Ch.187187. The Age of Adventure

One day, the largest psychic storm since the emergence of life in our galaxy occurred.

This storm, which devastated 41 stars, 41 planetary systems, and 25 interstellar civilizations, swept through with a force that seemed ready to devour the world before suddenly subsiding.

And in the place where the psychic storm had disappeared, there was an entirely different—and quite bizarre—sight.

Centered around an object emitting tremendous energy, whose exact nature could not be determined by any modern observation equipment, there floated what appeared to be the remains of everything that had been caught in the psychic storm.

Each area had formed a unique environment, and the deeper one went, the stronger the psychic energy became, increasing the level of danger.

If one were to look for a similar region, perhaps the “Stone Ocean,” the stronghold of the Lockist pirates, might come close, but this place was incomparably larger and more dangerous.

Inside, psychic lifeforms—which were actually quite rare even in the “Stone Ocean”—swarmed everywhere, and it was common for these entities to possess and rampage through the machinery that remained within.

Particularly in this domain, “Shadows of Ships”—ship-class psychic lifeforms resembling alien vessels, often spotted in areas where numerous ships had been sunk—were teeming.

These were literally living ships that could mimic most of the combat capabilities of their original vessels, possessed the characteristics of psychic lifeforms, and despite these features, could also exploit the inherent instability unique to psychic entities.

In certain areas, regions covered by space plant viruses that had drifted in from somewhere were flourishing, and even monstrous life forms, suspected to be indigenous creatures, had been sighted.

This place, which boasted a level of danger as if all the hazardous things in the universe had been gathered in one spot, was naturally avoided by most sentient beings due to its perilousness.

Around this time, someone looking at this region—broadly resembling a whale and thus named the “Mausoleum of Moby Dick”—had a thought one day.

Come to think of it, wouldn’t there be all sorts of abandoned valuables inside?

Operating a multi-species mercenary group on the verge of bankruptcy, he gathered volunteers with the mindset that rather than going bankrupt, he might as well take a chance. He spent his remaining funds to launch an expedition.

Naturally, everyone who knew about this predicted he would never return, but this prediction proved wrong.

Some time later, they returned with their ship severely damaged, but carrying high-grade ores worth far more than enough to compensate for the damage, and this tale of valor spread throughout the vicinity.

And as it happened, this region—the “Mausoleum of Moby Dick”—was, by treaty of the Freedom Union (FU), territory that could belong to no one, meaning that whoever took something from it became its rightful owner.

Thus, from the surrounding areas and across the galaxy, all manner of fortune-seekers, outlaws, corporations, criminal organizations, and various other factions gathered, turning this place into a lawless zone that became so dangerous that the Human Federation designated it as a highest-risk area.

With no public authority, all kinds of black market dealings and criminal activities flourished, and with no laws or punishments, it almost became a cancer on society… but.

The “Mausoleum of Moby Dick” was absolutely not an easy place for criminals and criminal organizations to establish as their hideout.

Having only heard that it became safer the deeper one went, many who tried to create their own hideouts on the surface disappeared without a trace, and small-scale criminal groups couldn’t even explore the outer layers.

As a result, for their survival, they built artificial structures on the surface of the whale’s tail fin, and several large organizations gathered to establish a kind of self-governing city.

Paradoxically, due to fear of the organization managing the city’s security and to avoid conflicts with other organizations, the internal security was very good—giving birth to the crime city “SodomGomorrah.”

It was a city where all kinds of prohibited goods—from drugs to slaves—were traded, where all sorts of pleasures and entertainments that ignored ethical perspectives could be enjoyed, and where materials obtained from inside the “Mausoleum of Moby Dick” were sold cheaply regardless of their danger level.

Meanwhile, there was another city formed near the whale’s abdomen.

Eventually, the Mercenary Guild, which could no longer stand by and watch, took charge, and with additional investment from various major corporations seeking economic benefits, a massive city with a population exceeding 10 billion was created.

This city, called “Babel,” was built for those exploring the “Mausoleum of Moby Dick,” where they ranked the internal environments and created managed pathways.

These pathways imposed enormous tolls on users as they ventured deeper, preventing those without the appropriate rank from entering the deeper layers—a measure taken for practical rather than humanitarian reasons.

If the pathways, which cost a fortune to build, were destroyed by psychic lifeforms brought in by some random adventurer… no action could compensate for such a loss.

Anyway, after these two cities were established in the “Mausoleum of Moby Dick,” countless people gathered here seeking instant fortune—

“Captain, what are you doing?”

“…Nothing. I just dozed off for a moment.”

Among them was a mercenary group primarily composed of the Pelesid race—the “Brothers of Sidra.”

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The “Brothers of Sidra” was originally a private mercenary group with approximately 154,000 members—nearly 600,000 including subcontractors—that was not affiliated with the Mercenary Guild.

Originally, the “Brothers of Sidra” was a group that made their living through security maintenance subcontracts in and around their motherworld, Sidra.

The Pelesid, a green-skinned race with a pair of antennae resembling those of anglerfish, could cast powerful mental psychic abilities, making them truly worth a hundred men when it came to non-lethal suppression.

Moreover, while the Pelesid’s physical bodies were ordinary, when enhanced with psychic power, the enhancement effect was greater, allowing them to excel in operations requiring the suppression of illegal demonstrations or capture missions using only restraint equipment.

With a combination of specialized powered suits, riot shields, and shock-transmitting batons, just ten of them became famous for suppressing 800 rioters, ensuring they never lacked work and lived quite well.

But one day, their main source of income—subcontract work—was suddenly cut off due to circumstances within the FU (Freedom Union).

Deliberately entangled in a scandal where the Security Management Bureau was accused of outsourcing work they should have handled directly and embezzling the surplus funds, they avoided punishment but lost all their contracts.

As a result of this terrible event where their work disappeared in an instant, the “Brothers of Sidra,” after much deliberation, joined the newly built Babel to maintain their livelihood.

Joining the Mercenary Guild was also an option, but they ultimately chose Babel because they didn’t want a mundane life, which turned out to be both a misfortune and a blessing for the “Brothers of Sidra.”

As one of the early groups to join, they inevitably had to endure considerable trial and error, but after overcoming these challenges, they rapidly expanded by leveraging their early-entry advantage.

The result was the reborn “Brothers of Sidra”—incomparable to their previous few-thousand-member rabble—now one of Babel’s foremost military forces and major corporations.

They had their own direct exploration team of about 20,000 members, subcontracted exploration teams totaling around 100,000, and the Sidra Group, which monopolized the sale of items obtained by these exploration teams while simultaneously serving as a pillar of Babel’s internal economy.

Having literally proven that a dragon can rise from a stream, they were now preparing for a large-scale expedition for the first time in two years.