Star Hunter.

Chapter 109 Heavy

The scattered debris made the people on board the aircraft feel cold all over.

What exactly happened? You might have guessed, but there's always a voice inside you screaming that you won't admit it.

The familiar patterns, colors, and markings among the wreckage fragments—they had once flown such warplanes, now scattered as pieces in this cold, infinite space, appearing particularly desolate and tragic against the dark backdrop of space.

Among these fragments, some clearly did not belong to the Sixth Squadron, but it was not entirely certain which side they were from. The sheer number of wreckages in sight indicated just how intense the battle that had taken place here was.

The flagship of the sixth squadron sat silently, with the smaller squadrons' starships beside it. Both the flagship and the squadrons were riddled with dents and chips, clearly having been subjected to a brutal, almost encircling attack. Engineering robots were working to repair them.

As the spacecraft slowly approached the starship, Kari began to lose control of his emotions, constantly sending messages to the main ship and the branch ship, but there was no response. Finally, communication was established.

Shorten's exhausted face appeared on the call screen. "You guys go back to the starship and we'll talk."

After saying that, Shorten disconnected the communication. Kari kept sending call requests to Diaz's small team starship, but no one answered. Kari ignored what the others in the spacecraft were saying and just kept pressing the call request button.

Sugar Ball, clutching her small backpack, huddled in the chair, eerily silent. Although there were many things she didn't understand, she was, after all, from the V Star Sector, and she knew very well what a battle of this scale meant. Sugar Ball buried her face in her bag; for the first time, she was afraid to know the outcome.

Xilin stared blankly at the scene on the screen, repeatedly stroking the fur on the gray cat's back. The gray cat obediently kept quiet.

The spacecraft flew into the starship and came to a stop. Kari rushed out, shouting, "Where are they...where are they?! Where's Beaver? Where's Yudi? Where's the vice-captain?!"

Xilin walked slowly behind. When they entered the starship from the spacecraft, he knew they could no longer rush out of the starship. The passageways of the starship behind had been sealed off layer by layer. This was probably because Shorten was afraid that they would impulsively fly out in fighter jets or spacecraft.

Are we afraid they'll act impulsively? Has the situation really gotten that serious?

Beaver, Yudi, Xiao Ba, Xiao Shang, Diaz... none of them were there.

They entered from the small squad's starship, and after they entered, the small squad's starship docked with the main squad's starship.

Generally, every spacecraft entering from the outside undergoes an inspection to prevent unknowingly bringing threatening alien creatures onto the starship. Enji is usually responsible for these inspections, but today it was Enji's second-in-command. Although the second-in-command wore a protective mask, obscuring his expression, Xilin noticed that his hand holding the cleaning tube was trembling.

The silence was oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

Shorten had them brought to the main ship and briefly explained the situation.

A day after Xilin and his group left, the Sixth Fleet encountered "Venom," which Shorten had been trying to avoid but had never succeeded in doing so. No one expected "Venom" to pass through here. They did not deliberately hide, as if they wanted to tell people where they entered the Z sector from, where they passed through, and which direction they went.

Encountering the Vanguard Sixth Squadron was unexpected for "Venom Fang," but it also ignited their fighting spirit. They would fight any of the four major hunter groups they encountered without showing any mercy.

Originally, with the capabilities of the Sixth Squad, even without the development of new energy weapons, they wouldn't have suffered too much loss against "Venom." However, the problem arose because several small squads were conducting reconnaissance on the planet when "Venom" arrived, isolated from the starship. Therefore, they were at a significant disadvantage when "Venom" attacked.

Those "Venomous Fangs" were all suicidal attackers, disregarding everything else. One can only imagine the kind of attacks those exploring the planet encountered.

Less than half of the crew returned safely from the planet. Diaz and Luso were seriously injured and remain in intensive care. Vice-captains Akai and Vachin, along with more than thirty crew members, were captured. Shorten did not elaborate on why they were captured and not something else.

Some of the crew members who returned to the starship were still seriously injured and had not yet been out of danger, such as Beaver and Yudi.

  

Although Xiao Shang and Ba Dao were injured, their injuries were not serious, and they stayed in the main ship's medical ward.

The main ship's medical deck was filled with paramedics rushing to and fro, as well as team members anxiously waiting outside the emergency room.

When Xilin came up, he saw Badao and Xiaoshang standing outside the door of an intensive care unit, their faces heavy and their whole demeanor radiating depression. Kari said a few words to them, then raised her hand to cover her eyes and leaned against the wall.

Feeling her hand being held, Xilin turned her head and saw Tang Qiuqiu holding a bag in one hand and tightly holding Xilin's hand with the other, as if grasping the last lifeline. Up until now, Tang Qiuqiu hadn't said a word or cried. She just stared blankly at the ward with her eyes wide open. She couldn't see clearly who was lying in the ward, and she was afraid to find out. Her feet seemed to be nailed to the ground and she couldn't move.

Xilin crouched down, picked up Tang Qiuqiu, and walked over there. The closer they got, the tighter Tang Qiuqiu gripped Xilin's hand.

Through the transparent partition, Xilin could see the people inside. It was Yudi and Beaver, along with several other members of their team. They lay quietly in the intensive care unit, and from the instruments connected to them and the data displayed, Xilin knew they were still in critical condition. He didn't know how long they would stay like this, or who would ultimately be able to hold on.

"Where's the vice-captain?" Xilin asked Xiaoshang.

"In...over...the ward."

Xiao Shang pointed to a hospital room, his voice trembling and suppressed. However, Xi Lin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the room Xiao Shang was pointing to; the patient in that room was out of danger.

Xilin carried Tangqiuqiu to the ward that Xiaoshang had mentioned. Through the partition, Xilin saw Diaz lying on the bed, probably asleep. Asia was by his side, her eyes red and looking extremely haggard.

Xilin and Tang Qiuqiu entered the ward, only to discover that Diaz was missing an arm.

Seeing the stable data on the instruments, Xilin patted Tang Qiuqiu's head. "The vice-captain is fine, he'll wake up after a nap. You and Vice-Captain Asia stay here with him, I'll go check on the others, okay?"

Sugarball lowered its head and nodded. Asia got up and led Sugarball over to sit down there, moving very gently, afraid of waking Diaz.

After leaving Diaz's ward, Xilin asked around and headed towards a ward in the intensive care unit.

The people in the intensive care units in this area are in even worse condition than Yudi and Beaver. At least Yudi and Beaver might recover, but these people have already been sentenced to death. The treatment is just to keep them in this world a little longer.

Non-medical personnel are not allowed to enter the ward because they may carry germs. Xilin just stood there quietly watching the people inside.

The person lying on the hospital bed, whose entire body was covered by treatment equipment, seemed to sense something. He raised his hand and lifted the equipment off his head. The medical staff next to him tried to stop him, but were pushed away by those hands. It was hard to imagine that he still had so much strength to push the medical staff away under such circumstances.

"Xilin, come here."