Ch.216Trap (5)

“You’re here?”

When we returned to the nest, PS-111 greeted us. The Sky Mother and No. 26 were nowhere to be seen.

[Did everything go okay? Did you encounter any enemies?]

“No encounters with the organism ‘Gallergorn’. The main controller is on the Cult cruiser.”

[That’s a relief. The Sky Mother hasn’t returned yet?]

“‘Middle Child’ has not returned since leaving for reconnaissance.”

From what I could tell, PS-111 was guarding the nest, while No. 26 was protecting the Gallergorn on the cruiser. The Sky Mother had gone to monitor Odd Grad’s group and hadn’t returned yet.

I put down several cocoons I’d been carrying in the nest.

“What is that?”

[Cocoons made by Hellside Hornets. Want to try one?]

“I assess it to be an interesting organic compound.”

[There’s liquid inside, just drink it up]

“Understood.”

PS-111 moved its elongated legs toward the cocoon.

It skillfully used its blade-like leg to slightly tear the cocoon. Then it spread its hook-clawed hand wide and placed it against the flowing liquid.

The creature, which had consumed the Star Union’s energy absorption device “Blood River,” occasionally ingested nutrients this way. I wondered if it could actually taste anything, but it didn’t seem to care much.

“It contains abundant nutrients essential for survival. Is it possible to obtain large quantities of this organic compound?”

[What I brought is all there is]

“I recommend securing additional organic compounds in the future.”

When I first drank the cocoon liquid, I felt like my wounds were healing, and it wasn’t just my imagination. As the creature analyzed, it was rich in nutrients.

In a way, it makes sense. It’s made by dissolving and fermenting whole living organisms.

[I should take some to the cruiser too]

“Young kin” “Food?”

[Yes]

It had been a day and a half since they holed up in the cruiser. The Gallergorn on the cruiser weren’t hunting because Green Gallergorn pursuit teams could appear in the area.

Although there were plenty of Cult crew combat rations left on the cruiser, they weren’t suitable for Gallergorn. So they must have been starving all this time.

‘It would be a big loss if they starved to death.’

I brought the Blue Gallergorn to persuade Adhigh and Ham Oort’s remaining forces. I hadn’t even collected on saving their lives yet, so I had no intention of letting them die.

But Adhigh, not knowing my intentions, was happy to see me taking care of them.

“Young kin” “Hunger” “Resolve” “Adult” “Work” “I” “Adult” “Kin” “Food” “Deliver”

[Yes. Just carry these for me]

“No” “Problem”

Even after leaving PS-111 at the nest, he kept chattering. As he did a few days ago, he seemed to want to be a good adult to the young hatchlings, regardless of his feelings toward the kin who abandoned him.

‘Maybe he wants to erase his painful memories.’

I engaged with Adhigh’s chatter as we crossed the forest together. Soon, the ivory-colored cruiser appeared between the trees. I could sense the parasitized Cult members moving around inside the ship.

“Big Baby hello!”

And No. 26 detected me and sent waves from inside the ship. A moment later, he jumped out from the open hangar.

‘Huh?’

As he approached me, I saw he was embracing five blue-scaled Gallergorn. The Blue Gallergorn, each over 2 meters long, were buried in the 10-meter pink jellyfish. They all looked as comfortable as if nestled in their mother’s embrace.

[What’s that?]

“Flappy babies were hungry so I fed them!”

[Food?]

Just as he said, the Blue Gallergorn’s tentacles were plugged into the psychic power spread over No. 26’s body.

‘Is he feeding them psychic power?’

Seeing the thin tentacles periodically swelling like straws, they were clearly absorbing psychic power.

‘Come to think of it, it’s not impossible.’

No. 26 also grew rapidly by absorbing the dead Sea Demon’s psychic power. It’s entirely possible he could transfer power to the Gallergorn, who are also psychic creatures.

‘The scale color seems different…’

Looking again, the Blue Gallergorn embraced by him had an odd coloration. They were predominantly blue but had green stripe-like patterns.

[Were they always like that?]

“Don’t know”

Adhigh also found it strange and tilted his head while looking at the hatchlings.

Just then, Ham Oort’s group appeared behind No. 26. The White Gallergorn Nel Germa and the three Green Gallergorn he had brought.

I offered them the cocoons I had brought. Only then did No. 26 notice the cocoons in my arms and corrosion tentacles.

“What’s that?”

[Food. I brought it for everyone to eat]

“Looks weird.”

“Appearance” “Funny” “But” “Delicious”

Curious at Adhigh’s words, he extended his tentacles and wrapped them around a cocoon. Then he spread another part of his body like a cloth, separate from the part embracing the Blue Gallergorn, and swallowed the cocoon whole.

Inside his translucent pink body, the cocoon dissolved, releasing the liquid inside. His body sparkled like a mirror ball as it absorbed the liquid.

“Delicious!”

As he started eating, the other Gallergorn showed interest in the cocoons. When they all tasted the cocoons, their eyes curved into crescent moons.

“Gratitude” “Favor” “Not forgotten”

Nel Germa, who tasted a little of the cocoon before passing it to the hatchlings, greeted me. The Green Gallergorn beside him also sent me grateful thought waves after watching his reaction.

‘It’s not really something to be thanked for.’

I certainly didn’t give it for free. I intend to get back everything I’ve given later.

After bringing food to the Gallergorn, I returned to the nest to recover from my injuries. Around nightfall, the Sky Mother returned to the nest.

She brought two very important pieces of information.

One was that Odd Grad’s group had shown movement. She said twelve White Gallergorn had left their nest all at once.

My plan was to pick off the White Gallergorn one by one when they went hunting, before attacking the nest. Adhigh needed to eat White Gallergorn to grow.

‘And I need the White Gallergorn’s genetic essence too.’

This was according to plan, but the second piece of information was problematic.

[Ham Oort is alive?]

“Yes. I saw other Gallergorn moving him.”

She nodded at the gathering of everyone.

According to the Sky Mother, Adhigh’s mother was still alive. Actually, rather than alive, it would be more accurate to say she was barely hanging on.

Upon hearing of Ham Oort’s survival, Nel Germa and the three Green Gallergorn seemed agitated. They probably wanted to rescue their leader somehow.

‘Hmm.’

The situation had become complicated.

For one thing, I’m not the leader of the Gallergorn hiding in the cruiser. I didn’t fight and defeat their group. Although I protected them and brought them food, that alone wasn’t enough to make them turn their backs on their former leader.

‘With time, they would follow me, but…’

That’s impossible right now, so it’s a meaningless assumption.

But leaving Ham Oort to die is also problematic. He’s the only Gallergorn who knows about Adhigh’s secret. There’s still much information we can get from him.

“What about rescuing him after picking them off one by one and then attacking the nest?”

“Well, his injuries looked severe, so I’m not sure if he’ll last that long.”

Moreover, we don’t have much time. The White Queen had been left with serious injuries. The White Gallergorn are sturdy creatures, so they might hold out for a day or two, but beyond that is uncertain.

‘What should I do?’

In fact, this is a problem with a predetermined answer.

There are many enemies remaining in the nest. Breaking through them to rescue Ham Oort essentially means engaging in all-out war. It’s not a strategy we, who are at an absolute disadvantage, should choose.

However, openly abandoning Ham Oort is another issue.

Doing so could negatively affect Nel Germa and the Green Gallergorn. They said they would follow my opinion, so they wouldn’t openly resist me.

‘It’s difficult to have such an ambiguous attitude when it’s hard enough to fight with their full effort.’

While I was contemplating the best course of action, Adhigh approached me.

“Great Adult” “Ham Oort” “Worry” “Unnecessary”

[Hmm?]

“I” “Confirm” “Ham Oort” “Strong” “Kin” “Comparison” “Impossible” “Pain” “Overcome” “Possible” “I” “Believe” “Survival” “Possible”

Adhigh was saying Ham Oort is strong and can endure.

“Meteor’s Daughter” “Correct”

“Agree”

The other Gallergorn also agreed with Adhigh, who was considered Ham Oort’s daughter and the Gallergorn’s savior.

[Will it be okay?]

Adhigh understood my implicit question and nodded.

“Fine”

[Alright]

I know why he acted that way. Being smart, he quickly noticed my predicament. So he stepped forward to persuade the Gallergorn on my behalf.

However, regardless of his actions, his eyes revealed anxiety. Evidence of his love-hate relationship with his mother.

‘He needs to stay alive until his heart is at peace.’

It’s Adhigh, Ham Oort’s abandoned child, not the black dragon Odd Grad, who will decide Ham Oort’s fate.

Anyway, thanks to Adhigh, we decided how to proceed. First, we would deal with the hunting White Gallergorn, then rescue Ham Oort as quickly as possible.

“Nel Germa” “Hunting grounds” “Knows”

[Good. Let’s go there first then]

For hunting the White Gallergorn, we decided to go as a group of four: Adhigh, myself, No. 26, and Nel Germa. The Sky Mother would continue surveillance, and PS-111 would guard the cruiser.

“The Cult fleet system is complex, but with crew members, operation won’t be a problem.”

[Just in case, I’m counting on you]

“Understood.”

Having completed all preparations, we got ready to move immediately.

Before leaving, I called the Sky Mother aside. I felt a bit bad about sending her away again right after she returned.

“It’s fine. This is much better than fighting while flying.”

[That’s good to hear]

“I don’t know how many times I’ve heard an apology from Morph-face.”

[Hearing you talk like that, you really do seem okay]

“Oh, if you can save a Gallergorn heart, keep it for me.”

[I will. Be careful]

Instead of answering, she winked one eye and disappeared into the darkness.

After seeing her off, I flew into the sky with No. 26 on my back. Adhigh and Nel Germa, who had been waiting for me, slightly bowed their heads when they saw me.

“Hunting grounds” “This way”

We moved quickly, guided by Nel Germa. Time was of the essence in our divide-and-conquer strategy, so we hurried as much as possible.

We traveled silently for a while. As we cut through the night sky full of dark clouds, Nel Germa at the front began to slow down.

“Nearby” “Hunting grounds”

“I” “Kin” “Power” “One” “Detect”

[How close?]

“Power” “Faint” “Distance” “Considerable”

We slowed down at Adhigh’s words.

‘Just one enemy. That’s lucky.’

It was surprising since they usually move in groups of two or three. Still, to be safe, I asked the two Gallergorn to keep watch.

Moving hidden in the clouds, I also sensed psychic power near the ground. The other side must have detected our psychic power too, as their movement suddenly accelerated.

‘They’ve noticed us.’

[Let’s strike now]

“Agree”

[Hold tight]

“Okay!”

After warning No. 26, I adjusted my wing angle and dove sharply. Nel Germa and Adhigh kept pace, not falling behind at all.

I could see a white dot moving at terrifying speed above the pitch-black forest.

It was a White Gallergorn trying to escape from us.

I predicted the direction it was fleeing and fired a regular psychic breath in that direction. The purple power gathered in the tentacles across my back of head, neck, and under jaw became a beam of heat.

With a boom, the trees and ground in front of the White Gallergorn split apart. It narrowly avoided my psychic breath and immediately tried to use its super-acceleration ability.

But I wasn’t alone here. Nel Germa beside me spat out two psychic breaths.

The enemy successfully avoided one of the purple lightning bolts falling from the sky with acrobatic flying. The other was about to tear through its wing, but unfortunately failed. The fleeing creature turned its head and fired a psychic breath in counterattack.

Purple heat beams fired by two snow-white dragons collided in mid-air.

Whether it was the sound of distant thunder or the clash of their powers, a tremendous roar echoed throughout the area.

Realizing Nel Germa was stronger, it tried to escape again after just neutralizing the psychic breath. But by then, Adhigh had approached and fired rapid energy ball-type psychic breaths.

Adhigh’s psychic breaths flew toward it like bullets from a machine gun. This time, it couldn’t properly evade. Three of the psychic breaths tore through one of its wings.

It could no longer fly and fell into the middle of the forest.

‘Got it.’

After confirming its crash, I landed in the forest with Adhigh and Nel Germa. A white Gallergorn lay fallen among broken trees.

‘It’s small.’

Though larger than the Green Gallergorn or Adhigh, it was noticeably smaller than Nel Germa. It seemed true that it hadn’t been a White Gallergorn for long.

‘But that shouldn’t matter for Adhigh’s growth, right?’

Everything would become clear once I fed it to him.

I approached the Gallergorn from Odd Grad’s group. It just glared at me.

Was it afraid of us? Only its wing was broken; other parts were relatively intact. Considering the aggressive nature of Gallergorn, it should have already attacked.

‘Is it a timid individual?’

Then, as it glared at me, it released a thought wave.

“You” “Black kin?”

[Yes?]

“Trap” “Caught”

‘Trap?’

The moment I recognized its thought wave, I felt my entire body contract.

The air grew heavy, and all of my AMorph’s transcendent senses rang alarm bells.

This intense sensation, different from the future conveyed by predator senses, was something I had felt only once before.

‘When the Imperial Mothership fired the Cosmic Bolt.’

It was similar to the sense of crisis I felt when facing the absolute power that burned the planet’s surface.

In other words, a being with absolute power was targeting my life.

The sense of crisis I felt wasn’t perceived by me alone.

“Black kin?” “Great Adult!” “Danger!”

“Leader” “Nearby” “Present!” “Danger!” “Danger!” “Danger!”

Looking back, I saw Adhigh and Nel Germa trembling in panic.

Moreover, No. 26 on my back was silently releasing psychic power wildly. He had generated all his fins and tentacles, and activated his “Deep Sea Horror” trait.

‘No. 26?’

Only his body size remained the same because he was on my back, but he was perfectly armed. I had never seen No. 26 this cautious before.

“Odd Grad!” “Great Odd Grad!” “Coming!”

The moment Nel Germa sent thought waves like screams.

Beyond the dark clouds covering the sky, a massive shadow appeared. The shadow of a giant black dragon with two wings.

‘Odd Grad!’

The king of the Gallergorn nest and ruler of this planet.

Adhigh’s father and the black tyrant, Odd Grad, had arrived.