In the days following his return from the Abyss to Crimson No.2, Yan Luo had been busy with branding endorsements.

Four companies confirmed their intentions to collaborate. The combined compensation from these four amounted to eight million, and coupled with the previous collaboration with Bao Han Company, Yan Luo could invest nearly ten million into basic scientific research.

Although Yan Luo's strength was not yet robust, his reputation was large enough that companies were willing to pay such hefty sums to invite him as a spokesperson for their products.

After finishing the endorsement affairs, Yan Luo went to the black market to place a bounty, asking them to help find researchers who use purely technological methods for basic scientific research.

Unexpectedly, the black market quickly found a target for Yan Luo.

To be precise, it was a 'clue'.

They couldn't find a researcher meeting Yan Luo's criteria after searching, but they found a clue that might help Yan Luo find the kind of researcher he wanted.

The 'clue' was a person, an aged individual who had lived from a long-lost era ten years ago.

He had once been the dean of the Physics Academy at Changming University, publicly calling on the scientific community not to abandon purely technological approaches in basic scientific research, not to rely on the Abyss, as that would only make Blue Star a dependency of the Abyss, losing the motivation to eradicate it.

As he had said, nowadays most people considered the existence of the Abyss a norm, even the United Government no longer mentions 'completely eradicating the Abyss'.

In people's eyes, the Hunter had become purely a profession for making money off the Abyss, unrelated to the grand endeavor of eliminating the Abyss.

Thus, even this elderly person no longer advocated for purely technological methods in basic scientific research.

The people from the black market figured that since the elder once did this, he should know some relevant researchers.

After reading the information, Yan Luo decided to pay a visit in person.

The old man currently resides in Changming City. To reach Changming City, one would need to traverse three Abysses if going through the Abyss, and there are no expeditionary towns around Changming City, so you'd have to make your way to Changming City on your own after exiting the third Abyss. In contrast, driving directly would only be a little over a thousand kilometers, taking about two days to arrive.

Without much thought, Yan Luo decided to drive.

The Eastern Territory is different from other places; City-breaking Level Demons appearing in the wilderness are directly annihilated by orbital weapons as soon as they are observed, making it much safer than other regions.

Yan Luo was traveling alone, with no need to protect others. The journey of over a thousand kilometers was not considered dangerous for him, and he didn't even need to carry enough food as mutated creatures and water were everywhere.

Once decided, Yan Luo took action immediately.

He swiftly packed his gear, informed Sasa of his upcoming trip, and left a message for Li Xinyue.

Without waiting for Sasa's reply, he dashed out of Crimson No.2. As he left, even the soldiers at the town's checkpoint were puzzled as to why Yan Luo was setting out.

On the way to Changming City, he would pass through Lingquan City, so Yan Luo thought it would be a good idea to stop by, sending messages to Wang Lingyu and Guo Xu. If time allowed, they could meet and chat about recent events.

By the time Sasa noticed Yan Luo's message, Yan Luo had already driven into the wilderness and disconnected from the network.

On the road from Crimson No.2 to Lingquan City, Yan Luo did not encounter any mutated creatures; perhaps his strength had grown so intimidating that not even demons dared to provoke him, with anything below a lethal-grade mutated creature steering clear.

The plant growth in the wilderness was rapid, and the city's garrison had to burn the surrounding vegetation once a week to prevent these dense plants from providing cover for mutated creatures approaching the city.

Upon Yan Luo's return to Lingquan City, the soldier on duty at the checkpoint happened to be someone he knew.

"Yo, you're finally back, kid!"

"I never thought Yan Luo, you would become so impressive; you've really made a name for yourself."

"Can you really punch out 3.5 tons of force?"

After nearly ten months without seeing each other, the veteran at the checkpoint still treated Yan Luo as before, joking with him.

Yan Luo responded one by one and then said, "I plan to pass through the city to reach Changming City; please seal my weaponry and equipment."

It wasn't impossible to bring weapons and equipment into a city, but they had to be sealed, and the city monitoring system would observe constantly.

If the seals were tampered with, the city monitoring system would be triggered immediately, mobilizing the nearby patrol robots to apprehend the offender.

"You're heading to Changming City?" a veteran with a cigarette in his mouth asked puzzledly, "What do you have to do there?"

"Looking for someone," Yan Luo replied.

It had been a long time since they'd sealed a Hunter's equipment; the soldiers at the checkpoint were a bit rusty, taking a little time to seal Yan Luo's gear, even shutting down the exoskeleton forcibly.

Waving to the soldiers at the checkpoint, Yan Luo drove into the city.

As his personal terminal reconnected to the network, many messages suddenly refreshed.

The first message Yan Luo saw was from Guo Xu, saying that although he would love to meet up with Yan Luo, his coursework was extremely busy, with his entire day filled with classes. His next break was in two days, but by then, Yan Luo should already have left Lingquan City.

Sending Guo Xu a "wish you success in your studies" blessing, Yan Luo then looked at the message from Wang Lingyu.

Compared to Guo Xu, Wang Lingyu's coursework was more relaxed. She had no classes in the afternoon and could meet up with Yan Luo.

After arranging a meeting spot, Yan Luo let the self-driving system take over the motorcycle, heading towards the destination.

Over an hour later, Yan Luo drove into the central area of Lingquan City.

This sector housed Lingquan University, the city hall, the police headquarters, and, most importantly, the fusion reactor.

The meeting place was located in a business building on the periphery of Lingquan University. The lower dozen floors were rented to supermarkets, KTVs, game centers, and restaurants, while the upper floors were leased to students interested in starting businesses.

Yan Luo parked at the building entrance, letting the motorcycle drive itself to the underground parking lot, and walked into the building.

Passersby couldn't help but gape, eyes dull as they looked at Yan Luo.

Seeing him approach, people standing in front of him quickly made way.

They couldn't help it; who wouldn't when Yan Luo was donned in exoskeleton armor?

The students and white-collars who frequented the area had never witnessed such a fully-armed display.

Especially when they saw the red font on Yan Luo's name line on the personal card, they were frightened greatly, hardly noticing his name.

A Hunter? Why would there be a Hunter here?

Yan Luo calmly entered an elevator, causing the couple in the cabin with him to retreat to a corner in fear.

He was tall, and wearing the exoskeleton made him appear intimidating.

After a few seconds, the male half of the couple suddenly exclaimed, "Are you Yan Luo?!"

Yan Luo glanced at him, nodding, "If you mean the recently famous Yan Luo, then yes."

The boy became excited, chirping questions at Yan Luo, "Did you really pioneer a new extraordinary path distinct from the Engraver? I saw on the news you can punch out 3.5 tons. Is that true? Is being a Hunter very lucrative?"

Yan Luo answered each of his questions, "Firstly, I'm not pioneering - just discovering a usable Enhancement Route. Secondly, punching out 3.5 tons is true, though not my full strength. Thirdly, as I stated in interviews, not all Hunters can make money; many risk their lives and earn only slightly more than city white-collars. Whether being a Hunter is lucrative varies from person to person."

As he finished speaking, the elevator doors opened, and those standing outside stopped upon seeing Yan Luo in the lift.

"Make way, please. Thank you."

Yan Luo exited the elevator, the eyes of those outside unable to resist following his path.

"...He's quite polite."

Yan Luo proceeded directly to the location Wang Lingyu had chosen for their meetup, continuously drawing attention along the way, feeling indifferent as ever.

Arriving at a bubble tea shop, Yan Luo checked the location information sent by Wang Lingyu, confirmed it was the place, and pushed the door open.

Expectant Wang Lingyu and Han Shiyi found themselves stunned seeing a muscular man in exoskeleton armor enter the shop.

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