Chapter 166: Monster Manual

Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Monster Manual

Drake Hayes stared at the increasingly complicated scene before him, feeling a massive headache coming on.

Two troublemakers had just shown up, and now two more who looked anything but simple had appeared out of nowhere.

And it was obvious these two had an old grudge with the first pair of troublemakers.

Beside Drake Hayes, Jason Young’s forehead was beaded with cold sweat, and his face had turned a little pale.

The moment Dustin Sullivan and Sean Chandler appeared, his [Energy Perception] Talent sent him a blaring warning!

The Energy contained within those two was like a dormant volcano—deep and dangerous. It was the same oppressive feeling he got from Julian Shaw and Trevor Tanner—no, perhaps even more terrifying than them!

Clearly, these two were not to be trifled with.

Jason Young hurriedly leaned toward Drake Hayes’s ear, his voice holding a barely perceptible tremble.

He whispered a rushed warning, "Boss! Be careful with these two... The energy I’m sensing from them is incredibly powerful. They’re not people we can afford to mess with!"

Hearing Jason Young’s terrified whisper, Drake Hayes’s brow furrowed tightly.

But on second thought, his tightly knitted brow slowly relaxed.

’This is a hassle, to be sure, but looking at it from another angle, this might not be a bad thing.’

The Night Tide was imminent, and this was precisely a time when they needed more hands.

For so many powerful, unaffiliated fighters to suddenly appear in the Shelter...

...while it increased the difficulty of managing them, from another perspective, it could very well be a good thing.

When the "Night Tide" truly arrived, these powerful Genetic Warriors could become the key force that saw the Shelter through the crisis.

The most important thing right now was to keep them calm, not to escalate the conflict.

With this in mind, he took a deep breath, suppressing his irritation.

His gaze swept over everyone present.

Dustin Sullivan, Julian Shaw, Seraphina Sullivan, Sean Chandler, and their respective companions.

Drake Hayes said in a low voice, "Since you all know each other, you can settle whatever grudges you have in private. Don’t cause a bigger scene here and disrupt the Shelter’s order! This isn’t the place for a chat, either."

He paused, then added irritably, "You’re all nothing but trouble! Everyone, with me!"

After speaking, he shot a look at the members of the guard squad behind him.

The squad members immediately understood. Though they didn’t draw their weapons, they made a clear "if you please" gesture, indicating that Seraphina Sullivan’s group should go with them. It was obvious they were going to "chat" somewhere else.

Seraphina Sullivan didn’t want to go, but seeing their posture, she knew it was unwise to butt heads with them on their own turf.

She shrugged nonchalantly. ’Fine, let’s go. I’m curious to see what this Drake Hayes is really up to.’

She noticed that while Dustin Sullivan and Julian Shaw were glaring daggers at each other, the air thick with tension, they both seemed to be exercising some sort of restraint. It didn’t look like they were about to fight to the death just yet.

Since they weren’t going to fight for now, she couldn’t be bothered to get involved in their long-standing grudge.

’Maybe they’re fated rivals or something. Men... they always have a rival or two.’ ℯℯ𝑙.

Seraphina Sullivan’s attention was soon drawn to the two strange creature carcasses in Sean Chandler’s hands.

Neither of the two monsters was particularly large. One looked like a hedgehog, but the spines on its back glinted with a cold, metallic light. The other resembled a miniature pangolin, with thick scales and sharp claws.

The [Eye of Resume] scanned them.

[Name: Night Hedgehog]

[Gender: Male]

[Professional Skills: Flying Needle: Can actively launch and exert a degree of Control over its back spines. Long range and high penetration Power.]

[Weaknesses: After launching its back spines, it requires a long time to regrow them. During this period, its defense is greatly reduced.]

[Name: Night Pangolin]

[Gender: Male]

[Professional Skills: Energy Perception: Can keenly sense surrounding Energy fluctuations to determine the source of danger and enemy strength.]

[Weaknesses: Timid by nature. Easily startled by strong Energy impacts or loud noises, which may cause its Ability to fail.]

"You collected two new species of Night Monsters?" Seraphina Sullivan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sean Chandler nodded and held up the carcasses. "Yeah. I saw them just now at a stall that buys monster materials. They seemed pretty rare, so I traded a small pack of crackers for them."

He seemed to remember something and pulled a small, slightly worn-out notebook from his bulging pocket. "Oh, right. I also traded for a booklet that documents Night Monsters at another stall."

Seraphina Sullivan took the small notebook.

The cover of the notebook bore a simple Flame emblem—the logo of the Fireseed Shelter.

She casually flipped it open and found that it wasn’t blank. Instead, it was filled with simple illustrations of various monsters, drawn with rough strokes. Alongside them were simple text descriptions, recording the monsters’ names, common attack methods, and presumed weaknesses.

It was a hand-drawn *Fireseed Shelter Surrounding Night Monster Atlas*!

While its contents might not be entirely comprehensive or accurate, for newcomers like them who knew little about the local monsters, it was an absolute godsend!

More importantly, the booklet let Seraphina Sullivan know that the Night Monsters of this world were incredibly diverse.

"This thing... is actually quite useful."

A flicker of interest flashed in Seraphina Sullivan’s eyes as she closed the small notebook.

As the two conversed, Trevor Tanner, who had been secretly watching Seraphina Sullivan, took in the scene.

Trevor Tanner recalled the humiliating way she had just flung him aside with her whip. Seeing her now, chatting and laughing with someone else as if nothing had happened, made him even more irritated. He couldn’t help but sneer and mutter a sarcastic taunt:

"Hmph. What a time to be flirting. Utterly ridiculous."

His voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for the nearby Coco Sullivan to hear.

Coco Sullivan whipped her head around and shot back, "What’s wrong, you wannabe punk Blondie? Are you envious or just jealous? You’re just mad because nobody wants to date you, so you’re standing here being all sour about it!"

Hearing Coco Sullivan’s words, Trevor Tanner was so angry he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"...You! You little brat! First ’wannabe punk,’ now ’Blondie’—you really think I won’t teach you a lesson just because your brother’s standing right there?!"

Coco Sullivan made a face at him. "Pfft, you think I’m scared of you? Sore loser!"

The two of them went back and forth, bickering as if no one else was around.

Although their tones were aggressive, the atmosphere between them, for some reason, didn’t feel like that of mortal enemies.

Seraphina Sullivan: "..."

’It’s not just my imagination, is it? The way they’re bickering... it feels less like a real fight and more like they’re flirting.’

Meanwhile, Julian Shaw watched Trevor Tanner and Coco Sullivan bicker. Not only did he not stop them, but he watched with an amused grin, as if he were enjoying some interesting performance.

Dustin Sullivan’s expression, however, grew even colder. His gaze swept like a blade of ice over the bickering pair before finally landing on Julian Shaw’s face and his teasing smile.

Julian Shaw felt Dustin Sullivan’s stare and immediately held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Hey, you can’t blame me for this one. Your little sister started it."