Universe Infinite Canteen

Returning to the Giant Curtain once again, the scene was drastically different from just a week ago.

Since the Beast Herding Frog was taken away by Ma Lu, the remaining animals had lost their command and restraint, and they began to kill each other under the drive of their foraging instincts.

The weaker beasts fled in large numbers, while the stronger beasts fought over territory, food sources, and mating rights.

The losers either slunk away or simply became food for the more powerful creatures, which led to a significant reduction in the animal population within the city.

Though the ones that remained were stronger, without the Beast Herding Frog to organize them, they carved out their own territories and fought only for themselves, ultimately unable to escape being hunted by various Hunting Groups.

By the time Ma Lu returned, hunters had reclaimed a third of the city land on that level.

The municipal engineering team and volunteers were busy clearing rubble and repairing the solar panels above the city.

Boggy, Mai Mai, Sadie, and Seta were waiting for him at the place where they separated last time. Seta was also there, though he was still limping due to unfinished healing from his injuries.

Apart from the four members of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group, many familiar faces also turned up, including the Vice President of the Hunter's Guild, Qin Zhao, the Speaker of the City Council, Chilaf, the First Judge Dionysus, several council members... and a crowd of journalists.

The first to step forward was the Speaker of the City Council, Chilaf, who personally awarded Ma Lu the Medal of Honorary Citizen, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Giant Curtain during the recent animal chaos.

Journalists pressed their shutters, capturing this historic moment.

Apart from the nominal praise, the City Council also provided a substantial reward.

Including a bonus of 1 million Electric Degrees (though due to the current power shortage, this can only be claimed once the city is completely retaken), a two-person apartment (currently a ruin, not yet constructed).

Exemption from legal prosecution except for major criminal cases (useless, for Ma Lu would not be foolish enough to get caught if he were to commit a crime), free education for children (an even more intangible thing), and high personal insurance (another useless thing, with the Bug Egg around, Ma Lu could not die even if he wanted to)...

The list of miscellaneous privileges that followed was quite long, taking up two pages, but were essentially just crumbs.

In comparison, the Hunter's Guild was more generous, giving each member a bonus of 1 million Electric Degrees on top of that, and the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group was directly promoted from Silver to Diamond Level, becoming the fifth Diamond Level Hunting Group in the Giant Curtain.

The Hunter's Guild also bestowed a small building as the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group's headquarters, as well as a medium-sized Air Transport.

Especially the latter, which was valued at over 60 million Electric Degrees.

Importantly, before this, all air transports in the Giant Curtain were under the control of the Hunter's Guild, and the hunters from various Hunting Groups could only use them by paying high rentals.

So this time it was a precedent broken, with the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group becoming the first to own their Air Transport.

Now they could show off this advantage openly!

But such swagger did not come without costs.

Although they would not have to pay rental fees for deploying the Air Transport in the future, they still needed to pay for electricity, as well as routine maintenance and servicing.

And with the possession of an Air Transport, they would inevitably have to recruit a pilot; this wasn't that troublesome, as asking retired pilots should yield suitable candidates. Yet this would mean more expenses in the form of a pilot's salary.

In other words, owning an Air Transport meant incurring incessant costs even if it just sat idle.

Therefore, to make the Air Transport worthwhile, they had to fly more often. Relying solely on the current hunting frequency of the five members of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group once a week would definitely be a loss-making proposition.

Thus, Boggy contacted several hunting groups and signed cooperation contracts with Cyren, Flame Tooth, Harpist, and other hunting groups, stipulating that if they had the need to use the air transport, they could rent it at a slightly lower rate from Twin Sunflower with priority.

But that was not a long-term solution, so Boggy planned to have the hunting group recruit members once again.

No sooner had the news been released than a flood of self-recommendation letters swamped Boggy's temporary residence.

The recent beast wave had caused heavy losses to many hunting groups, especially the medium and small ones, such as Wang Zhen and others who Boggy had encountered outside Gate No. 3, who had managed to escape back to the city.

But with teammates, even the leaders of their hunting groups fallen in battle, some chose to infuse new blood into their ranks, while others decided to disband altogether.

As a result, in recent times, there had been an influx of hunters looking for work.

Because the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group had saved the Giant Curtain, its reputation had reached its zenith. In addition, as one of only six Diamond Level Hunting Groups of the Giant Curtain, joining now would grant one access to a suite of Diamond Level privileges.

Not to mention the residence and the stylish exclusive air transport that had become the top choice of all the freelance hunters on the Giant Curtain!

It was even more attractive than several well-established Diamond Level hunting groups, drawing many top-notch hunters who sought fame.

"This time, I plan to expand the group to 30 members, divided into three squads. What do you think?" Boggy asked.

"I have no objections, you're the leader. You make the decisions regarding the day-to-day matters of the hunting group," Ma Lu casually replied.

He was still poring over the privileges of a Diamond Level Hunting Group, with a keen eye for the legendary Night Club Gold VIP.

If there was anything that attracted Ma Lu the most from the prizes, it was this.

Having made the difficult trip to the Different Dimension, it would be inexcusable not to check out the local entertainment industry.

Ma Lu located the notes behind this privilege for three night clubs, two of which were on the first floor, presumably already destroyed in the beast wave and unlikely to be rebuilt anytime soon.

Fortunately, there was one on the second subterranean level.

Good.

Ma Lu set an alarm with glee, planning to visit that place before departing, and have a thorough critique of the local's decadent lifestyles.

Looking up, he inadvertently saw a flash of dejection in Boggy's eyes.

Ma Lu then noticed that Boggy seemed not to be in high spirits, despite having saved the Giant Curtain a week ago and the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group flourishing and advancing to a Diamond Level hunting group. Yet there were not many smiles on the face of her, the leader.

Thinking it over, Ma Lu said, "There's still plenty of time, let's not rush hunting. Shall we take a walk?"

Seta immediately agreed loudly, "Great, let's go have a drink at the Little Bear Bar! It's open for business again, and it's perfect for us to celebrate together..."

He hadn't finished speaking when his sister and Mai Mai covered his mouth, "You want a drink? Come on, I know a place where we can drink."

Mai Mai said this while dragging the baffled Seta away with Sadie.

Meanwhile, Qin Zhao, Chilaf, the council members, and the reporters gradually dispersed. Ma Lu chatted with Dionysus for a while, accepted his thanks and then Dionysus too left, leaving only Ma Lu and Boggy.