Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 445 After Dawn
……

Under a clear sky, Sun Hang lay sprawled in the mud, staring blankly at the sun.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling, but it was very warm—Shuzhou, which had been away from this warmth for several months, was rapidly warming up. The frozen river water in the fields began to flow again, and the white frost on the glass curtain walls and city tower tiles gradually melted. People living in dilapidated old streets or expensive villas came out of their houses and onto the streets that were being illuminated by the sun again.

Martial law has not yet been lifted, but when faced with these citizens who violated it, the sheriffs and soldiers guarding the streets and alleys did not take immediate action—everyone, including them, greedily basked in the long-awaited sunlight and breathed deeply the air that still retained a trace of chill.

"Damn it," Old Yu muttered, a cigarette dangling from his lips, "I've lived most of my life, and this is the first time I've ever thought the blue sky and white clouds are so damn beautiful."

The city, shrouded in darkness for hundreds of days, has come back to life.

"How do you feel?" The girl in the white dress stood behind Sun Hang's head. She was barefoot, standing in the filthy mud. Grayish-black mud splattered on her ankles and calves, but it only highlighted her fair and smooth skin, which was as white as jade.

Sun Hang glanced back, and from his angle, he could see the skirt billowing in the wind, revealing glimpses of her alluring, white thighs.

"What does it feel like?"

"The feeling of having a third of your soul taken away."

“I don’t feel anything.” Sun Hang closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the air, which was filled with the rich fragrance of earth. “I don’t even know what it means by ‘soul’.”

“A soul is a soul, and there is no more detailed explanation,” Anna said. “If you ask me what an apple is, Mom, I will tell you that it is a plant belonging to the genus Malus in the family Rosaceae, and it also refers to the fruit of this plant. The words ‘family Rosaceae,’ ‘plant,’ and ‘fruit’ in this sentence have more detailed definitions… But I can’t explain to you what a soul is in this way. A soul is a soul, and from the time this word was created by mankind until now, it has only this one meaning.”

"I thought the soul was something like a ghost or a vengeful spirit? Or... a kind of supernatural being?" Sun Hang asked.

“No,” Anna laughed, “completely different.”

"Is this soul some kind of spiritual force? A consciousness entity?"

“No, not exactly.” Anna smiled and shook her head.

"Okay... so what impact will giving up a third of my soul have on me?"

"I don't know." Anna's smile widened. "That's why I'm asking you how you feel, precisely because I don't know if it will have any impact."

Sun Hang: "..."

After the "transaction" was completed, Sun Hang carefully checked himself from head to toe—no limbs were missing, his existing abilities were not affected, the mental energy he called "blue bar" had not changed, and even Sun Hang's memories, including those sealed by the "mist," were not missing in the slightest.

It was as if he had written a blank check to Chimera 17, and then the other party did not hesitate to perish together with Eternal Night.

Would you consider this a risk-free, highly profitable deal?

"Speaking of which, are the others still alive?" Sun Hang asked, "Those hunters who entered the 'body' of Chimera Seventeen with me."

“Alive.” Anna nodded. “Only Mom was swallowed into her little world by Chimera Seventeen. As for the others, they have been walking in that dark, endless tunnel.”

"Where are they now?"

"The giant cocoon, devoid of life and memes, has withered completely, and the tunnel has disappeared as well... However, given their physical condition, being buried alive for several hours shouldn't be fatal. If the rescue workers in Tianfu City act quickly enough, they should still be able to dig them out of the still-warm wreckage."

"What if we're not fast enough?"

“Once the size and mass of the remains degrade to a certain extent, they will be able to crawl out on their own,” Anna said. “There are many pores in the remains of the giant cocoon, so there is no need to worry about suffocation.”

"To be honest, it still feels unreal," Sun Hang sighed. "I never imagined things would be resolved this way."

“Although she’s determined to get revenge on you,” Anna said, “she also loves you very much.”

"Did not see it."

“But the more she loves you, the more she hates you,” Anna said. “Imagine if your parents abandoned you shortly after you were born, and you had to compete with stray dogs and rats in the sewers for food from a young age, while enduring various diseases inherited from your parents, being ugly, and physically disabled, needing all your strength just to survive… And things that other children get easily are out of your reach… Would you hate your parents?”

“Probably…?” Sun Hang answered uncertainly. He had no concept of parents, so he found it difficult to empathize with Anna’s words. “I would rather they hadn’t given birth to me.”

“She felt the same way,” Anna said. “But a life with only pain is still a life. If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t even have the right to feel pain.”

"So children who are abandoned and inherit various diseases should thank their irresponsible parents?" Sun Hang questioned. "I suspect this is a form of PUA (Pick-Up Artist)."

“That was just an example,” Anna said softly. “Mom, what you gave us was more than just simple life; it was the concept of ‘existence’… which is far greater than the reproductive behavior of carbon-based life forms.”

Anna paused for a moment before continuing, "Moreover, human emotions don't apply to us."

“I think Chimera 17 is almost driven mad by the pain. Is there really any need for this kind of ‘existence’?” Sun Hang said. “It’s so eager to die that its desire to escape the pain far outweighs its desire to ‘exist.’ In that case, it would have been better if it had never been born into this world in the first place, don’t you think?”

Anna pressed down her skirt, which was billowing in the wind, and slowly sat down next to Sun Hang, softly reciting, "'I'm so glad I can still feel pain; it tells me I'm still alive.'"

"what?"

“A memory that I’ve assimilated,” Anna replied, “which seems to come from a child with a terminal illness.”

Sun Hang suddenly felt that there was no need to dwell on this topic any longer.

Chimera 17 has perished, but its own problems remain unresolved... Although Chimera 17's small world provided Sun Hang with a lot of crucial information, the more Sun Hang knew, the more new problems arose.

Just like the process of human beings exploring the world—the more knowledge we acquire, the more clearly we realize our own ignorance.

"Let's get back to normal, so... that embryo... is actually..." Sun Hang was speaking when he suddenly realized that his mouth was opening and closing, but no sound came out of his throat. In his hazy vision, he seemed to see a monkey covering its mouth squatting on a rock not far away.

"Damn it!" Sun Hang actually swore out. "Instead of dwelling on these things, let's think about the future." Anna smiled faintly, as if she had guessed what Sun Hang hadn't said. "Mom, you're a hero to humanity now."

“I have no interest in being a hero.” Sun Hang spat into the mud next to him. “I just want to be a despicable, selfish person.”

“There’s a saying that you should judge by actions, not intentions. Regardless of what you were thinking, your actions have indeed saved many people,” Anna said. “So you are a true hero.”

What are the benefits of being a hero?

“There are many benefits,” Anna chuckled. “At least, pretty girls are willing to throw themselves at heroes.”

“Even without this incident, many beautiful girls would be willing to throw themselves at me,” Sun Hang retorted.

Just as he was wondering why Anna wasn't replying, a familiar aura suddenly descended from the sky, crashing heavily less than five meters away from Sun Hang.

The splashed mud instantly covered Sun Hang's face.

"Oh, still alive?" Old Wang folded his wings, walked over to Sun Hang, grabbed Sun Hang's arm, and pulled him up from the mud. "You're not missing any limbs, so why are you lying on the ground motionless? When I saw you from the sky, I thought you were barely breathing."

"I've finished the work, and I can't even lie down and relax for a while?" Sun Hang complained. "This is such a rare good weather."

"That's truly remarkable." Wang Xiyi looked up at the sky. "Did you do it?"

"Why do you ask?"

“Because you disappeared when we went deep into the cocoon,” Wang Xiyi said. “I suspect you abandoned us and went to fight Chimera Seventeen alone.”

“I can’t beat it.” Sun Hang shrugged.

"Yang Qi sent word that when Chimera 17 reached its critical point of explosion, it gathered all its energy and blasted it directly at Eternal Night, then perished together with Eternal Night. To be honest, I'm quite puzzled. Can a phenomenon like Eternal Night really be destroyed by physical attacks?"

“I suggest you ask Yang Qi about this,” Sun Hang replied. “If you ask me, I can only give you the answer, ‘I think so.’”

“Yang Qi doesn’t know either, or rather, no one can explain the reason right now.” Wang Xiyi laughed. “It’s not just the research institute in Tianfu City that’s gone mad, even the group of madmen in the Tian Shu Tower, thousands of miles away, have gone mad… well, although they were pretty mad to begin with.”

"Did Old Man Pei look for me?" Sun Hang asked.

All of Sun Hang's communication devices were destroyed, and even the cell phone Yang Qi gave him had turned into a brick... Sun Hang wasn't sure whether it was Chimera 17 or the Three Apes who did it, but one thing was certain: neither Chimera 17 nor the Three Apes would compensate him with a new cell phone.

"It seems not... Although the Tian Shu Tower is frantically trying to contact us, and many researchers are already on their way, we haven't received any direct communication from Elder Pei." Wang Xiyi shook her head.

"Could it be that there was too much information and we missed it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Wang Xiyi glanced at Sun Hang speechlessly. "Old Pei's news is definitely the highest priority. It's impossible for him to be overlooked, let alone anyone else's news... If Old Pei really needed to contact you, Yang Qi would have sent me a message immediately."

"It seems that all of this was part of Old Man Pei's plan," Sun Hang muttered to himself.

“Scheme? What scheme?” Wang Xiyi was completely confused.

"By the way, what's the security force around Old Man Pei like? There should be more than just one Iron Wall, right?" Sun Hang suddenly asked.

"What do you want to do?" Wang Xiyi immediately became alert.

"Nothing much... I just want to talk to him face to face."

"Didn't you two meet once?" Wang Xiyi asked doubtfully. "Besides, can't you contact Elder Pei anytime? This kind of privilege is only available to you and the old director in the entire Tianfu City..."

“No, what I mean is, I want to see Pei Zongjun in person.” Sun Hang shook his head. “Chatting with a holographic projection… can’t really be considered ‘face-to-face’.”

"..." Wang Xiyi was silent for a few seconds before shaking her head. "I heard that even the higher-ups at Tian Shu Tower didn't get to see Elder Pei in person."

“He told me that his health condition had deteriorated to a very bad degree, and he could no longer get rid of his dependence on life support equipment,” Sun Hang said.

"If that's the case, then what's the difference between seeing the projection and seeing the person in person?" Wang Xiyi asked doubtfully. "If Elder Pei is really in that state, he can't get out of the life support pod and communicate with you face to face."

"I just wanted to confirm one thing."

"what's up?"

"Is Pei Zongjun still a purely human being?"

……

……

The aerial combat platform, "Garuda".

Yang Qi has returned to her previous busy state—although the two super troubles, Chimera 17 and Eternal Night, have been inexplicably resolved, a series of follow-up matters still need to be handled. Tianfu City, which has been shut down for several months, cannot be restored to normal operation simply by lifting the martial law order.

The various project teams in the pesticide program will be disbanded after completing their final action report, but that doesn't mean they can take a vacation... On the contrary, they will have even more demanding and tedious work to do in the coming period.

The Disaster Countermeasures Committee was not disbanded, and no one was certain whether the Eternal Night would return. Following discussions among the Celestial Tower, the Federal Government, and the Disaster Countermeasures Committee, it was decided to establish a three-month "observation period." During this period, one-third of the personnel from each city-state reinforcing Shu Province would remain as emergency forces. Furthermore, all non-civilian infrastructure projects intended to address the Eternal Night that were less than 70% complete were halted or delayed, with surplus resources prioritized for resettling those displaced by the Eternal Night.

"Okay, okay, I understand. I'm already making the arrangements." Yang Qi had just hung up one phone call when it rang again. "Wang Xiyi? What's wrong? Did Sun Hang send you to contact me? Is there something he needs?"

"What? You mean he's planning to go to Chunming City? Now?"

(End of this chapter)