On the Ark.

The ice slowly melted.

Aesop took a deep breath, said "Goodbye, sister" to Frostnova, and ran out of the hut.

Froststar watched his figure gradually disappear at the end of the street before turning her gaze away.

However, Afu said to her, "Big sister, you don't really want to take out the medicine to save that little girl, do you? That's your medicine."

Froststar said calmly, "I don't need it anymore."

"How can you not need it?!" Afu exclaimed anxiously, "Given your current physical condition..."

“I am well aware of my current physical condition.” Frostnova turned to look at Astolfo. “More than my body, this little boy’s attitude is more important.”

"……I do not understand."

“What the infected want is survival, not fighting,” Frostnova said softly. “Only when the infected and the uninfected understand each other can this wish be fulfilled. The purpose of fighting is the same, not to continue fighting.”

Afu scratched his head: "I think this is something Dad said: the current battle is for the sake of future peace."

“Yes.” Froststar looked up at the rising sun. Although she couldn’t feel much warmth from the sunlight, she still felt comfortable. “This boy’s family was destroyed by the Infected, which is why he hates them. Since that’s the case, we have to do something. This is both war and atonement.”

"I still don't quite understand you, big sister, but your health is very important," Afu said helplessly. "What will we do if you collapse?"

"Don't worry." Froststar withdrew her gaze and looked at Afu again. "I'm not that easy to fall, at least not before we achieve our goal. Alright, let's leave that topic at that and get down to business. Have you found out who this guy in charge of this town is?"

Afu nodded: "I found out, it's a guy named Copper Hammer."

"Copper hammer?"

“Yes,” Afu said, “he was a very remarkable person. I heard that he was once the personal guard of the Emperor of Ursus.”

Chapter 490 Let the number one bounty hunter come and kill me (First update)

When Aesop arrived at the bar, he sensed that the atmosphere was different from usual.

The bar is usually open at night and closed during the day. That's why Aesop came early, hoping to clean up beforehand, take a nap on the sofa, and then start work in the afternoon. After all, he hadn't slept for over twenty hours, which was a huge burden for a young boy who wasn't even an adult yet.

But to his surprise, there were quite a few waiters cleaning the place this morning, which left him somewhat bewildered.

Until the boss slapped him on the head and yelled, "You brat, what are you standing there for? Get back to work! Don't you want your wages?"

Aesop immediately lowered his head and jogged off to work, while listening to his boss continue cursing behind him.

"We have a very important guest today. You better hurry up. If you anger the guest, forget about your wages, you might not even save your life."

Aesop panicked and nearly knocked over the coffee table. Luckily, the owner had already turned his attention elsewhere and hadn't noticed, otherwise he would have been in for another scolding. But this also made Aesop understand why the bar opened so early. Because "Sap" was just a very small town with no decent restaurants, people here usually chose this bar as the venue for entertaining guests.

However, in Aesop's memory, no customer had ever made the boss open for business during the day, so he didn't know who this customer was. But what the boss had just said probably wasn't a lie. If things went wrong again today like last night, the boss probably wouldn't let him off the hook, and he might lose his job. So he had to be extra careful.

He was indeed hungry and tired, and it was already difficult for him to stand up. He wanted to eat something, but there was no food around... Hmm? There seems to be some.

Aesop suddenly remembered the candy Frostnova had given him that morning, and then, as if possessed, he took the candy out of his pocket and stared at it blankly in his palm.

Is this... edible?

He hesitated for a moment, but not for long, before unwrapping the candy and putting it in his mouth.

The next second, his entire face scrunched up.

"Hmm... what is this?"

When the candy melted on his tongue, Aesop felt utterly awful. He had never tasted such terrible candy before; it was like a mixture of various chili peppers and sesame paste. This wasn't candy at all! It had no sweetness whatsoever, only a pungent, salty, and numbing flavor that brought tears to Aesop's eyes.

This isn't candy, is it Originium? Like the kind those Infected people tricked Ilan into eating?

Aesop had a fleeting thought, but it was quickly dismissed. He had witnessed Ilan's reaction when he ate the Originium, and had seen it countless times in his nightmares. However, the candy Frostnova gave him seemed to have nothing wrong with it except for being extremely unpalatable. Moreover, after eating it, he quickly felt a warm sensation rise from his stomach, spreading throughout his body, even restoring much of his energy, as if he had just woken up.

"Wow, what amazing sugar!" Aesop said with some surprise.

"You little brat!" the boss's roar rang out behind him again, "Are you slacking off again?! Do you want to die?!"

Aesop didn't dare look back and quickly ran off to work, mainly cleaning the kitchen and helping with food preparation. When he finished all the work in the kitchen, he changed into his waiter's uniform and went to the front desk, only to find the guests already there, sitting in the largest private room. When Aesop looked up, he met a pair of cold, sinister eyes. At that moment, he felt the hairs on his body stand on end, so he quickly lowered his head and went back to work with the tray.

Copper Hammer withdrew his gaze, turned to look at the timid boss standing beside him, and said with a smile, "You still employ child labor here, boss?"

The shop owner said with a forced smile, "It's a relative's child."

"A relative's child?" Copper Hammer pondered for a moment, then smiled again. "He's really a hard worker. I like hardworking little boys like him the most. Have him come see me tonight. As the current administrator of this town, I think we should give a child like this some kind of reward. What do you think?"

The boss wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and readily agreed.

Having lived in the town of "Sap" for over a decade, the shopkeeper had amassed considerable connections and influence. Therefore, he knew a little about this former imperial guard, aware of his peculiar fetishes. Apparently, this man had been expelled from the army after repeatedly raping several new recruits, relying on his superior strength, and ended up here. This only fueled his arrogance. While many in the army could defeat him, in a small place like Sap, there was no one who could challenge him. Thus, in a very short time, he unified the chaotic Sap, turning it into his own kingdom.

The boss naturally wouldn't dare offend someone like that, and besides, Aesop was nothing to him; giving him away was no big deal. Although he already anticipated finding Aesop's mangled body in the junkyard the next morning, what did that have to do with him? Copper Hammer wasn't after him.

After arranging the nightlife, Copper Hammer turned his attention to the man in black robes sitting next to him, who was also one of the guests at the banquet.

“Mr. Chris,” Copper Hammer said calmly, “you still won’t agree to my request?”

The man called Chris shook his head and said, "I'm just a small manager in this branch. I don't have the authority to contract all the bounty missions to you. Bounty missions are open to all bounty hunters; that's the rule."

Copper Hammer said, "Rules can be changed, Mr. Chris. You should know my strength. I don't think any bounty hunter can compare to me."

Chris looked up at Copper Hammer and said with a sneer, "Mr. Copper Hammer, I know you were once His Majesty the Emperor's personal guard, but I still want to say that you'd better not be too arrogant. There's an old saying in Yan Kingdom: there's always someone better. Bounty hunters in this world are not as weak as you think."

"Is that so?" Copper Hammer's smile widened. "In that case, let's see."

He reached into his pocket, took out two gold bars, and placed them on the table.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked.

"Bounty, the bounty I posted," Copper Hammer said calmly. "This is the reward. The bounty is... I heard that you bounty hunters are ranked, right? Then let your number one bounty hunter come and take my head."

Chapter 491 A Bounty of 200,000 Lungmen Dollars (Second Update)

As the head of the Ursus branch of the bounty hunters, Chris had never heard such an arrogant request before. He found it unbelievable and even thought he had misheard: "What did you say?"

“Mr. Chris, doesn’t your bounty hunter leader have any hearing requirements?” Copper Hammer said calmly. “Actually, I really dislike repeating myself. It makes me think the person I’m talking to is an idiot. I never show mercy to idiots… Haha, no need for that expression, I was just joking.”

As he spoke, he took out two more gold bars from his pocket and placed them on the table, stacking them together with the two he had already taken.

"This price isn't low, is it?" Copper Hammer said. "I'm issuing a commission to have your best bounty hunters kill me. It's that simple. I shouldn't need to repeat myself a third time, right?"

Chris's expression also darkened, and he said coldly, "Mr. Copper Hammer really doesn't take our bounty hunters seriously."

"How could that be? I take this very seriously, you know." Copper Hammer shrugged and said, "There are four crimson gold bars here. Isn't it quite sincere to have him kill an ordinary person?"

"Does Mr. Copper Hammer consider himself an ordinary person?"

"It depends on how you look at it." Copper Hammer grinned, stroking his chin as he laughed. "At least I've never thought of myself as a monster. I've often heard that there are quite a few monsters among you bounty hunters, so I'd like to see what a real monster looks like."

Chris said coldly, "Then can I take it that Mr. Copper Hammer has already sparred with quite a few bounty hunters in order to test their strength?"

"Oh dear, Mr. Chris found out about this."

“Don’t underestimate the information-gathering abilities of bounty hunters, Mr. Chris. You’ve killed four bounty hunters under my command,” Chris said. “Are you declaring war on us? Or are you declaring war on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of Ursus?”

Copper Hammer waved his hand and said, "How could I represent His Majesty the Emperor? He never cares about such things. This was all just my personal action, and..." He then put on an innocent expression, "I didn't want to kill them either. I just wanted to test how strong the legendary bounty hunters really were. You know, I was under a lot of pressure facing them, so I accidentally killed them. Mr. Chris, you won't blame me, will you?"

Chris took a deep breath and forced himself not to lash out.

As he had said before, after taking over the town of Sap, Copper Hammer had killed four bounty hunters under his command, which made it impossible for him to properly distribute bounty missions. Now, Copper Hammer came to him again, wanting to take on all the bounty missions in Ursus on his own.

That's just wishful thinking!

Chris desperately wanted to slap those words in Copper Hammer's face, but he didn't dare. Copper Hammer's personality was as volatile as his strength; he might just chop his head off right here. This invitation to dinner was less of a formality and more of a blatant threat. If Chris didn't make some promise today, he probably wouldn't be able to leave here alive.

This frustrated Chris because he had no capable people around him. Bounty hunters are rarer and more mediocre in stable countries. Although Ursus appears somewhat chaotic due to its harsh policies towards the infected, it's generally a stable country under the oppressive rule of its supreme emperor and his army. Therefore, the bounty hunters in his branch are generally not very strong, as there's really not much work to do.

The most powerful branch is probably the coastal branch. The bounty hunters there deal with creatures that aren't human; their terrifying strength has fueled rumors that "bounty hunters are monsters." If Copper Hammer were to go there looking for trouble, he'd probably get his head chopped off on the spot by the bounty hunters.

Unfortunately, this isn't a coastal branch, otherwise he wouldn't have to put up with this nonsense.

However, it's indeed difficult for anyone other than a bounty hunter of that caliber to defeat Copperhammer. The so-called Emperor's Guard are orphans recruited from across the country by the current Ursus Emperor before his ascension to the throne. They are trained in killing from a young age and become the Emperor's personal guards, dedicating their lives to protecting him. Therefore, these individuals are extremely powerful, but their knowledge is limited, and their personalities are wicked; they respect no one except the Emperor of Ursus.

“If Mr. Copperhammer really has this need,” Chris said slowly, “then I’m willing to help. Of course, I’m not sure if he’ll come.”

"why?"

Chris glanced at the gold bars on the table and said, "Because you haven't given enough."

"Oh?" Copper Hammer raised an eyebrow.

“But don’t worry.” Chris slowly stood up, glancing sideways at Copper Hammer. “Since it’s Mr. Copper Hammer’s wish, we’re willing to help you fulfill it. When we get back, I’ll use my own assets to issue this commission and guarantee that Mr. Copper Hammer will be satisfied.”

Copper Hammer's smile widened: "Then we really have to thank Mr. Chris."

"No need." Chris turned and walked away.

But then the copper hammer struck again: "Mr. Chris, please wait."

Chris stopped. "Is there anything else, Mr. Copper Hammer?"

Copper Hammer slowly stood up and said, "Mr. Chris's words just now made me feel a bit suffocated. I have a problem; when I feel suffocated in my chest, I want to kill someone."

Chris's eyelids twitched involuntarily.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Chris, I don’t necessarily have to kill anyone,” Copper Hammer said with a smile. “Something on you should be able to cure my illness.”

"What do you want?" Chris asked, trying to remain calm.

“It’s very simple,” Copper Hammer said calmly, “your fingers.”

……

Five minutes later, a pale-faced Chris walked out of the bar, with a pool of blood behind him.

Bathed in the sunlight outside the bar, Chris felt as if he had been reborn. However, when he thought of the humiliation he had just suffered, he gritted his teeth, took out his phone with his left hand, and dialed a number with trembling hands.

“Hello, is this Kado? This is Chris.” Chris took a deep breath and said, “Could you help me contact ‘Tideblade’? If possible, please help me post a request to ‘Tideblade’. I’m willing to offer my entire fortune… 200,000 LMD for a bounty on the head of a guy.”

……

Ten minutes later, on a street five kilometers from the town of Sap, a cell phone vibrated on a dilapidated tractor.

"Hmm?" Skadi took out her phone, turned it on, glanced at it, and then turned it off again.

Lin Ye looked at Skadi with some curiosity: "What's wrong? Is Kal'tsit looking for you?"

In Lin Ye's memory, usually only two people would contact Skadi by phone: Kal'tsit and him.

“It’s nothing,” Skadi shook her head and said calmly, “Someone asked me if I wanted to earn some extra money.”

Lin Ye: "?"