"I see. I understand now. I'll go pack up right away!" Maro said, then ran back to his room without asking another question.
"Bounty hunters and contract hunters are probably the quickest ways to make money, right? At least they're both transaction-based hunters. They get paid by the client for doing a job, simple to say—more money, less work, fast earnings." Cyr continued feeding things to SC while analyzing his job prospects.
"But contract hunters are specifically employed by the rich..." Cyr clicked his tongue impatiently as he spoke.
If they were rich, he wouldn't necessarily listen to them...
If the client spoke to him in a commanding tone, he'd definitely kill the so-called employer.
Contract hunting was not a viable path for him.
As for bounty hunters, you just take the bounty and capture the wanted criminals. And the reward for living or dead criminals seemed to be the same? Yeah, it's easy.
"Bounty hunting it is." Cyr casually decided on his target for the near future.
100 billion ...
Considering the earnings from his past life work as an influencer and cosplayer, getting paid for promotion deals and attending conventions, even if he worked tirelessly to earn a million every year, it would still take him a hundred years to save up a hundred billion...
After all, his fans were mostly on platforms like video app, but not so much on a lettered site, where it wasn't as lucrative.
Of course, if he lived off his parents, he wouldn't need to work so hard.
After stuffing all the items he bought into SC's body, Cyr sat down in front of the computer in his room, pulled out his Hunter License, and swiped it to go online.
The security at the Heaven's Arena was quite good. If he were using a computer outside, he might have to worry about people finding out his address or searching for his information, coming after him to steal his Hunter License. But at the Heaven's Arena... there was no need to worry about that.
"Let's see what bounties are available on the Hunter website..." He opened the website that only Hunters could access, going to the bounty section and scanning through the announcements.
He ignored the B, C, and D-level bounties and directly clicked on the A-level ones.
As he scrolled down, what caught his eye was the Phantom Troupe's wanted notice.
"Phantom Troupe, ten billion each, dead or alive, must provide proof of identity..." Cyr read the note on the bounty, his expression growing excited.
There were thirteen members in the Phantom Troupe, and at ten billion each, that would be a hundred and thirty billion. After buying his desired item from the shop, there would still be thirty billion left!
However, the Phantom Troupe was usually scattered around the world, making it hard to capture them all at once...
Only a few of the original members would be found together in Meteor City.
Cyr thought about this and pulled out his phone to call Pampas, who was in Meteor City.
"..." The call connected quickly, but no sound came from the other side.
"Pampas, do you know where the Troupe is?" Cyr's voice was barely able to contain his excitement.
The strange emotion was even felt on the other end by Pampas, who found it a bit odd.
Back in Meteor City, this kid had shown no interest in the Troupe. So why was he suddenly calling to ask about them now?
Wait, this kid must have passed the Hunter Exam and got his Hunter License, meaning he could see things that ordinary people couldn't...
Not long ago, this kid even wanted to borrow money from him.
Could it be—
"Do you need something from them?" Pampas asked calmly.
'No way, is it really what I think it is?'
"They're worth ten billion each. If I kill ten of them, that's a hundred billion, and I'm still short a hundred billion." The young man said excitedly.
"…No, you don't want to do that." Pampas rubbed his forehead, feeling somewhat helpless.
As expected, the kid had gone crazy thinking about money.
The Troupe was at least from the same camp, they were their own people! Attacking your own people?
If the Troupe were dead, how would his plans move forward?
Hmm? Strange...
Did his reaction somehow imply that this kid actually believed he could kill Troupe members and collect the bounty?
"You don't have a grudge against the Troupe, right? In some ways, we're all from the same place, you and them both came from Meteor City, you're like fellow villagers." Pampas sighed and started trying to persuade him.
"If something happened to you, the Troupe might even help avenge you." As he spoke, his tone grew more resolute.
If a normal person who left Meteor City were killed by someone outside and the news reached back to Meteor City... the residents would definitely seek revenge.
But if someone was sold or left through illegal means, and their death went unnoticed... there wasn't much that could be done.
Of course, the same applied to adults.
If a Meteor City resident was wronged outside, the ones who wronged them would also face retribution.
Like the case a few years ago, when a Meteor City resident was arrested as a criminal, and after the truth came out, everyone involved in the case—police officers, judges, and so on—ended up being blown to bits.
Just like the saying that had been circulating in Meteor City for a long time—We don't refuse anything. No one can take anything from us.
"Huh? The Phantom Troupe is that nice?" Cyr said, his tone genuinely shocked, not acting.
An A-level wanted criminal, funding children in Meteor City... and if something happened to him, they'd still be kind enough to avenge him?
"Not convinced?"
"At least to the residents of Meteor City, they're still pretty good." Pampas said casually.
As for how they treated people from the outside world, he didn't care much about that.
People from the outside world didn't care about Meteor City's existence, and the residents of Meteor City didn't care about how the outside world treated them.
"You're not looking at the wanted list right now, are you?" Pampas asked, voicing his inner suspicion.
"I am. There are quite a few A-level wanted criminals." Cyr answered, continuing to scroll through the list.
Suddenly, his eyes stopped on a familiar face.
A brown-haired man had completely abandoned his previous honest image, now sporting a slicked-back hairstyle and a fierce, intimidating expression.
Syd from District 12?
A-level wanted criminal, bounty 800 million?
"Syd is worth 800 million?" Cyr said in surprise.
"You noticed him too..." Pampas couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"What's so surprising about that? About one-fifth of the Nen users who left Meteor City are on the wanted list." He said it as though it were an everyday occurrence.
"You're not on the list too, right?" Cyr continued scrolling, not finding Pampas's face.
"Even if I did something bad, no one would be able to catch me on camera." Pampas spoke with a hint of pride in his voice.
So he had done something bad, but hadn't been caught on camera.
As expected from Meteor City, a place full of talent—might as well rename it Gotham.
"Stop focusing on the Troupe. Without them, Meteor City would be in big trouble." Pampas urged once more.
At present, the Troupe was the only force in Meteor City that could stand up to the Elder Council.
Without them, life for the residents of Meteor City would go back to how it was before... possibly even worse.
The number of missing children would skyrocket, and Meteor City would become a human organ farm for outside gangs...
"Alright, I get it." Cyr said, hanging up the phone and discarding his thoughts of looking for the Troupe.
If the Troupe were gone, no one would be left to fund District 12. Where else could he find someone to exploit? Maybe Pampas would see him as the easy target for money...
"Forget it, let's look at something else." Cyr shifted his focus and continued scanning other tasks.
°°°
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