Astral Apostle

   Chapter 62 Imperial Hunter and Undercurrent

   "Jace and Rosen... come with me."

   Cole had no doubts about him, and brought the two of them into the station, leading the way ahead.

   Zhou Jing looked left and right to observe the situation in the station. The facility with the most number on the road was the training ground. There were hunters guiding batches of Maotou boys to exercise, shouting and shouting.

  These teenagers wore uniform simple leather armor, the youngest was eight or nine years old, and the oldest seemed to be no more than fourteen years old.

   Cole saw Zhou Jing noticed these children and introduced:

"They are apprentices who haven't received alien blood enhancement. When they complete the basic course and their bodies grow to their peak state, they will use alien blood potions. Those who survive will become preparatory imperial hunters, and they will complete their lives under the leadership of the old hunters. first hunt."

   "Where did these children find them? If the reinforcement fails, is it okay to die?" Zhou Jing asked.

"Some are children sent by expatriate imperial hunters, some are teenagers found in the countryside, and some young people who have applied to become hunters... Among them are blood relatives sent by various tribes." Cole said casually: "When Hunters are inherently risky, and a group of people will die every year, depending on luck."

   said, he turned to look at Zhou Jing and said:

   "You used to be a free hunter. After you officially enlist in the army, you can also take the imperial hunter course."

   Zhou Jing nodded, mainly because of this. Joining the Empire Hunter is much more efficient than asking for advice everywhere.

   The two walked while chatting, and soon came to the archives of the station, taking into account the role of enlistment registration.

   "Can you write? If you can't, you can dictate my records." Cole asked someone to take out a blank booklet and put it on the table.

   Zhou Jing took a look at it. The above is a simple table format, and the information needs to be filled in, which includes information such as his own origin, past hunting records, weapon proficiency, the number of abnormal blood enhancements, and enhancement tendencies.

   He picked up a pen and filled it out by himself. During this time, he walked out of Baiyuan City and learned more about the customs of the Terra Empire. At this time, it was easy to compile it, and he also filled in the information for Ross.

The hunter records naturally do not write about the experience of Baiyuan City. While Zhou Jing opened the map in the past two months, he deliberately stopped in several towns and left the hunter records of "Jess and Rosen" in various hunter taverns. He also participated in it easily. After a few simple beast crusades, real records were left... Although people may not send people to investigate on the spot.

   Cole took the information of the two and looked at it carefully, and then looked at Zhou Jing with some surprises: "Did you strengthen it twice?"

   "Not like it?"

   "That's not... Most of the free hunters who enlisted in the army were strengthened for the first time, and it was rare to see the second strengthening to join actively. They are considered elites in the group of imperial hunters." Cole paid a little attention to Zhou Jing.

   Zhou Jing was curious: "How many people in the Empire Hunters have various levels of strength? Who is the strongest?"

   Hearing this, Cole didn't mean to hide it. After all, it was information that many imperial hunters knew:

   "Currently, the highest number of Empire Hunters has been strengthened five times, there are two, one of them is the Chief Hunter of the Empire and is also the current Commander of the Empire Hunter.

   There are twelve or three hunters who have been strengthened four times, some of them are in the station, and the others are sent out. There are fifty or sixty people in the three reinforcements, which are the backbone, and generally lead a hunter team. The second enhancement is the elite among hunters and the main force for crusade against alien beasts, and the first enhancement is the most, there should be more than 1,000 people. "

   Zhou Jing blinked.

   always felt that the size of the imperial hunter... was smaller than he imagined.

   But when he thought about it carefully, the population of the alien world was not that huge. The standing army of the Terra Empire seemed to be only tens of thousands. The proportion of imperial hunters with extraordinary combat power in the military force was already very high.

Moreover, most of the members of the imperial hunters are sent to various places to maintain the security of the towns. The high battle losses are high all the year round, and there are additional casualties due to failures in strengthening. To be less, dozens or hundreds of hunters die every year, which can accumulate to the current scale. It's not easy anymore.

Although the number of    is limited, the combat effectiveness is terrifying.

   A blood warrior can fight against an army of dozens or hundreds of people, just like a super soldier. And one or two thousand super soldiers... On the battlefield of cold weapons, I am afraid it is the gods who block and kill the gods and Buddhas, and they can also destroy the standing army of the tens of thousands of people.

  ‘If such a huge group of extraordinary powers unite, wouldn’t it be a matter of minutes to overthrow the Terra Empire? ' Zhou Jing was speechless.

   He suddenly discovered that the rule of the Terra Empire seemed to be stable, but it was actually sitting in the crater, ready to be burnt through by the magma spewing out from under his butt.

It can only be said that, fortunately, the ancient ideological traditions of the tribal era are still in play. Most hunters have high moral standards and like to hack. They only want to crusade alien beasts to protect the people, otherwise it would have become a troubled world... Terra is still It is enough to pull, in fact, it is impossible to control the hunter group at all, and most of them rely on self-consciousness.

   Thoughts ran through his mind, but Zhou Jing didn't show it on his face. He changed the subject and asked:

   "By the way, how about the imperial hunter's workshop, I have always heard that it is the highest level, but I haven't seen it before."

Cole nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, the Imperial Hunters have the largest workshop in the country, and the craftsmen in it are all elites, including master-level pharmacists and blacksmiths, who study various new craftsman techniques and new Alien blood medicine formula, the latest results are given priority to supply to us."

   Zhou Jing smiled: "That's great, I've always wanted to do the third blood enhancement, but I haven't come across a suitable potion. I hope there's something to be gained here."

   "...Are you going to do three enhancements?"

   Cole's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had heard that the student was going to take the Ph.D.

   Even the imperial hunters with the best supply of resources, only a small number of people are willing to risk sudden death to continue to strengthen the alien blood.

   Every time I gamble my life, I give my life to the illusory luck. Once or twice, it is fine. After winning a few times, I will not consciously fear the tail. Not everyone has this kind of courage.

   Those who dare to continue to strengthen, or have a firm mentality and are brave and diligent

  …or a gambler.

   Cole is a hunter who has been strengthened for the second time. He dare not continue to strengthen it. At this time, he can't help but admire Zhou Jing a little. For those who dare to continue on the road of different blood, no matter whether they succeed or fail in the end, the hunter treats them differently.

The    identity registration went smoothly. After filling it out, it was handed over to others for a simple review. Kerr immediately took Zhou Jing to one of the training grounds for a practical test.

  Seeing is believing, this is a necessary part of joining the Empire Hunter. The hunter test is not full of bells and whistles, it is all actual combat.

  The two went to the training ground and stood at a distance.

   "You are strengthening for the second time, and I am also strengthening for the second time. Let's play a game and let me see your level."

   Cole smiled and pulled out the special long knife on his back with his backhand. The blade was longer than ordinary, about one meter seven, with an arc, which was very useful for cutting giant creatures.

   looked like a weapon held by both hands, but he raised one hand steadily.

   "Choose a weapon, you also like to use a knife, what kind of knife?" Cole pouted at the weapon rack beside him.

   Zhou Jing looked at Cole's skilled knife-holding posture, his eyes lit up, and he was delighted to see the hunter.

  yo, too swordsman!

   can be considered to have met a good knife player, just touch it.

   He walked to the weapon rack, took a look, pulled out a long knife of the same style, and played a few knives at random, like an arm.

  Because of the improvement of the sword skill aptitude, the speed of practice has returned to the original efficiency. Within two months of opening the map, [Weapon Mastery - Sword Skill] has been successfully upgraded to Lv5, and the proficiency has greatly improved.

   In addition, the increase in physical fitness and resistance aptitude has also slightly increased the training speed of each hunter's breathing technique. In the past two months, the upgrade is only a step away.

   Seeing Zhou Jing's naturally skilled temperament when he picked up the knife, Cole's eyes became more serious.

  Although he has received systematic training, he does not underestimate free hunters who are wild. It is a taboo to underestimate the enemy. Old hunters rarely make such mistakes.

   The shouting on the training ground faded, and the hunters and apprentices who were exercising cast curious glances at the two who began to confront each other in the corner of the training ground.

   "Who is that person, I don't seem to have seen it before."

   "It should be a new hunter, I don't know what level."

   Everyone whispered.

   Cole observed Zhou Jing's posture, looking for loopholes. Seeing that Zhou Jing showed no sign of attacking, he was not polite and rushed on the ground.

   Bass!

   The long blade stabbed, and the cold light at the tip of the blade trembled, like a swept streamer.

   Zhou Jing's eyes blinked, instead of retreating, he advanced, sliding forward, holding the handle of the knife with one hand and touching the back of the knife with the other, rounding out a crescent moon.

  The stabbing long knife was blocked by the blade, and a stream of sparks was drawn, causing a short and sharp metal friction sound.

   Zhou Jing flicked his wrist, easily flicked Cole's weapon, and narrowed his eyes.

   Slow, too slow.

   Light, too light.

   Both are secondary enhancements, but Cole's speed and strength are too weak in his eyes, and there is no pressure.

  The physical ability reaches the second-order, and the attributes seem not to be much different, but the characteristics brought by it make the physical quality completely different, which has a clear gap with the first-order physical ability, and the agility and flexibility are greatly enhanced.

   Cole's movements were like slow play in Zhou Jing's eyes.

   Originally, Jason's attributes were higher than the normal secondary enhancement hunters, and together with the characteristics, it is now even more skillful.

   After realizing Cole's strength, Zhou Jing knew it in his heart. Instead of directly crushing with his explosive physical fitness, he controlled his strength and speed to a level comparable to Cole's, and simply fought with the opponent.

   On the one hand, it is to leave some face to the other party. On the other hand, I also want to fight with a swordsman master for a long time... I finally found someone to slash against each other, and let's talk about it.

  The training ground was dusty, the two of you came and went, and the sword light flashed. The continuous cold light was moved by the two to avoid them, wiping their bodies and stabbing them in the air.

  The blade light rolled into a ball, and the whistling sound of breaking through the air and the clashing sound of Qingming were intertwined.

  Slashing, slicing, thrusting, parrying and other swordsmanship movements emerge one after another in the hands of the two of them, which is dazzling and extremely precise at the same time.

   The superb swordsmanship of the two made the apprentices in the field dazzled, and they all stopped their exercises and watched from the side.

   The hunters who guided the apprenticeship training didn't stop them... They wanted to see it too.

   seemed to be evenly matched and cut for a while, but Cole keenly noticed that Zhou Jing was pulling his strength, and his eyes changed slightly.

   As an old hunter, he can feel whether the opponent has released water.

'This person seems to be deliberately controlling the strength, and only uses the swordsmanship to learn from me... But the swordsmanship alone is not under me, ruthless, cunning, proficient and precise, without ten or twenty years of training, can not achieve this. Level, it seems that he is also an old hunter who has experienced many battles...'

   Cole's thoughts flashed in his heart, and he also became competitive, and suddenly jumped back and exited the battle circle.

   "Stop fighting?" Zhou Jing saw this and was about to stop.

   Cole shook his head, pointed the knife directly at Zhou Jing's nose, and said solemnly: "I can see that you have reservations, come here, use the knife with all your strength, don't worry about anything."

   After saying that, Cole didn't wait for an answer, he made a move of accumulating power, and then slammed the ground and attacked.

  The knife is in front of people, and it cuts horizontally!

   This sword, in terms of strength, speed, and tendons, played at a high level, calm and fast, as if it could cut through all obstacles in front of him.

   Opponents of the same level must avoid the edge in front of this knife, and Cole has a strong confidence.

   However, a dark shadow that was so fast that he could barely react, suddenly crashed into his sight.

   Then, a cold light flashed from bottom to top.

  Clang!

   A strong force suddenly exploded along the long knife, bursting with a trembling force.

   Cole couldn't hold the weapon with his five fingers, so the long knife came out of his hand, swirled and flew into the sky, and fell into the ground not far away.

   In front of him, Zhou Jing maintained his upward stance, the blade still trembled slightly, making a humming sound.

  Empty-handed Cole was stunned on the spot.

In the moment just now, Zhou Jing suddenly started, his muscles twisted all over his body, and his advanced body burst out with explosive acceleration, driving the long knife to roar out, and the high speed turned into an extremely heavy force, directly flying Cole's weapon. .

  This knife is fast and heavy!

   And the timing he grasped was even more precise and exquisite, making Cole, who is good at making swords, unconsciously feel the beauty of swordsmanship.

   Cole looked at the broken palm, and then at Zhou Jing, who looked relaxed, and fell into silence.

  I was beaten for a second?

   was stunned for a few seconds before Cole couldn't help but speak:

   "Are you really a secondary reinforcement?"

   "Yes." Zhou Jing shrugged.

"…Great."

   Cole sighed all over his face, he didn't lose, and he secretly admired it.

   At the level of secondary reinforcement, there is such a strength...

   Only after having experienced too many battles on the edge of life and death, can you temper your body with secondary strengthening to this level, right?

  Hunters have always admired the strong, and Cole was in awe.

   Seeing Zhou Jing stun Cole, many hunters and apprentices onlookers were surprised.

   Cole is not an unknown person, and he is also a master among the imperial hunters. Except for the few who have been strengthened three times or more, he is the leader among the remaining hunters.

  Being able to defeat Cole is equivalent to being a top-notch expert among the hunters of the second-strengthened empire.

  ‘It seems that a very powerful newcomer has come this time…’

   Everyone looked at Zhou Jing, and their thoughts flashed.

   "With your strength, if you officially enlist in the army, you can be included in the elite team." Cole admired and said, "Commander Kreber will definitely value you."

  Kreber is the current chief hunter, the commander of the imperial hunter.

   Zhou Jing smiled. He was also curious about the attributes of the most enhanced alien warriors.

   At this moment, Cole turned his head to look at Ross, and said, "This partner of yours is also being tested... By the way, why hasn't he spoken?"

   Zhou Jing's face did not change color:

"He is actually my apprentice. During a hunt, his throat was poisoned by the poison of alien beasts, and his head was also traumatized and confused. He only had some fighting instincts. He has lost the ability to hunt alone, but he can still fight with him. I cooperated, so I took him with me."

   "So it is." Cole patted Rose's shoulder respectfully, agreeing: "Any hunter who is wounded for crusade against alien beasts, we can't abandon it."

  Ross looked down at the palm resting on his shoulder, and quietly touched the dagger in his arms.

   "Cough!" Zhou Jing hurriedly put his elbow on his waist to stop Ross from drawing the knife, and Nunuzui said, "Go, give him a job."

  Ross gave up on drawing a knife to give Kerr a hard blow after hearing this, and without hesitation he walked to a grindstone on the training ground and slammed into it.

  Crack!

  The stone shook out of the cracks.

  Ross wiped the white ash from his forehead expressionlessly.

   "What the hell!" Cole was startled.

   A serious hunter has a tough body, but how can anyone casually use their head as a weapon, doesn’t their brain hurt?

   Ruthless man!

   "Will my head not be damaged by hitting like this?" Cole couldn't help but speak.

   Zhou Jing coughed and tried to explain with a sullen expression: "It is because his head is not good, so his head is good."

  … This is quite philosophical.

   Cole wiped his sweat, not knowing it.

  Anyway, the headbutt against the boulder is fine, there must be a level of strengthening, and he dares not let Ross show it any more, for fear that he will have to collect corpses for others, and eat dinner on the spot.

   The group left the training ground, and Cole took Zhou Jing to an empty simple house.

"This is your temporary residence. When you complete the last test, which is to carry out a hunt under our supervision, and show your hunter level, you can officially become an imperial hunter... And a strength like yours, no The old hunters need to lead the team like the reserve hunters, so let’s just wait for Commander Kreber to come back and let him arrange it. The commander is out hunting and will be back in two days.”

   Cole turned back to explain.

   Zhou Jing was looking at the room. Hearing this, he turned his head to look at him and asked, "What level of alien beasts do you want to kill in a general hunting test?"

"It varies from person to person, and it also depends on what strange beasts have appeared recently..." Cole rubbed his chin and pondered: "But the Empire Hunters only cleaned the surrounding area some time ago, and it seems that there are no powerful alien beasts. The conditions may let you go to the Colosseum to find an opponent."

   "The Colosseum?" Zhou Jing raised his brows.

   "Huh? Don't you know?"

   Cole was stunned for a moment, then thought that Zhou Jing was not from the capital, so it was not surprising, and explained:

"When conditions permit, the imperial hunter team will capture alien beasts and bring them back to the animal trainers to breed. Otherwise, where can there be a stable supply of materials for workshops to study various alien blood potion formulas? And the Colosseum is A matching venue allows some inexperienced imperial hunters to practice combat... By the way, to make a little money, we also need funds and extra money."

   Speaking of which, Cole's expression was a little subtle.

   Do you charge ordinary people for tickets to the theater?…

   Zhou Jing has a complicated expression. In an environment where alien beasts threaten human beings, the appearance of such a **** facility where hunters fight alien beasts for fun is quite subtle and should not exist.

   He has visited many towns, and only the capital has such a facility... and it seems that this is the only place where large-scale farming of alien beasts occurs.

   "It is said that the empire is studying how to tame some farmed alien beasts, turn them into mounts, and equip them with the army and imperial hunters. There are already some results. Our commander is an alien beast knight." Cole said casually.

   "Well, this is a feasible solution..."

   Zhou Jing couldn't help but think of the situation in which the Earth Skeletons domesticated the Tyrannosaurus.

   It seems that among the existing auxiliary functions, there is a [pet function]?

  Well, since the king has such conditions, maybe you can try this function next time you use a new apostle.

   Cole said some precautions and then left.

  This world is a bit primitive after all, and the various rules and regulations are not rigorous and perfect, and I can move freely in the imperial hunter station... But I can't enter the capital for the time being.

   Zhou Jing made the bed, and through the window, he could just see the majestic outline of the distant capital Tarn City.

   He looked in the direction of the capital, his eyes flashing slightly.

  ‘It shouldn’t be a problem to sneak into the Empire Hunter. I’ve already arrived at the foot of the royal capital. I can find a chance to get in touch with the power core of the Terra Empire… Let’s wait and see the situation first, and then see how to use the information that Lut kindly gave me. ’

  …

   At the same time, in the royal palace, a room somewhere in the castle.

  Roman stood in front of the window, silently overlooking the row upon row of the city, as if stepping on the capital of the king.

He is a fat middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance. He wears a supple satin brocade coat with jewels on his clothes. He looks like a fat man who is greedy for pleasure, but he has an inexplicable temperament, which makes people unconscious in front of him. cautious.

   On the table behind him were several secret letters, and two henchmen stood at the table with their heads bowed and did not speak.

   After a long time, Roman said in a low voice:

   "Root is dead, I don't know what he revealed, I don't know who kidnapped him... This is the report you gave me after investigating for a month?"

   The two confidants trembled slightly and hurriedly replied:

"Sir, there is really no clue. We investigated all the alien blood warriors in Baiyuan City, as well as all hunters who left Baiyuan City, even the warriors of the Root tribe, no one can match the number, we still don't know the murderer. Who is it?"

   "We also went to check the so-called Wood family according to your wishes, but there is no blood relatives of this tribe. It's not that we didn't work hard and we couldn't find it at all!"

  Since Root's death, a lot of spies have been searching for the identity of the murderer.

  After a large number of Shuangmu Village villagers moved to Baiyuan City, some spies even quietly dug up Jason's grave at midnight, but found that the body inside was fine and had not been transferred.

   No matter how you look, you can't find the "dead" head.

  Roman heard the words and turned to look at the two of them.

  The two who were chatting and explaining were swept away by his half-smiley eyes, and suddenly their backs were chilled, and they immediately shut their mouths.

  Roman did not get angry, but smiled and comforted:

   "Okay, okay, I never doubt your ability to do things. It seems that this murderer is really mysterious and difficult to find out."

   His tone was friendly, but the two did not dare to pick up each other.

  Roman rubbed his wrench and said again: "If you can't find it, continue to look for it slowly, don't worry... This matter has been revealed for the time being, how is the investigation about that faction?"

   A confidant quickly replied: "Sir, we have found their lair, but it seems to be abandoned there, there is no one, and I don't know where they went."

   Hearing this, Roman showed an inexplicable expression and said to himself: "That group of people disconnected from me inexplicably, and disappeared inexplicably, with all kinds of strange abilities... um... hehe."

   The two confidants looked at each other and didn't dare to talk, they didn't know what Roman was thinking.

   After a while, Roman waved his hand and ordered:

"Continue to investigate the identity of the murderer and the whereabouts of the mysterious force, and send some people to secretly contact the lords of various tribes, telling them that plans may change at any time, pay more attention. By the way, pay attention to the movements of the royal family. Someone should point it out, maybe they've noticed something...

  The court is still discussing the candidates for the new lord of Baiyuan City, and let the servants eavesdrop. I want to know what each minister thinks... The position of the lord of Baiyuan City must be given to the new partner I found in the Root tribe. Root is dead, save him a new buddy to get rid of. "

After    ordered, Roman let the two henchmen back down.

   The two of them left quickly as if they had been granted amnesty.

  Roman looked back, picked up a few secret letters from the table, and rubbed his fingers slightly.

   The flames of the candlestick next to it seemed to be grabbed by an invisible force, turned into a fire snake, and fell on the secret letter in his hand.

  Hoo!

   ignited, extinguished, all in an instant.

  Several secret letters turned to ashes in the blink of an eye.

  Roman's fingers were unscathed, he put his hands into his sleeves again, and continued to look down at the city outside the window, wondering what he was thinking.

   The Great Hall of the People is holding a meeting in the past few days, and I will be able to go home and update it in three days.

   (end of this chapter)