Cillin shortlisted three planets as per advised by Dias and Cary. They were more familiar with hunting planets than him, and both of them thought that these planets were better suited for their squadron right now. The final choice could be made after they reached their destination and had actual circumstances to refer to.
There were three objectives they wanted to achieve via hunting: gather food, sell some high quality game for credits, and give everyone some quality practice time.
The massive changes in GAL caused the target priority on hunting planets to change slightly. In the past, most people would be gunning for rare games that could be sold for good money. Today, games with a hefty amount of meat around their bones had become the first priority. After all, no one liked to eat nutrition pills or drink nutrition agents all day.
Usually, food supplies like these could be procured from the farms of big financial groups, but now they cost a lot more and the supply couldn’t catch up to the demand. There was no army in the world that could run on an empty stomach after all. Hunters preferred to solve their food crisis themselves, so conflicts in the hunting star region were very frequent as of late, and countless people never returned from their hunting trip. Some hunters were killed by the very beasts they were hunting, and many more were killed by other hunters.
Even before they traveled toward a hunting planet, Cillin had already asked Cary to prep the new recruits on things they should pay attention to in a hunting star region. After all, their opponents included both cunning alien beasts and hidden hunters.
Their squadron was fairly small, so so was their food demand. Therefore, they ultimately chose a hunting planet with high commercial value. The alien beasts on this planet were more difficult to hunt, but their value was that much higher, especially because a lack of hunting had led to a drop in supply. To Wheeze, this was without a doubt a great opportunity to make some money.
Speaking of which, Wheeze had rejected Cillin’s offer to visit the planet it previously lived on. One, it had only been a few years since it left the planet. Two, it didn’t think that there would be anything worth seeing there.
A human and an animal’s thinking were ultimately different. A human who had left his birthplace for several years might want to head back and take a look, but all this cat cared about were the alien beasts it was going to slaughter.
Initially, Shusag was worried that Wheeze might develop some sort of trauma from hunting its own kind. He quickly discovered that he was completely mistaken.
After they arrived at their destination, the group left their starship in orbit—invisible, because there were several other starships parked outside the planet, and there was no need to confront them—and flew a spaceplane to the planet.
Sigma and Moon didn’t follow the group this time. There was something else they wanted to do.
Not long ago, Sigma had setup a small fruit garden on the starship. At first, it did it purely to enjoy the process of growing things, but now that they were heading to a hunting planet, Sigma decided to to collect any fruit plant that grows tasty and is highly nutritious fruits it could find and bring them back to the ship. It would ensure a steady supply of fresh fruits for the crew, and the fruits could even be made into nutrition agents. This was the definition of self-sustainability.
That was why Sigma and Moon had went off on their own to gather seeds and saplings. Of course, they would maintain a line of contact with the crew and return after it was time to head back. Cillin wasn’t worried because he trusted that Moon to protect both him and his sibling. Both robots possessed great destructive abilities despite their harmless appearance, and Moon was more cunning than many old foxes. Cillin wasn’t worried about them being fooled by anyone.
The gang entered a forest after grabbing their equipment. The valuable game they were hunting were really located at the mountainous area beyond the forest, but they started there anyway because they also wanted to gather some food supply along the way. It would be a good warmup as well.
The crew split up into teams of two or three and advanced in a specific formation. There was a certain distance between each team, but in case of danger they were close enough to reinforce each other very quickly. The formation they were using also helped to create a zone of relatively strong safety.
Cillin was paired with Eudy and his little chameleon, Dough. Dough was the weakest creature in the squadron, and a cowardly one too. The nervous chameleon was observing its surroundings nervously as they trekked through the forest. Dangerous situations were one of the few situations it obeyed Eudy without question.
In contrast, Wheeze was like an ADHD patient who was bouncing all over the place like crazy. Cillin had to tell it to control itself because it was scaring away the prey, so the gray cat could only jump around Cillin once in a while, roll on the ground once in a while, and eat a grass to relieve its inflammation once in a while. If it detected any prey within the vicinity, it shot forward like a lightning bolt as if it was scared that Cillin and Eudy would catch it before it could.
The rest of the teams had also begun their work, but all Cillin could hear was the soft noise of bullets penetrating a prey’s bones, not gunfire. It was because they were using different guns and bullets. Guns made for hunting usually had excellent noise silencing features.
They had transport robots to carry their prey back to the spaceplane, so they could focus solely on hunting.
“What are your thoughts about that?” Eudy asked in a quiet voice.
Knowing that Eudy was referring to the transport ship incident from earlier, Cillin replied, “I’m not sure. The transport ship probably belongs to the Douance Family, but I have no idea who their killers might be. Anyone could be the killer considering the global situation right now.”
“Do you think it might be the crazies from Sector V?” Eudy asked again.
At first, the crazies definitely sat at the top of Cillin’s suspect list. Those crazies were infamous for their bloodthirst and taste for murder for a reason, and once they were provoked it was very difficult to shake them off completely. Considering how the crew of that transport ship were murdered, it was definitely possible that they were the culprits.
Moreover, these monsters had definitely killed to their heart’s content ever since he killed the one person who could keep their impulses under control, Oskulos. Even he, a returnee had heard of the many massacres they committed across the galaxy. However, Cillin quickly rejected the possibility upon further consideration.
“The killing was too organized and well-planned. They even made sure to wipe out every trace of the ship’s commander and security captain, which is a clear sign that these people are trying to conceal something. That doesn’t seem like something those people from Sector V would do.”
“That’s true. The poison gas didn’t seem like their style either. Those madmen would rather use a bomb than poison gas, I think.”
“It looks like you suspect someone else as well,” said Cillin while looking at Eudy.
Eudy let out a sigh. “It feels like the entire GAL is one giant fog right now. Some forces look like close friends, but beneath the surface they could’ve fought each other countless times already. The army, the politicians, the families; everyone has an entire hand of trump cards ready to play at a moment’s notice. Even the chaos that seemed like it appeared out of nowhere was anticipated and prepared for by countless forces because there were already signs long before your disappearance. Any spark could’ve set off the great chaos, and in this case it was the rumors of Oskulos’ death, one of the Star Rank Hunters that did it.”
Cillin suddenly remembered something. “Where did the rumors of Oskulos’ death started?”
“I heard that it was Sector V. They wouldn’t have dared to show off their firepower and even declare their so-called ‘freedom alliance’ otherwise.”
To Cillin’s knowledge, the only people who knew he killed Oskulos were Ji Feng, Jiada and the organization known as “Grim Reaper”. Therefore, one of them had to be the one who leaked this. All of them had a motive to kickstart this chaos and further their own interests.
“What’s wrong? Did you realize something?” Eudy asked.
“I’m wondering who’s the one who leaked this news. They had to be looking forward to this chaos.”
“That’s true, not to mention that they had used the crazies from Sector V to start it.”
“Between Ji Feng, Jiada and Grim Reaper, who do you think is the likeliest culprit to have done this?” Cillin looked at Eudy again.
The man looked caught off guard. A serious expression immediately crawled up his face. “Do you know something, Cillin?”
The hunter simply stayed silent and waited for Eudy to give him an answer.
Eudy mulled over the question seriously. He had never stopped gathering information about that moment since he left the Sixth B Squadron, and he was able to steal a lot of data from many different forces thanks to the chaos. He just hadn’t told anyone about his efforts or findings.
“Oskulos’s death was definitely leaked by the head of a violent organization at Sector V, but it’s impossible to say who might’ve leaked the news to him. Regardless, that was the fuse that detonated the chaos that had been brewing in GAL for a very long time. To be honest with you, everyone you mentioned could’ve leaked this—but only if they knew the truth of Oskulos’ death, I think.” Eudy freely shared his thoughts with Cillin even though Ji Feng was the admiral of Vanguard. He also shared a summary of the info he gathered during this time in hopes that they would be of help to Cillin.
When Eudy was done speaking, Cillin smiled at him and said, “You must’ve spent a lot of effort to gather all this information, am I right? Allow me to add a piece to your puzzle then. Yes, Oskulos is definitely dead. I’m the one who killed him.”
Eudy nearly stumbled on his feet. Dough actually fell off his shoulder and rolled on the ground before it climbed back up its shoulder in a hurry.
“You… you’re serious?”
“Oskulos was the reason I left the base back then. That being said, I would’ve died a hundred percent if Czedow and Wheeze didn’t show up in time to help me.”
Eudy scratched his hair a couple of times before he let out a chuckle. “I’m serving under an amazing commander, huh?” A pause later, Eudy remembered something and added, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell this to anyone. By the way, does this mean that the people you mentioned earlier all knew about this?”
“Yeah.”
After that, the two of them spent a while analyzing the global situation for a moment until Shusag contacted them. Apparently, his team had run into two seriously wounded hunters.
“What’s wrong?” Cary and Xiao Shang emerged from the nearby foliage and asked Cillin.
“It’s nothing. Eudy, go with Cary and Xiao Shang and continue toward our target destination. I’ll go meet with Shusag’s hunters myself.”
Cillin started running toward Shusag’s location after informing Wheeze what happened.
Shusag and Tesoro were in a team with Ba Dao. They were interacting well with each other because they were all fellow aliens.
Lying on the ground in front of them were two severely wounded hunters. Their bones were broken in many places, and their internal organs suffered varying degrees of damage. There were both signs of alien and human inflicted injuries. Regardless, it was clear that these people required treatment ASAP.
The younger hunter of the duo was the one who carried his companion up to Shusag’s team and requested for their help.
“If you are not in a position where you can help me, I don’t mind buying some boosters and nutrition agents off your hands,” said the young man while pulling out his blood-stained debit card. Cillin entered the scene just in time to see him swiping a finger across the card and showing the team the amount of money it contained. Through this action the young man was hinting that the team would be better off dealing with each other peacefully than violently. They might be severely wounded right now, but that didn’t mean they have the power to drag them into their grave if necessary.
Cillin watched the young man with an odd expression on his face. What a coincidence. Should I say that he’s unfortunate or beyond fortunate?
“Commander.”
Ba Dao spent a short moment report the incident and the young man’s request to Cillin. Although he had the boosters and the nutrition agents the hunter requested, he had been a hunter long enough to witness all kinds of deceptions. That was why he wasn’t sure if he should cut a deal with them or just end their lives outright, which eventually led to Shusag calling Cillin on the communicator and leaving the final decision to him. The team wasn’t expecting Cillin to show up himself, however.
Cillin glanced at the duo before crouching on the ground next to them. Then, he said, “Repeat to me everything you said earlier.”
The young man patiently repeated his request, but didn’t mention anything about their identities or the circumstances that led to their wounds at all. Being a hunter himself, Ba Dao hadn’t bothered to ask because he knew they wouldn’t reveal such sensitive information—or at least nothing truthful—no matter what.
“Mm.” Cillin made a noncommittal sound before saying, “How many boosters and nutrition agents would you like to buy?”
The young man was about to answer when he noticed something and looked to the side. He saw a fat cat holding a sparrow in its mouth running and bouncing toward his direction at a speed that didn’t match of the size of its fat at all. It was clearly in a good mood judging from the fact that it was jumping up and down a tree repeatedly.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all the words he wanted to say died in his throat the moment he saw the fat cat. The expression he was wearing on his face right now could only be described as distorted.
Shusag, Tesoro, Ba Dao and even the young man’s companion couldn’t understand why he looked like this. He had frozen up like a corpse, and he looked like he would rather die than meet the cat.
Wheeze leaped up Cillin’s shoulder with the sparrow in its mouth, only to be slapped right back down to the ground.
“Play with your prey anywhere that isn’t my shoulder.” Cillin knew Wheeze well enough to know that it had captured the sparrow purely for entertainment’s sake. If the sparrow was still alive by the end of its “ministrations”, it would devour it whole. If not, then it would toss it aside. It disliked eating dead prey.
So far, the sparrow lodged in Wheeze’s mouth seemed pretty lively. It could flap its wings much because they were punctured by the cats’ teeth, but its legs were flailing wildly.
Wheeze was just about to do what Cillin said on the nearby grass when it glanced at the fallen hunters and felt its eyes widened. At the same time, the young hunter looked like he wanted to hide his head between his thighs.
“Oh my meow! You’re that Ghost Butterfly something who owed us 1.1 million credits back then!!” hollered Wheeze while specifically emphasizing the words “1.1 million ciredts”.
Ghost Butterfly Seventeen was hollering inside his own head, “Fuck me! How the fuck is this happening again!?”
Ghost Butterfly Seventeen kept quiet despite the mad howls inside his head. At the same time, he realized that Cillin must be nearby if the gray cat was here.
Wheeze thought that the young hunter wanted to deny his debt, so it immediately spilled everything. Less than two minutes later, everyone present learned exactly how Ghost Butterfly Seventeen got swindled by Cillin and paid 1.1 million credits for a booster and a nutrition agent.
“What debt?? I already paid you back your money!” Ghost Butterfly Seventeen uttered through gritted teeth.
“So what? Doesn’t change the fact that you owed us money before.” Wheeze didn’t even care about the sparrow that escaped far, far away on its feet anymore. “Say, are you planning to buy medicine from us again?”
Ghost Butterfly Seventeen was silent. The guy next to him was silent as well.
Shusag felt like laughing, but held back because he felt that it wasn’t the appropriate time or place. As a result, his face twitched like a balloon that might explode at any moment. Seeing that Ghost Butterfly Seventeen wasn’t answering, Wheeze turned to Cillin and asked,
“So? Are they buying medicine again, Cillin? If they are, how much are we going to charge them this time?”
Ghost Butterfly Seventeen abruptly stared at the cat before facing to the guy crouching next to them.
“You’re… Cillin?”
“Yep. It’s me.” Cillin nodded. “You don’t recognize me, do you? My looks changed.”
Ghost Butterfly Seventeen felt like his luck was absolutely rotten these days. He had imagined countless scenarios in his head before he decided to call for help, and he had considered what to say very carefully when he encountered the hunters, but never in a million years did he think that he would run into Cillin and Wheeze again! Although the young man looked very different from his previous self, the way Cillin spoke was something he wasn’t going to forget anytime soon. Add the cat to the mix, he was more or less certain that the guy in front of him was definitely Cillin.
And how could he forget? Cillin and his cat were some of the biggest scums he had ever met in his life!
But despite the clear look of reluctance on Ghost Butterfly Seventeen’s face, Shusag noticed that the young man had relaxed considerably compared to the beginning. It was because Cillin was someone he knew.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Sigma successfully located a couple of good saplings. However, they were surrounded by brambles that were so thick that it was impossible to reach even from the air. They knew this because they had tried it already. It looked like it would take considerable effort to procure them.
Sigma was about to stretch his metaphorical muscles when Moon stopped him.
“There’s no need to go through all that energy,” said Moon while raising its arm and pointed his palm at the brambles. His fingers retracted unto themselves, and his palm turned into a cannon.
BOOM—
When the dust settled, almost all the brambles except the ones surrounding the saplings were gone. It was now a lot more manageable than before.
“See? This is way easier now!”
Not far away, a group of hunters who thought they hid themselves pretty well wondered if they had misjudged the robots’ strength, and that they should seek out other preys. Before they could come to a decision, Moon pointed his cannon at the foliages they were hiding behind.
Another boom later, Moon looked at the escaping hunters for a moment before turning to Sigma. “Come on, let’s go grab your seeds and saplings.”
Sigma: “...”
Unbeknownst to Moon, the commotion he caused added quite a bit of difficulty to the crew’s hunting efforts.