In Heiyan City, there were several places like the Black and White Bar, but it wasn't the most famous among them. The truly most famous and reputable place was the Evolutionist Association.
The Evolutionist Association claimed to be a civilian organization, but it had countless ties to the government. Under the banner of "serving every evolutionist," they had spread their influence throughout the entire Lin Hua Continent. They were the largest middlemen, earning astonishing wealth by taking commissions.
Su Ze wanted to find a reliable team. Going to the Evolutionist Association would have been more convenient, but he was worried that people from the Zhao Family and the mysterious organization would be watching him there as well. So, after much thought, he chose the less famous but relatively discreet Black and White Bar.
The information on the Black Bar's big screen scrolled by too slowly. Su Ze watched for a long time but couldn't find a suitable team. He went straight to the bartender and asked, "Are there any teams heading deep into the Black Rock Mountain Range recently?"
"There are plenty of those. Ever since everyone stopped buying extracts from Burrowing Mice and Water-Spraying Frogs, there's basically nothing valuable left in the outer parts of the Black Rock Mountain Range. If you want to make any money, you have to go deep inside."
As the saying goes, "if you live near a mountain, you live off the mountain." The Black Rock Mountain Range supported a large number of Heiyan City's evolutionists. They often formed teams to enter the mountains and hunt aberrant beasts. These beasts were treasures from head to toe—their extracts were the most valuable part, and even their corpses could be used as materials for pharmaceuticals.
Sometimes, if you were lucky, you might even find a wondrous object or discover a Spiritual Plant in the mountains. Spiritual Plants were evolved plants and were precious materials for making restorative medicines, even more valuable than typical extracts.
These evolutionists who made a living hunting in the mountains were known as Hunters.
In the Era of Evolution, hunting was a high-risk, high-reward, high-barrier-to-entry profession. Only evolutionists were capable of it.
The bartender handed a tablet to Su Ze. "See for yourself. All the recent missions are on here."
Su Ze took the tablet, applied some filters, and displayed all the missions recruiting for teams heading into the Black Rock Mountain Range. After scrolling for a long time, he found that they were either weaker teams with no intention of going deep into the mountains, or stronger teams with high requirements for new members. Su Ze's Pupa Stage strength didn't meet their entry threshold at all.
'It's not that I haven't considered posting a mission myself to hire some powerful experts to escort me. I certainly have the money. But that would be tantamount to telling everyone, 'Come kill me for my loot!''
The people hired to escort him might end up being the very people who took his life. The desolate mountain wilds of the Black Rock Mountain Range were a perfect place to murder someone and dump the body.
Therefore, the safest plan was still to discreetly join a powerful team, follow them through the most dangerous areas, and then find an opportunity to slip away and head to Luofan Country on his own.
The Black Rock Mountain Range ran from west to east, acting as a natural barrier between the two countries. Su Ze, however, needed to cross this barrier from south to north.
The outer regions of the Black Rock Mountain Range were mostly home to Tier 1 aberrant beasts, which Su Ze felt he could handle. The main problem was the inner regions, where large numbers of Tier 2 aberrant beasts roamed free. If he was unlucky, he might even run into a Tier 3 beast. For any measure of safety, Su Ze needed to find a team composed of several experienced Cocoon Stage experts.
After combing through all the missions, Su Ze couldn't find a single team that fit his needs. The teams he was interested in wouldn't have him, and he wasn't interested in the teams that would.
'Looks like I was too naive…' Su Ze sighed. If all else failed, his only option would be to hire a few evolutionists with good reputations to escort him.
Just as Su Ze was about to return the tablet, a flash of inspiration struck him. He directly searched for missions heading to Luofan Country.
He'd been too fixated on one idea, obsessed with joining a hunting team going into the Black Rock Mountain Range. 'If there's a team going directly to Luofan Country, wouldn't that save a lot of trouble?'
And with that search, he actually found one.
Su Ze carefully read the mission's content and requirements, his eyes lighting up.
It was an escort mission. The objective was to escort a client across the Black Rock Mountain Range to Luofan Country. Furthermore, there were no restrictions on the number or strength of the people who could accept the mission.
In Su Ze's eyes, this mission seemed tailor-made for him—so much so that his first suspicion was that it was a trap, a mission deliberately posted by the Zhao Family or the mysterious organization to lure him out.
However, Su Ze also quickly noticed some unusual things about the mission. It was a new posting from today, and the client wanted to depart early tomorrow morning, which seemed very rushed.
Also, the mission didn't specify any payment, only that it was "negotiable."
Most importantly, the client had clearly stated in the mission details that accepting this task could be life-threatening!
'No restrictions on strength or numbers, and they even explicitly state it could be life-threatening… it feels like they're just recruiting cannon fodder. Besides, everyone knows the dangers of the Black Rock Mountain Range. For the client to add an extra warning about mortal danger means the threat isn't from the mountains, but from the client herself. She's in trouble!'
For a moment, Su Ze hesitated about whether to take the mission. It seemed like an obvious trap, but it also perfectly matched his needs. He could follow a large group all the way to Luofan Country. It would be a shame to miss such an opportunity.
'I should at least check it out. Why overthink it?'
'If I do end up luring out the Zhao Family or the mysterious organization, it's not certain who will be trapping whom…' Su Ze made up his mind. He stood up, paid for his orange juice, and pulled out a few red banknotes as a tip for the bartender before asking him about the escort mission.
The bartender pocketed the red banknotes, his smile deepening the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. "If you're interested in this mission, I can introduce you to the client directly. She's a sincere lady. You can ask her any questions you have, and I'm sure she'll answer them truthfully. But before that, you have to tell me what your expected commission is."
"What's the usual commission for a Pupa Stage evolutionist?" Su Ze wasn't familiar with this, so he asked.
"For the Pupa Stage, depending on strength, the daily commission is generally between five thousand and fifty thousand…"
"I'll ask for ten thousand, then."
The bartender nodded. "That's a reasonable price for a newcomer who's just entered the Pupa Stage. If you're confident in your strength, you could ask for a higher commission."
Su Ze shook his head. "No need. I know my own limits."
Whether it was five thousand or fifty thousand made no difference to Su Ze, but asking for nothing would have been too strange. So he settled on ten thousand, a figure that seemed appropriate for someone who had just entered the Pupa Stage.
If possible, Su Ze would have even been willing to pay the other party fifty million, as long as they could guarantee his safe arrival in Luofan Country.
Judging by Su Ze's age, the bartender also guessed he had just entered the Pupa Stage. He didn't try to persuade him further and instead pointed to a secluded corner of the bar. "You're in luck. The client happens to be right here. I'll take you to meet her."
Su Ze looked toward the table in the corner. Three people were sitting there. Su Ze ignored the man; his gaze fell on the two women across from him.
One of them had delicate features and an elegant demeanor, a gentle and intellectual "big sister" type. The gold-rimmed glasses perched on her small nose added a scholarly air to her look.
The intellectual beauty looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. At seventeen, Su Ze felt it wasn't at all inappropriate for him to call her "big sister."
Next to the intellectual beauty was a woman of about fifty. The moment Su Ze saw her, he knew: she was an expert!
She had an aura similar to Zhang Fantie and that stinky old man. 'Perhaps this is what they call the aura of a master.'
'So this duo is… the big sister and her personal bodyguard?'