Because the tree's roots were exposed, they had to be reinserted into the ground every time the Devil Tree moved to maintain balance, or else it risked being blown over by a strong wind.

Red Ghost clearly found the child's story somewhat boring, yawned softly, turned her delicate body, and jumped into the Mecha to bask in the afternoon sun. She wasn't particularly fond of the sunlight as it could affect her skin, but as a warrior, the current Red Ghost didn't seem to care much about skin issues anymore.

Kevin also thought the child's story was too boring. "What's even the point?" He thought to himself. When someone asked for a reason, the boy had run off on a tangent with his stories. Without hesitation, Kevin watched Red Ghost walk away and left the child with a mischievous smile before turning to leave.

Only Xixi took the story quite seriously, being a thoughtful and patient girl among the group.

Xiu Yi also seemed unable to bear listening any longer and interrupted, "Little guy, can we get to the point now?"

Darwinist realized he had gotten carried away in his storytelling. He continued, saying it was his first and last visit to the Devil Forest, a place filled with somber shadows. Contrary to the terrifying stories people told, the Devil Tree actually looked somewhat adorable and gave off a silly, dazed, and cute impression.

However, as a wildfire consumed the forest, the poor Devil Tree also vanished from this world forever.

Along with the fire, the wicked Looters arrived on Lapu Lapu Planet aboard their dark space vessels, disturbing the once peaceful region.

Lapu Lapu Planet didn't have many people, just 1500 households total, over decades of population growth. However, the Looters had guns. Initially, Darwinist did not know what guns were until he saw his parents fall in a pool of blood and watched the Looters wreak havoc in the village, burning, killing, and looting. Only then did he fully realize what was happening around him.

His relatives and friends never rose again. Darwinist survived only because an old bachelor living next door saved him, covering his mouth to keep him quiet; he almost passed out from the fright.

Thanks to that, Darwinist barely escaped with his life, with only a few dozen villagers remaining.

Among those few were experts in mechanical and electrical fields. Using existing farm tools and through repeated trials, they eventually simulated a receiver similar to the Star Domain Broadcast, functioning over extremely long distances.

After a long wait, they were finally rescued by a spaceship passing Lapu Lapu Planet, which picked up their signal.

However, Lapu Lapu Planet was Darwinist's homeland, and he much preferred staying there than anywhere else.

Surviving alone on a deserted planet was challenging, especially for a child younger than 10. From then on, Darwinist harbored the idea of becoming a bounty hunter, seeking revenge for his parents, challenging evil, and punishing the Looters.

After much traveling, Darwinist finally reached Mardis, the true ancestral land belonging to Vafidia—at least, it was his parents' homeland. But upon his true return to Mardis, the parents who spoke daily of returning there, other relatives, and even age-mates who wanted to see the outside world, all stayed behind on Lapu Lapu Planet.

His memories, his peers, everything about him perished under the Looters' relentless devastation—not even the Devil Tree was spared. This remained an indelible shadow and an unresolved conflict in Darwinist's heart.

Regrettably, he was still too young and not strong enough. Far from avenging anyone, he couldn't even find companions for exploration. After all, at just 11 years old, most children his age were still in elementary or middle school, while he struggled daily with basic necessities.

Due to the particularity of Mardis, relief supplies were extremely limited and he could not find a job. In fact, the war-torn region had no factories at all, and Darwinist had to scrape by through theft or scavenging.

Fortunately, the war had just ended, and the Bounty Tribe promptly founded several branches in the locality, distributing a great amount of aid to the local people for free, enabling him to lead a normal life.

"Good seeds need to be nurtured from childhood" was also a slogan of the Bounty Tribe. For this reason, over the past half year, he had become an apprentice hunter under the Bounty Tribe.

An apprentice hunter was essentially the lowest rank among hunters, nominally called apprentices, but actually just ordinary people.

After continuous effort, you might upgrade from apprentice to prospective hunter. At this stage, one's physical qualities were no longer comparable to ordinary people. Burst strength and the basic qualities of combat and running would surpass ordinary people by a notch, somewhat similar to the untreated New Humans.

Above the apprentice level, the real Rank 3 was the next step. The power at the Rank 3 stage was even beyond that of special forces. Ordinary people could hardly reach this height and once someone truly reached the Rank 3 hunter standard, they could almost earn a respected position within the Bounty Tribe, although each branch didn't have many Rank 3 hunters.

According to this classification, going further up would be Rank 2, prospective Rank 1, Rank 1, and above Rank 1. However, such cases were only seen in textbooks like mythological battles. In reality, even an entire nation could hardly produce a warrior at the above Rank 1 stage. Such level warriors were considered national treasures and often performed exceptionally demanding missions that ordinary people would find extremely difficult.

For instance, Bergheide's Soaring Sword Dragon and the Federation's Sky Shadow; it was rumored that Saudi's Kexiao might also be at the above Rank 1 stage.

Compared to these big shots, they were clearly nothing, but people at the bottom had their own lifestyle—now, as an apprentice hunter, Darwinist performed relatively simple tasks every day. Although his income was limited and not enough for a moderate lifestyle, he could afford new clothes and a house rental. If frugal, he could even save a bit of money.

Today, Darwinist's task was to clean a courtyard for an old lady. It was said that her little dog had gone missing, and if he was lucky enough to spot or find it on the way, he would get extra pay.

Cleaning the courtyard was very simple, just sweeping the floor, tidying up flowers and trees, and other menial tasks, tasks Xiu Yi had often done before.

Seeing Darwinist, Xiu Yi saw a reflection of himself from many years ago; he didn't know since when, but it was more than a year ago that he had become a prospective Rank 3 and no longer needed to compete for business with these still struggling, unsupported individuals.

As team leader, Xiu Yi certainly had the privilege of inviting Darwinist to join the team. He still smiled and patted his shoulder, "You're young, and I believe through effort you will find your own team. Of course, if by the time you reach that stage you still have no teammates, I will actively invite you to join."

Darwinist could hardly believe his ears; all he needed was just a glimmer of hope, "Really?"

"Hehe, we can exchange Heavenly Communication numbers." Xiu Yi remembered that an apprentice hunter was actually not qualified to use Thunderclap devices, but he just smiled bitterly inside, perhaps in the near future, Darwinist would change his mind. Being so young and spirited, he was a prime candidate for intensive cultivation by the Bounty Tribe.

Xiu Yi continued, "I look forward to the day you become a real hunter; this is my Heavenly Communication."

After rapidly noting down the Heavenly Communication, Xiu Yi changed his tone, speaking more seriously, "Go and carry out your mission, the Bounty Tribe's future bounty hunter."

Yes, it was also time for him to pick up the task for Satellite 8.

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