Star Rank Hunter

Translator’s Notes: It’s already mentioned in the Reddit post, but just in case someone doesn’t read it I’ll put it here too. For the longest time, I’ve translated “灰猫” as the “gray cat” because that is the literal translation. However, I recently came to the realization that the author probably prefers to write the “gray cat” instead of “Wheeze” of “Whebeze” because it’s easier and shorter. I’ve gotten some messages before asking why Wheeze isn’t referred to by its name, and now you know why. So my question is, would you like me to refer to Wheeze as mostly “Wheeze” instead of the “gray cat” from hereon? Do reply in the Reddit post, thanks!

Chapter 250: The Mist Appears, the Sea King Emerges

What kind of sound would you make if you were caught by the enemy, put on an operation table and experimented on among other tortures?

It would be common sense to think that this sea beast was crying out one last time in despair during its final moments. In reality though, that wasn’t the case here.

The locals themselves didn’t thoroughly understand their long standing enemies. This was evident from the fact that they had to spend a lot of manpower and resources to capture this animal alive. Although they had built a database of the sea beasts which they upgraded and updated with new information for many, many years - and it was true that the locals’ understanding of the sea beasts had increased by a lot - there were still a couple of critical species that they were unfamiliar with.

The gray cat’s ears turned backwards once before it said to Cillin. “Something isn’t quite right. That sea beast’s cry shouldn’t sound like this.”

“Hmm?” Cillin looked at the gray cat.

“That captured sea beast isn’t going to live for much longer, right? To my knowledge, the captured sea beasts either committed suicide in despair or were used up in experiments. Whichever the case, they weren’t going to live for long,” Vino said.

The gray cat shook its whiskers. “Judging from the sound it made it is true that that sea beast isn’t going to live much longer. However, I haven’t heard any of the despair and sorrow you said earlier. I did hear ridicule and joy though.”

“Ridicule and joy?” The group turned to look at the gray cat in astonishment and waited for an explanation.

“Yeah. Although I couldn’t understand the meaning it was trying to express, I could sense that the cry earlier was ridiculing and happy.”

“A sea beast that’s about to die had let out a cry of ridicule instead of sadness? Who is its target then? Was it the humans of this planet?” Daduo pondered out loud while holding her chin.

York shot a glance at Kenasenza. “Was that why Koko is feeling unwell? There must be a reason why it would let out a cry like this.”

Kenasenza fell into deep thought, but she could only sense vaguely what was going to happen in the future. That was why she couldn’t put a shape to her anxiety even though it was there.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the planetary government finally came out. The ruler of this planet was a minor noble, but despite their lower status they were an extremely stubborn people that were difficult to negotiate with. Sometimes, minor nobles were more difficult to deal with than major nobles because they had less to lose compared to the latter.

“Welcome to our planet, friends from the Royal Academy of Sciences!”

The prime minister and the minor noble came out to welcome them with smiles on their faces. However, it was obvious that they actually meant “what are you doing here” when they said “welcome” if one would look at the smiles that didn’t reach their eyes.

The RAS’ negotiators took up one side of a grand meeting room, while the planetary government’s people took up the other. Cillin and the group stood on the sidelines and daydreamed as the two sides negotiated.

There weren’t too many guards in the meeting room, so clearly the planetary government wasn’t that obstinate: they knew that the RAS might drag them to their graves if they offend them too much.

Both parties had already communicated with each other about the sea blue gold before, but the planetary government’s attitude was a little forceful at the time; unmoved by both persuasion or force. However, it was also a fact that the RAS had sent their negotiators all the way over to negotiate. As the saying goes, there was no such thing as a business deal that couldn’t be closed. All that was lacking right now was the right bargaining chips.

In order to make the other party yield, the RAS had even brought along their certificates, academician badges and contracts. Although the people of the planetary government definitely looked moved, they still wouldn’t give them a definite reply.

As the owner of this planet, the minor noble refused to allow the RAS to make contact with the researchers who invented the new sea blue gold compound formula. It was because he was afraid that the RAS would recruit them and take them away from the planet, causing them to abandon all their current responsibilities. On the other hand, if the RAS was willing to part with an academician of their own, the planet would no doubt benefit greatly.

The minor noble had his own selfish wishes, so negotiations had proceeded slowly even though progress was made. Cillin reckoned that the negotiations would be prolonged until the minor noble had completely sorted out his own thoughts.

Although the minor noble wasn’t really welcoming of them, he did put them in comfortable housings.

The planetary government center was located at the center of the continent; the land that was furthest away from the seashores. If the sea beasts were able to attack here, it meant the war that had lasted for hundreds and thousands of years had finally come to an end.

Right now, the academicians and scholars were discussing countermeasures and making academic commentary regarding the situation of the planet inside their accommodation.

A wall away, Cillin and the students were discussing with each other too.

“Hey, why do you guys think that minor noble isn’t trying to come to an agreement directly with the RAS? It’s obvious that the RAS are the ones who need them more, and that minor noble could’ve asked for more benefits such as weaponizing the land defense system of this entire planet further. The RAS does research some pretty good weapons,” York said while leaning on against the window sill and swinging his leg.

“If a foreign force were to interfere, it will be viewed as a different form of invasion. No one can predict what will happen next after the long standing balance between the humans and the sea beasts is upset. Also, hadn’t a similar thing happened before on another planet? After the people recruited foreign forces to deal with their internal power struggle, the foreign forces were the ones who benefited the most and caused the entire planetary government itself to become reshuffled.” Daduo’s insight on this matter was better than York’s.

“That is true.” Vino also nodded in agreement. “Right now we probably look like an amalgam of a threat and a helping hand to that minor noble. Therefore, we can only wear down his defenses bit by bit and stay cool.”

“Is that one formula really worth all this effort?” Walley asked after he yawned and lay lazily on the table.

“That depends on who you’re talking about. This formula is absolutely critical to a certain project in the RAS, and for every minute the project is dragged the RAS is losing a large sum of money. That is why time is of the essence here. Haven’t you seen how impatient those old men were?” Another student answered from the side.

Daduo shot a look at Kenasenza, who had remained silent until now. “Keke, why don’t you tell us your opinion?”

Kenasenza shook her head. Right now she wasn’t in mood of discussing this with her fellow students. She frowned. “I keep have this feeling that something’s about to happen... keep an eye out, everyone. Something may happen today.”

Daduo immediately turned apprehensive. There was at least an eighty percent chance that whatever Kenasenza said ‘may happen’ will happen.

After that, everyone in the room stopped talking and got themselves ready to deal with whatever might happen in the next moment.

Meanwhile, the gray cat that was lying in front of the window sunbathing and rolling about twitched its nose and opened its eyes. It grinned after it looked down at the streets beneath the window and up at the sky.

It’s coming!

Wheeze was having a blast when it was suddenly caught by the nape and pulled back into the room by Cillin.

“What is it?” Cillin asked.

“Didn’t you notice?” The gray cat pointed outside the window.

Still holding the gray cat, Cillin walked to the window in puzzlement and breathed in. He finally realized what it was talking about.

“The air humidity is rising.”

The gray cat’s swaying tail and enlarged pupils showed just how excited it was right now. “It’s not clear yet, but I’m certain that it’s related to those sea beasts. I could already smell the stench of the sea on their bodies.”

It didn’t take long for the people around them to react. They had fought the sea beasts for a very long time, and they reacted quickly to the potential consequences that were caused by the changes in their environment. Moreover, air humidity detectors were essential equipment to every citizen on this planet. Even kids could deduce some of the things that were going to happen next using an air humidity detector as easily as they ate food.

York turned on his microcomputer and started hacking into the planet’s global network. The reason he did this was because the planetary government wouldn’t let them or the RAS personnel know many things or what was going on right now.

Of course, the citizens of this planet thought that their actions were perfectly normal. Why on earth would they want to tell these foreigners something so common?

The image that popped up in the screen stunned everyone present.

“The coastal defense line has been covered by thick fog. The thick fog is also spreading very quickly towards inland.”

“Sea fog?”

Daduo moved closer as she stared at the data analysis York brought up. She seemed to be trying to confirm how authentic the data was.

“These data are the analysis of local researchers. They’re professionals, so it’s highly believable,” York said.

Cillin shot a sideway glance at Wheeze crouching in front of the window sill, swaying its head and humming a soft tune while staring into the distance. Those things must be getting closer considering the cat’s rising level of happiness.

People were already sealing off windows and slightly large openings in the nearby buildings. The planetary government center already looked like a fortress in the first place, and now it appeared even more solemn and closely guarded than before.

Everyone inside the building were readying their weapons already. It was something they did regardless of whether or not the weapons were used.

Cillin and the group only found some short battle scenes in the global network. However, these battle scenes couldn’t represent what was going on in the entire battlefield, and they had very limited vision. Not only did the sea beasts rarely show up inside the videos, there wasn’t even a video where the creatures were in full view.

“The fog’s here,” Cillin said.

The light rays in the sky started to blur. They could clearly sense the water vapor in the wind.

“Let’s close our windows too. There’re hallucinogens inside the fog.”

Two students took out their detectors and went to the windows doubtfully after they heard Cillin’s warning. After a scan, they confirmed that Cillin’s statement was true. The hallucinogen level in the fog weren’t high enough to affect them right now, but that was because the fog was still relatively thin. It would be difficult to remedy their mistake if they waited until the fog had grown thick enough to threaten them.

Some of the students had already left to protect the academicians, and they were only separated by a single wall. If anything were to happen, they would be able to respond in time.

After closing the windows and activating the HVAC system, everyone returned to the microcomputer to stare at the images. The fact that the fog had spread all the way to the center of the continent proved that this fight was going to be a big one.

“This is good. We should be able to witness the infamous battles between man and beast on this planet and know exactly how great their manpower and military force are,” A student said.

There were people who were looking forward to this, and there were people who were anxious about the attack. Wheeze was very unhappy though as it paced back and forth in front of the window sill. Meow dammit! There goes my outdoors ‘fishing’ plan!

Today’s sea fog had spread further than usual. Judging from the satellite images, it would seem that one third of the continent had been covered by fog even though it had started from the edges of the continent.

The fog was thick and widespread. No one knew how much longer this phenomenon was going to last. The border soldiers were in full gear as they stood guard in the middle of this low visibility environment. Anyone who didn’t wear a gas mask in this fog would collapse in less than five seconds.

At this point, the fog at the shoreline had become extremely thick. Normal cameras would only be able to capture images of blue in this environment. Yes, blue. If the color was any deeper, it would look exactly like the color of the sea.

Cillin had noticed that the color of this planet’s sea was different from the other planets the moment he came here. The blueness of this sea was something that sent chills into one’s heart.

“It’s not just the sea fog. Some lowlands and archipelagos at the edges of the continent had already been flooded by seawater.” York brought up a 3D see-through topographic map. “What’s strange is that everything is still peaceful inside the sea...”

A certain image silenced York before he could could finish. Something had appeared out of nowhere in the sky of a city near the shores.

Blue fog continued to spread in the background. An extremely blurry, giant black figure of a beast had abruptly appeared on the sky like a floating skyscraper. They could even vaguely see the thorns behind its back. If the city beneath it wasn’t perfectly unharmed, they might’ve thought that the city was being trampled.

“Is that a hologram?”

“Is it something like a mirage?”

“I can’t tell. Still, does this mean that some giant beast had appeared somewhere?”

York brought up yet another document and showed it to everyone.

“What is this?”

Vino and the students felt dizzy just staring at the words of the document.

“Maybe I should show this to the RAS academicians instead. Although, do you think those stubborn old fellows will criticize us for hacking into the network?”

Cillin’s lips curled. “They might, but they’ll definitely agree with you in their heads. Why would they bring York otherwise?”

York was far better at hacking networks than he was at fighting, so the RAS must have selected him with this particular skillset in mind. However, those old fellows would never admit it openly because they were very sensitive about losing face.

“Alright, I’ll send it over to them directly.”

Two minutes later, an honorary scholar walked into the room and stared at York’s innocent looking expression, sighing. “Allow me to explain.”

The rest of the academicians were busy researching the document York sent over to them. The reason the honorary scholar came over was to explain what it actually meant and to hint ‘subtly’ which direction York should be hacking next.

Cillin listened to the honorary scholar’s explanation intently just like everyone else in the room, but he was also pondering about something else in his mind. The gray cat had dug out some info after hacking into the global network.

The document York found earlier was a research report, and the test subject of the research was a kind of giant deep sea beast named the “Sea King” by the researcher. These “Sea Kings” were the ones who led the sea beasts every time they engaged the humans in combat. They also looked pretty similar to the black figure inside the image.

According to the research report, the human race on this planet only managed to capture one Sea King for the past one hundred years. However, this Sea King had died very soon after it was captured. The research report had been created on the same year it was captured. The voice they heard from the planetary government center earlier didn’t belong to a Sea King. It was the voice of a lower ranking species in the sea pyramid.

The Sea King was a giant deep sea beast with a skin that was capable of ion exchange. They could absorb some kind of metallic elements from the seawater and conceal themselves as a result. Thanks to their unique skin, they were able to swim near the shore and not be detected by the human’s detectors. As long as they didn’t show themselves, they could avoid scans most of the time. It was why the humans here suffered had great losses for a certain period of time.

The unique skin wasn’t just the only ability the Sea Kings possessed. Their voices were very special as well.

The Sea Kings could create a kind of sound wave that affects or interrupts a torpedo or a missile that was fired at them. Their throat was like a sound converter that could instantly a high energy sound wave powerful enough to destroy a torpedo or a missile outright or detonate it in advance.

The Sea King’s super powerful directional sound wave ability had caused a lot of problems for the humans here. At the very least, that was how it appeared inside the research report.

According to the document, the smaller fishes in the sea or near the shore would evacuate and open up a path every time the Sea Kings appeared. It was because the powerful sound waves and sonars created by the Sea Kings were powerful enough to kill them.

“Does this mean that the Sea Kings were capable of creating something like an infrasonic wave?” Vino asked.

The honorary scholar nodded. “You can say that.”

An infrasonic wave was highly disruptive and penetrative. It also had a very long range. The fact that the roar of a Sea King could be heard in multiple cities was proof.

While the honorary scholar was still explaining things, the gray cat jumped onto Cillin’s shoulder and said, “I found it! It is related to the sea blue gold!”

When Cillin noticed how the skin of a Sea King functioned, he already suspected that the sea blue gold’s new compound formula had something to do with it. Now, he obtained confirmation from the gray cat after he had requested it to hack into the system for verification.

“Still, that minor noble’s research team is only able to obtain part of the Sea King’s skin. Right now they’re trying to obtain the skin from other body parts of a Sea King because each of them has a different metal ratio. At least, the skin of a Sea King’s tail and claw didn’t share the same metal ratio.”

What this meant was that Cillin’s group could obtain different upgraded compounds of sea blue gold if they could obtain analysis data from other body parts. They could also skip negotiations with the minor noble entirely.

“Say, Cillin.” The gray cat worked its paws and chuckled. “You want me to go get some for y’all?”