The Sixth Detachment

Kari wasn't about to be as polite as Dias. Dias stood off to the side, grinning as he watched the show.

Xilin smiled and held out his hand. "Hello."

Neither of them introduced himself. Then the tension began to build.

The moment their hands clasped, Kari started squeezing.

Thirty percent, forty percent... By the time he reached eighty percent, Kari was starting to wonder if the hand he was gripping was made of some kind of special alloy. Damn, it was hard. He couldn't make the other guy feel a thing, but his own hand was aching. What hit Kari hardest was that the other guy wasn't even squeezing back. He was just letting Kari do all the work.

Xilin was secretly taken aback too. Another A-Class Genotype! Since when had A-Class Genotypes become as common as cabbage?! The Four Great Hunter Groups really lived up to their name!

Kari was conflicted.

Damn it, I refuse to believe it! Kari tossed the five cases he was carrying aside and brought his other hand into play.

What a shameless guy!

In the starship's Main Control Room, a crowd watched the scene on the screen and condemned Kari one after another. His shamelessness was already common knowledge.

From the moment Xilin had been teleported onto the starship, people had started analyzing him. Their calculations gave the young man Dias had brought aboard a ninety percent chance of having a B-class gene.

Picking on someone smaller and using a higher-grade gene to bully a lower-grade one—and when one hand wasn't enough, using both!

Dias gave an awkward cough at Kari's shameless behavior, but he was also deeply impressed by Xilin's ability. It took someone exceptional to bring out Kari's shameless side.

As Kari squeezed, Xilin had hardened his entire arm. Even an A-Class Gene couldn't do anything to it. Using both hands wouldn't make much difference either. Still, Xilin didn't push his advantage too far. It was enough to show them he wasn't a pushover.

"You're very enthusiastic." Xilin smiled and offered his other hand.

Both hands against both hands.

Kari's face began to contort.

"Hey, ow, ow... I'm done! I'm done!"

Kari pulled his hands free and stared at his reddened palms, on the verge of tears.

"Deputy, what's the story with this young brother you brought along? He's ridiculously strong!"

The fact that Kari had started calling him "young brother" meant he'd acknowledged Xilin's ability.

"Got a taste of your own medicine? That'll teach you to show off!" Dias kicked Kari aside and pointed at the five cases on the floor. "Get to work."

"Yes, sir!" Kari picked up the cases and trotted a few steps away, then turned back to ask Xilin, "I'm Kari, an A-class combatant with the Sixth Team. What's your story, young brother?"

"I'm Xilin, a free agent."

Kari's mouth formed a perfect O as he shot Dias a meaningful look. Deputy, he's a free agent! Get him to join us!

"Are you still standing there? Get moving!" Dias laughed.

"I'm going, I'm going! Heh!" Kari vanished in a flash.

Dias had brought Xilin over for two reasons. First, he wanted to find out the kid's background. Xilin looked vaguely familiar, but Dias couldn't remember where he'd seen him. Second, and more importantly, if the kid hadn't joined a faction, Dias wanted to recruit him. The Sixth Detachment was short-handed, and Dias trusted Xilin's character even more than he trusted his own eye for people.

To bring Xilin up to speed, Dias explained what had happened.

The Sixth Team had a deal to negotiate in neutral territory between the X Star Zone and the R Star Zone. Dias had been bored, and when he learned that an underground sale of rare Energy Ore was taking place on a planet in the X Star Zone, he went there and swiped the goods while the various groups were busy fighting each other. He'd also planted a false rumor on another planet that he'd acquired a huge gem worth hundreds of millions, luring in the bandits. That was how the whole series of events had unfolded. It also let Dias collect a reward from the government and the Passenger Transport Company on X-C100 for "helping" crack down on the bandits.

Dias made it sound simple, but Xilin knew that many of the details would have been difficult to get right. It was proof of Dias's ability and skill at controlling the situation. No wonder he was deputy commander of the Sixth Detachment.

Dias led Xilin down the corridor, introducing him to the ship as they went.

"That's the storage room, where we keep spare supplies. Turn right up ahead and—Hey, Meatball, why are you sleeping over there?" Dias called toward a spot on the corridor wall.

At first glance, there was nothing there. But if you looked closely enough or had keen senses, you could tell there was a living creature in that spot. It seemed to blend into its surroundings, and its coloring made it nearly impossible to spot...

Dias walked over and plucked the creature off the wall. It was about thirty centimeters long. As soon as it left the wall, its color faded and its body turned transparent, though its two little eyes were easy to see as they darted around. When it saw Dias, it smacked its lips as if greeting him.

A chameleon?

Xilin watched the little creature in Dias's hand with curiosity.

"Don't try to sweet-talk me. What did you do this time? Why did Yudi throw you out again?" Dias flicked the head of the chameleon called Meatball.

Meatball curled its tail and wiggled as if pleading for mercy.

Dias clicked his tongue. He kneaded the little chameleon into a ball like dough, then tossed it across the corridor. Smack—it landed against the wall. The little chameleon quickly adjusted its coloring to match its surroundings, seeming to disappear into them.

"That guy's Meatball, a mutated chameleon. Yudi found him during a mission five years ago. The little troublemaker's always getting into mischief." Dias didn't say anything more about the crew member named Yudi.

Dias took Xilin to the Main Control Room and introduced him to the other crew members.

After letting Xilin get acquainted with the crew, Dias called Bifur over. "Bifur, come with me for a moment."

"Sure thing, Deputy."

Xilin had seen Bifur before. He was the man who had appeared on the passenger ship's screen. What surprised Xilin was how young everyone on this starship was. Many were around Dias's age, and some were younger, though none were as young as Xilin.

After seeing what had happened with Kari, the crew treated Xilin fairly well. They weren't exactly warm, but neither were they cold or distant.

Dias led Bifur to his workstation. He turned the silver ring on his hand, and an interface popped out and connected to a device.

"Analyze this video."

The footage on the screen showed Dias fighting the bandits in the passenger ship's Control Room. It had been recorded with infrared imaging, so the darkness hadn't mattered. Still, the footage was a little disorienting because of the way Dias had moved while fighting.

Bifur said nothing. His fingers flew over the controls as he worked through the device's programs. The footage on the screen was cut up and recombined in three dimensions. After adjusting the frame rate and completing a series of other steps, he soon had a clear, steady video that was easy on the eyes.

"Analyze that kid, Xilin." Dias was no longer his usual casual, irreverent self. He was even a little serious.

Bifur brought up the footage and replayed Xilin's every movement in slow motion. The more he watched, the more astonished he became. "Deputy, are you sure he's human and not some other species that just looks human?"

In the footage, Xilin seemed to anticipate the bandits' every move, dodging their gun barrels with ease. And the Control Room's lights had been completely shut off.

"I'm sure he wasn't wearing any auxiliary lenses, and he's definitely human," Dias said, staring at the screen.

Bifur's brow furrowed almost into a knot. "Deputy, there's something else. When you were being teleported over, I ran a gene-level analysis on Xilin. If he only had a B-class gene type, a multifactor analysis should have been over ninety-five percent reliable. But this time the result was only ninety percent. Why is there a five percent margin of uncertainty?"

After a pause, Bifur ventured, "Should we take a sample of the kid's genes? Body fluid, hair, even a fingerprint would work."

"No. We should show future teammates the respect they deserve."

"Okay, but that kid really is incredible."

"Of course. What did you expect, with me picking them out?" Dias was back to mulling over the same question. "By the way, Bifur, doesn't Xilin look familiar to you?"

Bifur thought about it, but couldn't remember seeing him anywhere. "The Star System is huge. Plenty of people look alike. Want me to compare him against the computer's database?"

"Never mind. Not for now." Accessing the archives required the detachment commander's unlock code. Too much trouble.

Dias sighed and gave up trying to figure it out.

"By the way, Deputy, the commander's called several times, telling us to hurry over and meet them. It seems the deal isn't going smoothly."

"Got it. Get ready to leave." Dias waved and walked out.