Phosphorus, Airship and Silver Dragon Chronicles

Chapter 36 Unexpected Bounty: The Tavern Storm and the Great Releasing Man, Roya [Two-part series, please subscribe!]

In an instant, the Ananda Tavern fell silent.

At first, the hunters were a little confused.

Soon, a frenzy of newspaper grabbing began!

"Quick, kid, give me one!"

"I'll take ten copies, one from each newspaper!"

"Come here right now, I called first!"

Roya, who preferred to pay a high registration fee rather than have a higher bounty, heard the figure of 10,000 gold coins.

The beer in my mouth no longer tastes refreshing and sweet.

He quickly summoned the newsboy, who was dressed in patched clothes, and bought one of each type of newspaper from his backpack!

Seven local newspapers, three from the neighboring Lindshire, and two from the Blue Nest Dominion's hunter newspapers.

Wendell took a sip of tea, seemingly unconcerned.

"Great, we've finally made the front page."

""

Emil, however, was indignant: "Ten thousand gold coins—that's too much!"

'

After flipping through all twelve newspapers, Luo Ya realized that he was actually on the front page of seven of them!

Hunter newspapers, military and machinery newspapers, spirit compendium newspapers, lifestyle newspapers, and financial newspapers—all reported extensively on the fall of Arden's extraordinary factory.

Even The Blue Nest Hunters dedicated a page, no bigger than a tofu, to a detailed report on the matter.

Local newspapers even used the following headline—

The nationally renowned incubation factory for extraordinary individuals was attacked yesterday by multiple aerial hunter groups!

The most mysterious land of awakening on the Merlin Passage has unexpectedly fallen!

The extraordinary light that has shone brightly in Mevin County for so many years has been extinguished!

"————"

Luo Ya put down his wine cup and carefully read the news content.

Overall, these news reports focused on the battle between the Silent Hunters Sky Hunters and the Arden team, vividly describing the speculative details as if they were happening right before our eyes.

In addition, the Dragon Chasing Sky Hunters, who have been lurking inside the Extraordinary Factory for a long time, are also introduced in a considerable amount of the article, and it is even speculated that this matter is related to Will Tully, the former crown prince of the Seabuckthorn Kingdom who disappeared on the Merlin Passage many years ago.

In the end, the two groups combined to achieve a Pyrrhic victory over Arden's Super Factory, seizing most of the factory's assets.

The main combat force, the Silent Hunter, was severely damaged and paralyzed by a phlogiston solar blast. Faced with the arrival of the First Mechanical Regiment of Mevin County to provide support, the members were forced to abandon ship and flee.

As for the four-person hunter group, they were only briefly mentioned.

Most newspapers only said that it was a newly formed four-person team, and that the team leader, Luo Ya, was even an mortal waiting to awaken before entering the factory. After successfully awakening, he was caught in the sudden battle and eventually escaped by luck.

Strangely, the bounty issued by the First Mechanical Regiment of Mevin County seemed particularly real—the Silent Hunters Sky Hunting Regiment.

Dragon Chasing Sky Hunting Team.

A four-person aerial hunting team.

Each of the three groups is offering a reward of 10,000 gold coins!

They also posted photos of the three flagships: the Silent Hunter, the Spinosaurus, and the Wide-Range Silent.

Luo Ya roughly understood.

The official investigation results definitely pointed to him. Fearing that he would use this wave of attention to suddenly reveal his identity as a member of the Life Army, they shifted his story to the Silent Hunters and the Dragon Chasing Sky Hunters.

It's reasonable and logical.

Fortunately, Merlin Passage provides a large number of jobs and tax revenue for the Merlin County government. In order to maintain this hunter economy, the military generally does not capture bounty hunters in Merlin Passage.

Within the hunter community, it is often considered shameful to hunt down Sky Hunter groups for bounties. Sometimes, after defeating an enemy, they would rather exterminate them to increase their own group's bounty than bother to exchange bounties for enemy groups.

The Silent Hunter is an anomaly among hunters.

It deserved to be bombed!

Luo Ya tilted his head back and took a sip of beer, slowly coming to his senses.

"It's alright. If you get first place in the district membership assessment or complete the task assigned by the Hunter Association, you won't have to pay this bounty of over ten thousand."

Emil nodded and reminded Roya and Wendell, "Let's conceal our bloodlust and not let anyone discover our identities, otherwise we'll cause trouble and the bounty will be raised again."

Wendell, holding up the ram's horn teapot, looked at Emil with his golden eyes slightly shimmering: "Little Emil, congratulations on becoming a hunter."

Emil liked being affirmed, but disliked being called "little," so she raised her glass in return to Wendell: "Thank you for the affirmation, little Wendell!"

Wendell, however, didn't hold a grudge. He raised his glass and drank with Wendell, without any psychological burden whatsoever.

Roya thought to himself that Emil's real age was probably far older than Wendell's, so calling him "Little Wendell" wouldn't be an exaggeration.

But he didn't want to be called "little" by Emil.

So he coughed twice and said solemnly, "Ahem, Emil, you don't have to call me Captain, but if possible, could you please try not to call me Little Luo?"

Emil chuckled, "Yes, Captain!"

Luo Ya continued to look down at the newspaper.

He suddenly noticed a hunter's newspaper titled "Silver Dragon Chronicles: Blue Nest Edition," which unexpectedly offered an objective analysis of the extraordinary factory incident—

"The leader of the Dragon Chasing Sky Hunting Team is Prince Willie Talley of the Seabuckthorn Kingdom. It's unlikely he would attack the Extraordinary Factory for money. The Silent Hunter was also severely damaged, making it difficult for him to take away a large amount of loot."

Evidence suggests that factory managers and some of the privileged who retired at the factory were subjected to a vengeful massacre, with large quantities of burning spirits and valuables being taken away. There is even evidence that the extraordinary factory was using gifted children to cultivate dragon crystals.

The editor speculates that this matter is most likely related to the four-person Sky Hunter Group, appearing to be a fundraising effort for some kind of faith, and may even be connected to the major events that occurred in Mevin City last night.

In Luo Ya's view, the news article is relatively fair, but not objective.

It also seems to carry a certain bias —

Until he turned to the headline of the newspaper—

"Louis Giles, the third son of the Giles family and a genius in the armored division of the Mayon County Naval Academy, formed an armored assault team and destroyed the Atlantic Insurance Company building last night, officially announcing his joining the legendary Army of the Dead!"

"Gils————"

Roya suddenly remembered that Giles had talked to him about the insurance company's practice of refusing to insure.

This was the first time he had ever seen the words "Understanding the Mandate Army" in a major, well-known newspaper.

Judging from the name, "Silver Dragon Chronicles: Blue Nest Edition" sounds like a newspaper under the Hunter Association.

However, he had never heard of it before.

The Hunter Association is a massive, independent non-governmental organization separate from the imperial hegemony. It often disregards the empire's authority, but it also strictly requires members of the Sky Hunter Groups to pay all their bounties, thus maintaining a delicate balance with the empire.

The news article also specifically mentioned that Atlantic Insurance Company is the major shareholder of Arden Super Factory.

"What a coincidence!"

Roya specifically glanced at the time Giles started his uprising.

Approximately fifteen hours after the fall of the Extraordinary Factory, and seven hours after he handed the White Beard Scallops over to the Commanders of Great Raquel Town, there was still enough time.

It cannot be ruled out that Dongmingjun is trying to ride on his popularity and mislead people into thinking that the Extraordinary Factory incident was also Dongmingjun's doing!

"It seems that the Knowledge Army has also learned cognitive warfare."

Luo Ya was deeply gratified.

Regarding the Demise Army, he asked Wendell and Emile, "Have you heard the legends of the Demise Army?"

Wendell shook his head and continued drinking his tea.

Emil held the beer mug in both hands, her eyes flickering slightly as she carefully recalled the events before slowly saying, "I remember, the Army of Destiny used to be called the Army of Ten Thousand Races. They attempted to unite various highly intelligent races, including humans and the Three Calamities, to overthrow the imperial rule. They achieved a glorious victory at one point, but were ultimately sown apart by the empire from within."

Luo Ya nodded slightly, seemingly lost in thought.

Each race has its own demands, making it difficult to achieve true equality. It's also normal that they can't withstand internal instigation from the empire.

Let alone all races, the Ghost Spirits alone comprise over 100,000 humanoid races, yet they still cannot be unified.

"Division does not mean annihilation; could there be more than one remaining remnant of the Ming Dynasty's army?"

Emile nodded.

"Yes, what impressed me most was a remnant of a military force called the Red Dragon Army, which was relentlessly pursued by multiple Imperial fleets for nearly a century before disappearing without a trace."

Upon hearing the words "Red Dragon Army," Wendell frowned slightly, then suddenly remembered something: "I've heard legends about the Red Dragon Army; perhaps it's related to the Eastern Long Kingdom."

Luo Ya frowned.

The Red Dragon Army, the Eastern Kingdom, the Industrial Cthulhu—how could they have disappeared without a trace!

There must be something hidden within.

Emil continued to recall: "I have also heard of the distant Eastern Long Kingdom. In my memory, it appeared earlier than the Red Dragon Army. It seems to be a mysterious kingdom that appeared at the same time as the Myriad Races Fate."

"Perfect timing! Let's go to the distant Eastern Kingdom of Long together. I also want to find more of my original form and figure out why I was able to devour a dragon girl."

Luo Ya often identifies himself as a descendant of the dragon, but he knows that his genes are closer to those of monkeys than dinosaurs.

The Eastern Long Kingdom in this world most likely has absolutely nothing to do with him.

But Emil did indeed swallow a dragon girl.

"Let's join the Hunter Association first. This time, the bounty will be in the top ten in Mevin County, so at least we won't have to pay the expensive membership application fee anymore."

Emil still felt guilty whenever money was mentioned.

"Don't worry, Captain, I'll definitely help you get first place or complete the mission assigned by the Hunter Association, saving you 10,000 gold coins from your bounty!"

Roya smiled and said, "It's okay if I can't do it. We are hunters, and bounties are our medals. I need at least one of them: fame or money."

His crimson eyes rippled slightly, like the sunset falling into the water and meeting a gentle breeze.

Emil then realized why Wendell, who was both a saint and a demon king, had appointed Roy Adam as captain.

This time!

A young pub security guard came to the notice board and replaced the old poster with a new handwritten bounty ranking based on the latest top ten bounties in Mewan County.

When Luo Ya saw that the third position on the bounty list was occupied by a rare triplets, the Valkyrie Sky Hunter Team.

The leader is "Valkyrie" Isabel.

The other two are her triplets.

There are no photos of the airship, only a headshot of Isabel.

A short-haired woman with delicate features, a detached expression, and wearing a white bodysuit.

The three formed a group, and Luo Ya regarded them all as the strongest.

The tenth place was clearly marked as —

A four-person aerial hunting team!

Leader: Luo Ya.

Flagship: Wide Area Silent Number.

Total Bounty: 10,800 Gold Naals!

However, the security guard who put up the posters had no idea that the young man sitting at the table next to the notice board was none other than Luo Ya, the leader of the Four-Person Sky Hunter Group!

Just then!

A gruff male voice came from outside the door: "Tear it up for me!"

Everyone turned to look and saw a middle-aged man, nearly two meters tall, with a knife stuck in his chest, leading the way into the tavern.

A fourth-tier transcendent!

Behind him, a few men followed sparsely.

They are all second-tier or higher superhumans!

The group quickly arrived at the notice board.

The white-haired young man standing to the left of the middle-aged man who had stabbed someone suddenly raised his hand and slapped the security guard across the face.

"I told you to tear it up, are you deaf?!"

The young security guard was only a second-tier superhuman. Faced with a group of superhumans of tier two and above, the highest being tier four, he covered his swollen left cheek and dared not resist, weakly explaining, "But, this is the tavern's rule—"

The white-haired youth snatched the newspaper from Roya's hand, shoved it in the security guard's face, and then pinched the guard's eye sockets while yelling, "Are you blind and can't read the newspaper?! The tenth-ranked four-person Sky Hunter Team is just a survivor who passed through the Extraordinary Factory. The team leader has only just awakened. Do you think they have the destiny of 10,000 gold coins?!"

The security guard was almost in tears from the scolding, but he forced himself to keep a straight face and continued to argue in a low voice: "I'm sorry, we're just a small tavern. The rankings on the poster are the results of the Merlin Hunting Daily. The bounties mainly come from the First Mechanical Regiment of Merlin County. You can go to them to discuss making changes."

The middle-aged, burly man with a knife in his chest patted the security guard on the shoulder.

"No need to discuss it anymore. Tear down the poster first, then call your boss over. I'll kill him, and the bounty should be back in the top ten."

The people in the tavern then realized that this group was none other than the Blade-Stabber Skyhunting Team, which had been ranked ninth in the bounty rankings of Linde County for several months and had been squeezed out of the top ten by the Dragon Chaser Skyhunting Team and the Four-Person Skyhunting Team this morning.

Their leader, Don Bright, was none other than the fourth-tier transcendent being with a knife stuck in his chest.

Luo Ya glanced at him and saw that this person's blood energy was highly integrated with his muscles and bones, indicating that he should be a powerful physical master.

Because the blood and qi in his body were too surging, he was forced to insert a knife into his chest to dissipate the blood and qi and prevent his heart from exploding.

The blood energy that sometimes emanated from the blade and sometimes surged forth gave people an extremely strong sense of oppression!

But that was not a reason for the group to take his newspaper.

The tavern was completely silent.

No one dared to speak up for the security guard.

The boss didn't show up for a long time.

The stench of blood emanating from the stab wound made it hard to breathe.

Even Roya didn't want to get involved—if his newspaper hadn't been stolen.

Don Bright looked around and was quite pleased to see that the hunters in the tavern dared not utter a sound.

"I'll count to three, then go and call your boss over to face his death, or don't blame me for killing a nobody!"

The security guard's voice trembled as he cried, "Please, the boss isn't in the store—"

"three!

'

"two!

'

Before Don Bright could even utter the word "one," he suddenly heard a young male voice behind him: "Excuse me, could you give me back my newspaper first?"

"Um?"

In an instant, Don Bright's chest was flushed with blood, and he slowly turned his head.

The scarred, slanted eyes looked down at the young man sitting at the table, exuding an aura of first-tier bloodlust.

However, his tone of voice was not that of a first-order transcendent being.

"I don't like your tone. The wine is here, but you can get out."

97

Luo Ya kindly did him a calculation.

"Can the price of a newspaper and a few drinks bring your bounty back into the top ten?"

"No, maybe with the three of you, it'll be one."

Before Don Bright could finish speaking, a merciless iron hand pressed down on the back of his head, slamming him onto the table.

boom!

His head, which was usually as tough as bronze and as hard as iron, was suddenly blown off.

Blood and brain matter splattered all over the table.

The burning passion in Ran's heart surged and exploded, almost going berserk, but was suppressed by the rolling wind.

He stammered and couldn't speak.

Until the knife stuck in his chest was flung away by the high pressure of blood and qi.

His once robust body deflated instantly, becoming skin and bones.

It was like a red-hot piece of charcoal being forcibly pushed into water.

The dozen or so men stood frozen in fear, too terrified to make a move.

The entire audience was horrified and dared not even breathe!

Wendell pressed his right hand against the shattered back of his skull, raised the ram's horn teapot in his left hand, took a sip of red tea, and asked Roya, "Captain, should we kill them?"

Luo Ya retrieved the newspaper from the white-haired youth's hand from a distance.

He took a sip of his chilled beer, continued reading the rest of the newspaper, and said casually, "Forget it, we're already tenth in the rankings. As long as we can get the registration fee waived, that's fine. The reward can't be increased any further."

Emile, take their airship and cash.

As for the people—let them all go back to life.