The petite rider had barely stepped into the bar when a waitress wrapped him in a bear hug, "Ah yah yah, Hong, look who's here."
The waitress named Hong, leaning against the bar and smoking a cigarette, immediately brightened upon seeing the petite rider's lazy eyes, "Boggy, you're more and more like your father."
After finishing, she turned her attention to Ma Lu beside him, "You've even made a new friend, a fresh face. Is this your first time at the Little Bear Bar?"
Boggy struggled to extract his slightly deformed face from the waitress's ample bosom, his cheeks and neck quickly blushing red as he protested.
"I'm a customer, Faya, Hong, you should show me some respect."
"Yes, yes, yes, so what would our esteemed customers like to order?"
"Start with two Bubble Drinks, and—um—add a pan-fried sand bream."
Boggy picked a table by the window to sit down, and it wasn't long before Faya came over with two large glasses.
"Here are your Bubble Drinks." The waitress leaned in close to the little boy, her bending over providing Boggy with a sweeping view of her chest, and Faya winked playfully at him, "Please, enjoy~"
"Boring." The little boy was unmoved.
Meanwhile, Ma Lu couldn't wait to start drinking.
He had been badly sunburnt in the desert and was already parched. Although he was no longer roasted by two suns after entering Giant Curtain, the temperature around him still showed a high 37°C on his [Traveler's Bracelet].
It wasn't until he'd downed most of the icy drink that Ma Lu felt revived, followed by a soft sound of surprise.
There was no doubt the liquid in the glass, tinged with a faint gold hue, contained alcohol, but it probably wasn't brewed from the grains or fruits Ma Lu was familiar with.
The drink had a sour and distinctly bitter taste, with an odd flavor he couldn't quite place. Its texture was similar to a homemade milk wine by herdsmen, not something the average person could enjoy.
But the mysterious little beads floating on top changed everything.
At first, Ma Lu thought the translucent little orbs were popping boba commonly found in milk tea, but upon closer inspection, he found that they seemed to be more than inanimate objects.
They were moving within the glass, just very slowly, their movement obscured by the sway of the glass itself.
Only when they slid into his mouth along with the drink did these mysterious little orbs melt and burst with sweet juice.
This sweet juice not only neutralized the sour taste of the drink but also blended the bitterness and strange flavor into a new taste similar to bitter liqueur.
Seeing Ma Lu's surprised expression, Faya covered her mouth and giggled, "Boggy, your friend here is quite interesting. Could it be his first time drinking?"
"I've had alcohol before, but never anything as marvelous as this," Ma Lu said earnestly.
"What's so marvelous? Bubble Drink is the most common drink. Every bar in the city sells it," said Boggy.
"Come to think of it, Captain Li seems to like Bubble Drink too. He orders it every time he comes, and I don't recall him drinking anything else," the waitress reminisced.
"On the day when the Harpist was promoted to the Diamond Hunting Group, Captain Li threw a celebratory feast and bought out all the Bubble Drink in the bar. Everyone got completely smashed then, even the boss climbed on top of the bar to perform a bear dance. Ah, those were the days..."
"Alright," Hong snuffed out her cigarette, interrupting Faya, "give the poor kid a break, will you? Stop nattering on like an old lady."
"Ha, who are you calling an old lady?"
Just then, new customers walked through the door, and Faya, still muttering to herself, ran off to tend to them.
Boggy freed himself from the harassment, rested his chin on his hand, and gazed out the window. The neon lights outside reflected his profile onto the bar's glass, casting a solitary shadow.
He stretched out a hand and casually drew a sand dune on the dirty glass.
However, as he was drawing, a movement caught in the corner of his eye caused him to pause—he noticed Ma Lu.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to see if I can package them."
Ma Lu scooped the small, spherical objects from the glass into a plastic bag with a spoon.
Boggy was somewhat speechless, "Give it up, the Honey Lizard only lays its eggs in places below 23 degrees. Once it goes over this temperature, those eggs will melt immediately. Where exactly are you from that you don't even know such basic knowledge?"
"Hm, I indeed just arrived here recently. There's still a lot for me to learn."
Ma Lu tried scooping twice more, only to find it impossible to stuff them into the plastic bag, as an invisible force repelled his hand every time it neared the opening of the bag.
It seemed that this [Collection Bag] could only store unprocessed ingredients.
So Ma Lu put down the spoon and approached Boggy again, poking the young boy's shoulder, "Since there's nothing much to do, tell me more about the Giant Curtain and Hunting Groups."
Boggy took a small sip of bubbling wine, and the blush that had just faded from his neck crept back up.
"The Giant Curtain is located in the desert. Due to the land and high temperatures, it's difficult for plants to grow here. Fortunately, beneath the endless sands, many creatures live, so most of the city's food comes from hunting. Hunting Groups are small teams that hunters from the city form on their own to go out and hunt."
"Are there different levels of Hunting Groups? What level is the 'Diamond' you mentioned just now?" Ma Lu continued to inquire.
"Very strong. Currently, only four Hunting Groups in Giant Curtain City have successfully advanced to Diamond level."
"Ah, so the Harpist is quite formidable. Captain Li, he's your father, right? Where is he now?"
"He's dead," said Boggy expressionlessly, "about three years ago they went hunting Golden Leopards and an accident happened. My father died, along with most of the members of our Hunting Group."
"So you took over the Harpist Hunting Group after that? But you don't seem to be the captain."
"That's because I was still in school at that time, so I entrusted Uncle Guli to temporarily manage the Harpist for me."
"Guli, oh, the guy with the square face we met earlier, right? You seem to have quite a few conflicts with him."
Boggy took another drink and, uncharacteristically admitting, "It's my fault. Over these three years, Uncle Guli has really helped to support the Harpist. I'm fully aware of his hardship. The root of the conflicts between us is that I am too weak to keep up with the rest."
As he said this, his grip on the wine glass tightened, whitening his knuckles.
"You? Weak?" Ma Lu was surprised, "You lifted me off the ground and onto the car with just one hand."
"Strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, those basic physical qualities are of course important, but for a hunter, the most important is Telekinesis."
"Telekinesis?" Ma Lu raised his eyebrows, "Earlier I saw someone seemingly tear through a dust storm with his bare hands, is that application of Telekinesis?"
"Correct, he possesses a rare wind-based Telekinetic power—Wind Control. Moreover, he's young with unlimited potential. Uncle Guli wants to train him to be the vice-captain of the Harpist."
"What's your Psychic Power?"