Chapter 1 After Saying Goodbye to Nasaton's Sirens

After saying goodbye to Nasaton's sirens, Hao Ren and his group returned home directly.

Originally, Hao Ren was worried about whether something might have gone wrong after being away from home for so many days—after all, the most unreliable bear children combination was in charge of guarding the house this time: a fish baby addicted to courting death, a silly cat with a head full of dried fish, and a demon loli who was always poking at electrical outlets. No one could predict what kind of chemical reaction these three would produce together. But to everyone's relief, Elizabeth didn't disappoint this time. The little girl regained the composure she had when she commanded a city, managing the cat and fish docilely, and everything at home was fine.

Except that she had taken apart all the electrical appliances.

After confirming that everything at home was normal (at least on the surface), the first thing everyone did was sleep soundly for a day, relaxing their tense nerves from the Aioi incident and the mess involving giants and mind flayers. Then they returned to their respective lives and did what they were supposed to do. After all, they were all people who had seen big scenes, so their adaptability was excellent.

Hao Ren wanted to rest for a few more days, but unfortunately, he couldn't give himself a vacation. He still had a lot of reports to prepare, and the information to be summarized after this incident was piled up. So he got up early and was busy organizing records. After joining the job for a year, he had developed good work habits. That is, he had to record in detail any trivial matter he encountered during the mission, and any clues had to be organized in reports and work logs, so as to prevent being caught off guard in the future. Now he calls what he comes into contact with the "abnormal domain," and the knowledge of the abnormal domain is usually profound and obscure, with various events intertwined. If there is not enough understanding and keen talent, then you can only rely on diligence to make up for it.

After this report is sorted out, he plans to go to Raven 12345 again. There are too many things to hand over this time.

Gung, as usual, curled up on the sofa, nudging Hao Ren's waist with her head, purring in her throat to relieve boredom. However, in the past, she could only occupy the area of one cushion like this, but now she occupies two-thirds of the sofa. Hao Ren and her nestling here leaves no room for anyone else. Lily can only squat on the cushion next to her, using the remote control to switch channels and find animal world to watch, while muttering, "Landlord, I suddenly realized something..."

Hao Ren was writing a report, and without raising his head, he said, "Tell me."

"...It seems that I'm the only one in the family who pays rent so far, right?" Lily's ears twitched, looking at Hao Ren with a confused look, "...I feel like I've lost out somewhere?"

As soon as Lily finished speaking, Yizaks, who was reading a newspaper nearby, Vivian, who was wiping the table, Nangong Wuyue, who was applying essential oil to her tail, and Nangong Sanba, who was teaching Dou Dou about Ley lines, all quieted down. A group of people looked up awkwardly at each other, and finally Hao Ren broke the silence. He patted Lily's head: "You've been thinking about this for a whole year?"

Lily drooped her ears: "Isn't it because I'm slow to react—Landlord, tell me, have I lost out somewhere?"

Hao Ren reached out and pressed Lily's hair: "Don't worry, I've converted the rent you pay every month into big bones. Did you think you were eating dozens of pounds more ribs than others every month for no reason?"

When Lily heard this, she immediately felt it was quite cost-effective, and immediately couldn't figure out other accounts. She licked Hao Ren's finger contentedly and turned her head to continue watching TV. Gung raised her eyelids and glanced at her, rubbing Hao Ren's arm with her head: "Even Meow can't stand it anymore..."

Dou Dou slapped her tail hard: "Can't stand it anymore! Can't stand it anymore!"

"By the way, how's Dou Dou's learning progress?" Hao Ren heard the fish baby's voice and looked up at Nangong Sanba.

"She can recognize the Ley lines pretty well. This child has a really good memory and her talent is not bad. I estimate that she will be able to graduate this month," Nangong Sanba was quite proud of his teaching results. This was the only part where he could continue to act like a big shot in front of a room full of supermen. "Do you want to see her holy flame skills? She can even cast them silently!"

Hao Ren nodded with great interest: "Let me see, let me see!"

When Dou Dou saw that there was an opportunity to show her face, she immediately clapped her tail happily, raised her hands, rubbed them in the air, and rubbed out a small white ball of fire. Nangong Sanba asked Dou Dou to maintain this posture and not move, took out a cigar from his pocket, roasted it on the fire ball, lit it, and took a deep breath: "The taste of using holy flame to light a cigar is really authentic..."

Hao Ren was stunned: "...You taught her for a month, and you taught her how to make a lighter?"

Dou Dou hopped to Hao Ren, holding up the fire ball in her hand to show off: "Daddy, want to light a cigarette?"

Lily coughed twice from the smoke. Nangong Sanba quickly put out the cigar and shrugged helplessly: "You yourself know that your daughter is only a foot long. What else do you think this size can do besides being a lighter?"

At this time, Dou Dou was still holding the ball of holy flame and hopping around, asking everyone she caught if they wanted to light a cigarette, like a human-shaped walking lighter. Vivian looked up at the watch and found that it was almost time for dinner, so she stepped forward and picked up Dou Dou and walked to the kitchen: "It can be used in the kitchen—the lighter is broken anyway."

Everyone: "..."

Hao Ren blinked and cupped his hands at Nangong Sanba, making a "you have worked hard" expression: "It's still an achievement. By the way, didn't you say some time ago that you wanted to tailor a set of mini equipment for Dou Dou to improve the little guy's learning efficiency or something? Did you make it?"

Nangong Sanba smiled triumphantly: "Do I need you to remind me? I made it long ago. I made her a set of miniature hand crossbows and training swords, and a weapon box. Tsk tsk, it was quite difficult to make. I even used a magnifying glass to engrave the runes for her, and it took me all night."

"Oh, oh, how is she using it?"

"I haven't had time to show it to her yet," Nangong Sanba rubbed his hands with a grin, "I'm going to give her a surprise today."

At this time, Vivian had already used Dou Dou to light the fire, and the little mermaid sneaked out of the kitchen by herself. Hao Ren waved to the little guy from a distance: "Dou Dou, come here! Your Uncle Sanba has something good for you!"

When Dou Dou heard this, she immediately hopped back to the coffee table happily, slapping her tail hard: "Goodies! Goodies!"

Nangong Sanba smiled slightly, took out a delicate little box from his arms, with a solemn expression: "Dou Dou, although you are only a foot long, you have a glorious and pure bloodline. You are the only demon hunter fish in the world, and you should get your own exclusive weapon. May these equipment accompany you on the journey to drive away evil, become your courage, blade, armor, and blessing, you must..."

Before Nangong Sanba could finish speaking, Wuyue slapped him on the back of the head with her tail: "Brother! Can you stop pretending to be a big shot in front of us?"

Nangong Sanba touched the back of his head with a grievance: "Where did I pretend? I'm being serious, okay? This is the standard ceremony for demon hunters to receive their first set of equipment. I even simplified the bathing and changing clothes—anyway, Dou Dou soaks in the water all day."

"Okay, okay, you're finding a sense of accomplishment as a mentor in a one-foot-long demon hunter fish. It's embarrassing to even say it," Hao Ren pushed the small box in front of Dou Dou, "Girl, open it and see if you like it."

Dou Dou looked at Hao Ren blankly, then at Nangong Sanba, and finally smelled the exquisite wooden box, before hesitating to open it.

Inside was a whole set of demon hunter equipment, specially tailored for Dou Dou's body size. There were small hand crossbows the size of pen caps, a set of five demon-breaking flying knives for training, as well as small wooden swords and rune books—all training equipment.

Dou Dou was very happy, and then she ate them all.

Well, that was just the little guy's plan, but she was caught by Hao Ren's quick eyes and hands as soon as she put her wooden sword in her mouth. The latter broke out in a cold sweat: "I was wondering why it felt wrong—Sanba, why did you make her a bunch of wooden equipment?!"

"For training," Nangong Sanba also realized the material problem at this time (after all, Dou Dou's recipes are extraordinary, and without a strong association ability, ordinary people would not realize that she would suddenly bite something), but he couldn't help it. "The power of demon hunters will make their weapons extremely powerful. A crossbow arrow shot out is like an anti-material rifle, so we use this kind of wood equipment soaked in holy oil during training. Their magical affinity is the same as holy silver, but it won't amplify the power, which can prevent trainee hunters from hurting themselves..."

At this time, Dou Dou was still struggling in Hao Ren's hands, shouting while struggling: "Eat, eat... Daddy, let me eat..."

Hao Ren sighed and glanced at Nangong Sanba: "I think your teaching plan still has a long way to go."

Nangong Sanba: "..."