Star Rank Hunter

Original and most up to date translations are posted at volaretranslations.

Translator’s Note: This is a special shoutout and gift to R.V., whom I cannot thank enough for their consistent support and contribution to Star Rank Hunter. This triple release is for you, my friend! Happy Chinese New Year, and may you enjoy a healthy and prosperous year!

Translator: Craxuan
Editor: darklord5555

Chapter 67: Instant Kill

Speaking of which, the next day Knight got woken up by a tremendous need to pee and relieved it with a big dump at the same time(E/n: cla.s.sy), he immediately felt his empty tummy and took a look at the cabinet in the kitchen. There was nothing but a few lonely bread lying inside it.

Knight scratched his head. He remembered Cillin saying that he would buy some supplies during his walk last night. So why was it still empty?

"Cillin ——"

Knight raised his voice and shouted once. No one answered him. He went to Cillin’s bedroom and study. He found no one. He called his communicator. No one picked it up. Left without a choice, Knight used the satellite to locate and lock down Cillin’s communicator, but the signal indicated that it was inside Cillin’s bedroom. Cillin had put his communicator in the bedside cabinet.

Knight checked the time. There were only three hours left until their next match.

On the other side, when Theresa opened her eyes she saw a dark golden hue. There were also a string of numbers blinking on it. Beside the number was a logo in the shape of a sharp dagger.

The Vanguard’s bill.

The bill was given to Cillin by Shawton when he left the Sixth Squad. The ideology Shawton had instilled in Cillin was: We’re Hunters. We can’t work and bleed and sweat without pay, right? Plus, it’s not like people like Aiflon would mind about a little ‘tip’, so he should absolutely bill when he could and ‘slaughter’ his clients without mercy.

A Hunter should treat themselves kinder, and treat their employers harsher.

This time it could be said that Cillin had taken care of a huge problem for Aiflon and even saved Theresa’s life, so there was absolutely no reason for him not to ask for more remuneration. And Cillin didn’t go soft either; he had written eight figures on the bill directly.

Suspended animation was not something that could be detected without using a rigorous life detector. The needles Cillin had shot at Theresa were to make her fall into a state of suspended animation. Only then he could save Theresa, and more importantly keep her from becoming his burden in battle; not to mention that Aiflon would definitely pay less if Theresa had actually died.

After she woke up, Theresa did not express any opinion about the numbers on the bill. She simply stared at Cillin with a complicated look on her face. To be honest, when Cillin had walked out looking completely calm as if he was indifferent to everything around him, Theresa no longer counted on Cillin to put her life as a priority. During certain moments, Hunters were very similar to killers in that they were just as relentless, cold, and ruthless.

Moreover, Theresa felt that her entire body was ice cold when Cillin had said to Tiger Thorn and Brown Thorn, "Do you… want me to help you?". She was in despair when she was pierced by the needles Cillin had tossed at her and lost consciousness.

Theresa realized that she had been underestimating this man who was even younger than her all this time. Right now, Cillin’s eyes made her feel as if he knew about everything. And yet she could not be certain. After all, there were only five people who knew about that secret, and those five people would never reveal that secret unless it was the right moment.

"How much do you know?"

"I only know this." Cillin pointed at the dazzling bill before Theresa, "Do remember to pay me on time. Of course, if you guys are willing to pay me more as thanks, I will not turn it

After putting the bill away, Theresa tried to stand up. However, she was still feeling a little dizzy and had no choice but to sit down once more.

"What happened exactly?" Theresa asked.

Cillin did not answer her question directly. Instead he said, "You still need a bit of time to recover. I believe that you can contact someone to take you back home, in which case I’ll be taking my leave."

"Wait." Theresa stopped Cillin just as he was about to turn around and leave, "Are they all dead?"

Cillin nodded.

Theresa took in a deep breath and calmed herself down a little, "If they’re all dead, then Mr. Aiflon’s plans will advance quicker as well. In that case, you will have to get ready sooner."

Knowing what Theresa meant by getting ready sooner, Cillin gave her an ‘OK’ gesture before he slipped into the woods and disappeared. When Cillin returned to the accommodation, Knight was discussing countermeasures with Ci Jincheng and Lung on his communicator.

"Cillin! Did you walk all the way to another planet or something?!" Knight rushed over and grabbed Cillin’s collar while roaring. However, his face relaxed a little when he saw the bags Cillin was lifting. It looked like his decision to buy food from the supermarket along the way home was the right choice.

"Cillin, if you were any later I was going to get some men to search for you. We need to nail down our bet an hour before the match starts." Lung urged him from the other side of the communicator.

They said that, but Cillin knew that Lung, Ci JIncheng and Knight truly cared for him. He gave them a smile and said, "For our next match, let’s bet on ‘one hit kill’."

When Lung heard this, both his eyes turned bright. Their opponents this time was last term’s champion the Visby brothers. The odds must be shockingly ma.s.sive.

Knight rubbed his chin, "That’s pretty difficult."

"Enough already, your grin is about to stretch all the way to your ears." On the communicator display, Ci Jincheng wore a disdainful expression.

"Oh, right. Cillin, do you want to take the first place in the double combat tournament?" Knight looked towards Cillin.

"Nope. But if you want to, then why not."

"Haha, great, you’re a true brother! I feel better now that you’ve said that. The reason I partic.i.p.ated in the double combat tournament was to take revenge for a friend and teach the Visby brothers a lesson. I don’t want to fight anymore after we take them down." He had already disobeyed his father’s will when he partic.i.p.ated in this contest. If he continued any further there was no telling if his father would give him a good beating.

To borrow his father’s words, the Thunderstorm Fist was not a plaything! Its purpose was to live in the battlefield, and not in this kind of childish, boastful game done purely for the sake of attracting new students!

The students who were treated as secret weapons by the military academies would not partic.i.p.ate in this contest. This was because they were busy with their missions, and could be considered proper soldiers already. They were completely uninterested in these ‘little games’ between students, and even if they did partic.i.p.ate, they would not fight seriously. In their opinion, the drawbacks of exposing their true strength completely to the public were greater in their opinion.

"That’s fine." That’s the best really. Cillin needed to prepare for the aftermath, and if he ended this sooner, he might even be able to save some time for something else.

"Sigh, I wonder how much resentment those people gunning after Shadow X will feel." Lung faked a sad face on the other side of the communicator.

"Lung, remember to place another bet. There might… be a new record at the end of this." Ci Jincheng said.

Because he came back earlier than expected, Cillin deleted the messages and traces he left inside the answering machine, replenished a short nap and logged onto the Sector Champions.h.i.+p platform with Knight. Knight and the other did not ask about Cillin’s business last night. Even if Cillin hadn’t told them, they could guess more or less themselves.

The match versus the Visby brother went just as Ci JIncheng had predicted earlier. They had broken the last-16’s combat tournament record. The match was incredibly short; it was even shorter than the previous match against Liu Yeuwu and One Smile Kill.

It was an instant kill.

The moment the system had displayed ‘Match Begin’, Cillin and Knight immediately charged towards their opponents. Because they had acted too swiftly, the Visby brothers couldn’t dodge out of the way in time and had no choice but to bite the bullet and block. The rampaging electricity generated from Knight’s fists immediately cause one person to lose all fighting capability, and the other person going up against Cillin did not feel too well either. He felt as if he had run into a mech and lost all fighting capability instantly as well.

While the system displayed the sentence ‘Team Knight and Shadow X is victorious’, it also notified everyone that this match had set a new record with an eye-catching light dot.

The students in front of their microcomputers turned silent for a moment before boiling up completely. Instant kill, they actually pulled off an instant kill!

But their excitement didn’t last long before a message crashed down on them like an iceberg.

Shadow X and Knight had forfeited the double combat tournament.

There were many people who joined only because of Shadow X, and without him they immediately lose half their interest in the tournament. Half an hour later, Comos, Feng Haicao, Boer, Faradin, Ryan, Bonn and many other teams withdrew themselves from the double combat tournament.

Thus, there really was nothing to look forward in the double combat tournament any longer. Their boiling blood freezing in their veins, the students and the entire Sector Champions.h.i.+p forum page exuded with thick, unending resentment.

Cillin and co did not pay heed to the students’ reactions. After Cillin and Knight had announced their withdrawal, Knight received a message from Comos in his Sector Champions.h.i.+p platform mailbox. As for Cillin’s mailbox… there were plenty of messages, but in general Cillin would not read them at all.

"Cillin, Comos and his pals want to fight us in the final integrated warfare contest." Knight was a lot more interested in integrated warfare, because it involved actual combat.

Only the academies that were placed top ten in the leaderboard were allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the live combat compet.i.tion. However, with Seven Lights’ foundation entering top ten was no problem at all.

"Sure, I look forward to it." Cillin didn’t turn him down. The integrated warfare contest was also a great opportunity for him.