The two robots in the synthesis machine were gradually completing itself. That’s right. As their consciousness became clearer and clearer, the two cores had begun creating their own shells, saving Cillin and Xi Mu the need of having to do it themselves. Still, the duo kept a close eye on the data scrolling through the screens.
The two robots had synthesized their shells based on their original programming. Naturally, they looked incredibly similar to Moon and Sigma. That was one of the reasons their creator had classified them as siblings after all.
After the synthesis process was complete, light strips flashed across their faceplates before the hatch of the synthesis machine opened by itself. It let out a hiss due to the change in air pressure.
Sigma and Moon jumped on the two robots before they could even say a word. After so many centuries, the four brothers were finally together once more. Now, Chip was the only one left.
Cillin saw no reason to disturb the four brothers’ long-awaited reunion, so he left for his room to catch some rest. Technically, the synthesis process hadn’t taken a long time, but the amount of computation he needed to perform was enormous to say the least. This was especially true for the beginning where he practically had to run himself like a literal machine. Thankfully, the latter half of the work was much easier, and Czedow was there to act as his insurance in case he faltered.
The amount of computation involved was much bigger not only because they were synthesizing two Origin robots at the same time, but also because a lot of the actions had to be executed on the fly. He hadn’t been nearly as prepared as he was when he was creating Czedow.
Cillin stretched his sore arms a bit while walking back to his room. Wheeze was on his shoulder because the gray cat had jumped over while he was walking toward the exit. Before he left, the gray cat winked at Czedow and said, “I shan’t disturb your date any longer! Bye!”
Czedow smiled and gave its ear a flick. He then left Xi Mu’s workshop as well. He had learned many new things from the process, and he would like some private time to process them all.
And so the Eleventh Squad gained two new members. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing for Xi Mu though. To be specific, it was the noise that irritated him to no end. Sigma and Moon were pretty lively robots, but even they could only generate so much noise with just the two of them. Now? It was like having four radios plowing through one conversation topic after another twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Even the supposedly quieter robot of the four couldn’t stop talking because it had been centuries since he last spoke.
In the end, Xi Mu could not stand it any longer and kicked all four of them out of his workshop. At the same time, he wondered how the ancient Xi Family managed to stand all five of them in one place.
And boy, were they active. Sometimes, they stacked on top of each other with Sigma at the bottom. Sometimes, they would go wild with Snowball and the gang. Even a game of Link of Gypsophila felt like a mini war was going off inside the ship.
Still, the overall atmosphere of the Eleventh Squad was pretty pleasant and even celebratory. The four robots kept Sigma’s indoor fruit garden as tidy as a book and helped out Mo Heng and Xi Kai a lot. In particular, Mo Heng loved them dearly because he had interacted with machines for decades, but this was the first time he communicated with one that was almost like a human. Heck, they were human besides their metallic appearance, not to mention that each of them possessed a unique personality of their own. Sir Mo was very happy to say the least.
Almost everyone in the ship was feeling pretty relaxed, but not Cillin. He was pondering about the future right now.
Just now, he had received a secret message from Ji Feng. Not even Eudy was aware of the contents of the message, much less everyone else. To put it simply, it was a matter that concerned the entire Vanguard. In the very near future, the senior members of the Eleventh Squad would be arriving at a support base in Sector Z. There, they would speak with the senior members of Navigators to discuss the ownership of a certain planet.
The A Squad of the Navigator and the Vanguard had discovered a huge habitable planet at the same time. The good news was that the GAL military was busy bashing each other’s faces in, so they would not be able to spare the energy to claim ownership of the planet. Since the planet was discovered by the two of the Great Four, other Hunter regiments and clans would not be foolish enough to stick their hand into the pie either. That was why only the two of them would be having this meeting.
The planet was extremely attractive in the sense that it afforded them the opportunity to build a support base for expansion, or sell it for a high price if they didn’t need the planet. To make a comparison, the planet was valuable enough to get them a considerable number of weapons, spaceplanes and so on. Naturally, no one was willing to give it up without a fight.
In fact, meetings like this were extremely common before the galaxy had fallen into chaos. Hunter regiments often came together to discuss a certain objective or two. Now though, things were not what they seemed to put it lightly. This was especially true considering the intel Yin Wushe had provided him just a while ago.
At any rate, Ji Feng was clearly prepared for this. In fact, it was rumored among the Hunter regiments that the Vanguard and the Navigators might go to war with each other. Worst case scenario, it would turn into a total war that wouldn’t end until one side was completely destroyed.
This was hardly the first time the two Hunter regiments had clashed against one another, so one might say that this planet was just a fuse, a fuse that could result in the biggest conflict ever between the two Hunter Regiments in fifty years.
Regardless of the truthfulness of these rumors, there was no doubt that the B Squadrons of both Hunter regiments were assembling in Sector Z right now. Logically speaking, they should hold this meeting at their headquarters, Sector K if they wanted to have a better chance at winning, but if the conflict did devolve into a full-scale war, then their headquarters was almost certainly going to suffer greater damage. This was why both Hunter regiments had chosen the support base at Sector Z as their meeting location. At the very least, they wouldn’t need to worry about collateral damage. It was just a support base anyway; a temporary base they might abandon depending on their needs. Heck, they could even destroy entire planets and not wince too hard at the losses.
Ji Feng had secretly informed Cillin about this and went through all the possible scenarios. He wanted the Eleventh Squad to be ready because a massively difficult battle awaited them all if a total war did occur.
Besides that, Ji Feng also explained some of the meaning behind Yin Wushe’s words, and that Mist could very well try to pull off some high profile assassinations while they were busy fighting each other. He wouldn’t have let go of this chance if he was them.
In fact, Ji Feng’s biggest worry wasn’t the Navigators, but the spies and traitors in their midst. The Navigators was a known factor since they were a fellow Great Four, but the same could not be said for the hidden knives in their back. Despite the major clean-up operation he executed a while ago, it was impossible to root out all of them. He wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if their backline suddenly caught on fire so to speak.
His second greatest worry was the killer organization, Mist. If they were going to assassinate someone, then they were absolutely going after the ones at the top. Of course, it was impossible to say how many people were on their hit list, only that losing any one of them would be a massive loss for Vanguard.
Of course, if a war did break out, the B Squadrons would not be fighting on the frontlines. The A Squadron would hold the line while they provided support from the back. In fact, one of the reasons Ji Feng had made such a huge fuss during the previous general meeting was to scatter the Hunter regiment’s future talent across all B Squadrons and minimize the impact they might receive; to diversify the portfolio so to speak. They were the future of Vanguard, and they would carry on its legacy when they grew up.
It was also a form of protection for these future talents. It was true that the strength of the members who were forcefully shoved into the B Squadrons were extremely uneven. It was also true that some of them were extremely high-value targets that the higher-ups were willing to risk some less valuable members to provide them with some cover. This was the greatest reason Ji Feng had executed that clean-up operation. Ji Feng had been making all kinds of arrangements since way back then.
“It’s only a matter of time before the Great Four goes to war. The Blue Butterfly and the Heaven’s Birth are already at war with each other, and there was no hope for reconciliation between the Vanguard and the Navigators as well. If we went to war, many lives would be lost one way or another. That is why we need to secure those who are still growing before it happens. Even if we, the seniors were to perish in this war, at least there would be someone to replace us, and our Hunter regiment would not decline.”
This was what Ji Feng had told Cillin, and not every B Squadron commander got the same talk. Only those that Ji Feng truly trusted would be given this talk. It was also a warning to Cillin not to move the Eleventh Squad to the frontlines. He wanted them to just stay at the back and protect Mogas, Mao and all the other potential talents.
“Protect them for me, Cillin!”
Ji Feng had said this before he cut off the transmission. It was something that puzzled Cillin greatly. Even if the group was highly valued by the higher-ups, Ji Feng almost seemed too concerned about them.
It was at this moment he received another transmission request from Yin Wushe.
“I just received word that someone in your squad is on Mist’s hit list. Be ready. It could even be your. Try to stay alive one way or another.”
On the screen, uncle Yin was holding a box of ice cream and chowing down like his life depended on it. There was also a mouse-like creature on top of his head. It had large ears and a hairy body. It was about the size of a small rabbit. After staring at Cillin for a couple of seconds, it leaped away as if it had lost interest in him.
“Even you don’t know who that person is?” Cillin asked.
“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew the answer.”
Cillin: “…”
“I’ll change the question then. Is there only one person in our squad who’s on the hit list?” Cillin asked again.
“Yep. As far as I know, there’s only one. That said, there’s nothing keeping the assassin from going on a killing spree if they felt like it, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Cillin fell silent for a moment. “Thank you for your warning. Is there anything else you’d like to tell me.”
“Nothing for now. Oh right, if you don’t feel confident, you can hire our organization to protect your men.”
“What’s the price?”
“Your fat cat.”
Cillin cut off the transmission immediately.
On Yin Wushe’s side, the middle-aged man bit his ice cream spoon and rubbed the little fellow who had jumped back onto his head. “This looks like trouble.”
Before they returned to the base at Sector Z, Cillin had observed Mogas and the other four for a bit. He had a feeling that the target Yin Wushe spoke of was among these five, or Ji Feng would not have said what he had said. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find out who the target was. He had even spoken to them one on one and was unable to uncover so much as a hint.
How deep do the plots go?
He decided to give up for the moment. The answer should reveal itself in time. Their starship had reached the base at Sector Z, but they all knew they didn’t have much time left. Cillin hadn’t said that they were going to war with the Navigators, but his crew had found out about it through their ways. This wasn’t exactly a secret after all.
“Are we really going to fight against the Navigators, Cillin?” Cary asked excitedly.
“It’s possible. Better to be prepared than sorry in any case,” Cillin answered.
“Heh! I’ll make sure to over prepare then!” Cary dragged Xiao Shang and the others away to discuss how to beat the shit out of the Navigators after saying that.
“What are you worried about?” Eudy asked.
Although this might devolve into an all-out war, Eudy knew that the B Squadrons—especially one as small as the Eleventh Squad—would not be thrown to the frontlines. Naturally, they should be facing a lot less pressure, not enough to worry Cillin at least.
“I’m not worried about the Navigators. With our current strength, we should be safe even if we couldn’t take out too many enemies. However, the Navigators aren’t the only ones we have to worry about.”
Eudy immediately turned serious. “Are you saying…”
“Yeah. The killers.”