Infinite Cosmic Cafeteria Chapter 33: The Hunt Begins

Translator: Stellar Novels Editor: Stellar Novels

With a new Curio in hand, Ma Lu then activated the effect of another Curio, Sticky Web, to retrieve a blessing that had been wiped out last time.

As the blessing list unfolded, Ma Lu noticed something different.

The blue blessing 【Spin Around】 was flickering constantly and disappeared after half a second, replaced by a white blessing: 【Oxygen Lover: Increases the entire team's stamina by 1%】.

Did this trigger the effect of the Heartbeat Lottery?

But there hadn’t been any combat just now. Ma Lu went back and re-read the description of Heartbeat Lottery.

Alright, it indeed didn’t say that combat was necessary; it just needed a blessing option to appear to be triggered.

The effect of Sticky Web happened to meet the condition, but he was a bit unlucky this time and triggered a downgrade in the blessing.

One of the selectable blessings changed from blue to white, but fortunately, it didn’t affect much.

The blessing Ma Lu intended to choose was still there, and he hesitated between 【Final Iron Wall】 and 【Strike Charge】.

Both purple blessings had good effects, one defensive and one offensive, and 【Final Iron Wall】 paired well with Bocchi’s abilities.

However, considering that the other blessing was also usable and could exploit a bug with the Flame Gecko, Ma Lu had already made his decision.

【Strike Charge: When a team member adopts a defensive stance during combat, each hit received increases strength by 10%. This effect can accumulate and resets when an attack is launched】

Ma Lu kept this purple blessing and, while waiting for Bocchi, searched the area again for his old friend, the Flame Gecko.

…………

This time, Bocchi wasn’t alone; another figure was sitting on the back of his motorcycle.

The person had a curvaceous figure, clearly a woman.

“Your girlfriend?”

Bocchi shook his head, “A newcomer.”

“What kind of newcomer?”

“A newcomer who wants to join the Double Sunflower Hunting Group.”

Ma Lu didn’t immediately grasp what he meant, but when Bocchi mentioned it, he remembered that they had talked about recruiting new members for the hunting group before they parted ways last time. He just didn’t expect progress so quickly.

“You were right. The hunting group needed expansion, so when I got back, I entrusted the guild with posting a recruitment notice,” Bocchi explained.

“And only one person came to apply?”

“No, I actually received dozens of self-recommendation letters this week.” Bocchi’s answer surprised Ma Lu.

“Really? Is it because of your father?”

“It has nothing to do with my father. Everyone came because of the Double Sunflower.”

“But our hunting group was only established less than two weeks ago,” Ma Lu said, rubbing his chin.

“It’s because of the Treasure Hunters.” The woman on the back seat laughed.

“Treasure Hunters?”

“Yes, the hunting group that clashed with you last time and tried to rob you. They’ve done similar things before, but the victims never had concrete evidence, so those incidents ended without resolution. This time, however, they got caught in your hands.

“They had eight people, and you only had two, yet they were beaten badly, while you were unscathed. This has already spread throughout the city.

“Not to mention that you two successfully hunted the Giant Claw King and upgraded the hunting group to Bronze in under three days. It might not be the fastest, but it’s impressive enough.”

“Ah, so much happened while I was away,” Ma Lu said, looking at Bocchi again. “So, you only found one person who met the requirements out of all those candidates?”

Bocchi shook his head, “Recruiting for the hunting group is a serious matter. I can’t just rely on a self-recommendation letter to decide who’s suitable or not. Each person needs to be investigated and vetted thoroughly, which takes time and can’t be done quickly.”

Bocchi pointed to the woman behind him, looking a bit reluctant, and said, “As for her, she’s a friend of mine. I know her well enough; her abilities are definitely not an issue, and her character is… passable. So, I brought her along for now.”

“Hello, Vice Leader. I’m Mai Mai. I’m glad to join the Double Sunflower Hunting Group and fight alongside you.”

The woman removed her face scarf, revealing a beautiful face. She looked about six or seven years older than Bocchi. She extended her hand, confidently introducing herself with a voice as soft and light as a feather pillow.

“No, you haven’t joined the Double Sunflower Hunting Group yet; you’re still in the assessment period,” Bocchi said sternly.

“Technically, you’re not one of our members, so you won’t have any rights to the hunt’s spoils this time. I will pay you accordingly after the hunt based on your performance, and the decision to accept you into our group will be made by a vote of all current members.”

Mai Mai smiled and simply replied with one word, “Alright.”

“Oh, welcome, welcome.” Ma Lu shook hands with Mai Mai. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt there was a subtle meaning in her gaze toward him.

There was no malice in it, though, so Ma Lu didn’t dwell on it. He was just curious. “How did you and Bocchi meet?”

“I spent some time with the Harpist’s group, but I left two years ago and haven’t worked as a hunter since. I’ve always dreamed of opening a perfume shop, and I used the money I earned to make that childhood dream come true.”

“Hmm, so why did you suddenly want to join a hunting group again?”

“After being a perfume shop owner for a while and achieving my dream, I realized that being a hunter suited me better.”

Mai Mai tucked a windblown strand of hair behind her ear. “People are like that, you know. When you’re young, you often don’t know what you truly want. When I heard Bocchi was forming a new group, I got the itch to come back.”

“But if you go back to being a hunter, what will happen to your perfume shop?”

“I heard from Bocchi that you only go out hunting once a week and can usually return in a day, so it shouldn’t interfere much with the shop’s business. Besides, my sister looks after the perfume shop, so my presence doesn’t really make much of a difference.”

“Are you done talking?” Bocchi, for some reason, had been feeling inexplicably irritated ever since deciding to bring Mai Mai along. He pulled out a card and handed it to Ma Lu.

“I sold the rest of the Giant Claw King and those Vampiric Long-Tailed Weasels, along with the Short-Eared Lynx Hedgehog. This is your share, plus some other odds and ends. There’s about 32,000 units of power in there.”

“Thanks, but please keep it for me,” Ma Lu said, glancing at the card before handing it back to Bocchi.

He couldn’t take it back with him anyway, so it was best left with Bocchi until he needed it.

Having this money in reserve provided a safety net. If he ever decided not to hunt or if Bocchi was temporarily unavailable, he could use this money to purchase supplies in the city, avoiding coming back empty-handed.

“Save the chatter for later. Now, let’s begin the hunt.” Bocchi took a deep breath and announced.

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