All my hunting commissions come from another world?

Maria was shocked and angry, but even more so, she was incredulous.

She had only seen this familiar attack from one person before, and that person should have already transformed into a wild beast and be guarding the entrance to the research building.

Could it be that someone took his weapon?

Maria thought this, but the voice behind her denied her guess.

"Maria! Step back!"

Upon hearing that familiar yet unfamiliar voice, Maria instinctively chose to obey and back away.

Two more beams of moonlight flashed, and the two giant fishmen collapsed with a thud, losing their ability to move and lying on the ground, barely alive.

"...Ludwig."

"And...the teacher...?"

Maria turned around, but she never expected that there was more than one familiar face behind her, including her most respected teacher.

Zhou Si and the other two stood quietly to the side, ready to watch the drama unfold.

When the master and apprentice met again after many years, Maria's appearance remained unchanged from the moment she drank the poisoned wine, but Gehman was no longer the same as he had been back then.

"It's been a long time, Maria."

"You've aged a lot, teacher."

Maria's tone was somewhat cold. Although she still held a sliver of respect for Gehrman in her heart, she had already come to terms with the truth the moment she stayed at the Star Clock Tower.

Her teacher was not as perfect as she had imagined; on the contrary, Gehman was much more selfish than most people.

He only shows his good side to his own people; Gehman never cares about strangers.

For example, the people in the fishing village, or the people of Yharnam.

This was something that kind-hearted Mary could not accept.

The atmosphere between the master and his apprentice was slightly tense, but the three people on the other side were not just watching the drama unfold.

A family of three was squatting next to the two fish-men, studying the spores on their bodies.

"These spores parasitize them, and the nutrients they absorb probably turn into this."

Zhou Si pointed to the flower on the fishman's back. If you looked at the flower alone, it was actually quite pretty, but unfortunately it was growing on this guy's body.

Zhou Si picked one of the flowers, put it to his lips, and gently blew on it. Red spore dust flew out, and these spores were almost indistinguishable from those produced directly by the ancient dragon.

"It seems this is how they spread."

“Creatures parasitized by these spores become bloodthirsty and irritable, especially those with the blood of superiors in their bodies.”

The blatant targeting is obvious; it's likely that the Vaal Hazak encountered a higher being after entering the dream world, but who exactly is still unclear.

However, we can most likely rule out Luna first, since nothing happened in Hunter's Dream.

Meanwhile, the dispute between the master and disciple on the other side also reached a fever pitch. The once close master and disciple finally broke off their relationship, or rather, Maria broke off the relationship unilaterally.

"You should continue to hide, instead of dragging this crippled body out to play the victim."

"And judging from your appearance, it seems you've already been taught a lesson?"

Maria retorted sarcastically, to which Azure Star replied, "What does this have to do with me?"

“Maria, you don’t understand anything at all…”

Gehrman's voice was full of weariness. He had always regarded Maria as his own daughter, so only when facing her could Gehrman not put on that 'arrogant' attitude.

But Gehrman's concessions and ambiguity only made Maria angrier, and Ludwig quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Maria, Gehman, stop right there! This is not the time to argue!"

Fortunately, Ludwig's words had an effect, and after a brief silence, both of them chose to address the immediate problem first.

"Maria, why did you leave the clock tower?"

"I saw Kos's orphan..."

Maria's expression turned serious. She had been sitting peacefully atop the clock tower, but as she continued her cycle of reincarnation, incessant screams came from outside.

When she went out to investigate, she discovered that the 'Orphan of Kos,' dressed in red, was killing the failed members of the church's experiments outside.

Just as Maria was about to intervene, the 'Kos Orphan' fled towards the fishing village.

Maria, wanting to find out the specifics, also chose to follow.

"I lost track of them after arriving in the village, so I decided to come here first to retrieve Luoyang."

Then, as they had just witnessed, the two parasitized fish-men began a frenzied attack on Maria.

As Maria recounted the entire incident, Zhou Si suddenly had a bad feeling.

Even the offspring of those in power have been parasitized by the spores of the Vaal Hazak...

What about those in positions of power?

Bounty 2nd playthrough begins!

As the title suggests, another round of bounties has been offered in order to break into the top ten of the new book charts.

The other rules are the same as last time.

A bonus chapter will be added for every 10000 RMB donation; treasure chests are awarded based on the amount spent. (No upper limit)

One blade, 100 per update. (No upper limit)

However, due to the need to boost the new book rankings, the monthly pass rate has been reduced to 100 monthly passes for one extra chapter, and there is no upper limit this time either.

Please! This is extremely important for the author!

The bounty will be settled next Friday! Please don't have any mercy on me!

Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding! Purple sweet potato pudding!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Are All Hunters from Out of Town Monsters? (3k)

Outside the Oden Chapel, Skadi wiped the blood of wild beasts from her sword, surrounded by dozens of sea creatures, standing in opposition to the herd of beasts not far away.

Zhou Si and the others had been gone for most of the day, and the red moon still hung in the sky without moving at all. It seemed that the night would not end until everything was over.

[Skadi, have you encountered any unusual situations?]

"Not at the moment, Ms. Melo."

Skadi shook her head; apart from the wild beasts constantly eyeing the church, she didn't notice anything unusual.

But usually, something happens soon after the main characters say such things.

For example, now.

The sea creatures ahead suddenly became restless, and what they saw was immediately revealed to Skadi through the large swarm.

The crimson miasma gradually spread among the beasts, and bright red spores crawled onto the bodies of those monsters.

“Ms. Melo, it seems trouble is brewing.”

Less than five seconds had passed since Skadi's last sentence, and Melo was stunned for a moment.

Hold on, more support is on its way.

Melo left only this message before disconnecting the audio link.

Skadi remained expressionless, only gripping her greatsword tightly, while the surrounding sea creatures prepared to fight.

Do you need my help?

'Your control over your people is too weak; you can't hold off those beasts on your own.'

Isamara's voice echoed in Skadi's mind, and Skadi nodded after a brief moment of thought.

"please."

"...snort."

Skadi's blunt reaction elicited a rather uninteresting snort from Isamara.

"You promised to get along well with me."

'Okay, okay, you're so long-winded...'

Isamara's voice was very reluctant, but the surrounding sea creatures still quickly gathered together.

"Thank you."

Skadi thanked him and then turned her gaze straight ahead. Although Isamara was converting Hai Si much faster than Zhou Si, this was not Hai Si's home ground.

In addition, due to the deliberate targeting by the dream's owner, the number of Hai Si has remained at a relatively low level.

Even so, these Sealings, enhanced by Isamara, are completely targeted at these monsters.

Fire attacks, blood clotting toxins...

With these specialized sea creatures blocking their way, the beast tide was kept at the center of the church's formation and could not threaten the church in the short term.

'So, all we need to do now is wait for reinforcements and Zhou Si, right?'

Isamara spoke of Zhou Si with a hint of gritted teeth, but even so, she had to admit it.

He still coveted Zhou Si's body.

"Yes."

Skadi cleaved the beast in two with his sword, effortlessly dodging the spurting blood, then nodded slightly and answered Isamara's question.

'If there had been enough time, those beasts wouldn't have been able to withstand the sheer force of the herd.'

"That's enough."

Skadi reached up and pressed down on the brim of her hat before charging back into the herd.

-------------------

Having climbed out of the deep well, Zhou Si looked around at his surroundings with a slightly wary expression.

But neither the spores on the roof nor the huge blood-red plants showed any movement, as if they were asleep.

It contracts steadily and regularly.

“Let’s go check on Kos’s situation, and then go find Kos’s orphans.”

Zhou Si's suggestion was approved by everyone present. The accident that happened to Kos the orphan was indeed worrying, but their top priority was still to find Kos's body.

Confirm His current situation.

Then came the anomaly in the Kos orphan, and the possible location of the special individual Vaal Hazak.

"Cough cough..."

Geman behind him suddenly covered his mouth and coughed twice. Then he saw the blood that had fallen into his hand sprout a tender bud at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Just like the flowers on those two giant fishmen.

"teacher..."

Maria, who was standing nearby, immediately noticed his situation, but after speaking out, she did not make any further moves.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Si walked over to the master and his apprentice.

"Now you have two choices: one is to be drained by these spores and turn into those things."

Zhou Si pointed to the large flower above their heads.

"One is to become my family."

"I see..."

Gehrman looked at Ludwig beside him; only another superior could remove the curses of other superiors.

"Zhou Si and I will take care of those monsters."

Azure Star patted his chest beside him.

You and Zhou Si, right?