Chapter 84: Arrival At Planet Hunt
The aircraft Cary flew over were packed full with the results of his hunt. The alien beasts’ skins, bones and other materials were already categorised and packaged properly in place, and it would be up to the support staff on the starship to process these goods further.
Once the goods were completely unloaded, Cary flew the aircraft out of the starship and returned to the planet. Cillin and Tang Qiuqiu accompanied him as well. Tang Qiuqiu had been looking forward to this for quite some time now, and she wouldn’t stop toying with her gun on the aircraft.
Tang Qiuqiu’s gun was modified so that the body was lighter, and its recoil not as powerful as the one she used before. However, it was far more lethal than her old rifle.
A couple of physical bullets lay at the side. Laser type firearms were not used during hunting because it would burn the alien beasts’ skin and fur, hence causing a drop in their selling price. Moreover, it wasn’t exactly safe to use a laser type firearm in a dry forest either, not to mention that it could easily put an alien beast in alert. Therefore, the Hunters who came here to hunt preferred using modified bullets instead. Among them, some of the bullets were specifically modified to capture living creatures. The tip of the bullet held drugs in them, and it would melt and break apart the moment it entered they prey’s body, releasing the drugs into its blood.
During the short period of their flight, Cary grabbed two thermal wears for Cillin and Tang Qiqiu to put on and explained to them briefly about the terrain. There might be plenty of species living on this planet, but for a human, the environment wasn’t nearly as friendly.
The planet was almost perpetually at a sub zero temperature, and the alien beasts on this planet were mostly covered in either thick fur or scales. Moreover, they were incredibly fierce, and some of the animals that appeared harmless were actually even more so.
“Normally speaking, the beasts at the cold zones are larger than norm, and in this place cats are about the size of leopards in another Sector…” Cary chattered.
Tang Qiuqiu’s head cocked, “But how do you know it’s a cat and not a leopard?”
“There’s this one night I heard them caterwauling as they…”
Before Cary could finish, Cillin immediately covered up his mouth. It’s probably for the best if that word was not spoken in front of a child.
At first Cary didn’t understand why Cillin had stopped him from speaking; it’s just cats yowling in heat as they fuck, wasn’t it? But then he saw Tang Qiuqiu’s curiosity-filled gaze and immediately came to realization.
“Basically, a leopard and a cat’s cries are different.” Cary said with a straight face.
Tang Qiuqiu thought for a second, and found that his answer made sense, and so she stopped pressing him about the subject.
Cillin and Cary met each other’s eyes and let out a sigh. As expected, things were different when there was a child in the team. They even had to watch their mouths real tight when they were around her.
The aircraft descended in front of a small three-story building. There was another identical aircraft that was parked beside the building, and someone was just transporting goods into that aircraft. This time the transported goods were basically all living creatures, and they were contained inside specially made cages. Since the alien beasts were injected with drugs, they lay sluggishly inside their cages.
Cary pointed at an animal that looked very much like a squirrel, but was three times the normal size and said, “Look, aren’t they just cute? Girls love these kind of furry animals the most, and it is extremely easy to feel pity for them when you look into their black, round eyes. But the fact is, just these squirrels bit god knows how many Hunters and killed them.”
Seeing Tang Qiuqiu staring at those animals, Cary got closer and asked, “Do you like them? Should I find a smaller one later to gift it to you as a pet? There’s a type of squirrel that has white fur and looks a lot more cuter than this one. There are lots of rich girls and ladies who prefer them as well.”
Tang Qiuqiu frowned, “What’s the use of raising them anyway?”
Cary was going to say that they could be raised for fun, but he swallowed his words just as they reached the back of his mouth, because if he did say that, then Tang Qiuqiu would certainly answer: In that case it’s better if we sell them for credits; the credits we get can buy a lot of sweets, you know.
These animals were only dangerous when their animal instincts were still present. Moreover, once they were tamed, they were basically timid and harmless. The only reason the rich girls and ladies raised them was for entertainment purposes, and when they had nothing to do, they could touch and hug and tease them for fun. But for Tang Qiuqiu, it was unnecessary. In terms of intelligence, these animals were far surpassed by Eudy’s little devil of a chameleon, Dough.
Seeing Cary choking on his words, Cillin patted Tang Qiuqiu and said, “Get ready. We’re going out for a hunt.”
“Alright, hunting!” The moment the matter was brought up, Tang Qiuqiu no longer cared for Cary’s answer and followed Cillin outside.
“Hey, wait for me, I’m coming with you two as well!”
Cillin had just walked out the aircraft when he saw Beaver moving all ten fingers across a keyboard and calculating something.
“What’s wrong, Beaver? Did something happen?”
Beaver raised his head upon hearing his voice, “Yo, Cillin, you’re back!”
Cary was crestfallen, and Tang Qiuqiu was disappointed. They didn’t think that Beaver would actually be able to recognise Cillin.
In truth, Beaver had already seen Cillin’s new face from the image Shawton sent him, so naturally he wasn’t as surprised as Cary. He had already gotten over that phase.
“It’s nothing, I’m just checking to see which place has more alien beasts. Oh, are you looking for the lieutenant? He’s at this location.” Beaver brought up a picture and pointed at a dot.
After the map transfer was complete, Cillin, Tang Qiuqiu and Cary then departed on a small airship towards Dias’ location.
Looking down from the airship, the planet’s unique cold-resistant coniferous forest and some evergreen species could be seen everywhere. From time to time, they could see black shadows passing through the forest, but since they weren’t the preys they were looking for the small group did not bother with them. Dias was currently tracking down a group of alien polar bears, and their fur could be sold for a huge sum of money.
In a highly technological era where the variety of materials were inexhaustible, the demand for natural fur, leather and skin objects had only gotten crazier. The higher someone stood on the pyramid, the more they loved these kind of objects. In the eyes of the rich ladies, a precious natural skin was equal or better than expensive jewelry.
The airship had a radar that revealed any surrounding living creatures, but Cillin did not fully rely on the radar to sense them. He would watch with his eyes, and listen with his ears. This was a habit of his.
Caw caw caw caw——
A flock of birds was surprised and flew up into the air. Their cries were a little eerie.
From the data revealed on the radar’s scan, there were only a few cats and wolves at that direction. None of these animals were up to Cary’s standards, so he ignored them. Hunting them would be a pure waste of bullets.
Cillin’s ears moved, and he suddenly said, “Cary, stop here for a bit!”
“What’s wrong?” Cary slowed down the airship and asked.
Cillin grabbed his backpack, “I’m going down for a look. You guys go meet up with the lieutenant first.”
“Hey, those things aren’t worth looking at. We’re still at the outer edge of the forest, and there ain’t anything valuable out here.”
“It’s okay, I’m just taking a look, that’s all. You guys go first.” Cillin grabbed a hoverboard from the airship’s equipment hold and extended it, “I’ll catch up to you guys later.”
Once finished, Cillin then rode the hoverboard out of the airship and flew downwards.
“This kid is really…” Cary shook his head and accelerated away.
Tang Qiuqiu asked while licking a lollipop, “What is brother Cillin trying to do? Isn’t there no good prey at that spot?”
“Who knows, maybe he’s gone nuts.” Cary said without thinking.
“What’s a nut?”
Cary: “…”
After a pause, Cary answered carefully, “It’s a kind of fruit.”
