Star Rank Hunter

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

Translator's Note: It transforms, it speaks, and!?!?!

Chapter 86: It Speaks!

It was back to the same situation Cillin had seen earlier, but with one less wolf now.

The little cat continued to lay there dispiritedly, barely even moving its tail. But Cillin dared not look down on the little guy now. He wasn’t sure that he could win against a cyborg that could swallow a wolf in one gulp.

He still couldn’t decide if this cyborg cat was really sick or just faking it, though. If he assumed that it was sick, the speed in which it swallowed the wolf just now was literally as quick as lightning. If Cillin didn’t have good eyes and saw through its movements and certain details, it would’ve looked like the wolf had just suddenly disappeared. But if he assumed that it was faking it, it was undeniable that the cat did look sickly and listless. If it was in good spirits, these wolves would probably all be devoured already.

In order to figure out the cat’s condition, Cillin decided to wait and see if a change occurs. Now that he knew that the cat was a cyborg, he did not dare to act recklessly anymore.

But reality did not go the way Cillin wished for. The little cat that was lying listlessly on the ground, looking like it was asleep abruptly opened its eyes and stared right at Cillin’s hiding spot. Gone was the half-conscious look from before, as its eyes opened wide and its pupils narrowed into thin, long slits.

It appeared incredibly excited, and this time it wasn’t just its head, but its entire body that had begun to change, twist and transform. However, it couldn’t seem to settle on a definite form as it transformed continuously between hairy and metallic, big and small. It looked incredibly strange.

Cillin truly believed that the cyborg cat was in poor health now that he saw it lifting and supporting its body on four limbs, but was unable to take even a step. Perhaps it was as the researchers said: A natural cyborg could not enjoy a long life because their bodies weren’t stable enough. This cat’s condition was obviously one such example in that it could transform very smoothly between a machine and a carbon-based body, but could not stabilize itself and maintain either one of its forms right now. Earlier, the cat had probably stayed as a carbon-based lifeform because a carbon-based constitution consumed less energy, and could be maintained longer than a mechanical body.

The remaining five wolves escaped the instant they witnessed the cat in its current state. Right now, the strange cat was giving them an incredibly dangerous feeling. The five wolves aside, the three big cats themselves had also backed away shakily before running away after witnessing that the wolves’ escape. They left behind the cat that could not stop transforming and settling on a definite state.

Cillin did not move. In that instant, a very familiar feeling struck him: the chips inside his body had become excited once more. At the same time, he felt as if something was about to break out of its metaphorical cocoon.

Hmm?

Cillin looked at Genya’s curly leaf tattoo on his finger, and found that something was growing restless inside. It was the white ball he had obtained earlier!

The cyborg cat stared straight at Cillin a hundred meters away, and lifted a foot with great difficulty. After stopping itself from falling, it continued to move towards Cillin’s direction once more.

Every time the cyborg cat took a step towards him, Cillin could feel the restlessness inside the white ball growing stronger. Even more amazing was that the closer the cyborg cat got to him, the livelier the cat seemingly became.

Cillin could take out his gun and shoot it straight away, but his instincts prevented him from doing so. If he did that, then the one to die would definitely be him.

Like two mutually attracting magnets, Cillin’s left hand rose uncontrollably against his will. There was a dominant force in his left thumb that was pulling him towards that cat’s direction.

Cillin gritted his teeth and steadied himself, but the force was so powerful that he was being dragged across the ground.

As if dissatisfied with the current situation, the surroundings of the curly leaf tattoo on Cillin’s left thumb began to distort. An invisible force was literally tearing the subspace apart.

The white ball flew right out of the subspace and straight to the cyborg cat. Then, it vanished into the cat’s body.

There were no dazzling white light, or explosions of epic proportion. There was only a cyborg lying there on the ground, transforming.

However, Cillin knew that everything was definitely not as calm as it seemed. Thanks to the chips, he was able to sense the abnormality happening around him. The surrounding electromagnetic waves and charged particles were all undergoing a change.

At the same time, every communication device in the entire Planet T-H036 was interrupted, and every electric grid paralyzed. Not even the solar-powered panels could be used at this moment.

Dias was laying out the tactics to surround and hunt down the polar bears on the other side, but then he discovered that his communicator had gone out after a bzzt noise. What’s strange was that the polar bear that was howling arrogantly above the hill just now had suddenly fallen to the ground and trembled non-stop.

Dias and the others also experienced a little bit of discomfort. They felt as if some unseen sound waves were disrupting their thoughts. However, since none of their instruments were currently functional, and hence they could not seek out the source of this discomfort either.

The satellites and aircrafts outside Planet T-H036 were also affected somewhat. The satellites could not transmit any signal or monitor the planet’s surface, and the magnetic and ray analyser could not be used either. They were unable to make contact with the planet’s surface or any other planets. Prior to this situation, no abnormalities were detected from the high energy particles, rays or magnetic fields at all.

Someone suggested that it might be a solar flare, but Planet T-H036 was one of those planets that orbited further away from its sun. Otherwise its temperature would not have been this low. There were also plenty of planets that were closer to the sun than Planet T-H036, but they did not hear anything from those planets about such occurrences. Of course, it could be that they were experiencing the same phenomenon right now, and were unable to communicate it in time before communications were interrupted. Regardless, what they needed to do right now was to analyse the approximate length of this abnormality. Only then they would be able to come up with the appropriate countermeasures.

However, without their analysers, it was not entirely realistic to come up with something substantial within a short time.

In the forest on the planet’s surface.

Cillin watched the cyborg that was lying on the ground and still hadn’t stabilized. He did not walk closer for a better look. He had no confidence that he would be able to take a blow from such a powerful lifeform, not even in its current immobile state.

About an hour later, the cyborg cat gradually stabilized. It was still the same little cat, but it appeared lively and full of energy, unlike its sluggish appearance from before. Its full fur of grey also gave off a shiny reflection under natural sunlight.

After the cyborg cat had stabilized, the communication device in the whole planet also recovered and began functioning normally as usual.

The cat lifted its head and stared at Cillin. There was no malice in its eyes, but Cillin would not grow lax just because of it and stayed on high alert. He was so out of this place the second this cat did anything unusual. Seriously, who in their right mind would want to fight such a cyborg head on unless they have a death wish?!

When the cat had reached less than fifty meters away from him, Cillin let out a warning, “Take another step forwards and I’ll blast you.”

Normally, Cillin would not waste his breath on such nonsense when he’s about to shoot. He just wanted to remind the cat to keep its distance. He wondered if the cat could actually understand him though.

When the grey cat heard his words, it stopped its feet and sat on its butt. Pulling its ears behind its head, the cat let out an incredibly disdainful look, “What the hell’s with that temper, man!”

Cillin: “?!”

It talked?

Holy shit, the cat seriously just talked!