Star Hunter.

Chapter 80 Farewell, Seven Luminaries

As Xilin collapsed, the trainees at the airport entrance began screaming, their earlier excitement completely gone, replaced by panic. Large numbers surged towards the exit. Had it not been for the security personnel controlling the situation, stampedes and car crashes would likely have ensued.

In fact, the school allowed far more people into the port for publicity purposes, making it difficult for the security team and training department to move around. However, since there hadn't been an assassination in broad daylight in nearly a century, they overlooked the issue.

Gerald and his group were immediately moved aside as the school had arranged a ceremonial team to welcome the ten participating students. Gerald and his group were blocked from view, so Gerald was unable to determine the attacker's location immediately.

Knight's body trembled, feeling a heavy, oppressive pressure on his throat. Knight had been taken by his father to quell a rebellion before. Although he hadn't actually experienced the brutal battlefield, he had watched from afar, witnessing people being thrown to the ground, falling, blood splattering everywhere. But even then, he hadn't felt this pain. After all, those people were strangers to him, while those falling were his roommates and comrades with whom he had drunk and fought.

Neither Knight, Gerald, nor any of the other soldiers dispatched from the army sensed any murderous intent. There was no killing intent, no murderous aura; just this sudden shot left them utterly powerless, unable to analyze the attacker's location in time. The surveillance footage transmitted from various areas at the time also revealed nothing unusual.

Without hesitation, Long pulled out a vial of medicine and injected it into Xilin, who was lying on the ground. This was a life-saving medicine he always carried with him in emergencies; it would maximize the patient's life potential, giving the injured person a better chance of survival. After the injection, Long immediately dialed a number—his private medical team at Seven Stars. They had state-of-the-art analytical equipment there; he wouldn't place all his hopes on Seven Stars.

Flora and the arriving medical staff provided on-site first aid. She could tell at a glance that although the bullet had not hit the heart, it was very close to it. Moreover, under normal circumstances, Xilin's condition should not be this bad. It seemed that there must be other substances in the bullet.

The bullet pierced Xilin's body and struck the aircraft behind him, rapidly shattering into powder, making further analysis impossible based on the bullet itself. However, it was enough to show that the assassination was premeditated.

Because Long had administered the medication to Xilin immediately after the incident, Xilin's vital signs, though weak, were relatively stable before being moved into the emergency room. However, unexpectedly, the vital signs weakened drastically during transport to the emergency room, and before any effective measures could be taken, the vital signs monitor showed that Xilin had died.

Even so, paramedics rushed Xilin to the emergency room for resuscitation efforts, but to no avail. Long's private medical team also arrived, but similarly, they were powerless to save him. The toxin was a plant toxin from Sector Z, which was already very rare, and the antidote was scarce. However, the molecular formula of the antidote was known, but by the time the antidote was synthesized, life had already ceased.

Knight smashed down several hospital walls. Although the hospital staff were furious at Knight's red eyes and murderous aura, they dared not say anything to his face.

The others from the Seven Stars didn't dare to forcibly drag Knight and Long, who were both brimming with murderous intent. However, after receiving the communication, the two hurriedly left, and no one knew what had happened to them.

Regarding the assassination of Xilin, Aifulan, who had become the heir of the Daoons family, sent a message, and soon Aifulan's people came to return Xilin's "body" and "personal belongings".

Knight and Long received a call from Ci Jincheng. All parties are investigating, but there are still no clues about the assassin and no progress has been made. As soon as they heard Ci Jincheng say that there was news, the two quickly returned to their dormitory.

  

Ci Jincheng sat in the living room; he was the calmest one to react to what had happened today.

Knight was very dissatisfied with Ci Jincheng's performance, and this dissatisfaction was directly expressed in his tone.

"explain!"

Long didn't speak, but sat down on the sofa. His murderous aura hadn't subsided, and his expression was grim. Those who knew Long knew that such a demeanor meant that bloodshed was imminent; Long was never a kind person.

Ci Jincheng didn't pay attention to Knight's tone, but instead handed over his personal electronic notebook.

"This is the information I deciphered from the code left by Xilin. Take a look and then you can comment."

When Xilin was shot, Ci Jincheng was the closest to him, and this was clearly not a coincidence. After Xilin fell, Ci Jincheng squatted down beside him. At that time, Ci Jincheng was also very worried and nervous, but when he saw the movement of Xilin's fingers, he knew that this matter was not simple.

That was also a type of code. Unlike the one Xilin used in the two-person gladiator match, it was a more complex code. The former excelled in speed, while the latter excelled in its difficulty of deciphering, requiring multi-dimensional decoding and matrix analysis. Xilin's movements were quite subtle; even if the medical staff saw them, they would only assume it was due to convulsions.

After reading the contents of the e-book, Knight and Long's murderous intent subsided, but their expressions remained somewhat distorted. They now wished they could drag Xilin out of the hospital and give him a good beating. Knight even went to Xilin's room to check, and damn it, there was nothing of substance there—it was clearly prepared in advance!

In the message on the electronic notebook, Xilin simply explained that this matter was arranged and that they didn't need to worry, and also that Daoons Xilin would disappear from this world.

The reason for this explanation is twofold. First, it stems from trust; Xilin has confidence in the three. Second, if Xilin hadn't said anything, these people would likely have thrown the Seven Luminaries and even several star sectors into chaos.

Meanwhile, in the research department, Minister Mo Heng had been locked in his workroom since returning from the hospital. Recalling the grim look on Mo Heng's face and the oppressive atmosphere around him when he returned, everyone else swallowed their words.

Everyone thought Mo Heng was heartbroken because his beloved disciple had been assassinated, but that was not the case.

Mo Heng was indeed in a bad mood, not from sadness, but from frustration. He had known for a while that Xilin would get into trouble. Before Xilin went to participate in the comprehensive competition, the machine he assembled had a code on it—something only mechanics could understand. But even though mechanics knew the code, they wouldn't understand its meaning. The code was arranged according to each person's habits; different people would see different information. So unless they knew the order, it would just be a jumble of characters.

From those codes, Mo Heng knew Xi Lin's plans and that Xi Lin would leave. Although Xi Lin promised to contact Mo Heng in the future, Mo Heng felt uneasy. With Xi Lin gone, he could no longer openly boast.

Kangman, Had, and the others felt a sense of unreality regarding Xilin's assassination, as if they hadn't yet accepted it. Such a capable and outstanding person, who was discussing the welcome banquet with them just a moment ago, was gone just like that. It was undoubtedly a shock to them.

Long set up a bounty of 100 million to find the real culprit. Of course, this was just a pretext. Otherwise, if Xilin were really in trouble, given Long's family lineage, the bounty would not have been only 100 million.

Since the investigation had made no progress, Seven Stars publicly claimed that it was likely the work of "Black Thorn," a claim made by Eifran of the Doons family, which Seven Stars adopted. This explanation minimized Seven Stars' responsibility, a view welcomed by the Seven Stars leadership.

Twenty days later, on a starship in Sector D, a burly, brown-haired young man with an honest-looking face walked into a room carrying a backpack. The people inside had been waiting for a long time.

"Captain, it's been a long time," the young man said with a simple and honest smile.

Welcome back, Sirin.

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I moved to a new place, and my internet was cut off, so I'm borrowing a friend's account to post. The update schedule is a bit irregular, but I should still post two chapters a day. This chapter is from the 22nd.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival to all my friends!