Ch.257Cursed Vessel (2)
by fnovelpia
After the Volf who commanded the Satua organization members left the port, five pirates approached the ship.
“See? I told you there’d be no one guarding it.”
“Oh? There really isn’t anyone?”
While Martio Cartel, the ruler of the fortress, never tolerates disturbances within his territory, he doesn’t catch every minor criminal act. The guards at the military port only conduct minimal inspections and don’t concern themselves with ship security.
This means docked ships must protect themselves. Looking at other vessels, pirates and mercenaries were diligently standing guard.
But the Satua Cartel’s assault ship had none of that. There was no movement outside the ship, nor inside.
As if there was nobody on board.
“I think we can go in.”
The wide-open door with no guards tempted the pirates. It seemed to invite them in without worry.
The five pirates checked one last time to make sure no one was watching, then stepped onto the stairs attached to the ship’s door.
“Hehe, jackpot.”
“Can’t we just take this whole ship for ourselves?”
“Don’t overdo it, idiot. How would we pilot such a huge ship…”
The pirates who had been chatting as they boarded suddenly fell silent.
Only minimal lights were on in the interior corridor. If it had just been dark, none of them would have been scared. They were Space Dogs who roamed through infinite darkness, after all.
But this ship was different. There was something indescribably eerie lurking here.
“Damn, this is creepy as hell.”
“These crazy bastards. They came in a ship like this?”
“Let’s check quickly and get out.”
They all sensed something ominous, but no one suggested leaving immediately. They felt they needed to grab something before leaving. They began walking down the shadowy corridor.
The temperature inside wasn’t particularly low since the life support system was operational. Yet the pirates felt an inexplicable chill. With each breath, ice-cold air seemed to seep into their skin.
Another strange thing was the smell. It wasn’t the stench of unwashed pirates or smuggled animals. A bizarre foul odor permeated the entire ship.
It should have made their noses wrinkle from the moment they stepped onto the metal stairs. Yet none of the five had covered their noses before crossing the threshold.
It was almost as if the ship had been waiting for them to board. Though they didn’t say it aloud, they all shared the same thought.
Despite their instinctive unease, nothing threatening appeared. As they moved without any hindrance, they came upon a large metal door.
“This looks like the cargo hold.”
“…Let’s see what’s inside.”
A pirate with one artificial eye took out a terminal. He connected it to the door with a cable and easily hacked it.
The large iron door rattled open, and a cargo hold filled with darkness greeted the outsiders.
“Turn on the lights.”
“I don’t think we can without accessing the ship’s computer directly.”
“Damn, seriously.”
The green-haired pirate cursed and drew the laser pistol from his waist. The flashlight attached to the end of the gun illuminated the cargo hold.
“It’s fucking dark.”
“Is it a painting issue? That might be why it smells like this.”
“Both of you, quiet. Let’s split up and search.”
“Agreed.”
The flickering corridor had been creepy enough, but this place was far darker and more unpleasant. It felt like they might go insane if they stayed even a moment longer. The pirates scattered to find valuables as quickly as possible.
‘I thought it was fine when we entered…’
The green-haired pirate, relying on the light attached to his gun as he moved between metal cages, regretted his decision.
He couldn’t understand why they’d thought to enter a ship that only dealt in slaves.
Looking back, it had been suspicious that the Satua people hadn’t posted any guards. They must have visited this place more than once.
“I hope there’s something… Gah?!”
He was startled when his light revealed something inside the metal cage.
“A statue?”
At first, he thought it was a person and was shocked, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t.
Inside the cage was a statue. A human statue carved from a translucent crystal-like mineral.
“Ha, I thought it was a person.”
The green-haired pirate opened the cage door and touched the statue. He felt the cool chill and hard texture characteristic of inorganic materials.
‘This is incredibly well-made.’
The statue was so detailed it seemed like a living person.
Especially that expression. The face of the statue, with eyes and mouth open as if seeing something frightening, was full of life.
Almost as if a living person had been instantly turned into a statue.
‘This must be worth something.’
“Hey! Come over here!”
He wasn’t the only one who smelled credits. He left the cage and ran to where his comrades were.
So he didn’t notice.
That the statue’s eyes were watching his back.
–
“Even taking just a few would be profitable.”
“Let’s grab three first, so we don’t get caught taking too many.”
The metal cages scattered around contained statues resembling humans. There seemed to be well over a hundred statues.
It had been worth wandering through this creepy place. The five pirates expressed satisfaction at the statues before them.
People with such poor ship security wouldn’t notice if a statue or two went missing. The pirates began moving the statues with confidence.
“On the count of three, we lift together. One, two, three!”
“Ugh, this is fucking heavy.”
“Lift it properly over there… Whoa!”
The statues were extremely heavy. Even with four adult men working together, moving them wasn’t easy. Eventually, one pirate made a mistake, and the statue fell to the floor.
“You crazy bastard!”
“Sorry.”
“Everyone shut up! If it breaks, the value drops.”
The pirate with the artificial eye examined the fallen statue to see if it was intact. Fortunately, nothing was broken. As he looked at the statue with relief, he suddenly had a strange feeling.
The human statue, with its dynamic pose as if about to scream, somehow looked familiar.
“…Does anyone have contact with the Poncha guys?”
“Poncha? Weren’t they wiped out by the Cult a month ago?”
As the green-haired pirate said, contact with the Poncha Cartel had been lost a month ago. The pirate with the artificial eye knew this.
Yet he mentioned it because the fallen statue’s appearance closely resembled someone.
‘This definitely looks like someone from the Poncha Cartel.’
A statue identical to a Poncha Cartel member who had been wiped out a month ago was found on a Satua Cartel ship that had lost contact two months ago. What did this mean?
‘…Shit, what is this?’
Something had gone terribly wrong. His instincts screamed that they needed to leave immediately.
Just then, the green-haired pirate called to him.
“…Hey.”
“What?”
“Those statues, were they facing this way before?”
“Huh?”
All the pirates raised their heads at those words.
Four lights shone toward the metal cages scattered throughout the cargo hold. The statues stood in the cages, looking exactly as they had before.
Except for one thing: their eyes.
The gazes of all the statues were fixed in the direction where they stood.
“F-fuck!”
“Don’t shoot! You idiot!”
“W-we need to get out now! This place is dangerous!”
“Wait! If we leave like this, we won’t get anything!”
“Damn it! Quickly lift… Hey, where did one of us go?”
Come to think of it, there had been five when they entered, but now only four were present.
“W-when did he disappear?”
“Shit! Is that important right now?”
“Credits be damned, let’s run!”
“He’ll find his own way out!”
Instead of searching for their missing comrade, they ran toward the cargo hold door.
It wasn’t a large cargo hold. Escaping shouldn’t be difficult.
It didn’t take long to realize that thought was wrong.
‘There’s no end to this!’
Despite running until they were out of breath, they couldn’t see the door. The pirate with the artificial eye adjusted his lens to night vision mode, but still couldn’t see the door.
‘Where are the others? Where did everyone go?’
His companions who had been running with him just moments ago had also disappeared. He frantically looked around. Instead of his comrades, the cargo hold was filled with statues staring at him with an unpleasantly persistent gaze.
Face to face with the chilling stares, he trembled and tightly gripped the gun in his hand. He wasn’t sure how much help the small weapon would be, but without it, he felt his heart might stop from fear.
“…Gulp.”
After swallowing once, he carefully walked between the metal cages. With each step he took, the eyes behind the bars followed him.
He had spent his life receiving hateful stares from those he had plundered. But these eyes watching him were terrifying beyond measure.
As he walked trembling, someone jumped out in front of him. It was the green-haired pirate who had disappeared while fleeing.
He almost shot his comrade and shouted:
“Shit, I almost shot you!”
“……”
The green-haired pirate approached, staggering, without responding.
When he saw his companion’s face up close, he felt his heart freeze.
“……! ……! ……!”
The same translucent crystalline substance seen on the statues in the cargo hold was covering the green-haired pirate’s neck and mouth.
He wasn’t deliberately not speaking. He was in a state where he couldn’t make any sound at all.
The green-haired pirate grabbed his collar. As his body rapidly stiffened, he made desperate eye signals for help.
“Uh, uwaaaaah!”
The pirate with the artificial eye pushed his comrade away and stepped back. Now he knew what these statues were made of.
This ship was cursed. He didn’t know what the Satua people had done. What was clear was that this ship had encountered something deeper and darker than hell and returned.
The moment he thought this, the gazes of the surrounding statues watching him shifted upward. Even the gaze of his fallen comrade was directed above his head.
The pirate with the artificial eye instinctively knew something was above him.
He was too scared to look up, but curiosity defied his control.
His head slowly rose.
There, a “being from hell” was looking down at him.
–
“That’s a bad hobby.”
The Sky Mother sighed as she looked at the five new pirate figurines.
‘Is it?’
I didn’t particularly torment those who entered the ship and ended it quickly. I only used two of my newly acquired unique traits.
“Herald of Chaos: Reality is governed by perception. Spread psychic power to distort the senses of all sentient beings within a 500m radius. Randomly implant ‘Madness Bombs’ among affected creatures.
*’Madness Bomb’: Disrupts the target’s senses and mind, driving them insane. When they die, the ‘Madness Bomb’ effect is transmitted to the nearest sentient being.
*Caution: Effect is reduced on creatures with psychic power resistance. Agility significantly decreases when using this trait.
*P.S.: Don’t trust reality too much.”
“Medusa Organ: Inject silicon-based microorganisms into targets to mutate their genes. Mutated beings crystallize progressively over time.
*Caution: Can only be used through direct contact with the target.”
One is a trait created through the transcendence system, and the other is a unique trait belonging to the newly acquired “Environmental Adaptation” type. I’ve created one more unique trait, but it’s not one to use in this situation.
‘Medusa Organ, that was really hard to get.’
I went through hell to catch a Black Gallergorn, one comparable to Odd Grad. It took two weeks just to catch it.
Of course, the reward was very sweet.
[Zzzz zzzzzz zzz zzz zzzz(You know these are useful)]
“…Well, that’s true.”
I wrapped one of the statues with my infection tentacle.
‘This one should do.’
He’s one of the pirates who invaded the cargo hold where I was resting.
After the kids left, I used “Herald of Chaos” to distort the senses of those who remained, preventing them from escaping.
With their cognitive abilities completely disrupted, they either ran in circles or wandered along the walls of the cargo hold. They probably thought they were escaping well, but they weren’t.
‘Once you’re in, you’re in the palm of my hand.’
Clinging to the ceiling, I used my infection tentacles with the built-in Medusa Organ to turn the maddened pirates one by one into quartz statues.
The effect of the Medusa Organ is to implant silicon-based microorganisms stored in my body into the target. Enemies or objects affected by the microorganisms instantly transform into a crystal-like substance.
In other words, as the name suggests, it turns enemies into mineral lumps. The only way to prevent this is to remove the microorganisms before they spread.
If they fail to prevent it? They remain trapped in their bodily prison like the statues in the cargo hold. It’s not for nothing that this trait can only be obtained from an apex with power exceeding that of a Black Gallergorn.
‘Still, it works well with other traits.’
Targets petrified by the Medusa Organ have many uses. For example, as materials for the mimicry organ.
I opened my mouth wide and bit the crystallized pirate whole. Like biting into a hard candy filled with juice, the hard crystal broke, and sweet bodily fluids moistened my mouth.
The body of the once green-haired pirate passes through my digestive system below my neck, turning into nutrients. During this process, the dormant mimicry organ awakens and acquires genetic information.
I jumped down from the ceiling to the floor. Landing without making the slightest noise, I walked toward a pirate who was wetting himself.
“You, you are…?!”
The pirate with the artificial eye was feeling both terror and confusion.
To him, I now appear exactly like the green-haired pirate. His mind might recognize that I’m not his comrade, but his body would reject that interpretation.
Thanks to the “Shape Dominator” trait I acquired a few months ago, the effectiveness of the mimicry organ has been further enhanced.
Previously, I could only disrupt the target’s senses with pheromones. Now, psychic power flowing from the pores of my outer skin overlays a false image made of supernatural power over my body.
It’s like wearing optical equipment powered by psychic power, so it doesn’t even show up properly on cameras. It appears as a distorted image like a ghost photo, but that’s better than being filmed in my monster form.
Since leaving the dragon’s nest, I’ve traveled through numerous star systems and preyed on countless sentient beings. For important individuals among them, I stored their genetic information in my body using the face-parasite organ, and for slightly less important individuals, I created statues using the Medusa Organ, as I’m doing now.
To use them when attacking other planets or ships, like now.
“Where are the others?”
“They’re in the container. No. 26 is staying still, but Adhigh seems hungry.”
“I should get him something to eat.”
I picked up the pirate with the artificial eye using my wing arm. Caught in my hand, he trembled and begged.
“P-please spare me! Spare me! Spare me! Please spare…”
I was going to use him as a snack for Adhigh, but suddenly a good idea occurred to me. I casually asked the Sky Mother.
“Is this our first time here in reality?”
“Yeah. This was originally a Cult space fortress. I don’t know why it’s changed like this.”
“Then we’ll need a guide.”
“W-what?”
At my words, he opened his eyes wide.
Although I used parasites to control the guards, there are still a few left.
The hallucination covering my body distorted slightly, and a black eel-like creature crawled out from my combat arm. Seeing the parasite approaching, his face turned ashen.
“W-wait! Wait! Wai—AAAAGH!”
The parasite, with its long body, wrapped around his face and burrowed into his throat. As it dug through his throat toward his head, the pirate bled from his eyes and nose.
A moment later, the pirate bowed to me with a very happy smile.
“I serve new ma-master, master, master, AMorph! I serve AMorph! Long live AMorph!”
“…Wow.”
Since I’ve changed locations, I need to set new bait.
I’ll have to replace the kids’ snacks with fish caught using the new bait.
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