Death Notice Book 7: Chapter 4: Guidance Mission

Xiaonan’s words were a bit fragmented, but Qin Lun, relying on his strong logical reasoning skills, still managed to piece together what he meant, and soon fell into deep thought.

The ‘workers’ the two children spoke of were residents of Meteor Street hired from outside. Most of them possessed special talents, mainly in combat skills. The organizations hiring them included not only the Mafia and violent groups, but even secret spy agencies of certain countries.

However, compared to Meteor Street’s population of eight million, the number of residents hired was relatively small. Therefore, whenever those Mafia organizations sent employment requests to the Meteor Street Council of Elders, Meteor Street would also hold some informal selections.

The reason these employment opportunities were so popular was that the violent organizations hiring the workers, besides paying the workers a sum of money, would also provide their area of Meteor Street or their violence gang with a considerable amount of living resources.

To ensure the entire Meteor Street benefited from external employment, these selections were mostly distributed across various regions of Meteor Street. The selection slots were allocated by region, preventing a few slots from being monopolized by the large violence gangs. The area where Xiaonan lived also had several selection slots, and the violence gang led by Gutou was assigned one.

Of course, judging from previous years, members of Gutou’s gang basically never made the cut. They didn’t have any combat professions with special talents. Participating would only mean they ended up at the bottom, and they could easily lose their lives, so they often just gave up on the selection outright.

After hearing Xiaonan, Qin Lun immediately realized he had found the mission clue. His initial assumption was slightly off. His Guidance Mission was indeed in Meteor Street, but the Main Quest might not be.

From the information obtained so far, Shattered Starry Sky might have truly calculated his needs within the Space-Time Locator Sphere. At the very least, Shattered Starry Sky was seriously guiding him onto the path of a “Hunter” in this world.

From the ‘workers’, it could be inferred that Meteor Street likely had many people with high-level combat abilities. Staying in Meteor Street offered a high probability of coming into contact with “Hunters”.

This meant Qin Lun had to constantly provoke fights within Meteor Street, and because Meteor Street itself was full of violent conflicts, the fights he started couldn’t be small skirmishes; they had to be large-scale brawls, until they attracted the attention of powerful individuals.

For example, he would first need to annex a small violence gang, then slowly grow from a small fish to a big fish, and from a big fish to a shark. When the violence gang he controlled reached a certain size, it would naturally attract the curiosity of some strong figures.

This method was too slow and too dangerous. Of course, there were benefits; Qin Lun could start from the bottom and gradually comprehend the combat system of the Hunter World from increasingly stronger opponents.

But judging from Shattered Starry Sky’s arrangement, this route was a Side Mission. In other words, Shattered Starry Sky did not approve of him taking this path.

The fact that Qin Lun encountered Xiaonan and Xiaoya as soon as he appeared, and then came into contact with the small violence gang led by Gutou, indicated that Shattered Starry Sky was guiding him to become a Meteor Street ‘worker’.

In other words, being a Meteor Street resident was the official identity given to him by Shattered Starry Sky, but the Main Quest wasn’t in Meteor Street; it would formally begin only after he left Meteor Street.

Of course, he could also take an unconventional path and pursue the Side Mission of forcibly annexing violence gangs within Meteor Street. But comparatively, this was laborious and unrewarding, truly contrary to his original purpose for entering the Hunter World.

Due to the lack of information, Qin Lun still didn’t understand why Shattered Starry Sky assigned him the Meteor Street identity tag. However, judging from the two paths currently before him, the choice was obvious.

Thinking of this, Qin Lun’s gaze fell back on Xiaonan and the other. To see Gutou and the others again, he probably needed the two kids to guide the way.

…

“You want to represent our group in the Mafia’s mercenary selection?”

Gutou sat upright on a wooden crate in the warehouse, his broken left arm set with a splint, his face still somewhat pale. He tilted his head, looking at Qin Lun and Xiaonan. Since Xiaonan and Xiaoya were considered to have left this violence gang, for safety reasons, Xiaonan didn’t let Xiaoya come along.

“Yeah, anyway, keeping the selection slot is useless for you. Better to hand it over to me. If I become a mercenary for a Mafia organization, all the living resources they pay will go to you. What do you think?” Qin Lun said with a smile.

“Boss…” Dubi’s shoulder was also wrapped in thick bandages. He looked excitedly at Gutou.

He had personally experienced Qin Lun’s strength and felt the young man indeed had some hope. If it went as agreed, and Qin Lun gave them all the living resources provided by the Mafia, then, in comparison, their minor grievances with the young man could be completely ignored.

This wasn’t just Dubi’s thought; it was the thought of all the violence gang members in the warehouse at that moment. Although they called themselves a violence gang, these people lived below the subsistence level year-round, often risking their lives for a piece of bread or smoked meat. They couldn’t refuse Qin Lun’s suggestion.

Feeling his subordinates’ eager gazes, Gutou sighed inwardly. Whatever Qin Lun’s motives were, he had to agree, and there was little room for negotiation. Theirs wasn’t the only small violence gang in this area that received a selection slot.

“With your strength, even if you aren’t hired by the Mafia, you could leave Meteor Street on your own. Why insist on participating in the selection?” Gutou stared intently at Qin Lun, speaking slowly and deliberately.

Meteor Street was full of trash mountains. Over the years, the peripheral areas were shrouded in toxic dust and storms that ordinary people couldn’t cross. Except for some very powerful individuals, the ordinary residents of Meteor Street couldn’t breach this natural barrier.

This was also the main reason why the Yorbian Continent could isolate Meteor Street, officially declaring it an uninhabited zone.

“That would take too much time. Time is what I lack the most,” Qin Lun shrugged, telling the truth.

“Is it for the two kids, Xiaonan and Xiaoya?” Gutou didn’t believe Qin Lun’s explanation at all. His gaze fell on the skinny Xiaonan, and a thought occurred to him.

Becoming a mercenary for Mafia organizations or other national agencies, besides allowing one to leave Meteor Street and obtain vital living resources, had another very attractive benefit for Meteor Street residents: a special “immigration clause” allowed them to take two “family members” along.

Of course, these two “family members” of the mercenary also needed to meet certain conditions. First, they couldn’t be older than ten. Second, they must not have physical disabilities or infectious diseases.

Being young meant they could still form correct values and integrate into normal society. Having no disabilities or diseases made it easier to find adoptive families. Xiaonan and Xiaoya happened to meet these two conditions, no wonder Gutou misunderstood.

Qin Lun smiled but didn’t explain further. After obtaining the mercenary qualification, casually taking Xiaonan and Xiaoya out of Meteor Street wasn’t impossible.

After experiencing the massacre in Atlantis City, his mindset had changed somewhat. Although he was still cold and ruthless, he didn’t mind lending a hand to people he liked. Xiaonan and Xiaoya fell into that “people he liked” category.

“Alright, I’ll take you there.” Gutou jumped down from the wooden crate and looked at his other companions. “Dubi, while I take him to the ‘Market’, you’re responsible for distributing the food to everyone…”

Qin Lun didn’t pay attention to Gutou’s instructions to his companions. His focus was drawn to the Death Notice, because the moment Gutou agreed, he finally triggered the Guidance Mission.

“Apostle 70053, you have gained the recognition of a local Meteor Street violence gang. Triggered to start this world’s Guidance Mission ‘Leave Meteor Street’.”

“‘Leave Meteor Street’ (Lieutenant Grade): Mission Objective: Leave Meteor Street within three days.”

“Mission Hint: There are two ways to leave Meteor Street within three days. The first is to participate in Meteor Street’s mercenary selection for violence organizations. The second is to obtain the ‘Hunter Exam’ qualification provided by the Meteor Street Council of Elders.”

“Hint: After leaving Meteor Street, the Apostle will receive information regarding the Main Quest. Depending on the mission content, the stay duration might be updated!”

“Guidance Mission Reward: 5000 Shattered Crystal, 200 Exchange Voucher, 5 Contribution Points. Mission Failure: Deduct 40 Soul Lifespan points, with a certain chance of lowering mission evaluation.”

“‘Hunter Exam’ qualification?!” Qin Lun’s pupils contracted, and he fell into deep thought.

“The mercenary selection site is over thirty kilometers from here. We need to set off immediately. As for Xiaonan and Xiaoya, they’ll stay here. Dubi and the others will look after the two kids.” Gutou had already finished instructing the other members of the violence gang. His skeletal face forced a stiff smile. “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine until we return.”

Qin Lun nodded and followed Gutou out of the small warehouse where the violence gang stayed. Gutou’s violence gang had no transportation; they had to walk the thirty-plus kilometers to the mercenary selection grounds.

In fact, even in the whole of Meteor Street, there weren’t many proper means of transportation. Although the trash mountains weren’t short of scrapped cars and metal instruments, Meteor Street didn’t produce energy sources. Even if they were given a new car, there was no gasoline.

“What form does the mercenary selection take? Is it just a test of combat ability?” After they had walked some distance, Qin Lun asked proactively.

“I don’t know.” Gutou hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly. “I’ve never participated in the mercenary selection. I’ve heard from some who have that the selection takes many forms. Some seem to be just a formality, don’t require one-on-one fights, and are entirely handled by specialized personnel sent by the Mafia organizations.”

“Oh.” Qin Lun nodded noncommittally, then feigned indifference and asked, “Does your violence gang have the ‘Hunter Exam’ qualification provided by the Council of Elders?”