Star Rank Hunter

The panic caused by the Zebra Virus finally subsided. Although it hadn’t taken too long for a cure to be created after the virus had spread, it still left a deep impression in everyone’s mind. Be it the officials who worked like a top to keep everything running, the researchers who studied the virus until they became infected themselves, or the natives that nearly got wiped out because the infection on their home planets had reached a critical point, it felt as if centuries had passed since things were normal.

After the third generation cure was created, Cillin finally shedded his disguise and turned his skin color back to normal. After confirming that the queen of the Blazing Eagle royal family and the stubborn bastards led by Neo were safe and sound, Cillin and Wheeze left the eleventh star region. He had done and delegated everything that needs to be done, and his supervision was no longer necessary.

Back on the planet Cillin had stayed briefly, the woman and her younger sister were rebuilding their home. The pet dog they had rescued had regained its mobility, and it was wagging its tail energetically and running circles around the duo. Sometimes, it would even deliver a building material into their hands. The people weren’t the only ones who took away something from this near death experience. Even the animals looked like they had become more enlightened than before.

All the infected people who were carried into the underground shelter by the two women during those difficult times came to thank her for her help. Among them, those who had enough money, background or both decided that they would move to another planet entirely. It was because they wanted to put the planet and all the dark memories it gave them behind them as much as possible. They asked the woman that she would like to leave the planet behind as well, but she turned them down and told them that she wasn’t leaving her roots. Her home might be in tatters now, but she would rebuild it with her own hands.

While they were working, a service robot that was part of the empire’s rescue team suddenly gave her a notice. It was an admission notice to the best medical school in the eleventh star region and a top ten medical school in the empire. Not only that, it was completely tuition-free, and she could bring her relatives with her.

Qualification mattered a lot in the medical field. Her future could only be bright after she entered the university.

Everyone watched her in admiration. Generally, it took either extraordinary talent or a powerful background to make it into a prestigious school like this, and since the woman’s talent was nothing special—she wouldn’t be stuck in a backwater planet like this if she was—they started wondering what kind of background she had.

However, the background explanation didn’t quite make sense either. Everyone who had the right background was transported out of the planet long before the situation became critical. Plus, the woman had looked as sorry as they were before a cure was found.

The woman pulled up the notice from its envelope completely and noticed a scribbled note at the bottom of it.

“I told you things would get better. Thank you for your help, and please continue carrying out the belief in your heart.”

There wasn’t a signature, but she didn’t need to see it to know who the writer was, not to mention that the paw print at the back of the note made their identity as clear as it could be.

But there was one thing she couldn’t understand. If that cat owner really was as powerful as he seemed, why would he risk his own life by traveling to a planet that was days or even hours from being abandoned?

Meanwhile, the cat owner the woman couldn’t figure out was on his way back to the capital star region. Since the line was now perfectly normal, he was currently being questioned and shouted at by a lot of people. One of his tormentors was none other than Genya himself.

To say that Genya was angry would be a severe understatement. Had the media not reported about Cillin, he wouldn’t have known to this day that Cillin was infected with the Zebra Virus. Not only did the little bastard run to the eleventh star region, the star region that everyone was escaping from at the time, he even hid his condition from him after he got infected! If anything were to happen to Cillin… Genya didn’t have the courage to even imagine that outcome. Right now, the two people he cared the most for were Gen Liao and Cillin. He didn’t want harm to come to either one of them.

Genya was usually a gentle man, but the incident had riled him up so much that not even Guan Feng was exempt from his admonishment. Gen Liao couldn’t be happier as he drank his tea and took in the sight of Genya shouting at Guan Feng about all kinds of things, the latter not even daring to form a retort throughout the whole thing.

Naturally, Cillin endured another round of admonishment from Guan Feng right after Genya was done with him. It was understandable, however. Guan Feng had never been as scared as he was the day he heard that Cillin was infected. He wouldn’t have lost control and hit the table in the middle of the emergency meeting otherwise.

After both men were done admonishing Cillin because they cared, Guan Feng told the latter something important: he was invited to join the RAS. He was given the physical letter after he returned to Genya’s place.

In summary, the letter was saying that the RAS would make a special exception for Cillin and accept him into their ranks. Why was it an exception? It was because a candidate was normally considered only if they have a huge amount of experience, scientific contribution, and have graduated from their studies. If the chosen candidate couldn’t even complete their graduation, naturally the RAS was going to question their credibility.

Cillin hadn’t graduated from AF1 yet, so a lot of jaws were on the floor when they heard that he had received an invitation letter from the RAS. That being said, they quickly accepted it when they recalled just how big of a factor Cillin played in resolving the virus incident as quickly as humanly possible.

There were some dissenting voices before the letter was issued, however. Cillin’s achievements were made during the Zebra Virus incident, so technically he should be appointed an honorary scholar under the Institute of Virology. However, some people rejected this because Cillin was Guan Feng’s student, and Guan Feng’s field of study had nothing to do with virology at all. They claimed that the letter should at least come from Guan Feng’s side, or it would cause some undesirable impact in the future.

It made sense, but Guan Feng didn’t really care either way when they asked for his opinion. Since when was there a rule that stated that a virus illiterate like him couldn’t have a student who specialized in the field of virology? Plus, he was far more invested in getting Cillin into the RAS then what department the young man chose to enter. After all, not only was Cillin one of the three leaders of Black Viper, he was the leader of the academic department no less. It would be downright embarrassing if he didn’t even qualify to enter the RAS. Although the day he hoped for came way sooner than he expected, he certainly wasn’t going to complain about it.

Since Guan Feng himself didn’t mind, meaning that he would bear all the responsibility and consequences that would result from this appointment, the naysayers acquiesced and allowed the process to go through.

After that, Cillin was conferred the title of honorary scholar under the RAS Institute of Virology.

This title was just a process, and he was expected to become an official academician very soon as long as he didn’t do something crazy during this time. After all, Cillin was backed by a mentor with a sterling reputation, and no matter how much some people in the RAS disliked this, they couldn’t just slap Guan Feng in the face and not face the consequences that would come with it.

Right now Guan Feng was heralded and promoted as the model all educators should learn from in the empire, and to say that he had a ton of support was an understatement. Naturally, the senior management in the RAS who valued its reputation highly wasn’t going to commit themselves to any foolish action. Sure, they were sorely embarrassed by how Guan Feng acted in the meeting room that day, but it was an emergency, and one shouldn’t use the standards of peace times to judge an emergency, right? So not only did they have to refrain from antagonizing Guan Feng and Cillin, they had to pretend that they welcomed their presence.

That being said, as an honorary scholar of the RAS, Cillin was now expected to follow certain standards if he wished to do something.

He now had the right to apply for a project and a budget if he wanted to. He could also request to participate in another senior academician’s project or request for a merger if they were in the same vein. There were practically no downsides for the participants when it came to merging projects because the achievement and the monetary reward that came with it were enough to make anyone go green with envy.

Of course, he could also choose to do nothing, but he wouldn’t be able to gain bigger wealth or fame. Generally speaking, most people would do everything they could to apply for a project or request to join a bigger project by another academician.

Cillin’s choice was to do nothing at all. He didn’t have a big project he wished to apply in mind, nor did he feel like joining any of the existing projects. Plus, he was still just a student in AF1, and he hadn’t completed all the courses and basic missions Guan Feng had instructed him to complete. Moreover, researchers like Neo tended to get into conflicts that required his occasional intervention and control. Although they were never physical conflicts—it was usually two parties duking it out with the results of their research—oversight could easily led to another case like the Zebra Virus. An artificial virus usually wasn’t nearly as deadly as a natural virus, but it was a deadly threat all the same.

Long story short, Cillin had fuck all time to bother with any project at the moment.

That being said, there were a few things Cillin must do that not even Guan Feng could wave away with his authority. One of them was conducting presentations and speeches in the famous schools of various star regions.

The task was normally thrown in the lap of honorary scholars. To begin with, where would the academicians find the time to travel across star regions just to conduct presentations and speeches? Everyone was busy doing their own thing and supervising the projects their underlings were working on, to put it mildly. Therefore, making the honorary scholars do the public speaking was the most natural choice. These honorary scholars usually worked under an academician, so their names would be brought up anyway while the presentation was carried out. It saved them time, spread the influence of the RAS, and preserved the air of mystery that the academicians of the RAS enjoyed since time immemorial.

This time, it was Guan Feng’s turn to do his rounds. He didn’t have a habit of dropping the duty onto an honorary scholar because he preferred to present his own projects himself, but he usually couldn’t make the rounds because he was an incredibly busy man and also a member of the senior management. So normally, he got to skip his turn and pass the task to the next person in line. Not this time, however. Cillin was now an honorary scholar, and while they didn’t belong in the same department they were still mentor and student. Technically speaking, a mentor could pass a duty like this to his student, and this time he had to because he offended quite a lot of people back in the meeting room. So he called Cillin over and dropped the “difficult but glorious” task in his lap.

Guan Feng pointed at the brief summary of the schools on a screen and said, “Here are the schools you can attend during your free time. Just pick one and get this over with. It’s not like you’ve a lot of courses to go through recently, and this is the only real mission I have for you thus far. Finish it, and I can give you the extra marks you need to guarantee a huge scholarship for the year.”

Cillin shot Guan Feng a sideway glance before scrolling through the screen. A while later, he paused at a certain school and said, “I choose this one.”

Guan Feng read the summary of the school and noticed something. “Oh, that one. No problem. I’ll give you all the necessary documents later, but don’t forget to bring your honorary scholar badge with you. Someone will welcome you once you reach your destination.”

The school Cillin chose was the one at the twenty third star region. If he was going to travel to another star region and make a presentation, he might as well use the opportunity to visit Old Chang and the others.

Cillin started packing his stuff after he returned to the hostel. Wheeze was crouching on top of a cabinet, doing nothing to help and rolling back and forth right where he could see it on purpose.

Cillin zipped his bag and looked at Wheeze. “So? What’s wrong?”

Now that Cillin was finally asking, Wheeze rose to its feet and complained, “Cillin, didn’t you say you’ll look for a way to go home after the virus incident is over?”

Cillin sighed before pulling Wheeze to himself stroke its fur. “I will visit Xi Kai and ask about Sigma’s master before we head to the twenty third star region. I’m sure he’ll know something that could help us.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Wheeze jumped to the storage cabinet and started grabbing a tonne of stuff, its favorite food to be exact. They were going on a long trip, so these were absolutely necessary.

Cillin himself didn’t bring many things with him besides the relevant documents and everything he needed to confirm his identity. It would be troublesome and time wasting if people questioned his identity due to his appearance and age.

Instead of asking the guards of the RAS to escort him, Cillin simply drove off with Guan Feng’s new spaceplane. The previous spaceplane had exploded back on the planet, although its loss meant little to Guan Feng. He simply ordered a new one to be built. Perhaps it was because Cillin gave him too much of a fright, but the spaceplane was equipped with multiple sterilization rooms and medical equipment. If necessary, it could even be used as a temporary lab. It wasn’t an unwelcomed addition. If Cillin ran into a similar problem in the future, he would not need to do nearly as much work as last time.

Besides the medical equipment, the AI of the spaceplane was also improved to stop it from exploding again. All the new equipment and installations meant that the spaceplane actually cost as much as some of the starships the nobles drove even though it looked small and unassuming on the outside. Even better, Cillin didn’t need to pay a dime for it. Standing on Cillin’s shoulder, Wheeze briefly calculated the cost of the spaceplane in its head before patting the former once to grab his attention. “Does this mean that all the money we saved can be spent on more fish biscuits?”

“I thought there’s still a tonne of them in your storage cabinet?”

“There are always new flavors to buy!”

“...”

Cillin contacted Xi Kai after they left the capital star region. As one of the three heads of Black Viper, Cillin knew how to contact Xi Kai as a matter of course.

Xi Kai wasn’t surprised by Cillin’s call. “I was going to find you if you didn’t come to me first. Let’s speak.”

“Of course. Where should we meet?”

Xi Kai sent Cillin a regional star map with a dot marking the destination. The fact that it wasn’t far away from where he was right now showed that Xi Kai had factored Cillin’s convenience into the equation.

“I have a private fortress here.”

Also implying that Cillin could relax and not worry about leaks.

“Got it. I’m heading there now.”

Cillin calculated the time in his head and noted that he had a fair bit of time to waste before the date of the presentation. It was enough for him to have a chat with Xi Kai.

The majority of the occupants of Xi Kai’s fortress were robots. The scientist had been waiting for them when Cillin and Wheeze arrived at their destination.

Neither of them enjoyed beating around the bush, but Cillin still chose not to reveal his true objective immediately. He didn’t know Xi Kai that well, and even Black Viper had limited information only on the former head. Guan Feng himself said that he would have to speak to Xi Kai to get a true measure of the person.

Xi Kai didn’t mind Cillin asking about his background and explained how he and his people functioned within Black Viper.

Xi Kai and his people’s status in Black Viper was incredibly special. More accurately, the people of his lineage had enjoyed a special status in Black Viper since a long time ago. They didn’t take part in Black Viper’s management, but they almost owned half the organization because they supplied highly intelligent robots and took on jobs that were incredibly dangerous or inconvenient for the official government to stick their hand in.

However, there had never been a betrayal since Xi Kai’s ancestor signed an agreement with the founder of Black Viper, the emperor at the time. Black Viper promised to provide the Xi Family a place to stay and anything they needed to build their robots on the condition that they never betray Black Viper.

“According to my family records, my ancestor was a good friend of the late Lord Freeman. In fact, the Xi Family or the robots wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for him. That is why the Xi Family keeps our promise to the letter and never did anything that may even be considered a betrayal to Black Viper. You can describe it as an inviolable program that’s forever stuck in our brains.”

“You wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for Lord Freeman? What happened back then?” Cillin asked.

“I’m not sure myself, actually. It was a long time ago. A lot of my ancestors tried to find out the truth, but no one ever succeeded in their endeavor. All we know is that Freeman saved the Xi Family, so we must not betray Black Viper no matter what.”

“Not even the royal family knows about this?”

“No. The late emperor who made the deal and Lord Freeman told no one about it.”

“Did anyone try to check with the black viper?”

“Yes, but its consciousness wasn’t developed yet at the time, so it didn’t really remember much that is related to the Xi Family. It only ever truly remembered Lord Freeman, probably because it didn’t care much for anyone else.”

The more Xi Kai talked, the lower Wheeze’s ears drooped. It could almost feel the hope of returning home slipping out of its grasp.

A short silence later, Cillin asked, “Do you have any intelligent robots? I mean—”

“I know what you mean,” Xi Kai stopped him before he could explain himself fully.

Xi Kai rubbed his forehead once before saying, “According to our records, a total of five such robots were built in the history of the Xi Family. They were pretty much the same as you and I other than the fact that their body was made from metal. They had their own thoughts, their own emotions, their own ego and their own way of seeing the world. We called them the ‘Original’ robots. The Xi Family has never stopped trying to realize the ‘Original’ project, but we were never able to build another robot like that since the original five. Heck, our ancestors didn’t even know how they were built in the first place because no such records currently exist in this world. It was the main reason we sought to figure out for the truth behind that deal. Who knows, maybe the secret to reproduce the Original robots is hidden somewhere in that period.”

“Where are the five Original robots right now? What are their names?”