Chapter 159: A Familiar Face at Sector K [Part 2]
Sector K, also named the Sector of Kings by Hunters, was the treasured land of the Hunter circle in GAL. It was the gathering spot of the four great Hunter regiments, and it was also the only Sector in GAL where Hunter regiments were the main entity of the Sector. It was rumored that the deterrent that was the military could not be compared to the deterrent that was the great four at all. Here there were four kings, and they were the great four.
The closer they got to Sector K, the more anxious Udoze got. Of course, there was excitement as well.
This was the great four we’re talking about. Once upon a time they were just a faraway delusion, but now they felt right within reach. He wondered what their fleet looked like.
The transit planet of Sector K lay at the outermost periphery. Beyond this planet, the world belonged to the Hunters.
The various communication department of the Hunter regiments could be found on the transit planet, and the great four’s communication departments were buildings that were grander than even the planet’s government building.
No Hunters who arrived on this planet would dare to behave atrociously before the great four’s communication departments. This was because the government would not look into the case even if the people of the great four were to kill someone without any reason. As long as they did not cause a commotion big enough to wreck the entire planet, the government was disinclined to get involved at all.
Neither political groups or the military were inclined to bother with affairs between Hunters. However, those of the commerce districts do frequent the Hunters often. After all, businessmen and Hunters did cooperate with each other a lot, and this was especially true for some big business families such as the Douance Family and so on.
After checking the location of Vanguard’s communication department on a navigation device, Cillin then led the group towards it.
Here on this planet, there were no restrictions on firearms. Therefore, people carrying all sorts of firearms and even shoulder rocket launchers were a common sight on the street and nothing to be surprised at.
Unlike the other planets, the people who came here often carried with them a strong air of valiance. This was because Hunters were the majority in this place, and the aura they carried on their person was very strong.
One must not think that the good, gullible, or those who appeared so fragile they would be blown off by a gust of wind at small restaurants or bar counters to be easy pickings, for they might very well be the seniors of your seniors. It was just that they had kept their aura in check after they had retired from active duty. There was a saying called come full circle, and this was what it meant. If you really ruffled their feathers, they would crush your throat before you could take out your gun. You might not even leave an intact corpse behind.
Although the consensus was to have a meal at Vanguard’s communication department – the logistics units of many Hunter regiment communication departments had excellent preferential policies – Tang Qiuqiu happened to see an ice cream butter cup on a display window. While the ice cream’s name ended with a ‘cup’ at the end, it was almost the size of a small pail. Moreover, it had an excellent outward appearance that very much attracted the attention of sweets lovers, and Tang Qiuqiu was one of those people whose eyes were caught at first glance.
Since Tang Qiuqiu had her own savings plus the money she won from the flying car competition, one might say that she had a small wealth of her own. After she bought an ice cream butter cup for herself, Tang Qiuqiu bought Cillin and everyone else a cup of fruit juice. The gray cat got a cup of milk tea.
Here, most shops preferred manpower over robot servants. After all, robots were not as useful when dealing with certain disputes. If it was broken during a conflict then it was just so. Robot repairs were pretty expensive, so manpower was still the better choice if the shop’s priority was to cut costs.
The owner of the small dessert store was a woman. Since the shop wasn’t big, naturally there weren’t too many customers. They did not know if she had hired any other waiters to help her, but for now she was alone.
The female owner looked to be over her thirties, but her real age was unknown, and no one would ask for it either. After all, it was rude to inquire about a lady’s age.
The female owner did love the little girl that was Tang Qiuqiu, so she purposely gave her a big sized ice cream cup and added some extra fruits and honey juice on it too.
Tang Qiuqiu did not forget to thank the owner in return. Basic courtesy was necessary, and Tang Qiuqiu did not dislike the feminine owner who had a very amiable smile.
They were not in a hurry anyway, so Cillin and the others decided that they might as well finish their drinks in this small store before leaving.
“Qiuqiu, what do you think about this planet?” Cillin asked.
“It’s pretty good. I can shoot freely.” Tang Qiuqiu was very satisfied in regards to this.
“…” Cillin could not say anything.
Udoze’s anxiety was much quelled after a cup of fruit juice. However, the excitement and slight anxiety in his eyes were still fully exposed.
“This truly is the heaven of Hunters!” Udoze sighed. Here, there were many Hunters who enjoyed pinning their regiment’s insignia on their body. When a higher rank Hunter regiment encountered a lower rank Hunter regiment, they would carry themselves even higher than before. Slowly, pinning one’s insignia became a trend and a way to compete with one another among Hunters.
This was also why a certain unwritten rule was formed: My Hunter regiment is better than yours, and so am I.
Bullying the weak was commonplace here. There were many conflicts, but no one would interfere with one. They would simply stand by in a circle and watch.
Every Hunter regiment had their own standpoints.
While talking about the situation on this planet, Cillin caught the glimpse of a familiar figure. That person also felt his gaze and turned his head over to look.
“Yoho! It’s you, kid!”
And so the people following behind Barthus saw their respected senior happily rushing towards the small dessert store like he saw an old friend and not a junior.
“Senior Barthus.” Cillin got up and pulled a chair over for Barthus.
Barthus did not restrain himself with pleasantries and sat down right away. Barthus slapped his big hand repeatedly on Cillin’s shoulders with strength, and he laughed until his long beard shook non-stop. When the people who followed after him saw this, they rethought their evaluation of Cillin once more. It was obvious that this guy was a young junior, so how did he cause such a reaction in senior Barthus? Could he be a descendant of the A Squad? But that couldn’t be right either, since with his temper Barthus would not have acted this way even if he was facing those descendants.
“Escherley, my dear, do give me a glass of sweet liquor, will you? On the rocks!” Barthus beckoned towards the female owner of the small store. Judging from his tone, the duo obviously knew each other.
Escherley cast a glance at Barthus, took out a bottle of sweet liquor from the cabinet and tossed it right at him, “Don’t you dare buy on credit this time!”
“Hehe, I won’t. Just put it under this kid’s bill.” Barthus pointed at Cillin.
Escherley leaned on top of the counter with her well-rounded breasts covering nearly the entire surface. She lifted a slim finger and pointed at Tang Qiuqiu, who was busy digging into the ice cream butter cup and smiled, “The one who footed the bill this time is this little girl. Are you, an old man seriously going to ask a baby girl to foot your bill?”
Barthus’s old face blushed red, and he was just about to speak when Tang Qiuqiu looked up and asked, “How much is a bottle of sweet liquor?”
“Ahem, there’s no need…”
“One thousand, GAL credits.” Escherley cut off Barthus’ words and smiled with a propped chin.
Tang Qiuqiu cocked her head, bit her spoon and thought about it for a moment. Then she nodded and told Escherley, “It’s not too expensive, so add grandpa Barthus’ bill under mine.”
“Aiyo, my little sweetheart Tang Qiuqiu you’re so cute!” Barthus grabbed his long beard and swept it across Tang Qiuqiu’s little face, causing the people behind him to feel a wave of chilly goosebumps.
Before Tang Qiuqiu could push it away, the gray cat leaped upward, grabbed it and began swinging on his beard.
“Hehe, little Wheeze, you’ve gotten heavier again.” while saying, hie raised a hand and began caressing its fur.
The mouths of the people behind Barthus turned O-shaped, whereas Escherley narrowed her eyes and glanced at Cillin’s group meaningfully.
It was known that Barthus treasured his beard a lot. If anyone else were to touch even a single strand of his beard, he would immediately argue with them. However, not only did he use his beard to tease Tang Qiuqiu, he even caressed the cat that was playing swing on his beard with affectionate care today. What the hell was going on?
That wasn’t all. The gray cat’s mouth was stained with a bit of milk tea after it finished its drink, and it had wiped it directly on Barthus’ beard. But even then Barthus only smiled and said, “You’re such a naughty little fellow!” causing the jaws of the people behind him to nearly drop to the floor.
While holding a sweet liquor bottle with one hand and caressing the gray cat’s fur with the other, he swept a glance across the slightly fidgety Udoze and calm Rikulab, “New recruits?”
Cillin nodded, “I brought them over to recommend them to the squad. Would you like to test them for a bit?”
“Aiyo, like anyone you recommend would be poor, Cillin?” Barthus’ evaluation of Cillin was unexpectedly high. He asked again, “What are you two little fellows called?”
Normally speaking, a member who had not yet been officially recognised as a part of the Hunter regiment did not have the qualification to be introduced to an old senior of the regiment. That was why Cillin had no introduced both Udoze and Rikulab to Barthus all this time. However, Barthus had asked them a question on his own accord, so this meant that he had acknowledged their new identities in advance. Therefore, even if the other decision makers of the B Squad had a different opinion on the matter, they would have to consider if refuting Barthus, which was their old senior’s face, was a good choice.
Of course, neither Udoze nor Rikulab knew about this hidden rule. However, this caused Barthus’ men to look at Cillin with even stranger eyes.
Just who on earth was this kid?
Udoze and Rikulab introduced themselves briefly. About their former occupations, Udoze said ‘flying car racer’ whereas Rikulab said ‘medicine maker’.
“Udodo’s flying car driving skills are awesome!” Tang Qiuqiu said while licking her ice cream spoon.
Tang Qiuqiu had long since categorised Udoze as one of her own, and Tang Qiuqiu was very protective of the people on her side.
“Mm, Rikulab may not compare to me, but he is passable.” the gray cat also said while looking pleased at himself.
Barthus made a sound of acknowledgement as an expression of his satisfaction.
While digging at her ice cream, Tang Qiuqiu looked at the people standing behind Barthus. They should all be members of Vanguard. Although they could not be completely categorised as one of their own, they did share a connection after all. Therefore, she asked, “Why aren’t you guys sitting?”
“Yeah, do you know how oppressive you guys are being standing there?” Barthus said in a blaming tone.
His men complained inside their minds at the same time – who would dare sit carelessly without your command?!
Seeing that they’d all taken a seat, Tang Qiuqiu asked again, “Do you guys want to drink something? I’ll foot the bill as long as it’s not too expensive.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!”
“We’re not thirsty.”
“I don’t eat sweets that much.”
The group of people waved their hands repeatedly. It’s just embarrassing to have a child foot their bill. None of them had skins as thick as senior Barthus’!
“Ignore them.” Barthus rubbed Tang Qiuqiu’s head before looking at Cillin, “The regiment has something for you. It’s a mission. A pretty difficult one. I think your holiday is about to come to an end.”
“A mission?” Cillin frowned. What kind of level this mission was to alarm someone like Barthus? “Mm. I’ll contact the commander as soon as possible.”
“Actually, Shawton doesn’t have the clearance to know about this. Anyway, you’ll know once you get back to the squad.” Barthus finished the rest of the liquor in one gulp before setting the bottle aside, “I’m going back now. I came back this time because there was something urgent. If I don’t go back, big hat’s gonna grumble again.”
Cillin knew that Barthus was talking about the few types of energy ores extracted over Sector Z, and that big hat referred to Songba Leruo and his wide brim hat.
“Is everything going well over there?”
“Yeah, it’s going pretty well. You’ll even get a portion of the reward when you come back. Alright, I need to leave. Think well on this mission, okay kid.”
After giving Escherley a flying kiss, Barthus then left with his men.
Cillin pondered as he shook the fruit juice in his cup. What kind of mission was it? Looking at Barthus, it would appear that this mission really wasn’t easy this time.
