Time flew by, and this round of sewer hunting lasted for more than five hours.
Mo Qingchen reluctantly dragged his net out of the sewer.
It wasn't that he didn't want to continue, but he didn't dare to.
Since entering the sewer in the afternoon, he hadn't ventured deep inside but stayed near the entrance, relying on honey to lure mutated rats.
In just over five hours, he had hunted down 27 in total, consisting of 17 adults and 10 juveniles.
By now, past 7 P.M., the activity of the mutated rats in the sewers was becoming increasingly frequent.
After all, being close to the garbage dump, lots of mutated rats would come here at night to scavenge for food.
Therefore, this place was not safe, especially since Mo Qingchen's mental scan had detected five or six adult mutated rats approaching his current spot near the entrance.
He certainly didn't want to be surrounded and attacked by five or six adult mutated rats. Even if he could fight them off, getting injured was inevitable and not worth the risk.
He went home, closed the door, entered the bathroom, and used the showerhead to spray water onto the net.
The dirty mutated rat corpses also carried a sewer stench, which would definitely lead to a price cut if taken directly to the slaughterhouse.
What's more, the South City Suburban Slums were not very safe at night.
While rinsing the mutated rat corpses, he also weighed them. The 27 mutated rats had a total weight of around 210 pounds, enough to yield about 100 pounds of rat meat.
Plus, the large incisors of the 17 adult mutated rats could be sold for about 20 Dragon Coins each.
This round of hunting could bring Mo Qingchen about 12,680 Dragon Coins.
"It seems that being a Beastmaster is quite profitable. Just by taking down some mutated rats in the sewer, spending only a few hours, they ended up earning over ten thousand Dragon Coins."
For a non-Beastmaster in poverty, the average monthly salary is only around 3,000 Dragon Coins, truly a world of difference.
In the past four years, Mo Qingchen had scrimped and saved, along with frequently scavenging and selling things from the dumps, just to save up 18,000 Dragon Coins.
As it turned out, just by working one afternoon for five hours, he managed to make the little savings he had accumulated over four hard years.
At this moment, Mo Qingchen felt an impulse to completely wipe out those unlawful organizations.
It's all because of those wretched scum that he couldn't dare to reveal his special ability, keeping it hidden under wraps for fear of being caught and turned into a black-market slave!
If only he had been able to use his special ability in the past four years, his life would not have been so difficult, and he would have long since been living a luxurious life of leisure.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, as soon as the sun rose, Mo Qingchen shouldered his space backpack, carried a big sack, and headed to the slaughterhouse in the South City.
By now, the slaughterhouse had already begun its daily slaughtering work.
After all, most of the meat market suppliers in the entire South City District relied on this slaughterhouse.
Mo Qingchen entered the Exotic Beast purchasing department like clockwork.
"Hey, Mo, did you bag some mutated rats again?"
A middle-aged man sitting at the entrance of the purchasing department recognized Mo Qingchen at a glance.
"Uncle Li, good morning! Please help me with these big rats."
Mo Qingchen was quite familiar with him, as Uncle Li lived in a civilian neighborhood not far from the garbage dump.
In fact, this Uncle Li was also from the slums originally, but thanks to his good son, who successfully awakened and completed the new Apprentice Dungeon last year to become a Basic Beastmaster.
His son, being filial, made some money in half a year and bought a house in the neighboring civilian area, moving his parents and two younger sisters there.
"So many? Did you stir up a rat nest? Oh no, yesterday was June 1, Awakening Day. You awakened as an Apprentice Beastmaster. Did you head to the sewer to practice?"
Uncle Li opened the big sack and saw a pile of mutated rat corpses inside. Noticing the silver glint on Mo Qingchen's brow, he immediately understood how these rat corpses came about.
He thought of it because his son did the same thing last year—awakening as an Apprentice Beastmaster in the morning and taking the Guardian Beast to the sewer in the afternoon to practice on the Non-Tier rats.
As for practicing in a dungeon, the ticket costs aren't cheap and don't guarantee any rewards, making it very uneconomical for civilians and those in poverty.
Going into the wild would be too dangerous for an Apprentice Beastmaster, akin to courting death.
So, most civilian and poor Apprentice Beastmasters entered the sewers to practice on the various rats found there.
"That's right, and I had some good success. Uncle Li, please weigh these for me, as I have another batch in my backpack."
Mo Qingchen didn't deny it, as he wanted to avoid revealing that he killed all these mutated rats himself, to prevent any potential trouble.
"Mo, you're something else. Come with me."
Uncle Li nodded and led Mo Qingchen to the next room, which had over a dozen electronic scales.
One by one, the mutated rat corpses were pulled out and weighed on the electronic scales.
After emptying the sack and taking out what's stored in the space backpack, the total weight reached 206 pounds.
"Mo, it looks like your Guardian Beast is powerful, having killed 27 mutated rats. The purchase price for rat meat is 120 Dragon Coins per pound. Is that acceptable?"
Uncle Li used a detector to inspect each mutated rat carcass, confirming they were toxin-free before stating.
"No problem."
Mo Qingchen nodded, having no objections to the price.
"Then, I'll calculate the total weight and pay you half of it. The large incisors from 17 adult mutated rats, I'll offer you 20 Dragon Coins each, is that okay?"
An adult mutated rat typically weighs about 10 pounds, and after skinned, deboned, and drained of blood, yields 4~5 pounds of meat. Calculating half the total weight, Mo Qingchen still gained a bit.
Moreover, there were 10 juvenile rats with even less meat available.
"Thank you very much, Uncle Li."
Mo Qingchen smiled slightly, pulling out a pack of Cranes White Sand cigarettes and passing it to Uncle Li.
"You kid, take the receipt and slip to the purchasing department's finance room to collect your money."
Uncle Li pulled out a purchase ledger, filled it out, tore off a slip for Mo Qingchen, and slipped the cigarette into his pocket with a smile.
The purchase price was set by the company, but tipping the scales a bit was a tacit rule among the purchasing staff.
"Thanks again, Uncle Li. Goodbye."
A pack of cigarettes exchanged for an extra 5 pounds of meat income, Uncle Li wasn't bad at all.
After bidding farewell to Uncle Li, Mo Qingchen went straight to the finance room.
The rat meat sold for 12,360 Dragon Coins; 17 adult mutated rats, 34 large incisors, sold for 680 Dragon Coins; total income 13,040 Dragon Coins.
Submitting the receipt slip, accounting, settlement, bank transfer, all done in one go.
The haul was good enough, time to keep up the hard work!
In a good mood, Mo Qingchen, after leaving the slaughterhouse, bought some breakfast and hurried home.