Riel and Yu Ze, however, understood perfectly well: how could Akaphir possibly come to their aid at this moment? Besides Reef and Akaphir, there was no one else whose identity was known. To put it plainly, they merely wanted to leverage the names of the Banks Gang and the Reserve Colonizers to pressure the two men, and incidentally, to suppress the price. Yet, the sailor before them was utterly unyielding, extremely difficult to handle. If one were to call it greedy, they wouldn't let go until the rabbit was caught; if phrased more harshly, they wouldn't shed tears until they saw the coffin.

Riel raised an eyebrow, a fierce glint blazing in his eyes as he took half a step forward. Who would have thought a gunshot would suddenly ring out from the distance, kicking up a spray of turf right in front of Riel. Fang Senyan, however, merely smiled:

“Perhaps you still don’t know, Boss Reef just signed a Team Cooperation Contract with Zi.”

Once these words were dropped, the expressions on both men instantly froze. Fang Senyan burst into loud laughter and strode away.

Less than two hours later, the Contract Holders who had gone to search for the crash site of the small survival shuttle returned. They found nothing of value in the wreckage; the only confirmation was that there were no survivors from the violent crash.

It was worth mentioning that despite the lack of findings from exploring the wreckage, one creature, a Tier Two Legendary, the Manta-Winged Dragon, had been injured in the counterattack just before the shuttle crashed and had fallen nearby.

Though wounded, this creature remained fiercely aggressive. As the Contract Holders approached, it launched a ferocious attack against them. The outcome, needless to say, was that the creature, confined to ground combat, was reduced to bloody fragments. More importantly, among the silver-grade key it dropped, a rare event occurred:

A dark-gold accessory was retrieved!

This news immediately caused a sensation among all the Contract Holders. However, that dark-gold accessory fell into the hands of an obscure Contract Holder who, it was rumored, vanished directly into the vast wilderness of Pandora as soon as he acquired it, giving the other Contract Holders no opportunity to unite and strike while the iron was hot!

Dark-gold... Accessory!!

These two keywords, when viewed separately, were enough to be thrilling; how much more so when combined! It truly caused a massive stir, the resulting sensation multiplying not by addition (4+4=8), but by an exponential accumulation (4x4=16). Undoubtedly, this served as a powerful stimulant for those Contract Holders, and almost everyone remaining began to contemplate the possibility of continuing to hunt Legendary Creatures.

This was because among the Contract Holders still present, perhaps five or six out of ten were Reserve Colonizers—those who had brushed against the very edge of the most powerful forces! If they were willing to deploy their hard-won might, they might just be able to take down Tier Two, or even Tier Three, Legendary Creatures in this world.

While the Contract Holders were in an uproar, Reef arrived to find Fang Senyan, bringing someone with him who claimed he was willing to join the team. This person was not unfamiliar; he was none other than Jin Ximin, the sniper from the West District. This individual had tasted the benefits of cooperation, hence his voluntary approach.

Fang Senyan said little at this time, allowing Reef to add the person to the group, granting Jin Ximin temporary team member status. Although he could currently only benefit from the "Shelter Lv1" buff and couldn't access advanced functions like the team warehouse, the solid increase of 100 points to his maximum Health and Spirit was immediately visible! Such a boost couldn't help but elicit an impressed sigh from him.

Mogansa also recommended someone: the summoner named Mackgee. His Charisma score was quite respectable, and he possessed an extremely thorough understanding of various creatures' habits; the suggestion to cover the beast corpses was likely his. In the real world, this man was a biologist—which explained why he managed to survive the beast tide even without unleashing his most powerful summoned beasts.

But that wasn't the main point... The critical factor was that this fellow was piloting an M-class Exoskeleton system mecha! Although this thing seemed vulnerable during the beast tide, that was under attack from the aerial and ground hordes that covered the land like a sea, coupled with several Legendary Creatures! In a normal adventure scenario, it could almost entirely be utilized as the core of an offensive and defensive strategy.

To put it bluntly, at this juncture, even if a useless person were sitting inside this M-class Exoskeleton system mecha, they would instantly be elevated to the position of a core team member. Furthermore, summoners had a crucial advantage: their potential values were substantial, with the possibility of a complete transformation via a single powerful summoned beast!

Perhaps because Mogansa had spent a considerable amount of time in the Symbiotic Society, giving him a deep understanding of summoner-type Contract Holders, or perhaps because the sheer power of Fanou had left an indelible mark, he took a liking to Mackgee, a man who had lost his most powerful summon. Mogansa actively persuaded him and brought him aboard as a temporary member of the team.

Fang Senyan’s impression of Mackgee was limited to his suggestion about clearing the battlefield. Afterward, he hadn't seen the man make any significant moves... Thinking of this, a chill and a wave of apprehension involuntarily swept through Fang Senyan’s heart.

But then he looked down at his own hands,

Hands possessing a peak strength of 49!!

Instantly, a faint smile touched the corner of Fang Senyan’s mouth, and he offered no objection.

It was nearing noon now, and Contract Holders, despite their formidable strength, got hungry quite quickly. Before long, familiar faces could be seen gathering in groups, wolfing down food. Mogansa held a large basin of corn porridge, the cornmeal for which had been roasted and then ground; the porridge was mixed with seafood, mushrooms, cream, and bacon. He squinted contentedly as he drank it down.

After finishing the basin of porridge, Mogansa produced a colossal hamburger, stuffed with medium-rare grilled beef belly, crisp green lettuce, and drizzled with yogurt and tomato sauce. He took a massive bite, chased it with a swig of Cape Town ginger beer, chewed and swallowed, naturally letting out a long, comfortable sigh.

In contrast, Reef’s meal was far more formal: gleaming silverware, pristine white plates, a neatly folded napkin... followed by sliced Biscayne Bay ham, and after that, a piece of Italian Mozzarella mzzrell. The main course was country-style spaghetti with meat sauce and bacon, invariably concluded with a glass of white wine.

Fang Senyan’s meal, however, was the simplest: a famous Luzhu Huoshao from a vendor near Pier W5—authentic Beijing flavor, a technique brought over to Taiwan by a veteran soldier from the old KMT army, now passed down for three generations. The owner reportedly swore that the braising liquid hadn't been changed in twenty-seven years. Fang Senyan simply set up an alcohol lamp to heat it, happily devouring the steaming Luzhu Huoshao with a large white steamed bun. The unique aroma drove Mogansa and Reef absolutely wild, forcing them to beg for a share.

After the three of them had eaten their fill, the gloomy Riel came to call. Without another word, he agreed to Fang Senyan's terms, immediately handing over the collected intelligence. Finally, they signed an agreement notarized by the Nightmare Mark, stipulating that one-third of the payment would be issued upon the completion of each milestone, thus preventing Riel from reneging.

It was worth noting that while signing the agreement, Fang Senyan found the sunlight blindingly bright, couldn't help but lower his head to rub his nose, and let out a loud sneeze. At that moment, a strange feeling vaguely surfaced in Fang Senyan's mind, but upon quickly reviewing the agreement, he found no traps. He turned and said a few words to Mogansa, whose face shifted several times before he left with a look of delight.

Having obtained the materials collected by the two, Fang Senyan pretended to hand them to Reef, asking him to read them nearby to buy time, while he himself closely examined the documents for any hidden pitfalls. Although he considered that these two men also wanted to complete the milestone, making it unlikely the data was fake, one must always prepare for the worst; prudence is the mother of security.

Riel waited a full half hour before finally frowning and shouting loudly:

“Hey! How much longer are you going to take, damn it?”

Reef replied coldly:

“Soon enough. Just wait for this fellow to return.”

Less than ten minutes later, Mogansa finally returned, bringing four Contract Holders with him. Among these four was Hark of the Illuminati—the one who did odd jobs for Akaphir. The other three were oriented toward ranged attacks, currently affiliated with the Illuminati. When Hark walked over, the first sentence he uttered made Riel’s vision blur, his nerves tighten, and he nearly collapsed instantly.

“Hey! The money isn't an issue, but can you really guarantee that we can quickly complete the Raider milestone?”

At this time, the two external team members recruited by Fang Senyan—Jin Ximin and Mackgee—also arrived. Facing Hark’s question, Mogansa displayed an almost contemptuous disdain:

“You know Boss Reef, right? Hark, even Akaphir holds him in high regard.”

Hark nodded:

“That is true.”

Mogansa then patted Fang Senyan on the shoulder:

“The Sailor needs no introduction, does he? You’ve fought alongside him for quite some time.”

Hark’s expression turned somewhat grim, as Fang Senyan, in a way, exerted considerable pressure on him. However, Hark was quite candid:

“Uh, the Sailor is very strong, even the Chief says so.”