A planet in D Star Zone.
Following the information Aifulan had left him, Xilin arrived at the planet. He stepped off the passenger ship and tugged at his thick coat, raising the collar.
No wonder Aifulan had chosen this planet for Xilin. It was winter here, so Xilin didn't need any disguise. With his collar pulled up to cover most of his face and the wind blowing hard, people hurried past without a second glance. Even those who recognized Aifulan's face wouldn't take a close look at some ordinary passerby. That saved them a lot of trouble. Aifulan's influence extended across so many planets, and there was a reason he'd chosen this one.
After leaving the departure terminal, Xilin reached a street corner and spotted a seemingly ordinary black flying car parked there.
He checked the license plate, then walked over.
At the same time, the two men inside the car saw him. They got out and bowed. "Young Master."
Xilin recognized one of them as a bodyguard he'd once sent crashing into a wall. He hadn't seen the other man before. Hearing him called "Young Master," Xilin raised an eyebrow. He'd accepted the job, but in all his life he'd never been treated like this. It felt awkward.
Whatever Xilin thought, his expression didn't change. He nodded, and when the other man opened the rear door, he climbed in.
Well, look at that—a flying car that could travel on land, water, and through the air! After looking around the interior, Xilin thought of one phrase: understated luxury. A great family was a great family. This car alone must have cost over a million Galactic Coins.
Once Xilin was settled, the car rose smoothly and merged into the aerial traffic lanes. Amid the many speeding cars, it was easy to overlook, blending into the crowd.
Free Trade Tenth District was far more developed than Lagging Thirteenth District. The speeding flying cars all around them made that clear. Any one of them would have caused quite a stir on Brown Earth Star, even in its most prosperous district. Here, they were just ordinary members of the traffic.
The high-rises grew sparse. The car was heading into an area with few tall buildings, and farther on, the landscape was dotted with spacious villas. After passing them, the car finally stopped at a place that looked like an estate.
The old butler, Suofu, was already waiting there.
When he saw Xilin, Suofu smiled warmly. "Young Master Xilin, please come with me."
He's getting into character fast, Xilin thought.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Suofu led Xilin into a large house surrounded by flowerbeds. It was only three stories tall, but sprawled across a huge area, much larger than the villas they'd passed. It also looked far more luxurious.
The servants showed no reaction, but they were bursting with curiosity. A few days earlier, rumors had spread that their master had found the illegitimate son he'd lost. They hadn't believed it at the time, but now they were seeing him with their own eyes.
Yes, anyone who saw Xilin would think he was Aifulan's son. That was the sort of coincidence fate could arrange. Xilin was sure that by the next day, news of Aifulan bringing home his illegitimate son would be spreading, and some electronic magazines might even publish videos or pictures.
But Xilin didn't need to worry about how the rumors spread or developed. That was Aifulan's business, and one part of his strategic plan to win the Daongs Family's position as heir.
After putting on a "loving father and filial son" act with Aifulan at the dinner table, Aifulan called Xilin into the Study Room.
"Seven Luminaries has already handled the paperwork. Tomorrow, take your new identity documents and admission notice to Seven Luminaries Academy. All you need to do is keep up the 'illegitimate son' act. Leave everything else to me. And you should know that even the people trying to block me have little influence over there. But there's one thing you must understand: B Star Zone is a complicated place, so be careful. You're now using the Daongs Family name, so stay away from anything that could harm the family. However..."
Aifulan took an Electronic Notebook from his desk, pulled up several pictures, and handed it to Xilin. "The people listed here can all be your prey."
Xilin took the Electronic Notebook and quickly skimmed the information. Some of the people listed could be killed outright; others were to be captured alive. They included Free Hunters, specially trained assassins, Aifulan's rivals, and people connected to their organizations. Each had a corresponding bounty...
"You don't need to go looking for them. As long as you're at Seven Luminaries Academy, they'll come looking for you on their own—unless I win the position of heir to the family. Memorize this information. Once you get to Seven Luminaries Academy, I'll send someone to give you updates from time to time. How you deal with them will be up to you. Of course, whether you can catch any of this prey depends on your ability."
If the prey came to him, and the employer kept the information up to date, what was there not to like?
Xilin quickly skimmed the information in the Electronic Notebook, then handed it back to Aifulan. Aifulan was taken aback. He'd finished reading it already?
After Xilin confirmed that he understood, Aifulan said no more. The agreement already explained what he needed to do and what he needed to watch out for.
Aifulan gave Xilin a new Savings Card, registered under the identity Daongs Xilin. It already had 150,000 Galactic Coins on it, with the money for the next thirty days transferred all at once.
The next day, Aifulan specially dispatched a family starship under his management to escort Xilin to B Star Zone.
Seven Luminaries Academy wasn't a place on a planet in B Star Zone. It was a planet in its own right.
The entire planet was an academy. That was why it was also called Seven Luminaries Star.
Seven Space Stations orbited Seven Luminaries Star. All arriving starships had to dock there, and incoming students used their admission notices to board designated Transport Aircraft.
No other starships or spacecraft were allowed near Seven Luminaries Star, and no unauthorized visitors were allowed into Seven Luminaries Academy. It didn't matter which great family you came from—you had to obey Seven Luminaries Star's rules.
The starships that came here all followed the rules. If anyone didn't, the Space Station's "sentry" Defense System would automatically designate them as a threat and open fire. It didn't matter which family they belonged to. They'd be shot first.
Don't call Seven Luminaries Star arrogant. It had the power to back it up. Otherwise, why would Aifulan have said the place was so complicated?
The starship escorting Xilin stopped at the Space Station. After connecting to it, five bodyguards escorted Xilin inside. Xilin saw someone being stopped at a nearby passageway because they'd brought too many attendants. A prominent sign stood at the entrance: "No more than five attendants."
The inspection hall was full of people, like Xilin, escorted by bodyguards. They ranged from fifteen to twenty-five years old, and their expressions were much the same—excited and nervous. They were clearly people of status. Any one of them could be from a famous family in some star zone, but here, their once extraordinary status seemed to count for little.
After their identities were checked and their admission notices scanned, the five bodyguards returned, and Xilin boarded the Transport Aircraft bound for Seven Luminaries Star.
Thank you to the reader Xian Di Mo Yang for the tip! ^^
Also: I've had things to take care of these past couple of days, so updates have been slow, but I'll be back on track soon. At least this book won't update as slowly as my last one. If you think it looks promising, feel free to save it and read it later.
Before you continue