Chapter Eleven: What Was Going On?

Climbing the rankings—please vote!

Seeing that Dias had finished talking with Xilin, Yudi rang the bell and came in. "Captain, can I borrow Xilin for a bit?"

Dias waved him off. "Go ahead. Get along with your teammate."

After the two of them left, they didn't show up again until it was time to meet up with the main group.

"Where's Xilin?" Dias asked.

"Haven't seen him. He's still with Yudi." Kari sounded a little down. He'd worked himself up several times, ready to challenge Xilin to another match in the combat room, but when he heard that Xilin had been summoned by that bastard Yudi to study formulas, Kari had wisely decided not to interrupt.

"Yesterday, when I brought them food, I heard them arguing over whether a certain formula needed a square or a square root. Today, when I brought them food, they were discussing weighted multidimensional matrices. Anyway, they haven't slept in days. I'm afraid Yudi's formula is finally coming together." Beaver shrugged helplessly. "It's rare for Yudi to find someone who's 'just like him.'"

The group fell silent. What a pair of oddballs. Still, the Sixth Fleet badly needed talents like them. If Yudi's formula worked, the program they wrote next could be a breakthrough for the Sixth Fleet, greatly improving the efficiency and accuracy of the starship's automated "sentries" when locking onto and firing at targets.

But Dias was troubled by one thing. Using that much brainpower meant... the two of them would need to sleep for a while afterward, didn't it?

Unlike the starship Xilin was currently aboard, the Sixth Fleet's flagship was much larger, with more than a dozen ships like this one surrounding it.

After docking with the flagship, Dias went to see his older brother, Shouton, commander of the Sixth Fleet.

For once, Dias wasn't wearing his flashy sunglasses, and he looked much more composed. After receiving the notice to attend a meeting, he entered the conference room.

Dias sat in his own seat as deputy commander and gazed fondly at Asia, the famous ice-cold beauty seated beside him, who also held a deputy commander's seat. She continued to ignore his ardent gaze, as usual. The other four deputy commanders had long since grown used to it.

A few days earlier, Shouton and the five deputy commanders other than Dias had gone to negotiate a deal with Efran, from the Daungs, a powerful family in the star system. The negotiations hadn't gone as hoped, though, and they'd been deadlocked ever since, with no sign of a breakthrough. It was proving difficult to squeeze more benefits out of Efran. What's more, the Navigators, one of the four great hunter corps, had a fleet that was offering a shipment of goods no worse than the Sixth Fleet's. The Sixth Fleet had spent so much manpower and resources acquiring those energy ores in hopes of securing greater profits. They weren't willing to settle for a poor price.

The first two face-to-face negotiations had gone nowhere, and Efran's attitude suggested he was going to make a deal with the Navigators instead. Shouton and the deputy commanders had been in a foul mood for days; the oppressive atmosphere around them made that obvious. Today was the final negotiation, and Efran had chosen a video call instead of meeting in person, making his intentions clear. The Sixth Fleet was in a difficult position. If this fell through, they would have to find another buyer, but the goods were too much for just anyone to afford. Even if a buyer could manage it, Efran's example meant they wouldn't offer a high price.

"Dias." Shouton, seated at the head of the table, handed him an electronic notebook. "You weren't at the first two negotiations. This has a summary of what happened. Read through it."

"All right." Dias composed himself and took the notebook. As he read, his brow furrowed. He knew the Sixth Fleet had nearly lost a deputy commander acquiring that shipment, and had lost plenty of aircraft and detection equipment. They'd asked a high price for the goods, but Efran was driving it down far too aggressively!

The further Dias read, the more agitated he became. He grabbed the glass of water in front of him and gulped it down. Suddenly, an image flashed across the notebook...

"Pfft—"

Dias spat water all over the person across from him, splashing the conference table as well.

Asia was glad she wasn't sitting across from Dias. The man who'd been drenched already had a gloomy expression, and now he looked ready to unleash a storm.

Everyone had been focused on the deal, their thoughts entirely occupied by it. Who could have expected Dias to pull a stunt like that? The deputy commander across from him was so close that he had no time to react and took the full brunt of it...

Under Shouton's and the other deputy commanders' disapproving gazes, Dias hurried to explain.

"Ahem... cough, cough. Sorry, I got too excited and couldn't hold it in." Dias brought the image back up on the notebook and pointed at the person on the screen. "Is this really Daungs Efran?"

The last time Dias had seen Efran was ten years ago. Back then, Dias had been an ordinary member of the Sixth Fleet, and Shouton had only been a deputy commander. All Dias could think now was: No wonder...

Seeing Shouton's displeased expression, Dias hastily pulled out another electronic notebook he carried with him and handed it over. "Take a look at this guy."

Holding both notebooks, Shouton was momentarily stunned. "They look alike. They really do!"

The deputy commanders crowded around to look as well. Afterward, their expressions turned strange.

"Alike?" Dias wiped the water from around his mouth. "The first time I saw that kid, I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. He's the new crew member I wanted to recommend—Xilin. If Efran's profile didn't say 'no children,' I'd have thought they were father and son."

Shouton no longer pursued Dias's behavior from earlier. He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, lost in thought. He checked the time. The video conference would begin in ten minutes.

"Dias, bring Xilin here. And make sure as few people aboard the ship as possible see what he looks like."

"All right."

Dias didn't ask any questions. He quickly left the conference room and returned a short while later, bringing Xilin with him. Xilin's eyes were half-closed, and he looked like he hadn't fully woken up.

Seeing the people in the conference room, Xilin shook off some of his drowsiness. He could tell they weren't ordinary people.

"Sit down. There's no need to be nervous." Shouton pointed to a chair nearby and smiled warmly.

Xilin eyed the seven of them suspiciously before sitting down. I'm not nervous, but the way you're all looking at me is giving me the creeps...

"Xilin, Dias has already told me about you. We've discussed it, and we welcome you to the Sixth Fleet of the Vanguard Hunters. Your ID card will be delivered shortly."

Dias lowered his head and drank some water. When did you discuss this?!

None of the other deputy commanders objected to Shouton's words. Though they had their differences with Dias, Xilin's situation was unusual, and for once they unanimously agreed to accept him as a crew member—and a main-force member, no less.

Xilin looked suspiciously at Dias, who had his head lowered. Hadn't Dias said it would be difficult to get main-force status? Hadn't he said the deputy commanders would make things difficult for him? So what was going on now?

.