“Be good?” Barong snorted. “Did your father say you could go out?”
“He… he agreed!” Reiner replied stiffly.
Zhou Jing suddenly looked up behind Reiner. “Eh, Griff, you’re up early too. Are you here to catch your son?”
“Aiya, Dad!”
Startled, Reiner quickly let go and turned to look behind him.
Huu… A gust of cold wind blew past. There was no sign of Griff at all.
“You guys lied to me!”
Reiner turned around angrily, only to see that Zhou Jing and the other two had already fled.
…
From Frostwood Village to White Plains City, the road was one of unpolished natural scenery. The terrain was mostly plains and hills, occasionally dotted with small forests.
The dirt road was sometimes empty, and sometimes there would only be a roadside sign after a long distance. If one was not familiar with the direction, it was easy to get lost. Barong was an old timer, so there was naturally no possibility of him getting lost.
There was no delay along the way. Zhou Jing and Barong ran with all their might, occasionally carrying Ross on their shoulders. It did not take long for the three of them to reach their destination.
After walking out of a small forest, the view in the distance suddenly widened. They caught sight of a town sitting on a small hill.
The gray walls were formed by stone bricks and surrounded the entire town. Some houses in the town were taller than the walls, creating a scene where the roofs emerged from behind the walls in a disorderly manner.
“This is White Plains Town…” Zhou Jing cast his sight out.
He was used to seeing buildings from the interstellar era, so to him, this town had nothing to do with grandeur. In his opinion, it was just a small town with simple ancient city walls. It was at most four to five meters tall.
However, to the residents of this era’s Mutant Beast World, it was already a medium-sized city of considerable scale.
“Let’s go into the town.”
Barong patted Zhou Jing on the shoulder.
They arrived at the city gate, only to see that many people were queuing up to enter the city. There were farmers, merchants, and even Mutant Beast Hunter carrying weapons on their backs.
The fully loaded ox carts crowded together like in a mosh pit. The traveling merchants chatted with people in the Northern dialect, and it was extremely lively.
There were four guards in front of the city gate, all clad in studded leather armor, with a simple round helmet on their heads. The short spears in their hands were knocking on the goods of the ox cart as they interrogated the people entering the city.
There were four fortress cities in the north of the Terra Empire, while there were dozens of towns like White Plains Town. White Plains Town was one of the more remote ones, but it was still considered a town. It was still much more lively than the remote Frostwood Village. The farmers, passers-by, travelers, mercenaries, and mutant beast hunters in the surrounding villages would all congregate here.
Soon, it was Zhou Jing and company’s turn.
When the guard saw Barong dressed as a mutant beast hunter, he came up to enquire with a respectful attitude.
After Barong revealed that he was a hunter stationed in Frostwood Village, the guards immediately let him in. The three of them entered the town together.
Just as Barong had said, mutant beast hunters were an honorable profession. They fought against mutant beasts all year round and resolved the threat of human survival. They were indeed very prestigious among the people. Almost no town would reject mutant beast hunters.
Walking on the noisy streets, Barong told Zhou Jing about the situation in the city.
“Including me, there are about 30 mutant beast hunters who have been active around White Plains Town for a long time. Most of the threats from the mutant beasts in the vicinity were dealt with by us. Most of the time, we are scattered in different areas. Some are hunters who are stationed here, while others are hunters who roam around. Usually, it’s only in White Plains Town that it’s easy to meet the others. This time, I brought you here primarily to strengthen yourself with the blood potion, as well as to let you know the others and let you know how to do things after becoming a Mutant Beast Hunter.”
Zhou Jing nodded and observed the medieval-style buildings on the street. He casually asked, “Not counting the hunters, how many troops does White Plains Town have?”
“There should be three to four hundred regulars in the town. They’re all Lord Lutt·Crowe’s men… Hmph, there should be a few Mutant Blood Warriors among them.”
Barong could not help but look disdainful when he said the last sentence.
Zhou Jing looked at him curiously. “You seem to hate this lord?”
“That’s not the case. Lord Lutt is actually alright. He’s a blood relative of the tribe and has been protecting White Plains Town all these years. The town is not only a settlement, but also responsible for eliminating the threat of mutant beasts around it. He’s never stingy with the bounty to gather hunters. Many times, he has sent his troops to help hunt… Although it’s within the scope of the lord’s duties, at least he’s considered competent.”
After explaining a little, Barong paused and snorted. “What I hate is the group of Mutant Blood Warriors who are recruited by the lord and are his guards.”
“What do you mean? Do they have a conflict with you?” Zhou Jing was interested.
“It’s not that they have a conflict with me,” Barong said unhappily. “These people have survived the strengthening of the mutant blood, but they don’t use this strength to deal with the mutant beasts. Instead, they gather around the lord for power or wealth. When we hunt the mutant beasts, they hide behind in safety. What is this? We hunters have will always look down on such cowards!”
Zhou Jing understood what had happened now.
Both parties had received the enhancement of the mutant blood. But while the Mutant Beast Hunters went to fight the mutant beasts, these people hid at the back and acted as guards for the lord. They did not have to go to the battlefield.
Under the professional tradition of seeking glory, Mutant Beast Hunters would definitely look down on these Mutant Blood Warriors who did not dare to be hunters. This should be a long-standing chain of contempt.
In the tribal era, the pressure to survive was huge. Warriors who successfully strengthened themselves with mutant blood were basically all meant to be Mutant Beast Hunters to protect their tribes.
But in the current era of the empire, those with supernatural powers had different thoughts… Compared to the Mutant Beast Hunters, who were dancing on a knife’s edge every other day, it seemed safer and more comfortable to rely on this power to obtain wealth and authority.
In any case, with someone else as the Mutant Beast Hunter, others didn’t want to take the risk. It was not easy for them to obtain power, so of course, they should think about their own interests… That was probably what they were thinking.
This is probably the difference between Supers in this world… After people obtain supernatural powers, their thoughts are not as simple as before.
Zhou Jing shook his head. He couldn’t help but think of Barong’s occasional nagging that hunters nowadays were impure.
He did not think much of it. This was human nature. As the external pressure lessened, the human heart would also become complicated.
However, as this concept slowly spread to the entire society, there might be fewer and fewer orthodox mutant beast hunters who could uphold the glory of Mutant Beast Hunters and take on the responsibility of resisting mutant beasts…
So in the past three months, Barong often talked about the glory of being a Mutant Beast Hunter and instilled it into me… Is he worried that I won’t be a Mutant Beast Hunter? Zhou Jing thought to himself.
He understood Barong’s worry, but this Astral Apostle’s [Life Objective] was basically related to becoming a Mutant Beast Hunter.
To collect the Information State particles, he needed to clear the level as quickly as possible. Not only did he have to be a hunter, but he also had to achieve some results in this industry.