Ch.123Extinction Device (8)

# Chapter 123: Extinction Device (8)

The plan for Project ‘Riel Human Cannonball’ began to progress quite smoothly.

———————————-

“Why does it have to be me?”

To be precise, the opinions of the person in question were cleanly ignored in accordance with Sebelian-style authoritarianism.

Although Riel showed quite a resistant attitude during the process…

“That protective suit is your new home.”

“It feels more like a prison than a home.”

Along with my desperate(?) request(?)…

“Once we fill it with biogel, no one else can get in there.”

Though it didn’t make much sense, due to practical issues, Riel had no choice but to enter the protective suit.

But right before entering, Riel showed one last sign of resistance.

“Wait, come to think of it, there’s also Ms. Levia. Unlike me, she’s a bio-core, so there’s no need to risk danger.”

The will to avoid this task couldn’t have been more evident.

Since that argument actually made sense, my gaze and Minister Vermut’s naturally turned to Levia who was standing nearby…

-THUD!

“I’ve only ever managed and controlled ships. I have no experience with physical tasks.”

Levia, who had never once fallen before, suddenly tripped over her own feet.

Minister Vermut and I turned our gazes back to Riel and quietly nodded.

“You understand our feelings, right?”

“Please, we’re counting on you, Assistant Riel.”

And so, under the twin ministers’ sparkling eye attack, Riel finally gave up and accepted her fate.

—————————-

Although there were quite a few complications along the way.

Anyway, the Riel Human Cannonball plan, officially named the VIP Ash Rescue Operation, was proceeding smoothly.

Seeing this, I nodded inwardly and activated pause again.

[Pause]

Then I opened the event message I had left unselected.

[Event: A Chance That Will Never Come Again]

[Currently, the Extinction Core is conversing with you without knowing your true identity, revealing its main body.]

[Thanks to this, the research team has successfully identified where the Extinction Core’s weaknesses are and what condition they’re in.]

[They have gathered all the information needed to eliminate the Extinction Core.]

[Now, while the Extinction Core is completely off guard and in a “relatively” defenseless state, is the last chance to save the galaxy from the threat of this powerful extinction device.]

[If you launch a surprise attack now, there’s a 95% chance the Extinction Core will be defeated.]

[Option 1: But the power difference is too overwhelming. Rather than fighting now, I’ll plan for the future (You will regret this.)]

[Option 2: Then I’ll blow that Extinction Core’s head off right now (Proceed to linked event)]

After carefully reading the message again and confirming there were no issues, I immediately chose option 2.

[Option 2: Then I’ll blow that Extinction Core’s head off right now (Proceed to linked event)] <Selected>

However, this didn’t solve all our problems.

‘We’ve identified where the weakness is, but regular main guns won’t be enough to destroy it.’

According to the information we gathered, there was indeed a spot where we could inflict maximum damage to the Extinction Core with a single shot.

The problem was that this location was the Extinction Core’s ‘head,’ which was currently facing our ship.

In other words, a shield so dense it was visible to the naked eye.

With insane armor plating hundreds of meters thick.

Only after penetrating various sub-systems including shock absorption equipment could we target that ‘weakness.’

Honestly, when I heard this, I wanted to say that if we had to penetrate all that to attack, it wasn’t really a weakness.

At that point, it seemed like we were doomed no matter what we did.

But since Levia insisted that if we didn’t destroy that part, the Core would instantly repair any damage to other areas and then obliterate us…

Whether we liked it or not, we had to focus all our efforts on destroying the Extinction Core’s ‘weakness.’

However, even though our ship had enough firepower to serve as a flagship of an ancient civilization…

That firepower was designed to target other ‘ships.’

It wasn’t meant to target a moving fortress with ridiculous shield thickness and armor plating.

Even if we mobilized all our weapons for a concentrated attack…

Simulation results showed we couldn’t penetrate the shield before the Extinction Core split our ship in two.

Of course, we weren’t completely without options.

‘A method where we concentrate all the ship’s energy into one point and release it all at once.’

Since even an ancient civilization couldn’t always engage in fleet battles…

There was one massive ‘main cannon’ that ran through the ship’s hull, designed for situations like attacking fortresses protected by planetary defense shields.

‘Hmm, Wave Motion Cannon… no, Yamato Cannon.’

In terms of pure firepower, it was just barely enough to neutralize all the Extinction Core’s defense systems and destroy its ‘weakness’ in one shot.

But as with all main cannons of this type, there was one critical problem.

‘Once fired, the ship’s propulsion system is temporarily disabled.’

It would only be for a few minutes, and in actual combat, this wouldn’t be a major issue since the ship would be protected by a large fleet.

The problem was that right now, we had crawled into enemy territory with just this one ship.

That meant, obviously, there was no one to protect us while we were disabled.

Of course, if we successfully hit the Extinction Core’s weakness, there would be no problem since the Extinction Core, nano-machines, and everything else would be completely eliminated.

But if…

Just if the Extinction Core managed to survive, then the situation would become a little, no, quite a bit more serious.

‘Damn it.’

Moreover, according to the plan, right after firing the main cannon, we needed to launch the Riel cannonball to retrieve Ash.

What if we failed?

It was obvious that the Extinction Core would try to eliminate Riel, who went to retrieve Ash, before dealing with our ship.

‘Ah, damn that Extinction Core bastard.’

I continued my agonizing deliberation while cursing the Extinction Core that had put us in such a risky situation.

But in the end, there was only one path I could choose.

‘Since I’ve already selected the event option, there’s no time to hesitate!’

[Pause Released]

As soon as I released the pause, I sat on the throne and began broadcasting the situation throughout the ship.

“From now on, we will deliver divine judgment upon that evil Extinction Core that’s invading our galaxy using the nano-machine fleet!”

“Minister…!”

“All personnel, get to your positions and prepare for battle!”

Then, using the brainwaves connected to this throne, I began concentrating energy at the core of the ship.

“Minister, since we’re maintaining precise holographic projections of the outer armor layer’s shield and gun ports to prevent the Extinction Core from noticing…”

“I know, the actual firepower will be slightly lower than in the simulation.”

Despite Levia’s words, I had already made my decision and had long since cast aside any hesitation.

-WOOOOM

The power source that allowed this tens-of-kilometers-long capital ship to have the maneuverability of a corvette or destroyer while maintaining powerful tanking capabilities.

As that power source’s energy began to concentrate into a single point, the vibrations reached all the way to the bridge.

“…”

“Vibration control system activated, but the energy is too massive to completely offset!”

However, since it had been hundreds of thousands of years since we last fired it…

The aging system couldn’t offset the concentration of this massive energy.

At this rate, the Extinction Core would notice our intentions and clearly show a different reaction…

“Using the hologram system to correct the vibrations visible on the ship’s exterior in real-time.”

“The correction system calculations were difficult!”

With Levia and Minister Vermut’s seamless real-time patches eliminating any concerns about being detected…

I contacted Riel, who was loaded inside the shell in the main gun barrel.

“Riel, are you ready?”

“…You know this is truly insane, right?”

Although Riel usually watched her words on public communications…

Given the situation, everyone understood why Riel would say such things.

“Sigh, I’ve been ready for a while now, so Minister, just do your part properly.”

“Prepare for flash and shock protection.”

After nodding at Riel’s bold statement, I ended the communication.

“3…2…1…FIRE!”

I decided to blast that damned Extinction Core’s face, which was still in a defenseless state, with a particle beam thicker than a battleship’s width.