Chapter 179
Chapter 179: Stay-at-Home Dad Cary [Part 1]
At the hall, Cary was emanating with anger, resentment and low pressure as he sat there with an ashen face.
There were four fellows crouched in front of him. From left to right, they were the gray cat Wheeze, Scarlet Wind, s...o...b..ll and Dough.
The gray cat was licking its paws and wiping its whiskers, cleaning up the dredges of food around its mouth. It paid no heed to the low pressure surrounding Cary at all. Scarlet Wind wagged his tail somewhat nervously, keeping his head bowed and casting a glance at Cary from time to time. He looked like he acknowledged his errors slightly. s...o...b..ll looked charmingly naive, and on the outside he looked simple and honest. In reality, everyone who knew this white fatso understood that it was just a front, and that it had a bellyful of evil tricks up its sleeves. It learned from Dough and was getting naughtier and naughtier. As for Dough, the chameleon was long since hardened by many similar experiences. It would play pretend or grovel when need be, looking more innocent than even Cary himself.
The moment Cary saw their appearances, the blue veins on his head bulged and pulsed. He had only gone out to race fighters with Udoze for a short while, but when he came back he discovered that his storage cabinet was three kinds of empty – eaten, drunk, and carried away completely.
Words could not describe his fury when he swept a glance across s...o...b..ll. Recently, this white fatso had learned how to store food like a hamster. Cary thought that the reason this white fatso’s mouth had become so big was because it was stuffed with food.
While holding his forehead, Cary said in a heavy tone, "Tell me, why the hair are you guys always targeting my storage cabinet? Xiao Shang, Ba Dao and Beaver had plenty of food in their storage cabinets too, hadn’t they? You think I’m easy to trifle with, huh?"
Dough blinked. It did not know how to speak, but this little devil was the origin of it all. It continued to feign innocence.
"Who opened the lock?" Cary asked.
Ever since he came back to Sector K he had changed the lock three times already. He had even purposely acquired a so-called high security lock from the A Squadron not long ago, or he would not have let down his guard in recent days. As a result, the sight that greeted him when he returned was an empty storage cabinet.
He was wrong, he truly was. He should not have let down his guard especially after this gray cat had returned. When these fellows were gathered as one, they were literally no different from scourges who found the backing of several organizations!
The trio on the right looked at the unperturbed gray cat at the leftmost corner in unison upon hearing Cary’s question.
The corner of Cary’s eyes jumped at the sight. He knew that it would be the cat.
Cary loved and hated the gray cat at the same time. It did save its life once, but G.o.d if this fellow wasn’t infuriating.
Cary thought for a while before asking, "Wheeze, I gotta ask. Did Cillin abuse you and not feed you?"
"No." the gray cat was very calm and undaunted.
"Then why are you emptying out my storage cabinet with them?!"
"That’s because Dough and s...o...b..ll said that you have specialty food from Sector K. I haven’t eaten much specialty food from Sector K; at the very least I haven’t eaten the stuff in your storage cabinet before." the gray cat said without any self-consciousness that it had committed a mistake at all.
Cary’s eyebrows jumped. He stepped right onto the tail of Dough who was just about to escape, before grabbing onto s...o...b..ll’s big face, "You two&h.e.l.lip;"
Dong! Dong!
Cary gave each pet a chop to the forehead.
s...o...b..ll clutched its head with its fat palms and looked aggrieved, whereas Dough slowly slid down the wall as its flat body began to recover in pitiful fas.h.i.+on.
"Enough with the old tricks!" after Cary gave s...o...b..ll and Dough a good fixing*, he turned towards Scarlet Wind and advised patiently, "Scarlet Wind, you mustn’t learn from these two naughty fellows. Let me teach you a saying called ‘proximity to pitch makes you black’. Breaking into someone’s cabinet and stealing their food is wrong! You should not do it!"
*basically means beat up
Scarlet Wind wagged his tail and c.o.c.ked his head. He seemed to be digesting Cary’s words.
After the gray cat had licked its paws, it looked at Cary and asked, "Cary, why are the stuff on this planet so expensive? Isn’t this Vanguard’s headquarters? How can they treat their own members like this?"
On this planet, the prices of a lot of food were doubled or even multiplied many times, so the gray cat felt miserly after it saw the food price. The amount of allowance Cillin gave it was limited, and it really wasn’t worth spending on these items. That was why these fellows had gone to rob Cary at the beckon of Dough’s tail.
"In reality, every B Squadron was expected to prepare its own food and etc, and only medical and some other facilities fell under public use. The lay in of supplies and wealth were all a test to the B Squadrons. The general census is that capable B Squadrons are self-sufficient and able to maintain a relatively abundant amount of wealth. Those who aren’t self-sufficient would have no choice but to pay an even greater price in exchange for their needs."
"I see. How stingy of them!" the gray cat said with a flick of its ears.
"This isn’t stinginess. If you wish to buy large sums of food, the best way is still getting on a s.p.a.ceplane and buying it from someplace outside. Ten squads couldn’t feed someone with your appet.i.te, you know."
Although these four fellows looked pretty small, they were in fact all ravenous gluttons. Dough’s food intake was three times its own weight, whereas the gray cat, Scarlet Wind and s...o...b..ll were all beings of great metabolism.
Right now s...o...b..ll was almost sixty centimeters in height when it stood upright. Its growth could be said to be extremely speedy. Cary had already gone out on a s.p.a.ceplane midway to shop for supplies, but he did not factor in the appearance of the gray cat and Scarlet Wind. Right now Scarlet Wind was in the process of growing, and his food intake was evenly matched with s...o...b..ll’s. Cary pondered and thought that he might have to go out on a big shopping spree again.
Suddenly, a strange look flushed over Cary’s face as he gave himself a slap.
F*ck! If Cillin and Tang Qiuqiu themselves did not care about their pets, then why the hair am I putting so much thought into this? Doesn’t that make me a stay-at-home dad?!
Scarlet Wind looked at s...o...b..ll and Dough and figured that their words were pretty accurate. Stay-at-home dad Cary was pretty easy to deceive, although there seemed to be a slight problem with his psyche. He didn’t think that Cary would slap his own face.
When Cary looked at the four fellows interacting with each other through their eyes, he waved his hands helplessly and said, "Get
Scarlet Wind and s...o...b..ll had been learning about culture as of late. Although they hadn’t learned for long, they improved pretty quickly. An exam would be prepared for them in a few days, but the standard of the exam would not be reduced just because they were beginners. The exam’s difficulty was at the level of intermediate education, and it was also the reason why these two rather intelligent creatures had had their salaries deducted to the negatives. Vanguard members were not without pay even during the recovery period of their five-year mission, and every official member was paid a steady salary. The only two members in the entire Sixth B Squadron whose salary were deducted into negatives were s...o...b..ll and Scarlet Wind.
The exam’s level of difficulty was set by Cillin himself. He believed that they would be able to catch up very soon judging from the level of development of their brains. Cillin had been feeling a sense of urgency ever since the trip to Sector S, and there was a necessity to integrate these two fellows into the squad as soon as possible. Otherwise, a hiccup might arise when they were out on a mission later.
s...o...b..ll and Scarlet Wind went to the study room to study. The gray cat and Dough also followed after them: one to teach, and one to enjoy where the crowd was.
After the four fellows had left, Cary got up and went out to inhale some fresh air and exhale the stale air in his chest. He felt as if he had gotten old having to face these little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds every day.
To his surprise, the second he got out of his room he saw Xiao Shang, Beaver and the others coming back from outside.
"Yo, stay-at-home dad! You done lecturing the kids?" Xiao Shang said laughingly.
Cary felt the string known as rationality in his head snapping with a dull noise, "You’re a stay-home-dad! You’re all stay-home-dads! Your whole life and your past life and your future life have been stay-home-dads!"
"Hey, isn’t it good that they’re close to you? You should know that s...o...b..ll and Scarlet Wind are already very strong even before they grow up completely. Once they do, your backing would be most impressive."
"Mm. Speaking of which, Scarlet Wind is starting to feel more and more like a human. Just yesterday I saw him unlocking a retro lock with impressive smoothness." Beaver said.
The corner of Cary’s eyes twitched yet again. Opening a lock?&h.e.l.lip; I have a bad feeling about this&h.e.l.lip;
Translator’s Notes: I was pleasantly surprised to find something that has the words stay-at-home-dead at all, so I just put it here.
Chapter 179: Stay-at-home Dad Cary [Part 2]
At the researching building of the Sixth B Squadron’s base.
Cillin and Rikulab were conducting a research. Cillin had brought back a lot of good stuff from his journey this time. The alien bacteria he brought back from another planet had already undergone a colony expansion, and there was also the bacterial strain he brought back from the grade one prison planet. Although they had perished extremely quickly in that prison’s environment, Cillin had frozen and preserved them through a special method and brought them back to the B Squadron’s research lab.
Ever since they discovered the special energy ores at Sector Z, Shawton had gained some confidence when standing among other squadron commanders. However, that merit alone wasn’t enough. Right now, the only person whose good news could give him a pleasant surprise was Cillin. The recruitment of both Rikulab and Udoze greatly pleased Shawton, and now Scarlet Wind had joined the party as well. That little mixed blood fellow had unusually strong attack power.
The duo roughly discussed about the squadron’s situation, and Cillin also learned some news about Sector S from Shawton.
"It’s not just Sector S. The undercurrents of several other Sectors are turbulent as well. Just the day before a top ten hitman organisation on the ranking board had been taken out without leaving a single man alive. Vanguard had sent someone to confirm the news, but no one knows what the real situation is. This was a wake-up call to everyone, reminding them that they had gotten too used to the easy and comfortable days for the past dozens or so years. It was mortifying for the new forces to realise that they did not even have the ability to retaliate when the veterans show up. While Vanguard didn’t fare that badly, it is necessary for us to preserve a level of caution."
"So it is chaotic outside now?" Cillin asked.
"No, not really. Only a certain number of forces – a few small hunter regiments and hitman organisations – were struck by calamity. The great four are still doing okay."
Cillin suddenly recalled something and said, "The men at Dias’ side have almost fully recovered, but don’t you think we should send someone to get them looking at the current situation? The major treatments had already been completed, and they would be spending the rest of their time on recuperation. Considering the situation is somewhat complicated right now, it may be better if we take them back into the squad."
Dias and the others were just treated not long ago, and they had not fully recovered just yet. No one knows if an enemy of Vanguard would attack them where they were.
Shawton thought for a moment and replied, "That’s fine. Discuss this with the rest of the lieutenant commanders and just report the results to me later."
"Got it."
After breaking off the connection, Cillin stood at the corridor and watched the faraway sceneries instead of returning immediately to his house.
They had failed to set a ‘fire’ at Sector S, and had returned after just wandering around for a bit. The fact that he was unresigned with this result was a matter of course. The combined strength of Lung and him was just too weak, and their thoughts were far too simple compared to the two veteran hitman organisations ‘Mist’ and Merciless’, and that special organisation that was a headache even to the government, ‘Grim Reaper’. It was only when they had actually visited Sector S that they realised the places they could interfere with were far too few. When they had visited the grade one prison planet they nearly threw their insignificant lives away, and when they had gone to the grade three prison planet they were told to leave quickly before they managed to do much at all.
Both the development of the veteran forces’ overall combat strength and new technology were at an incredibly rapid state. More often than not they would stun the world in a single brilliant feat.
Now, he was back at Vanguard’s base, resting and recuperating. Going by the squadron’s plan, some of the inessential distant voyage missions were stopped temporarily until the situation stabilises.
However&h.e.l.lip;
Practice was necessary if he were to grow strong as soon as possible.
Cillin sought out the other lieutenant commanders and explained the situation over Dias’ side briefly. Although the lieutenant commanders all agreed to his plan, they were hesitant when the topic of who to send to pick them up were brought up. Moreover, this matter was considered an issue within the Sixth B Squadron themselves, and going by the rules, the A Squadrons would not lend them a hand. This meant that they had lost the big protective umbrella that was the A Squadrons, and the situation had become a lot more dangerous.
Every commander had some elite units of their own, but no one wanted to head out and test the waters themselves knowing how messy the situation outside was right now. They had spent a lot of effort to preserve this group of ‘elite units’, and they were reluctant to set them loose and risk losing them.
Cillin had predicted the lieutenant commanders’ reaction from the start. He tapped the table with his finger and said, "Actually, I already have a list of candidates in mind. All that’s left is to pa.s.s the decision."
"Cillin, who are you going to send to pick them up?" Zaya Kasa asked.
Zaya Kasa was more on the conservative side in regards to this matter. Although she also wanted Asiya and the others to return safely as soon as possible, she was hesitant when it came to appointing someone specifically for this task. After all, she hadn’t been appointed as a lieutenant commander for too long, and some of the decisions she made in some matters just could not be considered bold.
"I will be leading a team myself personally. A big number of personnel isn’t necessary; my team alone will be enough. There aren’t many people who are still in treatment at Sector E right now, and they number about fifty or so people. A middle sized s.p.a.ceplane will be sufficient for the task. That being said, the armaments and the allocation of fighters of this s.p.a.ceplane must be high level."
"Of course the s.p.a.ceplane must be given high level equipment." Akayi said, "However, don’t you think that just the few of you are&h.e.l.lip;"
"It won’t be a problem. If even we can’t handle it, then it won’t matter even if we add more people into the mission." after a pause, Cillin smiled and said, "The truth is I find my team a little too idle these days, and I plan to take them out to get some fresh air. We may not necessary run into trouble if we head out either. The news brought back by the A Squadrons came from many different Sectors, and they appear extremely serious only because they are gathered together. There shouldn’t be a problem if we are just picking up our men from Sector E."
Judging from the current information they possessed, Cillin thought that ‘Mist’ and ‘Merciless’ were mainly targeting a number of hitman organizations, and ‘Grim Reaper’ so far had continued to maintain radio silence. As long as these three organisations didn’t pop up, he did not believe that the situation would become too dangerous for Vanguard.
Besides that, Cillin thought that this was an opportunity to train his team members even if they did run into some trouble. In this era where the strong come and go constantly, they would only be left farther and farther back if they could not catch up with the times. This was not what Cary and the others wanted as well.
In fact, Cillin had noticed that Cary and the others weren’t doing too well these days. Tang Qiuqiu would fall asleep at the shooting range, whereas Udoze would habitually put his finger on the attack b.u.t.tons multiple times while piloting a fighter. These were all reflections of their true thoughts.
Fledglings had to leave their nests eventually.
After the lieutenant commander meeting was done, Cillin summoned the combat personnel in his team and confirmed the list of partic.i.p.ants on a mainly voluntary basis.
Cillin would be leading the 10 man team consisting of Cary, Beaver, Eudy, Xiao Shang, Ba Dao, Tang Qiuqiu, Udoze, Rikulab and Scarlet Wind.
Dough would absolutely appear where Eudy was, s...o...b..ll would absolutely appear where Tang Qiuqiu was, and the gray cat would absolutely appear where Cillin was. Cary thought on the inside: at least the food I’ve recently stocked up in the base’s storage cabinet would not be emptied out this time.
Inside a building within the domain of the A Squadrons’ base.
"I knew it. It is that kid."
"He is the only one who has some drive in him out of everyone else in the Sixth B Squadron now."