Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The other party's response was extremely enthusiastic, and Ark vaguely remembered why she found the ID familiar.

To confirm, she exited the chat and checked the bounty list's conversation history.

A few days ago in Tonghua District, she had accepted numerous bounties and couldn't remember each poster's ID. After scrolling down a few pages, she indeed found a private chat record with the same ID.

It was for the task of clearing D-class alien creatures from a house. The first bounty she took upon entering the Fourth Dimension was from this poster, Wildcat.

That bounty was resolved easily, and although she later learned from the chat forum that the difficulty of the task didn't match the bounty points offered, it was quite straightforward for her. Moreover, the final payment she received from the poster was double the bounty points, leaving a good impression of the poster.

The bounties she accepted in Tonghua District were mostly resolved through screen-based communication, except for the large transaction with Feixing which involved a face-to-face meeting. The posters didn't know her appearance, which didn't hinder the possibility of collaborating again.

Posting and accepting bounties in the Fourth Dimension implied an agreement to the platform's confidentiality policies. The identities of the users cannot be disclosed, otherwise, internal enforcers of the Fourth Dimension would take action.

She learned all this from the chat forum, indicating the power and authority of the team managing the Fourth Dimension are immense and hard to estimate.

During this time, she revisited the bounty interface and found no other recruitment posts, while messages from Wildcat kept coming.

[Wildcat]: The address is at Club Center, 105 Red Shore Port. You can come anytime between 7 AM and 12 PM tomorrow.

[Wildcat]: Are you still there, boss?

Ark pondered for a moment and replied.

[One Punch Shatters the Earth]: Got it.

Having confirmed her participation in the recruitment bounty, Ark planned to go out to purchase some daily necessities, including clothes. The recent temperatures in the White Whale District seemed to hover around ten degrees Celsius, dipping below zero in the early mornings and at night.

Such cold weather was truly torturous, especially for Ark. While she was fine indoors with the temperature control on, stepping outside was agonizing. She needed time to adapt to these climate changes.

Therefore, acquiring new clothing became a priority.

Ark believed there should be equipment available to help her maintain body heat, but finding an underground equipment shop like Uncle He's in a new place would require new connections.

Thinking that Lu Feilan might know, she decided to knock on the door next door.

“What's up?” Lu Feilan opened the door, leaning against the wall as he looked at her.

“Do you know where to buy equipment around here?”

Lu Feilan shook his head: “The situation in the White Whale District is very volatile, especially those trades dealing in auxiliary equipment; they don’t last long. It's surely changed a lot since I left two years ago.”

Ark felt disappointed.

Lu Feilan: “Hey, what's with that look?”

Ark: “A disappointed expression because the once all-capable Lu Feilan is no longer all-capable.”

It seemed she had no choice but to properly get some regular warm clothing.

……

……

Elsewhere, upon seeing the message come through, Shang Xize let out a cheer, impulsively slapping his companion on the back.

“Pfft—” His companion, who was drinking water, stumbled forward from the slap, spilling water all over himself: “Shang Xize, are you trying to kill me!? Don't you know how much your slap hurts?”

“Calm down, calm down, I have good news.”

“What good news? Did you finally rent out your house? Are our activity funds soaring, and we're about to have an endless supply of equipment?” asked a tall female playing pool nearby. With neatly cut short hair, clad in a black tank top, her muscular arms subtly flexed with each stroke of the cue, exuding a sense of hidden strength.

“...Be serious, Ming Chan. We've found a temporary teammate for our sea trip in two days.”

Ming Chan: “Where did you find them? Are they reliable?”

“From a bounty on the Fourth Dimension.”

Ming Chan put down her cue stick: “?”

She raised her head, recalling, and said: “The one where you asked us to help you brainstorm appealing content, but ended up writing something random yourself?”

“Yes, that one!”

“How come every time you post such weird bounties, someone always accepts them?” the companion who was slapped earlier said, finishing up the cleanup, incredulously.

Shang Xize's recruitment message could be summarized as “Looking for a worker, payment to be discussed,” which seemed quite unreliable at first glance. After all, a promise of “payment based on ability” sounds far-fetched, almost like drawing pie in the sky, so naturally, it was largely ignored.

Frankly, Shang Xize had no real hope of recruiting a suitable temporary teammate from the Fourth Dimension. If they couldn’t recruit anyone, their current team could still go to sea, though having an extra teammate would certainly be better, increasing their chances of success.

It was just like when Shang Xize didn’t expect anyone to solve the problem of the D-class extraterrestrial creature in his building; he had simply listed it casually.

"I never thought the same person would accept both of them..."

"But it's only someone like Fang Zhou who isn't after the bounty reward that would take on such tasks. It's almost like it was meant to be."

“So, what's there to be happy about? Bringing in someone who might hold us back doesn’t help.”

“That’s exactly why I'm so excited,” Shang Xize snapped his fingers. “This person is definitely a B-level or above Transcender.”

Ming Chan gave him a look: “If you get targeted, don’t drag us into it.”

“Hey, hey, I didn't snoop on anyone's information!” Shang Xize hurriedly explained. “It's the same person who resolved that D-class extraterrestrial infestation in my Tonghua District building. I never expected to deal with them again. Thankfully, I gave them double the bounty last time as a gesture of goodwill. Although it might not be much for them, at least I didn’t leave a bad impression.”

Shang Xize had returned to Baijing District with a few companions. Recently, with the arrival of two S-level Order Enforcers, the situation in Baijing had stabilized, prompting their return.

Shang Xize was lucky. After the tsunami in Baijing five years ago, he acquired several buildings affected by the disaster, all in prime locations. The reconstruction returned a substantial amount of points to him, essentially kickstarting their team's fund.

In Tonghua District, he tried the same tactic, but the core area was already established, leaving him to start with unrepaired old buildings, the first of which was infested by a D-class extraterrestrial.

“The one who cleared the D-class parasite without damaging your property?”

“That's right.”

“You have some crazy luck…” Thinking about it logically, someone capable of handling his situation would indeed likely be B-level or higher. Adding such a Transcender to our team would significantly increase our success rate in the deep sea.

“Don’t get too excited yet. Even if they're a Transcender, it depends on whether they're suited for marine conditions. Plus, you don’t know who will actually show up.”

Ming Chan: “So when is this person coming?”

Shang Xize: “I’ve arranged for tomorrow morning! Remember to come early.”

Ming Chan: “What time?”

“I said anytime between seven and twelve.”

His startled companion exclaimed, “This early? Count me out.”

Shang Xize waved him off, “Go, go, go, then don’t come. Ming Chan and I will be enough.”

……

……

The next day, Fang Zhou waited until the temperature outside rose to about ten degrees before daring to leave the house.

Hong'an Port was very close to her current residence. Fang Zhou followed the car's navigation and arrived in about ten minutes, parking nearby. She wrapped a scarf around herself, put on a thick coat, and stepped out to find the club.

After a few steps, she saw a store with a red sign that read “Hong'an Club Center,” likely the place she was looking for.

The club's door was closed, so Fang Zhou approached the sensor area at the entrance and knocked.

Soon, someone came to open the door.

The woman who came to open the door was quite tall, seemingly over 1.75 meters, dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt.

Fang Zhou, wrapped in a scarf and a thick, coffee-colored coat with its hood up for wind protection, looked like a walking zongzi (rice dumpling). The two of them, face to face, seemed to be in two different seasons.

Seeing Fang Zhou in this attire, the woman clearly paused in surprise.

Fang Zhou smiled at her, “Hello, I had an appointment this morning.”

After her words, a male voice from nearby spoke up, "Ming Chan, Ming Chan, has my esteemed guest arrived?"

Immediately after, a man taller than the woman by a head, with striking golden highlights in his hair, walked over. Fang Zhou instantly recognized him as the person she had encountered at the brokerage center the day before.

"3267?" he asked.

That was the bounty number. Fang Zhou nodded at him, "Yes, that's me."

He clearly didn't recognize her, as their encounter had been brief. Had it not been for his distinctive appearance, Fang Zhou wouldn't have recognized him either.

Upon receiving her response, the two of them stepped aside to let Fang Zhou enter.

Inside, Fang Zhou found that the hall resembled an old-world arcade, complete with earlier forms of entertainment, even a pool table and shooting area. They seemed quite at leisure, managing to collect all these amenities.

Besides the two who opened the door for her, there were two other men inside. One looked older, while the other, wearing black-framed glasses, was busily operating a fighting game console.

The room, with its constant temperature setting, watched as Fang Zhou removed her scarf and hat, smiling as she explained to their curious stares, "Sorry, I'm just more sensitive to the cold."

That's not just being sensitive to the cold! It's about ten degrees outside, no need to bundle up like that...

Most transcendents have excellent physical constitution and adaptability to environments. Fang Zhou's actions caught them off guard.

Shang Xize's companion gave him a look, as if to say, "Are you sure this is the powerful transcendent you mentioned?"

"No worries, everyone's constitution is different," Shang Xize said nonchalantly. "I'm the one who posted the bounty, you can call me Shang Xize."

Since this was a recruitment-related bounty, potentially making her a temporary ally, exchanging names was normal. However, Fang Zhou didn't expect him to be so direct. She thought he might use a codename or something.

But this also indicated he had no "record" to hide, so he wasn't concerned about revealing his identity.

And Shang Xize's name... Fang Zhou felt a tinge of familiarity. She had heard it just yesterday at the brokerage - it was her landlord's name!

Unlike Shang Xize's frankness, the others didn’t immediately reveal their names. Fang Zhou could sense their distrust, a scrutiny to see if she qualified as their temporary ally.

But it wasn’t just them scrutinizing Fang Zhou; she was also evaluating them.

Judging by appearances alone, Shang Xize was the most eye-catching, towering and imposing just by standing there, but...

Fang Zhou's gaze settled on the woman in front of her, who seemed to be the strongest among them.

Seeing Fang Zhou looking at her, she bluntly asked,

"Are you a transcender or an ordinary person?"