Endless Debt

Chapter 1288: Chapter 87: The Dogs_2

Olivia gasped in pain, her body losing strength, half-kneeling on the ground.

Sweat dripped heavily. The fear dissipated, and she immediately grew tense, raising the Short Dagger again, vigilant of her surroundings, but there was nothing in the empty branching path.

Only her alone.

Olivia was momentarily dazed; if not for that chill still lingering in her heart, she might have thought that everything that had just happened was a mere illusion.

Just as she was bewildered, a series of urgent barking came from the street corner. Olivia knew she was out of time. Dark red patterns crawled over her skin and her silhouette dissolved, transforming into a scarlet shadow that vanished into the darkness. When the footsteps drew near, there was nothing left in the area.

The approaching barking grew clearer, and first to emerge was a slightly ferocious hunting dog. Its figure was several times larger than a normal hunting dog, resembling a giant wolf, with needle-like red fur standing on end, emitting an intimidating aura.

It sniffed the spot where Olivia had just been, its throat growled lowly as it opened its densely toothed mouth.

"Quiet, Little Red."

The voice came from behind the hunting dog, and it immediately ceased growling, ears perked up and obediently sat in place.

Hinda walked over, vigorously rubbing the dog’s head, praised, "Little Red is so obedient."

The fierce hunting dog instantly became dazed, sticking out its tongue, nuzzling against Hinda’s hand.

Hinda moved to the front of the hunting dog, squatting down to meticulously examine the ground, when another voice rang out.

"What did it find?"

Kemp wiped the sweat from his forehead, grumbling inwardly — this hunting dog really could run, sprinting so far in one go. If he weren’t a Condenser, he might not have been able to catch up.

"What else could it have found, of course it’s traces of the Night Race."

After checking around, Hinda scratched the dog’s chin, eyes glimmering, "Little Red says she smelled the scent of the Night Race here; the scent is fresh, she was just here before suddenly disappearing."

"Again?"

Kemp complained softly; this hunt had been like this almost every time, the hunting dog found traces but yielded no results.

Hinda analyzed, "As hunters, we must not be impatient. At least we can deduce that this Night Race possesses some sort of displacement ability, and this displacement might closely resemble the power of curvature; otherwise, her movement would at least leave a trail of scent rather than isolated location points scattered throughout the city."

"Alright, alright."

Kemp waved his hand, feeling helpless, but there was nothing he could do — after all, the opponent was a tracking expert.

"What should we do next?" Kemp asked.

"What else can we do? Keep pursuing her," Hinda said rationally, "She will tire eventually."

Hinda suddenly straightened up, whistled loudly, then shouted.

"Charge, dogs!"

In the next moment, the hunting dog dashed out onto the street like a crimson phantom, searching for the scent in a carpet-like manner. More complicated footsteps sounded as one after another hunting dogs emerged from street corner alleys, grouping together and then scattering suddenly, barking continued to ring in the night, and further in the depths of the night, falcons silently swooped past the buildings.

"Sixth Group, move quicker," Hinda urged.

"I know, I know."

Kemp responded helplessly, quickly following Hinda onto the street. He hated working overtime at night even more, and working with unfamiliar people.

"Fifth Group, Heart-Hunting Bow."

Kemp muttered inwardly; this was Hinda’s team, similar to the Eighth Group, Disaster Warning Team, the Fifth Group also held little presence within the Order Bureau, but the thin presence wasn’t because of special functions but rather because everyone in this task force was somewhat... peculiar.

"Like hunters of the old era, responsible for tracking and hunting..."

Kemp continued to recall information regarding the Fifth Group, about their functions, it could be said the Fifth Group members were bounty hunters, positioned outside the Order Bureau, hunting those enemies who were ’wanted’.

If it were only this, the Fifth Group seemed relatively normal; other task forces would accept hunting missions when necessary, it wasn’t a big deal.

What truly made the Fifth Group quite unconventional was that they weren’t much interested in strengthening the Alchemy Matrix of their own; more often, they would cultivate and rear alchemical creatures for combat.

A group of Hunters, Beast Tamers.

While Kemp was thinking this, a sound of wings flapping rose, and he felt a weight on his shoulder, turning around to see a green parrot perched upon it.

"Hello! Hello!"

The parrot loudly squawked at Kemp, fortunate that Kemp had grown accustomed and didn’t immediately shove the fellow away.

"Hello, Little Green," Hinda turned back, greeting the parrot.

Kemp couldn’t help but ask, "Little Green, are all your names so casual?"

"I think it’s fine, simple and clear, is there a problem?" Hinda also said, "Sometimes, lengthy names can be quite troublesome."

"For example?"

"For instance, if you tell it to bite the enemy, the enemy might have escaped before you finish calling the name."

Hinda continued, "There is actually such a case; a member of our team once named his hunting dog Respidius Reminiano..."

The voice paused, Hinda added, "No wait, maybe it was Coré..."

"Enough, don’t recite!" Kemp quickly interrupted.

"Anyway, during an action, he barely got to ’Remi’ before the enemy got away. Since then, we’ve had a rule in our team that names shouldn’t exceed a certain length."

Kemp grumbled, "Crazy, isn’t it!"

...

Scarlet shadow quickly disappeared from his vision, schools of fish returned from the shadows and re-submerged in the darkness beneath the Astronaut’s shadow; the Astronaut sighed helplessly, he was a focused person, not fond of being interrupted while working.

The Astronaut slowly lowered his arms, turning to look at the one interrupting him.

"Leviathan."

He directly called out the Astronaut’s real name, "You shouldn’t be here."

A peculiar laugh came from under the golden mask; mirrored on the surface was the ridiculous posture of the comer — a complete puppet cat outfit.

The Astronaut directly asked, "Are you just off work from the amusement park, Sai Zong?"

"What are you here for?" Sai Zong’s words were filled with vigilance and threat.

"I..."

The Astronaut paused, then said, "I came for you."

The school of fish emerged once more, swiftly swimming around the Astronaut and Sai Zong until forming a black storm that overshadowed all light.

Dissipate.

When the fish dispersed, and light reappeared, the Astronaut returned to the entrance of the Undying Club, only this time with Sai Zong alongside him.

"To be precise, I came for Samuel."

The Astronaut looked at the sequestering door, his voice filled with nostalgia, as if missing a blood-related brother.

"What exactly do you want?"

This time, Sai Zong’s voice was utterly cold; it seemed that if the Astronaut couldn’t give him a satisfactory answer, Sai Zong would not hesitate to resort to violence here.

The Astronaut said, "Instead of this, don’t you plan to invite me in for a chat?"

"Are you sure?" Sai Zong felt like he’d heard a joke, "That’s my... our territory."

"Consider it a gesture for friendly negotiation, how about it?"

The Astronaut said as he raised both hands, appearing as if surrendering.

"I want to chat with you, with Samuel, regarding the impending conflict..."

"We’re not interested in conflict!"

Sai Zong angrily interrupted the Astronaut, and momentarily, fire seemed to ignite within him; his puppet costume instantly turned to ashes revealing the frightening body beneath filled with scars and burns.

"Since conflict is off the table, how about an alternative?"

The Astronaut pondered, proposing.

"Eternal... tranquility?"