Ch.121121. The Daily Life of Lokist Pirates

Somewhere in our galaxy, in a vast asteroid belt.

This region, where numerous small celestial bodies move in complex patterns due to their gravitational influences without any nearby stars, is commonly known as the “Stone Ocean.”

The name “Stone Ocean” comes partly from the floating celestial bodies that resemble islands due to the unique gravitational conditions, but mainly because this area is home to Lockist pirates.

Lockists. A humanoid grasshopper species whose name derives from the English word “locust,” they became space nomads and space pirates after the destruction of their mother planet, wandering through the cosmos.

They establish bases in modified asteroids called “Attack Rocks” and roam around plundering ships, using scrap metal from looted vessels to build numerous small landing crafts.

Despite their exemplary pirate and nomadic lifestyle, these Lockists do have a definite stronghold—

And that stronghold is right here, the “Stone Ocean.”

Unlike the densely packed rocks of various sizes commonly depicted in media, where asteroids are typically separated by tens to hundreds of thousands of kilometers, the Stone Ocean is somewhat special.

The distance between each asteroid or dwarf planet rarely exceeds 10,000 kilometers, and the gravitational balance between them is exquisitely maintained. Moreover, naturally occurring gravitational psychic fields throughout the area make this place akin to a massive magical realm.

There are crushing zones where classroom-sized rocks move chaotically like rainfall, shredding any approaching spacecraft; guillotine areas where abnormal gravity causes dwarf planets to collide and instantly crush even battleships that venture too close.

There are also regions inhabited by space creatures the size of small speedboats, horrific asteroids where monster ships have crashed and their monstrous crews have become indigenous life forms, and even psychic entities that casually manifest in reality due to the abundance of psychic energy.

Because of this, even major powers like the Human Federation, who are well aware that this is the Lockist pirates’ stronghold, cannot invade to eliminate the pirates. Thus, the Stone Ocean has naturally become the ultimate lawless zone and a den for pirates from across the universe.

And in the outer regions of this Stone Ocean.

In this land where major pirate forces are nearly absent due to relatively easy access for outside powers, and where numerous minor pirates divide the territory—

(Kirish, it’s time for work!)

(Yes, I’m coming now!)

The small pirate group to which a young Lockist named Kirish belonged, the Pufkirik Pirate Band—which controlled a few dwarf planets in a remote corner of the outer region—was preparing to go out for “work.”

A pirate’s work would naturally involve plundering, but the Pufkirik Pirate Band, being a small family-based group like many common Lockist pirate bands, could hardly go plundering on their own.

In fact, the Pufkirik Pirate Band was preparing to dismantle and sell a Human Federation shipwreck that had recently drifted into their territory.

The vessel was approximately 540 meters in size by human standards, and judging by its shape, it was presumed to be a cargo ship.

Until now, they had left it untouched for fear that mishandling might cause an explosion and lead to a massive accident, but they had finally succeeded in hacking the entrances and clearing pathways.

Given the ship’s size, the entire pirate band (about 6,000 members) was entering the interior with slaves and battle insects to assess the internal structure and eliminate any potential hazards.

They divided into teams of 200 to check different sections of the ship, and within one such team, Kirish was—

Naturally, just an ordinary pirate crew member.

He wasn’t a trainer or pilot of the cyborg bio-tanks made from giant beetles that were once used merely as beasts of burden on their mother planet. Nor was he a slave herder controlling various enslaved species with the Lockists’ unique mental psychic abilities, nor a Lockist medium-armored soldier equipped with scrap power suits and special shotguns.

Armed with metal armor and weapons made by his sister-wife and blacksmith Pirikiki, along with a laser musket converted from a human naval laser rifle, he was just a regular infantry soldier with equipment slightly better than what slaves carried.

With meat-shield slaves at the front, medium-armored soldiers behind them, and Kirish positioned further back alongside comrades with similar equipment, they moved through the dark corridor that exuded an eerie atmosphere.

Thanks to their unique eye structure, these Lockists could see perfectly in the darkness, and they suddenly detected the smell of rotting flesh through their noses—

(It’s the smell of corpses!) (Combat ready!)

“”””KRRAAAAAA!!!!””””

“””””GARYAAAAA—!!!!!!”””””

The moment the Lockist commander of this unit shouted, corpses of humans wearing what appeared to be tattered crew uniforms charged madly from the corridor ahead, roaring like boiling phlegm.

This was the end result of humans infected with the so-called Corpse Plague, a psychic disease.

As the name suggests, corpses infected with this plague move as if alive and become beasts that attack all surrounding living beings. Due to its psychic nature, the infected exhibit physically impossible movements and high intelligence.

Originally a native virus from the Lockist mother planet when it still existed, Lockists and insects are immune, but the slaves they brought as meat shields could potentially fall victim to these creatures.

(Herders, pull the slaves back!) (Give them crossbows!)

Under the commander’s judgment, they decided to move the slaves to the rear for fire support, and began the battle with a volley from the soldiers!

(Fire!)

With the command, powerful thick laser beams shot from their laser muskets.

The flesh of the corpses hit by these beams carbonized several at a time, breaking their vanguard with excellent marksmanship, but… these weapons were merely laser muskets modified from naval laser rifles.

Since they were set to discharge the entire battery in a single shot, they needed to be recharged rather than merely reloaded, and some muskets had their barrels melted due to the excessive high-power firing.

(Fix bayonets, and stand by!)

So while these regular infantry switched weapons or attached bayonets to their musket-length weapons to prepare for close combat, the giant beetles with grenade launchers mounted on their backs now spewed fire.

Having adjusted the output to prevent serious damage like floor collapse, the high-explosive grenades fired from these launchers only burned flesh.

After these two rounds of fire significantly reduced the number of corpses, it was time for the final sweep.

(Charge!)

Following the order, the Lockist medium-armored soldiers at the front ground down the remaining stragglers with cannon-like shotgun fire, while the infantry used bayonets to confirm kills or even jumped into close combat with secondary weapons.

Typically, they would use captured pistols as secondary weapons to shoot down corpses escaping from the mass being dealt with by the armored soldiers, but some veterans would leap directly at the corpses with all manner of strange weapons.

Though the clubs and tools swung with strength enhanced by the psychic disease were powerful, they couldn’t penetrate the metal-reinforced exoskeletons of the Lockists, who could crush human skulls with their bare hands.

Thus, they quickly wiped out the few hundred Corpse Plague infected, but the problem arose during the subsequent cleanup.

(Captain). (These corpses… they all have identical faces and clothing!)

Even for Lockists who have difficulty distinguishing human faces, these corpses were noticeably identical in appearance, and even their decayed or damaged parts were all in the same places, giving the impression they had been cloned in this state.

This characteristic also applied to the tattered clothes or damaged garments they wore, leading the most knowledgeable captain Lockist to seriously consider that these corpses had been formed by some unknown psychic power.

And then something happened that confirmed this thought…

(The, the corpses are disappearing!)

(What are these things?)

As time passed, the corpses piled on the floor gradually faded and vanished as if they had never existed in the world.

It was clear evidence of a psychic user’s intervention.