Sixteen: The Twin Stars of Seven Luminaries

The transport plane departed every two hours. When Xilin boarded, the cabin was less than a third full, meaning there was still an hour to wait.

A few girls were gathered in front, whispering and occasionally glancing at the passengers.

Xilin's attire had been specially prepared by Aifulan. Coupled with Xilin's deceptively youthful face, anyone would immediately assume he was the young master of some prominent family. Thus, as Xilin entered, the girls' whispers grew louder, and their intense gazes made it difficult for Xilin to ignore. However, it only lasted a few minutes before their attention shifted to other arrivals.

After all, even on this transport plane, more than half the passengers came from influential backgrounds. Xilin recalled Bi Fu and the others joking on the Sixth Team's ship about a military academy in a certain star zone where twenty-nine out of thirty students were "descendants of generals," their fathers all being star zone generals. The one student who wasn't, whose father was a colonel, was initially looked down upon by the other twenty-nine. Two days later, all twenty-nine fell silent. Why? Because his "colonel" father was a colonel in the Galactic Federation! A different level from the star zone system; ten star zone admirals might not equal one galactic colonel.

Dias had even teased that it was fortunate Xilin wasn't attending a military academy in the B Star Zone, otherwise, anyone they grabbed would be the descendant of a galactic military official.

Thinking of this, Xilin smiled silently. He picked up the Seven Luminaries Manual given by the inspection personnel and quickly flipped through it. He already knew much of the content, and with his extraordinary reading and memory abilities, he finished it in less than two minutes. Touching the leaf pattern on his thumb, Xilin mused, even the renowned Seven Luminaries couldn't detect this ring. What kind of existence was the Yuanye Family?

He pressed a button on the armrest of his seat, and a holographic screen popped up. Looking at the colorful planet against the dark space background on the display, Xilin anticipated his upcoming life.

"Hey, buddy, can I sit here?"

A boy with a bright, wide smile pointed to the seat next to Xilin and asked. Judging by his clothes, this guy also came from a well-off family.

"Of course," Xilin replied with a smile. It was clear this person was a natural extrovert.

"My name is Kief Allen," the boy said, extending his hand in friendship.

"Xilin."

The boy named Allen chuckled and craned his neck to look at the girls in front.

"The quality of beauties in our batch is pretty good. Hmm, I guess Seven Luminaries always has a lot of beautiful girls, hehe, that's great." Allen, seeing the beauties completely ignore him, scratched his head and turned back. The entertainment in the passenger cabin was in the luggage compartment, and sitting idly was boring, so Allen decided to strike up a conversation with Xilin.

As a hunter, Xilin had knowledge in various fields, so he could talk about most of the topics Allen brought up.

After Allen enthusiastically recounted tales of leisure and fun, he frowned, "Alas, I heard Seven Luminaries isn't easy to navigate. I didn't want to come to the B Star Zone for higher education, the competition is too fierce. But ever since I started staying out all night, my dad lost it. He threw a sum of money at me and sent me here to fend for myself. My colorful life... when can I return?"

For those whose entrance exam scores weren't ideal, it was true that a significant amount of money was required to enter Seven Luminaries. However, Xilin also knew that if one's grades were truly too poor, no amount of money would grant admission. Allen's ability to enter Seven Luminaries indicated his grades weren't that bad.

Before Xilin could comment on Allen's words, he heard a low scoff from behind.

During the time Xilin and Allen were chatting, more people had entered the cabin. Looking around, it was about four-fifths full. The boy sitting behind Xilin and Allen had also arrived during this period.

Allen didn't seem angered by the disdainful scoff. Instead, he curiously leaned over the back of the seat, looking at the person who had scoffed.

That person ignored Xilin and Allen's gazes and continued to look at the screen in front of him. Unlike some of the people around him, this boy's attire, while not shabby, appeared plain and simple compared to those nearby.

Of course, one absolutely couldn't underestimate this person based on his clothes. How many people who could sit here and qualify for Seven Luminaries were ordinary?

"Whoa?!" Allen's eyes sparkled. "Kaman! I can't believe I'm on the same transport plane as the genius Kaman!"

Kaman, who had initially scoffed at Allen's mention of "throwing money" and "carefree life," finally shifted his gaze from the screen to Allen. "You know me?"

Although it was a question, there was no surprise in his tone. Xilin could see the arrogance in Kaman's eyes, and the stubbornness emanating from him.

"Of course, the genius Kangman, a special recruit of this year's batch. At fourteen, he published research with a contribution score exceeding fifty, which was featured in several academic e-journals. Though, I completely don't understand your research on electromagnetic ciphers and such." Allen spoke with increasing excitement, showing no embarrassment about not understanding. "My dad has dragged me by the ear countless times, telling me that the two youngest fifteen-year-old geniuses in our batch are known as the 'Seven-Star Twins' of this year. One is you, Kangman, and the other is Ji Pride..."

At this point, Allen suddenly stopped, his mouth agape as he looked towards the cabin door.

"Ji Pride..."

After a moment of stunned silence, Allen excitedly grabbed Xilin's sleeve and shook it violently. "Xilin, it's Ji Pride, it's really Ji Pride! Oh my god, I'm on the same transport plane as one of the Seven-Star Twins of this year! What should I do, I want to scream!"

What do I care if you want to scream?! Xilin looked at his sleeve, which was about to unravel from the shaking, and wished he could give the guy a good whack. He's not even a beautiful woman, why is he reacting like this?! Besides, you didn't react this strongly when you saw Kangman earlier.

Ji Pride was the person Xilin had seen at the entrance who was being held back due to too many escorts.

Ji Pride, who had just walked into the cabin, had an impatient expression on his face, the kind that made women's maternal instincts surge. He frowned and swept his gaze across the cabin, his attention then drawn by a waving arm.

It was impossible not to notice. Allen was the only one in the cabin happily waving his arm, excitedly swaying in his seat. He pointed with his other finger at the empty seat next to Kangman, his lips moving dramatically: "Sit here! Sit here!"

Xilin felt that if it weren't for the rule against loud noises and moving around freely in the cabin, this guy would have definitely started shouting and rushed over to pull Ji Pride towards him.

For a moment, all eyes in the cabin swept towards Allen, their gazes like they had suddenly discovered a monkey hiding in the crowd...

Xilin lowered his head and "seriously" read the Seven-Star Handbook. Kangman, on the other hand, stared intently at the screen in front of him, as if he didn't even know Allen.

Pride's fair face turned from red to green, then from green to black. He felt as if he had also turned into a monkey. Pride roared inwardly: Who the hell is that guy?!

Just then, a staff member entered from outside. Seeing Pride still standing at the door, they urged, "Hurry up and find a seat, the plane is about to take off." Their eyes swept over and pointed at Allen, who was waving. "Sit there, it's a good spot."

Pride gritted his teeth and, with a dark expression, walked towards the seat next to Kangman. Damn it, what kind of messed-up situation is this?!