Star Rank Hunter
chapter-267

It was impossible to tell if the deep colored swamp was deep or shallow. Some parts of it were also bubbling loud enough to be heard by a nearby car. Mud geysers appeared only at the deeper parts of the swamp. That particular mud were very thick and sticky, and any car who got caught in it would be having a hard time if they didn’t clean themselves in time. Not only would they slow, their balance would be destroyed as well.

Cillin kept Vege-Fritter inclined at a certain angle as he flew past the mud geysers; greater verticality meant more room for dodging. The three cars he outran earlier kept pace with him, and there were other cars who were catching up slowly but surely. Perhaps the circuits they had a disadvantage in were behind them, and they decided that now was the time to catch up to them.

The rankings refreshed every time the racers enter a new circuit. Although there were a lot of lagging racers who hadn’t gotten a single point until now, none of them were worrying too much. It was clear they were veterans who were well aware which circuit played well to their strength, and which didn’t. As long as the car was still running, it was only a matter of time before a chance to catch up presents itself.

“We currently sit at sixty, no, sixty five points. Twenty five from the Rainbow of Beginning and forty from the second circuit. This means all we need to do is to maintain this pace — there’s no need to hurry just yet.”

Cillin mmed in acknowledgment.

Naimi used Vege-Fritter’s global surveillance system to mark down the places with high threat level, places they could speed up and places to pay attention to due to various circumstances for Cillin. He didn’t do anything else because Cillin could take care of the rest himself.

Sometimes, a mud geyser would splash into another mud geyser, causing an unavoidable torrent of mud. Not even Cillin could dodge out of the way of something like this. However, just as the dark colored mud hit Vege-Fritter at high speed, a white light flashed across its surface and froze it all in an instant. It was then followed by an ultrasonic wave that shattered all of the frozen mud into powder.

This method of dealing with mud was pretty common, so Vege-Fritter wasn’t the only car that was doing the same thing. However, it was a different story if a car took a direct hit. If the hit racer couldn’t react in time, the mud would cling to the vehicle and drag it down to the swamp through sheer stickiness and pressure.

Unlike the time back in the rainforest, Naimi felt that Cillin’s emotions had calmed down considerably. Maybe his loss of composure earlier was because he was in the process of adjusting his feelings?

Cillin’s dodging skill was impressive. Many times, he was able to slip through even the tiny space between three separate mud geysers. Although he wasn’t able to completely avoid the mud completely, it was a far better outcome than taking a direct hit like some of the cars behind him.

At this point, Spearhead had caught up to him. In fact, it had taken the lead. But Cillin showed no intentions of speeding up whatsoever, not even when Aero and Lightning had overtaken him as well. What really caught Naimi’s attention was Cillin’s expression, however. He hadn’t shown pride when he overtook the leaders earlier, and he hadn’t shown worry now after being overtaken by them. Again, Cillin looked so calm it was like he was a robot.

That being said, Naimi sensed something lurking in Cillin’s eyes even though the latter was busy staring at the road ahead of him. If Cillin was venting when he was flying in the rainforest circuit earlier, then now he felt like a bottomless depth. It felt like the moment a spaceplane just escaped gravity, and was greeted by the endless galaxy.

Just like before, Naimi inspected the circuit map and gave reminders when necessary.

Cillin didn’t try to chase after his competitors after they overtook him immediately, and there were several reasons. One, his competitors had to shoulder the pressure of being ahead. Two, there was still some distance before they reached the end of this circuit. That was why Cillin planned to maintain this speed and stay at fourth place until they hit the latter part of the swamp map.

By now Cillin had gotten used to this environment and weather. The mud of the swamp always vibrated a little before they exploded into a geyser, and Cillin was able to sense it clearly through Vege-Fritter. In fact, he could tell where they were going to appear from, and at what angle and volume before responding accordingly. He was like a carbon-based robot who spent every second calculating an impossible amount of things while still being able to perceive his surroundings. His ability to sense turbulence was far better than Naimi’s as well.

The reason Naimi thought Cillin was amazing was because he had no idea how Cillin was able to react as precisely despite the small time window.

It was around this time it sunk in for every spectator that the three top seeds weren’t the only ones who had a real chance of becoming champion of Winds of Freedom. Like it or not, a relic of the past, the darkest horse of this race, “Vege-Fritter” was in it as well.

The sprinting part of the circuit was a chance to pull away from the other racers, so the fifth place racer fell even further behind the top four. Almost nothing changed between the top four cars, however. When the cars reached the final part of the circuit, three mud geysers suddenly cut across the air and formed a raining dome. It was the moment the leaders knew that they had to go their separate ways: the cars flying on top, Spearhead and Lightning pulled their vehicles upward, whereas the cars flying at the bottom, Vege-Fritter and Aero sought out a gap between the geysers.

The top four of the swamp circuit was decided when the racers had passed through the final obstacle.

Aero was number one, Vege-Fritter was number two, Lightning was number three and Spearhead was number four.

Naimi exhaled audibly when they finally passed through the third circuit’s finish line. He thought that they were going to end at third or fourth place, so this was a better outcome than expected already.

Repair shops were set up at the end of every circuit, but most cars hadn’t gone in during the first two circuits because it was just the beginning of the race. At the end of the third circuit though, some flying cars finally entered their repair shops to get some quick maintenance. The reason they chose to do this was because the fourth circuit was a circuit they couldn’t afford even the slightest bit of hiccup. It was desirable to maintain a self-diagnosis number of 9.5 and above, and anything below 9.0 was absolutely unacceptable.

The first four cars didn’t stop for a check up. They sped up and pulled even further ahead of their competitors.

The dark swamp and the murky gas that seemed to fill every corner gradually vanished behind them. The four cars flew down another direction after making a big turn.

A bit of white was showing at the horizon, and it was clear from the temperature indicators that the air was growing colder the closer they got to their destination. It was because they were approaching the polar region.

Cillin chewed on an energy supplement tablet before downing the water Naimi passed him. He stared at the distance. By the time they finally reached the polar region, it would probably be night time already.

Everyone used the break to replenish their energy level. The navigators also took this opportunity to explain to their racers the circuit they were about to face, confirm countermeasures and even act as a temporary psychologist. It was important to keep their racer in a steady frame of mind, and they couldn’t allow their racer to get complacent or aggressive because of their latest standing.

Just like Cillin had predicted, it was night by the time they reached the fourth circuit of the race, the Arctic Lands. The starry sky here was very beautiful, but the wild winds were a completely different story, blowing at the glaciers until snow was everywhere. It wasn’t snowing, but it was worse than snowing. It was a snow storm.

Tiny bits of ice were mixed within the powerful gales, and they were the main reason of vehicle damage such as the one Tobia suffered last time. The battering of ice could easily cause certain parts inside a vehicle to loosen and trigger a chain of negative reactions if its surface defenses weren’t completely secure. All things considered, Tobia was lucky her car only suffered a minor breakdown. This was exactly why a lot of cars chose to enter the repair shops for checkups and enhancements before this circuit.

No one tried to fly higher and avoid the snow storm altogether because of an even deadlier threat: low temperature. The air pressure up there was completely different from the air pressure on the ground. Someone once did an experiment and flew a robot-controlled flying car up there, but the vehicle had frozen all over in just a matter of minutes. It crashed on the ground and shattered like glass the moment its energy system was paralyzed and its propulsion unit was completely damaged.

The weather of this polar region was slightly different from other planets, so no one took the high route when they were racing on this circuit. Of course, it wasn’t too much easier to fly near the ground. The glaciers’ presence meant that a wind could come from any direction at any moment, and a strong gale from a glacier could easily flip a car upside down.

Therefore, the safest way to traverse this course was actually to drive on the ground.

All the racing cars that entered this race were triphibian flying cars. Therefore, air performance aside, they were all perfectly capable of ground travel.

Studded tires started popping out of the cars before they landed on the ground. Compared to before, they were practically running at a turtle’s pace.

Vege-Fritter was an exception, however. It didn’t have studded wheels like the rest of the flying cars. Instead, sharp “teeth” appeared on the outer ring of the vehicle before the latter rotated vertically and started spinning like a motorcycle’s wheel. The “teeth” were different from the wrist blades Cillin used to chop off the vines during the rainforest circuit. Its sole purpose was to give them better grip as they travelled on ground. Since Vege-Fritter was round to begin with, and at this moment it looked just like a giant spinning wheel. Although the outer ring was spinning rapidly, Vege-Fritter’s core remained fixed at the center as a matter of course.

The “teeth” weren’t the only thing Vege-Fritter had to offer. A lot of mini wheels meant to balance out airflow were spinning inside the outer ring as well. Their purpose was to weaken the effects of air turbulence and provide some mechanical energy in the process.

Gliding wasn’t a good choice here because the ice here wasn’t completely flat. There were a lot of dangerous bumps they could easily run into if they raced this way.

While the cars continued to race across the icy lands, the blurry shape of five invisible figures could be seen on a glacier not far away from the lighted circuit. After they shook off the ice and snow, practically nothing could be seen except a near invisible outline drawn by the wind.

Currently, they were all invisible.

“Thirty minutes.” An emotionless voice rang.

The sound of ice crushed by boots could be heard right after the voice was done. However, the noisy wind did well to mask it.

“Twenty minutes...” Suddenly, the voice came to a pause.

Pew pew pew pew!

A couple of special bullets penetrated the gale and headed straight for the five-man group.

Crack——

However, a shield about ten centimeters away blocked the shots and shattered in the end.

Six people appeared a couple hundred meters away from them. Sula was among them.

“The Gen Family?”

The five invisible figures dropped their stealth and faced their enemies. Unlike Sula and her companions, they weren’t covered from head to toe. In fact, they weren’t wearing any winter clothes, bullet proof vests, or even an oxygen mask despite the environment. Their attire was something you might see on a summer day, but they didn’t seem to feel the cold in the slightest.

...

Cillin continued to drive as normal, but his mind was currently somewhere else. From the beginning of the match, he noticed that he was being watched by many parties. One of them belonged to Sula’s group, he was certain of that, but who was the other group?

Cillin really didn’t think he wasn’t anyone important in Mist Bodhisattva Empire. He knew of the sea blue gold formulas, true, and he was affiliated with the Gen Family, but there was just no way he was more important than people of royalty like Gen Xingming. Moreover, Gen Xingming and his friends were constantly sticking together, and they were technically a wonderful target for anyone who was planning to get at the royal members. However, there was no denying that he was the one who was at the center of attention right now.

When Cillin had asked to participate in this race, he really was just aiming to vent a little. There were too many things he kept hidden inside his heart, and it was an unpleasant feeling to say the least. Sometimes, he couldn’t help but recall his friends from Sixth B Squadron, and every time he saw Gen Xingming and his friends he couldn’t help but recall that idiot Lung, Knight, Ci Jincheng... It was pure reflex on his part.

Sometimes, Cillin couldn’t help but wonder: if he really couldn’t find a way to return home, would their memories eventually fade away from his mind? Would he return to the life he once led back at Planet Brown Earth?

Genya was here. It wasn’t like he hadn’t made any new friends here. However, he just couldn’t feel a sense of belonging here. Genya had told him that man are creatures of habit, but he knew that no one could truly deny their past memories — not even a half cyborg like Wheeze. It was something he was reminded of every time he heard Wheeze mumbling to itself in its dreams.

Genya had returned home, but what about him? Was his home this star system that remained unfamiliar to him to this day, or was it...

Suddenly, Cillin broke out of his train of thoughts and turned towards a certain direction.

“What’s wrong?”

Naimi had noticed that Cillin’s strange behavior since earlier, and he was just about to give him a reminder when Cillin had surprised him with his action.

Cillin didn’t give him a reply. He stared at the snow ahead of him and continued to frown, thinking god knows what.

On the other side of the glacier, Sula and her group were faring surprisingly bad. They thought themselves strong enough to deal with anything that was thrown at them, but in reality the situation was far more difficult than they had planned for.

They couldn’t call in reinforcements because their communication was cut off. Four out of six of their members were hurt in the fight, with two being grievously wounded.

“What do we do?” Sula’s companion asked as they stared at the charging robots.

Sula didn’t give them an answer. Her broken tiger blade was stuck in ice, but she had no time to pull it out and use it against her enemies. Calming her breathing quickly, she grabbed her laser blade tighter and got ready for a countercharge. It was at this moment a white flash suddenly cut an incoming robot in half.

Sula stared at the man who standing above the robot and let out a sigh of relief on the inside.

That man had white hair, white brow, and a pupil surrounded by two rings of white and black respectively. He looked like snow under the night.