Chapter 987
Chapter 987 - 973 Fusion
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8 min read
The prolonged standoff was clearly not a pleasant thing for the body and mind.
War could not be easily initiated, especially when there was no political, economic, or even mere reputation-based conflict between the parties.
The long standoff left both sides exhausted and weary.
The Feather Tribe fared better, being on their home ground, where high-level combat powers could rotate, and ordinary soldiers could simply hunker down in their campsite.
The real sufferers were the unfortunate ones on the other side, who couldn’t even attempt to slip away....
"This endless situation, when will it finally come to an end?"
"God knows.... Has the Hunting Team started their move yet?"
"They have, but they failed. Those guys have some strength. It’s also quite inconvenient on the Feather Tribe’s turf."
Hunters like Lu Ping’an were "civilians" attracted by bounties and fame.
The expectations the higher-ups had for them were actually quite limited.... It’s feasible for stray soldiers to hunt Decree-level, but Rule-level with the power to destroy cities is quite challenging.
Thus, where there were civilian bounty hunters, there were also so-called regular armies.
Some were super strongmen privately commissioned, with even two Quasi-Gods personally entering the fray.
Some official strongmen also formed groups to hunt... They infiltrated secretly, recently clashing privately with the leaders of Blood Feast.
".... The local nuisances are annoying, the hunt had to be aborted, and although there were spoils, it was still not enough."
The objective of the mission was quite straightforward—on one hand, it was to "gain fame," and on the other, it was to bring back some heads of sufficient importance to settle their duties.
However, due to interference from the local officials, the Hunting Team met with several failures, and although they forced the people of Blood Feast to narrow their scope of action, the hunt fell into a stalemate.
The situation developed in a way neither side wanted to see.
More and more news and media attention shone on the matter, putting the officials of the Feather Tribe people on the hot seat... Fighting was a losing proposition, not fighting was embarrassing, protecting those criminals was disgusting, but handing them over would mean losing face.
Resources, money, time, and combat power continued to pour into the deadlock with no end, causing disgust on both sides, yet they could only grit their teeth and persist.
While they wondered if they would spend years caught in this pointless confrontation, news came out.
"Two Rule-level have been hunted, by civilian hunters. Well, it’s not quite right to say that, they should be considered civilian hunters with official backing, quite an intriguing young fella."
"A young fella? A Rule-level young fella?"
"Fourth-tier...."
"Are you for real? What kind of joke is that!"
"Check it out for yourself. The combat report has been reviewed by the Command Center. Details involving personal information can’t be disclosed, but the result of the hunt and the method used have been confirmed, indeed there was no Rule-level Combat Power involved, it was done with just a few Decree-level...."
The news of Lu Ping’an reached the highest levels.
And in the stagnant waters of the standoff, it was no doubt a significant variable.
The loss of two Rule-level, even if they were both seventh-tier, was no small matter.
The people of Blood Feast had to take action to find out what exactly happened, and once they made a move, the Official Hunting Teams would follow suit.
The "civilian hunter’s" achievements naturally attracted countless gazes and attention.
And Lu, for the first time, entered the sight of the truly high-end circles.
"Two wars experience, one special class military medal, a Golden Lamp Bearer medal. Eh, there was already one instance of hunting a Rule-level before, just seventeen years old, his future could be said to be..."
".... Lu Ping’an from the ancient city, may you have peace on your journey?"
Lu Ping’an himself had a vague hunch that this matter was by no means trivial... He had expended a lot of effort to convince the higher-ups that the results of the battle were real, rather than a result of his own delusion or some kind of illusion.
"... just wait in that area, we will send someone to pick you up immediately."
Originally, the Divine Boat had its own patrol route.
This was part of the pressure exerted, but at the same time, it was a dagger hanging over the heads of the weaker worlds of the Feather Tribe... Of course, more importantly, it allowed for convenient smuggling of visitors from the border worlds.
Lu Ping’an and his group were originally only supposed to wait in one of the border worlds for the next patrolling Divine Ship and then sneak aboard.
But as a result of the magnitude of their battle results, which had to be verified as soon as possible, the Divine Ship altered its course and arrived in three days.
The visitor was a Rule-level Big Boss, who came specifically for verification....
"That’s right, it was Zhao Yan and Sun Yi..."
The charred and shattered skulls were indisputable proof.
Especially since they were mounted on flagpoles, becoming a component of a Taboo Item.
"Your Career Ability? Is it from the Life system or the Soldier?"
"Hmm. Soldier... uh, it might also be from the Life system."
When the Big Boss asked, Lu Ping’an originally responded with the Soldier system, but upon reflection, he realized that the answer wasn’t so certain.
The so-called Pathways are meant to be as finely divided as possible—easier and purer paths that facilitate entry for novices, while also allowing newcomers to flexibly choose their future directions according to their own situations.
But at the Decree-level, those dispersed "one-way roads" fused back together.
Many Decree-level professions were quite impure, with mixing abilities from other professions being as common as a home-cooked meal; "pure professions" were extremely rare instead.
Lu Ping’an’s "Accountant" and "Conqueror" fourth-tier professions actually had direct relationships with the Life system, as they both dealt with "Life" abilities.
"Runner, not even a dog would train it."
Big Cat’s familiar words, in hindsight, seem problematic.
The Scholar and Soldier Paths were honed to a high standard by Big Cat herself, and they were highly integrated and fused with her primary Path, the Life system, forming composite professions like the Black Holy Grail, Life Expert, and Veterinary.
However, the Runner was the Path that Big Cat lacked... so, it was destined to be the last one, and the most difficult to integrate into the profession system.
Lu Ping’an inherited Big Cat’s base; many things came naturally to him, and it was difficult to tell whether it was his own genius or Big Cat’s residual "rules."
But just these weren’t enough, if he didn’t want to follow in Big Cat’s footsteps, Lu Ping’an had to find his own way.
He had to explore on his own, how to fuse the other Paths with his existing professions.
Perhaps starting with the Runner Path, which even dogs wouldn’t train, was a good choice...
"... Very good, very strong Life, Death characteristics. This is your spoils of war, take good care of it. I will vouch for you; from now on, you don’t need to reveal your own base. Overall, your ability rating is very high, I will report directly to the Command Center to avoid any leaks through the intermediary levels. But you should prepare yourself, these days there’s no absolute secret, especially since your abilities seem unable to remain secret once used..."
After quickly browsing the report, the Big Boss nodded in agreement, readily accepting it.
It was his rushed departure, and the way he looked back at the two skulls that seemed somewhat poignant... That was probably sympathy; even to the last moment, they were clueless about who their opponent was, not even having the chance for a face-to-face battle, as Rule-level Bosses, it was an agonizing way to die.
But if the roles were reversed, if he were in that situation, would the outcome be any different?
Thinking this, the Rule-level Big Boss became even friendlier towards Lu Ping’an.
"... You might want to start thinking about your reward. For something like this, the higher-ups are willing to go to great lengths to fulfill a somewhat excessive demand. Don’t miss this chance to be whimsical."
And as he was leaving, the Big Boss gave a piece of advice.
— End of Chapter 987 —