Chapter 184 - 183: Down, Down, Down

Chapter 184: Chapter 183: Down, Down, Down

Pei Xianjue had briefly mentioned before that the Pei Group was the driving force behind the Hunter Alliance project.

To that end, the Pei Group had established a separate company, attracted a great deal of investment, and planned to develop a "hunter economy," which they claimed had enormous market potential.

Feng Ling didn’t understand how to run an economy, nor did she care.

But she was somewhat interested in the benefits available to Hunters themselves. After all, she was a Hunter now too.

The press conference was still underway.

The reporters then began asking about the disaster situation near the polluted area.

Feng Ling had expected the officials to cover things up as usual. To her surprise, the leaders on the stage all wore grave expressions as they began a solemn and detailed account of the disaster in Black Mountain Town.

’Why the sudden change in strategy?’

’Aren’t they afraid of causing a panic this time?’

Then it occurred to Feng Ling. ’Oh, right. Things are different now.’

’They have to push the Hunter Alliance project hard.’

’To roll it out smoothly, you have to create a demand for it among the public. Otherwise, creating a special class out of thin air would inevitably lead to public dissatisfaction.’

’If they announced the casualties in Black Mountain Town without the Hunter project, the public would panic, worried that the scarce few Inspectors couldn’t protect them.’

’But now, by first announcing the success of the Hunters’ cleanup operation and *then* releasing the casualty figures, the impact would be completely different.’

’This approach would not only minimize public panic but also attract more Card Holders hiding in plain sight to join the ranks of the Hunters.’

’This move... The leaders are playing 4D chess.’

"The Alien Species from the Star Association are probably watching the news right now, too," Feng Ling murmured thoughtfully.

Her phone vibrated.

Feng Ling took out her phone. It was a call from Pei Xianjue.

She answered the call. "What is it?"

Pei Xianjue’s voice sounded urgent. "Xiao Ling, did you claim your Contribution Points after you got back?"

"No, I haven’t," Feng Ling replied.

"AHHHH!" Pei Xianjue grew even more frantic. "Why didn’t you claim them?! Did you go for nothing? Another Hunter took your number-one spot on the leaderboard!"

For this type of official group event, Hunters had to claim their Contribution Points through the event interface on their phones after it concluded.

The process was simple.

First, you filled out some basic information, then uploaded video footage recorded during the event. After a successful upload, an AI would analyze the video over the next one to six hours, determine the number of Pollution Bodies the Hunter had killed, and finally calculate how many Contribution Points they could claim.

Feng Ling had received a notification reminding her to claim her Contribution Points first thing in the morning.

"I didn’t kill a single Pollution Body, so I didn’t claim any," she told Pei Xianjue frankly.

The other end of the line went silent.

Pei Xianjue was probably speechless.

"Hello? Hello...?" Feng Ling said. "Strange, I can’t hear anything. Bad signal? Well, I’m hanging up then."

"W-Wait!" Pei Xianjue said hastily. "...Can I ask why?"

Feng Ling sighed. "Probably because there weren’t any backless dresses."

Pei Xianjue: "..."

"Haha! Just kidding~" Feng Ling laughed. "But it was really cold over there, and they were all just weak Pollution Bodies. There was no challenge, so it wasn’t worth poking holes in my clothes for."

In reality, she had blown up a wave of Pollution Bodies with a grenade, but that was just for demonstration purposes and wasn’t worth many Contribution Points.

There was no need to upload a video and reveal that she had Ye Zheng just for a paltry amount of Contribution Value.

Wen Xiuyan and her group probably filmed Ye Zheng too, but they were far away and she got rid of them quickly, so they wouldn’t know whether the Pollution Bodies survived.

Right now, the only people who knew Ye Zheng was still alive were her and Su Yuqing.

On the other end of the line, Pei Xianjue had no choice but to accept this explanation. It did seem to fit Feng Ling’s style, after all.

"Sigh..." she said mournfully. "I just think it’s a shame. You were number one, and now you can’t even crack the top ten."

"That doesn’t matter, does it?" Feng Ling teased her. "You’re a leader in a city-level organization, and you’re calling me over something so trivial?"

Pei Xianjue sighed again. "I guess I worried for nothing. Go on, get back to what you were doing. I’m hanging up."

"Bye-bye~" Feng Ling hung up.

...

In her office, Pei Xianjue sat before a dark, luxurious desk, her face a mask of frustration.

She hadn’t expected the Hunter project to move so quickly.

Once tomorrow’s press conference was held, the Hunter Alliance would be officially and fully introduced to the public. Not only would some Hunters be revealed, but the Hunter rankings would also be announced.

She had originally planned to leverage the fact that she, an outstanding Inspector, had conquered a Maze alongside the number-one Hunter on the leaderboard. It was a perfect topic to stir up another wave of hype, especially since Feng Ling had been an anonymous citizen last time.

But this morning, she had watched Feng Ling’s ranking plummet!

If she wasn’t number one, the best opportunity for hype was lost.

To make matters worse, Feng Ling didn’t care in the slightest and would never cooperate with her to fight for the top spot.

How could Pei Xianjue not be worried sick?

She sighed in her office. ’I’ll just have to find another opportunity later,’ she thought.

She had to seize every opportunity to distinguish herself. Pei Xianjue knew all too well that seizing opportunities was far more important than simply working hard.

Pei Xianjue let out a long sigh, then stood and spoke to the burly man at the door. "Da Xiong, let’s go. We’re heading back to the Inspection Bureau."

He was her new bodyguard. Because his Card Ability allowed him to turn into a giant bear, Pei Xianjue had nicknamed him Da Xiong.

Baozi had gone to Qingjiang City, so for now, he was her only bodyguard.

Fortunately, Yuquan City was relatively stable. With the support of the Special Attack Team, it was more than enough to handle her daily work.

Pei Xianjue and Da Xiong left the office, one after the other.

This was a building purchased by the Hunting Star International Group, which served as one of its branches. The person in charge was one of her uncles.

Although she didn’t manage the branch, she held partial shares and thus had her own office here.

Just as Pei Xianjue reached the elevator bank, she ran into her cousin approaching with his secretary.

He smiled. "Little Yu, what brings you to the branch to play around again today? Tsk, you should come here less often. If the employees see you, they might think the Deputy Captain of the Inspectors is just a good-for-nothing slacker."

His tone was as if he were mocking a child.

Pei Xianjue was annoyed, but she was used to it. Nothing good ever came out of this cousin’s mouth.

"I’m here for an inspection," Pei Xianjue said coldly. "I’m checking the quality of the Hunters you’ve recruited. Let’s hope they aren’t like you—nothing without the Pei Family."

He gave a superficial smile. "Oh... that’s right. I’d be nothing without the Pei Family. But the same goes for both of us, don’t you think? Otherwise, how do you think you got into the Inspection Bureau?"

Pei Xianjue shot him a sidelong glance. "I heard the Pei Group’s stock rose quite a bit after I got out of the Maze, didn’t it? Why don’t you take a guess: is it that I can’t live without the Pei Group, or that the Pei Group can’t live without me?"

Her cousin’s expression stiffened.

Just then, the elevator arrived. Pei Xianjue stepped inside, turned to face him, and sneered, "Who the hell do you think you are, daring to bark in my presence?"