Chapter 93: Gaining Fame
Chapter 93: Gaining Fame
"It was me."
Ji Xinghuo nodded, readily admitting to the deed. He had used his real name during the bounty hunter registration yesterday, a decision he had thought through. Now that he possessed a certain level of strength, he didn't need to maintain a low profile like before.
While acting high-profile might bring some inconvenience, it could also save him a lot of trouble. Besides, this matter couldn't be kept hidden anyway.
Fortunately, they were in the Midway Fortress, and even if he gained some fame, it wouldn't spread back to Earth and cause a sensation for the time being. Bounty hunting was a relatively fringe circle that not many people paid attention to. As long as he maintained a degree of control, there shouldn't be any problems.
The bounty hunters around him couldn't help but exclaim in admiration upon hearing Ji Xinghuo's admission.
"That's amazing!"
"Hehe, I guessed right. It was indeed a solo effort to eliminate the patrol teams, not a group effort."
"Brother, what's your name?"
The bounty hunters' faces showed a mix of admiration and respect, but they didn't crowd around like ordinary onlookers. Each of them had survived countless life-and-death battles and possessed their own pride, so they weren't easily flustered or impressed.
However, some still harbored doubts.
Ji Xinghuo appeared clean and unharmed. More importantly, he didn't seem like a super mutant, and based on his weapons and equipment, he was clearly a ranger, at most an advanced ranger. How could he have single-handedly eliminated three or four patrol teams overnight?
There was a possibility that these spoils weren't hunted by Ji Xinghuo himself but were given to him by a stronger backer to hand in and boost his points.
But the likelihood of that was low, as it could be easily exposed.
They may have had their doubts, but no one voiced them aloud.
Among mutants, there were always hidden dragons and crouching tigers, and one could never judge a book by its cover.
Sensing the skeptical gazes, Ji Xinghuo didn't offer any explanation. He declined the advances of a few bounty hunters who wanted to befriend him, but he didn't make things awkward, simply introducing himself by name.
He also casually mentioned the locations where the patrol teams had been ambushed, advising them to be careful and steer clear of those areas to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
This further convinced the bounty hunters of his capabilities.
"The counting is done," a staff member from the bounty office said. "These spoils will earn you a total of 3.2 million in bounty and 132 points. Would you like to count them yourself?"
"No need," Ji Xinghuo shook his head.
Although he had turned in more spoils than 'Red Demon' Alex, the highest-ranked mutant was only a third-order, so the bounty he received was only a few hundred thousand more than Alex's.
However, his points were almost double that of Alex, purely due to the quantity of spoils.
"Please show your qualification certificate."
Ji Xinghuo presented the certificate he had obtained yesterday.
The staff member glanced at it and immediately helped him with the registration. He remembered Ji Xinghuo, as he had been the one to take his photo during registration yesterday.
Soon, a stack of cash was handed to Ji Xinghuo. "Please take it."
3.2 million!
Each bill in the stack was worth 100,000 yuan. Ji Xinghuo felt like he was raking in the money with just one night's work.
If he could make 3 million every day, he would become a millionaire in just one starry month!
However, that seemed unlikely.
As the bounty hunters had said, last night's raid was a surprise attack, and the North Sirius Patrol Teams would now be on high alert, making future assassinations much more difficult. Moreover, the legendary powerhouses of North Sirius weren't pushovers, and one mistake could cost him his life.
"So envious!" exclaimed a bounty hunter, his face filled with admiration as he looked at the bounty.
Ji Xinghuo's single income could match their earnings for two months.
"Is this what you call 'not bad'?"
She Ge, the bounty hunter who had chatted with Ji Xinghuo on the road earlier, was also in line. Seeing the millions of yuan in cash in Ji Xinghuo's hands, he wore an expression that was half amused and half exasperated.
Now he realized that he had completely misjudged the situation.
This guy was no newbie; he was a big player who would stir up the bounty hunters of Midway Fortress!
Ji Xinghuo put away the money and scanned the surrounding bounty hunters. "Everyone, be extra cautious when you go out hunting from now on. Stay as far away from the enemy's patrol routes as possible."
The bounty hunters' faces changed upon hearing this.
They could tell from Ji Xinghuo's warning that he intended to continue hunting the North Sirius Patrol Teams.
Some were skeptical, thinking that he was asking for trouble.
Without lingering further, Ji Xinghuo left the bounty hall amidst the gazes of the bounty hunters. As he passed by the scoreboard, he glanced at it and noticed that the lowest-ranked person on the list had 205 points. His own points weren't enough to make the leaderboard yet, but he should be able to get there tomorrow.
In the second-level commercial district, Ji Xinghuo randomly found a mutant species store and sold off the mutant species he had collected from the North Sirius tribe members.
These mutant species had high yields but low value, and he only managed to sell them for a little over 2 million.
Ji Xinghuo put the money into Qinghong's dimensional pouch and returned to the first-level commercial district. He checked into an inn, had a meal, and rested. When he woke up, it was already noon.
Sitting in his room, he finally opened the interface of the Myriad Phenomenon Divine Eyes.
Last night, he had hunted four patrol teams, cleared two hidden sentry posts in the darkness, and casually killed a few stray enemies who happened to be bounty hunters from the North Sirius tribe. Of course, he hadn't let them off, swiftly taking them out.
With each increment in the Rotating Magnetic Field, the range of magnetic field induction also expanded.
On the battlefield, reconnaissance was the most important ability.
Ji Xinghuo sensed the distance of the magnetic field induction, channeling the power of the spirit source energy, which noticeably increased by several dozen meters. Based on this, he predicted that once the Rotating Magnetic Field reached Level 3, the range of magnetic field induction should be able to reach 1,500 meters. With such a far-reaching sensing distance, even legendary powerhouses could be avoided in advance.
He checked the time and saw that there were still several hours until nightfall, and it wasn't convenient to cultivate in Midway Fortress.
It would be boring to do nothing during those hours.
"Maybe I can go out during the day, too?"
Ji Xinghuo immediately decided to give it a try and canceled his room at the inn.
As he passed through the lobby, he sensed someone giving him surprised looks. He turned his head and saw two bounty hunters who looked vaguely familiar, probably from the bounty hall that morning.
They had recognized him as well.
He nodded slightly in greeting and then walked out of the inn.
At the city gate, Ji Xinghuo noticed a few bounty hunters waiting for it to open. They were all shadow blades, evil spirits, or phantasmal sound masters who excelled in stealth.
"Ji Xinghuo?" someone asked quietly.
"It's me," Ji Xinghuo nodded, turning to face them. Apparently, his name had already spread among the bounty hunters of Midway Fortress.
"Are you going out to hunt during the day?" another bounty hunter asked curiously. "Didn't you just come back this morning?"
"I was feeling bored, so I figured I might as well go out," Ji Xinghuo replied honestly. "It's a good opportunity to make some extra money."
The other bounty hunters were speechless.
To Ji Xinghuo, hunting the North Sirius tribe seemed as easy as picking money off the ground, requiring no risk and bringing in easy profits.
What they didn't know was that it truly was as simple as picking money up to him.
"Hunting during the day is much more dangerous than at night. Without the cover of darkness, it's hard for us to hide our tracks, so we have to be extra careful," one bounty hunter reminded him with good intentions.
Ji Xinghuo nodded in agreement. "Thank you for the advice."
The bounty hunter smiled again, "But, the enemies are thinking the same thing. They believe that daytime is safer, so they might be more relaxed and give us more opportunities to strike."
Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but observe the speaker.
He wore camouflage armor, with two daggers at his waist and a short crossbow on his arm. His equipment was light and flexible, and his physique was sturdy and agile, clearly indicating that he was a shadow blade.
Many of the bounty hunters in Midway Fortress had a similar appearance.
Judging from the fluctuations in etheric energy, this shadow blade was a super mutant with formidable strength.
Ji Xinghuo took the initiative to reach out and introduce himself, "I'm Ji Xinghuo. Nice to meet you."
"Jiang Cheng," the shadow blade shook hands and then let go, smiling. "I know you. I've heard your name several times today from others." His eyes were full of curiosity, "Someone said that you have someone secretly helping you from the shadows, but now it seems that they were wrong."
Ji Xinghuo was familiar with Jiang Cheng, who was currently ranked fifth on the monthly leaderboard.
"They won't suspect for much longer," Ji Xinghuo said nonchalantly, his face full of confidence.
"Awesome!"
At that moment, the city gate slowly opened, and the two men walked out. Jiang Cheng said, "Let's work together sometime."
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure disappeared.
However, he only vanished from the eyes of others; Ji Xinghuo could still see him. Jiang Cheng's shadow flowed like a shadow, moving at an incredibly fast speed without making a sound.
Ji Xinghuo pretended not to notice and also entered a stealth state, heading in a different direction.
Yesterday he had gone northeast, so today he changed to southwest, moving along the defensive line for over an hour before directly crossing the buffer zone from the ground.
After evading several waves of enemies, Ji Xinghuo entered the rear of the North Sirius defense line and ventured deeper. After traveling over a dozen kilometers, he finally locked onto a hunting target.
It was another patrol team, consisting of twenty people.
However, Ji Xinghuo did not act rashly. Instead, he followed the patrol team from behind. While in stealth mode, he tracked them for half an hour, scanning the surrounding area with magnetic field induction, only stopping when they were about to enter the barracks. He then approached the camp from another direction to scout the interior.
This investigation startled him.
According to his magnetic field induction, there were over three hundred people in this seemingly ordinary fortress, one of whom was a legend with an exceptionally strong magnetic field, like a beacon in the darkness.
A legend!
Ji Xinghuo clicked his tongue.
He had to admit that the North Sirius tribe was quick to react. In just one night, they had set a trap specifically targeting him.
If he had attacked earlier, the patrol team acting as bait would have alerted the legendary powerhouse waiting in ambush.
The stealth ring would be useless against a legendary powerhouse, especially during the day. Ji Xinghuo believed that his chances of escaping such an opponent were less than one in ten.
He immediately retreated and changed locations.
"I refuse to believe that you have so many legends lying in wait," Ji Xinghuo muttered to himself as he turned and headed in another direction.
(End of Chapter)
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