Chapter 156: Night Camp

Over the next full day, Li Mochen and his team hunted a total of three dark creatures.

Though fewer in number than before, all were of the outlaw level, so their value was incomparable to earlier hauls. Preliminary estimates put the materials they gathered at least at 650,000 gold shields, of which Li Mochen could claim 48%, roughly 310,000 gold shields. Compared to a week ago, his income had leaped to a much higher tier.

They expected tomorrow’s earnings to increase further. Today, Eliza had led them to six targets, but three had escaped.

These high-tier dark creatures possessed considerable intelligence. After being hit by Li Mochen’s sniper rifle from a distance, they wouldn’t foolishly stay put or charge in rage to fight. Instead, they used terrain and their abilities to find ways to flee.

But this was due to inexperience; tomorrow’s hunt should improve, and so would the income.

However, that night, Li Mochen and his team had no choice but to camp in the wild.

The dark world had no concept of night—there was no sun, moon, or stars. But after midnight, a massive surge of狂暴魔潮 (berserk magic tide) would erupt, lasting until 8 a.m.

During this period, all dark creatures became abnormally frenzied, instinctively attacking all non-dark beings nearby, their combat power greatly enhanced. In severe cases, beast tides would erupt, with hundreds of thousands or millions of dark creatures assaulting human settlements.

Thus, magic professionals near Atlanta would return to Ghost City or the territories of major families after 8 p.m., never spending the night in the wild unless absolutely necessary.

This time, while hunting a purple-scaled mad bull, they had wasted over half an hour and couldn’t make it back to Ghost City before midnight, forcing them to camp out.

Fortunately, the other five besides Li Mochen had extensive demon-hunting experience, even in野外生存 (wilderness survival) after midnight.

They quickly found a desolate ravine and carved out a reasonably sturdy stone cave. Using pre-loaded formation plates in the vehicle, they set up a temporary protective array inside, then blocked the cave mouth with their Teuton war chariot.

“If you must spend the night in the wild, stay far from herds and ensure no magic stones are nearby. Also keep away from water sources, since water means life. The best hiding spot is somewhere with bedrock underground, which can somewhat block threats from below. Of course, if you’re exceptionally strong, on par with a demigod, you don’t need to worry about any of this.”

After Eliza and the others set up the temporary shelter, she explained various precautions to Li Mochen: “The protective array we brought is level 14. As long as we don’t encounter a beast tide, it can handle the surrounding dark creatures. Even if we’re unlucky, our campsite is rugged terrain, so few dark creatures will pass by. At this time, they follow instinct and take the easiest paths.”

“I’ve read about these experiences in books.”

As Li Mochen spoke, he fed a piece of roasted wolf meat to the dragon vein.

This guy had just consumed a pot of Four Symbols All-Nourishing Soup two days ago and hadn’t fully digested the absorbed energy, so he shouldn’t have eaten iron-skinned wolf meat, a highly nourishing food. But Li Mochen had brought little food this time, and this was all he had.

“Let’s talk about you, Eliza. You should know that in the future, I won’t be able to spend much time hunting dark creatures, right?”

“Tch, I figured as much.”

Eliza pursed her lips: “Nason Sports Group is hyping you like crazy. You’re already famous on the West Coast of America. I estimate that within a month or two, big companies will come offering endorsements. A couple of endorsement deals could bring you tens of millions of gold shields. Hunting dark creatures is both dangerous and unprofitable for you. I’ve already thought it through—we’ll deal with the future later. No matter what happens, let me make some money off you for now.”

Li Mochen chuckled. He knew about brand endorsements; non-sports product endorsements weren’t prohibited by the NHSAA competition committee.

But the amounts weren’t as exaggerated as Eliza claimed. Currently, the top high school sports stars could at most get three million gold shields a year in endorsement deals.

This was related to the audience for high school sports stars. Their fans were mostly students, whose purchasing power, though strong, was limited to a few specific products. Media coverage of them was far less than that of NMOSA league superstars.

NHSAA was indeed one of the hottest events in America, but its influence was shared among schools and regions. High school students in Atlanta wouldn’t be interested in East Coast high school sports stars, and vice versa. Students there wouldn’t see Li Mochen as an idol to worship.

Of course, Li Mochen could take on more contracts, but that would affect his studies and competitions. After signing endorsements, he’d have to make time for ad shoots and attend organized events—very troublesome.

Unlike his current sponsorship from Nason Sports Group, which involved no money, so Nason had very limited control over him.

For Li Mochen, if endorsement contracts demanded too much, he’d rather hunt dark creatures in this world.

“I’ll still come here often, but not as frequently as now. I think within two months, I’ll reduce my visits. Even when I come, it might not be for hunting. But by then, our cooperation can continue in another form.”

Eliza raised an eyebrow with interest: “Go on—what form?”

Deep down, she didn’t want to part ways with Li Mochen either.

“Eliza, you could become an employee of my company.”

Li Mochen issued the invitation solemnly: “Soon, I’ll hire a powerful outlaw-level person to handle intelligence and security for our Rising Sun Company. I’d like to invite you to be their deputy.”

“Employee?”

Hesitation flickered in Eliza’s eyes.

“The salary will be generous. I can offer you 600,000 gold shields a year. After you become an outlaw, it can be raised to 1.5 million.”

Li Mochen knew that for a magic professional from a prestigious family like Eliza, he couldn’t be stingy. In fact, Eliza Targaryen was already close to outlaw level, a talent far surpassing William.

“This might be less than what you earn here, but on top of that, I’ll still enter the dark world to hunt three to five days a month, and we can split the proceeds by contribution.”

Eliza thought the offer was indeed generous—she could earn four or five million gold shields a year. Yet, inexplicably, she felt a sense of resistance, as if becoming Li Mochen’s subordinate would cost her some kind of hope.