Hearing Spant ask if they had official Hunter badges, Shang Jianyao, who had also crowded to the door, revealed an embarrassed expression:
"We do have them..."
Spant, not noticing the implication in his words, immediately interrupted:
"That's good."
Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and gestured for Genava to move aside.
She said to Spant:
"Let's talk inside."
Spant glanced left and right, seeing no movement from the residents on the same floor, and with a flash, entered the "Old Task Force's" suite.
He praised with a smile:
"You're indeed experienced and cautious enough."
"Those who have been Ruins Hunters for several years and haven't died all have this kind of alertness." Jiang Baimian casually brushed it off. "What kind of mission is it, and how much is the reward? You don't need to go into too much detail, just give us a general idea. We can't just agree to anything without knowing anything, right? If we just agreed to you so easily, could you trust us?"
People who choose to participate in a mission without a certain understanding either have a fire under their butts and can't afford to be picky, or they don't care about the mission and are after the employer and other Ruins Hunters.
Spant nodded:
"I understand.
"This mission is actually relatively simple, but there are certain risks.
"We need to go to a place in the nearby mountains, cooperate with the employer's subordinates, and escort a batch of supplies back. We might encounter bandits or people hired by competitors along the way, and it's possible that a battle will occur.
"As for the reward, it's a total of three Great Knight gold coins. Although I'm alone and you have four, this is my mission, and I'm also responsible for contacting the employer and dealing with his subordinates. So, I'll take one, and you'll take two. Is that okay?"
Three Great Knight gold coins for five people? He also has subordinates? The value of these supplies that need to be escorted must be high... Hmm, worried about competitors hiring people to fight in the wilderness but not going through the official channels of the 'White Knights', the possibility of contraband is not small... While Jiang Baimian's thoughts raced, she said with a smile:
"A very reasonable plan.
"Hehe, the reward is indeed quite generous, but if this mission takes several days, it's not so attractive."
The "Old Task Force's" initial plan was to stay in Gesterburg for two weeks to investigate the Eighth Research Institute and Shang Jianyao's father's team. Once it exceeded two weeks without any results, they couldn't continue indefinitely. They would choose to leave and head to Corningmiss again for a new round of exploration.
At that time, they might be able to discover some clues in Corningmiss and promote the investigation in Gesterburg in reverse.
Currently, the "Old Task Force" spends ten Knight silver coins a day on food, drink, accommodation, and electricity, even when being frugal. The reward earned from such a mission is enough for them to stay for two weeks with some left over.
Once they discover some clues about the Bodhi Statue mission and get some bounty, Jiang Baimian and the others won't have to worry about not having enough money to stockpile supplies.
The only problem is that if this mission requires them to leave Gesterburg for several days, it will disrupt their plans, and the cost-effectiveness will become less attractive.
"It'll only take four or five hours round trip." Spant didn't mention that this was with a vehicle.
As the front desk of the hotel, he knew that these four guests came to Gesterburg in a jeep, not by train.
Besides, if they really didn't have a car, they could rent one.
"If we hurry, we might even be able to get back in time for lunch." Shang Jianyao expressed his gratification.
Then, he criticized himself:
"Wait, doesn't that mean we're saving the employer meal expenses?
"Is lunch included?"
"Yes." Spant had seen many stingy Ruins Hunters and wasn't surprised by this at all.
He added with a slightly smug tone:
"I managed to get it for everyone!
"You can only fight and deal with accidents when you're full."
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
"This mission does sound good."
"Your team has a robot, so this mission is a piece of cake." Spant interjected, trying to strengthen the Ruins Hunters' belief in participating.
Jiang Baimian looked at him with a smile and changed the subject:
"But we have other things to do, and we might not be free until the day after tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Hearing this, Spant visibly breathed a sigh of relief:
"No problem. The employer's requirement is to recruit enough manpower within three days.
"Shall we go to the guild to register now?"
"You're still at work." Shang Jianyao sincerely reminded him.
Spant blinked:
"Then we'll wait until evening."
Jiang Baimian agreed and sent the part-time hotel front desk Ruins Hunter away.
"Our Hunter badges all have records. Will it be bad if we take them to register?" Long Yuehong glanced at the closed door and said.
Records of being wanted with a huge bounty.
At that time, the staff of the Hunter Guild and Spant might be frightened.
A team with a bounty of tens of thousands of Ore on their heads, even if they didn't say or do anything, could easily make others tremble, and easily make them automatically conjure up words like "extremely vicious, murderous, capricious" in their minds.
Shang Jianyao replied righteously:
"What does it matter? This is the 'White Knights,' not 'First City.'"
"I'm worried about our identities being exposed, attracting the attention of the 'White Knights' on the surface and the Eighth Research Institute in the dark." Long Yuehong didn't say that perhaps many Ruins Hunters would be driven by greed and want to deal with them.
Because for the "Old Task Force," this would likely equal a windfall.
Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao applauded.
He praised Long Yuehong:
"You've considered everything very comprehensively this time."
He spoke as if he were the leader of the team.
Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and said:
"Let's use our current image to register a new Hunter identity, and then have Old Ge infiltrate the local guild's system, modify our permissions, and help us upgrade to 'Official Hunters' so that we can take on missions later."
"No problem." Genava imitated Shang Jianyao and pounded his chest with a clang.
With this matter settled, the members of the "Old Task Force" sat down again and looked at the information about the Bodhi Statue mission.
After exchanging glances, Bai Chen pursed her lips and said:
"There are no valuable clues."
"There's still a little." Jiang Baimian said with a smile, "For example, everyone who came into contact with that ascetic monk said that he looked unwell and was in poor health. This is consistent with the result of him dying from illness and entering Nirvana."
"Hmm..." Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and then said, "Let's discuss freely and see if we can spark some inspiration."
Shang Jianyao was the first to speak. He said with a serious expression:
"Dying from illness could be a real death from illness, or it could be a death from illness that was disguised."
"The body has already been cremated. The Gesterburg sheriff's assistant who was responsible for handling this matter and the forensic doctor who inspected the scene have been sought out by many Ruins Hunters. They have always said that the deceased had no external injuries, no poisoning, and no signs of homicide." Long Yuehong quoted the information from the documents.
Bai Chen said "Hmm":
"Although there are likely to be one or two Awakened among so many Ruins Hunters, and their words should be true, we still need to confirm it ourselves."
"What I mean is," Shang Jianyao quickly changed his words, "that the ascetic monk did die of illness, but this illness was caused by an Awakened's ability, without any external traces."
At that moment, a word suddenly popped into Long Yuehong's mind:
"Sudden cardiac arrest."
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
"Regardless of the situation, according to the information, that ascetic monk had been ill for some time. Would he have felt that he was not far from death?"
"Hard to say." Shang Jianyao retorted, "Why would a person who is not far from death go to the factory area in the middle of the night?"
The information showed that the results of the on-site investigation were that there were no signs of dragging and no footprints of other people.
"Could it be that he had an appointment with someone there, and that person 'broke the appointment'?" Long Yuehong tried to guess.
"That's a possibility, but no one knows who the deceased went there to see and why. Three years have passed, and there's not a single clue in the information." As Shang Jianyao spoke, he softly chanted a Buddhist mantra, "Namo Anutpāda-anutpāda, another possibility is that the monk, knowing that he was about to die, took the initiative to pay homage to the steel furnace in the factory area, and entered Nirvana in front of the symbol of the World Honored One."
"Very reasonable." Genava felt that this had convinced him.
Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said:
"Let's first assume that this possibility is true. How would a monk who is about to die arrange the Buddhist treasure next to him?"
As a folklorist, she called the Bodhi Statue a Buddhist treasure to show its importance.
"If it were me," Long Yuehong said eagerly, "in the absence of companions, I would hide the Bodhi Statue in a certain place in advance, and then send a telegram to the headquarters to inform them of this matter so that they could retrieve it in time. Well, the result was still lost."
Genava moved his metal-cast neck from side to side:
"If that's the case, the information provided by the employer must include that hidden location. This is a very important clue that can be used to carry out more efficient and targeted investigations."
The reality is that it's not in the data.
"Then I don't understand..." Long Yuehong muttered.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao smiled sinisterly:
"Perhaps the employer is not the ascetic monk's fellow disciple."
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
"Also, why would that ascetic monk come near the Icefield in Gesterburg, where the climate is harsh, when he was in poor health and carrying the Buddhist treasure? Did he think he wouldn't die fast enough, or that the Bodhi Statue wouldn't be easily lost?"