CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 49: CLAIMING THE REWARD

"Many people already know you plan to use the Enhancing Medicine and the Enhancement Surgery. If you never use them but show extraordinary physical abilities, how many people do you think will suspect you?"

Sasa deliberately exaggerated the consequences.

Now that Yan Luo is famous, in the future, more capable researchers are bound to contact Yan Luo.

If Yan Luo chooses to cooperate with them and abandons her, her research project would be lost.

Sasa knew she was being despicable, but she had no qualms, as she knew she was telling the truth, albeit slightly exaggerated.

Others wouldn’t care about Yan Luo’s secret as much as she does; their sense of secrecy might not even be as good as a strand of her hair.

Having found such a big research topic but having to hold the paper in hand, never publishing or sharing (showing off) with other scholars, anyone would feel aggrieved.

After hearing Sasa’s words, Yan Luo felt there was some truth to them.

—If only it didn’t sound so much like PUA.

"So, in your opinion," Yan Luo looked at Sasa seriously, "what should I do to remedy the situation?"

Sasa sighed in disappointment, muttered, "Don’t you know about the yields of almost every demon in the Abyss? Among the yields, are there any resources that can enhance the human body?"

Without thinking, Yan Luo responded, "Yes, to be precise, there are three kinds..."

Just as Yan Luo was about to detail everything, Sasa interrupted him, "Since there are, just use those resources to cover up the truth of your body enhancement."

Yan Luo frowned, "But the effect of those resources on enhancing the body is very poor. Unless used over a long period, the enhancement effect is not noticeable."

"People only want an explanation!"

Sasa shook her head and said, "Most people don’t care how you got enhanced. As long as the reason you provide can explain what happened to you, even if there’s just a little correlation, they won’t continue to doubt you."

Yan Luo suddenly understood.

After all, he was just a young man who hadn’t graduated from high school for long, and despite five months of experience exploring the town, his understanding of these matters was still not deep enough.

"Speaking of enhancement—"

Sasa suddenly changed the topic: "Your body’s functions seem to have improved significantly after consuming that piece of Berserk Blood."

"Really?" Yan Luo looked down and clenched his fist.

Without a reference point, Yan Luo wasn’t sure to what extent his body had been enhanced.

Sasa looked serious, "The data I’ve collected shows exactly that."

In the gym, Yan Luo had installed instruments to test strength, speed, and other aspects, which were connected to Sasa’s smart devices. Sasa could receive data when Yan Luo was testing.

Since the information was sent using Sasa’s self-written code, only Sasa could understand it. Even Yan Luo couldn’t decipher it, so they weren’t worried about information leaks.

"Next time during the Abyssal hunt, I hope you can repeat the last experience, but without consuming the Berserk Blood this time for comparison."

Sasa’s request was outrageous. Last time, Yan Luo was on a killing spree in the Abyss for a full twenty-two hours without rest. Such an experience was enough to leave a psychological shadow.

Yet, Sasa actually asked Yan Luo to do it again during the next Abyssal hunt.

And this time, he couldn’t consume the Berserk Blood and had to rely on his own will to kill for twenty-two hours.

Yan Luo was silent for a moment, looking down at his fingers entwined together.

"Alright!"

But before that, Yan Luo needed to recover his body fully.

After running furiously for twenty-six hours and then wrestling with a City-breaking Level mutated creature underwater, if it weren’t for Yan Luo’s ability to absorb Magic Power to heal himself, his legs would have been wasted long ago.

......

It wasn’t until the third day back at Crimson No.2 that Yan Luo received an invitation from Daoist Li.

During these two days, Yan Luo consumed a large amount of mutated creature meat, just to extract the slight Magic Power in the meat to heal his legs.

Today, his knees had just recovered to a point where he could run. For the past two days, he even felt meniscus pain when walking slowly.

When Yan Luo appeared in front of the Hunter’s Guild again, he immediately drew people’s attention.

"Ah! Yan Luo! It’s Yan Luo!"

"Yo, Yan Luo, you’re back?"

"Little brother Yan Luo, look over here. I’m not your mom, but can I be your big sis?"

"You’ve longed for motherly love since losing your parents so young, hehe, but how about fatherly love then?"

Except for the last person, whom Yan Luo rewarded with a punch, he politely responded to everyone else’s greetings.

They were all hunters, or workers related to hunters’ jobs, so even though Yan Luo’s fame had soared, they didn’t react with excessive enthusiasm.

However, they indeed felt more admiration for Yan Luo than before. After all, they believed they couldn’t run for twenty-six hours and use strategy to hunt a City-breaking Level mutated creature.

In a post-match interview, Yan Luo stated his ambition to eliminate all the Abyssal hunts, yet they didn’t believe he could achieve it.

There were many powerful individuals in the world who had not successfully eradicated the Abyss, let alone Yan Luo.

But having a lifelong goal to strive for was a good thing!

Yan Luo took the elevator again to the top floor.

As he walked into the president’s office, a series of virtual fireworks went off in front of him, and he heard the sound of explosions in his ears.

These were all virtual fireworks, and the sound was just an effect.

"Yan Luo, congratulations on winning the Hunter Skills Competition, and with the most substantial title at that."

Daoist Li sat behind his desk, clapping with a light smile, "From now on, even if someone manages to hunt a City-breaking Level mutated creature in the Hunter Skills Competition, they won’t break your record, as you are the only one in the world who managed this feat using only a human body and wit."

Yan Luo wasn’t swell-headed by Daoist Li’s flattery; he only noted that Daoist Li didn’t bother to stand from his chair to congratulate him.

"Enough with the idle talk. Where’s my reward?" Yan Luo asked bluntly.

Daoist Li’s smile faded, and he sighed, "I know what you’re thinking, but we really couldn’t interfere in the competition..."

Yan Luo said coldly, "The trade is completed. I just want my payment!"

The conversation was interrupted, and Daoist Li remained silent for a moment.

Then, a message notification appeared before Yan Luo’s eyes.

Daoist Li waved his hand and said, "I’ve given you the warehouse key, go retrieve your goods yourself."

Receiving the warehouse key, Yan Luo didn’t bother with formalities and left without even saying goodbye.

Daoist Li himself was a hunter but also a member of the Spiritual Spring Li Family, fundamentally different from Yan Luo.

Whether it was Crimson No.1 or Crimson No.2, the upper echelons of the Hunter’s Guild were all controlled by large families. Yan Luo never had any trust in them from the start.

Following the address given by the key, Yan Luo found the warehouse storing the exoskeleton not far from the Hunter’s Guild, and hurriedly used the key to open the warehouse door.

The warehouse door gradually lifted, and the interior lights turned on.

The warehouse, with space enough for an armored vehicle with room to spare, contained only a black box. Yan Luo stepped in front of it and, after verifying his iris, activated the box’s auto-follow feature instead of opening it directly.

The box containing the exoskeleton armor was part of the reward. Yan Luo mounted his motorcycle, and the box followed behind him as he rode back to the villa.

In the villa’s living room, Yan Luo stood in front of the black box, taking several deep breaths.

"Open the equipment bay."

With the command issued, the three-meter-high, two-meter-wide black box slowly opened.

A matte-painted black exoskeleton armor was fully revealed before Yan Luo’s eyes!