Star Abyss Walker

Chapter 361: Accepting private jobs

Perhaps because it was the weekend, the 7:30 movie was almost sold out.

I sat with Lin Qingying in the crowd, holding milk tea and popcorn, looking no different from any other couple.

"Ding Han..."

Lin Qingying leaned on my shoulder and said weakly, "I didn't have time to watch the first two Lord of the Rings movies, so could you tell me about the earlier parts of the story?"

"Forehead."

I fell into deep thought: "This is a long story, it starts with the prequel, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies... no, no, it goes even further back, it starts with the story of Sauron..."

"It's okay, take your time."

"Fine!"

So, I naturally pulled Lin Qingying into my arms and whispered in her ear.

Of course, this is just a brief overview of the story background and character relationships; the detailed plot cannot be elaborated upon, as there are only a few minutes left before the movie starts.

Halfway through the conversation, the movie started playing, so we had to stop and enjoy the visual feast together while holding Lin Qingying's hand.

……

The film's early plot was indeed rather tedious and lengthy, but fortunately, Lin Qingying was quite interested in this setting and watched with great interest. When the siege reached its climax, Lin Qingying's eyes widened even more as she marveled at the film's stunning scenes.

As the music started and the movie ended, she muttered to herself, "It was pretty good, but it was too long. Let's go, I need to use the restroom..."

"OK!"

During the 200-minute movie, I was just as bursting to hold it in as she was, so I followed the crowd out of the theater and headed to the restroom.

I finished quickly, but Lin Qingying was a bit slower; there was a queue at the women's restroom.

While I was waiting for her, my phone rang.

It was a number I hadn't heard from in a long time—the phone number of Fan Changgui from the Southern Rare Earth Industry Group!

"Good evening, Mr. Fan."

After answering the phone, he laughed and said, "It's so late, you must have something to tell me, right?"

"Ok!"

Fan Changgui said, "Ding Han, there have been too many big events lately. The subspace storm is said to have directly caused the Star Maple Federation's expedition plan to fail, four starships crashed, and many of their technical personnel died. Moreover, I heard that players have begun to make contact with the Chaos Army in the subspace. You must have been involved as well, so... how have you been lately?"

This person is too polite; they exchange a few pleasantries before even getting to the point.

"Well, it's a bit difficult, but we can manage. There's no other way. We have to deal with whatever comes our way. If we don't step up, there'll be no one else to do it."

I smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Fan. I hope the subspace storm didn't have any impact on your rare earth industry in the south?"

"It doesn't have a big impact, but it's not entirely without one either."

"Oh, what do you say?"

"Ding Han, let me be frank."

Fan Changgui said, "Although people are panicking right now and doomsday theories are everywhere, we are still just ordinary people. We should eat and make money as usual, right?"

"Of course, so?"

"Damn it... Perhaps due to the subspace storm, all of our Southern Rare Earth Industry's insect swarm observation stations in the wilderness were destroyed overnight. The insect swarms within a radius of several hundred miles around the factory are quite active due to the subspace influence. Just this morning, a large insect nest was discovered about 30 miles away from our factory!"

He frowned and said, "A nearby mine was already affected by the Zerg hive this afternoon, and those mercenaries we hired... you know, they're a bunch of good-for-nothings. As soon as the Zerg swarm came, they ran away, killing dozens of miners in the mine!"

"so……"

I was somewhat surprised: "President Fan wants to use my resources?"

"Exactly!"

Fan Changgui said, "Ding Han, I know your strength. You once helped me clear out a large insect nest with your friends. So this time, I would like to ask you to help me clear out that large insect nest. Of course, I will definitely not let you work for free. As long as you can clear out that insect nest, Southern Rare Earth Industry is willing to pay you a commission of 2000 million in one lump sum!"

2000 million!?
Upon hearing this number, my ears immediately perked up.

Of course, it's not because I'm greedy. It's just that version 4.0 has just been updated, and the level cap has been raised to 80. Right now, we're in dire need of experience points.

Farming insect nests is mainly for leveling up, definitely not for that 2000 million! I swear on my integrity.

"Fine……"

I frowned, but didn't raise the price. The most important thing in doing business is to cooperate with integrity, and raising the price any further would be a bit excessive.

Fan Changgui is a kind person. It's really generous of him to offer 2000 million right away. If it were another boss, he might have started by negotiating from 200 million, which would have been quite troublesome.

"Mr. Fan, send me the coordinates of this large insect nest, and I will bring people over to clear it as soon as possible."

"Okay, it's a deal!"

Fan Changgui's voice was full of joy.

The next second, a bell rang in my ear; the transaction had triggered a mission.

[You have triggered the main quest "Attack, Large Insect Hive" (SS Rank)! Quest details: The Southern Rare Earth Industrial Group's mining site in the wilderness is under threat from an insect swarm. Please go alone to the corresponding coordinates to destroy the insect hive. Upon completion of the quest, you will receive a very generous reward. In addition, the Southern Rare Earth Industrial Group will pay a commission of 2000 million as promised!]

That feels great! This is exactly the kind of task I need right now!

Moreover, the system understands me very well and directly limited me to "going it alone"!
When I first heard about this, my first thought was to solo. It's not that I'm selfish and don't want to treat my brothers to good food and drinks, it's just that I really need experience. I have to level up to 70 or even 80 as quickly as possible!
Only after leveling up and upgrading your equipment to a certain level will you have a chance to compete with those terrifying bosses from the Chaos faction!

"Ding Han, then this matter is up to you..."

Fan Changgui was very humble: "Thank you. I'll treat you to drinks after this is settled. We'll drink aged Moutai!" My lips twitched.

What you call "aged tea" is like nectar to you, but to me it's deadly poison!
A table with just one pitcher of teapots is enough for me to sleep on for half a day.

"Let's talk about drinking later, Mr. Fan. Let's deal with the swarm first; this is no small matter."

"Uh-huh!!"

Lin Qingying walked over from the direction of the restroom, carrying a small bag, and I also ended my conversation with Fan Changgui.

"Whose call was it?" she asked with a smile.

"From President Fan."

I took her hand and laughed, "Ask me for a small favor, huh... that's fine. I happen to need a chance to gain experience, so going to fight some low-level monsters will be the safest option."

"Okay~~"

Upon hearing that it was a low-level monster, a smile immediately appeared on her face.

"Xiao Ying".

After leaving the cinema, I looked at the barbecue stalls on the roadside in the distance.

Lin Qingying immediately looked alert: "You're going to have midnight snacks again... Ding Han, my weight management plan has almost completely fallen apart since I got together with you. It's either milk tea or midnight snacks..."

She looked at me and laughed, "I feel like I've been corrupted by you."

"What kind of talk is that? This is about enjoying life, okay?"

I raised an eyebrow slightly: "Besides, there's nothing wrong with your figure. You can manage it later when you have some extra fat around your waist. Let's enjoy ourselves while we can, okay?"

She smiled and gave an OK sign: "Let's go, it's on me!"

After a satisfying late-night snack, I went home, washed up, and went to bed.

……

I woke up the next morning.

A message popped up while I was washing up. It was from Fatty: "Ding Han, Old Chen treated me to a late-night snack yesterday."

"Chen Dongqing?"

"Hmm, guess what he's planning to do."

"Is there any need to guess? He must be asking you to help him level up."

"That's right!"

The fat man chuckled: "This idiot finally got it. He said his friends are grinding monsters a bit slowly and he wants me to help him for a day or two. So I came to ask you if you want to come along? I know a medium-sized insect hive located southeast of King's City. It's a very safe location. Why don't we go together?"

"You guys go ahead. Unfortunately, I just accepted an SS-level mission and have to solo it, so I really can't join."

"Alright, let's do it ourselves. I'll call Cai Cai, Ruo Lin, and Aji to use the Fearless to carry Lao Chen and get him to level 60 as soon as possible."

"Well, be careful."

"the same as you!"

Afterwards, as usual, I had dinner with Lin Qingying downstairs, then took her to Yuening, and then drove straight to the player black market. I parked my S680 in the underground garage of the black market and then teleported to the City of Kings.

……

Ride off-road motorcycles, leave the city of kings, and enter the wilderness.

Opening the large map, the massive insect hive wasn't too far from the city of kings, about 100 kilometers away, which would take a little over an hour to reach. So I focused on driving and sped off.

We arrived at the insect hive at 10:00 AM.

It was the middle of the day, and a burnt smell wafted from the insect nest, but not a single insect could be seen.

Insect swarms originated from insects, and most insects are nocturnal, hiding in their nests during the day, partly because they dislike sunlight and partly to avoid predators.

Put away the motorcycle, activate bio-optical cloaking and burrowing, and enter the swarm of insects unnoticed.

It's best not to let Fan Changgui know that I have the ability to solo large swarms of insects. That news is too shocking. It's better to keep a low profile.

Inside the insect nest, it was dark and damp, and a strong smell of insects filled the air.

This taste is just right!

So he drew his Power Sword, activated Stardust Wall and Annihilation Armor, and charged into the swarm of insects, attracting a large number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 insects. Just as they were attacking like a tidal wave, he launched a double attack of Furnace Vortex and Power Sword Storm!

"Shua~~~"

A fiery red vortex appeared around them, followed by a storm of power swords sweeping through!

The damage numbers surged, truly worthy of the legendary double attack, it was indeed fierce!
The Furnace Vortex increased the damage of Power Sword Storm by 35%, turning me into a harvester. The surrounding insects were swarming around me like wheat being harvested, and my experience bar started to jump and flash continuously.

……

Time flies, and it was already around 10 p.m.

After a full 12 hours of intense grinding, I leveled up to 63. The efficiency of solo grinding is indeed incomparable to that of teamwork. The feeling of soloing is so satisfying!
They had now reached the middle of this large insect hive. On the rock in front of them, a huge figure was coiled up. It sensed the presence of humans and was slowly raising its head.

Flying Dragon, a level 70 gold boss.

No doubt about it, kill it!
At this point, I no longer took the golden BOSS seriously. I drew my sword, leaped up, and struck first!
(End of this chapter)