Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 528 Paranoia of Persecution
"A trap?" Sun Hang suddenly felt that the brain circuits of the somewhat attractive female hunter in front of him seemed a little different.

When the other free hunters and mercenaries learned that Tian Shu Tower was also involved in the operation, their main thought was that Tian Shu Tower intended to monopolize the "treasure" and forcibly recruit them as cannon fodder by half-deception and half-temptation. However, Su Yue obviously did not think so.

“I thought… this was a purge operation planned by Chunfeng and Tianshu Tower together.” Su Yue’s lips trembled slightly. “The main purpose was to find a reason to get rid of those unruly free hunters and mercenaries… and the so-called treasure map and treasure were most likely just a decoy, a bait.”

Sun Hang suddenly realized that this woman's thought process wasn't peculiar; she simply suffered from paranoia.

"Since you think this is a trap, why did you still participate in this operation?" Sun Hang couldn't help but ask.

“This was the organization’s decision, and I have no right to object.” Su Yue sighed. “Besides, we didn’t know that Tian Shu Tower had sent people to participate in this operation before… The appearance of Bai Hu gave me a bad feeling, and I tried my best to withdraw from the operation temporarily, but the organization and Third Sister did not agree… until you appeared.”

"Want to quit, but it's too late?" Sun Hang asked.

Su Yue nodded: "I was still thinking about how to persuade the organization when our account received 15 million from that anonymous account..."

“Actually, it’s not a trap,” Sun Hang said.

Su Yue's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Sun Hang in disbelief.

“If…if it’s not a trap…” Su Yue murmured, “then you could have simply offered a bounty on the treasure itself. Why did you offer such a high reward for information and then personally send people to participate in the operation? After all, your Tian Shu Tower…is never short of money, right?”

"The purpose of issuing such a low-difficulty bounty is naturally to attract more hunters to participate in this operation," Sun Hang said.

"You still say this isn't a trap?!" Su Yue's expression was somewhat subtle. "Or is it that the location of the treasure requires more cannon fodder... or, 'sacrifices'?"

Her voice trembled slightly.

If she guesses the correct answer correctly, even if the young hunter in front of them is willing to let them go, they will probably not escape death.

The word "sacrifice" sounds barbaric, cruel, and ignorant in religious terms, but in fact, many events related to strange creatures use words like "sacrifice" or "offerings."

Federal law prohibits human sacrifice rituals for any purpose. However, the Celestial Tower has the ability to circumvent this law—they simply need to change the names of death row inmates pulled from prisons… such as “Class C consumables” or “special experimental materials,” anything that avoids the word “human” will not cause any problems.

Before Su Yue became a free hunter, she worked for a special department that handled this type of work.

It was precisely because she had a deep understanding of the dark side of the Tower of Heaven that the profound fear she felt when she stood in the face of darkness seemed all the more real.

“I think you’ve probably misunderstood something…” Sun Hang didn’t even need to activate his emotional vision to see the shadow of fear rising behind Su Yue. This woman had her fear clearly written on her face—compared to death, being sacrificed was a more terrifying thing.

It refers not only to what happens before death, but also to what happens after death.

Many materialists believe that death is the end of life; once you're dead, you're dead, and everything is over. In their view, being sacrificed to a monster is no different from death, except that there might be some rituals like "shamanistic dancing" before death.

But Su Yue knew very well that death and sacrifice were two completely different things.

There are two common types of sacrificial rituals: one is the sacrifice of the body, and the other is the sacrifice of the soul—neither of which she was willing to accept.

She found it difficult to describe the horrors and torments she experienced after being sacrificed. In her view, these things could perhaps be summarized in eight concise words: "Unable to live, unable to die."

If she had the choice, she would rather choose a quick death.

Or rather, a less painful death is acceptable—even being tortured to death is infinitely better than being sacrificed to a monster.

"misunderstanding?"

"I want to attract a large number of free hunters and mercenaries to participate in this operation because I want to treat it as a test," Sun Hang said. "I need to select a group of outstanding talents to go..."

"where to?"

Sun Hang suddenly had a thought of toying with the other party, and said mysteriously, "Go to hell."

“…Isn’t that just choosing a sacrifice?!” Su Yue’s expression froze. If she hadn’t known that bullets would have no effect on the young hunter in front of her, she would have already drawn her gun and fired—she didn’t want to kill him, she just wanted to provoke him so that he would “accidentally” kill her.

or……

Su Yue steeled her resolve, pulled out the pistol strapped to her thigh, and pressed the muzzle against her chin.

Bullets loaded with beastification inhibitors are much weaker than regular ammunition, but that's only true for the Third Sister—her high-intensity muscles after beastification will crack the thinned metal casing of the bullet, exposing the needle hidden inside, thus injecting the inhibitor deep into the target's muscles.

For a hunter like Su Yue, whose physical strength is similar to that of an ordinary person, this kind of bullet is still deadly, especially when it is aimed at a vital point.

A resolute glint flashed in her eyes, and then she decisively pulled the trigger!

No shots were fired.

The trigger of the pistol was as if it were welded shut; it couldn't be pressed at all.

“You—” A deeper despair flashed in Su Yue’s eyes. She began to think about what other way she could die quickly besides using a gun.

The female mercenary sitting in the passenger seat was completely bewildered by the scene before her—just a few minutes ago, Su Yue had surrendered because the Tian Shu Tower hunters promised not to kill them, so how could Su Yue suddenly want to end her own life after only exchanging a few words with them?

Is there anything more terrifying than death in this world?
"Hey? What's your hurry?" Sun Hang gripped the muzzle of the gun and forcefully pressed Su Yue's hand down from it. "Are you impatient and want to get to hell first?"

Su Yue's expression was twisted, her reddened eyes fixed on Sun Hang.

"The so-called hell is just a metaphor, don't be nervous," Sun Hang said gently to "reassur" you.

"Of course I know...this...this is just a...metaphor!" Su Yue sobbed. "I beg you...I'll do anything you want, just don't make me...don't make me..."

"Really, anything is possible?" Sun Hang grinned mischievously.

“Anything is fine!” Su Yue nodded vigorously.

To be honest, Sun Hang still preferred the woman's aloof demeanor when they first met.

Now that they're panicking, they've completely lost their original charm... which is commonly known as "a persona collapsing."

"Then come with me to hell." "No, no, no, no!" Su Yue shook her head violently. "This is the only thing I won't do!"

"Why not?" Sun Hang asked.

“I don’t want to be sacrificed to the monsters… I’ve seen those death row inmates who were sacrificed… I’d rather be executed by the Heavenly Pivot Tower than accept that fate…”

"Oh, so you thought going to hell meant being sacrificed..."

"Isn't that right?" Su Yue was slightly taken aback, and a glimmer of hope welled up in her heart.

Although reason told her that she shouldn't have any hope for the people of Tian Shu Tower.

Because these people are truly willing to use any means necessary to achieve their goals.

If they weren't cloaked in official garb, they would be more despicable than the most despicable creatures in the no-man's-land, and more insane than the most insane.

"I always feel that the image of the Tian Shu Tower has been completely ruined here," Sun Hang said, rubbing his forehead.

That is indeed the case.

In the period immediately following Sun Hang's awakening, he had repeatedly considered blowing up the so-called "Strange Object Research Institute" and its superior organization. However, somehow, he ended up becoming the head of the organization himself.

If things escalate any further, it will truly be a case of "Why is Your Majesty rebelling?"... Even the guy who initially coerced me into signing the contract of servitude is now mine...

The only thing that remains unchanged is the huge mess left by the previous boss.

Old man Pei, you schemed against me, old man Pei!

"What exactly does 'hell' mean?" Su Yue couldn't help but ask.

Sun Hang took a deep breath, managed a friendly smile, placed his hand on the other person's smooth thigh, and said sincerely, "Friend, how about a luxury multi-day group tour to Egypt, including rocket tickets, meals but no accommodation? Interested in learning more?"

"Huh? What?" Su Yue was stunned, not even noticing that Sun Hang's "perverted hands" were secretly smearing the blood and debris from the battle onto her fair thighs.

“The Heavenly Pivot Tower needs to recruit a group of experts to explore the occupied territories of Egypt. I think there should be quite a few suitable candidates among your Seabuckthorn Roses,” Sun Hang said.

"Recruitment? Experts? Occupied territory? Egypt?" The sheer amount of information contained in that short sentence caused Su Yue's brain to briefly freeze.

“The Tian Shu Tower needs to collect a rare ‘monster sample’ in the occupied Egyptian territory. This mission will be more difficult than any previous mission. For the participants, it would be no exaggeration to call it a journey to hell,” Sun Hang explained.

"Is the Egypt you're talking about the one located south of the Mediterranean Sea, in the northeastern corner of the African continent?" Su Yue asked.

"What else could it be but Egypt?" Sun Hang suddenly realized that the information about the sea buckthorn rose seemed to be a bit delayed. Logically speaking, at this time, the rumors about the trip to Egypt should have been spread throughout Dragon City through Zhulong's group of "friends"...

With the intelligence network of the Sea Buckthorn Rose, it's impossible that they didn't know about this.

Or was it because the content of the action was too outrageous that it was taken as a silly joke or some kind of coded message?
"Was that mission in Dragon City issued by you?"

Sun Hang nodded.

“Then we’ll have to… go through the entire Central Asian region, right?” Su Yue said with some difficulty.

“Let’s go close to Earth orbit,” Sun Hang said. “I already said, I’ll cover round-trip rocket tickets.”

Su Yue swallowed hard, took several deep breaths, and then nodded: "I understand... If there's anything we can do to help, we will..."

"Alright, I've answered the first question. Now, what about the second one?" Sun Hang urged.

"It's...it's no longer important." Su Yue shook her head stiffly.

Although she felt a sense of relief at surviving a disaster, the sheer volume of terrifying information contained in the young man's few words left her feeling dizzy and extremely unreal.

She even began to doubt if it was all just her imagination... that her fate was still to be sacrificed to the monster...

"If Sister Suyue doesn't want to ask, may I?" the female mercenary sitting in the passenger seat suddenly spoke up, "What about the second question?"

“Okay.” Sun Hang nodded.

"Who are you?" The female mercenary's gaze lingered on Sun Hang's face. "We initially thought Zhulong was the leader of your group, but judging from your influence and strength, you seem to be above him. However, we can't find any information about you. Compared to those hunters who have never appeared on the leaderboard, you seem too young, while those hunters have been on the leaderboard for at least a decade... So I'm very curious about your identity. Can you tell me your code name?"

“I don’t have a code name; I use my real name to access the internet,” Sun Hang said. “My name is Sun Hang.”

With a "thud," the gun in Su Yue's hand fell to the ground.

"Surprised?" Sun Hang glanced at Su Yue, whose expression was quite interesting, a jumble of emotions... including even a hint of admiration and lust.

What the hell? ?

“I’m surprised.” The female mercenary nodded. “But Sister Suyue should be even more surprised…she’s a huge fan of yours.”

"Huh?" Sun Hang felt that the direction of the events was becoming somewhat abstract.

"I just... I'm just very interested in you." Su Yue's fair cheeks flushed slightly. "As the person in charge of collecting all kinds of intelligence in the organization, I have been paying attention to all kinds of news in the hunter circle... and the most incredible news this year is your appearance."

Su Yue paused, then continued, "It's not just us; many organizations want to get information about you... but there's even less information about you online than about the original low-level monsters..."

That's for sure—Sun Hang muttered to himself—when Old Man Pei was in power, his various files were the top secrets of the Tian Shu Tower, and now that he has taken control of the mainframe, he has made the mainframe delete all information related to him from the internet.

Besides those major news stories that are already etched into the public memory and cannot be erased, Sun Hang even deleted his file from his position at the Tianfu City Mystery Research Institute.

[P.S. I should be able to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and the plot is about to enter a crucial point... I've been typing on my phone these past few days, so it's been a bit rushed; please forgive me.]

(End of this chapter)