Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 475 Psychologist
"Since that's the case, cough cough..."

Sun Hang cleared his throat. Just as Ganna thought he was about to issue some important instructions and pricked up his ears to take notes, Sun Hang's next sentence took a complete 180-degree turn—"In that case, just pretend I don't exist."

"No, it doesn't exist?" Ganna looked at Sun Hang in disbelief. He wondered if he had misheard... Although the workload had been very high during this period, it shouldn't have been to the point of hallucinations, right?
“Let me translate for you,” Wang Xiyi said immediately. “What this guy means is that he wants to be a hands-off manager and doesn’t want to be involved in anything. Don’t go to him for your operational meetings or decision-making. Of course, he won’t interfere with your work either… Don’t treat him like an imperial envoy who’s been parachuted in. If you have to find a word to describe him, just think of him as a free tourist who’s not under your control.”

“...Tourists?!” Ganna looked at the group of people getting off the plane with a deep sense of doubt in his eyes.

Just a few hours ago, they received a secret letter jointly signed by three top authorities: the Tian Shu Tower, the Federal Parliament, and the Disaster Countermeasures Committee, instructing them to prepare to transfer all command of the front-line camp to Sun Hang... The generals in the camp almost got into an argument over this.

They couldn't understand why command of tens of thousands of people should be handed over to a monster hunter who had never led troops in battle. In their view, this was no different from an amateur commanding an expert. In the words of one general, "This is fucking utter nonsense!"

However, Ganna did not share the generals' opposition—after experiencing the Eternal Night incident in Shu Prefecture, he was still very curious about Sun Hang, the hunter who almost single-handedly turned the tide. As a member of the Disaster Countermeasures Committee, he had access to more secrets than people in other departments, and he was well aware of the role Sun Hang played in the entire incident.

Using the word "ace" to describe them is no exaggeration.

Ganna didn't know how Sun Hang had dealt with Chimera 17. He asked several researchers at the Tian Shu Tower he knew, but found that these research fanatics were even more eager to know the answer to this question than he was...

Ganna felt that perhaps it was because Sun Hang had created a "miracle" in Tianfu City that the Federal Council and Tian Shu Tower entrusted him with important responsibilities, and even dared to hand over the power of the Baikal Remains front-line camp to him.

But he couldn't say these things to the generals—not because they wouldn't listen, but because most of this information had been sealed away as classified files. If he were to speak it aloud, it would be a very serious breach of confidentiality.

At best, they'll lose their jobs; at worst, they'll lose their heads.

None of the generals were willing to come and greet Sun Hang, which was why Ganna had no choice but to come and pick him up by himself.

However, Sun Hang's words gave Ganna a strong sense of unreality.

So all that arguing by those generals was for nothing?
“Then…then you flew to the front-line camp to…” Ganna asked instinctively, but he quickly realized he had made a mistake. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that question.”

"It's alright, I can tell you without a care. I'm here to find food," Sun Hang said nonchalantly.

"...Foraging for food??" Ganna felt his brain was starting to crash.

“As a member of the disaster countermeasures committee, you should know which monster my initial meme infection came from, right?” Sun Hang thoughtfully gave Ganna a little hint.

“Initially… it was Taotie…” Ganna immediately stopped speaking, then nodded vigorously, “I understand… I will fully cooperate with your work. If you have any needs, just tell me directly.”

Ganna repeated the same sentence he had said not long ago. Although it was still a formulaic statement, the tone of his voice had changed significantly.

"Alright then." Sun Hang turned to Wang Xiyi and the others, "Have you eaten yet?"

“No, Zhong Ling and I went straight to the elevator platform to wait for you as soon as we arrived in Tianfu City.” Wang Xiyi shook her head. “You shouldn’t have said that. Now that you mention it, I feel like my stomach is about to start growling.”

"And you?" Sun Hang then looked at Yan Yu'an.

“I carry compressed military rations with me,” Yan Yu’an said immediately.

“That stuff is for eating during field marches. Who would eat that when there’s hot food?” Sun Hang said. “You guys go and fill your stomachs first. I’ll take Xue Yue for a walk around the camp.”

Sun Hang glanced at the time on his bracelet and said, "It's 2:15 PM now, Ganna. What time does the sun usually set here?"

"In this season, the sunset time is usually around 6:30 pm."

“Then we’ll meet at entrance number one of the camp at 4:00 PM sharp. Two hours is enough time for us to make a round trip to the remains of Baikal,” Sun Hang said.

"You're going to enter the remains of Baikal today?" Ganna's expression changed slightly.

"what happened?"

“It’s too late… The internal structure of Baikal’s remains is constantly changing, making it difficult to accurately predict the distance and travel time. Sometimes, even standing still, you can be unknowingly transported deep into the city… If you haven’t left the city by nightfall, the probability of a safe return drops significantly,” Ganna said. “Generally, if we’re organizing a reconnaissance operation, we start preparing two days in advance and depart thirty minutes before dawn, trying to keep the entire mission during the daytime as much as possible.”

"Is it more dangerous at night?" Sun Hang asked.

Ganna almost blurted out, "Isn't that obvious?" But he quickly realized his mistake and swallowed the words back. He patiently explained to Sun Hang, "The monsters lurking inside the Baikal Remains become more active at night. In addition, the visibility decreases and the drones' field of vision is limited, making it several levels more dangerous than during the day... Of all the teams that enter the Baikal Remains, nine out of ten who fail to leave the city before nightfall will never come out again."

"So, there are still 10% who managed to get out, right?"

"The teams that managed to escape also suffered heavy losses... Even in the edge areas of the Baikal Remains, they would encounter frequent attacks from monsters—you should know that during the day, the area within fifty meters of the edge of the Baikal Remains is what we call the 'safe buffer zone,' where monsters rarely appear, and the terrain and buildings hardly change. But once night falls, the 'safe buffer zone' disappears completely, and the surrounding terrain begins to change drastically."

Ganna paused, then continued, “I once recorded a landmark building located on the southwestern edge of the Baikal Remains. This building did not change during the day, nor did it move in position... But the next morning, the building appeared 25 kilometers east of its original coordinates, and the original location was replaced by a ruined plaza full of rubble.”

"Are you trying to tell me that ghosts are more active at night?" Sun Hang asked rhetorically.

“Yes.” Ganna nodded.

"Then let's change the departure time to six o'clock," Sun Hang said.

Ganna was taken aback at first, then he suddenly realized something—this seemingly "ignorant" guy had come to the Remains of Baikal to devour the monsters active in the monster city. Obviously, the more active the monsters were, the better the time for him to act.

In a sense, this guy is the true "monster hunter." Other hunters fight monsters to complete various missions, but he is truly "hunting" in the literal sense.

The thought that Chimera 17, a threat level almost equal to that of a low-level monster, had been dealt with by this person made Ganna realize that his worries seemed somewhat unnecessary.

“The camp’s canteen is open 24 hours a day. I’ll have my secretary take you there for a meal,” Ganna said immediately. “As for Mr. Sun Hang, where would you like to go? I can be your guide.”

“I am Mr. Sun Hang’s guide.” Yan Yu’an was clearly not happy that Ganna had taken over his job.

"Go eat first. You'll have the energy to work when you're full," Sun Hang said.

“I brought compressed military rations,” Yan Yu’an emphasized again. “Eating is just a necessary process to maintain vital signs. My only requirements for food are calories and nutrition, and compressed military rations can fully meet my needs.”

“Then I’ll assign you a task,” Sun Hang said again.

“If your task is to get me to eat in the cafeteria, I have the right to refuse,” Yan Yu’an said righteously.

"No, no, no... Your task is to go to the cafeteria and bring me two ice creams. I want matcha flavor." Sun Hang turned to Xue Yue, "What flavor do you want?"

"I...I've never had ice cream before," Xue Yue said softly.

“Then scoop one ball of each flavor,” Sun Hang said. “The time to hand in the mission items is 6 p.m., at the camp’s entrance number one.”

Yan Yu'an: "..."

……

After Ganna's secretary drove away with the three women, Ganna, along with Sun Hang and Xue Yue, got into another car. He took the driver's seat and asked, "Where do you plan to go first? Command post?"

Ganna thought to himself that if he relayed Sun Hang's words to the group of generals, their attitude towards Sun Hang would probably change—as front-line military commanders, they would certainly like a superior who was willing to delegate authority.

"No, let's go to the field hospital first."

"A field hospital?" Ganna's expression shifted, but he didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he shifted into gear and stepped on the gas.

The field hospital and the helipad were not far apart; in just two minutes, the car stopped in front of a building "assembled" from standardized building modules.

“We’ve arrived.” Ganna pulled the handbrake. “This is one of the two field hospitals in the camp.”

"Is the battlefield psychological counseling clinic here?" Sun Hang asked.

Upon hearing Sun Hang's question, Ganna's eyes lit up instantly: "You've also read... 'those files'?"

Sun Hang nodded.

Ganna immediately lowered his voice: "Negative emotions leading to bizarre events occurred frequently in Shuzhou during the Eternal Night. I was responsible for handling these information back then... Therefore, after being transferred here, I am still in charge of this work. The files you see are actually compiled by me."

As Ganna spoke, he suddenly sighed: "The situation here is far more serious than in Shu Prefecture... There are almost weekly incidents of mutated soldiers. The low morale of the troops is not only due to the high loss rate of reconnaissance missions, but also because the comrades around us are inexplicably mutated... If this problem is not solved, this army will soon lose its combat capability... or even mutiny."

When was the last time a bizarre event occurred due to negative emotions?

"Just yesterday, the person involved, Sheng Jie, was a logistics officer in charge of maintaining vehicles and equipment. He suddenly went berserk while testing a light armored vehicle that had just been maintained. He ran amok in the camp, killing seventeen people. When soldiers wearing power armor used force to stop the vehicle and cut open the door with a welding torch, they found that Sheng Jie had disappeared from the driver's cab, leaving only a large, deformed mass of flesh that filled the driver's cab to the brim."

"How can you be sure that he turned into a monster because of negative emotions?"

“He was a logistics personnel and had never entered the Baikal Remains because the probability of him being infected by memes was lower than that of combat personnel,” Ganna said. “Moreover, we found some evidence on his phone—in the week before he went haywire, he frequently experienced hallucinations. In his eyes, his comrades would often turn into writhing chunks of flesh or monsters made of pieced-together skeletons. During that week, his mental state was already extremely fragile due to the hallucinations. According to the psychologist’s assessment, this was caused by excessive stress.”

"Then why doesn't he go see a psychologist?" The two talked as they walked and soon arrived at the door with a sign that read "Battlefield Psychological Counseling Room (Doctor's Entrance)".

“Nobody knows,” Ganna shrugged. “Perhaps in his eyes, psychiatrists are even more terrifying monsters?”

Ganna swiped his ID card on the lock and then pushed the door open and went inside.

The consultation room was not large, and the two doctors in white coats looked tired. The air was filled with a strong smell of coffee.

Rather than a psychological counseling room, Sun Hang felt that the room in front of him was more like an interrogation room.

The soldiers who needed psychological counseling entered through another door. The room was divided into two parts by a one-way glass partition. Looking from the doctor's side, one could see that a double-layered metal railing had been installed behind the one-way glass. On the table, within the doctor's reach, there was an alarm button and a pistol.

“There have been cases where patients suddenly became agitated during treatment… We lost a senior psychologist that time,” Ganna whispered to Sun Hang. “Most of the soldiers who request psychological counseling are carrying strong negative emotions. As the people who need to directly face them, the personal safety of the psychologists must be guaranteed…”

“Psychological counseling requires in-depth communication. Any antagonism or questioning towards the doctor will lead to the failure of the communication…” A psychologist who was resting against the back of his chair suddenly looked up at the three and said, “Transforming the consultation room like this will only increase the patient’s tension and sense of oppression… By the way, do you three have something to tell us?”

Before Ganna could speak, Xue Yue asked first, "Can you... still hold on?"

In Sun Hang's eyes, the two psychologists were shrouded in an extremely thick black mist, just like two fog people.

(End of this chapter)