Ch.209Prequel Chapter 14. The Last Supper (2)

“What’s this atmosphere?”

Jin’s eyes widened as she entered the navigation room, casually tying her hair back.

Inside, a completely different scene from the navigation room she knew was unfolding.

An elegant dining table from who-knows-where, loaded with special dishes and alcohol, created a scene reminiscent of a high-class restaurant.

Candles decorated the walls, emitting a soft glow, while quiet classical music added to the ambiance.

“It’s just the two of us now. We could eat special meals every day and still have plenty left.”

“Ah… Oh, right. What about Allen’s body?”

“Don’t worry, it’s well preserved.”

“You made sure it won’t rot this time, right?”

“Yes, yes. I stored it properly in the freezer along with the captain.”

“Hmm…”

Across the table, Ash was already sitting with his legs crossed, gesturing for her to take a seat.

Jin smirked and slowly approached the table.

For a moment, her gaze turned toward the bathroom.

“Ash. Did you use the navigation room bathroom?”

“No. Why?”

“I was going to ask if it smells.”

“Oh, need to use it? Have a drink first and go in the middle. It’s not urgent anyway.”

“It is urgent.”

“You just came from your room and it’s urgent? Come on. No matter how uncomfortable you feel facing me, that’s a poor excuse, Jin.”

“I don’t feel particularly uncomfortable…”

Ash frowned with displeasure and slightly raised his body.

Jin flinched, startled by his posture that suggested he might pounce if she tried to head for the bathroom.

With no choice, Jin sighed softly and sat down.

Ash pushed a champagne bottle toward her.

“Let’s have a toast before dinner.”

“Heh. Who toasts with the whole bottle?”

“Why not?”

“True. Now this huge ship belongs to just the two of us… We can afford this much luxury.”

Clink.

A clear sound rang out as the bottle necks collided.

Jin’s movement suddenly halted as she brought the straw to her lips.

Looking at Ash, he gestured for her to drink comfortably.

Jin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The bubbly wine traveled up the straw and filled Jin’s mouth.

The moment Jin took her eyes off Ash, his lips twitched into a somewhat eerie smile.

.

.

.

“Hmm…”

About an hour earlier.

I was humming leisurely after finishing my shower when—

“Ack! Argh! Aagh! My elbow!”

I had to wrestle with the shower booth, making crashing sounds.

This damn thing, I just can’t get used to it no matter how many times I use it.

The moment I shift my body while lost in thought, I end up bumping into things everywhere.

Anyway, it’s no different from a coffin with running water.

“Oh, damn it!”

Once again, I had to leave the shower booth with aching elbows and knees.

Actually, I could have used the communal shower room that was now open.

But I needed to guard my room while showering because…

-Ding. Update complete.

That’s the reason right there.

While drying my soaking wet body with a towel, I picked up the AI speaker displaying “Update Progress 100%” on its screen.

“Is it done? Knight, can you hear me?”

-Yes, I can hear you well, Jin.

“…That’s not Knight’s voice?”

-With different hardware, there’s nothing I can do about that. You should have brought my vocal parts too while you were at it.

Judging by the attitude, it was definitely Knight.

Wondering if I could revive him, I had secretly pocketed Knight’s torn-out chip.

Then, looking for a compatible socket, I found only this AI speaker and inserted it as a test, and an update window appeared.

After taking a shower with lingering doubts, I returned to find Knight truly revived.

It was hard to hold back laughter every time the once rugged-looking Knight spoke in a modest electronic female voice.

-Why did you revive me?

“No particular reason. I was just curious if it would work.”

-Is that really true? I was under the impression that you disliked me.

“Shut up. Maybe I wanted to hear your voice. And more than anything… I feel strangely uneasy…”

There was no reason to revive this tin can that had lost its only advantage—that handsome face.

Yet I brought him back to hear this sarcastic voice because somewhere deep in my mind, I felt anxious.

There was clearly something I was missing.

But I couldn’t explain it clearly, which was frustratingly maddening.

I didn’t feel comfortable sharing this with Ash either.

At some point, Ash started to feel creepy and awkward…

So I had no choice but to summon Knight for company.

“Explain, Knight. Why am I feeling uneasy?”

-How would I know that?

“Ha. You rusty tin can. Should I just throw you away?”

-There is one thing I can guess.

“Tell me.”

This bastard is deliberately stalling.

I clicked my tongue and firmly gripped the back of the speaker.

Ready to rip out the chip if necessary.

Though it surely had neither shock sensors nor cameras, Knight somehow sensed my intention and suddenly spoke faster.

-Yes, yes. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you right now. Do you remember that part of the OK Station’s black box recording was deleted?

“I remember. I was the one who discovered that.”

-I attempted to restore the deleted data and succeeded. And I found a scene in the record that might be somewhat controversial.

“Then why didn’t you tell me until now?”

-I was destroyed before I could find the right timing to tell you.

“Fine, just tell me now. What is it?”

-Do you remember the fat man who was killed first? It was the moment he entered hibernation four years ago. At that time, a black figure was captured moving quickly into the hibernation device. However, whether it was noise from the restoration process or…

“I understand. You’re saying there might be two parasites.”

-Yes, that’s correct.

The infected one might not just be my cute baby wolf.

There could be two parasites.

Of course, I wanted to believe it was just noise or Knight’s mistake, but the mere possibility made my head throb.

“But that doesn’t make sense. We checked everyone who died by splitting their heads…”

-Did you really check everyone?

“Ah. We didn’t check that fat guy…”

The puzzle pieces were fitting together, much to my displeasure.

So far, we had split open the heads of everyone who died, human or animal.

The only one we missed was that fat guy.

At that time, we hadn’t thought of checking by splitting heads…

So we couldn’t be certain that there was no parasite in the fat man’s body.

Was there really no other clue?

A clue to confirm there was only one parasite…

“Damn.”

-What’s wrong?

“Guss. It was clear during the booby trap incident.”

Instead, I remembered a clue pointing to the opposite.

The noose booby trap in the bathroom that killed the captain.

Guss could be excluded from suspicion because he had never once gone to the bathroom.

But later, a parasite was found in Guss’s head.

Someone other than Guss had strangled the captain to death.

“There really is one more…”

Chills ran down my spine.

Besides Guss, there was one more murderous parasite.

That was the only conclusion I could reach.

Now I understood why Guss never went to the bathroom during that drinking session.

While creating an alibi was part of it, fear was probably greater.

He was certain that his fellow parasite had set up a booby trap in the bathroom, but he had no information about what kind of trap, where it was installed, or what would trigger it, making him too scared to enter the bathroom.

His constant rubbing of his thighs wasn’t because he was aroused like some gay guy, but because he was holding in his urine.

As the puzzle pieces fit together, the big picture was starting to become clear.

“Then there’s only one person left…”

It was Ash.

Everyone else was dead except for me and Ash.

It had to be Ash.

So right now, I was surviving on board with an alien parasite that had mercilessly killed my comrades while pretending to be human.

“Right. My gun. Where’s my gun?”

Suddenly alert, I looked for my gun first.

That shiny pistol that weighed half in gold.

After checking my pockets, the table, and drawers, it was nowhere to be found, and I soon remembered where the gun was.

“I left it in the navigation room bathroom…”

I smacked my forehead.

At that time, I thought everything was over and felt relieved, so after using the bathroom, I left the gun there.

My pocket, which had been heavy, became lighter after leaving the bathroom, so that was certain.

“Ugh… This is driving me crazy.”

-There is one option, Jin.

“Tell me.”

-I can send a distress signal to the United States Space Force.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. I don’t plan on going to jail yet.”

-…”

Send a distress signal and lock myself in my room, starving while protesting?

That option didn’t exist.

I couldn’t put an end to my pirate life that was still in its prime.

So there was only one answer.

I took a deep breath and exhaled with a “phoooo.”

“I have no choice but a direct confrontation. I have to go to the navigation room…”

Face Ash.

And retrieve my gun to blow Ash’s head off.

That was truly the only way now.