Chapter 23: The Bounty Hunters' Guild

On the screen, Han Feng practiced the newly learned sword technique several times before sheathing his blade. The martial arts department instructor remained in shock, having witnessed Han Feng progress from clumsy to proficient to masterful with the sword technique in an astonishingly short time. Such rapid advancement was something he had never seen or heard of before.

Meanwhile, Li Lizhong, who had stepped out to take a call, returned with a look of resignation and disappointment on his face. The instructor, Leo, noticed his expression and felt discomfort on his behalf. “Judging by your face, is something wrong?” Leo asked.

Li Lizhong sighed. “Someone just told me not to set my sights on that young man. They’ve taken an interest in him.” He shook his head helplessly. “Leo, it’s out of our hands now.”

“Oh? Someone’s trying to recruit him before us,” Leo remarked.

“Yes, and it’s someone we can’t refuse,” Li Lizhong exhaled.

“Ah, it’s nothing. In the end, it’s all for the good of the country,” Leo said, waving a hand to indicate that Li Lizhong shouldn’t take it too hard.

“You’re right. Ah, look, he’s coming out,” Li Lizhong suddenly noticed as Han Feng approached the sealed door on the screen.

The two left the observation room and headed to the instruction chamber. Just as they reached the door, it opened, and Han Feng emerged, wiping away sweat.

“Thank you very much for providing the martial arts skills knowledge,” Han Feng said with a respectful salute.

“We both saw it—your learning ability is truly eye-opening,” Leo said with a hearty laugh.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I just have some foundational training from before,” Han Feng replied sheepishly, realizing he’d been so focused on absorbing knowledge he’d forgotten how extraordinary his system-enhanced learning speed must look to others.

“Haha, modesty is good, but too much modesty isn’t! I have high hopes for you,” Leo said, patting Han Feng’s arm.

“By the way, Director Li, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to discuss something with me. May I ask what it was?” Han Feng inquired, recalling Li Lizhong’s earlier words.

“Oh, well, I did have something I wanted to ask of you, but it’s nothing now,” Li Lizhong replied, having given up on recruiting him.

“Alright. Sorry, but I have another request,” Han Feng said, touching his nose somewhat awkwardly. “I’d like to purchase more E- and D-level firearms skill knowledge, if possible.”

“Oh, that’s a small matter. No need to buy it, I’ll give it to you,” Li Lizhong said generously. It wasn’t particularly valuable knowledge—anyone with money could buy it at an Awakening Hall, so he figured he might as well do Han Feng a favor now, hoping it might pay off in the long run if Han Feng grew into a truly peerless figure.

“Thank you so much!” Han Feng was delighted to save money—perhaps he could do another ten-pull draw later. On second thought, maybe not; he’d be broke again if he did.

Without delay, Li Lizhong opened his neural terminal and transmitted the E- and D-level firearms skills knowledge to Han Feng. As the supervisor here, he had backups of basic skill data for each department.

The transfer was completed quickly, and Han Feng, now equipped with low-level knowledge in two fields, was thoroughly satisfied. He had successfully activated his martial arts skill tree. Though the firearms skill tree was not yet fully unlocked, having the basic knowledge meant he could invest skill points and activate it whenever he wished.

While the instructional chamber’s simulations could accelerate the learning process, for Han Feng it hardly mattered. Unlike others, he learned skills through his system panel—spend a skill point, and mastery was his in minutes.

Having accomplished his mission perfectly, Han Feng was in excellent spirits, but it was time to leave.

After bidding farewell to Li Lizhong and Leo, Han Feng departed the Awakening Hall and slipped into his car.

With his intimate knowledge of the story in his previous life, he was well aware of the cosmic dangers to come. If he wanted to live as a carefree homebody, with endless supplies of his favorite soft drinks, survival was his top priority. And to survive, he had to become stronger.

How to grow stronger? Study hard and exercise daily for the glory of Longteng? Sure, that was part of it, but the most effective method was to make money!

With money, he could draw cards without restraint, level up to the max, and collect a deck of top-tier cards—then he could go wherever he pleased.

So, Han Feng decided to visit the Hunter’s Guild to see if there were any lucrative tasks available. He might as well level up and complete his initial capital accumulation. Though he didn’t have high hopes for “accumulation,” one could always dream—what if it came true?

He remembered what Bill, the front desk clerk at the House Hotel, had said: there was a settlement where all the residents had been drained of blood overnight. For such a collective tragedy, perhaps the authorities would issue related tasks.

The headquarters of the Bounty Hunter Guild was located in the Mitchellora Star Domain, a neutral territory directly controlled by the Guild. The entire domain had a high safety rating of 0.6. The number of registered bounty hunters in the universe was huge, most of them superhuman. No one wanted to provoke such a powerful, neutral organization, so the region remained safe and well-ordered.

The Bounty Hunter Guild had always maintained its neutrality, enjoying good business relations with various nations. They had set up branch offices on many planets to issue and accept assignments.

Fortunately, there was a branch on Soltes-1, right in Ster City.

Upon entering the Guild, Han Feng saw bounty hunters gathered in small groups everywhere—humans, blue-skinned and red-skinned humanoids, even lizardfolk and bearmen. Most were armed, some chatting together, others browsing the task directory. The place was lively.

Bounty hunters across the stars were a tightly knit community. Though fierce competition existed, it was rare for disputes over task rewards to escalate into violence. Anyone who broke that unspoken rule would be hunted by bounty hunters across the universe, becoming a pariah.

Good order was the foundation for healthy competition and growth.

News of Han Feng’s max-level potential hadn’t reached this place yet, so his arrival caused no stir. People glanced briefly at the door, then returned to their own business.

He approached the task counter, where a beam of blue light formed the image of a young woman—the Guild’s AI persona, Anna, responsible for handling task postings and acceptance.

“Hello, how can I help you?” Anna’s synthesized female voice was devoid of emotion.

“I’d like to see the task list,” Han Feng replied.

“Please present your hunter’s credentials,” Anna requested.

Han Feng placed a badge, inlaid with a sword, on the table. A beam of light issued from Anna’s eyes, scanning the badge.

Within the badge was a cutting-edge encrypted chip storing his authentication and personal record, linked to the Guild’s central server. Forgery was nearly impossible—unless someone could hack the Guild’s core systems, but top hackers wouldn’t risk offending such a powerful organization for so trivial a cause.

“Authentication complete. Greetings, One-Star Hunter Han Feng. Welcome home,” Anna said with a smile.