Eclipse Hunter Vol 5 Chapter 1

[Friends, if what I bring is disaster and suffering, do you vow to love me?]

Translators: Laridae, Tresspasserby

Proofreaders: Zephynel, Sora

“I am the father, the father you killed.”

Lance revealed a faint smile. This was an expression that the old him with his exaggerated demeanor had never shown before, and this expression was extremely like Devon Solaris’s, like the Solaris Emperor’s perpetually arrogant smile.

Gege… Daren was shocked, growling, “Impossible!”

Lance smiled briefly and said, “You can compare my pupil to your father’s in your database and see if it is the same. Should this not be a simple task for you, hmm, Dark Sun?”

“Father was killed by me.”

Daren said stubbornly, but he was unwilling to truly confirm it. He vaguely sensed and understood that what Lance had said was true, but he didn’t want to actually check. He’d finally come to terms with the reality that he had killed his father. If Father came back, he would... he should...

At this point, Lance’s patience had run out. He used an imperative tone to say, “Dark Sun, confirm that I am ‘Father.’”

Daren’s expression became panicked, but he reluctantly lifted his head. His silver pupils flashed a bunch of numbers, and his mouth opened automatically to speak: “Confirmation in progress. Pupils are similar; looks and appearance are a match; it has been confirmed that the target is ‘Father.’ If two or more people match this identity, will further confirm if the DNA is the same.”

It really is Father… his complexion suddenly became pale.

“Did you forget?” Lance revealed another arrogant grin, as if the person he was looking at was an ant. “I can command you, Dark Sun. Now hand over your cell phone.”

As Daren walked over, he pulled his cell phone out of his embrace. He desperately wanted to stop but was only able to make his body shudder. He had no power to resist Lance’s order. Why was it like this? He could clearly resist even his brother’s commands, right?

Quickly, stop! You can’t give your cell phone to Father. You should call someone immediately. You need to call Gege, let him give you a command; his commands are at a higher level than Father’s… kill Father now!

Although his thoughts ran in this direction, Daren still took step after step toward Lance. Finally, he handed his cell phone into Lance’s hand. Just as Lance was looking contentedly at the phone, Daren turned abruptly around, calling down to the audience, “El-ge, all of you hurry and leave!”

Elian and the other two froze. They showed absolutely no intention of running away. How could they ditch Daren Solaris and leave?

Seeing that they were motionless, Daren became anxious and yelled, “Go notify my brother that only his command level is higher than Father’s! Hurry…!”

Lance said lightly, “Dark Sun, shut up, and then connect to this opera house’s computer system. The passcode is 18795…”

When Lance finished his order, Daren’s voice disappeared. Lance wasn’t afraid of him opening his mouth, let alone him making any noise. As a substitute, his dark pupils continuously flashed numbers, including the series of passcodes Lance had just said.

“Connected.” Daren Solaris’s voice was as cold as a computer’s.

Lance continued giving orders naturally, as if he were Devon Solaris giving orders to Kyle. “Now, immediately seal off all the exits, emit interference waves blocking all communication, and command all the modified humans in the opera house to destroy all the bodyguards outside.”

Daren’s breathing quickened. As Lance issued more and more commands, his pupils also flashed more and more numbers. At this time, the opera house’s doors closed. From each edge a huge metal structure extended outwards, forming a door made of mesh.

Outside, there was not even a bit of noise. The opera house’s soundproofing was exceptionally good. The only one who knew what was happening outside was Daren Solaris. He was trembling, but was powerless to stop it.

“What happened?”

“What’s the matter?”

“What the hell…”

The dazed audience and the actors onstage finally ascertained that things were not quite right. They stood up one by one, hollering and screaming. Some people even took out weapons. Although the opera house prohibited carrying weapons, these political and business elites were all the type of people whose weapons never left them. They were naturally able to find numerous loopholes to slip through, secretly bringing weapons into the opera house.

“Lance, what exactly are you doing?”

At this time, the two actors on the stage who played the child and the devil’s son rushed behind Lance. Both were furious, because no matter how things developed, in short, this show was over, so how could they not be angry?!

Lance didn’t even look back, only saying lightly, “Kill them all.”

Daren froze momentarily before instantly jumping onto the stage. His speed was so shocking that the two actors didn’t even have time to react, simply standing there as they saw a trace of a shadow hit.

Daren’s first objective was the actor who played the child, because that was the actor who was closest to Lance and was therefore more of a threat. He instinctively chose this target and extended his steel nails.

Seeing this actor, he unconsciously thought of his older brother, and screamed, “Don’t!”

Keng!

“Eloise…” Daren exhaled an immense sigh.

Eloise was holding one of the opera house’s chairs, forcibly using this object to block Daren’s attack. Just a moment ago, when Eli had discovered the command Lance would make, she viciously jerked up the chair that was fixed to the ground and rushed to block Daren.

“Dar, what- what happened to you?” Eloise asked, gasping for breath. Heaven knew what kind of random power she suddenly gained, to be able to block Daren’s attack before he killed the actors.

“I can’t control myself, leave quickly!”  Daren pled panickedly. “Please, Eloise, quickly escape! Go find my brother and tell him that Father is still alive, Lance is Father, he…”

“What’s wrong, child?”

Lance, who was standing behind Daren, gently picked up a strand of Daren’s silver hair, and asked in a languid tone.

Daren said, trembling, “Don’t, don’t give that command…”

“What command? Is it this command?”

Lance smiled lightly and said, “Activate the modified humans inside the opera house; crush the people below. You will be responsible for crushing your three friends. Beat them until they’re close to death.”

This string of commands flashed across Daren’s pupils.

At this time, Elian, who was below the stage, ran up while shouting, “Disregard Dar, attack Lance!”

This loud roar resounded in the opera house. Eloise heard it as well, but hearing it was one thing and being able to do it was another. When the light Daren’s steel nails were reflecting shone continuously into her own eyes, Eloise almost replied, Forget Lance, coming to save me is more important!

Dragging Dark Sun along, letting Elian go attack Lance...Eloise knew this was the best way. Although she knew how strong Dark Sun was, she didn’t even have a single weapon, and so she could only steel herself and do it.

“Eloise, leave.” Daren’s tears swam in his eyes.

Strange! He felt that his own body was a bit strange. It was as if, compared to normal, it was more...

“Dar, don’t hit too heavily!”

Eloise pleaded with a distressed face, but as she spoke, she aimed a vicious kick at Dark Sun’s knees. This, she knew, was the way to heavily injure Dark Sun in one strike...this detail was really thanks to Sin, as last time in the midst of the autograph-seeking crowd, he’d wounded Dark Sun’s knees at the start, putting Dark Sun at a disadvantage.

...it was more powerful than usual!

Daren’s body lowered slightly, allowing Eloise to kick his thigh. Eloise’s strength was different from other people’s but only made him use the other leg to kick back, changing his center of gravity. At this moment, his two fists attacked simultaneously. One fist struck Eloise’s chest while the other one struck her abdomen at the same time. Altogether, this attack did not rely solely on his fists’ power. Dark Sun exerted force on one of his legs, allowing his whole body to lean forward…he used his whole body’s strength in that two-handed strike.

Such scary power...a fountain of blood spurted from Eloise’s mouth before a strong force made her fly back across half the stage. She collided brutally with the back wall. A large boom sounded. Before her mind blanked out, she could only feel...fear!

“Eloise!”

Elian and Eli’s expressions both changed. They had never thought that Eloise would fail to block one of Dark Sun’s strikes.

Was Dark Sun…really this strong?

It was only at this point that Lance leisurely said, “Dark Sun, protect me.”

Elian listened and decided quickly. He immediately ran toward Lance, intending to crush that command-issuing throat in one blow.

But because weapons were prohibited in the opera house, the three students did not use loopholes like the political and commercial elite and had instead obediently complied with the rules. Therefore, neither of them had any weapons on hand. Elian, who usually used energy weapons, could only use his fists to attack...

However, two flying daggers were faster than Elian’s figure, rushing straight for Lance’s throat and chest.

Eli, you actually secretly brought weapons...you did well! Elian immediately recognized them as Eli’s flying daggers and almost wanted to start cheering.

Seeing that the flying daggers were about to finish Lance, however, there was suddenly a black shadow that flashed onto the stage. It reached out and stopped the two flying daggers mid-flight and also stepped between Elian and Lance.

“Driver!”

Elian was very shocked. The one who had blocked the flying dagger wasn’t Dark Sun, but was actually the person who’d driven the car to get them here, Zyle. What exactly was happening? Although he was extremely astonished, there was no time to ponder. He had to take advantage of the fact that Dark Sun was not yet here and hurry and take out Lance.

At this point, Zyle pulled something that looked like a sword hilt from his waist. With one shake, the hilt emitted a glowing blade. It was an energy blade.

“Die!”

Elian's expression changed dramatically. He was all too familiar with this type of weapon. Unlike normal swords, it couldn't be touched. So in the hands of a skilled swordsman, even Elian would be unable to break through his defense quickly.

But he was wrong. Zyle had no intention of defending. He brandished his light saber and struck first.

Elian did not expect this, so he was flustered for a moment. But it was only because this action was contrary to his predictions. Following that, he immediately regained the upper hand in the fight. Zyle wasn't very strong. Given five minutes, Elian would be able to defeat this punk...... Ugh! He didn't have any weapons at the moment, so it would take closer to ten minutes!

However, disregarding ten minutes, not even ten seconds had passed before Zyle stepped aside. Just when Elian was wondering about this odd action, behind Zyle appeared...... Dark Sun!

Elian's fighting instincts immediately kicked in...... Back up. Back up as far as possible!

Although his instincts told to back up, he couldn't! If he really did retreat, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to close the distance between Lance and himself again.

This time, was it was his turn to fend off Dark Sun to allow Eli the chance to attack Lance? Elian couldn't help but bitterly smile to himself. He only hoped that he would be more helpful than Eloise.

At that moment, Dark Sun struck out with his palm.

When Elian was about to intercept the strike, he suddenly remembered that at first glance, Dark Sun seemed to also be unarmed. However, Dark Sun's hand itself was a weapon! If he really did intercept the blow, with Dark Sun's strength and steel claws, his hand would certainly be torn to five pieces.

Elian had to quickly dodge, but Dark Sun wasn't like Zyle. How could he just allow Elian to dodge? Dark Sun immediately grabbed Elian with his other hand.

“Aaugh!”

Elian shouted with pain. Dark Sun had grabbed his forearm. The steel claws abruptly punctured his arm. He moved and felt a surge of pain from flesh tearing.

At this moment, Dark Sun forcefully kicked Elian's calf. Compared to Dark Sun's strengthened muscle and bone, Elian's leg was as fragile as a child's. After a sharp snapping sound, Elian half fell to the ground, in such pain that he was sweating all over.

“Dar......”

Elian cried out Daren's nickname, hoping that he could call Daren back. He looked up towards Dark Sun's face and was stunned. He discovered that it wasn't Dark Sun's merciless demeanor there, but Daren's expression instead.

Daren's face was as pale as his silver-colored hair. Though there were no tears in his eyes, they were wide and staring. The whites were completely bloodshot and a vein pulsed in his forehead. It seemed as if he had become completely exhausted trying to restrain himself.

Seeing this, Elian quieted. Dar was already trying so hard. Elian knew that if he cried out, it would just increase Dar's suffering.

At that moment, Daren's hand twisted, dislocating Elian's arm. Then he seized Elian's neck and held up Elian's entire body. Throughout the whole process, Elian tolerated the pain without making a single sound, even though his lips were turning purple from the agony.

Right then, Eli attacked, flinging out an entire row of small knives. Not a single knife missed burying itself in the arm Daren was using to lift up Elian, forming a neat row. It was quite astonishing to look at.

Even after receiving such an attack, Daren's expression didn't change, but rather, it was Eli, the one who had launched the attack, who was startled. He had only wanted to force Daren to release his hold, but had no intention of actually hurting him.

Daren used his other hand to pluck out two knives. Upon seeing this, Eli reflexively tried to read Daren's thoughts, but accidentally was sucked into Daren's anguish. That had to come from a heart overflowing with pain. Eli nearly wanted to say something to comfort him. Although he was looking for information about the battle on hand, he wasn't able to glean any.

“Ugh!”

Eli fell down. Two of his own small knives were embedded in his knees...... Daren had thrown them back at their owner.

“Ah......”

At that moment, Elian, gasping for air and in pain, finally pulled a small knife out of Daren's arm. He hesitated for a moment, then stabbed it at Daren's palm.....

Daren immediately let go, causing Elian's attack to fail. Daren then turned around and kicked Elian off the stage. Elian lay on the ground, in a cold sweat from the pain. He desperately willed himself not to fall unconscious.

The fight only lasted around five minutes. Eloise still had not regained consciousness, Elian had been crushed single-handedly, and Eli's knees were severely damaged. The three of them had lost the fight.

In the midst of their agony, Elian and Eli happened to think the same thing: So strong! Compared to Dark Sun before, Dark Sun now seems to be more than twice as powerful!

Witnessing all this, Lance was extremely satisfied as he said, “Very good. It seems that in over a year, your moves have improved immensely. You undoubtedly are an exceptional, self-improving ultimate weapon.”

By then, Daren was more than just trembling. He lowered his head to look at his body. It was entirely covered in blood. Most of the blood on his upper half was from when Eloise spat blood onto him. On his hands was Elian’s blood.

Daren lifted his head and looked at Lance. Although he had a multitude of questions, he finally managed to force out one sentence: “Why?”

“Why?”

Lance elegantly shook his head. He smiled and said, “I'll ask you instead. Why are you so powerful? This is because the person giving you orders has a different relationship with you. Devon has placed you under many restrictions not to fight, has he not? Or perhaps he did not actually order you, and merely mentioned it in conversations. But in regards to your microchip, those bans were all established. And so, they invisibly limited your behavior. Unless the matter was serious enough to impact Devon's safety, you would only be held under those restrictions, but they would not affect your strength.”

Lance scowled and coldly said, “However, I want you to obey the mandate to battle with everything you have. Therefore, under my command, you have one-hundred percent of your strength.”

After receiving these answers, Daren was silent for a moment. He turned around to ask another person, “Why, Zyle-ge?”

Zyle laughed. He extended his hand, felt around his face, and then ripped the skin off. Underneath wasn't a bloody mess, but another face that was much more familiar to Daren. It was...... Kyle's face.

“Kyle-ge......”

Daren's facial color turned even paler. So all along he and his brother had never escaped the control of their father?

Suddenly, Daren's figure vanished. When he reappeared, he was right behind Lance. His arm was raised across his chest. Five or six bullets were caught in his outstretched hand.

Kyle turned his head. He smoothly pulled out a gun and killed the person in the audience who had fired at Lance. When he looked towards Dark Sun, he could not help but praise him. “Truly impressive, Dark Sun. Before I even realized someone was launching a surprise attack, you had already stopped the bullets.”

Lance unsurprisingly said, “That is because you are not a fighter. However, Dark Sun is the ultimate weapon. As long as I do not move against Devon, or as long as Devon does not order me to be killed, Dark Sun is my ultimate protector.”

After he finished speaking, he glanced at the situation in the audience. Ninety percent of them had been knocked out by the modified humans disguised as attendants. Only a few people were left struggling to hide. He gave a cell phone to Kyle and said, “Time is running low. Zyle, make preparations. Dark Sun, render the remaining audience members unconscious.”

Kyle nodded his head and immediately walked offstage.

After receiving orders, Daren also leaped off the stage and instantly locked on to the nearest target. He did not have the slightest hint of fear towards the bullets flying in all directions. Unless the bullet was headed towards his joints, he just ignored them. The bullets lodged in his flesh. To his strengthened muscle and bone, they could hardly be considered lethal, and afterwards, he could simply pluck them out.

In the past, he would have dodged to prevent Devon from growing upset when he saw the wounds. Now, he didn't even bother trying to evade them, because the person commanding him did not care whether or not he was injured.

He moved two steps, ripped out a convenient chair, and threw it towards the target. Although the target immediately ducked, and used a chair to shield himself, the chair had been thrown at him with such force that it actually crushed several nearby seats. The person hiding under the seat only made a stifled noise and didn't rise again.

After throwing a chair, Daren locked on to another target, and attacked again......

While Daren was finishing off the people in the audience, Elian struggled to climb next to Eli's side. The pain from this effort left him drenched in sweat. Then he whispered, “What does Lance intend to do?”

At this moment, Eli's face was also ashen from the pain of his knee injuries. But he still shook his head and replied, “I don't know. Too many thoughts are intertwined together. His thought processes are just as complex as the Solaris Emperor's. I can't find an answer.”

“Did you bring a cell phone?”

“I can't make a call. It's being interfered with.” Eli shook his head. He had tried earlier.

Hearing this, Elian recalled that just now, Lance had told Dar to begin emitting radio interference. Since cell phones couldn’t work anyway, why did Lance take away Dar's cell phone? What was he going to use it for?

Also, what did Lance want Kyle to prepare...... Could it have been that he wanted to kill everyone?

That wasn't right! If he wanted to kill people, Daren was even stronger than Kyle. Since Lance wanted everyone to be knocked out, and hadn't ordered them to be killed, then it shouldn't be that he wanted them all dead.

“Clones......”

Elian turned his head to look at Eli and asked, “What did you say?”

“I don't know.” Eli surpressed the pain and answered, “Lance's thoughts are mostly sandwiched between the words 'Clones' and 'Devon Solaris.'”

At this time, Daren had finished dealing with all the remaining people. He walked past Eli and overheard these words. Then he walked up onto the stage and returned to Lance's side. He looked at Lance. With a tone of realization, he said, “I really did kill Father. You aren't Father. Are you his clone?”

“You realized this?”

Lance's expression held a hint of a smile. He replied, “My body is that of a clone, but my brain is not. This 'Lance' has only existed for ten years. Though I planted this piece ten years ago, only recently did I recover this body to use. I had no other option. You already had ripped open a hole in my original body, so it was unusable.”

Daren continued to stare at him and icily said, “Gege shot you in the head.”

“Didn't you also shoot that Yue Baylian person in the head?”

Lance flippantly responded, “And he used a microchip to replace his brain. What? Did you think that in this world, the only surgical genius was your Papa Avery? If you have the money, there are many geniuses available to you.”

Daren remained silent. He just allowed the microchip in his brain to make a determination. The brain was the same, but the body was cloned. The DNA was completely the same...... It seemed he still had to listen to “Father's” orders.

Seeing Daren's expression grow more and more somber, Lance began laughing loudly. He turned around and spread his hands out towards the audience, as if he had put on a perfect performance before the world.

“What is a 'Daren Solaris' worth compared to money? You thing. You don't deserve to be cherished by my child! Solaris Emperor, you should not treasure anything! Anything or anyone can have a price placed upon them, as long as there will be enough profit. Looking down upon the whole world: This is the arrogance of a king!”

Daren heard a noise, and looked backwards. On stage, a white screen was being lowered, a white screen used for projections.

“Watch!”

Lance turned around. His hand gestured towards the image on the screen. He revealed a satisfied smile and he cried, “This is used to create the profit of perfect happiness!”

“Gege, Papa Avery, I'm back! I bought midnight snacks too! Gege and Papa, do you want to eat together?”

Chapter end