Chapter 60: Mission Accomplished

After gathering the materials from the two vicious hunting hounds, Zhang Ran stuffed them into his military backpack and continued on his way. With the chip scanning ahead, he searched for other such hounds.

Three hours later.

"Finally done!"

A spike of blood shot forth, killing the vicious hunting hound before him. As before, Zhang Ran collected the materials from its body.

By this time, his military backpack was crammed full. Although this area harbored plenty of these beasts, most hunted in packs of three or five, making it difficult for Zhang Ran to kill them. As a result, it had taken him nearly three hours to find suitable prey.

During these hours of searching, Zhang Ran had also slain three lone level-1 mutant beasts he encountered along the way. He wasted no mercy on these free sources of evolution energy, and after finishing them off, his progress in condensing his first evolution point had climbed to 17.47%. His physical abilities had also improved somewhat.

"It's still early. I'll keep hunting those solitary mutant beasts."

Though he had completed his task, it was only noon. Returning now would waste precious time. Swallowing half a tube of high-energy food to replenish himself, Zhang Ran resumed his wanderings across the wasteland, hunting down solitary or paired mutant beasts.

Five hours later.

"It's about time to head back."

He looked up at the sky. Dusk had already begun to settle in, and before he realized it, the time had crept past five thirty in the afternoon. The air was now ten degrees cooler than at midday, and still dropping. Night would soon fall over the wasteland, so Zhang Ran turned and made his way back to Blackhawk City.

By now, besides his bulging backpack, he carried a large sack made of level-2 synthetic material, filled more than halfway with materials from level-1 mutant beasts. In the five hours of afternoon hunting, he’d discovered eight lone level-1 mutant beasts and slain them, along with a dozen or so level-0 mutants that had dared attack him. Nourished by the evolution energy from these beasts, his first evolution point had condensed past a quarter, reaching 25.12%. All four of his main attributes had increased by more than 0.01, with his strength rising an impressive 0.019.

At this point, Zhang Ran’s strength had reached 3.303, constitution 3.283, agility 3.234, and spirit 3.185. Even if only his physical attributes were considered, disregarding his special abilities, Zhang Ran was already among the stronger class of level-1 evolvers. What’s more, he possessed “Blood Plunder,” an ability rated C but in reality B-class. Coupled with the wealth of combat experience he’d accumulated before his crossing and in simulated battle spaces, Zhang Ran’s fighting power matched that of ordinary level-2 evolvers or mutant beasts—explaining the speed with which he accumulated evolution energy.

His journey back was uneventful. After about an hour and a half of travel, Zhang Ran returned to Blackhawk City.

After a routine inspection, he walked straight through the city gates into the outer city.

Compared to the daytime, Blackhawk City was livelier by night. The reason was simple: most evolvers spent their days hunting, only returning with their spoils come evening, ready to spend their earnings.

For ordinary evolvers in this wasteland world, their quality of life was already much improved over ordinary people. They could eat meat, owned multiple sets of clothes, and even bathed weekly or sometimes every few days. Yet, low-level evolvers still lived on a knife’s edge; it was not uncommon for one to leave Blackhawk City in the morning and die in the wilds, never to return.

Because of this, most low-level evolvers lived for the moment. After a hunt and restocking supplies, they would flock to bars, restaurants, or the red-light district, spending their Blackhawk coins until little remained.

Walking down the main street, Zhang Ran immediately noticed that the number of young women on either side was much higher than when he’d passed through yesterday afternoon. He also spotted several young men bearing Blackhawk Company employee badges, boldly approaching one or more women to negotiate prices, before heading off together to a nearby hotel.

Among these young women, Zhang Ran also glimpsed a few young men. They were slender, with decent features, though their faces were somewhat pale and lacking in vigor. Clearly, like the women, their identities were obvious; not all evolvers were men. In fact, around thirty percent of Blackhawk Company’s evolvers were women, and among the five chief officers, there was the notable presence of Marcy.

Seeing Zhang Ran’s bulging backpack and the heavy sack in his hand, many of the women cast him flirtatious glances. Zhang Ran, however, ignored them and strode straight toward the Guild Hall.

Their beauty, at best, was comparable to that of the waitress who had approached him in the restaurant days prior—even those who surpassed her were only marginally better. Though they were much prettier than women from the human settlements, to Zhang Ran, none were noteworthy—let alone their profession, which gave him no interest in any special activities with them.

Striding swiftly, he soon left the outer city behind and entered the inner city of Blackhawk. Unlike the outer city, the inner city was noticeably quieter, with no trace of men or women exchanging their bodies for money.

Familiar with the way, Zhang Ran entered the Guild Hall’s materials recovery area. Like the business center, the Guild Hall was brightly lit at dusk. To serve the evolvers, it was open twenty-four hours a day; anyone could sell materials or take on tasks at any time.

“Sir, you have materials from sixteen mutant beasts here. The acquisition price is eight thousand five hundred Blackhawk coins. You’ve also completed the ‘Hunt the Vicious Hound’ mission, earning two thousand Blackhawk coins.

“According to your contract with the company, you need to pay two thousand six hundred and twenty-five Blackhawk coins toward your debt, and you’ll receive seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-five Blackhawk coins, as well as one thousand and fifty contribution points. Do you have any objections?”

The female clerk looked at Zhang Ran with respect. Though he was only a one-star employee, his ability to hunt so many mutant beasts alone was proof of his strength and had earned her admiration.

“None,” Zhang Ran replied.

If a seller felt their goods were worth more than the offered price, they could object and request a senior appraiser, though it cost one hundred Blackhawk coins each time. Zhang Ran estimated the value of his materials and found the clerk’s price fair, so he nodded his assent. The clerk handed him his payment, sorted the materials, and stored them in the collection device behind her.