Star Hunter.

Chapter 299 is so frustrating!

The president of the Royal Academy of Sciences sat there with a gloomy expression, surrounded by an atmosphere of despair.

This was the second time Guan Feng had interrupted him like this. You see, once someone is interrupted, it's very difficult for them to get back into the flow. His prepared remarks had already vanished in an instant thanks to this sudden slap.

The conference room fell silent. The engineering department managers and a few people from the literature department, who had been daydreaming, were snapped back to reality and looked around blankly. Those who disliked Guan Feng, trying to hide their gloating expressions, picked up their water glasses and pretended to drink.

Guan Feng, however, seemed oblivious to everything, still looking down at the communicator in his hand. His expression was unreadable, but the atmosphere around him was tense, and his aura was even stronger than that of the Dean, who held the highest position in the room. This caused the people who were close to Guan Feng to unconsciously shift their positions.

The dean had initially intended to call out Guan Feng by name, but hesitated upon seeing Guan Feng's imposing presence and ultimately refrained from doing so. He coughed, drawing everyone's attention back to Guan Feng, and said, "The situation is urgent, but if anyone here has an urgent matter to attend to, you may leave..."

Normally, such words are just polite remarks, an indirect warning, but before the dean could finish speaking, Guan Feng got up and walked straight out, and none of the people sitting there dared to stop him.

The dean's face darkened further, his heart rate became abnormal from holding it in, and he wished he could slam his fist on the table a couple of times.

Actually, Guan Feng wasn't trying to go against the dean; he simply hadn't paid attention to what the dean had just said. He was communicating with Gray Cat via encrypted text message, and Gray Cat had just asked him what to do next. But before Guan Feng could reply, the connection was lost. The communicator's fault analysis showed that the other end was experiencing extremely strong signal interference and could not connect.

That's why Guan Feng was in such a hurry. He didn't care what the people in the meeting room were saying. He went straight out the door to contact the others. He had to find Xilin as soon as possible, otherwise Xilin would be dead. People infected with zebra virus who don't get treatment die very quickly.

While Guan Feng was urgently trying to contact someone, something also happened in Xilin.

Gray Cat was communicating with Guan Feng when suddenly something strange happened around them. Almost simultaneously, all electronic devices were interfered with by this sudden, abnormal energy. Then, after a series of loud bangs, the surrounding machines were paralyzed, and several precision testing instruments even exploded.

The gray cat's fur stood on end, stiffening as it looked at Xilin, who sat there with his eyes closed, with a mixture of fear and worry. This unusual energy was emanating from Xilin.

Xilin's current condition is also very bad; his body is almost in a state of strife between two substances. The unknown substance that rushed into his body wants to forcibly assimilate and modify Xilin's chromosomes, but the biochip that has already been integrated into his genetic chromosomes will not allow such changes.

If this unknown substance wins, Xilin will become a purely humanoid viral entity. In that case, Xilin will no longer be considered a "person," and even his own consciousness will disappear. The invasion signals his brain is receiving are extremely strong. Xilin is currently adjusting the biochip within his body to fight for dominance against the unknown substance, or at least expel it from his body.

That sudden, unusual energy was an energy fluctuation generated after a round of combat.

The gray cat stood frozen, staring intently at Xilin. It could sense Xilin's life force. It was still strong, showing no signs of decline due to the virus infection. However, two colors of stripes had appeared on Xilin's face, one black and one white, and the boundary between the two colors was quite clear, unlike the blurred boundary of the stripes on other infected individuals.

"Xilin?" The gray cat tried calling Xilin, but received no answer for a long time.

Just as the gray cat was about to poke Xilin a couple of times, it suddenly became alert, jumped up, grabbed Xilin by the scruff of its neck, and dragged it outside. During the drag, Xilin accidentally bumped into a chair leg and a door frame several times, causing its forehead to bleed.

"I'm sorry, the situation is urgent and I can't think about anything else. Don't blame me when you wake up," the gray cat thought to itself.

After dragging Xilin out, Gray Cat didn't stop and ran away from the aircraft. Not long after, a loud bang was heard behind them.

The aircraft exploded.

Because of that abnormal energy interference, all the aircraft's settings were severely disrupted, and the alarm was also malfunctioning and unable to emit a warning sound. Gray Cat had only dragged Xilin out because he sensed that the aircraft was about to explode.

"That was close." Gray Cat breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Xilin lying on the ground with his eyes still closed and not moving, and then looked at the wound on Xilin's forehead. Strangely, Xilin used to recover quickly even if he was cut by a knife. But now, he had only bumped into something and it was just a scratch. There was no sign of it scabbing over and it was still bleeding.

  

What should I do?

The gray cat panicked. Now it had no communicator, and the communicator in Xilin's hand was also unusable; it couldn't contact anyone else.

After thinking for a moment, the gray cat tilted its head, perked up its ears, and listened to the sounds in the distance. Then, it picked up Xilin by the scruff of its neck again and headed towards the direction where the gunfire was least. Actually, it would be more convenient to carry people by changing forms, but the fluctuations on Xilin's body were very strange. If it weren't Xilin lying here but someone else, even someone like Guan Feng whom it knew, it wouldn't give him a second glance.

That substance has a great impact on both mechanical intelligent beings and organic life forms. After weighing the pros and cons, this organic life form is more relaxed, so it can only carry Xilin in the form of a kitten and drag it towards the direction with less artillery fire.

Along the way, Xilin sustained several more wounds. None of them were deep, but none of them showed any signs of healing or forming scabs.

As the gray cat ran, it kept a close eye on Xilin to prevent him from bumping into a large rock. If he did, it couldn't guarantee that Xilin wouldn't die from excessive bleeding when he woke up.

The gray cat got anxious at the thought that Xilin might not wake up, and when it got anxious, it would scratch itself, leaving very obvious scratch marks on the ground as it ran.

After finally managing to drag Xilin to a relatively calmer place, the buildings there were riddled with holes. Many places were still emitting flames and thick smoke, and there was a strong smell of various burning materials.

Without thinking too much, the gray cat checked the surrounding network situation, and it was still terrible. The network was completely down, but it could still detect the operation of the machinery and knew what kind of machinery was running.

Fortunately, the energy fluctuations in Xilin have subsided, allowing Gray Cat to more clearly investigate the mechanical operations in this area.

Suddenly, the gray cat's ears twitched. It spotted a place with several medical instruments, a dozen or so patients, and someone administering rudimentary injections.

Okay. That place!

Gray Cat dragged Xilin closer to that direction, while also being careful not to attract the attention of some people hiding in the ruins with guns. Those people didn't look like good people at all; they had a strong murderous aura.

The place Gray Cat chose was underground. Many buildings on the surface were wrecked, and some people, believing they wouldn't survive, wanted to drag as many others as possible down with them before they died. And there were quite a few like them; their outlet for despair was shooting and hacking at ordinary people. The army was gone. The government was long gone too. True chaos and despair permeated the land, and people wavered between despair and madness, perhaps waiting for someone else to make a decision for them.

The network outage and the destruction of many electronic devices in the shelling prevented this underground rescue point from remaining hidden for so long. In the past, without sophisticated shielding, it would have been absolutely impossible to maintain such a position for an extended period using only a thick stone slab coated with some simple isotopic material.

There were also some dead animals around. There were pets and wild animals, whether they were barely clinging to life or had been dead for a long time, they were all abandoned there. People carrying guns walked around and didn't even give them a second glance. Perhaps on a whim, they would take their guns again and shoot the still breathing animals into sieves.

Finally, after dragging Xilin to that place, the gray cat didn't immediately pull Xilin into the building on the ground. It wanted to check what the situation was like inside first, and also find a better way to get the people inside to take Xilin in for treatment. Even if it didn't have any real effect, it would be much better than this continuous bleeding.

After hiding Xilin in a corner, the gray cat ran into the building. It could detect the layout of the basement beneath the house and knew which entrances and exits were there. It found an entrance blocked by thick stone slabs. Just as the gray cat was about to force its way through the stone slabs, it heard movement inside and retreated, hiding behind a broken cabinet to observe who came out.

It was difficult to hear the sounds inside through the stone slab; most people couldn't hear them at all. But the gray cat could. Two women came out, one older and one younger. The older one was around twenty years old, and the younger one was no more than ten. Judging from their appearance, they had also been infected with the zebra virus at a young age, as the two-tone stripes were already quite noticeable. They could still move around a bit now, but it would probably be very difficult for them in a while.

Although the two looked somewhat disheveled, their eyes were clear. The gray cat had an animal instinct and could tell from a person's eyes whether they were worth the time to become a newcomer.

Not bad, they shouldn't do anything that would incur public wrath. Gray Cat had already confirmed the two men's character, but now he hesitated about how to get them to drag Xilin into the mess.

Should we just jump out and say that? That doesn't seem like a good idea. Xilin said that talking animals are rare in the Empire, and it wouldn't be good if it caused other problems.

Should we just drag Xilin over? What if we don't save these two?

This is so mentally taxing!

Heaven knows what it hates most is trying to figure out human psychology. Humans are too complex; it still hasn't truly understood human thinking. It would rather be like that chameleon in the dough, figuring out how to break into someone else's storage cabinet!

Just as the gray cat was deep in thought, the little girl who had cautiously emerged exclaimed in a low voice, "Ah, a puppy!"

The gray cat followed the little girl's gaze and saw a small pet dog lying next to the building, shot in the body. Infected with the virus and wounded by the gunshot, it had lost its ability to move and could only lie there panting. It seemed that it would not last much longer, but its eyes were still open, looking at the people inside the building.

Some say that a dog's eyes are the most likely to evoke sympathy, and this dog is one of them. Although its fur is covered in blood and dust, and the zebra stripes on its shoulders are a far cry from its former appearance, its eyes, reflecting the flames of burning debris on the street, truly send a chill down your spine.

There was no resentment, no jealousy or madness as many would see. Even wounded by a human arrow, his eyes still shone with purity. It was this gaze that made the two who had just emerged stop in their tracks.

The little girl looked around and, not seeing any of the armed men, quickly went over and brought the puppy inside.

The gray cat crouching behind the cabinet twitched its whiskers, as if it had an idea.

"Meow"

A low, soft meow rang out. The two people inside the house could hear it, but those outside couldn't.

The two people who were feeling sorry for the pet dog heard a cat meowing and looked towards the cabinet. Then they saw a few flickering lights outside and a small cat about half an arm's length away, with drooping ears and a drooping tail, its body low to the ground as if it would be difficult to take another step. Its eyes were filled with endless sorrow.

"Meow"

Another weak, mosquito-like meow escaped its lips; it was a sound so pitiful it brought tears to the eyes of anyone who heard it.

"It's a kitten!" The little girl, carrying the pet dog, walked towards the gray cat. She crouched down and watched the kitten crawl towards her step by step.

The gray cat walked over to the little girl who had squatted down, tilted its head, and followed the little girl's outstretched hand. The soft touch made the little girl's heart melt instantly.

"Sister, can I take them down with me?" the little girl asked, looking at the other girl.

After thinking about it, the woman was also moved by the sight of the cat and dog, especially by the cat's eyes filled with expectation and sorrow. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she nodded.

They had originally come out to search for useful items under the cover of night, especially food, but they never expected to encounter these two animals.

"Let's take them inside first," the woman said. If we leave these two animals here, they might get riddled with bullets by those extremists at any time.

"Um!"

The little girl hugged the puppy to her chest and then freed her hands to hug the gray cat.

"Let me do it," the woman said, coming over to pick up the gray cat and take it into the basement.

But before she could even touch it, the gray cat grabbed the little girl's trouser leg and pulled her to the side.

Children have the strongest empathy, so you have to start early! Adults have too many thoughts. They'll probably overthink it and it'll all fall through; Gray Cat understands that.

"Sister, what is it going to do?" the little girl asked the woman.

The woman watched for a while, then tentatively asked, "Where is it trying to take us?"

The gray cat "meows" to indicate the correct answer.

The little girl looked at the gray cat and asked, "Where are you taking us?"

The gray cat tugged at the little girl's trouser leg again, pulling it to one side. Ugh, should I say something?

After hesitating for a moment, the woman patted the little girl's head and said, "You take the puppy inside first, and I'll take the kitten to see what's going on."

The little girl shook her head, "I'll wait for you here!"

"Listen to me, get down, it's too dangerous here."

Seeing her sister's resolute attitude, the little girl pursed her lips, hugged the puppy, opened the stone slab, and went into the basement.

"Sister, be careful."

"I know, go in quickly."

After the stone slab was closed, the woman squatted down and stroked the head of the gray cat, who looked weak and helpless, and asked softly, "Little cat, where are you taking me?"

Seeing that the woman had decided to follow, the gray cat was so happy that it forgot itself and turned around and ran away quickly.

The woman: "..."

Where is your weakness?!

Seeing that the woman hadn't followed, the gray cat turned its head and looked over in confusion. When it saw the surprise in her eyes, it realized that it had gone too far. So it drooped its ears, walked over, rubbed against the woman's hand, and hooked its tail around her wrist, pulling her in one direction.

Although she was quite surprised by the cat's two completely different behaviors, she also admired its intelligence. However, just to be on the safe side, she checked the gun at her waist and the knife in her sleeve, and after confirming, looked at the gray cat: "I won't pursue you for now, but don't lead me to those rioters."

The gray cat shook its head vigorously.

Seeing the gray cat looking at her anxiously, the woman asked again, "Is it your friend or your owner who is injured?"

The gray cat nodded vigorously again.

Standing up, the woman smiled and said, "Take me there, but I'm not sure if I'll let him into the basement."

"Meow—"

The gray cat led the woman towards Xilin. The distance wasn't long, but the woman found the cat to be exceptionally intelligent, even adept at concealment. She hadn't noticed anyone approaching, but the cat had spotted them beforehand, lowering its ears and hiding behind the ruins while using its tail to signal someone was there. Only after the man carrying the gun had passed did the cat continue leading the way.

Finally, the woman was brought to Xilin. After examining Xilin's injuries, the woman determined that the external wounds were not serious and only required simple treatment to stop the bleeding.

The woman helped Xilin to the basement. The little girl was happy to see her sister return safely, but she was astonished by the gray cat that was jumping around them. After hearing her sister's story, the little girl praised the gray cat for being clever.

However, the cat no longer cared about the compliment; it was focused on Xilin's physical condition, whose vital signs were erratic, which was driving the cat crazy!

There were some makeshift hospital beds in the basement, cobbled together from various items, but it was better than nothing.

While treating Xilin, the woman noticed that although Xilin's wounds weren't deep and didn't appear serious, the bleeding wouldn't stop. This was strange; all other basic tests were normal, so why wasn't the bleeding stopped?

While Gray Cat anxiously paced back and forth in the makeshift, dark basement, Guan Feng contacted Black Viper's people to search for Xilin on that planet. Unable to remotely detect Xilin's spacecraft, they could only send robots to the planet to find him.