Ch.117Extinction Device (2)

# Chapter 117: Extinction Device (2)

Contrary to my expectations, my deliberation wasn’t very long.

[Option 1: Enter as is (Continue linked event)] <Selected>

I mean, Levia herself said there are limitations to exercising authority from the outside.

What sane person would choose option 2?

Anyway, after making my selection, I immediately released the pause and spoke.

[Pause Released]

“Well, it was quite a dilemma… but I’ll use your authority to infiltrate the interior, Levia.”

“Understood.”

“Minister, are you really going in there?”

Of course, Riel gently challenged my decision, but…

“Staying here won’t change anything anyway.”

“But still…”

“Don’t forget that even now, outside this place, the Allied Fleet is engaged in a bloody battle with the nano-machine fleet.”

“Ugh!”

Faced with my logical argument, Riel made a frustrated expression but nodded in agreement.

And since no one else raised any objections to my decision either.

Our Leviathan began moving forward, cutting through the space filled with nano-machine dust.

———————————

Shortly after, we reached the front of the planetary fortress housing the extinction device…

“…Riel.”

“What is it, Minister?”

“Did we scan the size of this thing when we arrived here?”

“No, we didn’t.”

The problem was that the planetary fortress was far larger than what we typically consider a ‘planet.’

“Hmm, roughly checking with the laser scanner now… it’s about 50% larger than a normal planet!”

Moreover, the surface of this enormous planet and the ‘lower section’ where we needed to enter were densely packed with massive building-like structures(?).

Faced with this overwhelming sight, everyone on the bridge, including myself, fell silent and could only stare.

“Amazing, how is it maintaining such a size?”

…Except for one person.

Anyway, while we were feeling real-time pressure from the imposing extinction device.

“Minister? The main gate’s lock has been released. Shall we enter immediately?”

“Hmm.”

At Levia’s words indicating preparations were complete, I nodded and thought.

‘But how are we going to do this… deploy assault troops from here to infiltrate the interior?’

Conveniently, there were Purge Unit members aboard the Leviathan who had boarded to escort me.

My mind was bubbling with thoughts of Purge Unit members descending in assault crafts with Levia and the ship’s support, starting a wild chase.

However…

“Opening main gate.”

-Kuguuuguuuguuuguuu…

“Oh.”

True to its name “Main Gate,” a hatch the size of a city on the planet’s surface opened up.

I realized all my previous assumptions had evaporated, and I understood what Levia meant by “entering.”

-Kuuuuuu!

She meant taking our tens-of-kilometers-long massive warship directly into the planet’s interior.

—————————–

Once inside the planet, the Leviathan’s forward speed decreased considerably.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with the ship itself.

“Ah, another pillar detected ahead.”

“Tsk.”

It was just that this planetary fortress was unnecessarily filled with all sorts of structures and mechanisms.

This severely restricted the ship’s maneuverability.

Moreover, these structures seemed to double as some kind of hangars.

They contained all manner of menacing weapons and shells, making it quite awkward for us to clear them out of our way.

For most structures, we could clear them to some extent thanks to Levia’s administrative authority, but…

Even with Levia’s formidable authority, there were things that simply couldn’t be moved.

“What… what is that?”

“Bones…?”

Countless piles of bones from various species, regardless of gender or age, were what we encountered.

The problem was that the number of these bone piles was alarmingly large…

“Minister, we just completed a rough scan…”

“Hmm.”

“Besides what we can see right now, there are an enormous number of bone piles scattered throughout this planet’s interior.”

“What…?”

“If collected together, they would form an entire planetary layer and then some.”

Hearing Riel’s words, I had no idea what to make of this.

And as if to put an end to my confusion.

A new event message appeared before my eyes.

[Pause]

[Event: DNA Preservation]

[The extinction device that annihilated all living beings, both organic and inorganic without discrimination.]

[For some unknown reason, it has been exhibiting the strange behavior of neatly stacking the bones of exterminated species inside its main body.]

[I don’t understand why (Continue linked event)]

Learning that the bones before us were actually “collected” by the extinction device only amplified my confusion.

‘But why?’

This was because I had never seen any event or setting suggesting that the extinction device—or the Gray Nightmare that our Allied Fleet was currently fighting—would collect such things.

‘How could these beings, who mercilessly bombard and obliterate every planet they encounter, be collecting bones?’

[Pause Released]

If they were just collecting skulls like those red battle-crazed old men, I could somewhat understand.

But this wasn’t just skulls—it was every type of bone imaginable, all gathered together.

Faced with this shocking sight, not just me but Riel and the others.

Even the truly insane Minister Vermut was left speechless, simply staring at the scene.

‘Why on earth?’

Perhaps noticing my shocked state, Levia quietly approached and spoke to me.

“I’ve managed to access part of the core’s database. May I share what I found?”

“…Go ahead.”

“I’ve confirmed that all these bones were collected by the extinction device to preserve the ‘genes’ of the species it exterminated in the most stable form possible.”

“Gene preservation…?”

“Yes, but any further information is locked behind additional security measures that I cannot access.”

After hearing Levia’s explanation, I turned my gaze back to the massive piles of bones.

Beyond the basic piles of bones.

There were dozens, hundreds of glass column-like structures larger than our Leviathan, filled to the brim with bones of all species and types.

The sheer endless variety and number made me feel nauseated just looking at them.

‘This is insane. Nothing like this appeared in the game.’

In the game, this entity was described as a late-game final boss-level threat that had destroyed countless species.

But that was just setting—how could anyone actually witness such a sight in-game?

Now I understood why the Precursors were so hysterically terrified of this thing’s revival.

And realizing how a simple line of text in the setting guide translated into such a horrific reality…

Even I, as the Minister of the Secret Police who had seen all manner of atrocities like beheadings and torture.

Found myself utterly dumbfounded by the sheer horror displayed before me.

“…Ha.”

I was so shocked and bewildered that.

A short, hollow laugh involuntarily escaped my lips.

“The Minister laughed!”

“Wow, the sun must be rising from the west tomorrow.”

Suddenly I was getting more attention from those around me than the bone piles.

But what mattered most was quickly reaching the extinction device’s core and thoroughly destroying the head of whatever was responsible for such atrocities.

As we continued advancing the ship, I suddenly remembered that Levia had gained access to the database and asked:

“Levia, was there any information about Ash in the database?”

“Please wait a moment.”

Given the situation, I was beginning to have more and more questions about Ash, whom I had simply considered a collection of nano-machines.

Since we were here, I wanted to learn about Ash’s true identity through Levia-wiki while the ship advanced.

However…

“That information is locked. It will take more time to access it.”

“Hmm?”

Hearing that information about Ash was locked, I once again had to express my suspicion.