Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The news was showing footage of the battle in the north. Ahead in the frontlines the tank units arranged in a cannon formation, and behind them were the rows of artillery vehicles.
Shells and missiles flew through the sky one by one and then landed in the midst of the locust swarm far away before exploding. Large patches of locusts were reduced to cinders by the explosion, and the locusts nearby were torn to shreds by shrapnel.
This was different from times of peace. During these special times, heroes were needed! Idols were needed! Which was why the allied government heavily publicized the acts of Monster Trainer heroes.
At the same time, in this current era, there was also no effort put into covering up the battles against monsters. Warriors who stepped onto the battlefield were all heroes putting their lives on the line to protect humanity, and heroes should be treated like heroes.
They could not allow heroes to bleed on the battlefield and have no one know or care about them. This would not be fair.
They were all fighting for the sake of humanity. There was no reason and no need to withhold any news regarding them.
From the images shown on the news, one could see a black oppressive cloud covering the sky in the distance. The locusts were blotting out the sky as they flew over. Each shell that exploded in the midst of the locust swarm tore a large patch through the black cloud, leaving a brief patch of white space. But very quickly the space was filled up by the incoming locusts.
As the locusts continued to press forward, flamethrowers were used, sending fiery tongues of flame up into the sky.
The dirty yellow locusts in the sky that got caught by the flames spontaneously ignited like dry grass covered in oil.
A female reporter dressed in smart business attire appeared on the screen, holding a mike. “Dear viewers, as you have already seen, we are at the frontlines of the battle. Currently, the Chang’an Military’s troops have already stopped the locust swarm outside of the frontlines. According to the research carried out by Director Chen of the Chang’an Monster Breeder Association, these monsters, which are called Dead Leaf Locusts, are extremely afraid of flames. This is a piece of good news as we have successfully held them off using their weakness. This swarm of locusts is estimated to contain a few billion individuals. Each Dead Leaf Locust is at least 30 cm in length, are able to chew through hard wood, and are even capable of short-distance flight…”
As the female reporter spoke, artillery fire continued to erupt. The shells landed on the ground, even causing the ground beneath the reporter to shake a little.
In the center of the Dark Ember Forest, a giant black gorilla heard the loud explosions coming from far away. It looked towards the direction of the battle and muttered a little, making a sound that was unintelligible to humans. Then, it turned its body and continued snoring.
Gao Peng turned off the television and logged onto the Monster Hunting Association’s official page to check on the task that he had put up. He found that he still had not obtained the core crystal of a commander tier electric-type monster. Currently that was all he needed to acquire Da Zi’s grade promotion.
It can’t be that I have to go hunt it down myself, right?
Gao Peng looked at Dumby. It was lying down on the living room floor, staring at the ceiling, not moving at all.
With Dumby’s current height, moving freely around the living room was quite a task; so it could only lie down on the floor now. Gao Peng’s plan to get a new house shifted upwards in priority. He would not sell this old house, but he intended to buy a standalone villa in the outskirts of the city. The villa would have a garden and a basement, which would make it easier for many matters.
As Gao Peng was thinking, his mobile phone rang. Director Chen’s name showed on the screen.
When he picked up the phone, he was greeted by Director Chen’s hearty laughter. “Hi, Little Gao. You’ve reached home after your training?”
With Director Chen’s position, it was no surprise that he could find out about Gao Peng’s outfield training. But Gao Peng still felt rather flattered and surprised by the special attention that Director Chen gave him.
Gao Peng nodded. “I just reached home a while ago.”
“Do you have time to come down to the association tomorrow? The military just sent over a batch of a new type of Voracious Golden Toads, and want us to promote the grades of these toads. Because it is an urgent matter, I have to call a few people in to help. This matter counts as official business and the government will provide remuneration for your services.”
Director Chen was aware of Gao Peng’s personality, so he took special care to mention the money straight away.
As expected, Gao Peng’s eyes lit up.
“Ahem, Director Chen. Is it possible to change the remuneration to other kinds of rewards? If the money for the job is insufficient, I can fork in some money as well. What I would like is a commander tier electric-type monster core crystal,” said Gao Peng in a thick-skinned manner.
“Umm… rightfully, this should not be allowed. But I do know some people in the military, so this small matter should not be much of a problem.” Director Chen agreed with hardly any hesitation at all.
It was just a commander tier electric type monster core crystal, not a lord tier electric type monster core crystal. If it were the latter, he would not able to produce one even if a knife was being pressed to his neck.
If it were just a commander tier electric type monster core crystal, then it was a small matter.
Although it was rare, it was definitely an item that would be in stock.
The next day, in the morning, Gao Peng got into a car and headed to the Monster Breeder Association in the outskirts.
After reporting to the reception counter, Director Chen rushed over quickly. Seeing Gao Peng, he walked forward with a boom of hearty laughter and held out his right hand.
Some of the people around who knew Director Chen were in shock, and secretly sized up Gao Peng. They did not know who this young man was and what position he was in to have Director Chen treat him that way.
“I’ve been waiting so long for you. Yesterday, the military brought in two samples of Voracious Golden Toads over. I spent half the night looking at them and I still haven’t made head or tails of them, or of what to do.” Director Chen led the way in front as the two of them walked deeper into the Monster Breeder Association building. They then took an elevator deep underground.
When they came out of the lift, in front of them was a large underground room as large as a soccer field.
The entire floor seemed to make use of a structure that was resistant to tremors and explosions. Reinforced concrete was used with various supporting frames. The first two words that come to mind when seeing this room were rugged and efficient.
Within one of the bulletproof glass walls were a few workbenches. In front of each workbench were a few experimenters in white coats and masks, gathering data from the experiments.
In the main hall, there was a cage. In it was a golden toad as large as a table. Its eyes were huge and its back was covered in warts the size of Ping-Pong balls. The warts were not exactly growing on its back densely, as there were only a few tens of them.
For such a large body, the number of warts that it had was actually rather small.
What left the strongest impression were the legs of these toads. They took up to one-third of the entire body size and were rippling with large muscles. The legs were evidently filled with great explosive force.
The white skin on its belly was slowly swelling up, then shrinking.
“Voracious Golden Toads have very powerful muscles in their legs, which take up at least 40% of its muscle mass. Hence, its jumping ability is absolutely terrifying. It can jump over a hundred meters high. One of the ways in which Voracious Golden Toads attack is jumping into the air, and then using its body to crush its foes,” said Director Chen.
Gao Peng nodded. It really had terrifying jumping abilities if it could jump over a hundred meters high.
Then, Director Chen added sympathetically, “Sometimes the Voracious Golden Toad lands on hard rocks, causing itself serious injuries.”
Gao Peng was stunned. Was this even possible?
