Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 619 First Place

"Is this serious business? Shall we talk about it here?" Sun Hang glanced at the diners at the next table. Although this small restaurant wasn't exactly booming, there were still a dozen or so people in the courtyard. Discussing the important operation of the Tian Shu Tower in this setting, Sun Hang didn't know if Professor Cao was just incredibly thick-skinned or if the other party knew he had the ability to create a shielding force field to prevent eavesdropping.

"What's wrong? Is there something amiss?" Professor Cao asked casually.

“This is really inappropriate,” Sun Hang said, pointing with the end of his chopsticks to the people at the surrounding tables. “This doesn’t look like a place to discuss serious matters.”

"Why doesn't it look like it?" Professor Cao chuckled and tossed over a greasy, sticky menu. "Take a look at the menu. Does anything seem off?"

Sun Hang glanced at the menu—"Garlic sprouts and twice-cooked pork 12 yuan, farmhouse stir-fry 8 yuan, stir-fried potatoes, green peppers and eggplant 8 yuan..."

The menu featured common home-style dishes found in Hawaiian restaurants, but one thing was very strange: the prices were incredibly cheap.

Keep in mind that this is Chunming City. Even in the remote old town, the cost of living here is still among the highest in the entire Xia State Federation.

However, the prices on this menu are cheaper than those in third- or fourth-tier cities. Compared to this, restaurants outside that sell pre-made dishes for 30 or 40 yuan a serving are practically robbing people.

"Isn't it strange that the prices on the menu are so cheap, yet this restaurant has managed to survive for decades in Chunming City, where land is incredibly valuable, without going out of business?" Professor Cao took a small sip of baijiu and sighed. "Actually... decades ago, this was a secret outpost of the Tian Shu Tower. Every owner of the restaurant has received rigorous training from the field operations department. Apart from a very small number of Tian Shu Tower insiders, the rest of the people who come here to dine are actually security personnel with hidden identities."

"6." Sun Hang thought for a long time, but couldn't think of anything else to say except for uttering the word "6".

“Old Pei’s safety is of utmost importance. Neither the Federal Parliament nor the Tian Shu Tower can allow him to run around outside the tower alone. Since he likes coming to this restaurant so much, they have no choice but to transform it into an absolutely safe and secretive base,” Professor Cao said. “Actually, Old Pei knows about this, but he’s too lazy to point it out… After all, the existence of this place is a kind of compromise by the medical department. If it were inside the tower, those people would never allow any alcoholic beverages to appear in Old Pei’s sight.”

"It sounds like a place used to keep prisoners out of the wind while they're in jail." Sun Hang had to re-examine the small courtyard and the "security personnel" sitting around it who looked no different from ordinary people.

"You can understand it that way if you want... Oh right, where were we?" Professor Cao took another small sip of wine, and a slight flush appeared on his cheeks.

Sun Hang felt that even if this place was a place to talk serious business, Professor Cao's current state did not seem to be one for serious business.

He glanced at the label on the liquor bottle. If the information on the label was correct, then Professor Cao had ingested nearly 300 milliliters of ethanol in the past ten minutes... And for a person with normal bodily functions, this amount of ethanol would undoubtedly have a certain impact on brain function.

To put it simply, this old man is very likely drunk right now.

"You said you wanted to talk about serious business."

“Oh right… Let’s get down to business…” Professor Cao nodded. “From Nur’s account, we know that you not only found the desert people, but also successfully made contact with the priests of Nur’s settlement. So, how was your communication with them?”

"I killed the priest."

"Ha... I was right! Now those old geezers' treasures are mine." Professor Cao suddenly laughed.

"You guys are still betting on this kind of thing?" Sun Hang's forehead immediately showed several black lines. "A little gambling is harmless fun... In fact, based on the information Nur provided, it can be basically determined that the society of the desert remnants is a religious authoritarian society. This kind of society, especially its rulers, is undoubtedly extremely resistant to foreign civilizations... Since you were able to escape unscathed, it means that the high priest is most likely dead." Professor Cao shrugged. "So, before the other party died, did you get any useful information?"

“He knew of the Sphinx’s existence, but refused to reveal any information related to it,” Sun Hang said. “Knowing he was no match for them, he chose death rather than surrender in order to protect this information, so I was unable to obtain any more valuable intelligence.”

"So you plan to use the mainframe's prophetic abilities to deduce the connection between the desert survivors and the Sphinx?" Professor Cao said drunkenly, but for some reason, Sun Hang didn't see a trace of drunkenness in his eyes.

“Well, before this project begins, I can make another trip to Egypt… Next month I should visit a few more settlements of the remnants to see what the priests in other settlements think.” Sun Hang nodded.

"It seems a battle is unavoidable. Next time you go, you'll probably bring the people you chose, right?"

“Hmm,” Sun Hang said, “Once I discover any trace of the Sphinx, I might have to change my plans on the spot…”

“In that case, take one more person with you,” Professor Cao said.

"Who?"

"Number one on the Hunter Ranking."

"First place?"

Sun Hang had checked the information of all the hunters on the Hunter Ranking after gaining access to the mainframe, but the information on this mysterious number one was extremely scarce, even in the mainframe's archives. There was only a code name "Number One" and basic information such as gender, age, infection, and date of joining the company. As for the source of the meme, the meme's abilities, and the historical record, everything was a blank.

Sun Hang even suspected that the file might be related to the other party's abilities—for example, that this guy had the ability to make the world forget him or to directly erase his own existence.

"You should have looked up the information on Number One, right? Aren't you curious why there are no combat records?" Professor Cao seemed to have seen through Sun Hang's doubts.

Sun Hang nodded.

“Actually, there’s nothing strange about it. Number One has indeed never participated in any combat missions.” Professor Cao took a bite of food and continued, “His abilities are too valuable. It would be a waste to use them only for combat… Moreover, we are very worried about something happening to him. If anything were to happen to him, the loss would be unbearable for us.”

"If he didn't participate in any battles, how did he get first place?" Sun Hang asked, puzzled.

"Because during simulation training, no hunter on the leaderboard could beat him," Professor Cao said. "It's that simple."

"What are this guy's abilities?"

(End of this chapter)