Star Rank Hunter

Chapter 337: Are You That Bastard Shadow X?

The person leading the group was a young woman. She wore a pair of sunglasses that covered up a large portion of her face, a slim shirt on the inside and a mid-length wind jacket on the outside. Occasionally, the wind and her own movement would outline the curves that was hidden beneath her jacket, making her look both tough and charming somehow.

The young woman was accompanied by a dozen or so bodyguards. Instead of helping the carriers carry out the goods inside the spaceplane, they stayed close to the young woman and paid close attention to their surroundings.

It was impossible not to notice the group. Not only did they appear completely different from the people in the market, the light reflection from the minerals looked like a carpet of stars that paved the way for their arrival.

“Young miss! You didn’t need to come here yourself!” The shop owner who reached the group first cried while rubbing his hands.

“Why not? Did you do something you shouldn’t?” Hua Xiao glared at him through her sunglasses.

“Of… of course not!” The shop owner replied with a smile, “Feel free to inspect our stores, young miss!”

“Welcome to our store, young miss!” The rest of the shop owners hurriedly joined in.

“Cut the bullcrap! If I catch anyone of you taking breaks when you shouldn’t or breaking the rules, I will seize your goods without mercy!”

Hua Xi observed the minerals around her as she walked along the main street. Occasionally, someone would report to her how their store had been doing recently, which she listened to but didn’t give a reply.

It was at this moment someone whispered something to her.

“Vanguard?” Hua Xi examined Cillin’s group again until suddenly, her pupils narrowed as if something—or someone—had caught her attention. She immediately started striding toward them.

Cillin was puzzled. Of course he noticed Xiao Shang and Ba Dao’s strange reactions, but he didn’t understand how the duo came to earn the woman’s ire. Not only that, he felt like he had encountered this woman from somewhere.

“Xiao Shang! Ba Dao! How dare you hide from me!” Hua Xi yelled angrily as she pointed at the duo hiding behind Snowball and Shusag.

Xiao Shang and Ba Dao groaned inside their head. How the heck did she see us? They thought to themselves. Then they looked behind themselves and saw a giant ore and their own reflection staring back at them.

Ah… fuck!

I should’ve known that mine factories ain’t a good place to hide!

“Hehe. Hello, Miss Hua!”

Xiao Shang walked out of his hiding spot and greeted Hua Xi with an awkward smile on his face, but he kept his gaze trained onto the ores beside them. Ba Dao was also staring at Snowball’s furry feet and counting its hair. Both Hunters absolutely refused to meet Hua Xi or their teammates in the eye for some reason.

The all-too-familiar sight angered Hua Xi even more. No matter how hard she tried to pry their mouth loose, they never divulged the information she wanted to hear!

“Where’s Cillin?!” Hua Xi went straight to the point.

Everyone in the crew except Xiao Shang and Ba Dao looked at Cillin. Shusag and Cary especially wore faces that suggested that their imagination had probably run off to that place no children should ever visit again.

Xiao Shang and Ba Dao turned their heads away from Cillin. It’s not our fault! It’s everyone else! We didn’t say shit!

Noticing their reaction, Hua Xi set her eyes on Cillin before looking him up, and down, and up again. The sheer intensity of her gaze caused goosebumps to crawl all over his skin.

“What is she looking at?” Sigma asked in puzzlement.

“It’s nothing. She’s just making the necessary observation to discover the truth is all,” Moon answered in an unnecessarily serious tone.

Hua Xi took off her sunglasses and narrowed her eyes a bit. Her eyes weren’t used to the harsh light reflecting off the surface of the minerals just yet. She stared at Cillin and asked, “You’re Cillin? Douance Cillin? That bastard Shadow X?”

Now Cillin knew why she felt so familiar.

“One Smile Kill?”

A long time ago, back when he was still studying in Seven Lights University, he had fought a famous pair of dual-wielding fighters called Liu Yewu and One Smile Kill in the Sector Championship. Until just now, he had no idea that One Smile Kill was the young miss of Luminous Flower Corporation. It made sense that most of the students of an elite institution would be VIPs themselves though.

“Very good. It is you!”

Hua Xi had never accepted her loss to Shadow X. After coming across some inside stories by chance, she conducted an investigation on Xiao Shang and Ba Dao and soon discovered their true identities. However, she never found anything regarding Cillin, and she had had to postpone her investigation due to other businesses. Sometimes she would run into Xiao Shang and Ba Dao, but her attempts to pry Cillin’s information loose from their mouths had always ended in failure. There was no escape this time though!

“Fight me again, Cillin, and no more virtual reality! This time, we’re going to do it in real life!”

Shusag immediately muttered under his breath, “Oh my, she wants to do it in real life…”

The old pervert had lowered his voice to the point where only those standing next to him could hear what he was saying. Cary and Dias looked like they could burst out in laughter at any moment.

Scarlet Wind had the bad habit of biting his fingernails every time he thought about something, and that was exactly what he did as he wondered what Shusag was talking about. He hadn’t managed to discard the bad habit to this day. He opened his mouth to ask only to receive a buttstroke from Tang Qiuqiu. “That is not something a kid should hear about!”

Meanwhile, Cillin paused for a second before asking, “Do you have any LS-57?”

Hua Xi thought for a moment before bringing up her electronic wristband and performing a check. “Yes, but they’re not for sale. We have some LS-56 though. They’re newly mined, cheaper than LS-57, and of excellent quality.”

“I only want LS-57.”

Hua Xi frowned again. Reserve stock was exactly what it sounded like; stock that was reserved for their own use. They might not need the LS-57 now, but that could change very quickly considering this current circumstances. You never know what you might need to save your life.

“Does this mean you’re not going to fight me if I can’t offer you the LS-57?”

Cillin didn’t reply. His silence was his answer.

The bodyguards behind Hua Xi began stretching their muscles inconspicuously. It didn’t take a genius to see that the miss was angry, and that a fight could break out at any moment. Considering that their opponent was Vanguard this time, it would suck if they caught a cramp mid-battle.

The crew noticed the bodyguards’ activity despite their attempt to be discreet, and after exchanging a glance with one another they spread out and assumed a certain formation. It was meant to give them slightly better angles to defend themselves.

The atmosphere turned icy instantly.

There was a third party beside the two groups, and that was the shop owner himself. The poor guy was currently sweating bullets and groaning inside his head: Oh shit oh shit, the young miss is angry! She’s going to seize my goods at this rate…

But Hua Xi raised her arm and waved down her bodyguards. Cillin also made the hand signal to stand down to the crew.

Hua Xi was about to negotiate further when her communicator rang suddenly. It was an urgent encrypted message. After making a hand gesture at her bodyguards, she strode into a nearby room inside the store while contacting someone on her communicator. Whatever it was she was doing, it clearly wasn’t meant for their ears.

After Hua Xi left, Cillin looked at Xiao Shang and Ba Dao and waited for an explanation.

Xiao Shang shrugged before starting his explanation, “Miss Hua Xi was traumatized after you wrecked her in the Sector Championship, and she thought that the outcome would be different if she fought you in real life. Of course, she never got that chance because you vanished from Seven Lights after that. Somehow somewhere she heard that there was a guy named ‘Cillin’ in Vanguard Sixth B Squadron, and she started looking into it. She didn’t find you, but she found me and Ba Dao. We never revealed that it was you though!” The hunter hurriedly clarified at the end.

“I think it’s fine to take her for a round or two if she gives us the LS-57, right boss?” Cary said in a teasing tone.

Cillin ignored them and faced at Wheeze. Since Hua Xi had taken the call, the gray cat had stopped scratching the metal and lifted its ears fully. Judging from the obvious gleam in its eyes, not only was it listening in on that private call, it must be beneficial to the squad somehow.

After the call ended, Wheeze flicked its ears and ran all the way up to Cillin’s shoulder before saying, “Cillin, that woman was talking in codes, but I think they ran into some sort of trouble they could use our help with! This is our chance to get the LS-57 and rip them off!”

That was all Wheeze managed to say before Hua Xi walked out of the room. She didn’t look good. She was doing her best to control herself, but a keen observer would notice that her facial muscles were quivering with tension. Still, the fact that she was keeping her natural impulsiveness in check showed that she was a lot more mature compared to One Smile Kill from a couple of years ago.

“Let’s talk. I mean the LS-57 you need, not the fight.” Hua Xi ordered her bodyguards to clear out the area for privacy’s sake.

“I have a job for you. If you accept it, Luminous Flower will trade you all our remaining LS-57.”

Cillin didn’t declare his position immediately. “Speak.”

“Luminous Flower Corporation is cooperating with Golden Willow Corporation on a certain project. A transport ship was transporting a batch of rare minerals to the region where our main company is, but something happened to it and caused it to deviate from its course. I want you to assist us in saving the people and the goods inside the ship. I repeat, this is a request for assistance, which means that we won’t let you handle whatever danger is inside that ship yourselves. In fact, Luminous Flower will be handling most of the mission ourselves. All we want you to do is to take care the enemies until we’re done.”

“What kind of enemy are we talking about?”

“It’s a type of bioweapon beast. The victim parasitized by the creature will transform into a parasite themselves and gain full control over the parasitized body.”

“How many are they?”

“... I’m not sure.”

In other words, the likelihood that the enemies were numerous was high.

Cillin smiled. “You realize that this is more serious than it sounds like? There are few professions who had had to deal with bioweapon beasts more so than hunters, so trust me when I say we know how dangerous this type of mission can be.”

“We don’t necessarily need your help. It just so happens that you need something from us, so I’m offering you the mission necessary to acquire it.”

“Really? Unless you’re hiding an army in that spaceplane, I suspect that you don’t actually have the manpower to carry out this mission. If you did, you would’ve left already. Whatever reinforcements you can summon can’t possibly show up with such short notice either. I suppose that you can recruit these shop owners and miners to help you, but how much help can they really provide in a mission like this?”

Hua Xi narrowed her eyes, and those who knew her knew that it was a sign that her anger was about to reach its boiling point.

“Say your terms.”

Cillin passed her a list straight away. It was a list of secondary materials Xi Mu needed for his project assuming that they obtained the LS-57. Although he didn’t need much, they weren’t the easiest materials to procure.

“Are you kidding me?!” The list twisted in Hua Xi’s hands. “You think your squad is worth all these materials!? May I remind you that your squad is exactly what it sounds like, a squad and not a fleet!?”

“That’s not up to you to say. You didn’t expect to lose to me back then, and yet you did, didn’t you?”

That destroyed Hua Xi’s remaining calm completely. Ever since she lost to Cillin, she started checking her gun right before she was about to take a shot. It was a small pause, but that pause could mean life or death on the battlefield. This was why Hua Xi kept searching for Cillin all this time. Win or lose, the only way to truly remove her trauma was to challenge him again.

“You better pray that you’re worth the price you claim!” Hua Xi turned around and ordered her bodyguards to prepare the contract immediately.

Sensing an opportunity, Wheeze jumped down Cillin’s shoulder, ran to the hunk of metal it tortured earlier and…

CREAK—

The piercing noise caused goosebumps to appear on everyone’s skin. It was like sliding a piece of ice into the gap between your teeth; cold, sore, and an absolute torturous experience that made someone felt like knocking themselves out.

Hua Xi’s eyes twitched dangerously when she saw this. Then, she waved a hand and ordered, “Add that metal into the contract as well!”

Wheeze’s mouth split into a wide grin when it got what it wanted.

“You’re such a nice person older sister meow~”

Hua Xi snorted. “Even your pet has a sweeter mouth than you lot!”

However, she quickly noticed that everyone in the Eleventh Squad was looking at her with a strange expression on their faces.

Scarlet Wind bit his finger again while asking Tang Qiuqiu, “Isn’t Wheeze over two hundred years old? Why is he calling her an ‘older sister’? Is she really that old?”

Hua Xi: “...”

WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD?!

Hua Xi would’ve exploded if she didn’t need their help right now. Not wanting to spend even an extra second with these people, she urged her bodyguards to work faster so that she could sign the contract and leave ASAP.

Cillin checked with the crew if they were okay with the mission prior to signing the contract. Everyone—especially the former Sixth B Squad, who had been itching to get some action since a long time ago—was okay with it.

Normally, missions like these were like breakfast to a hunter. However, the unique circumstances that surrounded the Sixth B Squadron before had put a stop to that. That was why they were ecstatic to receive this mission even though the danger level was obviously high.

Again, prior to signing the agreement, Cillin added one last condition. “I want to receive the LS-57 now.” The request came from Xi Mu.

Hua Xi hesitated, but acquiesced quickly after amending that condition further to just one box of LS-57. The rest would be delivered after the mission was over.

Both sides got to work immediately after the contract was signed. Before Hua Xi left, she informed Cillin about the remaining time until the transport ship entered the planet’s space, and told him to prepare as much as possible.

After Hua Xi returned to her spaceplane, a bodyguard beside her asked, “Why did you sign a contract with those hunters, young miss? They’re Vanguard, but they’re a new squad and they’re nowhere near the size of the other B Squadrons. This isn’t worth it at all.”

The fact that the bodyguard spoke so frankly with Hua Xi made it clear that he wasn’t just your normal bodyguard. More accurately, the main company had specifically transferred him to Hua Xi to assist her, and the young miss quite respected his opinion.

Hua Xi shook her head before replying, “I know, but they are still Vanguard. They have to be more experienced than the miners at dealing with these creatures, and we cannot afford to fail this mission no matter what!”

Back in the Eleventh Squad’s starship, Cillin were discussing the mission and planning actions with the crew.

“This is all the information we got for this mission. What do you all think?” Cillin inquired after reporting all the data he acquired from Hua Xi.

“There’s no way this mission is as simple as the young miss claims. She was way too concerned for this to be just a mission to retake the goods. Judging from her unconscious tone, focus and her body language, I believe that she’s really trying to rescue someone or some group that is stuck inside that transport ship. The goods are just a distraction,” Shusag replied. He did serve in the military before, and time hadn’t diminished his observation skills completely.

Eudy reported the results of his own investigation, “Luminous Flower and Golden Willow are cooperating to excavate a rare mineral, but as Shusag said it is nowhere important enough to worry Hua Xi as much as she did.”

Cillin nodded. “Whatever it may be, make sure to keep your eyes open and stay safe. As mentioned earlier, we’re just assisting them in their mission. There’s no need to risk our lives for them.”

Tico chose this moment to walk over and pass two boxes to Cillin. They both contained syringes in them.”

“Here’s the two general antibodies you asked for. I’ll develop the specific antibody after the operation begins.”

Cillin accepted the box and distributed two of each type of antibody to everyone.

After the plan was confirmed and the role assignments were done, Cillin checked the time and noted that it was almost time for the mission to begin. He held up the two syringes of antibodies before saying,

“Just to be on the safe side, I asked Tico to create two types of antibodies. I want you all to use the first syringe now. If you were scratched or bitten during the mission, use the second syringe as soon as possible to halt the virus’ progress and delay the transformation. You’ll be fully cured once Tico develops the specific antibody. Also, do not let the parasites enter your body no matter what.”

After he went through a list of precautions, he asked, “Are there any questions?”

“No sir!”

Everyone looked eager to begin.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

“Cillin, wait.” Xi Mu ran into the meeting room in a hurry while the others did the opposite. He was the only one who hadn’t attended the meeting in person because he was busy with something. The comms device in the meeting room had been turned on so he could listen to the plan from his lab, but that was it.

Xi Mu thrust a familiar box into Cillin’s hand, and Cillin recognized it immediately. It was identical to the box Angenia had passed him earlier.

“You finished it already?” Cillin was astonished. It was true that all the essential materials were prepared, but Xi Mu’s speed still exceeded his expectation.

Xi Mu shook his head before replying, “It’s just a prototype. I didn’t have the time to optimize many things or test it extensively. It’s usable though. I have a feeling that this mission won’t be as simple as it seems.”

“Just one?”

“Just one.”

“Got it. Thank you.” Cillin accepted the box and added, “I trust you guys to take care of the ship while we’re gone.”

“Yessir. I joined the squad, so of course I’ll do my best.”

“Commander, we need you now! Luminous Flower is on the move already,” Cary urged from the hallway. He was fully geared and raring to go.

Cillin motioned for Cary to head to the spaceplane while he left for a nearby depot with the box. Ten seconds later, he came out looking exactly the same as before.