The man standing before Qin Lun did not look like he deserved his reputation at all. He had thinning hair, wrinkled and dull skin on his face, a constant frown that made him look miserable, and a slight hunchback. All in all, he appeared to be a worn-out old farr crushed by life’s pressures.
Yet, who would have guessed that this middle-aged man with a sorrowful expression and dull eyes had directly and indirectly killed thousands of people over the years? Among all the serial killers who had entered the Shattered Starry Sky, if you were to rank them by the number of people killed, he was undeniably the number one.
“Joey Foster?” Hearing Qin Lun’s greeting, Firecracker Rand’s body stiffened. He maintained his previous ambush posture, with his side facing the young man. However, his left eye slid bizarrely to the corner, staring sideways at Qin Lun, making his wretched expression suddenly turn into a stiff zombie-like face.
The combination of his mask-like face and his fierce, agile eyes created a strange sight. Even Qin Lun felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as if he had encountered a female ghost in the wilderness on a dark night.
“Haha, just call
Qin Lun!” Qin Lun’s face twitched as he raised his hands to shield his chest, slowly stepping backward. “Rand, relax, relax! I an no harm!”
“This world probably wasn’t entered as a team. You followed
here?” Rand straightened up and slowly turned around. It was clear that he also seed wary that Qin Lun might suddenly attack.
“Coincidence, it’s completely a coincidence!” Qin Lun’s eyelids twitched slightly. He was already cursing inside. He was cursing the other three serial killers. According to their information, Firecracker Rand had long fallen behind among the five major serial killers.
But now, facing Rand head-on, Qin Lun felt a huge threat. Although there was no evidence, the young man trusted his intuition. This Firecracker Rand had definitely undergone a Class Change and might not be any weaker than him.
Rand kept his zombie-like face, staring dead at Qin Lun without showing any sign of relaxing. Qin Lun inwardly cursed his bad luck. This ti, he had completely miscalculated. He knew that Rand had antisocial personality disorder and was different from the other three serial killers. Yet, he still approached him without any special preparation.
If it were sowhere else, it wouldn’t matter. Qin Lun wouldn’t mind testing Firecracker’s strength. But the problem was that they were currently high in the sky. If this madman blew up the airship, Qin Lun would die along with him.
For soone with antisocial personality disorder, the word “compromise” didn’t exist in their dictionary. When these people felt threatened, they usually chose self-destruction. And if they possessed weapons of mass destruction, self-destruction would turn into mutual destruction.
The reason the other serial killers instinctively avoided cooperating with Firecracker Rand was because those with antisocial personality disorder were highly unreliable. If the other serial killers had a paranoid episode, they might at most ruin a plan.
For example: When Clown Grant had a paranoid episode in the World War II World, he insisted on killing Little Red Riding Hood himself and wouldn’t even let Qin Lun help.
But if Firecracker Rand had a paranoid episode, he was most likely to drag everyone down with him. With such a madman, who would dare cooperate with him?
Just as they were in a standoff, footsteps suddenly approached from behind Qin Lun. Both n relaxed their bodies instantly. A passing waiter had unwittingly diffused their awkward situation.
“Follow !” Firecracker Rand’s eyes flashed as he tilted his head slightly, giving Qin Lun a aningful look.
Qin Lun hesitated for a mont, then quickly followed. Since things had co to this point, the two had to reach so sort of understanding. Otherwise, before the airship landed, neither would dare let the other out of their sight, just to prevent any tricks.
Rand led Qin Lun through two corridors and entered a small cabin, which was his room. The guest rooms on the airship were much smaller than regular hotel rooms, only about four to five square ters. The cabin contained two single beds side by side, an overhead storage locker, and a foldable table between the two beds.
Of course, Qin Lun was in the core area, where the guest rooms were much larger. Although they still weren’t as spacious as normal hotel rooms, at least they had an extra desk, a wardrobe, and a bedside table.
Since the airship was currently carrying only the thugs from teor Street, this twin cabin had only Rand in it. Qin Lun sat reluctantly opposite Rand. This was their first close encounter.
The two serial killers stared at each other, neither wanting to speak first. Rand was naturally like that, while Qin Lun simply didn’t know what to say.
“Are you here for the Hunter Exam?” Qin Lun knew that if he didn’t speak first, the two might just stare at each other until the airship landed. So he decided to start the conversation.
“Aren’t you?” Rand’s stiff zombie-like face twitched as his eyes rolled, showing a glimr of doubt. “I heard the slots for passing the Hunter Exam are limited. We’re competitors.”
Qin Lun’s mind raced. Why would Rand think that Qin Lun was definitely here for the Hunter Exam? After all, there were also hired mafia thugs on this airship who had passed the selection. Could it be that Rand hadn’t even received the guidance mission for the mafia selection?
“Huh? You’re not taking the Hunter Exam?” Seeing Qin Lun hesitate, Rand imdiately understood. His expression slowly darkened as he realized that Qin Lun’s Guidance Mission was different from his. “So you really weren’t following
into this world!”
Qin Lun’s mind raced instantly, and a faint smile appeared on his face. Since he had realized that Rand might be as strong as him, there was no reason for the Shattered Starry Sky to favor one over the other. This indirectly indicated that Rand likely hadn’t t the prerequisites for the second option of the Guidance Mission. He hadn’t yet developed a Heart of Slaughter like Joey.
Without the Heart of the Strong, there was no Nen field. Without a Nen field, he couldn’t pass the mafia selection, which naturally ant he didn’t have the second option in the Guidance Mission.
“This airship belongs to a mafia organization. This ti, it’s mainly transporting newly selected mafia recruits from teor Street, and also helping the Council of Elders send strong candidates to the Hunter Exam,” Qin Lun said, wearing a confident smile again and feigning a friendly expression. “This storyline might be more valuable than the Hunter Exam storyline. How about it? Do you want
to help you find an entry point?”
Since Rand hadn’t developed a Nen field, the two sharp-eyed mafia examiners—Yin and Liza—naturally hadn’t tried to recruit him on the airship. However, Qin Lun believed that with his recomndation, the two would reluctantly accept Rand, even if only as a peripheral substitute mber.
“No need!” Rand refused without hesitation. Whether out of vigilance or self-respect, he couldn’t possibly accept Qin Lun’s favor.
After the brief exchange, the two fell into silence again. However, now that they knew the other wasn’t specifically targeting them in this world, the tension between them eased significantly.
“Since our storylines don’t interfere with each other… how about we agree not to attack each other on the airship?” Qin Lun’s expression was slightly awkward. This was essentially a sign of weakness.
The tough fear the reckless. Just as the other serial killers sotis had to back down when facing Joey, Qin Lun was also wary that this madman Rand might drag him down if he had one of his episodes.
“No. Let’s directly sign a Soul agreent not to target each other in this world,” Rand said after a mont of silence, raising one hand.
“Fine. But if we et a second ti, you must inform
of the exact location when setting up your ‘Firecracker’,” Qin Lun added imdiately, reaching out with his right hand to lightly slap Rand’s palm…
Walking out of Rand’s cabin, Qin Lun felt a great sense of relief, his steps noticeably lighter. Regardless of whether there were other Apostles in this world, at least he didn’t have to deal with a madman anymore.
After this unexpected incident, Qin Lun lost interest in investigating the other thugs. He returned directly to his room to cultivate his mind and await the airship’s landing.
The airship’s speed wasn’t actually slow. After five or six hours of flight, they finally arrived at their destination—Watt City.
When Qin Lun disembarked, he didn’t see Firecracker Rand again. Clearly, this serial killer was also very wary of him. Despite their gentleman’s agreent, he had no intention of showing up again.
“Let’s go. We’ll head to the organization’s branch here first!” Yin and Liza were full of energy.
In addition to Qin Lun’s original group of four, three more mafia recruits had joined their team. It seed their recruitnt efforts on the airship had been quite effective. Although they hadn’t reached the 100% quota, they at least t the standard line, so they wouldn’t have their mission rewards deducted by the organization.
Watt City was a small agricultural town in the plains region of the Yabian Republic, located by the Yabian River. The land outside the town was fertile, producing a variety of agricultural products and fruits. Its main specialties were grapes and bayberries, and it was also the wine-producing region of the Yabian Republic, with many vineyards.
The buildings in Watt City weren’t modern skyscrapers. Most were dieval-style pointed-roof houses, giving the town a fresh, pastoral vibe.
After arriving, the other thugs from teor Street, who hadn’t seen much of the world, looked dazed. They stared wide-eyed at the peaceful streets, clearly captivated by this paradise-like small town.
Seeing this, Yin and Liza smiled faintly. The mafia organization had chosen Watt City as the first stop for the new recruits for its own reasons. Compared to modern big cities, the pastoral scenery of Watt City could soothe the violent tempers of the teor Street thugs without provoking their ambitions.
According to past data, those who got used to Watt City’s slow-paced, comfortable life during training were more likely to stay with the organization after their first contract ended.
Because the streets in Watt City were narrow and there were few tourists, the transportation system didn’t have taxis but rather old-fashioned enclosed carriages. Their group of nine hired three carriages and, half an hour later, finally arrived at the Shadow Beasts organization’s branch in the town’s outskirts.
The Shadow Beasts’ branch in Watt City was a vineyard. This large estate had a massive underground kingdom. Walking down the wide tunnel, even Qin Lun couldn’t help but be amazed by the grandeur and magnificence of this Underground City.
“Welco, new blood of the Shadow Beasts!” Under the guidance of Yin and Liza, Qin Lun and the other six finally reached the bottom hall of the underground castle. An elderly gentleman in a wheelchair had been waiting for them for so ti, spreading his arms to welco everyone.
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