Chapter 125: Yang Yi’s Father
Zhou Ming, having put his contact lenses back on, saw Yang Yi rushing over with more than a dozen fully armed hunters in response to his shout.
“Big Brother, are you alright?”
Seeing the corpse at Zhou Ming’s feet, Yang Yi hurried forward and asked with concern.
“I’m fine. These people were sent by your father?”
Zhou Ming briefly reassured Yang Yi and casually slipped the Ironthread Hand on the other’s arm into his own sleeve.
At the side, a burly man with a powerful build, dark complexion, and night-vision goggles stared intently at Zhou Ming’s actions.
The gaze hidden beneath the night-vision goggles continuously sized Zhou Ming up.
The squad that had been hunting down the young master was something the burly man had learned about in advance from Blood Tiger’s mouth—it was none other than the infamous Poison Sting Squad active in the wilderness near Qinshan Base.
They were not registered with the Hunter Guild and specialized in doing shady, unseen jobs, enjoying quite a reputation in the darker circles.
“Yes. This is Uncle Yang, an elder in our family. He was taken in by my grandfather when he was young.”
In response to Zhou Ming’s question, Yang Yi directly revealed the background of the burly man beside him, concealing nothing from Zhou Ming.
“Yang Tie, Head of Security of Yang’s Paper Industry Group.”
Hearing Yang Yi introduce him, the burly man took the initiative to step forward and extend his hand to introduce himself to Zhou Ming.
“Zhou Ming, a Black Iron Hunter of the Hunter Guild.”
This time, Zhou Ming did not hide his information. Given what he had already revealed earlier, Yang’s Paper Industry could easily investigate him, so there was no point in doing something meaningless.
“Yang Yi should have told you about the payment he offered, right?”
Zhou Ming’s decision to save Yang Yi was not out of kindness. What truly moved him was that half tube of Star-glow Spirit Liquid.
Although Yang Yi had performed well, Zhou Ming would not reduce the payment because of that.
“This…”
As payment, Yang Tie had already learned about the Star-glow Spirit Liquid from the young master, but he could not make the decision himself, as it involved a third-tier spiritual item.
However, Zhou Ming’s strength was clearly extraordinary. Just by looking at the traces left behind by the grenade explosions, Yang Tie knew the other party was no ordinary hunter and could not be easily brushed off.
Moreover, this concerned the credibility of Yang’s Paper Industry. If handled poorly, it would be difficult to seek outside assistance in the future.
“Big Brother Zhou, don’t worry. I will definitely fulfill what I promised you.”
At this moment, the benefits of Zhou Ming’s guidance of Yang Yi became evident. Having understood the meaning of the word “maturity,” he now carried greater responsibility and no longer showed his former weakness.
Hearing Yang Yi’s firm response, Yang Tie was also somewhat surprised by the young master’s change.
However, since the young master had already spoken, Yang Tie naturally did not hesitate further and immediately nodded in agreement.
“The young master’s promise is the promise of Yang’s Paper Industry.”
“That’s good. I like people who keep their promises.”
Zhou Ming glanced at Yang Tie with a somewhat inscrutable look, then revealed a friendly smile.
Yang’s Paper Industry’s rescue team had already arrived, and the Poison Sting Squad had been completely wiped out, so Zhou Ming did not continue returning to Qinshan Base with them.
Although he had completed the task, aside from the privately agreed reward from the Yang family, Zhou Ming did not intend to return to the Hunter Guild to submit the mission.
Yang’s Paper Industry held a certain status within Qinshan Base. Yang Yi’s matter was being watched by many forces, and Zhou Ming did not want to draw too much attention to himself.
At the same time, he did not want Yang’s Paper Industry’s rivals to learn his information and provoke retaliation.
Therefore, in order to make up for the loss of the ten-million bounty, Zhou Ming planned to remain in Ghost Cavern Ridge and gather some valuable resources.
……
As night fell, Yang Tie escorted Yang Yi safely back to Qinshan Base.
Inside the villa of the Yang Family, a loud slap echoed from Yang Yong’s study.
“Do you know how much the family lost because of your childishness? Your Uncle Yong and your cousin both died because of you.”
“I know. I will avenge them. I will personally kill the one behind it all and use his head to offer sacrifices to Uncle Yong and my cousin.”
Yang Yi’s youthful face had already been marked with a red handprint from his father’s slap.
However, unlike before, Yang Yi did not lower his head. Instead, he met his father’s gaze directly and spoke his promise.
“You have that kind of guts?”
Seeing his son’s reaction, so different from usual, a trace of surprise flashed through Yang Yong’s sharp eyes, followed by a mocking tone as he questioned Yang Yi.
“Yes. I killed three people in the underground karst cave. The mastermind who hindered our Yang Family’s development—I will also use the gun in my hands to avenge Uncle Yong and my cousin.”
“Hm, you can even kill people now.”
Hearing this, Yang Yong was extremely shocked—not because he was worried about his son killing people, but because he was shocked by his son’s transformation.
“Tell me exactly what happened to you in Ghost Cavern Ridge.”
Yang Yong immediately guessed that Yang Yi’s change must have had a reason.
Yang Yi then recounted in detail his encounter with Zhou Ming and what had happened in the underground karst cave.
“Well taught indeed.”
After hearing Zhou Ming’s guidance of Yang Yi, Yang Yong praised repeatedly, without feeling at all that Zhou Ming had led his son astray.
For major forces like theirs, what they wanted were decisive and resolute successors to inherit the power.
“Since you’ve already made the promise, then give that little brother the one hundred million and the Star-glow Spirit Liquid.”
“Yang Tie, see to this matter properly. Also, seal off any information about Zhou Ming. Don’t cause trouble for him.”
Knowing that Zhou Ming did not plan to go to the Hunter Guild to submit the mission and claim the bounty, Yang Yong also guessed his intentions and proactively helped clean up after him.
“President Yang, please rest assured. I will personally handle it.”
“Oh, right.”
Just as Yang Tie was about to leave, Yang Yong suddenly spoke and stopped him.
“Withdraw one hundred million from the company account and give it as a reward to those who participated in this rescue. For any casualties, provide compensation as usual.”
Compared to his own father, Yang Yong acted with exceptional generosity, knowing that some money simply could not be saved.
“Thank you, President Yang.”
Hearing this, Yang Tie finally let out a sigh of relief. This way, he also had an explanation for the people below.
……
Half a month later, Zhou Ming—looking as if he had escaped from a tribe of savages—returned to Qinshan Base with the resources he had collected on his back.
This trip had yielded abundant gains, and Zhou Ming had also taken the opportunity to replenish the number of Ironthread Snakes in the wilderness.
With an insider leading the way, searching for Ironthread Snakes had become much easier, and the Ironthread Snake swarm had grown to over nine hundred.
The only shortcoming was that the newly implanted Ironthread Snakes with Spiritual Seeds were still somewhat inferior in quality compared to those Zhou Ming had nurtured for over a year.
However, they were already sufficient for constructing the Radar Sensory Domain and serving as cannon fodder.
Upon returning to Qinshan Base, Zhou Ming went to the Hunter Guild and directly handed over his resources to the long-term resource acquisition mission.
In the end, aside from Yang Yi’s payment, Zhou Ming additionally obtained 3.72 million Alliance Coins and 372 contribution points.
As for the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard, Zhou Ming had no intention of easily handing it over yet.
Aside from using its flesh and blood for Inkband and Vermilion Jade, the Phantasmal Scale Snake Lizard’s scales were extremely valuable, and Zhou Ming wanted to maximize their use.
After submitting the mission, Zhou Ming finally headed back to his residence.
After living in the wilderness for half a month and experiencing life-and-death battles in the underground karst cave, he wanted to have a proper rest.