"I’ve ntioned before, those who like the Dusk Cathedral will go there a second ti after their first visit, much like fishern," the bartender began. "As for those who dislike it, they generally don’t return after their first visit. There might be so exceptions, but Miss Seven of the Ahn family clearly isn’t one of them."
"What about certain hunters that are a bit more unique to that place?" Zheng Yichen posed his second question. The person who initially recomnded the Dusk Cathedral to him wasn’t the bartender but a hunter he had encountered previously. However, since then, he had learned additional information about the Dusk Cathedral here.
The bartender did have a certain understanding of the place and possibly knew even more.
"Are you referring to the Dusk rcenaries?"
"Holy shit, are you one too?" Zheng Yichen looked at the bartender with so surprise. The bartender nodded slightly, then shook his head. "I was, at least once. You’ve seen quite a few Dusk rcenaries over there, haven’t you? Don’t think that just because there are many of them that the circle is large."
"Most people’s knowledge of the Dusk Cathedral is only surface level, and those indifferent to it don’t pay much attention to its affairs."
"What if soone directly told her about it?"
The bartender smiled. "Then she would know directly, but it wouldn’t affect the Dusk Cathedral in any way. Other issues that might arise are for you to resolve on your own. The Dusk Cathedral never keeps secrets about certain things."
His aning was similar to what so of the nuns had previously said. If you want to talk freely, go ahead; the Dusk Cathedral never cares about such matters, but those who speak rashly must take responsibility for their own words and actions.
Zheng Yichen wasn’t particularly stubborn in this regard, thinking since the Dusk Cathedral acted so special, he should test it out himself. Right now, his interests aligned with those of the Dusk Cathedral, and stirring up trouble would bring no benefit to him—it was a lose-lose situation.
"So why did you quit and end up opening a bar here?" Zheng Yichen asked curiously. It seed that Dusk rcenaries, unlike Proxy Agents, could leave anyti, but leaving this line of work mustn’t be that easy, right?
It wasn’t about restrictions placed by the Dusk Cathedral; it was human nature. Being able to access alien worlds and freely return ant grasping more possibilities—getting stronger, wealthier, and having a longer life. All of these could be achieved through this route; how could any Dusk rcenary give that up easily?
"There are many reasons," the bartender said, smiling. He noticed the hint of skepticism in Zheng Yichen’s eyes and chuckled lightly. "So, Dusk’s Proxy Agent, shall we et at the Dusk Cathedral tomorrow morning?"
"...Is it so easy to distinguish between Proxy Agents and Dusk rcenaries?" The skepticism in Zheng Yichen’s eyes faded significantly. He suspected the bartender might be soone with a hidden agenda, just like Raymond, who after mixing in for a few months and gaining his trust, caused quite a stir.
Raymond belonged to the Equilibrium Faction, and the previous Apocalypse World they visited was controlled by the Wall Breaker Faction. It wouldn’t surprise Zheng Yichen to encounter soone from another faction in such a vast world where any kind of demon or devil might appear.
"It’s very easy to spot," the bartender said, pointing to his eyes. "Those who are under Dusk’s scrutiny have unique traits, the more attention Dusk pays, the more apparent these traits beco."
"That’s ssed up... making people want to work for you but not allowing them to keep a low profile." Zheng Yichen’s lips twitched slightly. "Let’s settle the bill then. See you at the Dusk Cathedral tomorrow."
The bartender handed Zheng Yichen a bill that wasn’t too expensive and explained, "Our conversation falls under a special category and isn’t costly."
After paying, Zheng Yichen drove to another location and decided to take out his phone to contact Ahn Seven.
"What’s up? I’m really busy right now," Ahn Seven said into the phone as she glanced at the woman seated opposite her, who was about her age but had long hair and a softer deanor.
Had the caller been anyone other than Zheng Yichen, she wouldn’t have answered the phone at that mont.
Busy? Zheng Yichen briefly explained his situation, "I have so goods to deal with, quite special items."
"I’ll contact you at two in the afternoon," Ahn Seven said before hanging up.
The long-haired woman across from her spoke up, "When did my little sister beco so rude?"
"He’s the one who dealt with that dragon yesterday."
"Oh?" The long-haired woman nodded lightly. "Let’s go together for the afternoon matter."
"...Alright, sister," Ahn Seven said after a mont of silence, agreeing without hesitation. Her sister’s tone was not asking for her opinion; it was a firm statent. And Ahn Seven had no reason to refuse; her sister was the one in charge of dealing with that fire dragon.
Zheng Yichen decisively handled the dragon, which ant she had so conflict with her sister on this matter. Although she had prepared for this when arranging it, even if her sister didn’t co to her, she would have taken the initiative to seek her out.
In this affair, she ultimately overstepped her bounds, but the family elders wouldn’t care too much about it. As long as the matter was handled well, it hardly mattered who did it. The issue of overstepping was minor as long as whoever did so managed to handle the situation better and resolved the series of problems that followed the overstepping.
She would not miss out on anything she deserved.
She rarely overstepped in matters, for overstepping implies ambition, the desire to control more resources and conditions, and now was not the ti to show such ambition.
However, this ti, she had her eye on that fire dragon. There were differing opinions within the family on how to handle the dragon: so advocated for complete control to subjugate it and treat it as a ’pet,’ just providing it with the needed materials.
The value of a dragon for research is imnse, whether it’s genetic research, the study of special powers, or even material sciences; it can offer significant help.
Ahn Seven’s thought was to incorporate the dragon into her own hunters group after conducting a certain degree of research, rather than completely raising it as one would raise a pig, getting a steady and long-term return from treating a dragon like a pig.
Her idea, on the other hand, exchanged long-term stable returns for the chance of additional benefits. The deterrent effect of a dragon active in an alien world is far greater than that of re humans.
The phenonon of Alien only lasted for a few hours. Normally, sending Alien Phenonon hunters there to collect resources or other things would often require a show of force or even direct conflict, which are ti-wasting actions. Bombardnt with cannons?
That’s not convenient either, but having a dragon is different. Dragons are seen as monsters by most people; they may look cool in films and television, but when a living dragon appears before soone, it feels entirely different.
In a world connected to the Phenonon, the re presence of a dragon stands as a deterrent; under such circumstances, it’s naturally easier to negotiate terms, and even if trading is used, the natives of the alien world won’t be easily swayed.
When active in an alien world, saving an extra half hour of ti ans greater profits.
The activities of Alien Phenonon hunters are extrely strict. When going to an alien world, the ti allocated is exact. Once the ti for retreat is set, it must be precise to the second—even if one is mid-bowel movent, they have to cut it off, pull up their pants, and leave!
Many of the gains that could have been taken in her arranged operations were forced to a halt due to insufficient ti. Although Ahn Seven took it in stride, knowing that her hunters group would not be affected and could obtain more later,
the accumulation of many such instances still left her sowhat unwilling to accept it. Those interrupted operations often encountered trouble on the native side, with her people attempting to trade peacefully but facing natives looking to murder and loot, who only cooperated after being subjugated and conceding defeat.
Though there was no need for trade by that point, it resulted in a significant waste of ti, making it difficult to carry on the subsequent actions.
She wanted the dragon, but she was not responsible for handling it. The result was that she overstepped her bounds, which also affected her sister. Naturally, she would take the initiative to discuss matters of interest distribution later, as it’s proper for family mbers to be open with one another.
"For a young Hunter who can subdue that dragon in just a few minutes, you’ve hit the jackpot this ti," Ahn Longling said to her sister. Ahn Qi was in charge of a part of the Ahn family’s Alien Phenonon hunters group, while she herself controlled so of the Ahn family’s ard forces in the ho world, just like Ahn Qi.
Her ard forces mainly dealt with creatures that erged from the Phenona. While Hazy City’s officials would also engage them, her actions seed superfluous. But when interests were involved, it wasn’t superfluous at all, just like with the dragon—if Hazy City or other officials dealt with it,
then the Ahn family would have no part in the subsequent benefits. If they subdued it, the profits from the dragon would be theirs to divide.
They looked like real sisters, with her being the fourth in the family and Ahn Seven, whose real na was Ahn Qi, being literally the seventh. They were half-sisters with different mothers who were themselves sisters, which is why they resembled each other so much.
Their mothers were actually in reverse positions, with Ahn Qi’s mother being the elder sister and her own mother the younger. However, that didn’t affect their status as sisters; Ahn Longling was two years older than Ahn Qi.
"Lucky, but he has no interest in joining my hunters group," Ahn Qi replied. The value of the fire dragon was great, but Zheng Yichen, who could take down the dragon in just a few minutes, was of even greater importance.
She had been sowhat careless about this matter; she should have set up so surveillance on the scene in advance to observe more of Zheng Yichen’s combat details. She glanced at her sister; the fire dragon should have been Ahn Longling’s responsibility, aning she very possibly had video of Zheng Yichen’s battle details.
As for this matter, she wasn’t very keen on letting her sister et Zheng Yichen, but her sister made this request proactively, implying that the issue with the fire dragon was in the past.
The condition was her agreent to the request.
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