Hunter of Mysterious Creature

Chapter 781 57: Steel Fortress (Part 2)

After passing through the fast entry passage, Sun Hang and his car merged into the slow-moving traffic - the Dragon City military could reserve a fast entry passage for them, but couldn't clear out an empty street once they were in the city.

After slowly following the traffic for two kilometers, Candle Dragon finally seized the chance to turn the car into a small alley.

"Finally here." Candle Dragon sighed in relief as he gripped the steering wheel. Despite his good nature, he felt somewhat irritated after moving at a snail's pace for two kilometers.

But his irritation hadn't accumulated to the point of being considered "negative emotion," so it didn't draw Xue Yue's attention.

"Where are we?" Sun Hang promptly asked.

"Parking lot."

"Are you sure this parking lot has spaces?" Sun Hang suspiciously glanced around the eerily quiet alley, "A prime parking lot this close to the city gate should be already filled, shouldn't it?"

"It's a military parking lot, civilian vehicles are prohibited from parking here." Candle Dragon's words relieved all of Sun Hang's doubts.

No wonder there were two automatic machine guns set up at the entrance of the alley. Sun Hang initially thought it was a feature of Dragon City, but didn't expect the deserted alley to belong to a military restricted area.

The heavy iron gate slowly rose, and Candle Dragon pressed the gas pedal to dash up the slope, where a space enclosed by high walls was filled with various military vehicles, including two tanks covered with rainproof tarps in the corner.

After parking the car, Sun Hang and the others took a box of Fen Jiu and several packs of cigarettes and walked out of the parking lot - it must be said, in Dragon City's terrible traffic situation, walking is much faster than driving.

"With traffic so congested, can't Dragon City's road management department consider widening the roads?" Sun Hang couldn't help but complain, "Although the road outside isn't a main road, it's only two lanes in both directions, comparable to country roads in the suburbs of Tianfu City. If a car breaks down or stops for any reason, won't the road be completely blocked?"

"Dragon City is different from other cities, expanding the urban area is very difficult." Candle Dragon glanced back, where the towering city walls were still clearly visible from two kilometers away, "Don't you notice, Dragon City's suburbs are very clean?"

"Clean... If you mean barren, then yes, it's very clean."

"Dragon City is close to the Hexi Corridor, frequently attacked by supernatural entities, so it built city walls comparable to combat fortresses. All civilian buildings and facilities must be constructed within the walls, and expanding the urban area requires building another circle of walls outside... Over the last forty years, Dragon City has expanded extensively three times but still can't solve the congestion problem," Candle Dragon explained.

"Alright..." Sun Hang sighed somewhat helplessly.

Walking on Dragon City's sidewalk, he occasionally sensed the presence of supernatural entity memetics - if this were in Tianfu or Chunming City, alarms would probably be sounding, but here, ordinary citizens, sheriffs, and soldiers all seemed accustomed to it.

Some highly mutated Hunters walked openly on the streets, Sun Hang even saw a Hunter with a chameleon head suddenly raise his head and shoot out a tongue several dozen meters long, catching a crow flitting above the street and swiftly swallowing the still-struggling prey into his throat, almost as thick as an average person's waist.

Seconds later, the chameleon-headed Hunter's expression changed, and he spat out a metal leg ring corroded and pitted by acid from his mouth.

Seeing the leg ring, his companion immediately grumbled, "Damn, you really have a bad mouth. Just eaten, yet still after flying birds overhead, now you're in trouble, not a wild bird, wait for the owner to come claim compensation!"

"Damn, how was I supposed to know this bird had an owner? I thought nobody would keep a crow, right?" the chameleon-headed guy said in a bizarre voice, "I just wanted to practice my tongue, how could this cause trouble?"

"Even if it were a wild bird, aren't crows protected animals?" Sun Hang muttered quietly.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he spoke, the chameleon head immediately looked towards him.

Despite a thirty-meter distance and the noisy street, the other party heard his whisper, which suggests some special auditory ability.

Sun Hang smiled at the chameleon head, who made no further moves, only glanced at Sun Hang before returning to discuss the crow with his companion.

"Maybe we should hurry and scram, the bird's owner might find us," the chameleon whispered.

"Scram? You're such a big lizard head, the surveillance cameras caught everything, where do you think you're running to?" his companion ridiculed, "Better prepare some money… Honestly, caring for birds isn't my thing, hopefully, this crow isn't some rare breed."

"Ugh… Any spare money? I could borrow some first," the chameleon head hesitated, "I just bought some inhibitors yesterday, all my money's spent, I'll go to the tavern tonight and find a few quick-income jobs, promise to repay you quickly."

"Inhibitors? You lost the batch of inhibitors allocated by the Federation Government?" His companion immediately lowered his voice.

"Didn't lose... I used them all, but now I need more every month, the allocated amount's insufficient." The chameleon head also lowered his voice.

"Since when?" His companion's tone instantly turned serious, "Your infection advanced further?"

"No..."

"Be honest!"

"Just a little bit, it's not a big deal." The chameleon head chuckled, "Might be from the last mission injury, the memetic element inside might have got somewhat stimulated, likely it'll resolve after some time."

"The last mission… because of your injury, others distributed double the rewards to you, over this period you didn't buy any new equipment… Apart from medical expenses, you should have quite a bit left. Did you spend all that money on inhibitors? How advanced is your infection?"

The chameleon head suddenly stepped back two steps, scratched his head, and said, "Cough cough… Can we change the subject? No problem if you can't lend me money, I'll ask Mr. Wu..."

"Stop diverting the topic! If your infection progressed, why not report to the research institute? Forget the Free Hunter Code? Regular checks are due in four days, you won't evade the inspection, will you?" His companion's tone turned more stern.

"I… I'm fine… Trust me…" The chameleon head retreated a few more steps, "We've cooperated so many years, you see my infection's always been stable, right?"

"You devoured that crow, not because of hunger, but because you couldn't suppress the internal urges for killing and bloodlust, right?" His companion pressed on.

"No such thing! You're right, I just have a bad mouth!" The chameleon head scanned around, then locked onto Sun Hang still staring at him.

Their conversation revealed such a dramatic unfolding, making it hard for Sun Hang to withdraw his gaze.

"Candle Dragon." Sun Hang suddenly said, "Wait for me here, I'm going over to take a look."