Star Rank Hunter

Chapter 410: Who Is It?

Upon reaching the R Star Sector, Cillin emerged from the laboratory. His idea wasn’t completely finished; what he had now was only a rough prototype. There wasn’t much he could do about the subsequent steps anyway, so he could only wait for it to mature.

Inside Cillin’s laboratory sat a flask. Within that flask was an invisible speck. It had no form yet; it was just an embryo—an artificial embryo. Cillin had to wait for it to finish developing. As for how long that would take, he didn’t need to know right now, but it shouldn’t be too long.

Wheeze, trailing behind Cillin, looked listless. He wasn’t tired, just bored. He was only responsible for processing data, which wasn’t enough to exhaust him, but staring at dry numbers all day long was sheer torture for the restless feline. At times like this, Wheeze always admired Czedow, because that guy, just like Cillin, could always stay put for a long time once he settled in.

“You’re out,” Lung said.

He bit into an apple, lounging in a chair in utter boredom as he watched the current status of the various star sectors on the screen in front of him.

Every star sector was currently in a state of chaotic activity. The Galactic Alliance forces, local sector armies, and even private militaries were all stepping up, but the number of infected continued to climb. As of now, the total number of discovered viruses had reached 103, and this was definitely not the end. The variety of viruses was still rising, and the vast majority were artificial. The vaccine situation was not looking good. Some remote planets were now highly favored, but many of those remote worlds had long been monopolized by large families, making it impossible for outsiders to enter. There were also Si Family Army troops stationed on these planets. If ordinary people tried to force their way in, they would likely be obliterated in the sky before they even landed.

The transit planet in the R Star Sector was now practically a collection of ruined cities. The garrison forces stationed outside the planet were destroying any aircraft trying to flee one by one, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation. Those who had slipped out earlier had already infected more planets, so the military couldn’t afford to be lenient now. Trying to use connections to open a gap was completely impossible. With the escalation of the crisis level, no one dared to be careless, nor did they dare to be soft-hearted.

Many of the viruses affected human emotions, causing people to lose control and become irritable, bloodthirsty, and highly aggressive. Therefore, in many severely affected areas, there was utter chaos. The infected acted like lunatics, committing atrocities everywhere. Bloodstains covered everything, and local armies shot such people on sight.

“The situation right now is awful,” Lung said, watching the scenes on the screen.

The action being taken everywhere right now was direct elimination. However, people were constantly being infected with viruses—all kinds of viruses, aggressive ones, non-aggressive ones, and so on. They were only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. So far, they only knew that the viruses were brought in by the “Dream Tapir,” but where exactly was the “Dream Tapir,” the primary source of the infection? Had they all started their first round of division and reproduction?

“Based on the current situation, I’m afraid there won’t be much progress for a while, and the infection radius will only expand,” Knight said solemnly. “Before, there were only around twenty planets with infections, and now there are nearly two hundred. But if the subsequent defenses are put in place, things might improve.”

What he meant by defenses being put in place was complete quarantine—preventing anyone from outer space from entering planets where no infected had been found yet. But this also meant that many people would be stranded in space, unable to find a planet to take them in.

“Get ready. We’re almost there. Twenty-minute countdown,” Ci Jincheng said.

Twenty minutes meant exactly twenty minutes.

The R Star Sector was relatively close to that transit planet. Although they weren’t in adjacent regions, it wasn’t far. Most people fleeing the transit planet wouldn’t want to escape to this particular planet either. The closer the distance, the easier it was to get infected. Thus, those who managed the difficult escape from the transit planet would definitely flee further away, rather than settling on this planet whose primary lifeline was its pharmaceutical factories.

When they arrived at their selected red planet, their aircraft didn’t enter immediately. Instead, they conducted a general analysis of the planet’s current status.

Looking at the planet from outer space now, it didn’t match the data. While this planet wasn’t exactly a high-priority world with a Class A habitability rating, its Class B habitability, combined with the resilient physiques the local residents had evolved, meant the population living here was not small. The majority of the workers in the pharmaceutical factories were locals.

However, the planet was no longer as clear as it used to be. The entire globe looked enveloped in a haze, appearing indistinct. Flashes of explosions sparked in some areas—they weren’t large, but they were frequent.

The fighting was intense.

From the readings on their scanners, they could tell that the pervasive smog, caused by the diffusion of chemicals, had dropped the planet’s habitability from Class B to nearly Class C. Even the local residents wouldn’t be able to live in such an environment like they used to. Prolonged exposure would mean certain death.

“The three largest pharmaceutical factories have exploded,” Ci Jincheng said.

The explosions of those three massive factories were the main culprits behind the toxic haze blanketing the planet.

“The air is too toxic. We’ll have to wear protective suits later. Plus... we need to switch our weapons,” Cillin said, watching the footage sent back by the probes on the screen.

Monsters appeared on the screen one after another. Although the smog made it hard to see them clearly, their rough shapes were visible. They were definitely not human. They were two to three times larger than the average person, some even bigger, and their elongated, clawed arms and toes, along with the tails sweeping behind them, proved they weren’t human.

The planet’s residents were currently fighting these monsters.

“What are those...”

“Bio-beastmen, synthesized from bio-beast embryos and cyborg embryos,” Ci Jincheng said. “I read a piece of intelligence about something like this before, but that was years ago. I didn’t expect to actually run into them now.”

“Then are they humans or beasts?” Pride asked with a frown.

“They aren’t human, nor are they purely beasts.”

From the footage, it was evident that many of these bio-beastmen walked upright. They had arms and legs; some looked closer to humans, while others leaned more toward beasts.

The most abundant threat on the planet wasn’t the infected, but these bio-beastmen.

“This also proves one thing—there is definitely a Miracle stronghold on this planet,” Ci Jincheng said. “They intend to wipe out everyone here. Once the populace is dead, between the bio-beastmen and the viral infection... in a busy period like this, the Galactic Alliance government’s best and simplest solution will be to just destroy the entire planet directly. This place is an abandoned base.”

Knight and the others nodded upon hearing Ci Jincheng’s analysis.

Lung glanced at Cillin, about to ask for his thoughts, but noticed that Cillin was staring blankly.

“Hey, what are you thinking about? Let’s hear it,” Lung said, nudging Cillin with his elbow.

Cillin snapped out of his daze, shook his head, and stayed silent.

Lung gave him an odd look but didn’t bother him any further. Cillin had been acting very strange lately. Was it because of his research? It just went to show that people who delved into that kind of stuff were either neurologically compromised or mentally deranged.

Cillin ignored Lung’s weird expression. He was currently puzzled. Ever since they approached this planet, he had sensed a strange signal. He had asked Wheeze and Czedow, but neither of them had picked up anything similar. That was what confused Cillin so much.

Wheeze and Czedow hadn’t received it, and neither had this aircraft loaded with all sorts of advanced instruments. Was he the only one who could pick it up? Could it be a signal anomaly caused by the magnetic field and ionic activity in this star sector? But the compatibility of this signal was too high; it felt as if it had been broadcast specifically for him, guiding him over.

“Get your gear in order. We land in five minutes. Countdown starting now!” Ci Jincheng announced.

The action plan was already displayed on the main screen. Their primary target this time was one of the three largest pharmaceutical factories. There were relatively strong signal reactions beneath it, and the explosion hadn’t completely wiped out those subterranean signals. There was definitely a Miracle experimental base down there. Even in an abandoned base, they could find plenty of clues. Discovering even a tiny bit of useful information would be a huge haul, and they might even be able to use this base to track down more hidden strongholds.

This pharmaceutical factory was located next to a massive river. The river’s current was rapid and churning. One second, you could see the corpses of humans and bio-beastmen floating on the surface, and the next, they would be swallowed by the crashing waves, as if a gigantic beast lurked beneath the waters. The river was undeniably heavily polluted. The water was the color of chemical reagents, a terrifying sight.

Kang Man and Allen would remain on the aircraft. They would shadow the rest of the team, ready to provide support, supplies, and equipment at a moment’s notice. The other sixteen people would head down shortly, including Wheeze. The cat was so bored his claws were itching for action.

The clatter of assembling firearms rang out incessantly. One minute later, it stopped completely. Everything was ready. Everyone stood on the drop ramp by the hatch, regulating their breathing. They were all seasoned veterans of the battlefield; there was anticipation and calm, but no nervousness. Even someone like Pride, who usually acted every bit the arrogant young noble, showed a noticeable change. He looked much more composed and exuded a commanding presence. Though you could still sense a hint of arrogance in him, there was no denying his genuine capability.

Allen was extremely nervous; he was the only one out of the eighteen whose palms were sweating. He had experienced many battlefields too and had tempered his disposition, so he wasn’t prone to stage fright. The reason he was nervous now was that he couldn’t help but worry for these people. They weren’t the usual subjects of his reports. The people standing before him were either former prodigies of military academies or the descendants of the Eight Great Marshals and Heaven’s Edict. These people could easily have enjoyed the best protection available, yet they were risking their lives by coming to a place like this. It truly filled him with admiration, and it was exactly why he had rejected his father’s arrangements to come here himself.

What did true stars of tomorrow look like?

Allen felt that they should look exactly like the people standing in front of him.

The team, fully geared up, took one last look at the operation route and map displayed on the main screen, stretching their necks and arms.

While Feng Haichao was rolling his neck, he turned his head and spotted Czedow standing next to Cillin, letting out a startled cry. “Whoa!”

Cillin and Czedow were standing in the back, so no one had noticed anything unusual at first. But upon hearing Feng Haichao’s shocked, pitching voice, everyone turned to look.

“What are you doing, Feng Haichao... Holy shit!”

“Czedow, aren’t you going to wear a protective suit?”

“Hey man, listen to me, hurry up and put it on!”

Among the group, aside from Ci Jincheng, Knight, Lung, and a few others who knew the truth, everyone else stared at Czedow as if they had seen a ghost. At such a tense moment, someone actually hadn’t put on their protective suit and had barely grabbed any gear. If they were in the regular army, he would definitely be chewed out, and his qualification for the mission would be revoked immediately.

Czedow looked at them and replied calmly, “I don’t need one.”

The others checked the reactions of Cillin, Ci Jincheng, and their group, and decided not to say anything more. The countdown was almost up; there was no time to dwell on Czedow. Everyone had their own secrets. If he didn’t want to wear it, then he didn’t have to. Why worry over nothing?

Down on the surface, inside the city where the pharmaceutical factory was located, the low-rise housing along the streets had already been utterly devastated. Red, black, and brown blood covered everything, alongside the mutilated corpses of both humans and bio-beastmen. Beneath the faint chemical haze, various animalistic roars rang out, mingling with human shouts and the crack of gunfire. Set against such a bizarre, blood-stained backdrop, the scene was exceptionally terrifying.

“Sst!” hissed one of the middle-aged men on guard.

The other three men’s expressions shifted. They snatched up their rifles, pressed their backs against the wall, and carefully peered out through the cracks.

“Boom!”

The explosion outside meant a bio-beastman had stumbled into their pre-set trap and been blown to pieces. But the blast also exposed the others. The remaining monsters scanned the area with violent eyes before charging straight toward the courtyard.

“Fuck, they spotted us!” a burly man cursed.

These bio-beastmen possessed bizarre vision; they didn’t just rely on color to identify targets.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Gunfire erupted, but the bio-beastmen moved too quickly to track. Even when a shot landed, it rarely hit anything vital, leaving wounds that were nothing more than a minor itch to the monsters.

The bio-beastmen drew closer. Through the faint mist, their silhouettes grew sharper as they bore down on the small yard. There wasn’t just one. Ten—no, over twenty of them were swarming their position.

“Move! Lure them away!” the leader yelled over the gunfire. Their main goal in shooting had always been to draw the monsters’ attention. With their current gear and skills, actually killing a bio-beastman was nearly impossible.

“Fall back!”

The four men quickly spun around and sprinted for the rear window. They vaulted over the sill, but instead of fleeing outright, they kept firing over their shoulders as they ran. Only after confirming that the bio-beastmen were chasing them—and completely ignoring the hidden entrance to the underground passage—did the men finally break into an all-out sprint.

However, their speed was no match for the bio-beastmen. The pursuers closed the distance, and worse, a massive three-meter-tall brute suddenly stepped out to block their path forward.

The creature’s protruding mouth peeled open like a massive starfish. Before the men could even raise their rifles, the gaping maw snapped toward them. The four could already smell the thick, bloody reek of its breath.

Whoosh—bang!

The monster’s head exploded. Blood splattered across the four men at point-blank range, painting the surrounding area a deep brownish-red as the three-meter-tall body crashed to the ground.

“Wh... what just happened?” the man in front stammered, swallowing hard. Before he could process it, a rapid series of pops echoed around them.

It was the exact same sound of heads exploding.

They turned around to see the pursuing bio-beastmen dropping one after another.

Obscured by the mist, they couldn’t see the shooter. All they knew was that the bio-beastmen kept falling, nearly all of them with their heads blown wide open. One shot, one kill.

Who? Who was out there?

They had no idea.

Overhead, an aircraft swooped past at low altitude. A ramp lowered, revealing a line of figures clad in protective suits. They were heavily armed, and their features were completely hidden. But knowing they had a normal human shape was enough—after all, out here, the only things that weren’t human were the bio-beastmen.