Ch.254Cradle of Monsters (5)

Several superluminal voyages followed one after another, but there were no pursuers. All that could be seen was the black silk of space adorned with stars of various colors.

I returned to the ship through the open hangar.

In the hangar, the Griffin Volf, Sky Mother, was inspecting the carrier aircraft. She was examining the storm gun mounted under the wing when she noticed me enter and spoke.

“Any pursuit?”

[Zz (None)]

“That ‘wave’ at the end. Is that why they can’t follow us?”

[Zz (Who knows)]

Thanks to the sudden anomaly, we were able to safely escape from the Star Union.

An invisible wave from somewhere had annihilated the enemy fleet. Since I was directly facing the enemy, I could immediately tell what had happened.

‘All the captains died.’

Looking at the ships that either stopped moving or repeated their previous actions, there was only one answer. The cyborg captains who controlled the ships had died.

After the wave swept past me, the ships never returned to normal. Star Union vessels can be commanded by cyborgs who, like PS-111, can connect directly to the ship’s computer via cable.

In other words, the fact that the ships didn’t recover normally despite my flames suggests that all the cyborgs on board must have died.

“There wasn’t an event like this in the game, was there?”

[Zzzzzz zzzz zzzz zzzzzz zzzz (I’ve never heard of a wave that only kills cyborgs)]

“…We don’t know the cause, but we got lucky.”

She’s right.

What if that wave had harmed all living beings instead of just cyborgs? Or if it had occurred after we had been defeated by the Star Union?

Then we wouldn’t all have made it out unscathed.

‘Though it wasn’t 100% luck.’

The anomaly that occurred at the perfect timing didn’t just benefit us.

The ships led by Siheyon Yujin’s forces. They were also engaged in battle with the Star Union fleet.

‘The human-faced beast mentioned before.’

That Siheyon Yujin’s remnants had visited the frozen planet in search of artifacts. Perhaps the wave that massacred the cyborgs is related to the artifact they found.

‘Though I can’t be certain.’

The likelihood of encountering them in the future is low. After all, this ship is heading to a place not under the control of Megacorp, Star Union, or the Cult Empire.

‘It’s also a place where information is easy to obtain, so I might look into it.’

“Anyway, now that you’re here, I should get some rest too.”

[Zzzz (Good work)]

“It was nothing.”

I left the hangar with Sky Mother. She seemed to be heading to rest somewhere other than the storage area, as she was about to go in the opposite direction from me.

[Zzzz zzzz (Wait a moment)]

“Hmm?”

I stopped her and entered the storage area.

Inside, No. 26 had enlarged its body and was sleeping against the wall. It had extended all of its normally hidden fin-like legs and was wrapping something.

‘What is it doing?’

Between the fins, I could see Gallergorn eggs. Like a hen incubating eggs, it was using its body and fins to keep the eggs warm.

Green Gallergorn and above have no issues, but Blue Gallergorn and eggs require psychic power for survival. That’s why No. 26, which can generate psychic power on its own, is managing the eggs to keep them alive.

‘I’ll need to figure out a solution for that too.’

I carefully entered the storage area, trying not to wake it. Several Green Gallergorn were lying down sleeping among the freezer containers inside.

And among them was the backpack containing the items and equipment I had collected from the dragon’s nest.

I extended my combat arm, which was long like a spider’s leg, and picked up one of the mineral fragments.

Coming out of the storage area, I found her yawning, which she quickly stifled. I held out the mineral to her.

[Zz (Take it)]

“What’s that?”

[Zzzz zzzzzz (You need it for Incarnate)]

She opened her eyes wide at the raw stone in my hand.

This black mineral with scattered white particles embedded in it is called Star Pearl. It’s used to make tools necessary for enhancing a Volf’s Incarnate status.

‘Though it can’t be processed immediately.’

Star Pearl ore is extremely hard and cannot be processed with ordinary equipment. But that doesn’t matter. Where we’re going, there should be equipment and technicians who can process it.

Receiving the beautiful mineral chunk that truly looked like a pearl from a star, she looked at it with a subtle expression.

“Oh, I picked this up before.”

[Zzzz (You picked it up?)]

“The day Ham Oort and I returned to the nest, I said I was going to look around the nest with PS-111. I picked it up then. I put it in the backpack, but you didn’t see it.”

Come to think of it, I haven’t carried the backpack around for a long time. The last time I rummaged through it was when I tried to devour Blood River.

Since then, Adhigh or Sky Mother had been taking care of the backpack.

[Zz zzzzzz zzzzzz (Keep it just in case)]

“Sure. Having one more won’t hurt.”

With nothing more to say, I was about to go back into the storage area when she called out to me. She scratched her beak with her nail as she spoke.

“Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.”

She left a thought wave of gratitude and departed.

‘It can be used for things other than Incarnate too.’

Star Pearl is also used as a material for high-end equipment used by Cult and Volf. If it can be processed somehow, it will certainly be helpful to her.

After seeing her off, I went back into the storage area.

‘Let me check the backpack.’

Returning to where I had just taken out the Star Pearl, I lay down on the floor and picked up the backpack. As I did, a diamond-shaped monolith that had been leaning against the backpack fell over with a thud.

This is the monolith I picked up from Odd Grad’s dwelling. I deliberately collected it along with the emotion-concealing ring because they were objects touched by civilization, and I wanted to examine them.

‘I’ll check it later… huh?’

As I tried to set the monolith upright again with my finger, I noticed its condition was different from before. Light was emanating from the unknown characters engraved on its surface.

‘What’s this?’

I touched the glowing characters with my finger, but there was no reaction. It just intermittently emitted light as if that was normal.

‘Hmm.’

I tried touching it with monster tentacles, auxiliary organs under the jaw, and even corrosive tentacles, but there was no change. Meanwhile, the light gradually dimmed.

‘Maybe?’

Suddenly, I remembered the ring Odd Grad had been wearing. I picked up the ring lying near the backpack and put it on a small arm near my chest.

Immediately, the monolith changed.

“Temporary user ‘Odd Grad’ confirmed. Connecting communication with ‘Akira Yujin’.”

‘Huh?’

A familiar text box appeared before my eyes, and simultaneously, the monolith floated out of my hand.

An unfamiliar voice began to flow from the floating monolith.

“It’s me. What took you so long? I was about to contact you later since there was no response for a while.”

‘What?’

“Tsk, since you’ve answered, I’ll ask. How did the matter I mentioned before go?”

The owner of the voice was a male whose age was difficult to gauge. The voice itself sounded young, but the manner of speech and atmosphere were similar to that of an old man.

My attention focused on the message displayed in the text box. It recorded who the voice belonged to.

‘Akira Yujin.’

I had heard about him from Jason before. There was someone in Megacorp who insisted on using a Japanese name and acted like an old man with chuunibyou.

‘There’s only one such weirdo.’

A player ranked 3rd and an even more relentless AMorph hunter than Jason. Because of that, he had fought with me endlessly as a Megacorp ranker.

‘I never expected him to be connected to the black dragon.’

Now I understood.

The one who gave the ring to Odd Grad was Akira Yujin.

Odd Grad feared the challenges of young Gallergorn or beings born with the power of Red Gallergorn like Adhigh because of his ability to read the future. The one who solved this concern was Akira Yujin.

‘So that’s who made this.’

He gave Odd Grad the emotion-concealing ring, enabling him to oppress and rule over the Gallergorn.

In return, what he received from the black dragon was probably…

‘Gallergorn.’

According to Ham Oort, Odd Grad periodically killed hatchlings or threw eggs out of the nest. He claimed it was to reduce the burden on the group by eliminating weak individuals.

When I heard the story at the time, I thought he did it for his own safety, but my guess was only half right.

He must have regularly handed over eggs and Gallergorn to Akira Yujin’s forces.

That explains why the members of House Yugin I’ve fought so far, Siheyon Yujin and the shadows, possess Gallergorn genes. It was all possible because Akira Yujin was receiving Gallergorn from Odd Grad.

“Why aren’t you answering? Haven’t you dealt with the AMorph yet?”

Moreover, from what he’s saying now, it seems he had already spoken about me before I arrived. Probably an order to capture and kill me.

‘A black dragon that can read the future is certainly a formidable opponent.’

If it weren’t for the unique characteristics created by the transcendence system and the kids, things would have gone according to his plan.

I stared at the monolith for a moment before speaking. The voice of the human-faced beast, Jason, that I had stored came out of my throat.

“Long time no see. Number 3.”

“!”

Perhaps because of the unexpected voice, I could hear him gasp through the monolith.

“You didn’t expect this, did you?”

“…この糞野郎が。(You son of a bitch.)”

“Your pet is dead.”

Even without seeing his face, I could tell how furious he was. Not only had his plan to kill me failed, but he had also lost his supply route for Gallergorn.

I pronounced my sentence to him in a monotone voice.

“The day we meet is not far off.”

“Tch!”

With a short click of the tongue, the light on the monolith went out. Then cracks appeared, and it broke in half.

Seeing that, it seems he understands what I’m talking about.

‘Well, not immediately, but after I become an adult.’

I plan to fulfill the remaining conditions to become an adult in the places this ship is heading to. In the realm where space outlaws roam freely.

After I become an adult, I won’t be talking to him through a monolith like now, but meeting him face to face.

By then, he will have only two options.

Either die fighting me.

Or die running away from me.

Thoughts about what to do next continued endlessly in my head.

Regardless of me, the steel cradle carrying the monsters steadily advanced toward its destination.

–

In a luxurious office, Akira Yujin glared at the mahogany table with a cold expression. On it lay a diamond-shaped monolith engraved with characters.

“……”

He had immediately destroyed the monolith he had lent to Odd Grad, but that didn’t improve the situation.

The conversation wasn’t long, but that damned AMorph would have extracted a lot of information from it. That’s how he always was in the game.

Knowing this fact, his inner thoughts were burning like an active volcano.

‘くそ!(Fuck!) くそ!(Fuck!) くそ!(Fuck!)’

Moreover, the provocation the creature left at the end. It dared to declare it would kill him.

Akira Yujin, the CEO of Megacorp, one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and the king of Earth. If anyone else had said such a thing, he would have laughed and torn them limb from limb.

Star Union’s ranker Jubaka and Megacorp’s ranker Cloe Garmelda. Even those two wouldn’t dare speak to him like that. They know he would really come after them and tear their mouths apart.

But now, he could do nothing to AMorph. He wanted to hurl insults at it but couldn’t. He was afraid of accidentally revealing more information to it.

When that thought crossed his mind, Akira couldn’t contain himself anymore.

“Ugh, uwaaaaah!”

As he let out a scream-like shout, his arm deformed grotesquely. As the monstrous arm thrashed about, the mahogany table in front of him split into four pieces. Other luxury items were also shattered by his hand.

“Odd Graaaad! Jasoooon! You fools! How dare you! How dare you! Do you know who I aaaaam! Aaaaargh!”

Akira’s outburst continued for a long time in the completely soundproofed office.

–

“Did you receive the ‘cargo’ I sent, Lady Cloe?”

“Yes, of course. Thanks to Cynthia, the progress of our research should increase significantly.”

“Please don’t forget your promise to ensure my safety.”

“Don’t worry. That place is beyond the reach of even the old man.”

“Indeed, now that I’ve come here myself, it seems so.”

“I’ve spoken to them, so you shouldn’t have any inconveniences. Let’s talk again next time.”

“Understood, Lady Cloe.”

With those words, the light on the diamond monolith connected to the wire went out.

After ending the communication with Cynthia, Cloe Garmelda left the room on her levitating chair.

“Cynthia has hidden well, and we’ve properly played a trick on that nasty old man. I can’t get in touch with brother Jubaka, but he’s always busy. He’ll manage on his own.”

She was in a good mood as things were going smoothly for once.

Previously, Akira Yujin, Cynthia, Jubaka, and she had planned a hunting operation for the Morph Box. Cynthia informed Cult ranker Jason of its location, and Akira Yujin tried to kill it using a Black Gallergorn.

After the discussion ended, Cloe had called Cynthia separately. To make one request.

If by any chance Jason succeeded in hunting the Morph Box, or if he failed, to tell her first.

Currently, she was independently conducting research on genetically synthesized organisms, or Hulk Mutants, together with Star Union’s Jubaka. What they needed for this was the genes of rankers.

If AMorph was killed, Akira Yujin would undoubtedly demand the body for himself. The rather unsophisticated Jason would be satisfied with obtaining the perk and would easily hand over the body to Akira.

That couldn’t happen, so she had asked Cynthia, who was in personal contact with Jason.

The result of the battle was Jason’s defeat. He returned to Cynthia with only his body, his head having been severed.

She immediately reported to Cloe that Jason had died, and Cloe made a contract with Cynthia.

She would guarantee Cynthia’s safety if she didn’t tell Akira that Jason had died.

If Akira knew that Jason had been defeated, it was obvious he would try other tricks to capture the Morph Box. Not only that, but he would also try to take Jason’s body.

So she had “slightly” delayed the news of Jason’s death.

‘I didn’t expect things to work out this well.’

At any other time, Akira Yujin wouldn’t have failed to notice this. After all, there was a Black Gallergorn on the same planet, so he could have quickly confirmed Jason’s defeat just by checking.

But this time, the heavens had favored her.

Akira Yujin was busy with civil war termination negotiations, so he couldn’t properly grasp how things were unfolding.

Thanks to that, she was able to achieve her goal without much difficulty.

‘Jason’s body and various samples. That guy left behind so many things even as he departed.’

The levitating chair she was riding stopped in front of the laboratory door. A soft light emanated from the terminal next to the door, scanning her entire body.

“Welcome, Lady Cloe Garmelda.”

With the familiar voice, the thick iron door opened.

A pristine, colorless space greeted her. As if the entire space had been bleached, the floor, walls, and ceiling were all white.

The only things with color in that place were the busy researchers moving around and dozens of test tubes.

One of the researchers who had been moving around saw Cloe and bowed his head.

“Family head. The clone cultivation progress is currently at 23%. It’s much more stable compared to the previous subject.”

“That’s good news. Begin gene fusion when it exceeds 50%.”

“Understood. By the way, Family head, Chief Researcher Lee Zhao also asked where on earth you got something like this.”

In response to the researcher’s question who had approached her chair, Cloe covered her mouth and made a gesture indicating she couldn’t tell.

“Please tell him it’s a family secret, so I can’t disclose it.”

“Hahaha, I see. Oh, since we have a new subject, would you like to name this one too?”

At those words, Cloe tapped her chair with her index finger. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke.

“Let’s call this one JS.”

“JS? You called the last one PS. Does it have some meaning?”

In response, Cloe only gave a faint smile instead of answering. Seeing that she had no intention of speaking, the researcher shrugged and didn’t ask further.

‘I wonder how helpful brother Jason will be.’

With that thought, she looked at the Cult clone in the test tube.

The eyes of the girl with a beautiful appearance were tinged with a quiet madness.