Chapter 37: What the Hell is a Bounty Hunter?!

In the Sea of Japan, a heavily modified large tugboat was cutting through the waves. A middle-aged man with distinctly Germanic features stood in the wheelhouse, gazing through the porthole at the distant horizon.

"Captain, our application for port entry has been approved. The Japan Branch has prepared the supplies; we can restock once the *Moniere* docks at Tokyo Port," reported the burly first mate.

"Hah, so well-prepared. It seems they are in quite a hurry to see us leave."

The captain of the *Moniere* nodded noncommittally. The Japan Branch, much like the country itself, was filled with restless, ambitious wolves.

The first mate was well aware of the peculiarities of the Japan Branch. "The Japan Branch Chief, Ichiro Ryoma, is a retired soldier, and the Director of the Execution Bureau is a young man who just graduated. Perhaps... well, they are quite bold."

His Chinese was not quite fluent, and he struggled to find a more suitable adjective.

"Indeed, youth is often synonymous with arrogance."

The middle-aged captain curled his lips into a faint smile. He picked up a file from his left and fixed his gaze on a photograph of a boy scratching his head and grinning foolishly.

"But when it comes to boldness, perhaps our S-grade freshman has the upper hand."

Like many who were not privy to the inside story, Professor Mans had initially thought Lu Mingfei was a completely mediocre loser when he first saw his file. Now, however, he was filled with interest in the boy.

Just moments ago, he learned from NOMA that his student, Chen Motong, had failed her mission. Not only had she failed to recruit Lu Mingfei, but she had also been left speechless by his public rebuke.

Few could best Nono in a verbal sparring match, and those who dared to demand that Mr. Anjou travel thousands of miles to recruit them personally were even rarer.

"It's a pity time is tight; otherwise, I would have liked to meet him myself," Professor Mans sighed.

He was currently on a mission. He had to steer the *Moniere* into China under the guise of an investor's promotional vessel and film prop transport to complete the preliminary riverbed survey.

Foreign vessels entering a country for operations were always subject to intense scrutiny and inspection; after all, the slightest oversight could lead to devastating pollution and ecological destruction.

To cope with the rigorous security checks, Cassel College had extensively modified and disguised the *Moniere*.

Many devices that could not pass inspection were dismantled and shipped to the Cassel China Branch via secret channels, to be reassembled only after the operation began.

There was no helping it; China’s control over contraband was among the strictest in the world. Moreover, local factions were complex and highly xenophobic. Had it not been for the help of the Chen family, entering the country would have been even more difficult.

If only the site for the Kuimen Project had been in Mexico; they could have easily shipped everything there with a bit of money.

Watching the pitch-black night and the faintly visible floating platform outside the porthole, Professor Mans temporarily pushed thoughts of Lu Mingfei aside and turned his attention to his two best young subordinates.

"Have Ye Sheng and Aki’s joint training sessions begun? They must adapt to the water conditions of the Yangtze River as soon as possible."

"Progress is good," the first mate smiled. "You know, they’ve been diving partners for five years and haven't made a single mistake yet."

"That’s good." Professor Mans nodded. In their quest to locate the dragon tomb, the college had sent several execution teams to various parts of the world, and they were but one of them.

Having spent so much manpower and resources, they had to produce results; otherwise, it would be a poor return on the breath the Headmaster had wasted at the negotiating table.

"I wonder what the Headmaster intends to do. Surely, an S-grade freshman who hasn't even awakened or passed the 3E exam isn't worth such a massive mobilization."

Lu Mingfei had truly never imagined his words would alarm so many people.

His demand that the Headmaster of Cassel College come to talk to him in person about enrollment was, in itself, a disguised rejection.

It was only 2009; terms like "Wolong and Fengchu" were still used in a complimentary sense and hadn't been ruined by internet cynicism.

The West still held stereotypes about China. Even though the spectacular Olympics last year had slapped many Western media outlets in the face, they still spared no effort in spreading rumors.

Therefore, no principal of a private aristocratic school would travel across the ocean to "visit the thatched cottage three times" just to invite a mediocre, internet-addicted teenager with barely passing grades to guide his studies in the United States, simply because an honorary alumnus had requested it.

It was just that the old man Guderian was somewhat stubborn; he had actually been willing to abandon his official duties to come back and persuade him.

"Could it be that the old geezer named Anjou doesn't have much time left, and one of my heart, liver, spleen, lungs, or kidneys happens to be a match?"

Back at the hotel, the more Lu Mingfei thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

In his previous life, he had claimed his entire inheritance from the Cassel trust after coming of age without ever meeting their boss.

But not meeting him didn't mean he hadn't heard of him. He remembered some tabloid news reporting that he was a centenarian whose greatest hobby was watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show with another old man.

Lu Mingfei had read his fair share of unofficial histories, which claimed that wealthy Westerners liked to use the blood of virgins to maintain their youth, and the waists and erectile tissue of strong men to compensate for their own physical decline.

Could it be that the old guy had overdrawn his kidneys and had his eye on his own pair of prime, under-eighteen-year-old kidneys?

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it became. Lu Mingfei decided to play it safe. He wouldn't go to the internet cafe to stay overnight; he didn't want to run into a few foreign robbers on the way and end up as a "missing person."

He was about to tell Old Tang that he had something to do and would have to cancel, but before he could finish typing, Old Tang sent a message saying he had to leave.

"Brother, I can't play games today. The place where I work a side job had a gang shootout in the middle of the night. My boss was hit by a stray bullet and won't be paying any more wages. I have to find a new job."

"Is the United States that chaotic?" Lu Mingfei was asking a question he already knew the answer to.

"New York's slums are like that. Step outside, and it's corpses and the police."

"Alright, have you considered coming to China? I'm telling you, foreign teachers are quite popular here. Although you're of Chinese descent, which might be a slight disadvantage, it should be better than working odd jobs."

Lu Mingfei knew full well the quality of foreign teachers in the country: no degree, no experience, just reading from a script in their native tongue. Yet, parents still praised them for teaching English so well, and the schools were proud to claim they were "in line with international standards."

Although Old Tang's Chinese had a strange flavor, it was much better than those foreign teachers who could only say "Ni Hao," "Xie Xie," and "Zai Jian."

"Being a teacher? Forget it. I don't want to lead others astray."

"The fact that you can say that already makes you better than those 'black'... black-hearted people who just come here to cash in."

Lu Mingfei genuinely wanted Old Tang to come to China. After all, the latter was now on his own and living in a notoriously chaotic slum; he was truly afraid that one day he would wake up and be unable to reach him.

"We'll see. I've found a new gig. This time, I’m really going to be Indiana Jones." There was an undisguised joy in Old Tang’s words.

Lu Mingfei frowned at the message: "What do you mean? You're going to go dig up someone's ancestral grave, too?"

His parents had gone off to dig up someone else's ancestral grave and never returned; he didn't want Old Tang to vanish, too.

"Didn't I tell you I'm a bounty hunter? This time I just took a job as someone's bodyguard."

A bounty hunter?

At the mention of this term, the first thing that came to Lu Mingfei's mind was the outfit Nono had worn that evening. He subconsciously replaced her face with Old Tang's, which instantly gave him the creeps.

He was just about to tell him not to be disgusting, but he quickly realized:

"What the hell is a bounty hunter?!"