“I... I’m sorry.”
The person in charge apologized, but that didn’t change the situation.
“Those foreigners bastards... I’m sure they’re the ones to blame.”
“Stop it already.”
“What? Why? Are you defending foreigners...?”
“You fool. There are a lot of people from Weixin Energy there. Foreigners must’ve just led the way.”
People tended to favor those they were close to. As Weixin Energy currently received the most privileges in the factory area, it was likely that they were largely responsible for this incident.
The Chinese hunters couldn’t help agreeing.
‘I’m certain of it!’
Weixin Energy had an aggressive and greedy management policy, and they were the ones who bribed the party the most. The hunters could become a laughing stock later on for swearing at foreigners for no reason.“No, fellow hunters!”
“!”
The Chinese hunters brightened up when they heard the secretary of the Central Hunter Committee, who was also on the way to the scene.
“Are you saying that Weixin Energy isn’t responsible for anything?”
“No, that’s not it... I’m saying it doesn’t matter. Just insist that it wasn’t Weixin Energy. Do you understand?”
“...”
“...”
The Chinese hunters were stunned by the secretary’s idea. What...?
“I guess you don’t understand.” The secretary’s soft expression quickly hardened. “Should I explain it in more detail?”
“No! We understand!”
All the hunters realized they had to comply. If the party asked them to do something, they had no choice but to do it. They had to make it seem like this situation was the fault of the other foreign companies here, not Weixin Energy.
“Those foreigners! How dare they cause such a disaster?! Despicable bastards…!”
“Yes, you’re doing well.”
“The poor people from Weixin Energy have been viciously exploited by those foreigners!”
“Okay, let’s not overdo it.”
“Ah, sorry.” The overzealous hunter was embarrassed.
“Who is the A-grade hunter coming now?” a B-grade hunter asked carefully.
After the beginning of the raid era, hunters quickly became a national power of China, and the country benefited greatly from them. With such a large population, they were bound to have many hunters, which naturally meant that there was an astounding number of C and B-grade hunters in China.
Despite all the incidents and scandals China kept causing, the rest of the world had to be careful with them because of how many hunters they had. Having many C and B-grade hunters would mean that the country would eventually enjoy a surge of A-grade hunters… But unfortunately, the recent situation prevented that from happening.
A few A-grade hunters took advantage of the chaos to collude with several party executives and establish themselves as the de facto rulers of their strongholds. The Chinese government was too proud to recognize them as such, but given the huge land mass of the country, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the territory of those hunters was a different country entirely.
For that reason, officials preferred to leave the rest of the A-grade hunters alone. They were afraid the hunters would betray the government again…
After all, those newly-promoted A-grade hunters had dared to forget all the favor they had received and fled en masse to seek asylum abroad. It was utterly shocking that an A-grade hunter like Ma Jun, who represented China, would try to defect as well.
Of course, if someone as nasty as Wei Chang tried to seek asylum, the reaction of the Chinese people would be like “Oh, that bastard always does the dirty work. He must’ve crossed the line this time,” or “He must be trying to make an example of himself…”
Meanwhile, in Ma Jun’s case, the people’s responses were like “What? Ma Jun defected? Didn’t the party put a brainwashing chip in his head?”
Of course, in order to avert people’s attention from the kidnapping of Ma Jun, the government had made an official statement saying that he was just recovering from an illness. But what hunters would be fooled by that? No matter how they thought about it, they were convinced that Ma Jun had left out of his own volition.
-Hunter Ma Jun is also human. He must’ve been fed up with how everything works here.
-Hunter Choi Yeonseung kidnapped him.
-How does that make any sense? What’s more likely, that Choi Yeonseung kidnapped him or that Ma Jun ran away from the party? Seeing that the new A-grade hunters had followed him, they must’ve all had enough of the party’s poor treatment.
From the party’s perspective, it was unfair to hear such things, given that Ma Jun had actually been kidnapped. Regardless, once spread, such accusations wouldn’t disappear. What was more infuriating was the fact that they couldn’t even do anything to retaliate against Choi Yeonseung!
There were many internal problems, and S-grade hunters were generally untouchable.
“...”
The secretary’s expression distorted as he recalled a humiliating memory.
“Hey, which A-grade hunters are coming…?”
“At least three of them will come, right?”
“It’s going according to the procedure.”
“...”
“...”
A heavy atmosphere fell on the Chinese hunters. After being active in China for long enough, one could manage to read the thoughts of party members.
“Thank you for your dedication” actually meant “Keep being obedient, you slaves,” and “This raid was rather disappointing” was a way of saying “You’re all going to the camp if you do this again.”
Then, “going according to procedure” meant…
‘They won’t come!’
‘It’s not confirmed at all...!’
The hunters were terrified.
Normally, B-grade hunters could be the aces of their clans. After all, they were essentially superhuman, and few people could stand up to or intimidate them. However, going against the Master of Slowness and Silence changed everything for the people of China.
A household member of such a fearsome constellation had emerged, and yet they were going to attack without any A-grade hunters?
“Meng... Meng Qianhao can come, can’t he?”
“I’m sure that Hunter Yuan Xun’s schedule is completely clear!”
Desperate to find a way to survive this ordeal, the hunters shouted the names of several A-grade hunters. Both Meng Qianhao and Yuan Xun were A-grade hunters who were still on the government’s side. Neither of them had been seriously injured recently, and they were both in China.
Surely they would come to help!
“Yes, it’s going according to the procedure.”
“...”
‘You bastards!’
The hunters realized something. Unlike Ma Jun, Meng Qianhao and Yuan Xun were hunters who would never do anything to their own detriment. The Master of Slowness and Silence was a monstrous constellation who had left dozens of hunters who had attacked him into a crippled state for a long time.
As such, not even A-grade hunters, who were generally confident in fighting most monsters, wanted to go against the Master of Slowness and Silence. That was why they were stalling for time. They were trying to avoid getting hurt at all costs!
The Chinese government would’ve punished them severely, but they were currently wary because of how many A-grade hunters had fled, sought asylum, or got kidnapped recently…
As a result, the government had mobilized a large number of C and B-grade hunters who were easily replaceable!
“You... You damn bastard! Call Meng Qianhao right now! Call Meng Qianhao!”
“Why don’t you sit down right now!” The secretary gave a firm warning the moment a C+ hunter grabbed the person in charge by the collar.
There was a clatter, and the soldiers inside the large helicopter aimed their weapons at the hunters.
“Sit down now!”
Those were anti-hunter firearms, but they weren’t enough to deal with the hunters in this helicopter. In fact, these weapons were only efficient against E or D-grade hunters. If the hunter was C-grade or higher, the person using the weapon wouldn’t be able to aim it before the hunter unleashed an explosive skill.
Besides, what was the point of firing a few bullets and hurting the hunters? They would defend themselves or just recover before tearing the soldiers apart.
Of course, the secretary was also aware of that.
“Hunter Zhang Honglu, I urge you to think well about what you’re doing right now. Need I remind you that going against the party’s orders is a serious crime? You have a wife and a five-year-old child waiting for you at home…”
The party wouldn’t have survived this long if it could be swayed by this kind of short outbursts from hunters.
After all, the Chinese government had created the world’s most pervasive surveillance system. A senior hunter could kill dozens of soldiers, but how could they deal with the heavily armed unit that would subsequently come for them?
In addition, what about the hunter’s family? Even if they were lucky enough to survive, directly disobeying party orders was tantamount to social suicide.
The other hunters flinched at the threat. The secretary let out a sigh of relief, thinking that the hunters had finally calmed down.
Bam!
“Fuck off, you bastard!”
“!!!”
However, the secretary forgot that even a mouse would bite a cat if cornered. After being dragged to an area where the household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence had appeared and facing threats, one of the hunters snapped.
Tatatatang!
Bullets flew at him, but Zhang Honglu dodged them with his footwork and counter-attacked like a cannonball. The helicopter jolted like crazy, windows were shattered, blood splattered everywhere, and screams erupted.
“Ha-have you completely lost your mind?! What the hell are you doing?!”
The other hunters were also alarmed. They didn’t care about the soldiers, but killing party executives?
“Now that things have taken this turn, there’s no other option other than seeking asylum! Let’s go together! Those who have a family and much to lose should live! At this rate, we’ll all die!”
“B-but...”
“My family...”
“Are you going to die for your family? Even if you survive, they’ll tie you to me and send both of us to the camp!”
“What the hell is going on…?”
A soldier in the cockpit poked out his head to check the commotion, only to be horrified. Zhang Honglu raised his hand like a blade and aimed it at his neck.
“Turn around! I’m going to another country!”
“Wha-?! No way! The fuel...”
“Don’t mess with me! Keep piloting even if it means running out of fuel and falling into the sea! I’m going to South Korea!”
Zhang Honglu intended to flee to the closest country, South Korea. With Choi Yeonseung there, China wouldn’t be able to capture them!
“B-but...!”
Meanwhile, the helicopter was approaching the factory area where the Master of Slowness and Silence was. The hunters were stunned by what they saw through the shattered windows.
An unexpected figure was engaged in a bloody battle.
***
Choi Yeonseung flew slowly and silently. Silent fights were extremely rare even in the Abyss. Moreover, the more hits he took, the slower and quieter the fight became.
Choi Yeonseung deliberately used a strong internal energy attack to stomp on the ground and create a commotion. A roar erupted and then faded away.
‘Son of a bitch. Maybe it’s because we’re in Chinese territory, but he’s really strong despite being just a clone.’
“!”
But then, a bombardment suddenly commenced, and numerous fighter jets flew in. It seemed that the Chinese were trying to come to the aid of the factory area first. However, before they could explode, the incoming shells went silent as if wrapped in cotton. Then they slowed down and disappeared.
The only hope was the missiles of the fighter jets.
‘They’ve been fighting the Master of Slowness and Silence for decades, so the missiles must’ve been treated by artifacts!’
China’s proud J-32 fighter jet flew in and fired a smart bomb that had been enhanced by artifacts. The state-of-the-art Chinese magic engineering had made these missiles ten times louder and faster than normal bombs in order to withstand the power of the Master of Slowness and Silence.
But even the smart bomb proved to be useless, as its sound was stifled before it vanished without a trace. The Master of Slowness and Silence was much stronger than the Chinese engineers thought.
Nevertheless, Choi Yeonseung, not knowing how things were, was naturally pissed.
“Those imbeciles can’t even make a weapon!”
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed to him that the weapon manufacturers had been bribed and made that bomb hastily. Otherwise, how could it just vanish like that?
“!”
Then, a large helicopter fell. Normally, this would’ve been a dangerous accident for the hunters, but as the helicopter approached the ground, its speed decreased and its sound died out.
Choi Yeonseung was surprised as he laid eyes on the Chinese hunters inside.
‘This is pretty good! They infiltrated so boldly because they understand the Master of Slowness and Silence.’
That was to be expected from those who had been fighting this enemy for decades. Choi Yeonseung nodded approvingly, only to be puzzled when noticing that the inside of the helicopter was covered in blood.
...Why?
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