Chapter 253: Cillin’s Supporters [Part 2]
After they went back into their room, the gray cat made an analysis chart based on the little sea king it swallowed. It was through this analysis chart Cillin discovered a hollow cartilage on the sea king’s tail. Normally, this cartilage was flat and curled up, but at full length the bone was tens of times longer than the sea king itself.
Although it was a cartilage, Cillin deduced that a sea king could harden it for a short moment and plunge them deep into the ground. This was how they transferred the eggs into the underground.
The eggs were spawned from many different sea beasts, but the attachments covering the eggs belonged to the sea kings. All the eggs eventually reached maturity after some time, but the infants inside the eggs wouldn’t break out of their hibernation until they heard the sea king’s cry. The newborn sea king hatched normally, but instead of climbing out of the underground immediately it would simply wait until it had heard the cry of an adult sea king. While it was waiting, it would feed on the eggs to keep itself alive until it was time to wake the remaining sea beasts and lead them onto the surface.
Basically, the adult sea kings had planned their timing of attack around the eggs’ life cycle.
The species at the top of the food chain - especially those that are oviparous - all fell under the sea kings’ consideration. The sea kings would procure a batch of eggs, wrap them inside an attachment layer, and hide them sneakily in the underground when they attack the continent.
The sea kings’ actions had probably gone undetected the first time they tried this, so they repeated the same thing during the next two invasions. The destruction of the first defense line was their fruit of labor. If Cillin hadn’t discovered these hidden eggs ahead of time, the humans on this planet were definitely going to have a hard time tens of years later.
Cillin had only dug out all the eggs down a certain direction. There were more eggs buried under other defense lines, but Cillin didn’t have the time or the effort to waste on them.
Cillin tried to seek out Stappen through the network and discovered that his location had changed. He had probably found some information himself and was conducting a deeper analysis. Thanks to Stappen’s analysis, the locations of the eggs were greatly narrowed. It didn’t take long for Cillin to discover another three egg hiding spots within the areas Stappen had narrowed down to. Even better, the analysis didn’t just encompass a particular region. They now know the rough location of all the eggs in the entire continent.
It was almost unimaginable how one person could deduce out all this through data calculation alone. Without Stappen’s analysis, Cillin wouldn’t have been able to find the eggs’ location so quickly.
Cillin didn’t tell Stappen the answer he had found yet because it wasn’t the right time. After communicating with Stappen briefly, Cillin called Guan Feng and told him everything he had discovered. His teacher would be dealing with the RAS scholars himself because in their eyes, Cillin had no right to talk with them directly.
After that, the RAS stopped bothering with the minor noble and his planetary government. After the RAS’ reinforcements had arrived, they immediately started clearing out the egg infested spots on the planet.
“Cillin, you made me proud this time!” Guan Feng was all sun and smiles on the other side of the communicator. Even his signature fox eyes had narrowed into a line. Guan Feng hadn’t expected that Cillin to find a better sea blue gold formula and eliminate the deadly, hidden threat on that planet at the same time. The fact that those old scharls had failed to make any progress despite negotiating their throats raw, and Cillin quietly but successfully finding a few great sea blue gold formulas had made Guan Feng feel really proud.
“Well done! you absolutely deserve praise!” Guan Feng looked and sounded pretty cheerful. There were several factions within the RAS, and his teacher wasn’t the most dominant figure in the RAS even though he wielded great authority. His influence had increased because his student was the one who had successfully acquired new sea blue gold formulas during his mission. The Project Abyss team especially owed him a huge favor, so they would definitely repay him by voting in his favor during certain important matters.
“Your bonus will be delivered as promised, and if there’s anything else you want you can ask me right now,” Guan Feng said.
“Can I really ask anything I want?” Cillin asked.
“Yes, as long as it is within my capabilities.”
“In that case… I heard that a scholar at your level has the right to recommend someone as an RAS honorary scholar, am I right?”
Guan Feng raised an eyebrow. “You are. Are you planning to join the RAS?”
“No, I just have someone whom I would like to recommend.” Cillin told Guan Feng about Stappen, and Guan Feng magnanimously permitted his request.
“I’ll mention this to your team so you can bring that Stappen over when you guys return. I’ll arrange the rest.”
“Alright.” Thanks to Guan Feng, Cillin could save himself a lot of trouble.
After he had obtained Guan Feng’s promise, Cillin contacted Stappen through the same network. The news that the RAS was digging out sea beast eggs around the defense lines hadn’t spread, but he was sure that Stappen had heard of this from the minor noble’s research organization. Stappen himself wanted to meet Cillin and share his joy with him face to face because his theory was ultimately proven to be correct. He still wouldn’t be acknowledged by the public, but he at least had Cillin as a supporter.
When Cillin and Stappen finally met face to face, he discovered that the researcher looked very shabby. Although Stappen had done his best to tidy up his appearance, his broken leg and grizzled hair made him look quite miserable. Cillin could see that Stappen had lost his leg recently; he was currently supporting himself with a simple mechanical leg. The researcher couldn’t afford the cost to heal his own leg.
Stappen was very surprised to see Cillin too. He never thought that his cooperator would be such a young man. Before the meeting, Stappen had imagined Cillin to be a middle-aged researcher because the young man was able to discuss data analysis with him in great detail. In reality though, Cillin had just entered his twenties not too long ago.
The duo found a quiet place to speak with each other. Cillin didn’t want anyone to eavesdrop on their conversation, although the outcome wouldn’t have changed even if they were. After they talked about the sea kings for a little, Cillin finally told Stappen the reason he came to meet him.
“An honorary scholar?!”
Stappen trembled and shouted involuntarily when he heard this. The RAS was the greatest institute a researcher could ever dream of joining. Who wouldn’t want to join the RAS? Once upon a time it had been Stappen’s youthful dream, but after experiencing many hardships and obstacles he had put it to the back of his mind. He had come to recognize that it was nothing more but a pipe dream; a pipe dream that he would never be able to realize.
But now, Cillin was telling him that he could give him the opportunity. How on earth was he supposed to calm down his excitement?
Stappen was never lacking in ability, only opportunity. However, he seemed to be scorned by the goddess of luck herself because he was always oppressed and abandoned by others. Every time Stappen lay tiredly inside his own crude workshop, he thought: if only they’ll give me a chance, even a small one. I will prove myself. I will prove that I’m right - that my way, is the right one!
The minor noble didn’t give him this chance. The research organizations didn’t give him this chance either. But Cillin, did.
Naturally, the minor noble was extremely reluctant to let go of Stappen when he heard that the RAS wants him. But didn’t he have another choice? Would he dare make another choice?
He wouldn’t!
The RAS had asked for Stappen, and Stappen himself had agreed to their recruitment. Even better, the minor noble had lost his only bargaining chip. This meant that there was nothing he could do to change the RAS’ decision. Once the minor noble had gotten over his ego, he would even support Stappen’s endeavors in the future because one, Stappen was a native of the planet and a citizen under his rule and two, he needed Stappen’s analysis to fight the war against the sea beasts.
After everything was done, the teams got ready to return to the imperial star region. However, something had happened a day before their departure. Two scholars who went out for an exploration were kidnapped by an unknown enemy, leaving three dead and ten wounded among the escorts. Two students were seriously injured as well.
The RAS was furious, and the minor noble lost sleep. He could hardly escape blame because the RAS members were practically kidnapped right under his nose, and right after the war was over too. The minor noble was so worried he nearly lost all of his hair.
This planet had great sebased weaponry, but their technology fell short in every other area. Moreover, the kidnappers were clearly prepared since the kidnapping had happened completely off camera. The enemy wasn’t a native of the planet, and they must have great strength and wit to be able to deal a severe blow to the scholars’ escorts.
Everyone received a message not long after the two scholars went missing.
The kidnappers wanted the sea blue gold formulas!
The highest grade sea blue gold formulas were kept a secret from the public. Moreover, the RAS had obtained more than one such formula during this expedition. There was simply no way they were going to publicize their discovery until they had researched them for another three to five years at least, not to mention that they had also obtained the most perfect sea blue gold formula that they called the “super formula”.
The sea blue gold had a broad range of uses. Different formulas could give way to different functionalities. The fact that the metal was necessary to build Guan Feng’s PTS S proved just how valuable it was. Since every high grade sea blue gold formula could sell for an astronomical price in the black market, it was no surprise that it had become a target this time. What was surprising though, was the kidnappers’ decision to butt heads against the RAS directly.
Was it a hidden move by some noble, or the insurgents?
For now, no conclusion could be made just yet.
After the two scholars had gone missing, the entire planet was quickly put under lockdown. Even the surrounding planets had mobilized some of their armies to keep an eye on it. The Mist Bodhisattva Empire’s royal families had sent their own investigators as well.
There weren’t many people who knew about the real formulas since Cillin had passed them directly to Guan Feng. His teacher must have communicated them with several VIPs in the RAS too. In short, the only people who knew about the formulas were Cillin, Guan Feng and the RAS heads who were in charge of the Project Abyss. No one else including the two kidnapped scholars knew anything about this. Unfortunately, the kidnapped scholars were rather important to the Project Abyss, so they couldn’t just accept the loss and move on with their lives. That was why the RAS did everything they could to seek out the scholars.
The sea blue gold formula mustn’t be leaked no matter what, was what the Mist Bodhisattva Emperor said.
There were a lot of insurgents inside the empire. If they learned of the latest sea blue gold formulas, great turmoil would no doubt befall the empire. Although these consequences weren’t said out loud, Cillin was perceptive enough to guess a thing or two. The empire did span across twenty or so star regions. Unity across all star regions was simply impossible.
The “pests” would definitely come out of hiding if they were given the opportunity to act.
Guan Feng wouldn’t tell anyone about the formulas, and the people in charge of the Project Abyss wouldn’t dare because of the royal family. Cillin lived far, far away from the capital, however. The RAS didn’t dare hurt Cillin because he was backed by Guan Feng, but they could surround him with plenty of security and call it “protection”. Just like that, Cillin spent days being trapped inside a building like he was in prison.
Right now it was rumored that Cillin was the culprit who had leaked the upgraded sea blue gold formulas to the enemy. Since there were plenty of people who disliked or envied Cillin, the young man received plenty of slanders during the process. There were also many people who didn’t believe the rumors, but there was no avoiding supervision when such rumors were still circulating.
Of course, there were even more people who disliked Guan Feng, but it was one thing to spread scandalous rumors regarding Guan Feng’s student, and another to slander Guan Feng himself. Who was Guan Feng? Guan Feng was the teacher of kings and a man who was defended by the emperor himself. Why would a veteran like him do something so stupid? That was why all those people who accused Guan Feng were seen as committing malicious slander towards the king’s teacher and punished as a matter of of course. That was why these people switched targets and set their sights on Cillin, causing more and more bad rumors to grow with each passing day.
No one was allowed to leave the planet in order to prevent the kidnappers from escaping. The military reinforcements that had shown up didn’t leave the planet either. Anyone who tried to force their way out would be treated as the kidnappers and attacked.
To be safe, Guan Feng’s request to take Cillin back to the imperial capital was denied by the higher-ups. Currently the young man was staying inside his hundred square meter room while being surrounded by guards. They only wished they could watch him while he was eating, drinking, peeing and taking a shit, and they forbade him from accessing any network. His communicator was confiscated by the authorities as well.
The gray cat was locked up together with Cillin. Cillin couldn’t take out the eggs and feed it because they were watched twenty four seven, so it sat dispiritedly in his lap while he petted it all day long.
Although Guan Feng couldn’t call off the surveillance order on Cillin, he worked hard to make Cillin’s life more comfortable. One day, after Cillin had gotten out of his bed, he found that his senior brother Pistura and senior sister Fu Qingqing were waiting for him. Pistura’s presence kept the Imperial Army who was sent over to investigate in line, whereas Fu Qingqing’s presence also kept the Royal Army on their toes.
Goryeo was on his way right now, said Pistura.
Everyone Cillin made contact with was supervised, even Pistura and Fu Qingqing. Still, they didn’t need to speak to achieve their goals. They were there to support Cillin.
Guan Feng couldn’t come because he was one of the few people who knew about the formulas. He and a few other people had stayed behind at the RAS. That was why he had sent Pistura, Fu Qingqing and Goryeo over in his place. He wanted the world to know that no one was allowed to bully his disciple. Cillin may be restricted to a hundred square meters of space, but you watchers better show him proper respect all the same!
Cillin was very thankful for everything Guan Feng had done for him. His teacher wasn’t the only one who sent his regards, however. The next day after Pistura and Fu Qingqing’s arrival, Gen Xingchen showed up right behind Goryeo. From the looks of things, he was also here to support Cillin.