"I don't have a phone," Li Juxu said apologetically.
A phone was useful but limited: great for communication inside settlements, but useless outside, where it only told time—unreliably at that. Strong radiation on the Beast Planet messed with electronics. Humans could only carve out semi-stable safe zones in settlements, and even those were spotty.
But the real reason was simple: phones were far too expensive for him.
"The boss thinks highly of you. He wants to be your friend."
The aide clearly expected this, and pulled out a brand-new phone.
"What if I don't want to take the next mission?" Li Juxu glanced at it. A top-of-the-line model: Prawn, known as "the fighter jet of phones." One cost over 200,000 copper coins. He didn't reach for it.
"Our boss is a very understanding man."
The aide pressed the phone into his hand anyway, smiling.
"I won't disturb your rest."
After the aide left, Li Juxu held the phone and sighed.
This was what it meant to be rich. The feeling was good.
He'd had wealthy employers before, but none as generous as Pu Shaoyun.
For that alone, he would find it hard to refuse the man's next job.
21 million copper coins.
In all his time on the Beast Planet, he had never earned even a fraction of that.
And now he had night vision too.
Things were finally looking up.
He wanted to send the money home immediately. With this, his girlfriend could start her second round of treatment. If luck kept going his way, he could raise all of Zhao Huier's medical fees this year. Once she was cured, he would never have to risk his life here again. He could go home, and they could live happily together.
But he was exhausted. The second he lay down, he didn't want to move.
One more day wouldn't hurt, he thought.
His eyes closed, and he fell asleep in seconds.
He slept until eleven the next morning.
His first move: eat four servings of egg fried rice. Hunters had big appetites; he normally ate two, but he was starving. He could have gone for a fifth, but held back to send money.
He had just stepped out of his room when Black Hornet found him.
Seeing he was heading for the bank, Black Hornet stopped him at once.
"You're going to transfer money home, right? Don't bother. It won't work."
"Why? It's not a holiday." Li Juxu was confused.
"You haven't heard? At around four last night, a mysterious wave of radiation hit the Beast Planet and took out the communications satellite. All networks are down. Phones are just bricks. The Beast Planet's cut off from the outside world — completely abandoned."
"How? Just our luck? How long until it's fixed?"
Li Juxu panicked. The whole reason he'd made this money was to treat Zhao Huier. Now he had the cash, but couldn't send it. Frustration boiled inside him.
"Who knows?" Black Hornet shrugged.
The universe was vast and unpredictable. For all their civilization, humans understood less than a tiny fraction of it. Signal disruptions were common, but usually just particle interference — fixed quickly. This time, the satellite was destroyed. It could be trouble.
"Oh right, you came to find me for something?" Li Juxu realized.
"I need you to do me a favor."
Black Hornet's sworn brother, Shark, had taken a mission: catching desert scorpion larvae.
Desert scorpions were extremely venomous, only active at night, and sensitive to light — they wouldn't come out if there was any. But without light, humans couldn't see them. Three of Shark's men had already died.
He'd begged Black Hornet for help. Black Hornet was experienced, but even he had no solution… until he met Li Juxu.
Most people's accuracy plummeted in the dark.
But Li Juxu had a gift: he could shoot with incredible precision even in pitch black.
"I've never done a desert mission. I don't know anything about it," Li Juxu said, shaking his head.
The forest mission had almost killed him. The desert was far harsher.
Experienced hunters avoided desert jobs.
He'd just gotten rich. He didn't want to risk it.
"All the other dangers are handled. It's just the desert scorpions. Little brother, you're the only one who can help. If the mission fails, Shark has to pay a huge penalty."
Black Hornet hated pushing people, but he did it for his brother.
"Just quit the mission. It's only a deposit. It's not that bad, is it?"
The mission hall required teams to put down a deposit of 10% of the reward. Fail, and you lost it. It stung, but it wasn't crippling.
"We signed a bet contract," Black Hornet said bitterly.
"I think my brother walked into a trap."
Li Juxu fell silent.
Some teams took high-risk deals for extra profit: finish faster, get paid more. But if they failed, the penalty was massive. These only happened on dangerous jobs. In all his years as a hunter, Li Juxu had never touched one.
"Shark says: if you help, 500,000 copper coins minimum. Ammo and gear are on him. Plus commission: 2,000 per desert scorpion, no cap."
"Fine." Li Juxu agreed.
For the money… and for Black Hornet.
Even with 21 million, more money was never a bad thing.
Before Pu Shaoyun, 500,000 would have been a fortune to him.
After all this time, he was still just a junior hunter.
Money still talked.