Star Rank Hunter

Chapter 252: Eggs!

Right now, at a certain building near the shore, a white-haired, haggard-looking man was working hard in front of his equipment, analysing data and inspecting probabilities. His work ethic was proof that every deduction he made was backed by meticulous calculations.

This working man didn’t know that there was a person in the continent who was watching every step of his deductions, calculations and conclusions. This person knew everything he was doing before his microcomputer.

Cillin checked the latest main fighting forces’ distribution map near the shore. The crowded areas on the map were places where the sea kings had shown up. Luckily for the man, the place he was working at just missed an attack and thus wouldn’t be under threat for a short while. On the other hand, there was no telling if the short moment of safety would last longer. After all, it was one of the places where the sea beasts had climbed onshore and invaded. The sea beasts would retreat when the mist was about to disperse, and Cillin had seen more than enough after-battle footages to know what kind of damage they could cause to a city while they were retreating.

Cillin thought that this man would be of great help to him. Although some of the man’s data were inaccurate, his lines of analysis were mostly correct. At the very least, he was more reliable than the minor noble’s research organizations.

A moment of thought later, Cillin sent two copies of the skin data he obtained to the man at the shore.

Stappen was busy with work in front of his computer when two data tables suddenly popped into his screen and caught him by surprise. However, his attention was immediately drawn to the data tables. Suddenly feeling an injection of a new spirit, Stappen deleted some of the conclusions he arrived at earlier and inserted the data Cillin just sent to his computer for a precise analysis.

However, Stappen ran into some problems again after the new data was inserted to the equations. Every time he was stuck, Cillin would help solve the problem quickly. And so two men worked together to analyse the situation on the same network from two different parts of the continents.

Cillin had disguised the network in a way that prevented anyone from finding out that he was working together with Stappen, even if on the unlikely occasion where a purposeful hacker like York had suddenly hacked into this network for information.

Right now, Stappen was feeling incredibly excited. For so many years he had been fighting and hanging on by himself. The beat down, denial and rejection he had suffered for the past tens of years had thrown him into depression for a time, but his final obsession towards his homeland that ultimately pulled him from the brink of despair. Today, after Cillin had lent him his aid, Stappen suddenly felt a surge of motivation and energy coursing through every part of his body. He wasn’t fighting alone on this planet! Stappen didn’t care who this mysterious and unknown person was, or how he managed to obtain these accurate info on the sea kings. All he needed to know was that these data were extremely useful to his analyses.

After working together for a while, both Cillin and Stappen had arrived at several conclusions: One, there was no way a king of the sea like the sea kings would experience a reproductive decline. Therefore, the conclusion that a sea king could no longer give birth to an offspring was absolutely false. Two, according to the some of the cases Stappen had gathered and the analyses of the sea king’s habits, this life form was absolutely not a dumb animal who only knew how to charge towards the enemy blindly. Finally, Stappen had made a probability map of an answer.

The sea king was the king of the sea, so it was only natural that this species had far greater thinking that the other sea beasts. It was a creature who considered the future from a racial standpoint and set long term goals. That was why it was qualified to be called “King”.

“Who are you?” Stappen typed these words on his computer.

The duo could only communicate by text because Stappen didn’t have the ability to transmit any sound or images with the limited tools he possessed. Some of the equipment on the battlefield was too broken to be functional, not to mention that it was a lot safer to just work with text. Sound and image files were just too easy to discover.

Cillin stared at the line of text that had appeared on his own screen and typed a reply: “Does it matter?”

Stappen knew that his network had been invaded by an unknown party, but not only was he not angry, he even sent the message with the intention of befriending Cillin. Stappen was grateful because Cillin had lent him a helping hand. If this stranger wasn’t willing to reveal his true identity, then Stappen wouldn’t force him to act against his wish. Plus, he thought that the stranger was probably afraid of being discovered by the noble. If they were found out, both their lives would be in great danger.

With Cillin’s aid, Stappen sent the conclusion they analysed to the planetary government under an anonymous name. However, the government was furious when they saw it: how dare he publish a file that could destroy the peace of the planet! It was an unforgivable act! Who knows how much fear would be incited amidst the public if they were to learn the viewpoints that were outlined in this document!

That was why the planetary government had stomped their foot down on the document immediately. They failed to trace the email’s origin though.

The planetary government’s response undoubted dealt Stappen a heavy blow. As I thought, they refused to believe this analyses…

If the planetary government wouldn’t believe in this analyses, then Stappen would find the answer on his own. Stappen wasn’t a man who could make careful deliberations or fathom a person’s heart. That was why his analyses and conclusions were completely built on a basis of calculations. Right now, his probability analyses were urging him to visit a certain area near the shore and to discover the conclusion he sought for.

“I’m off to search for the answer since the planetary government refuses to believe our analyses. If I don’t return, I hope you could publish this incomplete conclusion. This is my final request.” Stappen typed. He knew that the person he worked with had the ability to camouflage himself. He was also his final hope.

After he was done typing these words, Stappen packed his tools and set off to the area he calculated to find his answer.

Cillin frowned as he stared at the words on his screen. He could easily imagine this Stappen as a poor combatant just like the academicians of the RAS. A person like him was a cannon fodder among cannon fodders in the battlefield; he would be extremely lucky not to be crushed to death by the sea beasts or killed by a stray fire. Just how was he expecting to find his answer if he was dead in the process?

Sometimes, there were researchers who would venture deep into danger in order to seek out their answers. Neither wounds nor points of no return could stop them from reaching their goals. Stappen didn’t charge headlong into danger for himself or his ruler, but for the sake of the planet he called home. He was as stubborn as a fool, a fool who kept a golden heart in his chest despite the path of brambles he was set on.

Fools like him were a rare species, in a world and day where even the academic world had become corrupted.

Cillin knew from the information stored inside Stappen’s microcomputer that he was the true inventor of the new sea blue formula, not the minor noble’s researchers.

Stappen used to be a member of the minor noble’s research team, but he was ultimately kicked out because he had a disagreement with the higher ups. Still, Stappen’s abilities didn’t go completely unnoticed, or he would never have gotten his hands of the sea king’s data.

This, was a deal.

There were a lot of people who knew that Stappen was kicked out of the research team since a long time ago. However, a person in charge in the research team had stayed in contact with him. This person in charge didn’t have much research skills, but was compensated with a great political sense. That was how he had climbed to his current position.

The world would never run out of cases where the inepts led the adepts, and this was no exception.

Cillin had met with this person in charge before. From what he knew, this man was apparently climbing higher and higher up the totem pole, and he was backed by a huge load of research achievements. Now, it would appear that his results had all been stolen from Stappen.

This man had exploited Stappen’s near foolish dedication in exchange for fame, wealth and power. While stealing Stappen’s research results for himself, he also attacked Stappen’s viewpoints and beat him into obscurity.

That was how a man kept climbing higher, while another kept falling lower into the depths.

“Where are you going?” Wheeze asked after it saw Cillin putting away the microcomputer and getting ready to leave.

“I’m out to search for an answer. Aren’t you interested to know what kind of plot those sea kings had cooked up for this continent?”

The gray cat swayed its tail with obvious disinterest because it just ate itself full. On the other hand, it didn’t want to be left alone hatching eggs while Cillin was away.

Cillin left the place after he had informed the RAS person in charge. Guan Feng had probably talked with the him before, because the man had quickly agreed with his plans. Some of the students wanted to head out themselves, but they were all turned down firmly.

It showed just how important a good teacher was!

Cillin took out a hoverboard he borrowed from Guan Feng. The front of the hoverboard was designed to cut through the air, so it was a lot faster than a conventional hoverboard. Of course, it was a bad idea to navigate through a misty environment while most scanning equipment were down speedily, but that situation only applied other people. Cillin didn’t need to worry at all because he had the best navigational equipment in the world: the gray cat itself.

This cat was much more powerful than any other equipment, and it had many other functions that it could bring to the table.

The mist grew thicker and thicker as they traveled towards the shore. The toxins in the mist were no threat to Cillin due to his special constitution, but he put on a gas mask anyway to keep from standing out.

Right now the sea beasts were the first priority in everyone’s heads, so Cillin drew little attention even if he was caught on camera or radar by surveillance equipment.

As they moved closer and closer to the battlefield, the air defense obviously grew in number and structure. The enemies might be sea creatures, but there were still some species that could take to the air. That was why the skies were watched closely by the military.

The gray cat altered the defense forces’ scanners so that they remain undetected. Cillin flew closer to the battlefield under the cover of the blue mist.

The sea beasts that had crept onto the roof of some civilian buildings were killed by the combined efforts of some citizens who hadn’t evacuated. Human casualties were inevitably inflicted throughout the resistance, and both red and blue blood could be seen on the ground, the buildings, the sea beasts, the humans, the fighter aircrafts, the armored vehicles and more…

The red blood belonged to humans, and the blue blood belonged to sea beasts. The tone of the color differed according to one’s species, but in general all sea beasts had blue colored blood.

Cillin angled his hoverboard upward. This place wasn’t his destination, and there was no point wasting time here.

A flying sea beast happened to be on a direct course of collision with Cillin. It was only part bird, and it could only fly at low altitude for a short period of time. However, it still possessed considerable attack power while on air.

Cillin cut the sea beast in half without slowing down even once. After he flew higher into the sky, the number of sea beasts he ran into decreased by a lot. In fact, he barely even saw one at the altitude he was at.

By the time he passed through the zone and heard many roars coming from the distance, he knew that he had entered into the hot zone.

The battles ensuing in the hot zone was a lot more intense than the previous zones. Sea beasts could be seen everywhere, and there were countless cannon and gun barrels sticking out of buildings shaped like large fortresses.

The defense forces rarely used excitation type weapons, and even if they did it was only when they could one-hit-kill the enemy and maneuver to another position at the same time. The reason was because the laser beams attracted the enemy’s attention and exposed their own position.

Cillin saw a large-mouthed sea beast that could resist the high voltage electricity blasts from armored vehicles after he descended to low altitude. Not only did it have a thick, bony exterior that was resistant to an armored vehicle’s blades and giant pincers, it was smart enough to attack the armored vehicles from an angle where the cannons couldn’t aim at it. Its sharp teeth was tough enough to leave marks on armored vehicles, so death and destruction was certain for both the vehicle and the passengers if they encountered a creature like this and failed to escape within the minute.

Cillin slashed at two large-mouthed sea beasts that were blocking an armored vehicle’s way while he was passing by the area. After the deed was done, the young man inspected the blade and found that it was as bloodless as usual. He had encountered little to no resistance when he cut through the creatures’ bony exteriors, and the armored vehicles blades were practically made of shit when compared to his weapon.

The more Cillin used the blade, the more curious he grew. How on earth had Oskulos come by a blade like this?

After the armored vehicle had freed itself from the large-mouth sea beasts’ clutches, it immediately aligned its cannon barrels and took out a couple of sea beasts who ran over but failed to find a blind spot and avoid the shots in time.

“I think someone just flew past us!” A soldier said.

“What the fuck do you care! Keep shooting the sea beasts!” Another person roared.

The closer they approached the sea kings, the bigger the sea beasts Cillin encountered along the way. The armored vehicles here were stronger too; it was almost like two types of giants were trying to outdo one another.

The sea beasts didn’t show any signs of cowering despite being bombarded again and again by giant armored vehicles and flying war boats.

No one cared if a tiny, almost imperceptible human had suddenly joined a battlefield like this, so Cillin was nearly caught in the crossfire multiple times.

“Found anything yet?” Cillin asked.

“Nope.” Wheeze shook its head.

The reason he had flown closer to the ground was so that the gray cat could find the answer easier. Right now they were inside the area of probability where the answer lay; the one that was calculated by Stappen. The only difference between this place and the one Stappen was headed to was a lower chance of finding the answer.

“Never mind then. Let us keep moving.”

Cillin angled the hoverboard upwards once more. Right now this battlefield was ripe with fire, and considered a hot zone at the current stage. It was also where the sea kings were present. The areas nearer to the shores had been turned into ruins, so they were actually safer compared to here, but it was a high probability area Stappen had calculated, so that was where Cillin and the gray cat were headed to.

After they flew out of the hot battle zone, Cillin saw the cities and the defense lines that had been trampled by the sea beasts. Of course, this was a normal occurrence every time a great battle was waged. After the war was over, the defense lines would be rebuilt as they were.

“Hmm?” The gray cat’s nose pricked.

“What’s wrong?” Cillin asked. They had flown near near to the ground once more; Cillin cutting down the sea beasts in their paths and Wheeze scouting.

“Eggs!” Wheeze blinked and let out a chuckle. “I definitely smelled eggs in this area!”