Colonial Suit

Blood瞳 was in a great mood after obtaining the new component. He even managed to get a good night's sleep. The next morning, he went to Commander Vick's room. Before he could knock, the door opened, and old Vick walked out looking refreshed.

"Leaving so soon? Aren't you going to say goodbye to everyone?"

Blood瞳 shook his head indifferently. "It's meaningless."

"I suppose so. Someone like you is destined not to walk the same path as us. We're lucky to have traveled with you for so long." Old Vick patted Blood瞳 on the shoulder. "Walk with me?"

"Alright." Blood瞳 readily agreed, following old Vick out of the carriage.

The gathering point was deserted in the early morning, with few people moving around. Blood瞳 and old Vick walked slowly along the dirt road, breathing in the rare fresh air. Yesterday was a clear day, so the air pollution wasn't too high, a rare luxury in the post-apocalyptic world. The two of them walked in silence for a while before old Vick suddenly sighed.

"Being a hunter isn't so bad."

"Mm." Blood瞳 nodded. He knew what old Vick was going to say. It was also his decision after his last conversation with old Vick.

But he didn't expect old Vick to suddenly change the subject. "What about Sarah?"

"What?" Blood瞳 was taken aback.

"My precious pharmacist, Sarah." Old Vick stopped. "Don't tell me you don't know how Sarah feels. Although it hasn't been long, I can tell that little girl has fallen for you. What will she do if you just leave like this?"

"..." Blood瞳 was silent for a moment before finally looking up at old Vick. "Being alive is a blessing in itself. We can't ask for more."

Old Vick stopped talking and simply stared at Blood瞳. After a while, he sighed. "You're right, being alive is a blessing. You're more open-minded than I am. Let's go to the convoy. I have something prepared for you."

Blood瞳 didn't ask what it was. He followed old Vick around a few bends to the back of the convoy. A nearly new desert motorcycle was parked there, loaded with supplies and fuel.

"Take it. This is a gift I prepared for you." Old Vick stroked the motorcycle for a while and personally checked its condition before saying to Blood瞳.

This motorcycle was spoils of war from the last firefight with the bandit group. It was also the caravan's main bargaining chip for exchanging resources, but old Vick used his authority to keep one, intending to give it to Blood瞳.

The bandits' motorcycles were all modified. Not only were they powerful, but they also had modified drives and tires for the wasteland terrain. This was extremely important for Blood瞳. He had originally planned to buy a motorcycle for transportation, but now it was obviously unnecessary.

"Thank you." Looking at old Vick's encouraging smile, Blood瞳 said very seriously, and then accepted the gift.

Back at the caravan, most of the travelers hadn't gotten up yet. Blood瞳 quietly loaded his luggage onto the motorcycle and then left silently, without disturbing anyone. But what he didn't know was that at that moment, in the caravan behind him, almost every carriage window had a pair of eyes silently seeing him off.

Behind one of the windows, the little girl Sarah was already teary-eyed.

"Mr. Blood瞳... I wish you a safe journey. Sarah... will pray for you..."

Sarah held a worn-out cloth bag tightly in her hand, containing twelve gold Vicks, Blood瞳's last gift to her last night.

The wind howled in the sky, stirring up large amounts of sand and dust. In the blink of an eye, more than three months had passed since Blood瞳 left the gathering point. During this time, a new hunter had appeared in Tak, a famous hunting city in the post-apocalyptic world.

A hunter is a common profession in the post-apocalyptic world, very similar to a mercenary in the traditional sense, except their missions are more related to mutated beasts. Mutated beasts are as common as hairs in the post-apocalyptic world, and their existence is extremely dangerous. Mutated beasts are wild animals whose gene chains have been altered by radiation. They possess the inherent cruelty of wild animals, but also the cunning that wild animals lack, making them very dangerous. A mutated fang wolf can tear a strong adult male to pieces in seconds, and can even attack human settlements and towns in packs.

That's why hunters appeared. As a profession dedicated to hunting mutated beasts, each of them is an experienced warrior and possesses decent combat equipment. Mutated beasts are dangerous, but the parts of their bodies are also very marketable goods. The hunter's job is to hunt them and find what they want from their corpses. Moreover, as a famous hunting city, Tak also has a hunter's guild, where hunters can find information on mutated beasts and accept hunting missions.

At first, the new hunter who appeared in Tak didn't attract much attention, because there were too many hunters in Tak. As the location of the Hunter's Guild, the hunters living here were as numerous as hairs. But soon, someone noticed that this newly appeared hunter was different from most people. The targets of other hunters were mostly relatively docile mutated beasts, which used to be herbivores. But this hunter's target was set on fierce, aggressive mutated beasts. Although there are no purely docile mutated beasts in the post-apocalyptic world, this hunter's target still surprised most people.

The first prey he hunted was a mutated clawshell beast, a giant insect-like mutated beast with a shell as strong as refined steel and claws as sharp as knives. It was two meters tall and four meters long. When enraged, it could directly attack human armored vehicles and was classified as one of the highly dangerous mutated beasts.

But when it was sent to the Hunter's Guild, it had already been cut in two. A smooth wound cut it in half. Judging from the wound, it looked like a knife wound. But everyone knew that there was no hunting knife in this world sharp enough to cut a clawshell beast in two. Moreover, given the clawshell beast's size, there was no such long hunting knife.

The second prey was a Tak mutated python as thick as a washbasin, famous for living in the canyon area around Tak. This mutated beast was even more terrifying than the clawshell beast because its strength was frightening. Even tanks would be twisted into pretzels by its strangulation. But this time, it was thrown into the yard of the Hunter's Guild as prey. The fatal wound was a fist-sized hole in its head. Given the Tak python's size, such a wound was nothing. But people discovered that this hole, although not large, was extremely deep. It had penetrated the Tak python's skull deep into the brain, almost piercing the entire head.

No one knew how the hunter had done it, because even the strongest heavy sniper rifle couldn't do such a thing. But without a doubt, after this, the new hunter became famous. He had a nickname.

"Tak Challenger."

Meaning someone who challenges the records of the Tak Hunter's Guild.

Next, the hunter did not disappoint everyone. The prey he sent one after another were all high-risk mutated beasts that were famous on the list. And each one was more dangerous and more powerful than the last. In the Hunter's Guild's records, the hunter's level increased rapidly, quickly reaching a height that most people looked up to. He earned a coveted amount of huge rewards. However, not many people have seen this hunter so far. Only old John, who accepts the prey, knows who this hunter is.

"Speaking of which, that kid hasn't sent any prey over for several days. He's so young..." Old John lay on the Hunter's Guild's recliner, gazing at the sky boredly.

And the person he was thinking about was currently resting in a canyon thirty kilometers outside of Tak.

A simple stove was surrounded by stones, and a black iron pot bubbled with steam. From time to time, chunks of white, tender meat floated to the surface. Blood瞳 leaned lazily against the motorcycle, with his battered double-barreled shotgun at his side. Not far behind him was a pile of stripped clawshell beasts. The meat had been dug out, leaving only the dirty shells.

He had been in Tak for quite some time and had made a name for himself among the hunters. In fact, although the hunter profession is dangerous, the rewards are also extremely high. As long as they can obtain enough prey, their lives are better than most people. Especially the tasks issued by the Hunter's Guild, each of them is accompanied by extremely high rewards. Blood瞳 earned a full two hundred gold Vicks during this period.

This is a huge sum of money. According to the prices in this world, this money is enough for Blood瞳 to live from now until he dies. However, this is only for him, because he doesn't need to replace his equipment as frequently as most hunters. You must know that according to the hunter's routine, about 50% of the reward for a mission has to be spent on upgrading equipment and replenishing ammunition. They also have to pay huge amounts of intelligence fees, medical expenses, and compensation for fallen comrades. The money they earn from their hard work really doesn't leave much behind.

Lunch was clawshell beast meat. A small piece of meat at the back of this mutated beast's head is low in pollution, which is exactly the food that Blood瞳 needs most right now. Seeing that the food in the iron pot was almost cooked, Blood瞳 casually threw in a handful of seasoning and planned to eat. But just as he was about to scoop out a piece of cooked meat, a gunshot suddenly rang out from the other side of the canyon.

Blood瞳 was stunned and slowly stood up...