would be stimulated and impulsively run back to kill someone.

Seeing this, the tavern owner suddenly said, "By the way, something seems to have happened in Baiyuan City recently. I heard that someone kidnapped the lord of Baiyuan City from the heavily guarded castle. Later, the guards found the lord in the forest. He had already been killed."

As soon as he finished speaking, Balong and Weiss were stunned.

Lute was killed?

Heaven has eyes!

The two looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.

"Who did it?" Balong couldn't wait to ask.

"I don't know. The murderer didn't leave a name and wasn't caught. No one knows his identity, but I heard that he had the strength of a third-level enhancement." The tavern owner shrugged.

Balong and Weiss looked at each other.

"Could it be a former hunter companion from Baiyuan City?" Weiss whispered.

"Unlikely. None of them have a third-level enhancement, and no one planned to kill Lute."

Balong shook his head, feeling secretly excited.

This mysterious murderer may have acted out of righteous indignation, or other personal grudges... But in any case, this mysterious person did what he wanted to do. He even wanted to thank the other party.

Suddenly hearing the news of Lute's death, Balong only felt the pent-up anger in his chest vented, feeling comfortable from head to toe.

At this time, Weiss's eyes moved: "Do you think this murderer might be someone Jason knew before?"

"This... it's hard to say."

Balong was stunned and suddenly remembered Jason's rather mysterious background and surname.

During the time they spent together, Jason had always been tight-lipped about this and didn't talk much about it, making it quite mysterious.

Balong only learned from Griff about the Wood family motto – Die where you belong, no regrets!

With this kind of family motto... the whole family should be tough guys, right?

Moreover, Jason seemed to mention that their family members were born with supernatural strength.

So, it's reasonable for this "Wood family" to produce a third-level enhanced powerhouse, right?

So, did a member of Jason's family hear the rumors from various places and then seek revenge in anger?

Yes, it must be the Wood family's revenge!

Balong took a deep breath and felt more and more that he had solved the case.

But he didn't plan to say it... If he guessed correctly, wouldn't it be causing trouble for Jason's family?

He should keep this secret and let outsiders continue to be kept in the dark about the identity of the mysterious person!

Balong secretly made up his mind.

While he was having intense psychological activity, Weiss suddenly remembered something and hesitated:

"By the way, Lute is dead, and Baiyuan City will have a new lord. Are we going back?"

Balong was stunned for a moment, slightly hesitant, but his face quickly became firm.

"Since we're free hunters again, there's no need to go back... Let's travel around, like in the old days."

He wasn't someone who liked to go back. He once felt settled down, but Jason's death made him realize that the throbbing still hidden deep in his heart.

Rather than continuing to live in a remote village, Balong now just wanted to return to the wandering life of a few years ago and see the changes in the world in recent years.

He felt that he had become that unruly rogue again... although his image didn't match at all.

Balong grabbed his wine glass and, to everyone's astonishment, sprinkled it directly on the ground, as if to commemorate something, muttering to himself:

"Do you see that, Jason? Someone has avenged you!"

...

"I see it, I see it..."

On a wide avenue, Zhou Jing looked helpless and pressed down on Ross's arm, which was pointing straight ahead.

There's a huge town ahead. Even someone who's not blind can see it. What are you pointing at...

At the end of the dirt road was a "magnificent city" with tall walls and continuous buildings. Whether it was the area it occupied or the grandeur of the houses, it was not comparable to Baiyuan City.

The capital of the Terra Empire, Tarn City!

Two months had passed since he left the Baiyuan City area. It would only take about ten days for Zhou Jing to go straight to the capital at his pace, but he stretched the journey to two months. As long as there were other towns along the way, he would detour to visit them and buy maps to record them on the panel.

For him, this only took two transmigrations, or two days in the main world.

Now, the area of the known region of the Otherworld on the panel had expanded dozens of times. A crooked and wide curve extended from Baiyuan City in the north to Tarn City, with towns scattered in between. Some were ordinary towns like Baiyuan City, and some were larger fortress cities.

But none of the towns he had seen along the way could compare to Tarn City in front of him.

The capital of this world's civilization and regime was itself the largest human fortress!

The chief fortress city named after the royal family!

"We're finally here. Let's go, idiot, follow me into the city."

Zhou Jing called out and walked along the road towards the city gate, with Ross following closely behind.

Soon, a long queue appeared in front of them. Farmers, merchants, residents, and all kinds of people were waiting here to be inspected before entering the city. It stretched for two miles.

Zhou Jing arrived at the city gate, which was extremely congested. At a glance, there were twenty or thirty guards performing entry inspections, and archers on the inner wall were patrolling the people entering and exiting with hawk-like eyes. The security specifications were several levels higher than Baiyuan City.

His behavior of observing next to the queue was quickly noticed by the guards, and two guards immediately surrounded him.

"If you want to enter the city, go to the back of the line. Don't wander around near the city gate!"

Seeing this, Zhou Jing asked, "I'm a beast hunter. Can I enter the city directly?"

"Beast hunter?" The guard carefully looked at Zhou Jing a few times and waved his hand, "That's not allowed either. There's been an order recently that anyone must be inspected before entering the city, especially those who have undergone Different-Blood strengthening."

Zhou Jing didn't change his expression, thinking that it was as expected.

Since the news of him killing Lute spread, many towns had become alarmed. Under the orders of the lords, they had temporarily canceled the privilege of hunters not having to be inspected and would instead be strictly checked.

However, there was nothing wrong with the capital doing this. After all, it was the capital. Randomly allowing people with extraordinary powers to enter would be too unstable.

Zhou Jing was about to go to the back of the line when he heard a guard's reminder:

"Foreign hunters must register and be inspected at the Empire Hunters' station before entering the city."

Hearing this, Zhou Jing asked a little and understood the situation.

Empire Hunters were an important force in maintaining the safety of the capital, but they were not stationed in the capital itself. Instead, they had built an annex city not far from the capital, where they trained, lived, and cultivated new recruits. It was similar to a military camp and was the headquarters of the Empire Hunters.

Only a small number of Empire Hunters who were absolutely trusted, as well as the Royal City Guards, the Palace Guards, and the guards of various tribes, remained in the capital for a long time to protect the city.

One of Zhou Jing's goals in coming to the capital was to become an Empire Hunter and obtain the best quality extraordinary resources. The procedures and tests for enlisting in the Empire Hunters had to be completed at the station, where the station hunters would review whether he could join.

He asked for the location and immediately set off. Before long, a camp appeared in sight.

It looked like a heavily guarded town, and all the people coming and going were hunters wearing different beast equipment. The proportion of Hunters to ordinary people was higher than ever.

'It feels like coming home for some reason...'

Zhou Jing shook his head and approached with Ross, and was soon stopped by the soldiers guarding the gate.

"This is the Empire Hunters' station. Do not approach it at will."

"I'm a freelance hunter, and this is my companion. I want to enlist. I don't know if the Empire Hunters are still recruiting?"

Zhou Jing straightforwardly stated his purpose.

Hearing this, the gatekeeper asked Zhou Jing to wait and immediately ordered his colleagues to report.

After about three minutes, a hunter who looked like he was in a high position came out and looked at Zhou Jing:

"You want to be an Empire Hunter?"

"I have this idea. I don't plan to continue wandering outside."

Zhou Jing nodded, saying it with great seriousness.

Balong had told him before about the difference between Empire Hunters and freelance hunters. Freelance hunters were more inclined to be mercenaries or volunteers, while Empire Hunters were similar to regular troops. They had a formal position and received systematic training. What they learned was the technology of the Terra Empire integrating multiple tribes to cultivate hunters, and the comprehensive training program that was summarized.

Various hunting skills, beast intelligence, wilderness survival, weapon skills, hunter breathing techniques... were all included.

So, although freelance hunters were the tradition, they were now a wild bunch. Empire Hunters were the orthodox academics... Of course, these academics had a lot of practical combat and were not just theory. They were really more comprehensive.

Many Empire Hunters were selected into the station from the apprentice stage and underwent years of tedious training before using Different-Blood strengthening.

However, a considerable number of Empire Hunters were transferred from freelance hunters. The Terra Empire had always been keen on recruiting "wild" hunters.

So, when he heard Zhou Jing's request, the hunter who came to negotiate was not surprised and said:

"Okay, then come with me. You can call me Cole. I'm one of the stewards of the station... What's your name?"

Zhou Jing raised an eyebrow.

"My name is... Jess."

Cole nodded and then looked at Ross, who was expressionless behind Zhou Jing.

"What about your companion?"

Zhou Jing didn't change his expression:

"Rosen."