57: Chapter 57: The Ten Million Dollar Designated Reward 57: Chapter 57: The Ten Million Dollar Designated Reward Since he could move freely, Li Ming no longer needed to stay in the City Defense Building and took the opportunity to visit home after a long time.
When he knocked on the door of Yang’s old shop, Yang Yu came running out excitedly, hugging him tightly, her soft chest constantly pressing against him.
Old Yang stood inside the shop, also seemingly relieved.
“Uh…” Li Ming hesitated for a moment.
Yang Peng didn’t come along, did he?
“What is the knife in your hand for?” he asked.
“It’s of course for protecting Grandpa…” Yang Yu hurriedly let go and took several steps back.
Due to the disturbance this morning, she was too nervous; seeing Li Ming, she became too excited and lost her composure.
“If any bad guys break in, I’ll chop them to death,” Yang Yu shifted the subject, swishing the kitchen knife in her hand, making a swishing sound.
“At least you have the conscience to come back and check on us.
That punk didn’t even make a call.” Old Yang grunted displeasedly.
“Uncle Yang, he…” Li Ming, remembering Yang Peng’s “threat,” urgently spoke, “He’s too busy to help it.”
Don’t make excuses for him!” Old Yang became even angrier, repeatedly tapping his cane, “You ask him if his father’s last name is Yang or Qin!”
Li Ming grinned wryly, and then, Yang Yu said, “Oh right, you haven’t been back these past few days.
Two days ago, a guy named Yu Zhili came to your house, said to let you move out, he seemed to be the person who bought your house.”
Yang Yu complained discontentedly, “He acts so superior; it’s not like we won’t move, what’s the rush?
We still have several days according to the contract.”
“I get it,” Li Ming nodded, not saying much.
Back at home, Li Ming lay on his bed, opened his smart terminal, and logged onto the Black Hole Network; his bounty had been deposited, and his balance reached 900,000.
There were a few message notifications–
The first was congratulating him on his upgrade to a two-star Bounty Hunter, allowing him to accept higher-level missions.
The second was a reminder that the referral bonus channel had been closed, intentionally done by the Lame Uncle.
The third was from Lame Uncle–
“What the hell did you do!?”
This one line was enough to prove Lame Uncle’s astonishment.
“Killed someone,” Li Ming typed back casually.
With 900,000 Star Coins, if he bought metal materials, along with his remaining metal energy, the total amount should reach about 10,000, enough to upgrade a certain powerful Controlled Object to D level.
Having made up his mind, Li Ming started looking for suitable alloy materials; he still wanted to buy Zircon Crystal Alloy, which was relatively cost-effective.
At this quantity level, if he were to blindly try other alloys, it would be fine if he profited, but if he lost, it would be painful.
When he had the time, he’d buy a few samples and test them individually.
However, 900,000 Star Coins could only buy about 8 tons, and he still needed nearly 80,000 Star Coins for shipping, costing him a large chunk.
“This is damn black…” He cursed, then placed the order, this time not using Giant Shield Company; otherwise, he’d have to pay extra.
He could now move freely and go outside the city to collect the goods, which wasn’t a big problem.
The delivery time was set for 48 hours later, longer than before, probably because the volume was large, requiring time for both transportation and sourcing.
After handling this matter, Li Ming pondered that his development progress had reached 94%, soon reaching 100%.
The E-level gene seed was now within sight, and he couldn’t help thinking about it.
He could either go kill those Bounty Hunters one by one, needing another ten to twenty kills, or go find that group of Bounty Hunters who had attacked the City Defense Building.
Just now, when Li Ming scoured the bounty section of Silver Grey Star, he saw a posting about that group of Bounty Hunters, offering a bounty of 100,000 Star Coins.
It had been posted a few hours ago, and still no movements; those people were very experienced and wouldn’t be found easily in a short period.
“Almost forgot, Lame Uncle might know something, Blue Star Civilization, these few star systems aren’t that large…” Li Ming’s thoughts stirred, and he quickly made a contact–
“Lame Uncle, do you recognize this guy?” Li Ming transmitted a photo, taken by someone when the person had been unmasked; now every staff member at the city department had a copy.
Still no response, he could only wait.
Towards the late night, Lame Uncle finally replied, “Don’t know the person, but I recognize the gloves, he must be wearing a Mimic Mask.”
“Du Huo–is the captain of a Bounty Hunters squad, a D-grade Life Form, did you offend him?”
“I need to find him for something, are you close to him?”
“We’re not close friends, but someone I once saved is now in his squad.”
Li Ming’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, “Who?
Could you give me their contact information?”
“What do you want to do?” the cripple asked again, “Did you previously kill an E-grade Life Form?”
Li Ming thought for a moment, then replied, “Shot with a sniper.”
“Your dad’s sniper rifle?” The cripple fell silent for a while, then said, “I can’t give you the contact information, but seeing as you paid those hundred thousand Star Coins, at most I’ll find out what she’s currently doing.”
Li Ming replied, “Okay, thank you, sir.
Besides, about the split, it’s rightfully due, don’t worry about it.”
Li Ming himself hadn’t put much importance on the hundred thousand Star Coins that were split off; the cripple had mentioned it before, and he had accepted it.
“Clever kid, you have a way with winning people over, but I don’t owe favors.” Located in a narrow cabin somewhere, the cripple laughed, opening another interface, “Little Su, on Silver Grey Star?”
“…their squad took on a designated bounty from Star Creation Company, ten million Star Coins, to steal something from the City Defense Building…”
“That’s all I can say.
If I hadn’t saved her life, she wouldn’t have told me.”
“Thanks, Uncle Cripple.” Li Ming tapped three characters, closed the smart terminal, and gathered his thoughts.
The other party’s purpose wasn’t to kill but rather to scare Qin Xiao and the others away, then break into the City Defense Building to steal something.
Commissioned by Star Creation Company, Li Ming realized that the stolen item must be very important, considering Qin Xiao’s fury and the upcoming arrival of the Interstellar Inspection Team…
“Some kind of evidence perhaps…” Li Ming pondered, suddenly having an idea, “If that’s the case, maybe I could try…”
“Old Qin, what exactly did you lose that’s causing all this commotion, all secretive, and you won’t even say.” The fat man’s huge head filled the entire virtual screen.
“Some personal collectibles,” Qin Xiao responded indifferently.
The fat man persisted, “What collectibles are so important that you’re making such a fuss?”
“It’s none of your business.
The Sixth Patrol Fleet is arriving soon, prepare yourself for that,” Qin Xiao ended the virtual screen, his usually indifferent expression suddenly clouded over.
“What exactly is it…”
Several figures appeared in mind, but all were hard to pinpoint.
The desktop terminal rang again, revealing the secretary’s delicate face, “Minister, Li Ming wishes to see you.”
“Him?” Qin Xiao frowned, his impression of the young man was not bad, but he wasn’t interested in seeing anyone at the moment.
However, the secretary immediately added, “He says he has important information about the Bounty Hunters you encountered today.”
Qin Xiao’s expression changed immediately, welcoming him, “Let him in then.”
A moment later, the door was knocked, and Li Ming pushed it open and walked in.
Qin Xiao still wore his characteristic smile, extending his hand, “Come in, have a seat.”
“You’ve had a long day, and you’re here so late at the department, young people really do have abundant energy.” He poured himself a cup of tea-colored drink and poured one for Li Ming too.
“Serving citizens, it’s not hard,” Li Ming shook his head.
“You’re quite something…” Qin Xiao chuckled, “I heard that today’s sniper was taken down by you?”
“Yes, but it’s a pity I almost managed to stop that guy…
and let Lieutenant Feng Ke survive,” Li Ming sighed.
Qin Xiao glanced at Li Ming, momentarily unable to tell whether the young man was sincere or pretending.
“You said you have important information?” he got straight to the point.