Regarding this question, Dudian had already prepared an answer and honestly used the previous statement: "I'm not sure about this either. When I woke up from a coma, I already had this."
"A coma?" Fenton was intrigued and said, "How did you fall into a coma?"
On the surface, Dudian remained calm, but his mind was racing. If it were before, he would have just vaguely said, "I'm not sure myself" to brush it off. However, after hearing Pete's words, he knew that the hunters had already investigated the Eighth District. And after learning about the Marks of the Demon, he also understood that this wasn't unique to him. Every hunter possessed some strange abilities. Although he had burned the body of that hunter and the body had been eaten by that huge black beast, he wasn't sure if there were any traces at the scene that he hadn't noticed and that could expose him.
Moreover, the death of a hunter and the birth of a hunter were both major events, and it was very easy for people to associate them together.
Thinking of this, Dudian changed his mind and said, "I saw a hunter lord fighting with a huge monster and was so scared that I fainted. Sir, what was that monster? It was incredibly huge!" As he spoke, his fingers involuntarily clenched, and his body trembled slightly, as if he still couldn't stop the fear in his heart.
Fenton glanced at his slightly trembling legs under the tea table. There was a hint of thought in his eyes. This pause lasted only a few seconds. He quickly retracted his gaze, lowered his head, and scribbled a note in the notebook, saying, "That monster is called the 'Fear Infector'. It belongs to the named demons. A parasitic soul worm has already been born in its body. Your Marks of the Demon are actually the corpse of that parasitic soul worm."
"'Fear Infector'?" Dudian murmured. Only then did he know the name of the monster he had killed. However, Fenton's last words surprised him. He was just about to ask directly when he suddenly became alert. A look of panic appeared on his face, and he said, "Sir, what is this parasitic soul worm you mentioned? Did it, did it enter my body? Then I, then I'm not..."
Fenton raised his head and smiled, saying, "Don't worry. As I said, the Marks of the Demon are the corpse of the parasitic soul worm. It was already dead when it burrowed into your body. However, although it's dead, it connected with your body before it died. Its corpse transformed into the Marks of the Demon, and the location of the Marks of the Demon is your vital spot, as important as your head and heart. Remember to protect it carefully in the future, and it's best not to casually reveal the location of your Marks of the Demon."
Dudian was taken aback for a moment, but he was secretly delighted. He had always been worried that the worm in his chest might backfire on him at any moment. He didn't expect it to be dead already, so the hidden danger was much smaller! At the same time, he also caught a piece of information from Fenton's words. It seemed that the location of the Marks of the Demon was different for everyone. His was on his chest, while other hunters' were in other parts of their bodies.
"Little guy, you're very lucky." Fenton said with a smile, "To have such an opportunity, the Goddess of Luck is favoring you. Originally, the headquarters planned to observe your performance. If you performed well, in another two years, they would apply for a chance for you to study at the Hunter Academy, and then buy a 'parasitic soul worm' for you to make you a truly qualified hunter."
"Unexpectedly, you've accidentally become a hunter ahead of time. In this way, it saves the headquarters the funds for buying the 'parasitic soul worm'. Moreover, your Marks of the Demon are from the 'Fear Infector'. You may not know yet that this is a very rare type among the named demons. I believe that when you go to the headquarters, other hunters will be very jealous of you."
Dudian quickly said, "I have to thank the consortium for its cultivation! Sir, what exactly is this 'parasitic soul worm' you mentioned? And we need to buy it? Doesn't the consortium have it?"
"This is a type of parasite that feeds on the souls of demons." Fenton didn't mind explaining it to Dudian and smiled, saying, "It's generally found in the bodies of some relatively special and powerful demons. Once this thing enters the human body, it will die! Therefore, the abilities of the Marks of the Demon can't be passed on between hunters. That's why the number of hunters has always been difficult to increase, because named demons are too rare to encounter."
"Although the consortium has the ability to capture named demons, it hasn't found a way to raise parasitic soul worms yet. Unless it directly raises named demons, but demons are not allowed to be brought back inside the Wall. So we can only buy them from the Church of Light. They have the cradle of the God of Light, which can preserve living parasitic soul worms, but the price is extremely high."
Dudian suddenly understood and secretly felt awed. No wonder the Church of Light, as a religious organization, could recruit a large number of guards of the Church of Light and knights, and even all the consortia had to give the Church of Light face. It turned out that in addition to the surface belief, there were also deep-seated substantial interests involved.
This time, you were secretly called here. Your hunter identity hasn't been made public yet, and even the other senior leaders of our headquarters don't know about it." Fenton smiled and said, "This is to protect you. I hope you won't publicize it widely either. The headquarters will send someone over to confirm your identity soon. After the confirmation, they will handle the identity procedures for you, and you will become a member of the hunters of our consortium."
Dudian nodded slightly. In his heart, he thought that besides protecting him, the real purpose should be to prevent other consortia from learning the news and poaching him secretly, right?
"Oh, there's one more thing." Fenton suddenly remembered and said, "The seven soul crystals you submitted, which are commonly known as Frost Crystals, are priced at one gold coin each. Although your identity hasn't been processed yet, this is given according to the hunter's share ratio. If it were a scavenger, they would only get one silver coin."
Soul crystals? Dudian only then knew the name of those deep blue spheres. At the same time, he was secretly astonished. The share ratio between scavengers and hunters actually differed by ten times. You know, he was a seed candidate with a 30% share ratio. So, did that mean hunters had a 300% share ratio? Wouldn't the consortium lose a lot of money?
As if seeing Dudian's surprise, Fenton smiled and said, "Anyway, you're going to the Hunter Headquarters. I'll be straightforward with you. The share ratio for scavengers is 50% of the total price after deducting the consortium's transportation fees for the items they picked up. After the remaining 50% is used to pay for the item appraisal fees, the consortium's transportation fees, and other handling fees and taxes, it will be divided with the consortium. All consortia are like this, not just ours."
Dudian was stunned and couldn't help but secretly sigh. The way merchants made money was really ruthless. Thinking of those scavengers who worked hard to pick up items outside the Wall, they might even encounter life-threatening dangers, not have enough to eat, and be exposed to radiation. In the end, they could only get a tiny fraction of the items they brought back. And the consortium could obtain a large profit just by providing the channels to go outside the Wall and other channels. It was simply like getting something for nothing.
"It seems that the truly powerful merchants don't engage in trading; they rob." Dudian felt that he had learned a lot.
"What are these soul crystals used for?" Dudian asked curiously.