Chapter 47: Returning to University
On the ship, Cillin, Pride and Hard were assigned to the same sick ward. Sird and Knight were also there. Although knight wasn’t hurt, He was still sent back to Seven Lights by Huo Neil. Knight did not mind, since he felt slightly more at ease because he was guarding the sick ward himself, just in case there was another assassination attempt
Since the matter had come to an end, naturally, Cillin ‘recovered’ really quickly, and now the five of them were chatting inside the room. Three were lying on their beds and two were sitting on chairs. Sird was peeling some fruits for them, and Knight was spitting saliva all over the place while talking about the news he had heard just recently.
“I heard that the big black mouse’s chromosomes were multiplied after it had mutated and was able to reproduce to a bunch of little black mice asexually. Er... the hierarchy is just like the queen bee and her drones. But I’m not sure about the exact details either. The other research stations had come over to collaborate on the research. As you might imagine, if substantial results are to come from this research, then it can be published on an academic-type electronic magazine that would be at least seventy GAL contribution points or above. That way they’ll become famous.”
“Do the researchers on the station not feel any trauma from this incident at all?” Sird asked. To this point, he would recall the scene where the black mice brushed past him every time and would unconsciously feel a chill every time the mice were brought up.
“That’s their thrill. Take an example. You were shot during an operation and just barely survived it. Are you afraid of guns, then? Would you still pick up your weapon and join in on the next operation?”
“Of course I would join in on the operation! What’s so scary about guns; isn’t it a common thing to get shot at?”
“And they feel just the same. Isn’t it common for a researcher to come up with weird things? Hey, stop interrupting; let me continue,” Knight cleared his throat and continued, “I heard that the mutation produced some kind of enzyme inside their bodies that allowed the black mice to perform anaerobic respiration for an extended period of time. This also explains why they could survive inside the underground tunnels for such a long time.”
Knight was the kind of person who would give most people the ‘impatient daddy’ look, but would have an entirely different attitude towards someone whom he acknowledged. He also spoke a lot more.
Seeing Knight’s ‘I am an expert’ facade, Pride’s eyes zoomed to a corner as he tsked, “What shameful conduct!”
“Yoho, does our young master have an opinion for me? You should take a good look at your own cowardly face in the mirror. It’s pardonable that Cillin and Hard got hurt, but what about you? Young useless burden?” Seeing Pride’s indignant glare, Knight threw a grape right at him, “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice that those soldiers in your squad were specially assigned agents.”
“It’s exactly because I noticed that they’re specially assigned agents that I wanted to avoid them!”
“That’s why you deserve to be scratched by the black mice. Do you seriously think you can handle that kind of situation alone? You fancy yourself a Star Rank Hunter (T/N: oh ho ho ho) or a Heavenly Edict Soldier? Use your brain, or you’ll never catch up to your brother Feihang Zweig!”
“If I can’t become a Heavenly Edict Soldier, do you think you can?”
“At the least, I’ll be one before you.” Knight said in disdain. If Feihang Zweig hadn’t asked him to watch out for Pride, who would give a shit about this idiot?
Seeing that Pride was about to fight Knight to the death, Sird hurriedly went over to mediate thing between the duo.
Cillin watched the duo amusedly at the sidelines. If Sird hadn’t gone over to mediate things, Pride was probably going to get smacked around by Knight again. A similar situation had already happened quite a few times.
That being said, the topic of Heavenly Edict Soldier and Star Rank Hunter did attract Cillin’s attention.
There were countless Hunters in the GAL, and those who stood at the pinnacle were all bestowed upon the title ‘Star’, a.k.a the Star Rank Hunter Knight was talking about. As of now, there were six publically known figures in the world of GAL Hunters who owned the title ‘Star’. The leaders of the four great Hunter regiments and the two elusive and mysterious lone rangers were all Star Rank Hunters. Together, the six of them were known as the Six Stars of the Hunt.
Meanwhile, Heavenly Edict Soldier was the highest honor one could be bestowed upon among the soldiers of the army. However, their existences were overly mysterious, and many of their achievements were listed by the military under top secret. To the public, they only existed among legends, and even the offsprings of generals like Knight and Pride didn’t know who they were. They only knew that there were four of them.
The Four Heavenly Edict Generals and the Six Stars of the Hunt. These were the legends this era’s soldiers and Hunters chased after.
“It was only through this mission that I recognised the gap between students and the regular army. We still need to work harder.” Hard sighed while lying on his sick bed.
Both Knight and Pride looked towards Cillin in unison after hearing Hard’s words. They did not say anything.
“Hey, what kind of rewards do you think the university will give us after we went back?” Sird said expectantly.
“Rewards?” Knight rubbed his chin, “It’s either credits or cash. Although, a military merit will be marked under our profiles as well, it’s nothing big. However it is a badge of honor at least. It will be somewhat useful if you join the army in the future.”
“That will be good enough. A military merit is all I can ask for.” Hard answered with a grin.
The ship stopped at the space station when they arrived at Planet Seven Lights. They were then transported on an aircraft and landed at an airport in the training division. Both Cillin and Hard were pushed out on a wheelchair. Originally Pride should have joined them on a wheelchair as well, but he turned it down due to his pride.
There were plenty of people that were already gathered at the airport. Some of the higher-ups of Seven Lights were also here. This was an operation that started due to an accident on Seven Lights’ research station after all. The training division students were present; Lung and Ci Jincheng were also present. However, Lung winked at Cillin and used his chin to point at a certain direction. There was a very familiar flying limousine parked at that direction.
A person had walked over from the limousine after Cillin was pushed down the aircraft. After seeing that person, Knight threw away his so-called brotherhood code and dumped Cillin behind. From the looks of it, he wanted to stay away as far away as possible.
Seeing this person, Cillin pulled the corners of his lips, “Why have you come, sir...”
Maintaining a stern look, after checking Cillin all over very seriously and confirming that he had recovered pretty well, Mo Heng lifted a hand, and pulled.
The people at the training division airport, the students and higher-ups greeting and consoling the wounded, and those pouring down continuously from the aircraft should number around several thousands in total. It was under the attention of these several thousand people that Cillin was reprimanded while his cheeks were pulled by Mo Heng. The entire huge airport was filled with Mo Heng’s powerful and clear voice.
There were plenty of high grade students in the area, and they had only ever known Mo Heng’s kind appearance in the past. Since when had they seen such a vice headmaster Mo before? Their own faces felt painful just watching Cillin’s pinched cheeks.
However, the few higher-ups present were surprised by Mo Heng’s actions. Those who understood Mo Heng knew that the old man would only pull the cheeks of someone he really cared about. And while it might appear as if Mo Heng was reprimanding Cillin, in truth he was warning everyone that Cillin was under his protection, and anyone who would think to harm him must go through him first.
At a planet on Sector D of the ten trade Sectors; inside a manor not far away from the bustling city. Aiflon was holding a sprinkling can and watering the plants leisurely while his butler Sopho reported the situation behind him.
“... Those families had suffered quite a bit of damage. The military’s seizure of goods, the government’s sudden investigation, business partners breaking off their cooperation and even several well-known academicians who were invited as guests changing their minds about things...”
Aiflon showed no reaction while he listened. After he finished watering the plants, he accepted the towel Sopho handed over, wiped his hands, and only then he said, “Let’s triple his reward this time.”
“Yes. And... about that person responsible for communication at Seven Lights...”
“We’ll stick with the original plan.”
“Yes. I’ll work on it right away.”