Dias had invited Xilin to join the team, but Xilin didn't give him an answer right away. Dias wasn't in a hurry; they both needed time to get to know each other, which would make it easier to work together later.
Every day, Kari pestered Xilin, telling him about the benefits of joining the team. Kari never skimped on his enthusiasm for capable people. He was also a battle maniac and often dragged Xilin to the Training Room to spar.
Since it was only a spar, neither of them used the sort of techniques they would in a fight to the death. Even so, Kari had a great time. Xilin's style of boxing was unlike anything Kari had ever seen: flexible and unpredictable, yet carrying a strange air about it. Whether his moves were hard or soft, peaceful or murderous, depended on a single thought from Xilin.
Even though Xilin was a B-class Genotype, Kari wouldn't hold back. Xilin was capable of fighting people with an A-Class Genotype. Sparring with Kari also taught Xilin a lot. Being exposed to different fighting styles was a great way to improve, and during their matches, Kari shared plenty of battle experience and examples. After all, he had far more experience as a Hunter than Xilin did.
For fleets traveling between star sectors, combat personnel had to know how to operate a fighter. Even if they weren't good pilots, they still needed to learn the basic controls.
Good fighters cost too much for Dias to let Kari take one out for fun. Since they couldn't compete in real fighters, Kari dragged Xilin to the fighter combat simulator on the computer. It wasn't as thrilling as real combat, but the simulation was decent enough to let them have a few good rounds.
At first, Xilin wasn't familiar with it. He'd used a Flying Skateboard and an amphibious hovercar on Brown Earth Star, but he'd never tried a fighter. Kari won a few rounds at the start, but before five rounds had passed, he began losing—and each defeat came faster and hit harder than the last. Every time, Kari demanded they switch fighter types and start over, and the cycle of wins followed by crushing defeats continued.
Eventually, even switching fighter types didn't help. Kari was getting utterly demolished.
"That guy's not human!"
After another defeat, Kari exited the online combat platform and shouted, clutching his messy hair.
"Want me to comfort you?" a voice said. It sounded as if the speaker had just woken up.
Xilin looked over. A lanky young man about Kari's age stood there in pajamas printed with strawberries, wearing fluffy white slippers. He watched them curiously.
Had he never grown up? It was hard to imagine anyone on the ship dressing like that.
Kari's face had gone rigid the moment he heard the voice. He stayed silent, but the twitching muscles in his face gave away his frustration. The owner of that voice never said anything nice in a situation like this.
Had that guy already caught up on his sleep? What was he wandering around here for?
"Oh, Yudi, you're awake?" Bifur came in from outside and said to Yudi, who was standing at the door. Then he turned to Xilin, grinning at Kari's misfortune. "Xilin, won again? You're improving fast. The deputy team leader wants to see you. Head to the control room."
Xilin nodded to Yudi in greeting, then left with Bifur, leaving Yudi and Kari staring at each other.
"So this is the Xilin the deputy team leader mentioned." Yudi looked at Kari. "Based on his reflexes, coordination, and control of the fighters, combined with what I'd heard before, I've reached a conclusion..."
Kari covered his ears. "I'm not listening! I'm not listening!"
"He was holding back during the match."
"..."
Kari had the urge to strangle that bastard Yudi.
Was that supposed to be comfort?! Was that comfort?!
Yudi scratched his head, yawned, and walked out. Before leaving, he made sure to toss out a remark that nearly made Kari's blood boil. "You really suck."
"Yudi! I'm gonna kill you!"
Thumps and bangs came from the combat room. Mianmian stopped on the way there, turned around, and ran off. There were two dangerous people in there, and when they fought, anyone nearby could get caught in the crossfire.
Lately, Xilin had also been sleeping more and more. Aside from the rounds Kari dragged him into on the combat platform, he spent all his time either eating or sleeping.
Dias and the others had initially figured that mental work took a lot of energy, so getting plenty of rest was normal. Yudi, for instance, always slept for a while after performing a large number of calculations.
But they soon ruled out that explanation. Xilin slept far too much. Even when he wasn't fighting Kari, he would sleep for a long stretch, and he seemed to be sleeping longer and longer each time. The amount of mental work he did didn't come close to explaining how much he slept. Dias had the ship's doctor examine him, but the results showed that Xilin was perfectly healthy, and they couldn't explain his excessive sleep. Xilin said it was simply how his body was.
Xilin's sleeping habits had given Dias such a headache that he had dark circles under his eyes. He'd planned to recommend Xilin for the fleet when they met up with the rest of the Sixth Team, but the other deputy team leaders already had their differences with Dias. If the Sixth Team's leader, Shaun, hadn't been Dias's older brother, Dias might not have managed to keep his own position as deputy team leader. Add Xilin's excessive sleepiness to the mix, and convincing them to accept him as a core team member would probably be difficult.
Competition among the Vanguard's ten fleets was growing fiercer by the day. To overtake the other three Hunter groups, the main fleet had already begun implementing a series of measures. Shaun hadn't explained the details, but Dias knew the Sixth Team urgently needed to grow and prove itself. What they needed most was talent. That was why Dias was so eager to keep Xilin.
"Xilin, you're a Hunter too, aren't you?" Dias asked, though his tone made it clear he already knew the answer.
Xilin knew Dias had probably investigated him. But as long as Yuanye's situation and that strange chip remained undiscovered, he didn't care. He was sure they'd only found his fake ID and storage card. As for what had happened before that, they could only guess. No one would imagine Xilin could adjust his external phenotype starting from his original genes.
"Yes, but I was only a shadow Hunter, scraping by on small planets." Compared to the Hunter groups, a lone Hunter drifting from place to place was insignificant. But Xilin wasn't ashamed of his past, nor did he try to avoid talking about it.
Dias sighed. "I don't care what you were like before. If you've got character and ability, you're welcome here. You've been aboard long enough to get a feel for how we do things. Compared to the other three major Hunter groups, the Vanguard gives us a lot more freedom and independence. That's why our commander named the starship the Freedom Ship."
When Xilin said nothing, Dias continued, "The universe is vast. This endless stretch of space is every Hunter's dream."
But that dream needed a solid foundation, or it would be impossible to bear the cost. Lone Hunters couldn't reach into this boundless expanse. Only by joining a Hunter group could they go farther and rise higher. After all, one person's abilities were limited.
Xilin already knew what Dias had left unsaid. Joining a Hunter group would also help him find the Yuanye Family that Yuanye had mentioned. After spending these past days with them, Xilin was quite satisfied with the atmosphere in the Sixth Team. Exploring this starry sky, which seemed within reach but remained impossible to fathom, was truly appealing.
"What do I need to do?" Xilin looked at Dias.
Those words made his decision clear, easing much of Dias's frustration from the past few days. Once Xilin decided to join, Dias would do everything he could to deal with the difficult deputy team leaders.
"I'm relieved to hear you say that. Don't worry too much. I'll take care of everything. After all, I'm the deputy team leader, right?" Dias no longer cared about Xilin's "sleeping constitution." He was already focused on how to handle things once they met up with the rest of the Sixth Team.
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