Ch.112Cosmic Blizzard

# Chapter 112: Space Blizzard

“Farewell, Earth!”

Aboard the space battleship Leviathan, we are heading to Iscandar!

With such thoughts burning in our hearts, we charged through the gate with high spirits, but…

Right after entering through the gate.

“Communications with the homeland cut off, as expected…”

“Oh.”

“Wow… it’s beautiful.”

We could see snow-white or silver-glowing nanomachine particles flying toward our Leviathan like snow.

Of course, if we had been aboard an ordinary vessel, the scene before us would be comparable to the perspective of bacteria being engulfed by white blood cells.

‘With Leviathan’s armor and shields, they’re really no different from actual snow.’

Through countless experiments, we already knew that these nanomachines couldn’t harm our Leviathan.

The crew members throughout the ship, including those on the bridge, were admiring the nanomachines shattering against the hull, thinking how beautiful they looked.

…Though it was somewhat strange to call them beautiful, considering we had just witnessed these same nanomachines form a massive fleet of slaughter moments ago.

Anyway, feeling as if we were trudging through a blizzard in space, we tried to continue moving forward.

But…

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

*Flinch!*

Hearing that scream of despair and resentment, I momentarily flinched, feeling tension spread throughout my body.

‘What’s happening? Could there have been an accident while exiting the warp gate?!’

Yet no signal had come to me sitting on the “Throne.”

Just as I was about to ask Riel beside me for a situation report…

“Sob! BXGW-1654!!! Don’t leave your mother behind!!”

“…”

Upon realizing who was responsible for that scream, I felt foolish for having tensed up.

It seemed like an overreaction to something trivial, so I inwardly sighed before asking:

“Levia, Riel, what on earth is causing such a commotion?”

I directed my question to “Levia,” the ship’s biological core and administrator.

In response to my question, Levia turned toward me with an even more robotic demeanor than Riel.

With a tone as impassive as her attitude, she reported calmly:

“It’s nothing significant. The equipment arbitrarily added to the exterior of my hull is being devoured by nanomachines as soon as we entered this universe.”

“…”

“No!!! ANX-977! The Jacknor-type energy converter!!!”

Meanwhile, behind us, Minister Vermut along with officials and researchers from the Technology and Science Ministry were wailing and throwing fits with tears of blood.

Looking at this chaotic scene, I felt an emotion difficult to put into words.

But in the midst of this, a dangerous thought suddenly crossed my mind:

‘Wait, if everything except the Leviathan itself is being destroyed… what about our cloaking equipment?’

I didn’t care about the other things.

The Jacknor-whatever or the additional armor and turrets that the Defense Ministry had mindlessly attached, claiming they would use them as the Empire’s arsenal upon return.

Those were merely items that the Leviathan could replace on its own.

And we had anticipated from the beginning that those things would be useless here.

But the cloaking system was a different story.

If the pride of the Seveli Empire, its cloaking system, became useless after being devoured by nanomachines, what would happen to us?

Setting aside the nanomachine particles swirling around us like a blizzard.

Wouldn’t all those nanomachine fleets in the distance, heading toward the battlefield beyond the gate, immediately turn their guns on us?

When that thought occurred to me, I felt cold sweat running down my spine.

But Levia directly contradicted my concerns, shaking her head from side to side:

“That system is installed inside the hull, so the situation you’re concerned about, Minister… sir, will not occur.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

At the words of Levia, who was essentially the Leviathan itself, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Indeed, from what I could see right before my eyes, only the Seveli-made additional armor and turrets were disappearing.

The original hull of the Leviathan remained completely untouched, as was clearly visible.

Of course, despite my relief, the wailing of Minister Vermut and his mad scientists continued…

“Riel, please escort them inside politely.”

“Yes, sir.”

I decided to have Riel and the purge unit move our still-whimpering mad scientists to a secluded corner of the Leviathan.

————————————

Anyway, despite the commotion at the start…

This expedition, with no less than two ministers, various special forces, technicians, and even ancient weapons, wasn’t here for a mere picnic.

After ending the brief disturbance, we immediately began our journey in earnest.

And before long, our Leviathan encountered the first planet we had discovered when exploring this universe previously…

“Look, Minister, at that planet over there!”

“…What is that?”

“Ohhh…”

The moment we saw that “planet”… no, “fortress.”

Everyone lost their words and just stared blankly.

As if confirming that my shock was normal, a cruel text event message appeared before my eyes, blocking my view.

*Ding!*

[Pause]

[Event: Fortress of Extinction]

[The once Grey Goo state planet covered in nanomachines had transformed into something grotesquely different when encountered again.]

[At first glance, with its surface plastered with silvery glowing nanomachines, it resembled a metallic ocean planet.]

[But the form of the planet we now see is too grotesque and twisted to be considered a ‘planet’ anymore.]

[One thing is certain, however: when dealing with that planet… no, that ‘fortress,’ mistakes will not be tolerated.]

[Option 1: That’s their forward base, attack! (Linked event progression)]

[Option 2: We can’t face it right now, bypass it (Linked event progression)]

As the event message indicated, what we once considered a planet had… transformed into a massive space fortress the size of a planet.

More precisely, it functioned both as a planet-sized space fortress and simultaneously as a gigantic shipyard.

Its extraordinary appearance also contributed to our mental breakdown.

The equatorial region, except for the north and south poles, had been excavated all the way to the mantle, with mysterious facilities and city-sized cannons erected haphazardly.

Nanomachine fleets generated from the surface and within the crust were being created one by one, like water droplets splashing from water.

In this universe already full of surreal sights, this was the most unreal spectacle I had ever witnessed.

And when the options appeared in this situation, I nearly panicked…

But as always, time is abundant during a pause.

After spending what felt like three days getting my mental state under control.

‘Alright, we can’t face something like that head-on.’

[Option 2: We can’t face it right now, bypass it (Linked event progression)] <Selected>

…Having chosen what anyone would objectively or subjectively consider the right option.

[Pause Released]

I immediately released the pause and addressed all personnel on the bridge and throughout the ship:

“We will not engage in battle with that bizarre planetary fortress, so all personnel remain at your stations and refrain from rash actions!”

“Minister, that’s a really good idea.”

And everyone nodded in agreement with my decision.

After all, even the most war-hungry or battle-loving person needs a fight that’s at least feasible.

To challenge such an overwhelmingly superior opponent… would be beyond courage, entering the realm of recklessness and arrogance.

Moreover, in gaming terms, this was merely a first-round boss.

No need to waste energy—with this mental victory of sorts, I naturally decided to move on to the next star system without getting caught by that bizarre and grotesque space fortress.

But…

“Ah, just to inform you, even with this ship’s Imperial stealth systems… if we get within a certain distance of that fortress, we will definitely be detected.”

“…Huh?”

“Why is that a concern? Can’t we just openly bypass it and be done with it?”

At Levia’s emotionless words, we all tilted our heads in confusion.

As Riel said, couldn’t we just bypass it and be done with it?

But…

“How strange. To reach the hyperspace jump route to the next planetary system, this vessel must pass near that base.”

At Levia’s continued explanation, I inwardly wanted to scream at the world to stop messing with me.