Cillin still didn’t know what the worms were, but he was sure that the creator must have invested a significant amount of time and effort to create them. After all, there were only so many species that could survive in space and carry a sac of corrosive liquid that was deadly enough to melt the hull of a space fighter. It was clear that it was a bioweapon of some sort. Besides that, it also possessed the ability to camouflage itself. It was incredibly difficult to notice it once the battlefield became filled with debris.
Was it the doing of Merciless, or was it Mist? He knew for certain it wasn’t the Navigators because plenty of Navigators had fallen for the trap.
It’s probably Mist.
They hadn’t heard any big news from the A Squad so far, though he doubted that they would hear them even if the higher-ups had been killed to the last. In any case, Cillin did not care about them right now. His full attention was on the Eleventh Squad’s starship.
When he and Czedow had left the spaceplane to take out the worms, Eudy had told him that more and more fighters were spotted in the zone where their starship was hiding. That number had only grown after ten minutes had passed. Although the starship was on the move, it was constantly surrounded by allies and enemies as if it was the eye of the storm. At first glance, there were only Vanguards and Navigators around the starship. In reality, Cillin was certain that Mist was mixed in the group as well.
There was a brief period of utter chaos when the worms ambushed the ships, but it wasn’t long before countermeasures were taken. For two-seater fighters, one pilot would do the piloting while the other pilot would kill the worms on another ally’s fighter. They would be helping each other out so to speak.
Some Vanguards noticed Cillin flying through space and killing the worms at a rapid pace, but they didn’t recognize him because he was wearing his Armor. It didn’t matter anyway. His actions marked him as a fellow Vanguard, and that was good enough for them.
In fact, many people thought that Cillin was the reinforcement the A Squad had dispatched to help them. It couldn’t be helped. It was clear he was an elite, and no one believed that a B Squad could produce an elite at his level.
Cillin watched for a bit after taking out the worms plaguing his fighters. When everyone had adjusted to the worms, he returned to Eudy’s spaceplane. He did not go inside though. He stood at a recess on the flank of the spaceplane and observed the battlefield.
Besides causing trouble for both sides of the war, the worms’ other function was probably to distract them long enough for someone to carry out their secret operation.
Cillin knew that the A Squad had dispatched several special ops teams to attack the Navigators’ key starships. The Navigators were clearly prepared for the assault as well. Currently, both sides were at a stalemate. Countless units were pincering and flanking their enemies by the second, and more vessels including war boats, spaceplanes and more were appearing at the outer edge of the battlefield via hyperspace jumping.
Both sides were hoping to catch the other party off guard, but obviously the effects were minimal at best. They just knew each other too well.
This was just the pitched battle. Many more battles were being fought away from prying eyes such as the higher-ups’ struggle on the planet or the skirmishes happening inside the Eleventh Squad’s starship right now.
In a fighter, Udoze easily shook off an enemy at their tail before Tang Qiuqiu blasted it to kingdom come. He was skilled enough to kill most enemies by himself, but having Tang Qiuqiu at the weapons seat more than doubled their total kill count.
Unfortunately, it meant that Snowball had nothing to do. It was so bored that it could fall asleep in the cockpit. The white bear felt a surge of envy when it looked outside and saw Wheeze “playing” with the worms.
In fact, many pilots exploded into curses when they glanced at Udoze’s fighter and noticed that a fat cat was sitting right on top of it. The gray cat wasn’t obvious at all in space, and if it did nothing but sit on the fighter then almost no one would notice it. However, the fatso was currently pinning a worm to the hull—a bioweapon that was many times bigger than it—and toying with it like it was nothing more but a toy. Its razor sharp, scythe-like claws weren’t snapped like twigs before they could even touch the hair on its body.
The thought that it might be blasted into pieces by an enemy never crossed Wheeze’s mind because one, nothing short of a heavy weapon could deal a serious blow to it, and two, Udoze was skilled enough to weave through the invisible storm of gunfire like a ballet dancer. All it needed to do was to press itself against the hull, and the chances it might catch a stray blast or two would fall to near zero.
Inside the cockpit, Snowball bit its paw unhappily. It wanted to go out and play too!
Wheeze was still toying with the worm when suddenly, it received a message from Cillin asking it to return to the spaceplane for a mission. The gray cat immediately threw the worm away, scratched its ear once, and got ready to leave. However, Snowball called out to it before it could do so.
Half a minute later, Wheeze contacted Cillin and said, “Cillin, Snowball wants to come with us because it’s bored. You okay with this?”
Cillin gave it some thought before replying, “Sure.”
Snowball was very happy to hear this. Udoze ejected the bear from his fighter after it was done putting on its Armor.
Snowball would’ve been fine without the Armor—it could fight in space without breathing for a very long time—but its white fur was way too conspicuous. The Armor was the only way to reduce its visibility.
The Armor was also equipped with propellers, but Snowball was unfamiliar with the equipment. It flew so poorly that it accidentally put a dent in the hull of an unfortunate Navigator fighter.
While struggling to maintain its balance, Snowball instinctively grabbed onto Wheeze’s tail. It was the only way it could think of to improve its stability and avoid slamming into more spaceplanes and fighters.
Of course, Wheeze looked back at Snowball and swore, “Fuck you, you fucking fatty!”
Snowball: “…”
Snowball snuck a glance at Wheeze’s equally fat bod but said nothing. What could it do when it didn’t have wings?
And so countless people saw a fat, winged cat flying through space while dragging a large, unidentifiable object behind it. It was an amazing sight to say the least.
“What the hell is that?”
Some Navigators tried to capture the bizarre duo, but Wheeze opened its mouth and blasted three of their fighters to kingdom come before they could even get close.
“You can shoot energy from your mouth?” Snowball exclaimed in astonishment via its communicator.
“But of course!” Wheeze declared arrogantly.
“Why didn’t you use it in our previous battles?”
“That’s cuz I like to keep a low profile.”
“…” Right. I should just shut up.
A while later, they arrived at the spaceplane. As soon as the hatch was open, and Wheeze was inside the airlock, it immediately flicked Snowball off its tail. The poor bear rolled all the way from the entrance to the corridor before it came to a stop.
Cillin and Czedow had already returned to the spaceplane. They were currently waiting for them next to Shusag’s fighter.
Wheeze took a moment to shake its fur and lick the crap out of the tail that Snowball had messed up with its grip. It was only then it leaped onto Cillin’s shoulder and asked, “When are we departing? And what is the mission?”
“We’re heading back to Little Eleven,” Cillin answered.
Just now, Eudy had lost contact with Little Eleven. Even Czedow was unable to make contact with the super AI for whatever reason.
“What happened to Little Eleven?” Wheeze asked.
“Little Eleven’s status is unconfirmed, but I don’t believe it means that something has happened to it. A jammer could stop all communication signals from entering or exiting the ship,” Czedow explained.
Cillin added, “I believe we can make contact with Little Eleven once we’ve returned to the starship. Hence the mission,” Cillin explained briefly to Wheeze and Shusag.
“What about Cary and the others?” Shusag asked.
“They’ll return to the spaceplane and provide cover for us in a minute.”