Chapter 12

Lai Te is a highly ambitious and pragmatic professional bounty hunter. Once he sets his sights on a target, he will do his utmost to complete the hunt.

After setting his sights on the notorious Ian, he gathered all kinds of information and tracked him down.

During this process, his hunter's license provided him with considerable convenience.

For example, the emergency call Monica made while fleeing through the mountains ultimately turned into valuable information, guiding Lai Te in the right direction.

Therefore, Lai Te took over the police task from the authorities.

Although he could request police assistance to have a large number of officers act as cannon fodder to attract and quickly pinpoint Ian's location,

Lai Te wasn't that heartless.

In front of a competent Nen user, let alone ordinary people, even Killua, who hasn't learned Nen, would have to turn and run.

Lai Te simply believed that if he involved the police, it would be like pushing them into a fire.

He was unwilling to do such a thing, so he only had the police set up a perimeter around the scenic area and came alone.

The reason for the delay was that he spent some time familiarizing himself with the area.

The terrain, the environment.

And the dilapidated temple on the mountain and the father-son pair living there.

He had already gathered all this information.

So when he followed the blood trail to the temple, his initial judgment was that the father-son pair had already fallen victim.

Thus, he used "Zetsu" to conceal his presence and quietly entered the temple to investigate.

To his surprise, he found Ian's corpse in the courtyard.

Shocked, he also keenly realized that he had been discovered.

"There's an expert here."

This was Lai Te's immediate judgment, and he immediately thought of the middle-aged monk living in the temple, but he never imagined—

The Nen user who took down Ian was not the "father" in the temple, but the "son."

Despite this, he still determined that the young man in front of him was an expert.

After all, anyone who could take down Ian and detect his "Zetsu" couldn't be weak.

When he saw Moyou's clumsy "Ten," Lai Te subconsciously thought Moyou was holding back.

This made him somewhat frustrated.

His original target was Ian.

Since the target was already dead, he had no reason or motive to fight Moyou; it wasn't as if he was bored...

Showing sincerity was to make Moyou understand that he wasn't an enemy but a professional bounty hunter.

However, Moyou didn't buy it.

Then, Lai Te realized he had guessed wrong again.

"How is this possible!?"

A beginner Nen user who only knew "Ten" took down a Nen user proficient in the four basic techniques and had already developed his own Nen ability?

Only a Nen user could understand how absurd this was...

So how did this young man manage to do it!?

Lai Te was so shocked that he became intensely curious.

He wanted to know every detail of how Moyou took down Ian.

At that moment—

Moyou moved, quickly picking up the hunter's license and throwing it at the ceiling in front of Lai Te.

"Hmm?"

Lai Te's expression changed, and without hesitation, he leaped into the air to catch the hunter's license.

What a joke!

In a certain sense, the hunter's license was more important than his life.

Seeing Lai Te protect the hunter's license, Moyou's eyes narrowed, and he gripped the small knife he usually used to sharpen pencils, charging directly at Lai Te, who was still in mid-air.

Before making his move—

Moyou had considered two options.

If Lai Te showed no reaction to the thrown hunter's license, he would decisively escape through the window.

Conversely, Moyou would attempt an attack.

This is what he was doing now.

Charge, pause!

Moyou drove the small knife toward Lai Te's crotch.

"!!!"

Seeing Moyou trying to stab his "Flying Swallow," Lai Te's eyes twitched violently.

His tightly closed pores suddenly opened, releasing a large amount of aura, which then tightly wrapped around every part of his body.

This was the advanced application technique "Ken."

Then—

Moyou decisively withdrew and retreated.

Lai Te, enveloped in solid Nen, landed steadily without showing any intention to attack.

Even when Moyou tried to stab his "Flying Swallow" with the small knife, he only defended and did not counterattack.

Lai Te's behavior finally convinced Moyou that he had no ill intentions.

There was no way—

Facing an opponent who could use "Ken" so quickly, he wouldn't even have a chance to struggle.

"I believe you, you are indeed a professional hunter."

Moyou threw away the small knife and put on a compliant appearance.

Lai Te silently watched Moyou, his eyes still twitching.

Good guy, what a good guy!!!

Lai Te took a deep breath, a forced smile slowly appearing on his face, and said, "I believe you, you really only know 'Ten'..."

Through their brief confrontation, Moyou saw that Lai Te indeed had no ill intentions, and Lai Te saw from Moyou's attack with the small knife that he really only knew "Ten."

So—

How did Moyou manage to take down Ian?

Lai Te was curious and also felt a burning enthusiasm.

No matter what, this young man was definitely a terrifyingly talented genius!

If he could take him under his wing, the guarantee for advancing to "Two-Star" would be secured!!

Thinking of this, Lai Te was overjoyed and didn't care at all about Moyou trying to stab him with the small knife.

"Let me introduce myself again."

Lai Te suppressed his excitement, put away the hunter's license, and said seriously,

"I am Lai Te Burrow, a professional bounty hunter, currently hunting Ian Archer, the man outside with the broken neck."

"Oh."

Moyou nodded.

Lai Te looked at Moyou, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

However, Moyou fell silent after his response.

The two stared at each other, while Monica, huddled in the corner of the bed, looked bewildered.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The room became unusually quiet.

"?"

Slowly, a question mark appeared on Lai Te's forehead, and his voice almost came out through his teeth: "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Um."

Moyou pondered for a moment, then raised his index finger and said calmly, "I have a question for you."

"Sure, but before you ask, didn't you forget something? Like introducing yourself first?"

Lai Te stared intently at Moyou.

The information he had gathered before coming included Moyou and Hawk's names.

But Lai Te believed that introducing themselves in this situation was a necessary step.

Because he wanted to make a deal with Moyou.

"My question is..."

Moyou ignored Lai Te's reminder and directly asked, "Since you've confirmed Ian Archer's death, why are you complicating the situation?"

"..."

Lai Te silently looked at Moyou, then sighed after a moment, "You're really not a likable person. How should I put it, explaining this is quite complicated, but... I want to make a deal with you."

Hunters are ranked.

From lowest to highest, they are Amateur Hunters, Professional Hunters, One-Star Hunters, Two-Star Hunters, and Three-Star Hunters.

Only by obtaining a license from the Hunter Association can one officially become a Professional Hunter.

After becoming a Professional Hunter, one can advance in rank through "merits."

In the Hunter Association, rank represents status, power, and honor.

So advancing in rank is one of the lifelong pursuits of most Professional Hunters.

Lai Te is one of them.

As a professional bounty hunter, the way to increase merits is naturally by hunting criminals.

Lai Te is currently aiming for One-Star, which is also the motivation behind his proposal to Moyou.

"Oh?"

Moyou raised an eyebrow, surprised by Lai Te's words, and asked, "What kind of deal do you want to make with me?"

"I need the merit for capturing Ian Archer. For this, I am willing to pay you 5 million Jenny. Of course, the full bounty for Ian Archer will also be yours. What do you think?"

Lai Te frankly stated his needs.

To obtain this merit, he had been tracking Ian for over half a month. Given that he is currently at a critical point for advancing to One-Star, he really didn't want to give up.

So he had to swallow his pride and use a "deal" to obtain the merit of killing Ian from Moyou.

Hearing the content of Lai Te's proposed deal, Moyou's gaze toward Lai Te gradually became strange.

Willing to pay 5 million Jenny for the merit of killing Ian indicates that Lai Te's need for this merit is very high.

Lai Te could have used his strength to take Ian's body and claim that he had killed Ian, thus obtaining the merit without spending a penny.

If he were ruthless, he could even kill Moyou and Monica here, making this a secret known to no one.

But Lai Te didn't do that.

This guy—

is a "good person."

Moyou was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, "Lai Te, are you an Enhancer?"

"Yes, why?"

Lai Te admitted it straightforwardly.

The condition for advancing from One-Star to Two-Star is to personally train a One-Star Professional Hunter.

He already saw Moyou as the key to his future advancement to Two-Star, so he wouldn't hide anything from Moyou.

If not for fear of Moyou's aversion, he would have directly proposed taking Moyou as a disciple.

"Nothing."

Moyou shook his head and said calmly, "Let's get back to the deal. I have no objection to the 20 million Jenny bounty for Ian Archer, but I have different requirements for the merit."

"..."

Lai Te's eyes flickered slightly.

He deliberately didn't mention the amount of Ian's bounty to make it easier for Moyou to agree to the 5 million Jenny deal for the merit.

But he didn't expect Moyou to know the exact amount of Ian's bounty...

"Tell me."

Lai Te looked at Moyou.

Moyou raised three fingers and said slowly, "I have three requirements. First, 5 million is too little, double it. Second, be my sparring partner for ten days. Third, owe me a favor."

Moyou stated his three requirements without hesitation.

Of course, he didn't expect Lai Te to agree to these three requirements just for the merit of killing Ian. What he truly wanted was for Lai Te to be his sparring partner.

As for the first requirement to double the 5 million and the third requirement to owe him a favor, they were just to make it easier for Lai Te to agree to the second requirement of being his sparring partner.

"Your three requirements..."

Lai Te's expression was serious, but he was inwardly overjoyed.

Ten days of sparring!

It was like a pillow being offered to someone who was dozing off.

He was already imagining how he would showcase his teaching skills during these ten days, making Moyou beg to be his disciple.

Moyou calmly watched Lai Te, waiting for a response while preparing to remove the other two requirements.

However—

Lai Te said solemnly, "Very reasonable, I agree."

From hearing the requirements to agreeing, there was no hesitation at all.

"???"

Moyou was taken aback.

This script doesn't feel right?