Chapter 75: Villain Hideout

I had already analyzed those villains’ strength. They were nothing special. I could’ve wiped them out without breaking a sweat.

But the other hunters, or rather, the students who would one day become hunters, were far weaker. They’d have to hand over all their supplies or end up dead.

"Please, have mercy on us," Jane, one of the group members, begged. "We’re counting on those supplies to survive this invasion."

I found it kind of funny, watching her beg for mercy from a bunch of clearly malicious villains who were not only going to rob them, but most likely kill them too.

The villains started laughing.

"You actually think we’d do that? Come on, I thought you were old enough to understand how the world works."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Let’s go, let’s go. Start handing over those bags before I lose my patience."

That’s when I decided to step in and play the hero. Not because I wanted to help those people, but because I wanted to travel alone for a while.

If I killed the villains right in front of them, everyone would know I was far stronger than I’d let on, that I’d been lying. That wasn’t ideal.

I decided to summon my cube just above the group of villains, quickly expanding it and forming a prison around them. It all happened so fast that none of them could move out of the way.

I forced a strained expression, like keeping the prison up was costing me everything I had.

"G-Go," I said. "Run. I can’t hold them for more than 5 minutes. Get out of here!"

I already knew they’d run. I’d seen the look of contempt they’d given me earlier. They didn’t care about me, some stranger they’d just met.

And I didn’t care about them either. I just wanted to rob those villains and keep moving on my own, without having to stick around a bunch of weak people.

Jane and the rest of the group couldn’t believe what they were seeing. She said, forcing tears, "Thank you. I’ll never forget this."

The whole group took off running as fast as they could and vanished from sight in seconds.

The villains, still trapped inside the cube, had heard every word.

"You’re really gonna sacrifice yourself for those people? What, you in love with the woman? Pathetic."

I had to laugh at that. I cracked up for a solid 30 seconds, hand going to my stomach.

"I was messing with you guys," I said. "You’re trash-tier villains and I’m a rank A hunter. You really think you have any shot? I can keep you locked in there as long as I want."

That said, it didn’t mean the villains believed me.

"Rank A? No rank A hunter comes out to a place like this. There’s nothing here. No high-rank rifts, no villains strong enough to justify sending someone that powerful all the way out here."

He had a point. Under normal circumstances, a high-rank hunter would never be out in this region, which was exactly why that group of villains had set up their base there in the first place. It let them rob and do whatever they wanted without fear of being challenged.

"Fair enough. Truth is, you just got unlucky. Shame."

"We’ll see. I’m already timing how long this prison of yours lasts. We’ll be out of here soon enough."

I used a tiny sliver of my cube, small enough that it didn’t affect the prison at all, to shape a chair. I set it down on the side of the road and sat there, waiting.

Five minutes passed. The villains got a little nervous seeing the cube hadn’t disappeared, but nothing major. After 10 minutes though, they started hammering on the cube, combining their attacks to try and break it.

Explosions echoed in every direction, but my cube didn’t even shake. No matter how hard they hit it, nothing happened.

Eventually they realized I’d been telling the truth and started begging.

"Let us go, please. We’ll never do anything like this again."

Obviously I wasn’t letting them walk out alive, but I could probably use the situation to get something out of it.

"Do you have monster crystals or other items at your base? Hand everything over and I’ll let you live."

Faced with the possibility of getting out of this alive, the group’s leader agreed without hesitation. To him, losing everything but staying alive to recover was better than dying. That was obvious.

"You’ll really let us go?" he asked. "Can I trust your word on that?"

"Of course. I’ll let you out of the prison and you show me where your base is. Try anything, and I’ll kill you."

I pushed him out of the cube. The moment he was outside, I caught it, just for an instant, the leader thinking about attacking me. But he dropped the idea fast.

"Follow me," he said.

We headed into the forest right next to the road. There was no path at all, just thick brush we had to push through. Made sense. They wanted to keep the hideout hidden, so cutting a trail through there wasn’t exactly a smart move.

I kept control of the cube, letting it float above the treeline with the rest of the villains still locked inside.

"Your ability is impressive," the leader said. "Worthy of a rank A hunter. But why were you traveling with those weaklings? And why did you help them?"

"Nothing major," I said. "I just needed a way to shake them off. Letting them get robbed or killed wouldn’t have looked good."

The leader laughed. "Had to play it right or the Hunter Society would’ve gotten on your case. I get it. Though honestly, nobody would’ve found out anyway. You really think they would’ve reported you? Doubt it."

I had my own reasons. I didn’t want anyone knowing I was in the area, since I was planning to cross into Canada soon.

"Much further?" I asked.

"Right up ahead."

In the middle of the forest, hidden under a layer of ground cover, was a door that led underground. Their base was a subterranean hideout, basically a bunker.

The leader opened the metal door, which groaned loudly, and we went down a narrow corridor with dim lighting. The place had a terrible atmosphere and smelled even worse. Cleanliness clearly wasn’t a priority for these guys.

We reached a more open area with several beds and even a kitchen set up down below. It was a full living space, and of course there were more villains inside.

The moment they saw me beside him, a face they didn’t recognize, everyone got ready to fight. The leader said quickly, "Relax. Don’t try anything. He’s too strong for you."

They obeyed and didn’t come at me, but I kept my eye on any suspicious movement.

We kept going and entered a separate room. Inside, I saw someone sitting beside a fireplace. The aura around his body was far stronger than the villain beside me, and I understood immediately.

The one I’d been talking to wasn’t the leader. The man sitting by the fireplace, he was the real leader.

A rank A villain, maybe even slightly above. His power was on par with mine.

He turned and looked straight at me, also sensing the power coming off my body.

"A powerful hunter out in these parts. Were you looking for me?"

This villain was tall, built, and shirtless under an open overcoat that left part of his body exposed. Staring at that wasn’t exactly the kind of view I enjoyed.

"Actually, I’m heading somewhere else. I ran into your men by accident," I said. "They tried to rob me on the road."

The leader laughed. "Is that right? I keep telling these idiots not to rob anyone before properly reading their power level. Look at the mess they dragged back to my door."

"Sorry, boss," the villain who’d led me here lowered his head. "He hid his power well. We didn’t catch it. We’ll be more careful next time."

The situation wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I wanted to kill every last one of them, grab the items, and leave. But with a boss who had power close to mine, that probably wasn’t the best call.

I needed to stay healthy and ready to push forward with my mission. Avoiding a fight that could cost me was the smart move.

The boss was clearly thinking the same thing, because he quickly put something on the table.

"I can give you some of our spoils as an apology. What do you say? We’ve got plenty of monster crystals, if you’re interested."

I smiled. Unlike hunters who followed every rule and played it straight, I didn’t give a damn. If something was worth something to me, I was doing it.

"Great idea," I said. "I think a reasonable amount of monster crystals might make me completely forget this place even exists. You know how it is. I’ll be so focused on the crystals I won’t remember a thing."

The leader burst out laughing. "I like you, kid. Follow me."