Volume One: Planet of Ten Thousand Beasts Chapter 26: The Huntress

“Give you the item, and you let me go! Of course, you can kill me if you want, but then you will get nothing. The bombs on my body are powerful enough to level everything within a hundred meters in an instant. They are linked to my pulse—if my pulse stops, the bombs will explode.” The huntress remained perfectly calm.

“Leave everything you have, and you may go.” After several seconds of silence, Li Juxu realized that he had no grudge against her. There seemed to be no need to pursue her to the death. Rather than take the risk, he might as well settle for something tangible.

On missions like this, when members took trophies from enemies they had killed, the employer usually turned a blind eye and did not ask questions.

If someone set out with only a sniper rifle and returned carrying a whole pile of them, those visible spoils had to be handed over. But if he took a pistol or a dagger and hid it beneath his clothes, the employer would not care. It was an unspoken rule. The employer’s goal was the mission, not greed for a few trophies. Besides, according to the rules, spoils were divided equally. Even if they were handed over, the employer would assess their value and return half of it.

By the calculation of maximum benefit, not killing her was the best choice.

The huntress carried quite a lot: six grenades, two boxes of miniature bombs, a spring-loaded dagger, a box of medicine, two pistols, various tools and other items, as well as a bag of gold coins.

“That’s everything!” The last thing the huntress took out was the miniature crossbow strapped to her arm. She spread her hands and asked, “Would you like to search me?”

“You may leave.”

After another few seconds of silence, Li Juxu decided not to press his luck. He was absolutely certain that she still had things hidden on her, but he did not want to take the risk. Those two boxes of miniature bombs alone were enough to satisfy his greed. Each was no larger than a capsule, yet possessed astonishing power—one could destroy a tank. They were not sold in legitimate shops; only one or two occasionally appeared on the black market.

On the Planet of Ten Thousand Beasts, those things were unquestionably devastating weapons. And that box of medicine was a treasure money could not buy, something capable of saving a life at a critical moment.

Although the huntress had a stunning figure, her curves more perfect than anything a sculptor could create, radiating an astonishing allure in the darkness, he knew perfectly well that she was no helpless lamb waiting to be slaughtered. She was a rose covered in thorns. If he engaged her at close quarters, the odds of his downfall were as high as ninety-nine percent.

The huntress slipped into the dense forest and soon vanished from sight. Li Juxu quickly gathered up the items. When his gaze fell on one of them, he froze for a moment.

It was a glass bottle containing a lively, writhing spider. A crown spider—not gray, but red. A red-spotted crown spider.

It was precisely the objective of their mission.

He returned to the battlefield, where the fighting had yet to end. His companions were still pursuing the enemy, who fled for their lives while firing back. Since it was night and visibility was poor, the two sides appeared to be fighting fiercely, but in reality they had been shooting for ages without managing to kill a single person.

The moment Li Juxu returned, the situation changed. With an almost godlike view of the battlefield, he raised the Ravager-002B and fired six shots, killing five men. The enemy no longer dared to act recklessly. They lowered their heads and fled for their lives, never again entertaining the thought of fighting back.

His companions still wanted to pursue them, but Li Juxu stopped them. They already had the red-spotted crown spider. There was no need to linger; they should return first.

When the others heard that the red-spotted crown spider had been secured, they immediately lost the will to continue the chase and unanimously decided to return that very night. As for whether anyone else intended to search the battlefield, Li Juxu did not care. He was determined to take the two sniper rifles with him before leaving.

The two enemy snipers had excellent rifles. It would be a pity to leave them behind. Besides, the equipment on the snipers was useful to him as well.

Everyone was eager to get home, but traveling through the darkness was sheer torture. With several wounded among them, they had no choice but to find a relatively open place to rest. Everyone agreed to spend the night there and depart at dawn.

It was only after they sat together chatting that Li Juxu learned the truth. Apart from Black-Headed Bee, everyone else was undertaking this mission for the first time. They had underestimated its difficulty. After encountering one hardship after another in the forest, they had been forced to join forces. Whether they had originally been teams of two or three or lone wolves, they had all independently chosen to band together for warmth and protection.

Black-Headed Bee and Li Juxu had simply moved too quickly and ended up separated from the others.

Several hours earlier, the members standing watch had noticed movement. The other force that Pu Shaoyun had mentioned had found the red-spotted crown spider, and a battle had become unavoidable.

Only once the fighting began did they realize that the enemy greatly outnumbered them and possessed overwhelming firepower. Before long, their side had been completely suppressed. Worse, the enemy was exceptionally ruthless. A sniper had shot through Opera Face’s leg and intended to surround them and destroy them when reinforcements came to their aid.

Fortunately, Black-Headed Bee and Li Juxu had arrived in time and averted the crisis. Otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous.

After the battle, Li Juxu clearly sensed that the others’ attitude toward him had changed. They no longer ignored him as they had before; instead, they showed him a little warmth.

Li Juxu was not good at socializing and rarely spoke, whereas Black-Headed Bee was a natural conversationalist, chatting animatedly with the group about anything and everything.

By the next morning, several of the wounded were in a rather poor state. There was no way to perform surgery in the forest, so their wounds had merely been staunched and bandaged. They had essentially endured the journey through sheer force of will.

The group hurried out of the forest. Pu Shaoyun was having morning tea and was delighted to see that they had found the red-spotted crown spider.

The convoy sped back to the settlement. Since it was daytime, they traveled much faster. The journey there had taken more than one night, but the return trip took only half as long. They encountered no trouble along the way and arrived without incident.

Everyone returned to the hotel to rest. Pu Shaoyun vanished with the red-spotted crown spider in hand.

Li Juxu was preoccupied with the matter of his payment when one of Pu Shaoyun’s trusted aides knocked on his door.

“According to the contract you signed, completing the mission would earn you three million copper coins. The boss later promised to triple the payment, bringing it to nine million. When we were ambushed halfway through the journey, you killed nine enemies, so the boss awarded you another million. In the forest, you killed fourteen enemies. The boss rounded it up and gave you one and a half million.

“You killed one black bear, whose listed price was five million. According to the rules, you were entitled to half of that—two and a half million copper coins—but the boss gave you three million instead.

“You found the red-spotted crown spider within three days, earning a bonus of two hundred thousand. The mission spoils were divided equally, giving each person eight hundred thousand. The boss was especially generous toward you and gave you one million.

“Then there is compensation for the ammunition and other equipment you used during the mission: three million copper coins as a lump sum.

“You were the one who found the red-spotted crown spider, so your contribution was the greatest. The boss awarded you another two million personally.

“That makes twenty-one million seven hundred thousand copper coins in total. The boss rounded it up to twenty-one million.

“Among the entire team, you alone have received such treatment. Take a look. If everything is in order, sign here.”

The trusted aide placed a document resembling a payslip in front of Li Juxu, along with a bank card.

There was no denying that this employer was extraordinarily generous. How could there possibly be any problem? Li Juxu signed his name.

“Pleasure doing business with you. May I have your contact information? If another mission comes up, the boss would like to hire you again.”

The trusted aide looked at Li Juxu.