Astral Apostle

Chapter 59: Mutant Blood Strengthening (3)

As for how many he could fight, it was hard to say. After all, he had never tried it before.

He had also tested its destructive power. Zhou Jing found a hotel and asked for some materials. He held the solid wood in his hand and could break it easily. With a little force, he could crush it into pieces. The stone bricks were equally fragile in front of his fist.

“With such a physique, it should be very easy to flatten the buildings of this era.”

Zhou Jing had a vague idea. When fighting against mutant beasts, hunters might have a hard time, but if they caused trouble in the city, they would probably be like a bulldozer.

However, the Mutant World did not have the various instruments of the main world, so he could not test the specific physical parameters. He could only try his best to estimate.

Zhou Jing pulled Ross over and studied him for the entire night, discovering the changes in his current body.

…

Early the next morning, Zhou Jing and Barong walked around White Plains Town and bought some things.

There were three most important items for beast hunters: armor, weapons, and potions.

Generally speaking, weapons and armor made of mutant beast materials were of higher quality, but they were quite expensive.

Mutant beast equipment could not be exchanged for free like the Mutant Blood Potion. They all cost money. Even the hunter who brought back the prey had to pay a processing fee.

Zhou Jing was short of money and had no intention of buying any mutant beast equipment for the time being. Instead, he borrowed some money from Barong and bought a set of Mutant Beast Hunter’s leather armor.

It was black and green with shoulder pads. Apart from preventing cuts and tears, it was also quite light.

Then, he went to the blacksmith shop. After picking and choosing, he bought a long blade with a slight curvature.

Because he was practicing blade techniques and had taken the strengthening path of high agility and high explosive power, Zhou Jing felt that it was a good choice to use his own advantage and have a weapon with higher attack speed.

However, although the Lightning Strike Leopard’s blood Potion mainly enhanced his Agility, the strength brought by 26 points of Physical Fitness was still far greater than that of a First Enhancement Mutant Blood Warrior. Zhou Jing did not intend to give up on heavy weapons, which could be used when hunting some of the larger mutant beasts.

After walking out of the blacksmith shop, Zhou Jing’s dressing already looked quite decent.

He was wearing a brand new black and green hunter’s leather armor and had two sabers on him. The long saber was slung at his waist, and the original heavy saber was still on his back.

(TL Note: Anyone getting some Monster Hunter vibes here~)

The Mutant World did not have an assembly line process, so the process of making equipment by hand was not cheap. Barong spent nearly 20 Terra silver coins—the common currency of the Terra Empire, just to get him outfitted.

This sum of money was considered a huge sum to ordinary farmers, but hunters could net themselves about 80 Terra silver coins for each common mutant beast they sent to the workshop. Mutant Beast Hunters were indeed a high-income group.

Barong sized him up and nodded in satisfaction. “You finally look more like the real deal. Next, we have to go to the potion shop and buy some hunting potions.”

“You’re not going to the Hunter’s Workshop?” Zhou Jing was curious.

“The workshop only processes mutant beast materials. The hunter’s potion we use for hunting is refined from herbs. We can’t buy it in the workshop, so we have to go to a proper pharmacy.”

Barong explained.

When Mutant Beast Hunters hunted, they would use some potions to temporarily strengthen themselves. They were called Hunter Potions. These potions had different characteristics; some reduced pain and increased excitement, while others healed injuries and recovered stamina.

Because the body of a Mutant Beast Hunter was different from that of an ordinary person, the medicinal effect of Hunter’s Potion was usually quite fierce, and it was difficult for ordinary people to use it. Therefore, making Hunter’s Potion was considered a great hallmark in this world’s pharmaceutics. One needed to have sufficient skill to ensure that Hunter’s Potion would be effective without producing too many side effects.

Therefore, the pharmacists in this world were roughly divided into three research directions. One was to study the technology of the Mutant Blood Potion, the second was to study the formula of the Hunter Potion, and the third was to make ordinary potions used by ordinary people.

They chatted as they walked and soon arrived at the pharmacy in the center of the town.

The pharmacy occupied a large area, and people constantly came and went. The business was booming, and there were two teams of eight guards patrolling the entrance.

“There are really many people.” Zhou Jing looked around and clicked his tongue.

Barong shrugged. “There’s only one pharmacy in the city. We can only buy potions here. Of course, there are many people.”

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows. “Why don’t you open a few more? Speaking of which, there will definitely be pharmacists who want to open their own shops, right?”

“Lord Lutt has orders that pharmacists are not allowed to open shops on their own. If they want to sell potions, they can only cooperate with this potion shop. They can either sell the potions to them or become a collaborative pharmacist. It’s said that this order is to ensure the quality of the potions bought by the residents in the city, as well as to prevent some pharmacists who are not good enough from casually selling potions of low quality and running away after selling them.”

Hearing this, Zhou Jing’s eyes flickered.

The reason was quite good… but this was still a monopoly, right?

“Let me guess. This pharmacy is the lord’s business?”

“Who knows, but it definitely provides taxes to the lord.” Barong stroked his beard.

In this era of the Mutant World, there was most likely no such thing as an anti-monopoly law. The lord was the biggest monopoly in the area and had a series of tax collection rights.

Zhou Jing did not have any other thoughts. After all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Seeing that the two of them were armed, the pharmacy guards immediately came to check them. This time, they were much stricter than the city guards.

After finally dealing with the checks, they walked into the pharmacy.

However, as soon as he entered, he happened to see a person walking out in a hurry with his head lowered. He did not seem to look at the road ahead and was about to bump into Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing reacted quickly and dodged to the side.

It was only then that the man realized that he had almost bumped into someone. Startled, he suddenly missed his footing and rolled down the steps.

Looking at this scene, Zhou Jing couldn’t help but nudge Ross, who was beside him.

“Look, I found someone who’s even dumber than you.”

Ross: (→ _ →)

This man stood up with a grimace. Only then did Zhou Jing see his appearance clearly. He was skinny and had a goatee, and was clad in the rough clothes of the pharmacy, seemingly an employee.

“Why aren’t you looking where you’re going?” The goateed man rubbed his knees and complained subconsciously.

However, when he looked up and saw Zhou Jing’s appearance, his expression changed.

The goateed man immediately shut up and did not say anything else. He turned around and left in a hurry.

“Is he afraid of me?”

Zhou Jing touched his chin, wondering if he was that scary.

Barong was not surprised. “It’s normal. We Mutant Beast Hunters are respected and powerful. With your attire, of course he wouldn’t dare to have a conflict with you.”

“I understand.” Zhou Jing nodded.

He was not surprised about this since the Supers of the main world occasionally received similar treatment in their lives.

Zhou Jing did not take this matter to heart. He followed Barong into the pharmacy and came to the shelf selling the Hunter Potions.

The price of a hunter’s potion was usually three Terra silver coins. Some potions that were labeled as “strong” could even cost more than ten Terra silver coins.

“Isn’t it a little too expensive…”

Zhou Jing clicked his tongue secretly.

Ordinary people would definitely not buy the hunter’s potion, but hunters were not short of money, so the price could naturally be priced higher. Does this mean I have an accurate grasp of the consumer market?

He was not sure about the cost of the Hunter Potion, but he felt that it was a profitable industry.

No wonder the Lord wanted to hold on tight to it…

While he was thinking, Barong had already bought four bottles of Hunter’s Potion and given half to Zhou Jing.

“One bottle is for continuous adrenaline rush, and the other has the effect of temporarily suppressing one’s injuries. These are the two most commonly used methods during hunting. Take it.”

“Thank you. I’ll return it to you when I earn money from hunting.”

Zhou Jing put away the potion and silently calculated the debt he owed Barong. It was about 25 Terra silver coins so far.

The money was not much. He could pay it back after one hunt. The pressure was not great.

Zhou Jing composed himself and nodded. “Everything is ready. Where should we go next? Should we find a place to test the Physical Fitness?”

“No, let’s go somewhere nice.”

As he spoke, Barong grabbed Zhou Jing’s shoulder and chuckled.

“It’s the most important thing to us hunters… the Hunter’s Tavern!”