Star Hunter.

Chapter 253 The Person Who Backed Up Xilin

"Where?" Xilin asked.

"Over here!"

The gray cat jumped down and ran off in one direction. Xilin could sense its location, so he wasn't afraid of losing it.

Although this area is now a post-war zone, many sea creatures still remain here. Upon seeing Xilin and the gray cat, these sea creatures all swarmed towards this area.

However, when they were more than ten meters away from the gray cat, they suddenly stopped. The gray cat gave them a very dangerous feeling. These sea monsters were not unintelligent. After the gray cat tore a sea monster that pounced on them to pieces in an instant, the sea monsters were quite wary.

However, there were many sea monsters, and some hesitated for a moment before preparing to pounce, but the gray cat's roar extinguished their thoughts. The gray cat's roar made them feel like they were facing a sea monster.

As for Xilin, because he was very close to the gray cat, many sea beasts could not find an opportunity to attack him. However, once Xilin was a little further away from the gray cat, these sea beasts would attack without hesitation.

The gray cat circled around a patch of ruins, then pointed to the spot and said, "This is it!"

"Underground?" Xilin also smelled the scent. Although his sense of smell was not as good as the gray cat's, it was much more sensitive than that of an ordinary person. In addition, he could smell the same scent from the egg that the gray cat had spat out.

The gray cat selected a spot and skillfully began digging a hole. Once inside, the gray cat's front paws became mechanized, extending to create an opening large enough for Xilin to enter.

Xilin followed behind the gray cat, took out a disc-shaped device, and placed it at the entrance of the cave. The disc-shaped device expanded rapidly, covering the entrance and blending into the surrounding ruins. From the outside, it was difficult to notice that a cave had been dug behind it.

  

Wearing a breathing mask, Xilin followed behind Gray Cat. Gray Cat was becoming more and more skilled at digging, faster than an excavator.

The gray cat dug very deep, and the area around the hole still had the aura of the Sea King Beast. It was hard to imagine how the Sea King Beast had managed to send these eggs so deep underground.

"Ah, I've got it!" the gray cat exclaimed excitedly.

A pile of eggs lay a thousand meters underground.

Just like the eggs the gray cat ate before, there were all kinds of eggs, not just eggs of a single marine mammal species.

Xilin placed his hand on one of the eggs to examine it. These were not yet fully developed; if he were to break them open, all that would be left would be a pool of viscous egg white and yolk fluid.

However, after some time, the tiny life inside these eggs will develop and hatch.

Xilin had some idea about Sea King Beast's plan.

What place is this?

Border defense line!

This area, now reduced to ruins, is actually the third border defense line in the coastal area. The first two border defense lines have also been reduced to ruins, and at this moment, a battle is taking place on the fourth border defense line.

The coastal cities on this planet don't dig deep underground, and these eggs of varying sizes and shapes are all covered with a hard layer, just like the egg the gray cat spat out, which can prevent them from being detected by the detectors. As long as the scanning detectors don't go deep underground and get within fifty meters of this place, they are basically hard to detect.

The metallic composition of the skin samples that Shirin analyzed from the gray cat was inferior to the various components on the egg. In other words, the dark blue, keratinous coating on the egg had a more perfect composition, but on the other hand, this coating lacked the ability to continue ion exchange. It's a trade-off. This is why the composition of the Sea King Beast wasn't as perfect as that of the egg.

When Xilin turned around, he saw the gray cat swallowing eggs one by one with its mouth wide open.

"...Weren't you already stuffed?"

"Yes, a little bit, but I've digested some of it now. Eating this little bit won't hurt. These aren't as hard to digest as that egg," the gray cat said as it swallowed the egg.

"That egg was hard to digest?" Xilin thought about the egg that the gray cat had spat out in the room. Some of these eggs looked similar to that one. However, when Xilin placed his fingers on these eggs, he realized that even though they were covered with the same coating, their shells were quite different. Only a few of these eggs, no more than ten, were the same as the one the gray cat had spat out.

"Those hard-to-digest eggs have half of their genes the same as the Sea King Beast, but we don't know about the other half," the gray cat said while swallowing an egg.

Xilin nodded and placed the eggs into the scroll-patterned ring. Besides their research value, they could also serve as food for the gray cats. However, if these eggs accidentally hatched into baby sea creatures in the subspace, there would be no way to prevent it. There couldn't be any creatures with strong life signals inside. Eggs were fine, but sea creatures would only cause the space to become unstable and collapse.

"I almost forgot you had that thing, hehe." The gray cat laughed happily when it saw Xilin put away all the eggs, so it wouldn't have to force itself to swallow them and feel stuffed.

After tidying up the place, Xilin said, "Let's go to the next place."

"Is there any more?" The gray cat's eyes lit up. This was all food! The more the better!

"It should be."

Since the Sea King Beast has hidden sea monster eggs underground in this third line of defense, then there should also be a first and second line of defense, right?

After exiting the cave, Xilin and Gray Cat headed towards the second border defense line in this direction.

Just as Xilin had predicted, the second border defense line was also trampled into ruins, seemingly to conceal the eggs underground and clear away all obstacles in the surrounding area.

There was no smell of eggs in Xilin's place, but with the third line of defense as a reference, Xilin and Gray Cat went down to the same location as the second line of defense. After searching underground for a while, they finally found the eggs hidden there.

Strangely, no egg similar to the one the gray cat spat out was found here.

Xilin examined the eggs and found that they had been hidden during the war between humans and beasts decades ago. The sea beasts inside had gradually developed, but it would take some time before they were fully formed. He believed that these little sea beasts would emerge from the ground and join the battle in the next war between humans and beasts.

After the beast tide passes, the second border defense line will be rebuilt, and the eggs will be located directly below the inner part of the border defense line. When the next beast tide comes, these eggs will be able to hatch, and then they can coordinate with the sea beasts that come out of the sea.

But why is it said that no baby SeaKingmon have been discovered in recent years?

Logically, these newly hatched sea monsters should join the battle, but why haven't we heard of any baby Sea Kings being seen in recent years? It's understandable if baby Sea Kings are protected in the deep sea, but these should all have participated in battles. Has no one seen a baby Sea King?

The answer to this question came when Xilin and Gray Cat arrived at the first line of defense.

The first line of defense was breached very quickly in this war between humans and beasts, incredibly quickly, and the heroes who broke through the first line of defense were these newly hatched sea monsters hiding underground.

Xilin and the gray cat quickly found the hiding place of the eggs because the gray cat smelled the scent of hatching, and some sea creatures came out of the eggs and then crawled into the sea and disappeared without heading inland.

"Ah, there are still a few that haven't hatched!" The gray cat circled the eggs. Just now, a little one that had hatched but hadn't crawled out was swallowed whole by the gray cat. After swallowing it, it even complained about the taste, spitting it out a few times.

No sooner had the gray cat finished speaking than an egg made a cracking sound.

Seeing the baby sea creature hatch, Xilin had a very strange feeling.

When this little guy came out, he looked fierce. All the little spikes on his back stood up, his limbs were webbed but also had sharp claws, and his body was dark blue with a hard protective layer on his surface.

Its large mouth was full of sharp teeth. Upon seeing Xilin and the gray cat, it didn't immediately rush at them, but instead opened its mouth and let out a loud screech.

This sound...

Sea King Beast?!

Although it sounds immature, it is indeed the sound wave type of the Sea King Beast.

The baby SeaKingmon is so different from the adult SeaKingmon?! It's really hard to tell them apart when they're mixed in with other sea monsters. No wonder those people couldn't find the baby SeaKingmon.

As the little sea monster let out a cry, several eggs that had been silent until now began to crack and hatch at the same time.

There were big-mouthed sea monsters, as well as other sea monsters that Xilin had seen when he came here. All of these newly hatched sea monsters rushed towards Xilin and the gray cat.

However, these were just juvenile sea monsters, and there weren't many of them. Most of them had already gone out, and these few small ones didn't have much attack power. They were quickly dealt with by Xilin and Gray Cat. The little sea monster was swallowed by Gray Cat.

After swallowing it, the gray cat squatted there motionless, seemingly lost in thought.

"What's wrong?" Xilin asked.

The gray cat flicked its tail. "This little guy has all the genes of the Sea King Beast, unlike the egg I spat out before. But, it seems the egg I spat out was still harder to digest."

Xilin seemed thoughtful, but now was not the time to delve into it. "Let's go. We'll talk about these things later. The fog is about to clear, so let's avoid running into the sea monsters returning to the sea."

As Xilin and the gray cat flew inland, they avoided a large group of sea monsters that were heading towards the sea. When they returned to their lodgings at the Royal Academy of Sciences, the area was under martial law, and all the buildings had their windows open instead of being tightly closed.

Several members of the Royal Academy of Sciences were discussing continuing negotiations with the minor nobles and whether to take tough measures. However, since tough measures would damage the reputation of the Royal Academy of Sciences, they were reluctant to take such a approach until the very last moment, as the Royal Academy of Sciences still maintained a good public image.

After returning, Xilin did not communicate with anyone else, but went straight into his room and did not come out, saying that he was going to rest.

After entering the room, the gray cat made an analysis diagram of the small sea monster that it had swallowed. From this analysis diagram, Xilin discovered that there was a hollow cartilage on the sea monster's tail. The cartilage was usually flat and curled, but once it was stretched out, its length was dozens of times longer than the overall height of the sea monster.

Although it is cartilage, it is speculated that adult Sea King Beasts can harden this cartilage in a short time, and then use this hardened cartilage to penetrate deep into the ground and send the egg into the deep hole.

The coating on the various sea monster eggs belongs to the Sea King Beast. Even though the eggs containing the sea monsters are fully formed, they remain dormant until the beast tide arrives. When the sea monsters attack, the Sea King Beast's roar will awaken them from their dormancy.

The baby sea monsters don't emerge from the ground immediately after hatching; they feed on other sea monster eggs until the adult sea monsters call out to them, at which point these little creatures will lead the other hatched sea monsters out of the ground.

Therefore, adult Sea King Beasts estimate the time based on the growth of the eggs and attack the land at the right time.

All kinds of beasts living at the top of the food chain in the sea, especially those oviparous ones, are within the scope of "Sea King's" consideration. Sea King will select a portion of the eggs, then coat each selected egg with a layer of coating, and secretly hide these eggs underground when attacking the land.

This was likely the first time that SeaKingmon's actions went unnoticed, so it repeated the same thing twice in the future. The breach of the first line of defense gave SeaKingmon a taste of success. It's believed that if it weren't for Xilin discovering those hidden eggs this time, the humans on the planet would suffer greatly decades later. [The following text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated: "Some information was obtained and will continue to be analyzed. Through Staben's analysis, the scope was greatly narrowed, and the three places Xilin discovered where eggs were hidden fall within Staben's defined area. It's not just a single location, but a comprehensive analysis of the entire continent."]

It's hard to imagine someone being able to deduce the result entirely from data calculations. Without Starburn's analysis, Sirin wouldn't have found the location so quickly.

Xilin didn't tell Starben about the answer he had found; it wasn't the right time to tell him yet. After briefly contacting Starben, Xilin contacted Guan Feng and told him about his discovery.

Guan Feng will discuss the remaining matters with the people from the Royal Academy of Sciences, since Xilin is not qualified to speak directly with the academicians in their eyes.

In the days that followed, the Royal Academy of Sciences did not entangle themselves with the minor nobleman and his planetary government. After the Royal Academy of Sciences' support troops arrived, they began clearing out the other sea monster eggs.

"Xilin, you've done a great job this time, you've made me, your mentor, proud!" Guan Feng laughed happily on the communicator, his fox-like eyes narrowing with laughter.

Guan Feng hadn't expected that Xilin would not only find a better formula for Aquamarine, but also eliminate the huge hidden danger there. Those old guys had talked themselves hoarse without making any progress, while Xilin had quietly obtained several formulas. This made Guan Feng look good.

"Excellent, worthy of praise!" Guan Feng seemed to be in a very good mood. It's important to understand that even within the Royal Academy of Sciences, there are factions. While Guan Feng wields considerable influence, he's not absolute. Xilin's acquisition of the other formulas for Aquamarine has expanded Guan Feng's influence as well. The "Abyss" project team owes Guan Feng a huge favor. Naturally, they'll side with Guan Feng in important voting decisions.

"You'll get your bonus just the way you want it. Tell me what you need, and you can also tell me any other requests you have," Guan Feng said.

"Can I bring up anything?" Xilin asked.

"Yes, but only if it's within my capabilities."

"In that case... I've heard that members of the Royal Society of China at your level are qualified to recommend others for honorary fellowship?"

Guan Feng raised an eyebrow. "That's right, you want to come in?"

"No, I'd like to recommend someone." Xilin told Guan Feng about Starben's situation, and Guan Feng waved his hand, granting his request.

"I'll let your team leader know. When you find Starben, come back together. I'll arrange the rest."

"Okay." With Feng around, Xilin really doesn't need to do much trouble.

After receiving Guan Feng's promise, Xilin first contacted Staben online. Although the news of the Royal Academy of Sciences finding sea monster eggs around the border hadn't spread, Staben was certain he'd heard about it from the research groups of the minor nobles. Staben was also eager to see Xilin and share his joy. This incident had proven his point of view correct; although it didn't gain widespread acceptance, having a supporter made Staben happy.

When Xilin met Starben, Starben looked very disheveled. Although Starben had tried his best to tidy himself up this time, his broken leg and gray hair only added to his dejected appearance.

It's clear that Starburn's leg was recently severed and is now supported only by a simple prosthetic leg. Given Starburn's current dire circumstances, he simply cannot afford treatment.

Starben was also surprised to see Sirin; he hadn't expected him to be such a young man. In Starben's mind, this person who could discuss and analyze data with him in depth should at least be a middle-aged researcher, right? But in reality, he was a young man in his early twenties.

The two found a quiet place to talk. Xilin didn't want others to hear them, but it didn't matter if they did, it wouldn't change the outcome.

After discussing the Sea King Beast, Shirin explained the purpose of his visit.

"Honorary Scholar?!"

Upon hearing Xilin's words, Starben trembled and shouted out uncontrollably.

That was the highest hall of academic research; who wouldn't want to go in? Everyone dreamed of it! It was Starben's dream when he was young, but after experiencing so much, Starben suppressed that dream. It was a luxury, a luxury that could never be reached.

But now, Xilin says he can give him such an opportunity. How could Starbucks not be excited?

Starburn has lived to this day, and he is not lacking in ability; what he lacks is opportunity. However, it seems that Lady Luck has never liked him and has always suppressed and abandoned him step by step.

Every time Starburn lay exhausted in his humble studio, he would think that if he were given a chance, even just a small one, he would prove himself, prove that he was right, that what he did was right!

This opportunity wasn't given to him by the minor nobles, nor by the research group, but by Xilin.

The minor nobleman was certainly unwilling to bring Starben to the Royal Academy of Sciences after learning the truth, but could he refuse to release him? Did he dare to refuse?

He dares not!

The Royal Academy of Sciences wants people, and Stabán himself agrees. You, a minor nobleman, have no leverage now and can't shake the Royal Academy of Sciences at all.

After figuring things out, the minor nobleman not only wouldn't make things difficult for Staben, but would even smile at him. After all, he was someone who came from this planet, from his fiefdom as a minor nobleman. This was his true home, and he would still rely on Staben's analysis and support in the future war against the sea monsters.

After dealing with the matter, everyone prepared to leave and return to the Imperial Capital Star Region. However, the day before they were to leave, the two academicians were kidnapped while they were out on an expedition. Three of their bodyguards were killed and ten were injured, including two students who had been transferred from the affiliated school, just like Xilin.

The Royal Academy of Sciences was furious, and the minor nobleman couldn't sleep at all. Having his own people kidnapped from the Royal Academy of Sciences on his own territory, he was unlikely to escape this mess. Having just finished fighting the sea monsters, he was now dealing with this trouble. The minor nobleman was practically losing all his hair.

The planet's naval warfare equipment is good, but its other equipment is not so good. There are no surveillance images, so the other side is obviously prepared and is not a native of this planet.

The person who could severely injure the guards without making a sound must be quite capable, and their plan was very meticulous.

Not long after the two academicians went missing, we received a message.

I never expected that the other party was after Aquamarine!

The highest-grade formula for Aquamarine is usually not made public; those that are disclosed are not the highest grade. However, the Royal Academy of Sciences has obtained more than one formula this time, and these formulas are all of a very high grade. It's estimated that it will take at least three to five years for them to be made public. Moreover, there is one of them, known as the "super formula" for the most perfect Aquamarine.

Aquamarine has a wide range of uses, and different proportions have different functions. The fact that Guan Feng used Aquamarine to develop the "Infernal Razer" shows how valuable it is.

Each advanced formula for Aquamarine fetches an astronomical price on the black market, so it's not surprising that someone would try to get involved. What's surprising is that they've directly challenged the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Was it a scheme orchestrated by a nobleman, or by those rioters?

There is no conclusion yet.

After the two academicians disappeared, the planet was quickly sealed off, and surrounding planets also deployed troops to guard it. The Lansa royal family also sent people to investigate.

Not many people know the true formula for Aquamarine. At that time, Xilin gave the formula directly to Guan Feng, and Guan Feng must have also communicated with several important figures from the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Therefore, the only people who know the formula right now are Xilin, Guan Feng, and the project leader of the Abyss, as well as several heads of the Royal Academy of Sciences. Everyone else is unaware, including the two academicians who were kidnapped. However, those two are relatively important figures in the "Abyss" project team and cannot be ignored. The Royal Academy of Sciences is doing its best to find them.

The formula for Aquamarine must never be leaked; this is the will of Emperor Lanza.

There are many rioters within the Empire. If they were to learn the latest formula for Aquamarine, it would undoubtedly cause the Empire enormous trouble. Moreover, although some things haven't been openly discussed, Xilin can guess some of them. After all, such a vast empire, spanning more than twenty star systems, is hardly a monolithic entity.

Given the chance, the lurking "poisonous insects" will come out and wreak havoc.

Among those who know the formula, Guan Feng won't reveal it, and the person in charge of the Abyss Project, with the backing of the royal family, also wouldn't dare to speak recklessly. But Xi Lin, originally from the capital, is different. With Guan Feng as his backer, the people of the Royal Academy of Sciences dare not do anything to him, and can only guard him layer by layer. Xi Lin is confined in a building like he's in prison, euphemistically called "protection."

There are rumors that Xilin leaked information about several upgrade formulas for Aquamarine. Many people dislike Xilin, there are plenty of jealous people, and there are definitely many people who want to smear Xilin and frame him.

Although many people do not believe it, there are such rumors that Xilin is a person under close surveillance.

Even more people disliked Guan Feng. However, although Xi Lin was Guan Feng's student, and although there were rumors that Xi Lin had leaked the formula, no one dared to say it was related to Guan Feng. Those who dared to speak out were secretly eliminated. Who was Guan Feng? A former Imperial Tutor, even the current Emperor Lan Sa would defend him. Would someone with his seniority do something so foolish? Therefore, those who wronged Guan Feng were considered to be maliciously slandering him, especially the Imperial Tutor, and their fate was obvious. Thus, those who wanted to frame Guan Feng but dared not directly target Xi Lin. Rumors detrimental to Xi Lin multiplied.

To prevent the kidnappers from escaping, the area is a no-go zone, so none of the reinforcements left to prevent the target from escaping. Anyone who tried to leave would be mistaken for a kidnapper and attacked.

Therefore, just to be on the safe side, Guan Feng's original plan to have Xilin sent back to the capital was rejected by the higher-ups. Now Xilin is confined to a small room of about 100 square meters by layers of guards. They practically control everything he does, from eating and drinking to relieving himself, and he's not allowed to touch the internet; his communicator has been confiscated.

The gray cat was kept with Xilin, and even with someone watching over it, Xilin couldn't be allowed to take the eggs out to eat. It was always sullen and would snuggle in Xilin's arms, wanting its fur stroked.

Although Guan Feng couldn't get Xilin's guardianship order revoked, he had done a lot of work. So one day, after Xilin woke up, he saw his senior brother Pistula and senior sister Fu Qingqing. With Pistula present, the Imperial Allied Guards sent to assist in the investigation would definitely give him some face, and with Fu Qingqing present, the Royal Guards sent to assist in the investigation would also be more careful.

As for Gorjo, according to Pistura, the kid is still on his way.

Xilin was monitored whenever he contacted anyone, even Pistura and Fu Qingqing. However, these two could achieve their purpose even without saying a word, because they were there to keep things under control.

Guan Feng couldn't come; after all, he was one of the few in the know, and he remained at the Royal Academy of Sciences with the others. So he sent Pistura, Fu Qingqing, and Gore to back up Xilin. His disciple, Guan Feng, wasn't someone anyone could bully. Even confined to this small space, the military commander guarding him would have to treat him with respect!

Xilin was very grateful for Guan Feng's actions, but besides Guan Feng, there was another person who came over as well.

The day after Pistura and Fu Qingqing arrived, Goryo had barely arrived when Yuan Xingchen arrived with his men, seemingly there to offer support as well.