“Do you need me to comfort you?” A voice sounded, and it seemed like the person had just woken up.

Brian Clark looked over. A tall, thin young man about the same age as Carrie Smith was wearing pajamas printed with strawberries and fluffy white slippers, looking at them curiously.

Childlike at heart? It was hard to imagine someone dressed like this on the ship.

When Carrie Smith heard this voice, his expression looked constipated and he remained silent, but the twitching muscles on his face made it clear how frustrated he was. After all, nothing good ever came out of this person’s mouth in situations like this.

How did this guy recover his sleep so quickly? Why is he wandering around here for no reason!

“Hey, Judy Smith, you’re awake?” Beverly Smith walked over from outside and spoke to Judy Smith, who was standing at the door. Then he turned to look at Brian Clark, and laughed a little gloatingly at Carrie Smith’s predicament: “Brian Clark, you won again? You’re improving fast. The vice-captain is looking for you—wants you to go to the control room.”

After nodding to Judy Smith in greeting, Brian Clark followed Beverly Smith away, leaving Judy Smith and Carrie Smith staring at each other.

“So he’s the Brian Clark the vice-captain mentioned,” Judy Smith looked at Carrie Smith. “Based on his reflexes, physical coordination, and control over the fighter, combined with some things I’ve heard before, I’ve come to a conclusion…”

Carrie Smith covered his ears: “I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”

“He went easy on you in the last match.”

“……”

Carrie Smith had the urge to strangle this bastard Judy Smith.

Is this supposed to be comfort?! Is this comfort?!

Judy Smith scratched his head, yawned, and walked out the door. Before leaving, he couldn’t resist tossing out a final comment that almost made Carrie Smith spit blood: “You’re really lame.”

“Yu—di—! I’ll fight you to the end!”

Thumping sounds came from the battle room. Dough stopped heading that way, turned around, and ran off. There were two dangerous people in there, and when those two fought, bystanders could easily get caught in the crossfire.

Lately, Brian Clark had also been sleeping more and more. Aside from being dragged to the battle platform by Carrie Smith for a few rounds, the rest of his time was spent either eating or sleeping.

At first, Dylan Smith and the others thought that since mental work was exhausting, it was normal to need rest—just like Judy Smith, who would sleep for a while after doing a lot of calculations.

But this explanation was quickly dismissed, because Brian Clark could really sleep. Even if he didn’t spar with Carrie Smith, he would still sleep deeply, and his sleep time was only getting longer. The amount of brainwork he did was completely out of proportion to his sleep time. Dylan Smith had the ship’s doctor examine Brian Clark, and the results showed that Brian Clark was perfectly healthy, with no explanation for his sleepiness. Brian Clark himself said it was just his natural constitution.

Dylan Smith was so worried about Brian Clark’s sleep that he had dark circles under his eyes. He had originally planned to recommend Brian Clark to join the fleet when they met up with the rest of the Sixth Squad, but the other vice-captains already had some issues with Dylan Smith. If it weren’t for the fact that the Sixth Squad’s captain, Scott Smith, was Dylan Smith’s own brother, Dylan Smith would have had a hard time keeping his position as vice-captain. If you added Brian Clark’s excessive sleepiness to the mix, it would be even harder to get the others to accept Brian Clark as a core member.

Competition among the ten vanguard sub-fleets was getting fiercer, and in order to surpass the other three hunter groups, the main team had already started taking a series of measures. Scott Smith hadn’t specified the details, but Dylan Smith knew that what the Sixth Squad needed most was to speed up development and achieve results. What they lacked most right now was talent, which was why Dylan Smith was so eager to keep Brian Clark.

“Brian Clark, you’re a hunter too, right?” Although it was phrased as a question, Dylan Smith spoke with certainty.

Brian Clark knew that Dylan Smith had definitely investigated him, but as long as nothing about the wilderness or that strange chip was exposed, Brian Clark didn’t care. Besides, Brian Clark believed they would only find his fake ID and storage card; as for his past, it would mostly be speculation—no one would imagine that Brian Clark could alter his external appearance starting from his fundamental genes.

“Yes, but I’m just a shadow hunter, drifting around on small planets.” Compared to the hunter groups, a drifter like him was nothing, but Brian Clark didn’t feel inferior or try to avoid his past.

Dylan Smith sighed. “I don’t care what you were before. As long as you have good character and ability, you’re welcome here. You’ve gotten to know our style these past days. Compared to the other three major hunter groups, we vanguards are much more free and independent. That’s also why our captain named the starship ‘Freedom.’”

Seeing Brian Clark remain silent, Dylan Smith continued, “The universe is vast. This endless expanse of space is every hunter’s dream.”

But you need a certain foundation to bear that dream. Drifting hunters simply can’t access this boundless domain; only by joining a hunter group can you go further and higher. After all, one person’s abilities are limited.

Brian Clark understood all the things Dylan Smith left unsaid, and joining a hunter group would also help in searching for the Yuan family that the wilderness had mentioned. After spending these days together, Brian Clark was quite satisfied with the Sixth Squad’s atmosphere. Exploring this seemingly within-reach yet unfathomable starry sky was truly appealing.

“What do I need to do?” Brian Clark looked at Dylan Smith.