Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 565 Hunting Party Selection
A moment of hesitation flashed through Cheng Ming's mind.

The headhunter was right about one thing: if you're unfamiliar with the area and want to get to Nanhua Town, the best thing to do is to travel with a large group.

So whether you're looking for a team or a guide, you'll almost always have to deal with these intermediaries. And this guy in front of you claims to be a headhunter from the Bai Group. With such a big company backing him, he should be more reliable than those intermediary organizations that plaster small ads on telephone poles, right?

Cheng Ming took out his phone and searched for information about "Longcheng Bai Family Military Industry" online. A lot of information popped up immediately. According to the search engine results, the Bai family is indeed one of the three major families in Longcheng, and Bai Family Military Industry does indeed undertake most of the orders for weapons and equipment for the Longcheng City Defense Army. At least for now, what the headhunter in front of him said was true.

"Is this the Bai Group you're talking about?" Cheng Ming pointed to the search results on his phone screen.

"Otherwise, it could be the Bai Group?" The headhunter shrugged smugly. "There are many people doing business and running companies in Longcheng, but there's only one called the Bai Group, and no other branches!"

"Oh." Cheng Ming nodded, then typed "Bai Group Hunting Team Recruiting Hunters" into the search box. As soon as he clicked the confirm button, the webpage immediately jumped to the Bai Group's official website. In the first column of the official website's news, the words "Large-scale Monster Hunting Operation at Tian Shu Tower, Second Phase of Free Hunter Recruitment by the Three Families' Joint Hunting Team" were prominently displayed.

"If I want to join the hunting team, can I just fill out the application form on the Bai Group's official website?" Cheng Ming asked.

Upon hearing that Cheng Ming was about to fill out an application form, the headhunter immediately panicked: "Dude! Dude, don't fill it out yet! Please, please don't fill it out!"

"What's wrong?" Cheng Ming asked, puzzled. "Didn't you want to drag me into the selection? Why won't you let me fill out an application form now?"

"Hey... bro, let me be honest with you. If you fill out this application form yourself, it counts as you registering on your own. But if I take you to the selection, then I'll be your recommender. Please help me out, bro. Meeting KPIs is really tough these days! How about this, I'll treat you to dinner. We'll eat our fill and then go to the selection. What do you want to eat, bro? You can choose whatever you like... less than two hundred per person, no, less than three hundred per person, pick whatever you like!"

"How much commission do you headhunters get for recommending someone?" Cheng Ming asked.

"If it's just about recruiting hunters to participate in the selection, that only counts as meeting the basic target. Recruiting ten hunters will get you the base salary," the headhunter said. "But if the recommended hunters pass the selection and officially join the hunting party, there will be an extra bonus—a full five thousand yuan per person!"

……

Instead of ripping off the headhunter, Cheng Ming chose a cheap roadside restaurant and ordered a few dishes.

Seemingly feeling a little bad about treating someone to such an inexpensive meal, the headhunter went next door to buy dozens of skewers of grilled meat and then went to the convenience store to bring over two large bottles of iced soda.

"If it weren't for the selection this afternoon, I would have taken the beer... Barbecue goes best with beer!" The headhunter fawned over Cheng Ming, filling his glass with soda. "Next time I have the chance, I'll definitely treat you to another meal, the kind with meat and drinks!"

"It's okay, I don't drink." Cheng Ming said, picking up a piece of the stir-fried green peppers and pork that had just been served. The pork was a bit dry, with a thick layer of oil and soy sauce, and it was quite salty with a strong aroma of spices.

However, apart from cumin, Cheng Ming couldn't smell any other spices.

"Then let's go to the night market next time and have some hand-pulled mutton. It's a famous specialty of Longcheng! Although Chang'an also has hand-pulled mutton, it's definitely not as authentic as the one here!" the headhunter said.

Cheng Ming: "Speaking of which, I don't even know your name yet."

"Li Ming, Li with the character 'Mu Zi Li' and 'Ri Yue Ming', a very common name." Headhunter Li Ming chuckled. "Just in Longcheng, there are three people with the same name as me who work as headhunters. Fortunately, we in this line of work don't usually call each other by their names, we call each other by nicknames, so there's no chance of mistaken identity... By the way, what's your name, brother?"

"Cheng Ming."

"Also from the Sun and Moon?" Li Ming picked up his cup. "This is fate! Enough said, we have to have a toast!"

Cheng Ming silently picked up the glass filled with soda and clinked it against Li Ming's.

"You've been following me for quite a distance, haven't you?" Cheng Ming suddenly asked.

"Uh...cough cough cough!" Li Ming, who was drinking soda, choked. He grabbed two tissues to wipe the water stains on his clothes, and then said somewhat awkwardly, "Brother Cheng, is your ability a detection type? How could you find this?"

"If you didn't follow me all the way from the station, how could you be sure I was a hunter?" Cheng Ming retorted. "I was wearing long sleeves, and my hunter's bracelet wasn't showing."

"Hehe..." Li Ming scratched his head. "Although that's what I said, it's not hard to guess... Judging from the bulging shape on the surface of those two big bags of luggage you're carrying, they should contain tools commonly used when hunting monsters. And that bulging thing at your waist is obviously a holster... Apart from soldiers and sheriffs, the only people who can legally carry guns, besides officially registered mercenaries, are monster hunters. Your identity is obvious, isn't it? Besides, at this time, aren't all the out-of-town hunters or mercenaries who rushed here here for this hunt?"

"I have a question for you."

"Brother Cheng, ask me anything, I'll answer to the best of my knowledge."

"Since you say that the hunters who come to Dragon City at this time are all participating in a hunting operation, why didn't you look for other hunters when there were so many hunters coming out of the station? Why did you specifically target me?" Cheng Ming asked.

“Sigh…don’t even mention it.” Li Ming waved his hand and sighed, “Most of these hunters have already found organizations on the way. They either contacted intermediaries in advance or simply submitted their applications through online recruitment…Lone rangers like you, brother, probably don’t number more than that on a bus.”

Li Ming opened his palm and held up five fingers.

Upon further reflection, Cheng Ming realized that it made perfect sense.

He was indeed an exception, because almost all the hunters in the carriage who were traveling with him perished, and the other three survivors were so terrified that they abandoned the mission. This left Cheng Ming to travel to Chang'an alone.

Given the speed at which information spreads among hunters, if the Bai family were to recruit hunters in Dragon City to form a hunting party, it wouldn't be long before all the hunters in the carriage knew about it. These people would probably have already found various ways to reach Dragon City before they even arrived, so there would be no need for headhunters like Li Ming to come knocking on their door.

In addition, Cheng Ming had indeed been in a daze during this period, and he had not specifically collected information in this regard, which gave Li Ming this opportunity.

"Speaking of which, how many hunters have you found so far?"

"To be honest, you're the first one, brother," Li Ming said with a worried look.

Cheng Ming: "..." "But I believe you're strong enough to pass the selection, brother!" Li Ming said. "Although the Bai Group's KPI for us is to recommend ten hunters each, as long as even one of the recommended hunters passes the selection, it's considered a completed target! The bonus and base salary will be in our hands immediately!"

"What if we can't meet this target?"

“…Then I’ll have no choice but to go back to the streets and alleys and continue being a private broker.” Li Ming’s voice suddenly dropped. “If I meet the target, I can officially become a member of the Bai Group, become a superior person, and reach the pinnacle of life; if I don’t, I’ll go back to the bottom of the world and struggle to make a living…Whether I can change my fate or not depends on this one chance!”

"So, you're just a temporary worker at the Bai Group right now?"

"Probation period, this is called a probation period!" Li Ming emphasized. "It's different from a temporary job! As long as I can meet the targets, I will be able to have a proper position in the Bai Group, with a salary, bonuses, and various benefits and social security, just like a regular employee!"

Cheng Ming suddenly understood why Li Ming had been so attentive to him.

"I can't guarantee that I'll pass that selection..."

"Brother, don't underestimate yourself!" Li Ming quickly said. "You haven't even tried yet, how can you say you can't do it? In my opinion, that selection process is just a formality, and most hunters will definitely pass!"

"Why do you say that?" Cheng Ming asked.

"I heard that the Bai family, or rather, the three major families, formed this joint hunting group to credit all the hunters' contributions during the hunt, thus forging a closer relationship with the Tian Shu Tower. This way, any hunter who participates, unless they're ridiculously weak, will definitely be recruited into the group… What if an ordinary hunter suddenly has a burst of brilliance and wins? They certainly wouldn't want to miss such an opportunity! Besides, the three major families are not short of money, really not short of money! They can basically recruit any hunter with even a little skill!"

Do you know the details of the selection process?

“Uh… I’m not too sure about that.” Li Ming shook his head. “The selection process is confidential to us. We just need to bring the people to the selection location and that’s it.”

Where will the selection take place?

"The selection venue in the south of the city is Longcheng Stadium. The selection time is from 2 pm to 9 pm every day." Li Ming looked up and glanced at the quartz clock hanging on the wall of the restaurant, its surface covered with a thick layer of grease.

It's 12:27 PM now, there's still plenty of time.

"Is there any preparation work needed beforehand?"

"I guess... we don't need to?" Li Ming hesitated for a moment. "Wait, I'll go ask the others."

After saying that, Li Ming took out his phone and quickly started pressing buttons.

A few dozen seconds later, Li Ming shook his head at Cheng Ming: "My friend said we can just go in directly. Even if there is any preparation work, it can be done after entering the selection venue. People from the Bai Group will guide you then."

"Your friend? Is he from the Bai Group?"

"He's my childhood friend. He's not very capable, just has a good-looking face. He caught the eye of a mid-level female manager at the Bai Group, and they've been dating for four years. They say they're getting married next year. I got this job through his connections... Damn, being handsome is so great, being a kept man is so sweet... The key is that the female manager is only four years older than him. I've seen her picture, and she's quite pretty, the kind of aloof, elite office lady type... Brother Cheng, you understand?"

Cheng Ming recalled his time as an ordinary programmer. He remembered the female secretary of the company boss. That woman often wore a black suit skirt with a white shirt and black stockings underneath. Her hair was tied up in a high bun at the back of her head. She walked around the company in high heels. Because she was favored by the boss, she always looked down on people. When programmers like him tried to find her, she would ignore them.

However, Cheng Ming heard from his colleagues that when he was infected by the strange creature and lost his mind, his female secretary was so frightened that she lost control of her bladder in front of more than a dozen people. Later, she was said to have developed some kind of mental illness and never came to work again.

"I'm finished eating." Cheng Ming put down his chopsticks.

The entire exchange consisted of Cheng Ming asking a random question, and Li Ming rambling on and on. As a result, by the time Cheng Ming finished eating, the rice in Li Ming's bowl was barely touched.

"Let's go now! The sooner we get there, the sooner we can celebrate with Brother Cheng tonight!" Li Ming said.

"No rush, you eat first." Cheng Ming took out his phone and started looking up information related to the hunting operation.

Although the signal was intermittent in the no-man's-land, the information delay was not too serious, and the news that Chen Jing's First Hunting Group was fighting against the mycelium puppets had spread throughout the entire network.

"The target is a fungal monster, which is difficult to kill with firearms. It can only be completely eliminated with flames... I need to find a way to buy some incendiary bombs or something..." Cheng Ming muttered to himself as he read.

"Don't worry about that!" Li Ming, who was quickly shoveling rice into his mouth, looked up and casually wiped the rice grains from the corner of his mouth. "All the equipment and supplies for this operation will be provided by the three major groups! Since they already know that the monsters are afraid of fire, the Second Hunting Regiment will definitely have plenty of flamethrowers and incendiary bombs! Brother Cheng, you can rest assured!"

……

……

At 1:45 PM, Longcheng Stadium, Entrance 1.

Li Ming thought that if Cheng Ming arrived fifteen minutes early, he should at least be in the first batch, even if it wasn't his first time entering. But when they arrived at the stadium, the area was already packed with hunters.

A rough count revealed that there were at least a hundred hunters ahead of Cheng Ming in line.

"Go Cheng, brother! We're waiting for your good news!" Li Ming, standing on the outside, waved vigorously at Cheng Ming.

Cheng Ming felt like a parent sending their child into the college entrance examination hall—although the analogy sounded a bit strange.

At 2:00 PM, the gates at the entrance opened, and the hunters in line immediately filed into the stadium.

(End of this chapter)