Ch.241Glacier Canyon (4)

Space Survival has an exceptionally large number of NPC species compared to other VR games released during the same period.

The diverse NPCs, which appropriately blend characteristics of real animals and alien creatures from various SF media, were considered one of Space Survival’s unique charms.

Some players even focused on researching the game’s ecosystem and the habits of various creatures. From small, cute creatures like Bubble Amoeba to space whales called Skywhales, numerous creature settings were discovered by players.

However, no one had ever flown alongside Gallergorn, the dragons of space.

I’m now doing what no one else has done before.

Next to me is a Gallergorn that appears to be wearing a red dress over white skin. The red and white mixed Gallergorn Adhigh Orr is flying beside me, flapping its four wings.

Behind us, matching our speed, is a female Black Gallergorn. Ham Oort, who became a Black Gallergorn this morning, resembled a sky god driving storm clouds.

Beside Ham Oort, four White Gallergorn and nine Green Gallergorn are flying in formation, matching our speed. I’m flying over an endless snowfield in formation with 15 Gallergorn.

When I slightly lower my head, I can see the white plain below. It’s the same ice plain we first encountered when we arrived on this planet.

When we first came here, we had to hide to avoid encountering enemies, but not anymore.

“Big baby, big baby. Look over there.”

No. 26, riding on my head, sent me a wave. In the direction its tentacle pointed, I could see a large hole where the ice had collapsed.

It’s the place where I broke through the thick ice sheet while fighting Jason. Though a lot of snow has accumulated since then, traces of our battle still remain.

After passing the large pit, we continued flying for quite some time.

By the time we could see the end of the plain filled with nothing but snow and ice, it was already close to evening.

‘Is that it?’

Located in the opposite direction from the mountain range was an enormously large canyon. Something that size could probably be observed from outside the planet.

From its shape, it appeared to be a deep underground canyon, so deep that the bottom wasn’t visible even when looking down from above.

‘That’s definitely big enough to hide a ship.’

The Jax Alpha warship easily exceeds 1km in length. The canyon was vast and deep enough to hide that monstrous vessel.

Since coming to this world, I’ve never fought in such a wide battlefield. Moreover, this time we’re not luring the enemy but launching a surprise attack. If they’re not fools, they’ll have set up defenses.

‘But…’

I signaled to Ham Oort. Receiving my signal, he raised his head to look at the sky.

As his six black horns glowed purple, the clouds in the sky began to move rapidly. The swirling clouds soon formed a tornado shape and poured down to the ground.

“Maelstrom” – a psychic technique that Black Gallergorn can use. Ham Oort now possesses power close to a natural disaster.

Whatever traps they’ve set will largely lose their effectiveness against the Maelstrom.

The tornado descended around the canyon, and psychic lightning penetrated deep into the inner space.

Purple lightning ran along the canyon floor and walls. A purple web spread across the dark abyss where no light could be seen.

And from the walls inside the canyon and the invisible floor, thick smoke rose with a loud explosion.

‘As expected, they’ve laid down drones.’

“It’s APD.”

Sky Mother, riding on Ham Oort, sent a thought wave.

Pyrrha Eleven had hidden APD (Anti Psychic Drone) in the canyon walls in anticipation of me bringing Gallergorn.

APD is a drone used by Star Union warships when fighting against Gallergorn or Cult. It can absorb various energies including psychic power, so it’s mainly used as a defense against energy weapons.

Gallergorn flight is achieved through a combination of wing flapping and psychic power. If they can’t use psychic power due to APD, their flight speed drops dramatically.

‘That’s when the Screamers would attack.’

It was clear they had planted these to attack as soon as we entered the canyon. With the APDs neutralized, the hidden Screamers should come out.

I waited for them to attack.

But despite the continuous fall of psychic lightning, there was no response from inside the canyon. Even concentrating all my senses on my auxiliary organs, I couldn’t feel any movement.

[Can you see anything?]

“No. Nothing.”

Sky Mother shook her head at my question.

As a Griffon with an eagle’s head, she can see distant objects day or night. Plus, she’s a ranker like me. No matter how well the enemy hides, she shouldn’t miss them.

‘What’s going on?’

From the situation, the only visible threat within observable range was the APD.

The fact that they laid down APD shows they were clearly preparing for a Gallergorn attack. But the enemy must know that drones alone can’t subdue Gallergorn.

“Is it possible they’ve lost all their Screamers?”

“Unlikely. If that were the case, Pyrrha Eleven would consider the mission a failure and retreat.”

The androids of the Machine Committee know their value well. They generally try to avoid damage.

Pyrrha Eleven would choose to flee if the situation was unfavorable. If that were the case, they wouldn’t have laid APD in this canyon.

In other words, the enemy hasn’t fled. They want us to come inside.

‘Hmm.’

From what I could see of the canyon interior thanks to the lightning, the canyon was wider at the bottom than at the top.

It’s shaped like a gourd bottle. Easy to enter but difficult to retreat from.

‘I need to change the plan.’

Waiting for them to come out is inefficient and dangerous. Given time, Pyrrha Eleven will produce new Screamers.

I also considered destroying the canyon, but its size makes that difficult. To completely collapse it would require days of continuous psychic breath. It would take too much time and energy.

‘I need to go in directly.’

When playing the game, I’ve experienced this situation many times.

AMorph operating alone usually infiltrates and attacks enemy bases this way. There’s nothing more disadvantageous than fighting on enemy territory when you’re weaker than the enemy.

Yet I always won for a simple reason.

‘Using the enemy’s advantages against them.’

The enemy thinks this underground ice prison gives them an advantage. That’s not wrong, but there’s something they don’t know.

I have a means to turn their advantage against them. A card I didn’t play even when fighting the Screamers.

[Let’s find a place where we can walk in]

“Do you have a method?”

[Yes]

We changed direction and flew toward the ice plain. There was an entrance-like spot at the edge of the canyon.

The frozen canyon entrance was narrow at the top and wide open at the bottom. It looked less like a canyon entrance and more like a dungeon or cave where monsters might live.

After landing on the ice, I looked around at the Gallergorn.

For the strategy I had in mind, fewer people is better. There’s a risk I might end up attacking allies by mistake.

[We’ll go in alone. The rest wait outside]

“Ham Oort” “Daughter of the meteor” “Protect” “Alone” “Won’t send”

[No. Ham Oort has something else to do]

Among us, he’s the only one who can freely intercept enemies from the air without limitations. For providing covering fire, it’s better for Ham Oort to wait outside.

[Don’t worry. Adhigh Orr won’t get hurt]

After hesitating briefly, he finally followed my instructions. As the Gallergorn took flight again, No. 26, Adhigh Orr, Sky Mother, and PS-111 entered the canyon with me.

Because the structure narrowed toward the top and was deeply hollowed below, almost no light entered the canyon interior. Given the time, it was pitch black in here.

Additionally, the wind coming through the opening above created an eerie sound that never stopped. It sounded like animal roars or thousands of people whispering simultaneously.

Fortunately, none of us were afraid of this.

I stopped at a spot a little distance from where we entered. And there I prepared a trap to counterattack Pyrrha Eleven.

‘I don’t need what I set up before anyway.’

I have two cards to use against Pyrrha Eleven. One of them is the nest.

I went around spraying black mucus everywhere. The mucus that fell on the snow-white ice immediately hardened into tumor-like forms, contaminating the ice sheet.

This isn’t the best place for a nest, but it doesn’t matter. If it expands enough to cover this area, it can deliver a fatal blow when fighting the enemy.

“Are you planning to do what you did when fighting 4th place in the game?”

[Yes]

Sky Mother immediately noticed what I was planning.

“How will you do it without the trait?”

[We have to adapt to the situation]

“…This will be tough.”

“What is it? Tell me too.”

“Me” “Curious” “Me too” “Tell us”

“You’ll see soon.”

After completing all the preparations, I set off again with the others.

The deeper we went, the more steeply the floor sloped inward. It was more like a passage leading underground than a canyon. It felt like entering the frozen lake of hell from classical literature.

“I feel something strange.”

“Strange feeling?” “I” “Don’t feel it”

“I’m not sure either.”

“Here and there, gloomy. It feels unpleasant.”

Halfway in, No. 26 seemed to be feeling unwell. Its normally bright pink body had turned a dark cherry red.

“I can’t see anything.”

Sky Mother and I diligently looked around, but there was nothing particularly visible or perceptible. The surroundings were filled with ice and snake-like stalactite rock masses.

‘There must be a reason for its words.’

As a Sea Demon, it has sensitive perception of energy flows and various other aspects. There must be a reason why it feels something is wrong.

While I was pondering what might be wrong, PS-111 made a sound.

“I detect faint electronic signals 1.5km ahead. Estimated to be an XAX01-class warship.”

“What?”

The ship they’ve hidden is already right in front of us. Yet the enemies are nowhere to be seen. Even if they were hiding well, they should have come out by now.

‘That can’t be right. Surely something… wait.’

Sky Mother’s mention of the battle with Outspacer, No. 26’s reaction, and the current situation.

Something clicked in my head, and my gaze turned to the snake-like rock mass.

It was a huge object that looked like a fossilized Ice Horror. Until just now I thought it was just a rock, but not anymore.

I quickly approached the mass and lightly placed my auxiliary organ on its surface.

First I felt the cold chill, followed by a faint earthy smell.

And then…

‘Metal smell!’

I removed my auxiliary organ and looked up at the canyon wall. Now I understand why I didn’t notice this before.

A very faint metal smell was coming from the entire canyon surrounding us.

Seeing my reaction, the others immediately realized the situation wasn’t good. They quickly took battle positions before I could speak.

[Everyone get ready]

The moment I sent waves with my monster tentacles, the snake-shaped rock mass in front of me shook violently.

The ice and soil covering the canyon interior broke apart. From within, a snake, no, a giant alloy hose wriggled.

Like a demon emerging from a frozen lake, several metal hoses shot up from the floor. At the end of the hoses was a being that formed a giant face, a mix of synthetic metal tubes and biological tissue.

The machine-made giant’s face opened its eyes. A pair of red camera lenses looked down at us.

“Pyrrha Eleven. Judgment. Special Target A noticed faster than expected. Plan change. Continuing mission.”

As it opened its mouth, a tremendous mechanical sound burst forth, making my auxiliary organs tingle.