Star Rank Hunter

Original and most up to date translations are posted at volaretranslations.

Translator's Notes: Well darn actually got a sponsor! Well we're busy, but I think I can squeeze one out before next week. All that's left is the editah... You guys'll see the message when the 4th chapter is posted. No guarantees though, I'm tired as hell lately and I can sleep 8 hours and feel like I slept 10 minutes.

Chapter 206: The Six Stars of Hunt, Lone Wolf Oskulos [Part 2]

The person standing behind Cillin was none other than the Hunting Blade, Jiada. As usual, he looked like a harmless academic.

Jiada sat on the opposite side of Cillin while holding a fruit juice himself and smiled, “Yeah, but I’m not like you and Vanguard. I am a lone wolf after all, so the only reason they found me was to sign a contract for their peace of mind. I won’t be getting any zones for myself, but I will be getting a contract sum.”

Cillin understood the meaning of mulling over his answer for a moment. Once he had figured it out, he went back to the original line of questioning.

“Who is that person just now?”

“That person…” Jiada shook the fruit juice in his glass once, “Back then he had beaten me within an inch of my life, and I had to recuperate in a prison for a dozen or so years before I finally recovered.”

Cillin nearly spat out the fruit juice in his mouth. So that was why Jiada was sitting in a prison in Sector S. Admittedly that place was a pretty good place to recuperate and conceal one’s tracks.

Still, a person who could hurt the Hunting Blade Jiada…

Cillin opened his eyes wide and made a hand gesture that meant ‘six’, followed by a ‘one’.

“Yes, he is the Lone Wolf of the Six Stars of Hunt.”

As he thought, that person was at that level.

“Excluding those four of the great four, there are two Lone Wolves within the Six Stars of Hunt. You know that, right?”

Cillin nodded, “But I have no idea who they are.”

It was true Cillin had no way of seeing those people who stood at the apex at his current level and status. But why had that person shown up then? Cillin didn’t believe that he had offended him before.

“Out of the two Lone Wolves, the only female among the Six Stars of Hunt, Xin Pressa is a tolerable person. She’s rather lazy and independent, and she acts completely based on her own preferences. But she wasn’t bloodthirsty at least. Strictly speaking she’s not a lone wolf either.”

Cillin raised his eyebrows. He didn’t think that there was a female among the Six Stars of Hunt.

“As for the other person, he’s the guy you met just now. To Oskulos, taking lives is as ordinary as eating, and he is known to be the loneliest and cruelest out of all lone wolves. Everyone he knew were people who had survived his blade. He would only acknowledge those who had survived his blade. As for those he is determined to kill, there literally is no one left alive except other Star Rank Hunters and Heavenly Edict Generals.”

“So you…”

“He took a sudden interest in me back then, but it wasn’t at the level where he was determined to kill me. However,” Jiada cast a glance at Cillin, “I’m not saying this to depress you, but knowing Oskulos I’m pretty sure that he has his eyes on you.”

Cillin caught a different meaning from Jiada’s words, “Set his eyes? Does that mean he isn’t determined to kill me?”

“That depends if there’s anything worth his attention in your possession. That guy couldn’t care to act unless a direct interest was involved. Of course, I’m not excluding the possibility that he suddenly felt like murdering someone for his entertainment.”

The Aurelio starmap pieces!

But there was no resonance between the starmap pieces just now, was there?

Jiada saw through Cillin and said, “There’s no need for doubt, it is exactly what you were thinking. Some people are capable of hiding its resonance and attraction.”

Cillin frowned. What he meant was that Oskulos only targeted those people who had no way of hiding the resonance and attraction of the Aurelio starmap pieces, and he happened to be one of those people.

“Do you want to know how to hide them?” Jiada asked with a faint smile on his face.

Cillin looked at Jiada. The lone wolf’ smile looked cunning no matter how he looked at it.

“Just tell me your request, senior.”

“I like talking with smart people,” Jiada finished the fruit juice in his glass, but he continued to play with the empty glass in his hand, “I can tell you the way to hide them, and I can even give you an Aurelio starmap piece. Of course it’s not the starmap piece that you need, but it is the starmap piece that the Andrea Family needs.”

Cillin looked down and said nothing. He waited quietly for Jiada’s next words.

Seeing no reaction from Cillin, Jiada continued, “As for my demands, well it’s not anything big really. When you’ve fully collected all the Aurelio starmap pieces in your possession and activated it, I would like to accompany you along the way. Of course, I guarantee that I won’t cause you any hold-ups. I may even be able to help you a little.”

“Senior Jiada, forget whether I could even obtain the starmap pieces, how did you know which type of Aurelio I possess in the first place? Out of the five Aurelios, only 2 of them had their whereabouts confirmed. Excluding the one held by the Andrea Family, there are still two Aurelios that remain unknown.”

“I know. I know exactly which type of Aurelio you possess, and those who sought for it are no one you can fight against. Oskulos, ‘Grim Reaper’ and a few others are all seeking for your Aurelio.”

Surprise entered Cillin’s heart. Even ‘Grim Reaper’ was seeking for his Aurelio starmap pieces! However, it would seem that Jiada didn’t know that he was in fact in possession of two Aurelios.

“What is the Aurelio I’m holding?” Cillin asked.

“It is the one that represents rebirth in ‘Genesis Mythos’, ‘Shortcut’.”

“Shortcut?”

“I heard from a fellow from ‘Grim Reaper’ once that ‘Shortcut’ may be a warp point in space. It is a warp point that connects to a star system beyond GAL.”

This news was without a doubt a great shock to Cillin. Since the space environment around GAL’s star system was a little unusual, some of the space technologies GAL Research Institute had tested didn’t work in that environment. That was why no one from beyond GAL’s star system had managed to come in, and vice versa. Even the great four’s men were only able to surpass the perimeter of the star system by a little, but not fully escape the star system.

If the military heard about this then not even Knight or Mo Heng could save Cillin. Should he pass this to Vanguard now?

“I would advise you to keep it on your person for now. Vanguard isn’t completely united on the inside either, so you best not show it easily unless Ji Feng himself had given you his word.”

Cillin agreed with Jiada’s words. In that case, the best timing to turn in the starmap piece would be once he enters the A Squadron. But before that, “How can I ensure that I won’t get killed by ‘Grim Reaper’ or this Star Rank Hunter, Oskulos?”

“You don’t need to worry about ‘Grim Reaper’. Their current objective isn’t to snatch the starmap pieces but to find them. You highest priority right now is to escape from Oskulos’ butcher knife.”

“That’s easy to say. And how am I supposed to escape? Run to my captain Ji Feng?”

“If you are to run to Ji Feng that there’s no doubt that Oskulos and Ji Feng will have to clash head on against each other. At the current situation, more than half of Vanguard’s people would die by the end of that conflict.”

Cillin fell silent.

“Don’t worry, I’ve divined your future for you. The road ahead of you will be rough, but you will survive in the end.”

Cillin was both frustrated and amused, “I didn’t know you believe this kind of things, senior Jiada.”

Jiada simply answered indifferently, “There are something that you just have to believe.”

There are some things that you just have to believe… Cillin recalled Tico’s rabbit.

“Alright, I’ll tell you the way to hide the pieces’ reactions right now. As for ‘Grim Reaper’, I’ll talk to them for a bit. They won’t be hounding you for now.”

Jiada and Cillin might be chatting to each other, but no one around them were able to hear their conversation at all. Even if there was a bug right next to them, it wouldn’t have caught any voices whatsoever.

An hour later, Cillin returned to Vanguard’s territory on his hoverboard in exhaustion. Once he got back to his room, he lay on his bed and fell asleep right away.

The way Jiada told him was just too mentally exhausting. He had used up more than half of his mental power just practicing the technique. That being said, Cillin could afford this sum of mental power after he was well practiced with the technique despite its cost.

No wonder all those people who had obtained a starmap piece without being detected were all elites. There was no way the average Rank A human being could afford such a cost of mental power.

“Hey, Cillin. What’s wrong?” The gray cat jumped onto Cillin from the ‘cat nest’ it made from the pile of fish biscuits.

“Get down. You stink of fishes.”

The gray cat stepped on Cillin several times to vent its emotions before it finally jumped back to its nest. As it thought, a nest made of fish biscuits was just plain wonderful. The sweet dreams just wouldn’t stop coming.

Lying on the bed, Cillin cast a glance at the gray cat that had slipped back into the fish biscuits before he began pondering a plan. The gray cat was obviously going to be a powerful helper in dealing with Oskulos, but there was no telling if it would be enough.

As Jiada had told him, ‘Grim Reaper’ had not sought him out, and the summit meeting of leaders officially kicked off a while later.

After five full days, the summit meeting finally ended. No one knew exactly how many people had participated in the summit meeting or how it went except the attendees themselves. The results of the distribution of Sector Z had been announced, however.

No one could say if an unwritten rule was in play, but the territory Ji Feng obtained happened to include the planets where they excavated the special energy ores. Overall, the territory Ji Feng was given was pretty good.

Satisfaction and dissatisfaction go hand in hand, but the military didn’t care what the dissatisfied people thought, of course. The draw was a matter of luck, and the only choice those people had was to suck it up. The military couldn’t care less about their inevitable wars as long as they didn’t exceed the bottom line.

After Cillin left the planet and returned to the planetoid among the moons with the others, he packed his stuff and departed towards their allocated territory.

The A Squadrons’ starships took the vanguard while the rest of the B Squadrons followed behind them. The formation looked mighty impressive; far more impressive than when the Sixth B Squadron had acted alone. Now this fleet and formation were the true representation of one of the great four Hunter regiments.

At the same time, on an insignificant starship, Jiada conversed with the person opposite to him.

“Are you sure that kid will succeed?” The person opposite to him asked.

“He will. Let’s just wait and see.”