Chapter 137: Cloudmist Basin
At Table No. 3, several men were drinking and joking with the accompanying hostesses. Zhou Ming walked straight up to the table and stated his purpose.
“I need all the intelligence on Cloudmist Basin. How much?”
“Three hundred thousand.”
Hearing that a customer wanted to buy intelligence, the man with dyed golden hair casually quoted a price.
“One hundred thousand. If you’re not willing, someone else will be happy to do this business.”
“Mm……”
Hearing Zhou Ming’s forceful tone, the blond-haired man immediately raised his head to size him up.
However, the moment their gazes collided, he instantly felt an inexplicable palpitation.
The blond-haired man swallowed, realizing that the young man before him was no fledgling, but a Ferocious Beast hiding bloodthirsty fangs.
“Fine. Come with me to get what you want.”
After steadying his mind, the blond-haired man did not continue bargaining. Under his companions’ astonished gazes, he led Zhou Ming toward a room in the corner.
“This is the Cloudmist Basin intelligence you want.”
A book as thick as a finger was placed in front of Zhou Ming by the blond-haired man.
Zhou Ming picked it up and casually flipped through a few pages. Aside from dense blocks of text, there were also many exquisite illustrations printed on the paper.
It seemed that doing intelligence business was not that easy either.
Finding no issues, Zhou Ming directly swiped his card to settle the payment, put the intelligence into his backpack, and left the bar.
With nowhere else to go, after leaving the Hunter Guild, Zhou Ming casually found a quieter café.
The intelligence recording Cloudmist Basin was as thick as a book. It looked like he would not be able to set off in time today.
However, compared to his own safety, Zhou Ming still chose to understand all the intelligence before departing.
Time slowly passed along with the flipping of pages.
When night fell and dazzling neon lights bloomed across the streets, Zhou Ming finally finished reading the intelligence in his hands.
Ferocious Beast species, medicinal material types and their distribution, as well as descriptions of the geographical environment……
It could be said that the situation of Cloudmist Basin was introduced with absolute clarity.
Although he had delayed a day, Zhou Ming did not feel it was wasted at all. Instead, he gained a much clearer understanding of Cloudmist Basin.
Cloudmist Basin was located south of Qinghui Base, with a straight-line distance of three hundred kilometers, covering an area of roughly one hundred kilometers in diameter.
Because the terrain was relatively low, water vapor gathered without dispersing, and it was shrouded in clouds and mist all year round.
Although the environment was complex, a large number of precious medicinal materials and other rare resources grew there, attracting many hunters from nearby bases.
There were even individual major powers that had opened private bases around Cloudmist Basin, or rather, temporary gathering points.
These private bases mainly provided various services for hunters, allowing them to obtain supplies without returning to Alliance bases, and to sell their wilderness gains nearby.
However, private bases were not protected by the Alliance, so naturally there was no law to speak of. Everything relied on the forces behind the private bases to maintain order.
Compared to Alliance bases, private bases were a mixed bag of dragons and snakes. Black-eating-black happened frequently, completely a world where the weak were prey to the strong.
There were even looters who specialized in robbery, as well as wild tribes, living near private bases.
The chaos among them was difficult to describe with words.
Perhaps the upper echelons of the two major powers within Qinghui Base were holding banquets, appearing harmonious on the surface, while privately fighting desperately over control of private bases.
The利益纠纷 involved were not something ordinary people could know.
After finishing his understanding of Cloudmist Basin’s intelligence, Zhou Ming then found a hotel to spend the night.
……
The next day, Zhou Ming, once again dressed in protective gear, had already left Qinghui Base, which was protected by hundred-meter-high city walls.
After leaving the safe zone, Zhou Ming summoned Silver Scale and directly rode at the opponent’s neck.
Silver Scale raised its head high, carrying its master rapidly through the wilderness.
“Silver Scale is still the best. Unlike those two guys, who directly treated me as a mount.”
With the gale brushing past his face, thinking of Inkband and Vermilion Jade, Zhou Ming instantly felt that these two fellows needed some disciplining.
As Qinghui Base disappeared from view behind him, the aura belonging to the wilderness surged toward him.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming also had Silver Scale slow down. Ironthread Snakes surged out beside Zhou Ming like a tide.
Compared to arriving early at Cloudmist Basin, he cared more about his own safety.
With the Radar Sensory Domain constructed by the Ironthread Snake swarm, Zhou Ming could at any time perceive hidden dangers within a five-hundred-meter radius around himself.
Stopping and going along the way, Zhou Ming finally arrived at the forest near Cloudmist Basin on the morning of the third day.
“I didn’t expect a welcoming ceremony as soon as I arrived.”
When the Radar Sensory Domain detected several white points that were completely motionless, Zhou Ming immediately understood that he had become someone else’s prey.
As his words fell, Zhou Ming felt a faint stabbing pain appear between his brows.
He was being targeted by a sniper?
The thought arose, and Zhou Ming instantly used Spiritual Thread to control Silver Scale to swing its head, while his own body pressed tightly against Silver Scale’s body, reducing the area exposed to attack.
“Bang.”
A high-speed rotating bullet grazed Zhou Ming’s body and struck the rock behind him.
“How is that possible?”
Three hundred meters away, the sniper hidden beneath a large tree felt disbelief.
He had fired the moment he aimed at the target. Even if the opponent had keen perception, it should have been extremely difficult to notice the incoming danger.
However, before he could continue aiming, more than ten Ironthread Snakes had already crept over around him.
A sniper who was not a Beast Tamer was completely unable to sense changes in his surroundings through Spiritual Power.
The moment the Ironthread Snakes approached the sniper, they instantly fused into a three-meter-long giant serpent. Its serpent mouth bit into the sniper’s neck, while its body tightly coiled around him.
At the same time, after the sniper’s ambush failed, his companions immediately chose to open fire and summon their own Beasts.
They did not promptly notice the sniper’s situation, believing he could still provide them with support.
After confirming the sniper’s death, Zhou Ming did not continue to evade. He directly drove Silver Scale to charge toward the others.
When he made his move, Inkband, which was adept at concealing its aura, had already been summoned in time.
With Silver Scale acting as frontal bait, Inkband’s covert ambush became even more successful. In less than a few minutes, the looters were dealt with.
There was no need for Zhou Ming to even use the Thunder Type-2 Revolver. As their owners died, the opponents’ Beasts also perished one after another from the backlash of their Spiritual Seeds.
“Before even entering Cloudmist Basin, there’s already so much gain. Truly worthy of being a land of fortune.”
Looking at the corpses dragged over by Silver Scale, Zhou Ming casually joked.
Despite the plentiful harvest, Zhou Ming did not let his guard down in the slightest. Aside from maintaining the Ironthread Snakes forming the Radar Sensory Domain, he recalled the other Ironthread Snakes to devour the Beast corpses.
As for Zhou Ming himself, he crouched down and began rummaging through the spoils.
A moment later, a pile of spoils was laid out before Zhou Ming.
Three Beast corpses had already had their flesh devoured in turn by Zhou Ming’s Ironthread Snakes, leaving only hides, bones, claws, and fangs.
One Roaring Type-2 Sniper Rifle, renowned for precision, mainly targeting humans.
Three Storm Type-1 Assault Rifles, one Vulcan Heavy Machine Gun, and five Black Star Type-2 Pistols.
There were also knives, grenades, and piles of ammunition.
The cash on the five people totaled over ninety thousand. In addition, there were medicinal materials, Ferocious Beast materials, and one first-tier spiritual item, a White Jade Grass.
Seeing the neatly arranged spoils on the ground, four large characters instantly rose in Zhou Ming’s heart.
“Wealth Boys.”