Habayashi charges huge sums of money to hunters brought to his clinic.

Thanks to first aid to his head, Hunter was able to stay awake even after a serious injury. The cost of expensive treatment was enough to make him pale. He did try to bargain, but Habayashi didn't budge at all.

No, no money, no treatment. You need to pay first.

C- Can you at least let me relax?

Gosh, if you're that fit, I bet you can get yourself back to the forward base. You can ask your friends to take you there, and I'm sure you're not going to die. But, because of that injury, I bet you'll either get a prosthetic leg or a cyborg replacement.

I want to keep my body the way it is, and since you said your treatment will still keep me the way it is, I'm coming to you.

In fact, they can restore lost limbs through regenerative treatments, which often need to be replaced with prosthetic limbs or robotic bodies, but this treatment is more expensive than replacing them. Moreover, there are not many hunters who can become cyborgs of their own will. No matter how strong the cyborg body is, it still has a unique advantage in retaining the physical body, and this hunter wants to keep his physical body.

Then his friend jumped in.

.

Can you at least do something?

If you pay in his place, we can do the job right away.

Don't be crazy, we don't have that much money. It's not like we can also use our health insurance, right?

I'm sorry, but my clinic is not a corporate clinic, so I don't really accept health insurance. There is also a limit to how much money the hunter's office is willing to lend you. Not to mention, for a small individual clinic like mine, they have very low loan limits.

The man sighed and rubbed his head with one hand. Although he had no intention of abandoning his injured friend, it did not change the fact that there was no way to save him.

And if they decide to take him back to the clinic at the front-line base, he will not die either, however, he will live with a prosthetic leg and go into debt for treatment. First of all, it is an injury caused by the occupational hazards faced by hunters. It could happen again. This kind of thinking made them reluctant to pay for Balin's treatment anyway.

Seeing this, Habayashi concealed his true intentions and made a suggestion to those hunters.

Well, I can understand that you want to save your friend. I'm a doctor, you see. But if I treat his injuries here for free, it will only cause me a lot of trouble later. So, I have a suggestion here, don't give me money, how about you give your friend's treatment money and help me do a certain job?

Job? What kind of work are we talking about here?

You see, it's basically an emergency request for help. Of course, it will be a secret.

With a skeptical smile, Habayashi began to explain the above work. To put it simply, those hunters only need to go to a certain location, rescue a certain hunter, and then bring him back to the Eight Forests. It sounds simple, but it sounds like there's a lot of hidden intent.

Why should this be a secret? Also, I checked my info terminal but it doesn't seem to be any SOS requests from that location?

Habayashi smiled at the question.

Well, that's because that hunter didn't want to leave a record of this in the hunter's office, you see. Basically, he was one of the hunters who didn't want the hunter's office to be informed of the SOS rescue request he had submitted. In addition to protecting one's reputation, it is also to save money. After all, if you ask for an SOS request unnecessarily, your insurance premiums will increase, you know. The same is true for treatment in hospitals and clinics. What I'm trying to say here is that if you're treating your wound at my clinic, I can help you make sure it doesn't leave any records at the hunter's office, but the problem is that you can't use your insurance. In addition to this, maybe his reputation among colleagues and gangs? To put it simply, he wanted to say that he didn't get into any trouble.

I see, so basically you accept that kind of request under the table, hehe. But it's great that you're willing to give a hunter free treatment as soon as you save him, you know?

You're kidding? Of course, it won't be just once. I will ask you to do it for me several times until I judge that your work is enough to cover the cost of treatment.

I get it.

The hunters nodded, looking at Habayin with a stern gaze. They believe that Hachilin intends to use them, charging them more bills every time they come back with more injuries.

If you're going to accept that request, I'll treat him right away. I'm not going to do something as cowardly as postponing his treatment until you've worked enough for me. So what do you think? Am I a good person or what? Well, I'm not going to force you, so it's still up to you.

In other words, it also means that Balin has no room for negotiation, and the injured hunter also begins to intercede with his friend. So in the end, another hunter smacked his tongue and accepted the offer.

Elena and her scout team delve into the ruins. Their main job is to collect the information collected by the small information collectors scattered in the ruins in advance, and at the same time retrieve and replace those small information collectors owned by the chengguan. The accessibility of vehicles, the number of monsters in the area, and the amount of rubble and materials found around the area, all of these pieces of information are enough to tell if a site is worth exploring.

Members of the reconnaissance team are free to search the interior of the building. They were even allowed to collect artifacts. Even if they disturbed their primary duty of scouting the ruins, the ruins they collected could be used to judge whether that part of the ruins was worth protecting, not to mention that the information they brought back also noticed the difficulties and dangers of that building. Therefore, no one prevents them from doing so.

Elena looked around as she drove her car slowly. Sara stands by Elena's side, ready to guard her, but she's also watching the buildings that seem to hold expensive artifacts.

Elena, can we, you know, go and see?

No, we will only take the route that this reconnaissance vehicle can pass, so we will not search the interior of any buildings. Didn't we agree from the beginning?

I know, but still

I can understand your feelings, but I can't. When looking for the inside of a building, there is a high probability that something will attack the car. We had very little information about the area, so I can't really guarantee the safety of this car when it leaves. Or rather, it's precisely to gather this information, isn't it?

Hunters who tend to work alone or in small groups often leave their vehicles behind when searching the interior of buildings. But, of course, no one can guarantee that their vehicle will still be one when they return. Ele

a and sa

a Sufficient experience in losing vehicles in this manner.

Of course, they can take more hunters with them and have some of them guard the vehicle while they leave. But as the number of employees increases, so does their respective shares. When monsters attack them, it is also possible for the hunter to abandon the hunter inside the building and run away. So that doesn't change the fact that it's still a gamble in the end.

The only thing a hunter can do is to try all kinds of ways to increase his chances of winning. Become stronger, work with the team, deepen trust with other team members, and emphasize the loss in case someone betrays them. If they don't, they'll end up being one of those lost hunters whose dreams are shattered and they can't come back from the wasteland.

But Sara doesn't seem to fully believe it, seeing Elena give another reason to convince her.

If we get into trouble and make an SOS request, Aki

A may come and answer that request, you know. It's really going to erase our dignity and his trust in us as his senior hunters, you know. Although, I'm not even sure if we still have these two things right now.

Sara frowned and sighed.

All right. After all, I still want to continue to be a high-level hunter that he can rely on. I would stop myself.

Sarah suddenly obeyed, and seeing this, Elena could only smile bitterly.

Honestly, I really wish you were so obedient when your best friend warns you.

That's it, you know. It's like a soul, so hearing you warn me like that is like a repunch on myself. So I'm more likely to ignore it, you see. Just like it's easier for me to be selfish when I'm alone.

Is that so? In that case, I would do the same when I was thinking about something.

Elena and Sarah smiled at each other, then looked back at their surroundings.

Not long after, Elena, who had been staring at the sensor, suddenly stopped the car and tilted her head.

Elena, what's wrong?

There's nothing special about it. It's just that when I checked the data, I found something interesting. The sensor picks up the signals of multiple things that look like humans.

They could be other hunters who were exploring the area, weren't they?

Probably, yes. It's just something bothering me.

Some signals may come from monsters. Judging by their position and the signals that seemed to come from humanoid objects, Elena couldn't get rid of her bad feelings. After all, if some of these signals come from monsters and some from hunters, then they are close enough to notice each other.

Therefore, they should have already started fighting by now. There are many types of monsters that ignore or even step into hunters in their territory. While on the other hand, most hunters prefer to avoid fighting all the monsters they come across. There are many reasons why they don't quarrel.

But Elena remembered a rumor, especially about the humanoid monsters that wandered the ruins of Katsurahara. Her sharp instincts told her that it was it, even though she didn't have enough evidence to back it up.

Elena thought for a moment before stepping on the gas. But she made sure to change direction and stay away from it.

Sarah, our scouting area is changing. It may reduce our regional reach and the accuracy of the information we can obtain, which in turn may lower our rewards later on. I'm sorry, please let this go.

Don't worry. I'll leave that decision to you. So let's continue the process safely.

Sarah smiled lightly, she didn't seem to care at all. Seeing Sarah's complete trust in herself, Elena's stern face softened slightly.

A hunter named Sonoda muttered as he walked through the ruins.

Another dumb one, huh?

Sonoda is one of the hunters who is forced to work for Hachibayashi to help his hunter friend with his healing expenses. He came to a place where someone should need help but didn't want to send an SOS request. But when he arrived, the man was gone, and there was no sign of a fight, and it had happened several times.

Sonoda used the information terminal to call Habayashi to complain, and Habayashi just replied casually.

After all, this is not a proper SOS request to the hunter's office. It's also not clear who the publisher of the request is, oops, even I don't know. So, it could just be that some people are playing a prank on you. Well, I'll at least have a few words with those who notified me of this request, so I hope you can do the best you can. Don't worry, even if you don't find anything, I'll still count your work. I'll send you the next location.

As soon as Sonoda hung up, he received the location of his next target. He clicked and put the information terminal back in his pocket.

Oh my God, these guys sent us to the depths of the ruins like nothing! Well, guys!! To the next!!

Okay, huh? Wait, there's someone over there.

Oh, the target ran over, huh? Let's get him.

Sonoda led the group to the place where the signal was given. It came from the first floor of a building not far from them. Slowly and carefully they walked into the building and found a little boy standing in a black hole in the wall not far from the door.

Is that the person? Hey, are you okay? Where did the monster come from? Did you escape to this place? Are you alone?

The teenager reacted to Sonoda, but not verbally.

The area is currently under lockdown. Due to emergency protocols, the security system is allowed to kill any intruder. Please provide your identification information

Sonoda immediately raised his rifle and rushed towards the teenager, pushing him out of the blast wave against the wall. Sonotas' teammates immediately jumped up to support him. The little boy lost his head and his limbs were torn.

Sonoda hurriedly ordered them to retreat.

Ran!! Let's go!!

Wow, wow, you shoot first, I'll shoot for you, okay?

You haven't noticed?! That little boy is not a rescuer!! It is the one that attacked the rescue target! Retreat now!!

As another voice came from the black hole behind them, Sonoda and his friends quickly left the building.

Unrecognizable. Immediately change to a binding agreement

Get in!! Retreating to the clinic! Something bad is coming, I know!

Sonoda gave orders to the team as quickly as he could.

The limbs ripped from the boy's body were scattered on the ground. He completely turned his arm from the elbow down into a rifle. It is not like a rifle attached to a prosthetic limb, but more like a rifle that grows out of a prosthetic limb. Its body, at a glance, looked like it was covered with layers of armor, but it was not armor, but countless layers of metal scales.

Another little boy came out of the darkness. He picked up the gun lying on the ground, the stump of another little boy, and began to pursue Sonoda and his men.

Around the same time, when the notification arrived at his information terminal, Aki

a is boredomically guarding the clinic. The coordinates written on the notice were near the direction in which the reconnaissance team was going.

Aki

A thought for a moment, then hopped on his bike and paced.

Alpha frowned.

We're not sure about Ele

a and sa

A is there or not, there is no need to go there yourself, is there no need?

It's also part of my job to accept SOS requests, right? Although it does be a bit far from the clinic.

Alpha's brow furrowed even more. Akira felt a little surprised by what she said.

Well, I do know that since it's a distress request, there's a good chance I'm going to find a bunch of troublesome monsters, and I'll admit that I really want to help them if it's Ela who gets in

a-sa

or SA

a-sa

Troublesome. But at least let me do that much, okay? There aren't many monsters around, so I should be able to level myself up faster than just guarding the clinic, right?

Just don't go too deep into the ruins, okay?

Well? Well, of course.

Aki

A finds this weird, because in order to become stronger, to gain as much experience as possible, it would be better if he took the initiative to accept the SOS request, and Alpha would like it more. But since what he said there seemed to make her feel bad, he had to shut up and speed up the pace of the bike.

Akira drove his bike to top speed. He relied entirely on Alpha's support and didn't back down. After all, he felt like he was going to slow down with control of the bike, and he had no intention of being late. Thanks to Alphas' advanced driving technology, the bike can sway nimbly from side to side, avoiding the rubble scattered on the ground without losing much power.

Not long after Akira went out, he sensed some signals from the monster. He quickly shifted his attention to the source of the signal, and with Alpha's help, he could clearly see a group of monsters, but from a distance, they looked like small dots. The moment she noticed the monster horde, Akira frowned. A large herd of weapon dogs blocked his way.

So that's the reason for that rescue request, huh. I'd rather run than be upset about it.

Want to quit?

No.

Just as Akira was thinking about what to do from there, he saw a car suddenly jump out and run away as fast as he could. The back of the car was ajar, and there were people there desperately trying to fight back against the oncoming monsters, at least Akira could say so much.

As soon as it jumped out, the car turned around and headed in the direction of Akira. A sharp turn almost threw the whole vehicle into the air, but thanks to the driver's skill, it was able to regain its balance while still shooting the monsters behind it and maintaining its speed.

That must be a rescue target. Thankfully, it looks like I didn't have to jump into that crowd.

So, let's pick him up and go back. By the way, how reckless are you willing to go today?

Alpha smiled defiantly at Akira, but he only replied with a wry smile.

No more than necessary.

All right.

Aki

As the hand holding the steering wheel suddenly turned up the power lever and accelerated the bike violently, just as the warhead rained down a few seconds earlier. The explosion created a shock wave and left craters on the ground.

Warheads rained down, and Akira aimed at the weapon dog standing in front of him with SSB multi-weapon and began to shoot, completely ignoring the money he had spent for that blow. The missile pod fixed in his A4WM automatic grenade launcher also joined that barrage.

A storm of bullets engulfed the front line of the incoming weapons canine herd. Although the distance weakened the momentum of the bullet a little, it still tore the body of the weapon dog. Their massive cannon-mounted bodies quickly turned into huge obstacles, but the bullets also tore them apart and devoured the swarm's defenses.

The back of the swarm was hit by a miniature missile. Thanks to Alpha's guidance system, they accurately hit the weapon cannon, igniting the black powder in their bodies and causing a large explosion. Thus tearing those weapon dogs into small pieces.

As the vehicle full of hunters passed by Akira, he immediately applied the brakes, turned around, and stepped on the accelerator again. The special feature of the bike helps the wheel stick to the vertical wall, preventing it from flying away. The powerful inertia pounded on Aquilas's body, but with the help of the augmentation suit, he was able to endure it. Even when he drove away, Aki

A still continues to shoot at the weapon dog, using the recoil to make his bike accelerate faster.

Akira was trying to catch up with the vehicle in front of him when he received a short call from the information terminal. It was a call from Sonoda, who was waving to him from the back of the car in front of Akira.

You're the hunter who came to save me, right? Thank you for your help.

It's fine if you're okay. To be honest, when I saw the group of weapon dogs, I was thinking about retreating. This is a great time to get yourself out of trouble.

It was a very close call. So many cannons, if it weren't for the fact that you took some of the heat, they would have wiped us out. Here, when those weird things hit us, I think we're really out of luck anymore, but I guess we have some luck left, well.

Strange things? You mean you didn't make that SOS request because of that weapon dog pack?

Yes, because of those

Aki

a Noticed something strange on the side of the vehicle.

Hey, is someone locked on the side of your car? Don't you have enough time to bring everyone in?

What!?

Sonada poked his head out of the back of the car, and without hesitation, pulled out his gun and aimed it at the man next to the car. The barrage ripped the little boy out of the car and he fell to the ground. Seeing this, Akira couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

World Health Assembly -!? Why are you doing this!?!

That thing is not friendly!! It's the enemy!! We sent an SOS request because we were attacked by those things!! I bet they're one of those humanoid robots sent to guard the ruins or something

Suddenly, a little boy who looked like Theore slammed into the car, shaking it violently, leaving a large dent in its armor.

Warn. Detect resistance and arrest targets

The little boy stopped the formal warning halfway through, and his expressionless face twitched. Hostility took his place, and he immediately jumped out of the car and charged straight towards Akira.

Although Ming was surprised by the sudden turn of events, he didn't miss a beat, and aimed his rifle at the boy, shooting him down. But this did not stop him, and the little boy immediately stood up and began to pursue Akira.

Seeing the boy chasing after him, Akira couldn't help but be surprised. The bullet was powerful enough to tear the weapon dog apart, but not enough to pierce the boy.

Was it one of those dolls I fought the other day? I didn't expect to find them outside the building.

Aki

Alas, leave the guesswork for later and focus on the battle. It's not done yet, more is coming.

Akira took aim with his SSB multi-weapon with a serious face, and several little boy dolls jumped up and down at him in the buildings on the left and right. Some had 4 normal limbs, some had rifles, and some had their entire arms turned into guns. Some of the puppeteers' bodies were open, revealing the mechanical parts within, and some even had three arms attached.

Akira compressed his time perception and, following Alpha's instructions, shot down the enemies in front of him in turn. But that didn't end all of them, although some of them fell straight to the ground and turned into waste, while others were thrown off and crashed into buildings near them, stopping to move. Of course, there are also those who are physically stronger, and after being shot down, they get up again and start pursuing.

Sonada's vehicle was powerful enough to drive over rough ground, but even so, the small wreckage scattered here and there prevented them from going too fast. Not to mention, if they make a small mistake and manage to get the vehicle to roll over, it will mean their doom. So they drove even slower than usual, slower than the dolls who chased them with superhuman strength.

While they are fighting back against the dolls chasing them, the distance between them is slowly closing, and their numbers are not decreasing.

The young doll, who jumped out of the building and headed straight at Akira, also aimed his gun and cannon at him. The Alpha Control bike constantly performs evasive maneuvers to move away from their target. Due to the constantly moving bikes and bad ground, Aki

A had to maintain his compressed time perception while aiming his SSB multi-weapon at those dolls. He followed the instructions of the enhanced vision, showing the order of the enemies he had to shoot down. The bullets he uses should easily turn ordinary monsters into minced meat.

Powerful bullets that fly tear the doll to shreds, scattering the doll's flesh and mechanical parts into the air. But a strong person can only fall to the ground and get back up after being killed by a bullet.

Aki

As the rear of the vehicle released a pack of mini-missiles. Some of the missiles hit the dolls that were still in the air, and some of them shot directly at the dolls chasing Akira. The explosion of those missiles sent Akira a violent wind, but he stabilized himself with the help of his booster suit to avoid being blown away by the shockwave.

Akira then noticed some trouble and frowned.

Say it, Alpha. It's just my feelings, but like those dolls aren't focused on me? Or rather, they're just attacking me, right?

If you want to keep one of them alive to confirm this, then you don't have my permission.

I'll do that!

If you're not going to leave those people behind, be positive, at least they won't be around you attacking those hunters, right?

You have a point.

Then, Aki

A banished that thought and any other unwanted things in his mind into the void.

Another batch of miniature missiles was launched from the rear of the bike. They drew a huge arc in the sky and chased after the puppets chasing after them. The puppet with the gun immediately tried to shoot some missiles, causing several explosions in the air.

But even after that, the rest of the mini-missiles were able to reach and blow them up. Akira breathed a sigh of relief at the explosions, but his face immediately tensed again. Those small missiles weren't enough to stop the puppets from catching up with him.

This does reduce their numbers, but there are still a lot of them.

Akira, here's the bad news, that's the last batch of miniature missiles.

Here I think I carried a lot. The thought of how much money I had spent alone in this battle made me afraid.

Aki

A removed his DVTS mini-gun from his bike and replaced it with the missile's automatic reloading system, as it had no remaining mini-missiles to load. The ammunition cost for that battle was ridiculous.

Aki

A aimed at his SSB multi-weapon and started shooting again. SSB multi-weapon shoots powerful bullets like a machine gun. Once he emptied his rifle, he loaded another magazine and started shooting again. He told himself that he didn't care if Mulin later complained about the expense, as he had been depleting his ammunition reserves.

But even so, the doll that came in did not seem to let up, and his ammunition reserves were getting dwindling. Akira couldn't help but start to get nervous. It was in it that Alpha said something that he could not ignore.

We are now at least free from the most dangerous part. It's going to take a while to get sick, so try to be yourself for the time being, okay? I'll give you back control of the bike.

The car shook suddenly, and it staggered back into control.

Wait a minute, you're leaving now?!

I only need to take care of a small business. I'll be back in a minute or two.

Small business?! Right away? In this case?!

Contrary to the panicked Akira, Alpha just smiled and pointed.

Don't worry, like I said before, we're out of the most dangerous part.

The alpha then vanished. Akira quickly looked away, and saw that Hachirin's mobile clinic was coming in his direction. He could also see hunters guarding the clinic nearby, as well as hunters who were part of the expedition.

The mobile clinic was originally an APC, so it was equipped with rifles and other weapons. The weapons immediately began to fire, and the other half of the hunters around the clinic began to react. Aki

After passing through the clinic, Ele was found

a and sa

A, he turned his bike to them.

Elena noticed Akira and threw a smile at him.

Akira, it looks like you're having a hard time there. You okay?

Ah, well, yes, I'm fine.

Sarah then said to Akira worriedly.

This hunter named Sonada has been broadcasting for help, so you're here to save him, right? You okay? Have you ever been injured? If you're tired, you can take a break in the back.

Ah no, I'm fine. I'm a little tired, but I'm still moving.

I see, don't push yourself too hard. Since it's all at this time, it's a waste to have the opportunity not to rely on us.

Sarah said this, smiling softly at Akira, who was blushing and seemed flustered.

In that case, I'm running out of ammo, can I stay with you?

Elena said with a smile.

Of course. It's been a long time since we last played side by side. If you also want to use my information terminal, please approach me to adjust.

Yes, please.

Akira said this, smiling happily. Once he's adjusted, he'll play against the puppets with Elena and Sarah.