Star Hunter.

Chapter 297 Close Encounter with Zebras

With the help of the gray cat, Xilin obtained a lot of information about the zebra virus from the black viper. The black viper still does not have a unified solution, and the Royal Academy of Sciences also has different opinions. In short, only a general direction has been determined, but there is still no conclusion on how to go in that direction and what specific steps are needed.

Everyone knows that we need to start with the original form of the virus, but where can we find the original form of the zebra virus now? If, as Neo said, the original form of the zebra virus no longer exists and has already mutated, then we will never be able to draw a conclusion.

Xilin quickly skimmed through the information. Although Neo's words made sense, Xilin needed to make his own decision and devise a solution based on this information.

The people working on Black Viper are indeed talented; many of their solutions are things Xilin would never have imagined, but whether they'll ultimately work is still uncertain. Besides, Xilin also learned that many Black Viper personnel changed their original treatment plans after being infected with the zebra virus. Some of these individuals, those with weaker constitutions or incurable congenital immune deficiencies, died shortly after contracting the zebra virus. However, they left behind many valuable, extremely detailed and precise records. The information obtained from them has greatly promoted research. Compared to the Royal Academy of Sciences, the sacrifices here are greater, but the conclusions are also more numerous.

This information was obtained at the cost of lives.

After reviewing the information, Xilin organized his thoughts and began simulating the experiment in his mind. Black Viper had at least a thousand different detailed solutions, in addition to the three main approaches from the Royal Academy of Sciences. The energy Xilin consumed during this time was enormous, and it's hard to believe that he could simultaneously simulate over a thousand different experimental schemes in such a short period.

We keep simulating and eliminating. What we eliminate isn't necessarily completely wrong, but rather things that we don't have time to work on. Like Neo's case, even if it could be solved after more than 300 days, we don't know how staggering the number of people who would die from the virus would be by then.

Therefore, Xilin can only extract some feasible aspects from these different solutions, combine them with more selected solutions, and then connect them according to his own judgment of feasibility to set a final solution.

There's no other way; someone has to learn from the strengths of others. People like Black Viper Linio simply won't accept other people's viewpoints, nor will they abandon their own to support others.

The gray cat looked at Xilin sitting there with his eyes closed, feeling particularly annoyed. It deeply missed its life in the Star Alliance, where it and the others would raid the card's storage lockers every day, patrol the territory, bully the other members of the Sixth Team, and go on missions to "go on a killing spree" without anyone interfering. Without nobles, they could swagger around using their status as one of the Four Great Alliances…

Thinking of this, the gray cat drooped its ears and sighed as it lay on the ground. Now Xilin has to deal with this damn virus again, such a dangerous virus. What's the point of thinking of a solution? Someone else will naturally handle it. At worst, some people will die.

In the gray cat's eyes, even if a bunch of strangers died, it wouldn't feel much sadness. But people it knew, people it was familiar with, it couldn't bear to part with them. It was just a selfish cat. Is selfishness wrong? Meow, I don't care if you're right or wrong!

After a long while, Xilin opened his eyes, looked at the listless gray cat lying on the ground next to him, reached out and picked it up, tucked it into his arms and walked out.

"Where to?" the gray cat asked listlessly, its tail drooping and its eyelids half-raised as it looked at Xilin.

"Go to the Black Viper's area."

"I'm not going!!" The gray cat broke free from Xilin's arms, its four paws firmly planted on the ground, its body hunched over, as if to say, "I don't want to leave."

"You really aren't going?" Xilin stood there without moving.

"No way! I'd rather die than go!"

"Then I'll go myself."

Finally, when Xilin had walked a certain distance, the gray cat still followed, but it scratched Xilin's trouser leg into a noodle shape again, and it was in a bad mood and wouldn't say a word. Even when Xilin put fresh fish cakes near the gray cat's mouth, the gray cat... definitely ate them, but it just wouldn't say a word or look at Xilin.

Xilin would definitely inform Yuan Xingming before leaving, without revealing the real reason, but indirectly reminding the three of them to be careful and return immediately after the wedding. While the three of them were somewhat playful, they were still sensible. Although they didn't explicitly agree after hearing Xilin's words, they decided to do as he suggested.

After explaining things to Yuan Xingming and the others, Xilin took Gray Cat to the place where the flying cars were parked. However, to Xilin's surprise, someone was already waiting for him there.

"Gleason Dodge!" Shirin looked at Gleason Dodge standing there. It was clear that the boy knew they were leaving and had been monitoring Shirin and the gray cat all along.

Gleason Dodge was always surrounded by a large number of people responsible for his protection, both overt and covert, visible and invisible. The Gleason family truly cherished and protected Dodge like a treasure.

"Are you going to the eleventh star system to find a solution to the virus?" Dodge asked.

"How do you know about the virus?" Xilin didn't expect that Dodge would know about the Zebra Virus. This kid really has access to the core of the Gleason family, otherwise he wouldn't know about this virus.

"The core of the empire's upper nobility has already received the news, but because Emperor Lansa ordered that this matter be suppressed first, it has not spread." Dodge had investigated Xilin, and since Xilin had a close relationship with the Yuan family and was also Guan Feng's favorite student, it was not surprising that he knew this.

  

"Then may I ask why you're waiting here? I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry. I hope Young Master Dodge can get straight to the point." Even though he had discovered that Dodge had been spying on him, Xilin wasn't afraid of getting into a conflict with him.

Gleeson Dodge shook his head. "I don't mean to cause you any trouble. I'm just waiting here to tell you that if you want to go to the Eleventh Star Region to find a solution to the virus, I suggest you go there."

As he spoke, Gleeson Dodge took out a star map and opened the star map of the eleventh star region. He pointed to one of the planets.

"Before the virus appeared in the Eleventh Starfield, I had been there, but one day, due to an abnormal stellar flare in that area causing an ion storm and severe magnetic field interference, I changed my original route. But in that area, there was one planet that was most affected by this."

"You mean that planet might be related to the virus? When did you pass by there?" Xilin asked.

Dodge gave a date, and shortly after that date, the patrol discovered the virus. The planet the patrol discovered wasn't far from the one Dodge had mentioned, but it wasn't close either, so it wouldn't become the primary suspect.

"Why do you think that?" Xilin asked again, after all, the chances of it being so great are too high. Stellar flares are unusual, but there has never been a viral event like this before.

"This is just my guess, believe it or not."

Xilin paused, then, instead of continuing with that question, asked, "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Dodge glanced at the listless gray cat perched limply on Sirin's shoulder. "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

What do you think?

"...Never mind." Dodge turned around, waved, and left with his men.

"Thank you for the news," Xilin said.

Dodge didn't turn around and didn't respond to Xilin's expression of gratitude.

"Tch, what's with the attitude!" the gray cat said angrily.

Xilin stepped into the spacecraft and ruffled the gray cat's round head. "Alright, be good, don't be upset. After this is resolved, I'll go find Xikai. Let's see if we can get the method Sigma used to cross the star system back then. Once we get it, we'll go back to the Star Alliance."

"Really?" The gray cat's ears perked up, and its eyes sparkled.

"Yes. Really!"

"If you lie, may you turn into poop!"

"Yeah, lying is shit."

"Claw!" The gray cat raised one of its front paws. Only one curved cat claw shot out from the bent paw.

Xilin: "..."

After symbolically hooking a finger around the cat's paw and flicking it twice, Xilin activated the spacecraft and left the planet.

Shortly after Xilin's aircraft left, a robot appeared where the aircraft had been parked.

"Feng Shou, he has already left."

Xilin received a communication from Guan Feng shortly after leaving the planet.

Guan Feng, who was in a meeting at the time, was furious when he learned that Xilin would return to Black Viper and work with Neo on their research.

"You're not allowed to go!!"

At this moment, the Royal Academy of Sciences' conference room was completely silent. The president of the Royal Academy of Sciences, who had just been giving a passionate speech but was interrupted by Guan Feng's shout and had forgotten what he was going to say, twitched and twitched until his face was as black as if it had been charred.

Guan Feng ignored the expressions on the faces of those around him, got up and strode out while shouting, completely losing his usual calm demeanor.

"What's wrong with Guan Feng?" someone asked.

"I guess one of his students got into trouble." Another person who usually disliked Guan Feng slowly picked up his cup and took a sip of tea. It's better to calm down at times like this, lest you end up like that hypocrite Guan Feng, making a mistake at such an important meeting.

Xilin didn't hide it from Guan Feng because he knew it wouldn't last long. Going to that area of ​​the eleventh star region would definitely involve dealing with the Empire's special departments, and Guan Feng would surely find out, which would cause a lot of trouble. So it was better to inform Guan Feng earlier.

After enduring Guan Feng's furious outburst, Xi Lin turned off the communicator and continued heading towards the Eleventh Star Region.

As Xilin had learned, the eleventh star system was under tight security, especially the areas with more serious situations. The planet that Gleason Dodge pointed out was also within the security zone.

The spacecraft underwent an inspection upon entering the eleventh star system. As one of the Black Viper's high-ranking members, Xilin naturally possessed a special pass and was among those permitted to enter and exit. However, the inspection became much more complex as they approached the heavily guarded area. No one within this area, regardless of their status—even upper-class nobles—was allowed to remain inside. Failure to comply would result in extreme measures. This was an order from higher command, and those guarding the severely affected area were members of the Empire's special department, the "Wings"—only publicly known, while operating covertly. Nobles had no influence over them.

Xilin's spacecraft received a remote warning before it even approached the defensive zone. Xilin produced a special pass, but the other side didn't immediately let him in. Instead, they ordered Xilin to fly his spacecraft into a space fortress.

Xilin complied. Inside the space fortress, he would undergo a full scan, and if he carried any pathogens, he would absolutely not be allowed to pass. The spacecraft had already undergone several rounds of heavy disinfection at the entrance.

However, when he got off the aircraft, he saw two familiar faces.

"Tuba. Guxin?"

The two people who walked over were acquaintances who had been tested together on that planet. At that time, Xilin and Baiye had other arrangements. As for the others, Xilin only knew that they were assigned to other positions within the Black Viper, but they were not under Xilin's direct jurisdiction. They were managed by Christie Hadar.

Upon seeing Gu Xin and Tu Ba, Xilin knew that the so-called special department of the Empire was the people tested by Black Viper.

"Is the so-called special department of the Empire composed of you?" Xilin smiled as he walked toward Tuba and Guxin.

"As you can see." I was quite happy to see Xilin Guxin again.

"I never thought I'd be a soldier again." Tuba was wearing a military uniform, but it was quite different from the uniforms of the Empire's two major armies. He looked like a seasoned combat veteran; the design of his uniform was very suitable for battle.

"Hey, hulhu, what's wrong? Who bullied you?" Gu Xin poked the gray cat's ear. He got a swipe of the gray cat's paw in return.

"Who would dare to bully it?" Xilin said, pursing his lips.

"It's you!" The gray cat pointed a paw at Xilin and accused him, "Xilin is a big bad guy, a big idiot, a big bastard, a big liar, a piece of shit!"

Xilin: "Where did you learn all this from?"

Gu Xin chuckled as he watched the gray cat scratch Xilin's sleeve, its expression full of resentment.

"What are you doing here? You know this is a ward for seriously ill patients," Tuba asked.

Upon hearing this, Gu Xin's smile vanished, and he became serious. They had witnessed the symptoms caused by that virus; no matter how strong one's constitution, it was unavoidable.

"I'm here to look for clues about the virus."

"Looking for clues? Did Black Viper send you?"

"No. I came by myself." Gu Xin and Tu Ba had no idea that Xilin was one of the three newly appointed giants. They only knew Christy Hadar. Xilin did not explain his background to them, only saying that he was engaged in academic work like Neo and the others.

The three talked for a while longer. Knowing that Neo had also been infected, Gu Xin and Tu Ba felt a little heavy-hearted. Although that guy's way of speaking made them want to slap him, they had to admit he was indeed talented. If it hadn't been for Neo's safe zone, they probably would have been dead long ago, and wouldn't have survived to the end.

Since Xilin had already made his decision, Gu Xin and Tu Ba knew that persuasion was useless, so they explained the disease situation in the area to Xilin.

"How about this planet?" Xilin opened the star map of the eleventh star region and pointed to the planet that Gleeson Dodge had mentioned.

"This one, let me see." Tuba pulled up the planet's information. "It's also one of the heavily infected planets."

"How much time do we have left?" Xilin asked.

Xilin meant how much longer it would take for this planet to reach the stipulated deadline. Given the spread of the virus on the planet, if a cure wasn't developed by then, the planet would be wiped out. The longer the delay, the harder the mutated virus would be to eliminate. While the energy generated from wiping the planet could initially destroy the virus, the prolonged delay would increase the virus's survival rate, leading to secondary infections on other planets and in other areas.

Knowing what Xilin meant, Tuba and Guxin remained silent for a while before saying, "Because a new drug has appeared, it can buy us some time. The higher-ups told us to wait, but nobody knows when the order will come. It could be the next moment, or it could be a long time from now."

In other words, Xilin needs to be careful if he wants to go there.

"Okay, I understand. If the order comes down, let me know and I'll evacuate immediately," Xilin said after connecting the communicator.

"Okay, be careful. We have the latest protective suits here. We all wear these for operations." Tuba handed Xilin a few protective suits. One suit was definitely not enough; they would prepare several more just in case.

Xilin took the protective suit and looked at Gu Xin and Tuba: "Is yours enough?"

"This is definitely enough. We'll be sending over the latest improved protective suits every now and then. We've already worn three versions." Tuba assured Xilin that there was no need to worry. "If any new improved protective suits arrive, I'll send a robot to deliver them to you."

They weren't the only ones guarding this place; there were also robots. If it were all robots, it wouldn't be safe. If others found out that the Empire and Black Viper were actually in cahoots, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.

Thanks!

"Don't mention it, we haven't thanked you for your help that time."

Xilin brought his own protective suit, but compared to the latest version here, the new protective suit he had was obviously safer.

After Xilin left, Gu Xin and Tu Ba sat on the railing, each with a cigarette in their mouth, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.

After a long pause, Gu Xin finally spoke up: "Tu Ba, do you think Xilin might have been infected?"

Tuba didn't speak, but exhaled heavily, the smoke rising and obscuring his expression.

"This smoke is really thick," Tuba said.

After that, the two stopped talking and sat there quietly smoking.

Meanwhile, Xilin piloted his small flying vehicle toward that planet.

The planet is now in complete chaos. Not only are ordinary people infected, but a large portion of the military has also been infected, and the rest are mostly carriers in the incubation period of the virus. No one is coming to maintain order, and not a single spacecraft has been able to leave the planet; all the aircraft seem to have collectively malfunctioned. This is the work of the robots.

The planetary government's people had long since fled; to be precise, they went to another place on another planet—a facility established by the Empire specifically for treating the zebra virus. Perhaps some of them are already dead, and others are still in the wards receiving experimental drugs, trying to prolong their lives, but one thing is true: they abandoned their people.

From space, the planet appears to be ablaze with fire—the aftermath of a chaotic battle, its surface riddled with holes. Even if an effective antidote for the virus is developed, the planet's wounds will not heal quickly, and the people who survived this event will desperately seek to migrate to other parts of the planet, or even across interstellar regions. For them, this place is hell; even though everything is over, the deep-seated terror etched into their memories will be stirred up by the familiar sight.

Before entering the planet, Xilin used the spacecraft's scanning and detection system to analyze some energy reactions, proving that the planet had indeed received relatively strong external energy radiation not long ago, but such radiation should not have caused large-scale damage. Moreover, if it were just this kind of energy radiation, the probability of forming that kind of virus would not be high. After conducting a global scan and analysis, Xilin marked an area where residual abnormal energy still existed.

All satellite networks were also paralyzed. Xilin chose a place to land in the darkness, a sparsely populated area, so his arrival would not attract anyone's attention.

After donning his protective suit, Xilin stepped out of the aircraft with his testing equipment. However, Gray Cat ran out before him and immediately shouted, "Viruses are everywhere! Xilin, check the protective suit again, make sure no viruses get in!"

Having confirmed that the protective suit was safe, Xilin finally stepped out of the aircraft. Gray Cat nervously observed Xilin's reaction, fearing that the virus infection might be detected at any moment.

Is this really just a virus?

The planet's skies have long since lost their clarity due to successive wars; no starlight can be seen, only a hazy mist, which under the dark sky creates an unusually heavy atmosphere.

The only sound here is Xilin's footsteps. The withered leaves are still struggling on the branches, not completely falling, but some branches have softened and drooped limply, while others are strangely stiff, unable to be swayed by the wind, as if they would break if forced to sway.

The gray cat's fur stood on end. This place made it feel very uneasy, extremely uneasy. It wasn't wearing anything protective, so it could sense the virus invading. However, its internal structure had already been converted into a mechanical state, so the virus was useless against it; whatever invaded was expelled in the same amount.

This was Xilin's first time coming into such close contact with the zebra virus. He was previously immune to viruses and some toxins because, due to his physical condition, he could spontaneously form the most suitable substances to deal with these invaders based on the infecting virus and invading toxin molecules. But this time, Xilin wasn't confident. If he were to be infected, could he handle it as he had before?

Undeniably, one of the reasons Xilin dared to come here was because of his special physical condition. However, when he came into close contact with these substances, even though there was a protective suit between them, the chip inside Xilin's body began to activate, telling Xilin that these zebra viruses were indeed an unprecedentedly powerful enemy.

What puzzles Xilin even more now is what exactly that unknown substance on the virus molecule is.

Looking at the data detected by the instrument in my hand, most of the zebra viruses around here are advanced variants, some are intermediate variants, but I still haven't seen any primary variants.

"Xilin, let's go back to the aircraft!" Gray Cat was habitually preparing to reach out its paw to grab Xilin's trouser leg, but when it saw the protective suit Xilin was wearing, it suddenly stopped and withdrew its paw, saying.

Xilin nodded and walked back to the aircraft. One of the aircraft's hatches had been modified and equipped with the latest anti-virus equipment. After multiple rounds of disinfection and no virus was detected, Xilin took off his protective suit in one of the buffer rooms and underwent another round of skin disinfection. It took him a long time to come out.

Before landing, Xilin launched sample collectors to various locations on the planet. These collectors would detect virus data from each location and report it to Xilin in real time. Now, all the sample collectors are in place and have begun collecting and analyzing the data.

Xilin activated the main control system to observe the newly collected data. From this data, Xilin could learn about the viral situation in various parts of the planet, as well as the proportion of primary, intermediate, and advanced mutants among these viruses.

The area where Xilin landed had launched multiple sample collectors within a small area, which he marked as a key area on the map for focused analysis.

Looking at the data, Xilin frowned. The data analysis from various locations was similar, with virtually no primary variants appearing. However, when the collected sample analysis data was distributed according to color difference on a latitude and longitude map, the results became quite clear.

The darker areas indicate a higher proportion of intermediate and primary mutants, with areas containing primary mutant viruses being particularly dark. According to the map, the darkest area on the entire planet is located a short distance from Xilin's current landing point.

It really is here!

"Xilin, send the robot," Gray Cat said.

Xilin hesitated for a moment, then contacted the robot closest to him on the planet and gave it some instructions. The robot followed Xilin's directions and headed in that direction.

Inside the aircraft, both Xilin and Gray Cat were staring intently at the display screen, looking for anything unusual.

Everything was the same as when Xilin went out, but when the robot reached the location marked by Xilin, the communication between Xilin and the robot was lost.

The surveillance camera was flickering, making it difficult to see the surroundings. As a last resort, Xilin moved the camera away from the area, and the image became clear again.

The robot that had been sent there stood there silently, without making a sound. There wasn't even a signal.

"What's going on?" the gray cat wondered. It hadn't noticed anything unusual when it was outside. Although it hadn't gone to that place, it really didn't feel anything strange.

After a moment of silence, Xilin got up and went into the sterile buffer room to put on protective clothing.

It seems I'll have to handle it myself.