Chapter 1 The Question of How to Select Demon Hunters for the "Sightseeing and Research (Being Researched) Group"

The selection of this “sightseeing and research (being researched) group” was naturally the concern of Grigory and Hasson. Hao Ren only gave them a selection quota and a waiting period for notification before preparing to bid farewell. As he got up, he saw the cat girl lazily purring in front of the fireplace. She had curled up into a ball, her fluffy ears twitching slightly in the direction of the fire, and her tail swaying slowly. She looked completely sleepy, the excitement and restlessness from when she first arrived completely gone.

The warm fireplace and soft blanket were like a drug to a cat. If she had some catnip, Hao Ren had no doubt that she would immediately swear allegiance to the demon hunters...

"Get up," Hao Ren said, tugging at the cat girl's tail. "Let's go."

"Big... kitty-ha..." The cat girl wriggled lazily, her voice sounding like it was coming from a dream. "I've decided to catch up on my morning, noon, and evening naps, meow..."

"Oh, now you're getting sleepy," Hao Ren raised his eyebrows. "Come on, the business is done. Now we can go catch cod."

Gun slightly lifted one eyelid, her voice even more ethereal: "What's cod? I don't want it, meow."

Hao Ren coughed immediately: "Cough, cough... You were so excited to catch fish before we came. How did you become like this in such a short time?"

Nangong Sanba patted him on the shoulder: "Landlord, let me tell you, cats are especially fickle creatures, and women are especially fickle creatures. If these two species are put together, she can practically transform seventy-two times, you know?"

Hao Ren thought about it and figured that there shouldn't be any small animal protection and women's federation personnel active near the Arctic Circle, so he directly bent down, grabbed Gun by the waistband, and lifted the stupid cat up. Ignoring her flailing, he slung her over his shoulder: "Let's go, let's go. We still have to hurry to Athens and hand things over to the Shadow Council before heading to Holleta—our schedule is tight today, so we don't have time to reason with a cat."

Gun was enjoying the fireplace when she suddenly felt dizzy, and the warm fire receded into the distance. She immediately struggled, kicking and screaming: "Put me down! Put me down! Big kitty, you're in trouble, you're in big trouble! I want to warm myself by the fire, I want to warm myself by the fire, meow—"

The stupid cat didn't even have time to finish the second "meow" before she was swallowed by a beam of white teleportation light.

Grigory and Hasson exchanged bitter smiles and shook their heads slightly: "That ancestor of ours really never makes things easy."

"But this is also a good thing," Hasson said. "Hao Ren has been taking action. Perhaps, as you said last time, the day when the Dream Plane is completely stable will eventually come, and those of us who don't belong to this world will eventually return to our homeland—at least some of our people will choose to do so. This planet ruled by humans is not very suitable for us. We can survive here, even survive very well, but we will never become an independent civilization or a complete nation. And I have been thinking about this aspect recently. I plan to participate in this visit to the Dream Plane."

Bai Huo lowered his head and pulled out his game console from his pocket, fiddling with it: "I also want to go and see, but I don't think I will ever leave here. The Dream Plane is a place that has a deep connection with us, but I don't belong there."

The wrinkles on Grigory's face seemed to ease a little: "There are also young people like Bai Huo who are content to stay in one place. It seems that the industry we have been building on this planet for thousands of years will not be without successors."

What this old hunter was considering was the foundation of the demon hunters' millennia-long heritage on Earth.

Bai Huo continued to fiddle with his game console: "I heard there's no Wi-Fi over there."

Grigory: "..."

On the other side, Hao Ren and his group had already arrived at the Athens Sanctuary in the Shadow Interlayer. They had also notified them in advance, and because Vivian also held a more substantial seat and influence in the Shadow Council, Vivian had already conveyed many things in advance through Hesperide, her "spokesperson." The entire Shadow Council already knew Hao Ren's arrangements, and the latter was only there to confirm things.

Compared to the demon hunters, who still needed to participate in a series of follow-up test projects, the projects that ordinary Otherworlders had to participate in were much simpler. They only needed to select a list of participants for the "Interworld Survey."

In order to save time, after sending the message, Vivian had Hesperide also list a few hard-and-fast criteria, so that they could draft a list of personnel in advance, so that Hao Ren could directly confirm it when he arrived. These hard-and-fast criteria could be summarized into three points:

First, they had to be moderates. Because they were going to be active with the demon hunters this time, and they were also going to an otherworld full of Otherworlders, where all kinds of races existed, the various races in that place were basically enemies to the Otherworlders who had been fighting to the death on Earth for ten thousand years. Even though the mythological war on Earth had ended, the accumulated habits were still difficult to change (for example, werewolves would throw a brick at vampires when they saw them, and night demons would dive into the shadows when they saw werewolves). Therefore, those participating in the group had to be moderates, which would make them easier to manage.

Second, they had to have a certain influence within their respective races—because this "Interworld Survey" was not as simple as a sightseeing trip. For the Otherworlders, its greater significance was to let their people truly know that their respective races were not initially at odds with each other, and to let them better understand the fact and meaning of "Otherworlders come from other worlds." It would be useless for well-meaning people without a certain influence to participate in the group.

The third point was that they had to be able to take a beating, because Vivian had clearly pointed out that bringing so many races that had once fought to the death together and acting with the demon hunters was simply an unprecedented act of soldering wires and sawing light bulbs. The probability of situations such as disobeying orders, violent conflicts, and unauthorized departure from the team was almost certain to exist. Therefore, when such situations occurred, Vivian, the "Red Moon Countess," as the order maintenance personnel of the team, would firmly implement the system of "beating them to death," so the team members had to be able to take a beating...

All the members of the Shadow Council believed that the Countess's arrangements were reasonable and in line with the will of the people, and then they gathered the most unwelcome people from their respective races to form a group in an attempt to muddle through...

Obviously, they didn't intend to cooperate with Hao Ren's call at all, or rather, they hadn't understood the meaning of Hao Ren's call this time.

Fortunately, Hesperide had anticipated this move and sent a notice in advance, and Vivian had them withdraw the list and revise it.

The new list was drafted very quickly. Basically, less than half an hour after Vivian returned the list, the representatives from various families and other sanctuaries sent up the new list, which was said to have been "obtained through internal emergency discussions." Any discerning person could see at a glance that this list had actually been prepared long ago—the major families had probably long expected that Vivian, this living ancestor, would not be easy to fool, so they had prepared this backup plan. These guys still understood the Red Moon Countess quite well, knowing that although she was ruthless and destructive when she was sleepy, she was usually quite easy to talk to, as long as they eventually expressed cooperation in a timely manner, they would basically not be beaten.

In the council hall of the Shadow Council headquarters, Vivian quickly browsed through the list in front of her, then raised her eyelids and looked around at the faces in the council hall. Mimir, as the speaker, was "placed" in the chief position in the form of a head, flanked by the high-ranking councilors composed of the heads of various families, race leaders, and sanctuary representatives. Of course, Hesperide was also among them.

Except for Mimir, who always had a faint smile on his face, and Hesperide, who was constantly trying to get closer to Vivian, most of the councilors had expressions that were both awkward and nervous, and also contained a hint of helplessness: they didn't seem to have a good understanding of the causes and consequences and meaning of this "Return to the Dream Plane Project" yet. These old guys, who were used to formulating instructions rather than accepting them, seemed a little unaccustomed to this sudden, almost command-like "notice."

"I just came back from Corpus," Vivian said, her voice slightly easing the awkwardness of the scene, but the content of her words made the atmosphere strange. "You know, dealing with those demon hunters makes me feel better than dealing with you guys."

A high-ranking vampire said with an awkward expression: "Respected Countess, your words..."

"Because they only have one race, while there are seventeen of you just present. They only have one voice, while you can't wait to divide yourselves into seven or eight factions and strangle each other, even within your own families. I only have the identity of a saint in name there, but what I say there counts. I'm almost on the same level as the speaker here, but you can still come up with two lists when I ask for one!" Vivian threw the list on the table. "Do you really think that I'm just wandering around outside and don't know what's going on inside you? That I can't call out the names of you little brats, that I don't know the situation of these people you've put on the list?"

Most of the councilors present fell silent. They were basically family representatives who had casually put together a list to fool her, while Jean Lucas, the head of the Lucas family, gave a slight bow with his ever-present elegant smile: "Then, Countess, this list..."

Vivian paused slightly, and then she heard the secret words transmitted by Hesperide using vampire telepathy: "Vivian, Vivian, there's no major problem with this list now!"

Vivian remained expressionless and nodded slightly to the group of apprehensive family representatives: "The current list is much more orderly, but I don't want to find out that anyone is trying to fool me again. You must know that even if I don't appear in any sanctuary, I have a way to know what's going on in the council. I know you like the back of my hand."

As she spoke, she scanned the audience with a particularly imposing gaze, pausing for a moment on the faces of every councilor she found displeasing—anyway, she didn't recognize a single one of them!

Lily poked Hao Ren's arm and muttered in a low voice: "The bat sure can brag."

Hao Ren and the Nangong siblings nodded together: "Yeah, yeah."

Gun was still lying on the table with a lifeless expression: "I want to warm myself by the fire... I want to sleep... I want to eat fish..."