Star Hunter.

Chapter 278 What a fierce cat!

Chapter 278 What a fierce cat!

Regarding the extraction of effective toxins from tricolor beans, Xilin didn't contribute much; he mostly observed from the sidelines. (Tiantian Chinese) Xilin was quite familiar with the process of extracting and purifying effective toxins from plants and repairing some defects in their molecules. Therefore, based on Xilin's past experience, such a task involved a lot of analysis and calculation, requiring a high level of knowledge from the staff. If one person were to complete the entire process alone, it would take at least half a day.

However, Neo was already used to this. He completed all the work by himself within two hours, and even carried out secondary repair and improvement work on the drug molecules of the toxins targeting the cyborg's physique. This was something that Xilin had to admire.

Xilin was able to finish all the work in this time, but this cat is so fierce! Because of Xilin's own special characteristics, at least until now, Xilin has never seen anyone who can finish so much work in such a short time, even the people from the affiliated school are somewhat lacking.

In this respect, Neo is like a sophisticated machine, possessing an extraordinary talent and predictive ability for his research goals. When he begins, he has already planned and calculated the next step, the next after that, and even more subsequent steps and results in his mind. Of course, this "machine" may malfunction in certain aspects, but Neo truly deserves to be called a genius.

Just as Neo always compulsively digitizes his daily life, he is also very strict in his experiments. The precision standards of all his data are considered harsh even by people at the Royal Academy of Sciences.

After two hours of working tirelessly, Neo excitedly called out, holding a small, clear bottle filled with orange-yellow liquid, "It's finally out!"

These toxins differ somewhat from the natural toxins extracted from pandanus, but theoretically, they are more effective against bio-soldiers.

"Here, use these to fight the bio-soldiers. It's best to do it around here so I can see and record the data and check the effect," Neo said, handing the three bottles from Chapter 27, "What a Fierce Cat!" to Xilin.

Xilin was used to Neo's self-centered way of speaking. Someone unfamiliar with Neo might misunderstand his commanding tone. This guy seemed to have no sense of tact; his directness made you want to slap him.

Fortunately, Gu Xin's refill had almost fully recovered, mainly due to his own physical condition. Moreover, according to Neo, Gu Xin's physical condition was quite good; after this poisoning, his body had developed resistance. Even if he came into contact with the same poisonous meat again, he would be unharmed.

"Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?" Sirin asked Neo.

Even if the Black Viper people have a safe place to stay here and can heat their food, can they still guarantee that all the food is non-toxic? With Neo's infuriatingly sensitive stomach and that Shou who still hasn't stopped hiccuping and has swollen, red eyes from crying, can their constitutions compare to Gu Xin's?

"Oh. Well, we all got vaccinated before we came, and we also received complex antibody serum, so we won't be as badly off as you guys. Besides, we've all been given antidotes and some spare medicine. Speaking of which, Ashou, why aren't you staying where you are and instead coming here?" Neo was very dissatisfied with Ashou's behavior.

Xilin and Guxin covered their faces. Ashou, who had just stopped crying, had reddened her eyes again. She was hiccuping while crying.

"It was... uh... stolen by bad guys..." As soon as he mentioned this, Ashou's tears flowed like a dam breaking.

Ah Shou went up the mountain to get some fresh air and have some fun, but when he returned, he found strangers had entered his area. These strangers even tried to capture him, but Ah Shou escaped like the wind. However, having just escaped one danger, he ran into Gu Xin, another dangerous individual, leaving Ah Shou feeling particularly aggrieved.

Now that she's gotten this far, Ashou must have a way to survive. Like Neo, she's incredibly fast, even faster than him. Ashou has a special physique; her bones are different from ordinary people, much lighter. She's naturally slender and looks quite frail. However, according to Neo, Ashou runs at a speed comparable to a tornado, a fact confirmed by Gu Xin. If it weren't for some tricks, Gu Xin wouldn't have been able to catch Ashou at all.

"Then why don't you take him to your place and let them fight each other!" Neo said.

Gu Xin looked at Neo, then at Ashou who was crying and hiccuping, and still felt that Ashou was better.

Upon hearing Neo's words, Ashou paused, then cried even harder.

"Ugh, he said... take him to a safe... place, but... it's not safe where I am anymore."

Neo looked at him with disdain. "I really doubt your intelligence!"

The gray cat, who was squatting nearby licking its paws, twitched its ears, looked at Neo, and continued licking its paws.

Xilin guessed that the bad guys Ashou mentioned were people who had been brought here for testing, just like him and Guxin. However, he didn't know which other forces were involved besides the military.

Gu Xin admitted that he came from the military, but he refused to answer which military. He and Xilin both kept their origins a secret, while Neo and Ashou were not interested in it, so everyone got along fairly well.

Gu Xin is definitely his real name, but he doesn't seem afraid of people checking it. Xi Lin guesses that if someone were to check the military's records, they would definitely find out that "this person is deceased." The people who can come here are definitely a special group within the military, and their files have long been altered.

  

"Alright, you two hurry up and try out my research results!" Neo urged.

The original plan was to shoot from the dark windows on the cliff face, but unfortunately a flock of birds had recently been passing by. Neo abandoned that spot for the sake of the 5.37 detection rate and sent Xilin and Gu Xin to guard the top tree branch instead.

Armed with the two modified guns given to them by Neo, Xilin and Gu Xin went to the trunk high up in the tree. Each thick branch was just big enough for one person, so Xilin and Gu Xin hid inside and waited. Gray Cat volunteered to lure out the bio-soldiers.

"Is it permissible for your army to have queues?" Xilin asked Gu Xin. According to army regulations, such a queue is not very popular with officers.

"It wasn't allowed at first, but it became allowed later." Gu Xin didn't say much, but mentioning this reminded him of things from the past.

留辫子他打小就习惯，后来进军队的第一天被长官拿着刀说直接给他剃光头，然后古信把那位长官给揍趴下了。古信是个刺头，教导他的军官每个提起他都是又爱又恨，但是这辫子还是没保住。直到进了那个特殊地方，辫子才渐渐留回来。

"They're here!"

Xilin and Gu Xin remained nestled within the thick branches they had chosen, holding the guns Neo had given them. They watched five bio-soldiers running in the distance. Ahead of these five bio-soldiers, the gray cat ran and meowed smugly, treating the situation like a game.

It's about three kilometers from the tree to the bio-soldiers, and there's a constant wind on this cliff side. Therefore, the difficulty is quite high; Neo himself definitely wouldn't be able to hit them. Even if he ran out of bullets and didn't move, he could only manage to graz the bio-soldiers' skin.

When the bio-soldiers reached Xilin's expected location, Xilin decisively opened fire.

One of the bio-soldiers, who was running, was shot in the abdomen. After being shot, the bio-soldier immediately collapsed and died two seconds later.

The shot missed a vital spot, falling about five centimeters away from what Xilin had predicted. However, this was part of his and Neo's plan: to test the drug's effectiveness on a non-vital area with the first shot.

"Very good, shoot them in the head again!"

Neo's excited voice came through the communicator. All their communications here were handled by communicators provided by Neo, so they wouldn't be detected by the occasional flying beasts that flew by. Once again, a flying beast perched on the branch where Xilin was, pecking at its fur, but failed to notice anything unusual inside the tree.

The second shot was fired by Gu Xin, hitting a bio-soldier directly in the head. The effect was similar to that of the one Xilin shot.

"Okay, next is to shoot directly at vital points," Neo said.

The third shot from the cyborg hit a bio-soldier in a vital spot. The effect was obvious: almost instantaneous death. The bullets used in the gun Neo gave him weren't very large; even if they hit a bio-soldier's vital spot, without the drug's effect, they wouldn't die immediately, but would likely struggle for three to five seconds. However, after the drug was fused, it was different.

Gu Xin raised an eyebrow after seeing Xilin's shot, but remained silent. He was surprised that Xilin was able to directly find the bio-soldier's vitals without first testing the brain.

"Have you collected the data?" Sirin asked Neo. If not, then shoot the vital points next.

"Shoot another bio-soldiers in a vital spot. Double-check."

"Okay." Xilin raised his hand and fired another shot.

Another of the remaining two bio-soldiers who were running and circling with the gray cat fell down.

"Confirmed, shoot the arm for the last one."

Neo's tone was filled with delight. It seemed the medication was working quite well, almost exactly as expected.

The last shot was fired by Gu Xin. It hit the bio-soldier's right arm. The bio-soldier shot in the right arm took a few seconds longer to die, but the result was still quite good. With this drug, even if they encountered a group of bio-soldiers in the forest, they would have a better chance of survival.

"Are these the only five?" Xilin asked.

"That's all for now, you guys come back."

Xilin recalled the gray cat and returned to the safe zone under the tree. Neo had already gone into the lab to process data, leaving them alone; there was some compressed food in the locker, which they just needed to decompress. There was a display device in the hall showing the outside scene.

Xilin and the others sat there, unpacking their compressed food and starting to eat, watching the scene outside on the screen as they ate. The gray cat squatted nearby, not eating; it had already eaten while teasing the bio-soldiers outside. Licking its paws, the gray cat's attention was drawn to Gu Xin's little braid. It stretched, stuck out its rear end, and then ran to the back of Gu Xin's chair, raising its paw to play with Gu Xin's braid.

Gu Xin used the spoon handle to deflect the cat's paws, but the next moment the paws came over to play with his whip. Gu Xin turned his head to look at the gray cat and met a pair of cat eyes that looked like they were looking at a toy, and was speechless.

Suddenly, Ashou, who was burping and drinking juice, shivered, scratched his arm, and whispered, "It's going to hail."

"Um?"

Xilin and Gu Xin looked at Ashou.

Ah Shou shrank back, glancing timidly at Xilin and Gu Xin, hiccuped, and whispered, "There will be a hailstorm here in an hour."

Xilin and Guxin were puzzled. Guxin didn't even care that the gray cat was taking advantage of him by playing with his braid with its two paws.

They didn't sense anything unusual when they went out to shoot the bio-soldiers; the weather was fine, and there were no warning signs. And now it's going to hail? In this kind of weather?

"Based on past experience, there's a 99.99% chance that what Ashou said will come true," Neo said as he walked out of the lab after finishing processing the data.

"If it hailed, would it have any impact here?" Xilin asked.

"No, the buildings here are very reliable, but hailstorms here usually last for more than five days. Also," Neo looked at Xilin and Guxin, "the food stored here doesn't include your share, so it will be difficult to get out once it starts hailing. Therefore, you'd better go out and stock up on some food before the hailstorm."

Xilin and Gu Xin exchanged a glance, quickly finished their food, and then packed their equipment. Before setting off, Neo casually handed them a list of several plants and ingredients he needed.

Xilin's eye twitched. "We'll see. If I run into you, I'll bring you some."

"It's necessary." Neo went back to his room to sleep as if nothing had happened.

"If that guy were here before, I would have definitely beaten him up," Gu Xin said after they came out.

Indeed, Neo's tone of voice is perplexing, yet he seems completely oblivious to the fact that he might offend someone. Even a compliment becomes ironic when he says it.

"Are all Black Vipers these kinds of freaks?" Gu Xin asked Xi Lin.

"I don't know. At least the two I've met are freaks." If you include Hua Li, who I've never met and has a fetish for dissection, all three of them are freaks.

Xilin and Guxin mainly targeted small animals, processing the meat before putting it in bags and heating it up later.

The two moved quickly, and Gu Xin, now recovered, displayed his extraordinary strength, catching small beasts with almost no effort. They encountered two large, ferocious beasts along the way, which the two quickly dealt with together. The gray cat went to find nuts to gnaw on, and after eating its fill, it had no interest in provoking any more beasts.

The gray cat, which was carrying nuts, twitched its ears and said to Xilin and Guxin, "Someone's coming!"

Xilin and Gu Xin quickly hid themselves; the bag containing the meat served to block out the smell and conceal their presence. Covered with grass clippings and twigs, they were unlikely to be discovered.

After hiding, Xilin quietly waited for the person who approached from afar.

The man was moving very fast, as if he was running away from something. He was holding a bone knife, which was probably made from the bones of some kind of large ferocious beast he had killed. The bone was hard and would be quite effective against ordinary ferocious beasts.

Upon seeing the man's face, Gu Xin frowned. How could it be that guy?

Seeing Gu Xin's reaction, Xi Lin gave him a look: Do you know him?

Gu Xin blinked, confirming.

The gray cat, perched in the tree, looked into the distance; something else was approaching.

A roar shattered the silence of the forest.

The man who heard the roar cursed under his breath and quickened his pace, running and looking for a hiding place. Suddenly, his gaze fell on the spot where Xilin and Guxin were hiding, which was indeed a relatively easy place to hide.

Gu Xin gave Xi Lin a look, signaling him to take care of it, and Xi Lin agreed.

The person who quickened his pace suddenly stopped as he approached, his weapon flashing out. Gu Xin, who was already prepared, deflected the weapon and made a sign. The man was taken aback by the sign, and although he remained wary, he put aside the current dispute because of the pursuers behind him. Gu Xin led him to hide in the bushes behind a sloping hill.

He had applied plant liquid to his body to mask his smell, but the effect diminished over time. Gu Xin sprayed some more liquid on him. The man didn't refuse, but he gripped his knife tightly, remaining on guard, ready to kill Gu Xin at the slightest sign of trouble.

Despite being exhausted, he managed to adjust his physical condition to be perfectly suited for lurking when he hid.

Before long, a lizard-like creature about five meters tall crawled over. Unlike lizards, this creature had two pairs of large chelipeds in front, upright spines on its back, and its body was covered with thick bony scales all the way to its tail. It was clear at a glance that this fierce behemoth was not to be trifled with.

The large creature stopped, and the two tentacles on its head twitched; it was using these sensitive tentacles to search for its target.

As soon as Xilin saw the whiskers above the big guy's head, he knew he probably couldn't hide it from the creature. He gave the gray cat a look, and the gray cat yawned.

Just as the large creature was pointing its whiskers in this direction and preparing to come over, a meow not only attracted the creature's attention but also startled Gu Xin and the other person.

Anyone would be startled. In such a tense moment, a strange cat meow suddenly rang out from above. It would be strange not to be startled.

The gray cat let out a defiant meow and then leaped away. Seeing the big guy still hesitating, the gray cat turned and charged at him.

Gu Xin's eyes widened. He looked at Xi Lin, wondering if they were going to sacrifice their pet.

But seeing Xilin's calm expression, Gu Xin and the other man turned their attention back to that side.

The gray cat ran over and suddenly sped up, only a gray shadow flashing by. Then, only one of the two whiskers on the big guy's head remained, and the gray cat, with a whisker still in its mouth, smugly flicked its tail ahead.

Gu Xin, that person: "..." What a fierce cat!

The gray cat ran away with a whisker in its mouth. Sure enough, the big guy got angry and roared, the sound waves shaking some nuts off the tree.

Now collecting nuts will be easier, Xilin thought.

After the big guy chased after them for a while, Xilin and Guxin ignored him and quickly started collecting nuts.

"That's about enough, let's hurry back!" Xilin said. There were only ten minutes left until the hour Ashou had mentioned. Xilin didn't know what the hail here looked like, but it certainly wouldn't be pleasant; it was best to get back to the safe zone before then.

Gu Xin nodded, then looked at the man and asked, "Hey, wanna come along?"

Erti glanced warily at the person who knew his identity, and at the young man not far away who was picking up familiar objects. He knew neither of them were simple men, but the current situation was indeed not optimistic for him. After thinking for a moment, Erti decided to refuse; he didn't easily trust people.

"There's going to be a hailstorm soon, and you'll probably be in trouble if you keep going like this," Gu Xin said before Er Ti refused.

Erti looked at the ancient letter to discern the truth of these words.

"Walk!"

Xilin called out to Gu Xin. "Leave quickly. Whether or not to follow is up to Er Ti."

Before Xilin and Guxin could get far away, Erti caught up.

The gray cat arrived at the tree even earlier than Xilin and Guxin, still holding the whisker in its mouth. Its paws were busy scratching at it.

Neo was reluctant to have another stranger arrive. "Why do you all seem to enjoy bringing in troubled people?"

A... a bundle?!

Ertie wanted to kill him; he'd never been called a "burden" before. Looking at the skinny, listless Neo who'd just woken up, Ertie felt he could crush this idiot with just two fingers.

Fortunately, Neo was still sleepy, so after going to the bathroom, he went back to his room to continue sleeping.

Inside the living room, Ah Shou, clutching a glass of juice, huddled in the corner of the sofa, watching another stranger with a menacing aura appear. His hiccups, which had just stopped, seemed to be starting again.

Xilin pointed to a room where first aid supplies were kept, knowing that Erti wouldn't trust anyone else to treat his injuries.

While Erti was cleaning his wounds, Gu Xin revealed Erti's identity.

Erti is considered a celebrity in a certain circle within the Seventeenth Star Region. The former leader of "Blood Orchid," one of the top underground forces in the Seventeenth Star Region, adopted Erti as his son. Later, due to some external factors, internal strife broke out within "Blood Orchid," and the former leader was assassinated. Erti then began his path of revenge.

Over the next two years, a series of important gang members were assassinated. In addition, planetary governments, government officials from other planets, and nobles were all on Ertti's assassination list. Ertti was later known as the "Flower of Doom."

"I heard that he was riddled with bullets once, but his body was never found. However, not long after, that guy reappeared and successfully assassinated several government officials attending the Starfield Conference. Since then, Ertie has been on the Seventeenth Starfield's most wanted list. But he disappeared after that, and Ertie, having completed his revenge, never appeared in front of anyone again. I never expected to see him here."

The Flower of Misfortune, Erti—a grown man being called "Flower" probably wouldn't be happy either, but this name did indeed strike fear into the hearts of many in the Seventeenth Star Region at the time. Whether it was various gangs, government officials, or nobles who had once been involved in the "Blood Orchid" struggle, this name was a nightmare for them!

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