The male supporting character was actually myself.

Lu Xinnan was already used to it. She put the book she had finished reading on her hands and asked her second question.

"Hey, prop, prop, I'm asking you, have we been followed or monitored? Is it safe to live here now?" The little white cat reached out and touched the black Book of Truth with its paw, muttering as it asked.

"Whoosh!" The pages turned again without any wind, then stopped on one of them, where a line of text appeared: Not exposed, not being followed, the host and the captain are safe.

"That's strange. Usually, the Book of Truth only gives the simplest answer. Could it be because of the trial that it's willing to say a few more words?"

Lu Xinnan muttered to herself in surprise, then thought for a moment and placed her hands on the pages of the book, asking, "What is the key to defeating the Death Galaxy?"

Perhaps because the question involved confidential information, the Book of Truth paused for a while before turning the pages.

This time, the image I had imagined did not appear. Instead, the words appeared slowly and hesitantly: it, he, they.

Before the two could react, the Book of Truth closed and locked itself with a soft rustling sound.

"What a baffling answer." Lu Xinnan sighed and put the book away. "Any questions can only be asked tomorrow. Let's discuss how to get rid of Yao Tianyu now."

He is your prey; you must take action yourself.

"Let me see if there are any suitable auxiliary items you can use..."

“No need for that trouble, Sister Lu can meet me downstairs.” Jiang Chen revealed a confident smile. “I’ve gained a lot from choosing Nightmare Start. This body has awakened racial talents. As long as he doesn’t use any overpowered self-defense items, he should be able to kill me easily.”

"That's amazing!" she exclaimed with envy.

However, this suggests that the revenge mission Jiang Chen described in just a few words must have been incredibly difficult. How could he have offered so many perks if it wasn't a near-death experience?

Jiang Chen searched for directions based on street names and hotel names, and found that Yao Tianyu's place was not too far away. The hovercar was fast, and it would only take about half an hour to get there.

"On such a large planet, it's not easy to find and hunt down the contestants. You must be careful. Apart from a few hosts who haven't completed the main quest yet, the others are probably lurking and ready to make their move."

"The number and variety of items you've collected are beyond imagination. Don't hold back, kill them and run! I'll be waiting for you here!" Lu Xinnan said nervously, her palms sweating, as she sat in the car.

Jiang Chen nodded, opened the car door, and strolled leisurely across half a street into the five-star hotel.

The door opened automatically when it sensed someone entering, and he walked straight in, passing the reception desk and heading to the elevator.

"Strange, is this door broken?" The receptionist looked up at the door that had suddenly opened automatically, fiddled with the instruments in his hand, and after confirming that no aliens had sneaked in using their invisibility abilities, he muttered something under his breath and then notified the maintenance department to come and take a look.

The hotel was quiet before eight o'clock.

Several passenger elevators were stationary, while the staff elevators responsible for cleaning and preparing breakfast were busy going up and down.

Jiang Chen followed them inside, went down to the 18th floor, and walked up the stairs to room B2001 on the 20th floor.

The room was dimly lit with the curtains drawn. Yao Tianyu was still sleeping in bed, and his auxiliary system, like a doll, was also fast asleep, perched on the chandelier.

"boom!"

With a soft sound, the person who was lying on the bed was reduced to a mere shell and quickly deflated and disappeared.

At the same time, Yao Tianyu and his auxiliary system disappeared.

Jiang Chen turned around and rushed downstairs across the street, opened the car door, and sat in the driver's seat.

"Did you succeed?" Lu Xinnan's voice trembled with nervousness.

He shook his head, started the vehicle, and replied, "Yao Tianyu has a life-saving device. He must have been teleported to a safe location in place of someone else."

"Host, I've heard about this item on the forum!"

The little white cat witnessed the entire process of the person on the bed disappearing, and after searching the room for a while without finding any suspicious items, it hopped back onto his shoulder and exclaimed, "A one-time use A-grade item—'Puppet Substitute'."

After use, the target can withstand one fatal blow.

When a fatal blow strikes, a puppet decoy will appear to resist the damage, while the target will be teleported to a pre-set safe location.

The downside is that you cannot use the same type of item to protect yourself for 48 hours.

"Puppet substitutes?" Jiang Chen chuckled as he drove, "As expected of the highest-level assessment competition, the participants, apart from me, all have a wealth of props."

Lu Xinnan sighed, "There's nothing we can do about it. After all, these are hosts who have accumulated seventy or eighty medals, so they must have a lot of all sorts of items. Let's ask the Book of Truth again tomorrow and see if we can find the exact address."

I was listening to a news report in the car just now, saying that the Death Galaxy is getting closer and closer.

At the current rate, the two galaxies will collide within a month at most!

"We don't have much time left to complete the hunting mission. If both of us want to pass the assessment, we need to hunt down two contestants. We can't keep waiting for the Book of Truth. Let's look for other clues first."

"Where should I start?" Lu Xinnan was at a loss.

Jiang Chen, however, said confidently, "Of course, it's a list of people who have arrived on the main planet from other planets in the past month and whose characteristics match human characteristics. If we check their backgrounds and pasts, we can naturally filter out a large part of them."

"My host is truly the best!" The little white cat perched on his shoulder, showering him with compliments.

Even the little panda that overheard the conversation lazily rolled over and praised in its childish voice, "You're really smart. Host, you're lucky to have hooked up with such a powerful person."

The hovercar left a trail of afterimages as it sped toward the main planet's traffic control department.

Just as Yao Tianyu disappeared from the bed, leaving only a puppet to block the fatal blow, in an ordinary building on the other side of the main planet, a dark-skinned man in his thirties suddenly opened his eyes, grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth, "Heh, the fluctuation of an A-grade item, someone has made a move!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he tossed a button into his hand.

After a light fog settled, the middle-aged man's figure disappeared from the room.

Chapter Twenty: The Hunter Alliance

"Damn it! What happened?" Yao Tianyu, who was lying naked on the cold ground, looked completely bewildered.

At the same time, the auxiliary system Dumbo, who had been pulled over, was also confused, "Did you lose an A-grade item?"

He then realized that his puppet clone had been used up. "Damn it! I've been ambushed!"

Fortunately, the A-level reward from the main system was very useful. After withstanding a fatal blow, he was directly teleported to a pre-set safe location. For this reason, he spent some money to rent a small house in the slums so that he wouldn't be followed and could escape if an accident occurred.

He was short of money, and the rented house was in poor condition and hadn't been upgraded or renovated. Being teleported here naked and lying on the cold floor was too uncomfortable.

"When did I get exposed?" Yao Tianyu got up from the ground, completely bewildered. He grabbed a set of clothes from his spatial storage and put them on.

Dumbo shook his trunk, about to speak, when he suddenly snapped his ears alertly, "Someone's broken in! It smells like props!"

Before he could finish speaking, a dark-skinned middle-aged man appeared in the cramped room, holding a laser gun and aiming it at him. "Don't make any rash moves. Of course, if you have other A-grade life-saving items, that's another story."

Yao Tianyu slowly raised his hands and turned around. After seeing the other person's appearance clearly, he asked, "You didn't shoot me immediately, which means you weren't here for the hunting mission. So, tell me, what do you want?"

"Mission? Ha, I completed it a long time ago."

The middle-aged man looked him up and down, grinned, and said, "I've organized a hunter alliance with a clear goal—to kill those who don't obey us, obtain all the clues, and win the final victory."

You know that the main system will assign scores based on performance, right?

Since it specifies the hunting mission but doesn't say each person can only hunt one, there's a hidden rule in the wording. Do you understand?

"You mean, the main system encourages infighting? The more participants you hunt, the more rewards you get—is this the so-called 'underlying rule'?"

"Or else?"

A cheetah-shaped auxiliary system perched on the shoulder of the dark-skinned middle-aged man spoke quickly and crisply, "I still want to remind you: the final interpretation of the assessment competition belongs to the main system, so please don't involve the main system in your own speculations."

My auxiliary system, Xiaobao, does not participate in, fabricate, or spread rumors. Any potential violations are unrelated to me. Thank you for your cooperation.

He twitched his lips and impatiently brandished the gun in his hand. "Make a decision quickly. Either hand over your clues and a B-grade item to join us, or you die and I will naturally get your clues."

I've given you a fair choice: choose one of two options!

"If we choose to join, will the clues you obtained before be shared?" Yao Tianyu asked questions to buy time while thinking about how to break the deadlock.

However, Dumbo can't use the props freely and can't help at all; he can only flap his big ears and pretend to be stupid.

Yao Tianyu was so angry he wanted to slap it to death.

“Sharing? That depends on your performance and contributions.” The middle-aged man patiently explained, “If you contribute enough, you can even become a manager in the Hunter Alliance. That’s not just about sharing information; there will naturally be many more benefits.”

Moreover, if you perform well and hunt down enough competitors, the main system will give you generous rewards.

Do you want to join?

Yao Tianyu couldn't think of a way to escape, since he couldn't even reach for the props.

Furthermore, what the other party said seemed to make a lot of sense, so after considering it carefully, I nodded and said, "I'll join!"

"Very good, extend your right hand and place it on it." The middle-aged man took out a prop from the system space. It was about the size of a plate and looked like a piece of yellow clay with a handprint mold in the middle.

The item has been bound to a gold-level item – Hanging Seal Plaque.

Once the other party places their right hand in it and is marked, they must obey the target's commands to a certain extent. This is only applicable to mission worlds with the same background.

This is the best tool for recruiting followers, but the drawback is also obvious: you have to willingly put your handprint on it.

If the handprint is not a genuine surrender, no mark will be left; the mud handprint mold will show a red color.

Furthermore, if other items that can negate the loyalty status are used, the control effect of joining the faction will be ineffective.

With a gun pointed at him, Yao Tianyu placed his hand on it and immediately had a strange feeling, as if this guy, whom he had only just met, was very trustworthy.

"Very good." The middle-aged man grinned, revealing his white teeth, and casually put away the laser gun. "My name is Meng Xiucheng, you can call me Brother Cheng."

Look at your right hand; there's a very obvious mark on it.

All participants with this mark are on our side; you need to be careful not to make a mistake.

Yao Tianyu looked down at the back of his right hand and saw a crescent-shaped symbol that looked like a birthmark. He then nodded obediently, "I understand, Brother Cheng."

"Hey, are you really going to give him a B-grade item?"

Dumbo shouted sternly, "What kind of gadget did he use on you? You've been brainwashed! Hey, Yao Tianyu, wake up!"

Meng Xiucheng accepted the B-grade item handed to him, put it away with satisfaction, and asked, "Do you want to hunt alone or find an alliance of similar strength?"

"Do we have a headquarters?" Yao Tianyu asked hesitantly. "I was just being chased and I need to find a comfortable place to rest and figure out who is hunting me down."

Meng Xiucheng looked around the cramped room and shook his head, saying, "If we stay together, we'll be too conspicuous and easily captured. My subordinates all communicate with me directly."

Add me as a friend, and you can contact me if anything happens.

If you want to form an alliance, I can help you find a suitable partner. Besides hunting down competitors for clues, everyone should work hard to develop their own abilities and quickly establish themselves in the army.

Our Hunter Alliance will strive to obtain all clues and utilize powerful tools to sweep through the mission world and complete the final mission.

“Okay.” Yao Tianyu obediently took out his newly bought communicator and added the other party as a friend.

As soon as the latest communicator was taken out, Meng Xiucheng's eyes lit up. "Young man, you're quite wealthy, aren't you?"

"I got it from someone else using props."

"Give me 50,000, and I'll calculate your contribution points, which will give you a clue."