A week was not a long period of time, but it definitely wasn't short either.
Having experienced such an oppressive mood within the space vessel for the past week, the crew members were all extremely eager to leave the space vessel!
By the time the space vessel anchored at the Spaceport, the crew members were already all packed and formed a line in front of the vessel's exit. When the vessel's gate finally opened, they immediately streamed out into the connecting bridge that would lead them into the Spaceport.
Yan Bingru patiently waited for the crowd to clear, not intending to squeeze with the rest. Most of them had already bid her goodbye earlier, but some of them still turned to give her a bashful nod before exiting the vessel.
It was no wonder that they were embarrassed too.
Hunters usually had priority over the rest of the crew when leaving, given that they were generally of a higher social status. But this time, every one of the crew members shared the same sentiments. None of them wanted to be the one left behind…
After all, Hunt Director Ying Min was still on board the vessel!
What if they ended up walking alongside Hunt Director Ying Min when he finally exited his room?
Just thinking about that possibility sent chills down their backs.
That would simply be mental torture!
To prevent such a thing from happening, they needed to leave when the coast was still clear!
Yan Bingru could only give a tired smile in response to their nods. She clearly understood why the others were acting that way, but she was definitely not desperate enough to rush out like they did.
Instead, if she really did end up walking beside that damned Ying Min, Yan Bingru would definitely give him a piece of her mind!
After the initial wave cleared, there were still no signs of Hunt Director Ying Min. Not bothering to wait, Yan Bingru picked up her own luggage and exited as well.
An extended bridge had attached itself to the entrance of the space vessel after it anchored, serving as the connection between the space vessel and the main building of the Spaceport.
Every time Yan Bingru exited a space vessel, she could not help but feel thankful for the efficient travellators that made everything so much more convenient.
If one were to walk normally along the full length of the bridge, it would take almost half an hour to do so!
She did not know who the inventor of travellators was, but that person must have been a genius!
But as she neared the end of the connecting bridge, Yan Bingru frowned as she realised that something was wrong.
The other crew members who had left before her were all crowded at the end of the connecting bridge, hesitating to enter the Spaceport.
"What's going on here?" Yan Bingru asked when she finally got close enough.
"This…it seems like the press have been notified about the situation we were in," one of the crew members sighed.
"The Spaceport staff stopped us here," one of Yan Bingru's teammates spoke up from the side.
He was one of the two men who had slain the giant lizards with his sword.
Earlier, he had left the vessel ahead of Yan Bingru. Since he got here first, he naturally understood the situation.
"Apparently there are a bunch of reporters waiting for us at the Spaceport right now," the man continued. "If we don't want to face their relentless questions, then we would need to stay here for a while and wait for the Spaceport staff to make separate arrangements for us to leave."
Yan Bingru was in disbelief upon hearing that.
As a Low-tier Hunter, it had always been her dream to become a Top-tier Hunter, achieving with her own hands the fame and glory that came along with that status!
Yan Bingru had always religiously followed the social media of famous Hunters, feeling envious of them even when they were being showered with attention by the reporters.
As for herself, the best she ever managed was a small note at a corner of the news section, stating the result of her Hunt Operation and the members of the Hunting Team.
Now, Yan Bingru had finally gotten a chance to enjoy all the attention she wanted, but it just had to be for the wrong reason!
Yan Bingru let out a sigh and stopped in her tracks. There was no other choice, she had to wait here along with the rest.
It was not as though what happened to them was a glorious matter, so going out to face the reporters now would be akin to a lamb walking into a den of wolves!
Normally when a Hunt Operation failed, the Hunt Director would arrange everything ahead of their arrival so that the crew members would be able to leave the Spaceport discretely. So there usually would not be a case like this, where the Spaceport personnel were caught completely off guard.
However, none of them was surprised that their beloved Hunt Director Ying Min had failed to make the necessary arrangements for them.
Or rather, they would be surprised he actually did.
Even so, what they did not expect was for so many reporters to show up!
It was actually to the extent that the Spaceport deemed it ill-advised to exit the normal way?
Just how many of them were out there?!
For a minor Hunt Operation like theirs, there was no way that they would attract so much media attention. So without a doubt, it must be due to the involvement of the Top-tier rescue team.
Damn it, they were really paying the price for getting to meet the top brass…
Regardless, all they could do was to wait patiently for the Spaceport staff to make the necessary arrangements.
At this time, a familiar music suddenly played from Yan Bingru's communicator.
This was not the communicator that she used during the Hunt Operation.
That one was a standard communicator distributed by the crew for use during the Hunt Operation, but the current one was her own personal communicator. Naturally, it was personalised to her own preferences.
The music was of a song by Yan Bingru's favourite idol group called Bulletproof Wanderers, and it was also the song that she had chosen as her personal ringtone.
Every time someone called, Yan Bingru would be reminded of those cute and wonderful idols, and her mood would also immediately become slightly better!
Subconsciously letting out a smile, Yan Bingru checked to see who was calling.
[Unknown Number].
She frowned as that message was sent directly into her ears.
Could this be one of those phishing phone calls that the police had been actively warning people about lately?
With a tap of her fingers, she decisively rejected the call. But before two seconds even passed, her ringtone sounded out once again.
Unknown number again? Reject it!
"Who is it?"
One of the crew members saw her frowning and tapping on her communicator, so could not help asking out of concern.
"Oh, just some unknown number. The other party probably got the wrong number," Yan Bingru shook her head.
However, she had barely finished her sentence when her communicator immediately rang again for the third time.
They sure were being persistent!
This time, Yan Bingru furiously accepted the call.
"Hello? Is this Yan Bingru's communicator…? …hello? Anybody there? Is the call connected?"
The voice on the other end was crisp and clear, but at the same time sounded unsure.
Yan Bingru had not spoken initially because she did not want to fall for some common voice phishing trick, but now she was shocked speechless!
That familiar voice…how could she not know who this was?
"How did you get my contact details?!" Yan Bingru almost couldn't control herself from shouting into her communicator!