It was a sunny day on the 2nd of September in Baqi City. The Demonic Crystal s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p landed on the central plaza at 10 in the morning. Other Demonic Crystal s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps that took different routes docked at the same place too.
After scanning their tickets, Lin Huang and Yin Hangyi boarded the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. They were staying on different floors, Lin Huang on the sixth floor while Yin Hangyi was on the eighth floor. However, Fatty loved Lin Huang’s company. Besides sleeping, he spent most of the time in Lin Huang’s room.
"Hey Fatty, have you ever thought of inheriting your dad’s hotel one day?" Lin Huang was annoyed.
"The food ordinary chefs are allowed to handle is limited. If I become a Food Hunter, I"ll make even more delicious food. That’s my desire in the food industry." Fatty explained, "Besides, I hope that I could do even better than my dad which is why he supports me fully in becoming a Food Hunter."
"What about you, why do you want to be a hunter?" Fatty asked him back.
"I’m not a fan of placing my fate in someone else’s hands. It’s not 100% safe in the foothold, even C-grade ones that have a transcendent as their guardian. After all, transcendent are still human beings, they too make mistakes, they too could die in battles. Instead of putting my life in a transcendent’s hand, I would rather take control of my own life. That’s why I aspire to be stronger so that I could protect myself as well as the people around me." Lin Huang spoke with pa.s.sion and then thought again. There was a deeper reason why he desired to be strong.
"It’s not all about insecurity. I would love to see how big this world is. Before I become a transcendent, I am confined to explore the world within the safety zone. Not only I would like to discover other safe zones, I would also like to see the world outside those safety zones, those areas yet to be explored by humans since the new epoch…"
"What’s wrong with you, I’d rather spend all my life in the safety zone than to go anywhere chaotic. About exploring the yet to be discovered, I would let someone else do it." Fatty crossed his hands.
Lin Huang laughed and thought that what he said made him look ambitious.
It took them 11 days to travel in the Demonic Crystal s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and finally, they arrived at their destination - foothold No.7C29, Fog City. Fog City was 1,200 kilometers from the Fog Canyon, which was the nearest foothold with people from the canyon. It was September 13th at four o’clock in the afternoon when the Demonic Crystal s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p in Fog City. Lin Huang and Yin Hangyi got off the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and checked into a hotel together.
"There’s a level-3 wild zone along the way to the Fog Canyon. It would be dangerous if just the both of us went, I will get a team from Adventurer Paradise." Fatty said this after completing the hotel registration but Lin Huang did not say anything. He could just get the Alexandrian Eagle to bring the both of them there but he did not want to reveal his true ability. The reason the silver-level and gold-level adventurers in Adventurer Paradise were willing to bring people along with them was not because of money. It was a service provided by the Adventurer Paradise that every now and then they could bring other hunters of lower level along on their missions to give them good exposure as part of their recruitment drive, hoping that they will consider joining the club in future.
10 minutes later, Fatty called Lin Huang on his communication device. Lin Huang picked up thinking it was strange, "What’s wrong?"
"I have found a team, they are departing now. They are in a rush, come and meet us at the east gate!" Fatty hung up the phone without waiting for Lin Huang to respond. He thought it was strange as there was no need for Fatty to rush since there were a couple of adventurers who would team up with other people into the Fog Canyon every day. The sun was setting, if they were to depart now, the both of them would have to stay a night in Fog Canyon on their own.
Lin Huang got out of the hotel right away and rode on the Viridian Wolf to the east gate. When he arrived, he saw fatty and three other silver-level adventurers from afar riding on their mounts while Fatty was standing. He did not look too good.
"What is this about, Fatty?" Lin Huang frowned and asked.
Hearing Lin Huang’s voice, all of them turned around and looked at him.
"You sure are slow, can we leave now?" The leader was dark and skinny. He glared at Lin Huang then pulled the rope on his monster and left. The other two adventurers followed him. The one in the was slightly bald while the last adventurer looked younger. He had a goatee, he then yelled at Fatty, "Since your friend has a mount, you don’t have to share with us anymore."
Lin Huang pulled Fatty onto the Viridian Wolf and asked while frowning, "What exactly happened?"
"Stop asking, let’s go." Fatty sat behind Lin Huang, he shook his head helplessly.
Lin Huang then patted Viridian Wolf and chased after the adventurers. Three of them were silver-level adventurers riding on ground rhino, a bronze-level monster. It was a common mount, it was not too fast but it was quite resilient.
The three adventurers were riding a cheap mount as the price of a Ground Rhino was much cheaper than a Viridian Wolf. They were probably jealous and left right after they saw Lin Huang on a Viridian Wolf.
"You said you were poor, then how did you afford a Viridian Wolf as your mount! The price of this mount is comparable with silver-level equipment." Fatty finally got over being mad at Lin Huang.
Lin Huang did not tell him that it was his summoned monster so he pulled a fast one, "I was lucky that day, bought it at a cheap price."
"How much?" Fatty was genuinely asking.
"Cost one bronze-level equipment." Lin Huang lied again. Not only did Fatty buy what he said, the three silver-level adventurers as well.
They did not look too happy as they traded in two bronze-level equipment to get their rhino. A Viridian Wolf cost at least one silver-level equipment but Lin Huang got it at a much cheaper price.
"Young man, I will buy your Viridian Wolf for two bronze-level equipment." The man with goatee shouted.
"I’m not selling it." Lin Huang declined without even thinking.
The man with goatee glared at Lin Huang. Although Lin Huang did not know what exactly happened before he came, he did notice Fatty was silent during the entire journey. He figured something must have happened involving these three men, probably Fatty was threatened.
They could have arrived at Fog Canyon in an hour but now Fatty had found a team that did not have a flying mount like Lin Huang did, causing a delay in the journey for about eight hours. Lin Huang was upset.
Fortunately, the three adventurers did what they were supposed to do. They killed all the monsters in their way. However, they left no dead bodies behind and kept all of them in their storage s.p.a.ce. They must be really broke. Fatty seemed to be more and more uncomfortable. The strongest one among the three was the dark and skinny man. He was a silver-level rank-2 while the other two were silver-level rank-1. Lin Huang just had to summon Charcoal, Bai or Tyrant, and killing them would be a piece of cake.
After traveling for more than six hours, the dark, skinny leader suddenly slowed down.
"It’s the level-3 wild zone ahead; we"ll have to walk across without our mounts to avoid catching the attention of the monsters in the wild zone."
Lin Huang was shocked that they wanted to be ’careful’ in the level-3 wild zone. silver-level adventurers should have no fear of monsters in level-3 wild zones.
Since the three of them kept their mounts, fatty patted Lin Huang’s back, "Let’s keep it." Lin Huang then kept his Viridian Wolf into his storage s.p.a.ce. There was really no difference whether he keeps the Viridian Wolf or not because its footsteps were lighter than that of humans. On the other hand, the rhinos were loud on the road. But he figured that it would be rude if he rode on Viridian Wolf while the rest walked.
"It is more than 300 kilometers, do we have to walk?" Even if they ran, Lin Huang and Fatty’s speed of iron-level coupled with the distance would take them at least seven more hours.
"You guys can ride on your Viridian Wolf, don’t ask for help if monsters attack the both of you." The dark and skinny man glared at Lin Huang.
"Lin Huang, it’s okay, we will run over there. It’s too dangerous to be here and alone." Fatty advised.
Since it was Fatty who asked for help from the team, Lin Huang did not want to embarra.s.s him so he agreed but he was definitely irritated, "Let’s go then."
The three adventurers together with Lin Huang and Fatty ran at 50 kilometers per hour. Fatty was panting heavily after running for two hours.
"Fatty, if you can’t take it, you can ride on Viridian Wolf." Lin Huang suggested.
"I’m okay…" Fatty waved his hand.
Three hours later, Fatty was slowing down. Lin Huang got him to ride on the Viridian Wolf’s back while he ran with the other three. Soon another three hours pa.s.sed, they had finally pa.s.sed the level-3 will zone and arrived at the canyon. They were covered by the thin fog at the mouth of the canyon. Fatty got down from the Viridian Wolf and thanked the other three adventurers. "Why are you thanking us? You haven’t paid us yet, three Life Crystals please." The dark and skinny man grinned at Lin Huang and Fatty while the other two adventurers stood behind them, blocking their way.