The transport aircraft departed every two hours. When Xilin boarded, less than a third of the cabin was occupied, and there was still an hour to wait.
A few girls up ahead were huddled together, whispering and glancing at the other passengers from time to time.
Aifulan had specially prepared Xilin's entire outfit. Combined with his remarkably deceptive face, it made him look like the young master of some prestigious family. So when Xilin came in, the girls' chatter grew louder, and it was hard to ignore their intense stares. But after a few minutes, their attention shifted to the other people who came aboard.
After all, even on this transport aircraft, more than half the passengers came from powerful backgrounds. Xilin remembered how Bifur and the others had joked around on the Sixth Team's ship. They'd said that at some military academy in a certain star zone, twenty-nine out of thirty students in one class were "generals' descendants"—their fathers were all generals of the star zone. The sole student who wasn't a "general's descendant" had a father who was a colonel. At first, the other twenty-nine had looked down on him. But two days later, all twenty-nine had fallen silent. Why? Because that "colonel" was a colonel in the Star System Federation! His rank belonged to an entirely different system than the star zone's. Ten star-zone generals might not even measure up to one Star System colonel.
Dias had even teased Xilin, saying that luckily he wasn't attending a military academy in C Star Zone. Otherwise, anyone he picked at random would be the child of a high-ranking Galactic Military official.
At the thought, Xilin smiled silently. He picked up the Qiyao Handbook that the inspectors had handed him on the way in and skimmed through it. He already knew much of its contents, and with his exceptional reading speed and memory, he finished in less than two minutes. He rubbed the leaf pattern on his thumb and reflected that even the renowned Qiyao couldn't detect this ring. What kind of place was the Yuanye Family, exactly?
He pressed a button on the armrest, and a holographic display appeared in front of him. Looking at the colorful planet set against the dark backdrop of space, he felt eager for the life that awaited him.
"Hey, buddy, can I sit here?"
A boy with a broad, cheerful grin pointed at the seat beside Xilin.
From the way he was dressed, his family seemed well-off, too.
"Sure." Xilin smiled. It was obvious the boy was the friendly, outgoing type.
"My name's Cheve Alun." The boy introduced himself amiably.
"Xilin."
Alun chuckled and craned his neck to look at the girls up ahead.
"This year's got some pretty beautiful girls. Well, Qiyao always seems to have lots of beautiful girls, heh. This is great." When the girls completely ignored him, Alun scratched his head and turned back around. All the entertainment was stowed in the luggage compartment, and sitting around waiting was boring, so he took the initiative and started chatting with Xilin.
As a Hunter, Xilin had dabbled in all sorts of things, so he could talk a little about just about any topic Alun brought up.
After excitedly recounting his indulgent, carefree days of eating, drinking, and having fun, Alun furrowed his brow. "Sigh, I heard Qiyao isn't easy to get by in, either. I didn't want to come to B Star Zone for advanced education, since the competition's so fierce. But after I stayed out all night a few times, my dad blew his top. He threw a pile of money at the problem and dumped me here to fend for myself. My colorful life, oh, my colorful life... When can I get it back?"
For students whose entrance scores weren't ideal, getting into Qiyao did indeed require paying a large sum on top. But Xilin also knew that if someone's scores were truly terrible, Qiyao wouldn't let them in no matter how much money they threw at it. The fact that Alun had been admitted meant his scores weren't that bad.
Before Xilin could comment, he heard a quiet snort from behind them.
While Xilin and Alun had been chatting, more people had gradually boarded. Looking around, Xilin saw that the cabin was now about four-fifths full. The boy sitting behind him and Alun had also come in during that time.
Alun didn't seem annoyed by the disdainful snort. Instead, he curiously leaned over the back of his seat to look at the person who'd made it.
The boy paid no attention to Xilin and Alun looking at him, keeping his gaze fixed on the display in front of him. Unlike the people around him, his clothes weren't shabby, but they were plain and simple by comparison.
Of course, no one should underestimate him based on his clothes. How many people seated here, qualified to join Qiyao, could really be ordinary?
"Huh?!" Alun's eyes lit up. "Kangman! I can't believe I'm on the same transport aircraft as the genius Kangman!"
Kangman had sneered at Alun for saying he'd paid his way in and for bragging about his carefree life. Only now did he lift his gaze from the screen and turn to Alun. "You know me?"
Though he phrased it as a question, he didn't sound surprised. Xilin could see the pride in Kangman's eyes, along with the stubborn streak in his manner.
"Of course! The genius Kangman, one of this year's Special Recruits. You published a research paper with a contribution score over fifty when you were fourteen. It even appeared in some academic electronic publications. Though I can't understand a thing about that electromagnetic cipher thing you researched." Alun grew more excited as he spoke, not the least bit embarrassed about not understanding. "My dad's tugged my ear and told me this who knows how many times: there are only two fifteen-year-old geniuses in our year, the youngest of the bunch, and they're known as Qiyao's Twin Stars. One is you, Kangman, and the other is Ji Pride..."
At that, Alun suddenly stopped and stared at the cabin entrance, his mouth hanging open.
"Ji Pride..."
After a stunned pause, Alun grabbed Xilin's sleeve and shook it hard. "Xilin, it's Ji Pride! It really is Ji Pride! Oh my god, I'm on the same transport aircraft as Qiyao's Twin Stars! What do I do? I want to scream!"
You wanting to scream has nothing to do with me! Xilin looked at his sleeve, which was about to come apart from all the shaking, and wished he could rap Alun on the head. It wasn't as if the newcomer were a beautiful girl. Why was he reacting like this?! Besides, he hadn't been nearly so excited when he saw Kangman just now.
Ji Pride was the person Xilin had seen at the entrance to the passageway, the one who'd been held up by his excessive number of attendants.
Ji Pride had just entered the cabin. His face, the kind that made women's maternal instincts run wild, wore an impatient expression. He frowned and swept his gaze around the cabin before being drawn to someone waving his arms.
There was no way he could miss it. Alun was the only one in the cabin grinning and waving his arms, rocking excitedly in his seat. With his other hand, he pointed at the empty seat beside Kangman, his mouth forming exaggerated words: "Sit here! Sit here!"
Xilin figured that if the cabin rules hadn't forbidden loud talking and wandering around, Alun would have thrown caution to the wind, shouted, and run over to drag Ji Pride over.
In an instant, every gaze in the cabin turned toward Alun. They looked as though they'd just discovered a monkey hiding in the crowd...
Xilin lowered his head and "concentrated" on reading the Qiyao Handbook, while Kangman stared fixedly at the screen in front of him, as if neither of them knew Alun.
Pride's youthful face went from red to green, then from green to black. He felt as though he'd turned into a monkey himself. Who the hell was that guy?!
Just then, a staff member came in from outside. Seeing Pride still standing at the entrance, he urged him, "Hurry up and find a seat. The aircraft's about to take off." He glanced around and pointed at Alun, who was waving. "Why not sit over there? Looks like a good spot."
Pride gritted his teeth and strode toward the seat beside Kangman, his face dark. Damn it, what kind of ridiculous mess was this?!
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