Star Rank Hunter
chapter-359-2-30041322

After passing a night at the place Shi Huajing had prepared for them, Cillin and Co departed Sector A again with the former’s aid. Only Shi Huajing and a handful of people even knew that Vanguard’s Eleventh B Squad commander had gone to Sector C and caused such a thing.

There were many bigshots who had learned of the sabotage of the Miracle’s research bases, but so far no one knew who was the culprit behind it. Some people claimed that it had been done by Merciless—it was because one of Knight’s colleagues found traces of hacking that definitely fit Judy’s memo—but some also argued that Judy wasn’t be dumb enough to leave such an obvious trail behind. Judging from how things had turned out, it seemed clear that the true culprit had screwed her over in the process of the sabotage. Of course, it didn’t change the fact that she was there, and that she had hacked into the bases’ system before.

The number of people who were involved in the incident were unclear. It was unknown who was the one who released the virus either. Two things were certain, however. One, the First, Third, Fourth and Seventh Army were the ones who bombarded the bases to hell. Two, the Eight Armies were definitely going to go to war with each other. It was just a matter of when.

On the day Mo Heng left Sector A with Cillin, a certain war zone commander of the Seventh Army station at Sector C was sitting in his office and staring at a message on the display. He didn’t say anything for a very, very long time.

The message was locked behind a triple encryption that left no doubt that the sender was Mo Heng. It was something Mo Qing had to deal with since he was a child after all. What really dumbfounded him was the content of the message.

Mo Qing might have dealt with his father’s kidnapping calmly and logically, but that didn’t mean that that he wasn’t stewing on the inside. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since he made the decision to obey his father’s wishes and ignore Miracle’s demands. He was hopeful when he had heard of Knight’s operation, but that hope immediately turned into greater worry when he heard that Knight had failed to find Mo Heng. Then, he received this message:

“I have escaped safely, and I am well. Don’t worry about me.”

A different person might’ve interpreted the message as: Son, I am safe now, so you don’t have to hold back anymore. Go get em!

Knowing his father though, Mo Qing thought that the message should really be interpreted as: son, you’re busy with work, right? Right. Relax, I’ll come home once I’m done having fun.

Another wave of headache attacked Commander Mo as he read the message for the nth time. He just can’t not make me worry, can he?

Back to Cillin, the group had finally returned to the Eleventh Squadron. As it turned out, Mo Qing’s interpretation of Mo Heng’s message was spot on because Mo Heng had decided to stay with the Eleventh Squadron for the foreseeable time to come. Right now there was no place in the entire galaxy that was safe, so he might as well stick around his disciple and use him to pass the time, right?

On the same day Cillin reunited with his squad members, one-third of the media with over 60 GAL contribution points made Miracle’s gruesome experiments on POWs their headline. Horrifying videos showcasing some of the most horrifying processes of the experiments were also leaked. It even came with audio and textual explanations as to what the drugs that were used in the experiments did. Some caused side effects that were akin to being poisoned, some killed the patient’s nerves directly, and so on…

The list of side effects alone scared countless people into avoiding Miracle’s drugs for a time. Gene upgrade was important, true, but they had to be alive first to be able to enjoy the benefits. The horrifying videos also made it seem like using Miracle’s drugs would transform them into one of their emotionless, empty-minded soldiers, and who in the world would want to turn into that?

As a result, the Armies and politician entities who supported Miracle came under heavy pressure and criticisms. The soldiers were shaken by this discovery, and the Fifth Army’s reputation was shot full of holes.

The soldiers of an Army didn’t appear our of thin air as a matter of course. They had to be recruited from throughout the Sectors. After the news was spread, the Fifth Army’s recruitment rate abruptly plunged to the bottom. No one wanted to serve under an Army who didn’t treat their soldiers like people, not to mention that what they did went far beyond what was considered acceptable by any metric. No matter how divided the Eight Armies were, they were all ultimately the soldiers of GAL. If these people were cruel enough to put their former comrades through these inhumane experiments, who was to say they wouldn’t bare their fangs on their own soldiers one day?

Shi Huajing was amused to say the least when he read the news reports. The media organizations who published them claimed that someone had hacked into their systems, and that the reports were not their doing at all, but it was pointless. Whether or not they were really behind the release, it didn’t change the fact that that their channels had reported it. Naturally, the consequences were theirs to bear.

It wasn’t just one person who was behind the hacking of these media organizations. Judy was one of them, and Cillin was another. He had even submitted some of his own analyses to fan the flames even more.

While Cillin was observing the fruits of his labor, he received a comms request from Lung.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Lung asked immediately after the line connected.

“Not entirely,” Cillin replied. In fact, he was certain that Lung himself was behind some of it. To be specific, he suspected that the news reports by “Infinite” and “Lavish”—two electronic magazines with over 80 contribution points—and “Tomorrow’s Star” and “Prospect”—another two electronic magazines with over 60 contribution points—were Lung’s handiwork.

“Are you free for the foreseeable future, Cillin?” Lung asked.

“Why? Do you have something for me?”

“Yeah. You might be interested in it.”

“Tell me.”

“I’m planning to make a trip to ‘Sea Paradise’.”

Sea Paradise wasn’t as paradisiacal as it sounded. It was a huge ocean planet that became infamous throughout GAL for its dangers.

The oceans of Sea Paradise nurtured a lot of gigantic sea creatures, and it was enveloped by a strange electromagnetic field that prevented many spaceplanes from even approaching the planet. Any electronic equipment that even got close to it would suddenly malfunction and shut down completely.

Great danger were usually accompanied by great rewards, and Sea Paradise was a treasure trove overflowing with precious ores. However, not many people made the journey, and even less were able to return home to tell the tale. It was so dangerous that even the hunters of the Great Four had no desire to brave it.

That was why Cillin was surprised to hear this. “Why do you want to go there?”

“There’s something I need to find there, but I can only bring a small crew with me. It needs to be kept under a low profile.”

Cillin thought about it. This actually wasn’t the first time Lung had spoken about Sea Paradise. In fact, he must’ve brought it up now because he had recalled their earlier conversation. The Andrea Family was definitely capable of acquiring the most suitable equipment to explore to Sea Paradise, and there were several types of ores Cillin had been looking for but was unable to make trip due to various considerations. This was a good, no, an excellent opportunity to tick that item off his checklist. In the end, Cillin decided that he would probably like to accompany Lung on his trip.

“Give it some thought. I’m still making the preparations anyway. Just make sure to inform me of your decision in three galactic days.”

“Got it. I’ll be making my own arrangements.”

Cillin thought some more after the dialogue ended and decided that Czedow and Wheeze were the only companions he would like to bring for this trip. Most of them would be greatly hampered by the environment, and even Shusag wouldn’t be able to bring his advantages to bear.

Cillin came face to face with an upset-looking Mo Heng the moment he stepped out of his room. After Elder Mo had arrived on their starship, he had played a game of Link of Gypsophila with Xi Mu and instantly became addicted to it. Unfortunately, he hadn’t managed to beat the game even once. Last he checked Elder Mo was stuck on the fifth level of the game, and judging from his expression that still hadn’t changed.

“You are a commander, aren’t you? Why do you always look like you have a lot of free time in your hands? Bah, whatever. Come, let’s go assemble some parts,” the old man said grumpily.

Every time Mo Heng lost a game, he would vent his frustration by assembling parts. Unfortunately for Cillin, he was Mo Heng’s object of venting this time.

Cillin followed Mo Heng to a table and began assembling a machine. When he was done, he said, “I’m planning to make a trip to Sea Paradise, Master Mo.”

Crack!

The near complete machine Mo Heng was gripping in his hands instantly bent in half.