Chapter 89: Red Demon

Ji Xinghuo sat in the hall waiting for his qualification certificate.

Bounty hunters entered the reward office from time to time, exchanging blood-soaked organs at the counter for money.

These organs came from various parts of the bodies of the North Luo Master Clan.

The most common were bloody tail tips; these belonged to the Gekko People and were easy to identify. By observing the color of the scales, one could determine the rank of the Gekko People: the lighter, greyish scales indicated a lower rank, growing darker and blacker with each evolution.

The amount of the bounty varied; the higher the rank of the enemy killed, the higher the bounty.

A rank one Gekko person was worth ten thousand, while a rank two reached thirty thousand.

Rank three was sixty thousand, already more valuable than a rank one Legendary Da Guan; for rank four, the bounty soared to two hundred thousand, although it still fell short of the five hundred thousand for a rank four Legendary Da Guan.

The trophy parts of the Da Guan people were pieces of their scalp, their smooth heads marked by distinctive blue-green patterns identifying their rank.

For the Vine Spirits, their plant cores needed to be extracted; for the Goraucracks, cutting off their tentacles was enough.

Ji Xinghuo noticed that most bounty hunters worked alone, rarely forming teams.

Even those who teamed up generally only had two or three members, a very small scale, and their professional combinations differed completely from ordinary hunting teams.

The most common profession templates among bounty hunters were those with abilities to hide their tracks, like the Shadow Blade, Illusionist, Evil Wind, and Evil Spirit;

Followed by those with strong survival abilities, like the Shadow Step, Half-Beast, Hunter, and Ranger;

Or those with very unique professions, such as Strange Genius, Blood Butcher, and Bug Emperor, although these were rare and only seen occasionally.

Moreover, every bounty hunter had some long-range attack capability, even if they were not specialist rangers or hunters, they would carry bows or crossbows.

Professions that were good at direct combat or had strong defensive capabilities were almost unseen.

This was understandable.

Bounty hunters played a game of stealthy assassination; concealment and reconnaissance were the most crucial abilities. If the first strike missed, they would immediately flee, prioritizing their own survival in every fight.

The line between the two clans was the battlefield.

Engaging directly with the enemy on the battlefield might win the first wave, but soon they would face continuous reinforcements, and getting surrounded meant certain death.

No matter how strong one’s combat ability, they would be overwhelmed by countless enemies unless they were legendary or a king.

There would be no need to become a bounty hunter then; just appearing on the battlefield would bring forth the strong from the North Luo Master Clan.

Ji Xinghuo observed each bounty hunter.

Most were advanced aliens.

Their weapons and equipment were of high quality because they were not short of money, allowing them to buy their preferred weapons and equipment; their bodies bore signs of battle, and their eyes carried a murderous aura.

These aliens, who had fought their way through real battles, were much stronger than their peers at the same level.

Even so, the trophies they handed in were few.

Most were the tail tips of Gekko People and the tentacles of Goraucracks, with only two or three items, and only occasionally could one see the scalp of a Da Guan or the plant core of a Vine Spirit.

After exchanging their trophies for money, most bounty hunters immediately left.

Some stayed, browsing the scoreboards on the hall walls.

When Ji Xinghuo entered, he noticed a very conspicuous notice board on one wall, with names and numbers written in chalk.

These numbers represented hero points, calculated simply.

Killing a rank one enemy from the North Luo Master Clan earned one point, a rank two enemy, two points, and so forth.

The staff at the reward office updated the points daily.

The points displayed on the notice board were for the current month, recalculated on the last day of each Star Realm month.

The top three scoring bounty hunters of the month could receive additional money, meet with the fort’s commanding general, receive commendations, and buy weapons and equipment from the armory at a discount.

It was mid-Yan month.

The top-scoring bounty hunter on the leaderboard had accumulated 620 points.

Second place was at 575 points.

Third to eighth place ranged from 300 to 450 points, clearly trailing behind the first two.

From ninth place onwards, the points were below 300, with small differences among them, and even the one hundredth place had over 200 points.

“Jing Ji’s points rose by 40 yesterday!”

“Yeah…”

“He’s pulling further ahead from Alex. Catching up won’t be easy.”

Ji Xinghuo overheard several bounty hunters discussing. The “Jing Ji” they mentioned was the first-ranked name on the leaderboard, and Alex was the second. From their conversation, it seemed the two were fiercely competing.

After listening for a while, that was indeed the case.

Jing Ji was from the Asia-Pacific Community, and Alex was from the American Federation. Due to the hostilities between their countries and positions, the two had clashed several times upon encountering each other.

But here at the Star Realm defense line, facing the common enemy, the North Luo Master Clan.

Jing Ji and Alex hadn’t fought each other to the death but had made a bet: they would use points from killing enemies from the North Luo Master Clan as the measure, over a period of half a Star Realm year, or nine Star Realm months. The loser must publicly admit defeat and leave the central fortress.

This competition had now reached its eighth month, and currently, Jing Ji was nearly 300 points ahead, a significant lead.

But Alex still had a chance to catch up.

Bounty hunters couldn’t consistently kill prey every day; sometimes, seizing a good opportunity could net them dozens of points in a single battle.

Ji Xinghuo listened with interest.

He was about to chime in with a few questions when he suddenly saw a fair-skinned man enter, drawing the attention of the other bounty hunters.

“Alex!”

“Red Demon!”

Ji Xinghuo couldn’t help sizing up this bounty hunter.

Judging by the magnetic field strength and ether energy fluctuations, this Alex was clearly a super alien and among the top powerhouses of the super aliens.

Alex was not very tall, only about 1.75 meters, and did not look very strong. He wore a black leather jacket with a hooded dress underneath, pulled up to cover most of his face, and jeans below, which offered no apparent defense.

He carried no weapons or other equipment and was empty-handed.

But no one dared underestimate him.

Because Alex was a Blood Butcher!

This profession template relied entirely on one’s body for combat; the body itself was the weapon. The core ability of the Blood Butcher, called “Blood Limb Virus,” was an over-limit alien ability allowing the body to mutate, changing limbs and torso into various forms—swords, shields, axes, freely switching.

The bones of the Blood Butchers were reinforced with “Steel Bone,” enhancing the lethality of their limb weapons and continuously increasing their strength.

“Bloodlust” allowed them to devour biological blood to heal their injuries and restore their energy.

Additionally, “Liquid Form” turned the body into a liquid, eliminating obvious weaknesses; “Crimson Blood Mist” made their blood highly toxic and also aided in concealing their movements; “Blood Arrow” allowed them to shoot blood to attack enemies.

The Blood Butcher was a walking arsenal.

They appeared and disappeared unpredictably, excelling in both frontal combat and stealth reconnaissance, and could sustain themselves in battle without fearing group fights.

Alex had come to the central fortress as an intermediate alien and became a bounty hunter.

He had fought on the battlefield until he advanced to a super alien.

He had also earned a nickname: “Red Demon”!

In the Asia-Pacific Community, Blood Butchers were a rare profession because this profession template was developed by a biological lab in the American Federation, initially born from an accident in the 1960s; over more than thirty years, it evolved to become one of the trump cards of the American Federation.

Most Blood Butchers were from the American Federation and had deep connections with the “Tianhe Bio Consortium,” which mastered this profession template.

Alex was expressionless.

His skin was very pale, almost sickly. He carried a dripping bag to the counter and said in a low voice, “I want to collect my bounty.”

“Okay!”

The staff’s attitude was noticeably different from how they treated other bounty hunters, immediately standing up to count the trophies.

The bag was tipped over, and the contents clattered onto the table.

“Sss…”

Several bounty hunters present gasped as the pile of trophies turned out to be substantial, with more than thirty to forty items, over half being Gekko People’s tail tips and Goraucrack tentacles; the rest were all Da Guan people.

Moreover, many were rank two and even rank three enemies.

Ji Xinghuo, sharp-eyed, spotted a few rank four trophies: two rank four Da Guan, one rank four Vine Spirit, and one rank four Gekko Person.

A bountiful harvest indeed!

The staff quickly counted them up and respectfully said, “Mr. Alex, your total bounty this time is 2.7 million Asian Yuan, 75 points. Does that sound right to you?”

Alex nodded silently.

“Here is your bounty.” The staff immediately completed the registration, pulling out a thick stack of cash.

Alex didn’t count it; he casually put the money into his pocket, paused to glance at the scoreboard as he passed by, a hint of coldness in his eyes, then left the reward office.

Only after the Red Demon had left did the hall return to its usual atmosphere.

“Wow, up by 75 points just like that!”

“Probably wiped out a crucial outpost of the North Luo Master Clan last night. He’s really bold, not even afraid of being intercepted by enemy legends.”

“Red Demon has overtaken Jing Ji in points this month.”

“Their bet has only one and a half months left. If they don’t push harder, they won’t catch up. It’s going to get even more intense. We’re in for a show.”

“Who do you think will win?”

“It should still be Jing Ji! He’s a Phantom Assassin, master of concealment with stronger burst damage. He’s able to hunt down enemies daily, which is why his points have been rising steadily, otherwise, he wouldn’t be leading the Red Demon by so much.

“I’m not so sure.”

“The Blood Butcher’s frontal combat abilities are too formidable. If Alex pulls off a few more big moves, he might overtake Jing Ji in the final few days with a decisive lead!”

“I hope Jing Ji wins since he’s from the Asia-Pacific Community.”

“It’s not about national stance. Alex has never harmed humans, and although he’s somewhat aloof, he seems like a good person.”

Bounty hunters chatted as they left the reward office.

Ji Xinghuo listened to their spirited discussion, waited an hour to get his bounty hunter qualification certificate, and then he immediately left.