Star Rank Hunter

Chapter 275: Bunch of Weirdos [Part 1]

Cillin and White Night didn’t stay in the city for long. They ran into an anxious-looking Chi Lafang and Sediya right after they found an opportunity to slip out of the city, but they didn’t say anything no matter how hard the duo had tried to pry some answers out of their mouths.

It was because the more they knew, the more likely that they would be in danger.

After they had returned to the spaceplane, Cillin and White Night had a private conversation with each other. No one else knew what they were talking about, but after White Night had come out of the room everyone came to an eventual agreement. Cillin and White Night would be venturing into the planet alone, whereas the rest of them would be standing by on another planet.

Of course, the group hadn’t agreed to the proposal at first. After all, they had always been working together as a team in the past with good results, so why must it be different this time? It’s just Black Viper! There’s nothing to afraid about!

In the end though, Nikki was the first to nod the head and acquiesced under Cillin and White Night’s insistence, and later the group. The next day, Dantu was released back to the city.

After they had left the gray planet, they sought out a pretty well developed planet on the star chart and parked there. After that, Cillin, White Night and Wheeze took a separate spaceplane toward their original destination while Nikki and the others stood by on the planet.

Cillin and White Night didn’t forget to instruct them to watch out for themselves. After all, Black Viper could be watching the group in secret. It was better to be safe than sorry.

After Cillin and White Night had departed, the group gathered around and had a serious discussion with each other. They wondered what had happened to Cillin and White Night at the city to make them so forceful and tight-lipped. Whatever secret it was they were hiding, it had to be an incredibly important.

“But what is it?” Sediya asked with a look of puzzlement, shaking his legs while he was sitting on a chair.

“What puzzles me the most is why Cillin and White Night only? Why can’t we go with them?” Chi Lafang said.

“That’s because you haven’t been recommended,” A voice answered.

The voice hadn’t come from any man or beast in the group. It sounded slightly childish and completely unfamiliar.

“Who is it?!” Nikki, Armadillo and Rubu jumped to their feet in alert. However, they couldn’t see anyone, and their scanners hadn’t picked up anything either. Everything seemed to be completely normal.

Then, a crawling viper covered in striking black stripes appeared on every screen in the control room, even the analysis screens and the projectors.

...

On the other side, Cillin and White Night was still flying towards their destination planet. Soon, they had entered the marked area that was missing from every official star chart. Many the planets they saw on the way were unfamiliar to them, and the majority of them were clearly uninhabitable. The environmental conditions were clearly unsuitable for natural human life.

Another moment later, they finally found the planet they were looking for.

From space, the planet they saw looked almost the exact same as the one Gu Changan had shown them. The old man hadn’t lied about this at least.

Several satellites could be seen orbiting their destination planet. There were a couple of microarray mini surveillance defense deployments as well.

Cillin was just wondering if their passage would be barred by the satellite array as they got closer and closer to the planet when Wheeze suddenly opened its eyes and stared at the spaceplane’s display.

Immediately after, a message appeared on the screen: “Welcome.”

A navigation route was also attached alongside the message. Cillin and White Night followed their given instructions and parked the spaceplane at a port on the planet.

The port was incredibly huge, but there was no one around except except the sounds of running machines. In fact, more than ninety nine percent of the port was made up of automated machines.

A navigational robot flew over to guide Cillin and White Night on their way.

“Please come with me. Someone is already waiting for you.”

Someone? Who?

After they had exited the port, Cillin immediately spotted a flying car parked at the side. When the car window was lowered, the driver’s face was finally revealed to him.

It actually was Guan Feng.

Guan Feng waved a hand at the duo and smiled when he saw them, “Get up, boys!”

A wave of indescribable feelings assaulted both Cillin and White Night at the same time. They had come all the way here and even gotten themselves in trouble, but the culprit behind it all not only looked perfectly unharmed, he seemed to be fully relaxed and enjoying the hell out of this situation.

“Are you playing with us, Teacher Guan?!” Cillin asked the second they got settled inside the car.

“Hehe, if that is what you think then sure, why not. Seriously though, this is a great opportunity for you both. I trust that you won’t disappoint me,” After that, Guan Feng started the car and left the port.

The car was on autopilot. The car windows were laminated in a way that prevented Cillin and White Night from looking outside.

Guan Feng turned around from the driver’s seat and shot a glance at Cillin and White Night, who was keeping silent. Although the old man was wearing a warm smile on his face, it only made him look like a fox in the their eyes.

“You’ve met with Gu Changan, haven’t you?” Guan Feng asked. It was a question, but he sounded like he knew the answer already.

Cillin and White Night nodded together.

“That means you must have heard of a couple of things already. I admit that my background is pretty complicated, but that doesn’t mean you should overthink things. This place does belong to Black Viper, but I must ask you not to judge Black Viper through your former lens.”

This was the second time Cillin had heard this line already, first from Gu Changan, now from Guan Feng. If they shouldn’t judge Black Viper through their former lens, then what was the right lens they should judge it by?

Guan Feng didn’t mind Cillin and White Night’s silence. He continued, “I know that you’re holding a grudge on the inside, but some things are not up to me to decide. I had to find a suitable, trustworthy candidate, you know?”

What did Gu Changan mean when he said ‘recommendation’ and ‘change of office’?” Cillin asked.

“Oh, that?” Guan Feng tapped his knee once with a finger, “‘Recommendation’ is probably exactly what you think. I had a quota of recommendation, and I recommended you both as potential candidates. As for ‘change of office’, again the meaning is quite literal. Some of us in Black Viper have reached our retirement age, and no longer have the strength to carry out our duties. Plus, the young always deserves a chance, don’t you say?”

“Black Viper is changing leaders?”

“Yes, we are. We three old fellows have been holding on this position for long enough already.”

Cillin fell quiet for a moment before continuing, “What is the relationship between Black Viper and the royal family?”

Guan Feng wasn’t surprised that Cillin would ask this, “All I can tell you now is that Black Viper is a gift a certain emperor had given to his younger son. However, I’m sure that emperor had never imagined that his little gift would bloom to the astounding state it was today.”

It was as Cillin had predicted before coming here. No wonder the royal family had only ever labeled Black Viper as an “underground force”, and not “rebels”. If the royal family had really wanted to wipe out a force from the surface of their galaxy, they wouldn’t have been as ineffective as they were for so many years. What they were really doing was using Black Viper as an excuse to take out a couple of nobles lawfully.

“Feeling relieved now? Now you don’t have to worry about being labeled as a traitor,” Guan Feng smiled.

Guan Feng looked very much at ease and in his element here. Moreover, Cillin could pick up Guan Feng’s sense of belonging to this place, or more accurately a sense of belonging to Black Viper. He looked like a man who had just returned home and dropped the mask he normally wore when he was outside. That was why he looked as relaxed as he was.

But why would Guan Feng feel a sense of belonging to an organization like Black Viper? Cillin couldn’t understand this right now because the outside world’s impression of Black Viper was mostly negative.

It would seem that one really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

If Black Viper was affiliated with the royal family, then that means that their current activity was permitted by law. The only question left was whether or not they would be forced to undergo a memory wipe.

As if reading Cillin’s thoughts, Guan Feng smiled, “Don’t worry, we won’t force wipe your memory if you come out alive.”

“And if we don’t?”

“I’m certain both of you will come out alive,” Guan Feg didn’t seem worried about their chances of survival, “What I’m really concerned about is whether or not you’re worthy of that seat.”

Cillin fell silent at that.

Guan Feng patted both of his disciples lightly on the head, “No need to think too much, this is a good thing for both of you. The answers you seek will come to you very soon.”