Vanguard

Dias pulled out a dark gold-colored item, grinned as he wrote something on it, then cheerfully tore off the top sheet and stuck it in the most conspicuous spot by the entrance. Once it was up, the thin slip, originally only palm-sized, expanded to the size of the black briefcase. The numbers and dagger-shaped emblem gleaming on it were hard to miss.

This thing that looked like a notice was... a bill?

When Xilin saw the emblem, his pupils contracted and his heart gave a sudden jolt.

Vanguard! The emblem of the Vanguard Hunter Group, one of the Star Alliance's Four Great Hunter Groups!

Unlike Hunters who worked alone or in small groups, the Four Great Hunter Groups had far grander goals—so grand they were breathtaking. They were involved in discovering new habitable planets, opening up new regions, and trading vast quantities of mineral resources. Their targets might be a family, an organization, a city, or even a planet—or an uncharted region of a Star System. And they had the means to see those goals through... None of that was something ordinary Hunters could handle.

It was worth mentioning that the Electronic Publication Braveheart, whose contribution rating of over eighty ranked it just below Glory and Cipher in the Star Alliance, devoted eighty percent of every issue to information about the Four Great Hunter Groups. That alone showed their influence. They were a force even the authorities had to take into account.

The Security Team came rushing over, but when the team captain entered the control room and saw the flashing "notice," his already dark complexion turned as black as coal. It looked like you could scrape a layer off. He glanced up to see a certain someone sitting in the captain's chair with his legs crossed, munching on fruit with a loud crunch.

"Captain, there are twenty-four hijackers aboard. Twenty-three are unconscious, one is dead. Some passengers have minor injuries, but there are no fatalities. We're comforting them now..."

As he listened to his subordinate's report, the Security Team captain's face grew darker and darker. He wanted nothing more than to rush over and crush those hijackers himself.

A robbery? What a joke! They'd attacked without even finding out who they were dealing with. Trying to rob an experienced A-class gene Hunter? Were they all pigs for brains?! And even if they were going to rob someone, they'd been toyed with like children and hadn't been able to fight back at all. A live hijacker was worth more than a dead one—at least twice as much. How much would the Security Team have to report they'd collected?! Worst of all, the one who'd caught the hijackers was the very person the Security Team had tried and failed to avoid! But come to think of it, why had this guy come to this backwater X Star Zone? There was hardly anything worth exploring here.

The Security Team captain grew angrier by the second. The veins in his forehead throbbed, and he kicked several subordinates out the door. The deputy captain who'd come with him was a little displeased. Even if you were disciplining your men, you shouldn't do it in front of outsiders. Wasn't that just airing your dirty laundry? But when he looked up and saw the glaring "notice," his face changed in an instant. He turned around with a livid expression and kicked the men behind him too.

It looked like their Security Team would get chewed out when they filed their report. Something along the lines of, "Are those Security Team idiots full of shit?!" "Have your brains gone soft? You couldn't even stop hijackers like these?" "Damn it, why are those Money Vampires here?!"

Just thinking about it made the muscles in the Security Team captain's face twitch uncontrollably. "Dias, deputy captain of Vanguard's Sixth Detachment. I've heard a lot about you."

Xilin had had little exposure to information about Vanguard and knew only about the Four Great Hunter Groups. He wasn't familiar with the individual detachments.

No wonder Dias had looked so strange when Xilin reacted so calmly after he gave his name.

Still, Xilin was genuinely surprised. As a deputy captain of one of Vanguard's detachments, wasn't Dias a little too young? He looked no more than ten years older than Xilin.

When the Security Team captain approached, Dias remained seated in the captain's chair, relaxed and imposing. Hearing the man introduce him by name and rank, he wasn't surprised. He smiled. "Well, you recognized me."

The Security Team members' faces turned a little green. Anyone who worked in the Security Team knew the dagger-shaped emblem on that "notice." They kept track of every fleet, and they'd done their homework on the Sixth Detachment's recent activity in the surrounding Star Systems. Several of its key members were even on their blacklist; they'd been guarding against them like thieves. Yet they'd still run into one.

"Under the relevant laws and agreements, you're required to pay me a certain amount. I've already posted the bill over there, so I hope you'll settle it as soon as possible."...

"Of... course..." The Security Team captain squeezed out the two words through clenched teeth. His heart was bleeding. The higher-ups would definitely dock their pay. What could they do? It was a Hunter from the Money Vampires who'd dealt with the hijackers, not their Security Team.

Just then, all the control room's signal receivers and display screens began to slip out of their control.

"We've got an incoming signal!" one of the crew shouted.

As soon as the words left his mouth, music with a powerful, driving beat rang out.

Six booming beats, like heavy cannons, sounded in succession in a distinctive rhythm, interspersed with a chain of linked notes. The data and images displayed on every screen aboard the passenger ship pulsed to the same beat. The noisy crowd in the passenger cabin fell silent at once. The music carried a mesmerizing force that made it feel as if everyone's heartbeat were syncing with it. It had an overpowering presence, gradually taking on the distant, ancient feel of something primordial, like a dagger cutting through every space.

Audio interference, signal assimilation!

This was the first time Xilin had experienced something like this firsthand. He'd only ever read about it in magazines or seen it on TV, but the real thing was far more shocking.

The Hunter Groups' opening signal—their group anthem—was a symbol, just like their emblem. Each of a Hunter Group's detachments had its own variations. For instance, the six booming beats that had just sounded meant the people here were from Vanguard's Sixth Detachment.

A starship appeared on the display in an instant. Above it, a huge dagger-shaped marker appeared, with the number "6" beside it.

Vanguard's Sixth Detachment!

"Oh, they've come to pick me up. What a shame—I was all set to take the passenger ship."

Dias sounded regretful, but his expression was smug. The Security Team members wanted to thrash him with their gun barrels.

A face wearing a bold grin suddenly appeared on the control room screen.

"Deputy, do you want to use the point-to-point transporter, or come over yourself?"

The Security Team was furious. They glared at the person operating the passenger ship's control room. He looked helpless. Their opponent had taken over the passenger ship's screens remotely so quickly that there'd been no way to stop them.

"Obviously I'm using the point-to-point transporter. Oh, and set it for two people. I'm bringing a kid with me."

Xilin had a bad feeling about this.

After shouting at the screen, Dias turned to Xilin.

"Hey, Xilin, come take a look around the ship with me."

White light enveloped the two of them, and in the blink of an eye, they vanished from the control room.

The Security Team captain's face darkened. He said to the person at the console, "Pull up the two of them's records from the passenger ship!"

"Um... all the documents, videos, and other information about them have been deleted." The operator was trembling.

"Useless!" The Security Team captain smashed the chair beside him with one punch.

Everyone hung their heads, grumbling inwardly: They're from Vanguard. It's not like we can take them on so easily.

Meanwhile.

After being transported aboard Vanguard's Sixth Detachment starship, Xilin said to Dias, "I still have luggage on the passenger ship."

Dias didn't seem to care. "The stuff you left in the cargo hold isn't important. You can do without it."

As they spoke, a voice called out in an odd, wavering tone, growing louder as it approached.

"Deputy, you're finally back!" A figure rushed over like the wind. Just as Xilin thought the two were about to act out a scene of a subordinate welcoming his triumphant superior, the man's next words came out without a trace of politeness: "Where's the stuff?"

Dias seemed used to this. He tossed over five cases, including the large one Xilin had seen before. They were made of special materials that shielded against radiation and energy leakage. The contents were probably some kind of energy source.

After catching all five cases, the man turned around cheerfully, ready to leave.

"Hey, hey, Kari, what's the rush? Haven't you noticed I brought a guest?" Dias grabbed Kari by the ear as he spoke, though there was no real reproach in his voice.

Kari bared his teeth, signaling for Dias to go easy on his ear.

Xilin knew this was Kari deliberately ignoring him. Until he was accepted, they wouldn't show him any respect.

Kari held the five cases in one hand and freed the other. After rubbing his ear, he held it out. His smile was polite and professional, nothing like the sincerity he'd shown Dias.

"Hello."

A handshake.