Ch.24511th Committee Member (4)

PS-111 bought me precious time. From here on, it’s my turn.

I need to either physically disable the FTL engine or find Pyrrha Eleven who’s controlling the ship.

‘The length of a Jax Alpha class battleship is about 1km.’

Though Pyrrha Eleven detached part of the front section to create bio-drones and hoses, it’s still between 700 and 800 meters long.

Wandering around to find both targets would be inefficient and likely wouldn’t prevent the ship from making an FTL jump.

‘It’s better to leave the engine to PS-111.’

Though it lost control, that one should be able to figure out another method.

As if reading my thoughts, a broadcast came through the speakers.

“Main controller, AMorph. I’ll handle the engine. Please find Pyrrha Eleven.”

“Pyrrha Eleven. Detected attempt to hijack ship control. Physical contact confirmed at the reactor.”

As soon as I heard their voices, the ship tilted sharply. It seemed that while PS-111 couldn’t prevent the FTL navigation itself, it was tampering with other functions to prevent an easy escape.

“Unit 111, you’ll regret this.”

“That’s not your concern, Pyrrha Eleven.”

I sprinted across the metal corridor while listening to their argument.

If this were a regular battleship, it would have been difficult to move around with my 40-meter body, but this ship was different. Being unmanned, there was no need for facilities to accommodate cyborg crew members.

‘They certainly prioritized efficiency.’

The floor panels of the corridor I was running through were grating-style floors typically used in cargo holds. The same grid-like barred floor I saw when I first opened my eyes in this world.

As I crawled through corridors completely devoid of aesthetic elements, no more voices came from the speakers. Both must be fiercely fighting in an invisible domain.

I ignored the speakers and searched for Pyrrha Eleven. As I moved toward places where it might be, No. 26 on top of my head tapped me.

“Big baby.”

[Zzzzzz (What’s wrong?)]

“I feel something strange over there.”

It pointed one pink tentacle toward a passage I had just passed.

I was about to dismiss it, thinking it had sensed prey like me, when something occurred to me.

‘Come to think of it, No. 26, didn’t this happen before?’

Clearly, when we entered the canyon to find Pyrrha Eleven, it said something similar. Right after saying it felt something strange nearby, giant hoses emerged from the ground.

I don’t know how it detects Pyrrha Eleven’s location, but this is the second time it’s shown this reaction. I couldn’t just ignore it.

‘What should I do?’

There’s not enough time to deliberate.

[Zzzzzzzz (Guide me)]

“Yes! Trust me!”

I turned around and crawled in the direction No. 26 pointed.

If the corridors I’ve been traversing so far are like arteries, the path No. 26 guided me to is like a capillary. The corridor is much narrower.

As I crawled quickly using my combat arms and the blunt claws attached to various parts of my body, my auxiliary organs detected something.

‘A smell?’

Among the metallic smell from the grating floor, there was an alien scent mixed in.

A contradictory smell, both unfamiliar and familiar. This time, AMorph’s body remembered faster than my thoughts.

‘The smell of decaying meat and pungent chemicals.’

Similar to the odor from the corpse storage on Megacorp’s research vessel and Monument’s gene repository.

These smells intensified each time I passed doors along the narrow corridor.

‘They said there were Screamer production facilities.’

This must be the storage area. Behind the steel doors throughout the corridor, there must be genetic samples it collected and bodies hunted from this planet.

‘I must capture this ship no matter what.’

Just from the smell, I could tell there was a considerable amount of genetic essence stored. If I consume everything on board, I’ll have obtained most of what this planet has to offer.

‘Let’s focus on Pyrrha Eleven for now.’

Imagining myself later dumping genetic samples into my mouth, I resumed my search.

After passing through the storage area, I arrived at a hangar. The temperature dropped sharply as I entered. Through the open hangar door, the planet we left behind was clearly visible.

Perhaps because no engineers were aboard, there were more maintenance machines than actual fighter crafts in the hangar.

The maintenance machines were servicing the fighters, seemingly unaware of the crisis their ship was facing. The scene resembled a manufacturing plant more than an aircraft storage facility.

Upon reaching the hangar, No. 26 withdrew its tentacles.

“I feel something strange here.”

[Zzzzzz zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz (But you don’t know where exactly?)]

“No.”

I don’t think it made a mistake. Though its expression is childish, it’s actually very intelligent.

It means Pyrrha Eleven is somewhere here, according to what it sensed.

‘Wait, could it be?’

Only then did I realize what Pyrrha Eleven intended.

‘If it was going to lose the engine, it planned to overload it and escape itself!’

It reversed our expectation that ‘Pyrrha Eleven would escape on a Screamer support ship.’ If I had rushed to the engine, it would have immediately blown up the ship.

‘Cunning creature.’

Of course, it wouldn’t have anticipated losing this ship. It originally planned to deal with me at Blood River but failed because of the variable called No. 26.

However, the cautious creature had insurance for any contingency. It prepared a fighter craft to escape if necessary.

‘So that’s why you guided me here.’

As No. 26 indicated, it’s here. Hiding somewhere in the hangar, controlling the ship.

I glared at the busy machines.

‘It won’t be inside a fighter yet.’

As a member of the Machine Council, it’s one of Star Union’s most advanced androids. It must have been remotely controlling this ship.

‘But with the variable of PS-111 now, it won’t attempt such a risky move.’

It might completely lose command authority.

Instead of examining the fighters, I approached the scattered machines around. As if confirming my suspicion, a plasma heat ray shot from inside.

I raised my wing arm to block the ray from hitting No. 26.

“Pyrrha Eleven. Incomprehensible. How did you know?”

Among the maintenance machines, I saw an incomplete form of Pyrrha Eleven.

Its face resembling a human and thin hose tubes hanging from the back of its head were similar to PS-111, but other parts were completely different. Its body could neither be classified as a Screamer nor an android.

Its upper body had pink flesh chunks that looked freshly cultivated, while its lower body appeared to have Screamer’s metal skeleton forcibly attached. A bio-drone was attached to its chest.

‘So that’s how it escaped.’

It must have secretly backed up its memory to a drone and fled. That explains why No. 26 reacted the same way.

“Wak. Really hate it.”

This is the first time I’ve seen No. 26 express such contempt. I share a similar sentiment.

The enemy before me was too weak and disgusting to be considered a High Commissioner.

I approached it. The bio-drone on its chest fired another plasma heat ray.

But its attack wasn’t very effective.

Unless thousands of bio-drones fired simultaneously, an attack from a drone the size of my finger doesn’t mean much.

“Pyrrha Eleven. Command. Maintenance androids, protect me.”

As a last resort, it called the androids managing the fighters. Androids with no weapons except metal injectors for welding rushed at me.

Meanwhile, it disconnected the hose tubes from its head, severing the physical connection with the ship. It crawled toward a fighter with its incomplete body.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

As I tried to chase after it, the androids blocked my path. They seared my body with their metal injectors.

I swung my combat arm as if swatting annoying mosquitoes. The androids hit by my arm scattered on the floor with their upper and lower bodies separated.

Some androids climbed onto my head, but all had their heads detached by No. 26’s swinging tentacles.

Then the standby fighters all moved at once and began firing their storm guns. I spread the membrane of my wing arm wide to shield No. 26’s body.

‘Remote control, I see.’

As expected of a High Commissioner, it was very persistent. While buying time through remote control, Pyrrha Eleven boarded one of the fighters.

I approached the fighter it boarded while shielding myself with the membrane.

Then I extended my assimilation tentacle and wrapped it around the fighter. As I applied force, the rocket attached to the rear and the wings on the sides crumpled.

As the fighter was turning into scrap metal in real-time, Pyrrha Eleven broke the reinforced glass at the front and jumped out.

It shot a heat ray at my eyes, but that only irritated me more. I picked up the damaged fighter and struck it. This completely detached the metal skeleton part that substituted for its lower body.

I extended my assimilation tentacle and wrapped it around it. I examined it to remove the bio-drone attached to its chest, but there was nothing there.

In that brief moment, it had already detached the drone and escaped.

Just as I realized this, another fighter shot out of the hangar. I hurriedly extended my assimilation tentacle, but the fighter carrying it had already escaped into space.

As it left, the fighters stopped firing and the ship tilted greatly. This was because its remote control was released.

Debris from various machines and androids slid to one side of the wall. While the ship was falling, the fighter rapidly moved away.

‘Persistent creature.’

By now, it probably thought it had escaped safely.

Then the speaker activated and Pyrrha Eleven’s voice came through.

“Pyrrha Eleven. Warning. I have already requested support from Star Union. When the Machine Council’s fleet arrives, Special Target A will be eliminated.”

It had connected communication from the fighter toward us after successfully escaping.

It was a kind of victory declaration. Though it lost the ship and Screamers, it gained something more important: information about me.

If it meets up with Star Union’s fleet and passes on my information, my safety will be greatly compromised. Not only Players but also the Machine Council will try to capture me for experiments.

‘Of course, this is assuming it escaped safely.’

Perhaps because it transferred its consciousness to multiple dummies in a short time? It missed a very important fact.

It should have wondered why I wasn’t chasing after it. Also, what was waiting for it outside.

In the infinite darkness of space, a red and white meteor appears. A star emitting ominous light suggesting destruction rapidly closes the distance with the fighter.

As if about to collide with Pyrrha Eleven’s fighter.

“Your genes will definitely be mine…”

Before it could finish, the communication from the speaker was cut off.

A small flame is visible from afar. The last spark created by the fighter penetrated by the meteor.

A small dragon with red wings emerges from the explosion that swallowed one of Star Union’s highest authorities.

“I was going to handle it myself, but that’s unfortunate.”

PS-111’s voice flowed from the speaker. Along with it, the falling ship regained its balance.

The long battle had finally ended.