Ch.262Encroach (4)

Kadun was once a slave.

It’s not unusual. Most Volfs live as slaves. Men as battle slaves, women as sex slaves.

With bad luck, they might end their lives as test subjects in Megacorp or Star Union laboratories.

For a Volf, the only somewhat better life is becoming a space pirate.

What sin did they commit to deserve such suffering? When young Kadun cried out, the tribal chief said:

They were once gods ruling planets, but fought among themselves due to arrogance and violence. After nearly eternal struggle, the Volfs lost their divine power and fell from grace. As a result, the descendants of gods are paying for their ancestors’ sins.

It didn’t take long to realize the chief’s story was nonsense.

The chief is already dead, the tribe scattered across space. They were all wrong.

The reason Volfs are persecuted is simple: they are weaker than the Cult.

Nature’s order is cruel. Just as predators aren’t morally condemned for eating prey, it’s natural for the powerful Cult to trample the weak Volfs.

To avoid being trampled by the strong, one must become strong. Soaking his hands in blood across countless arenas, he became stronger than any Volf.

Montana Martio, a different kind of strongman from the Cult, was the only one who recognized his potential. He spared no support to ensure Kadun’s continued growth.

Kadun also knew that serving Montana would benefit him, so he obeyed.

Ten years since becoming the vice-boss of the Martio Cartel, he had even obtained what the chief once called “the body of a god.”

Yet he felt no particular excitement about it. The Volf myths no longer mattered to him.

Just as the Cult follows providence, Kadun served the order of survival of the fittest.

That’s why he planned to train in his private training room at headquarters today. At least until a subordinate suddenly burst in.

“Fog in the inactive zone?”

“Yes! A pirate on patrol recorded this!”

The intensely focused subordinate handed him a terminal. When he pressed the button, the recorded video played.

“It’s the Cult’s religious zone. Did the life support system manager report any issues?”

“They say someone spread it artificially.”

“Artificially, huh. Analysis results?”

“Engineers are investigating, sir.”

While contamination spreading through a zone was serious, it wasn’t something Kadun needed to handle personally. It wasn’t about authority but expertise—it would be more reasonable to let engineers handle it.

His subordinate surely knew this too. The reason he reported to Kadun was something else.

“Well, there seems to be a connection between this fog and the junkies. Before dying, the junkies talked about a spider in the fog.”

“A spider in the fog?”

Kadun checked the video again.

He couldn’t clearly see what was in the fog. But the flow was unnatural and abnormal. As if hiding something inside.

‘Fog that drives humans mad, a creature controlling it.’

Several similar creatures came to mind. The “angel spider” that catches prey with psychic power webs, the predator “Red Mist” that incapacitates prey with hallucinogenic pheromones, and so on. As the vice-boss of the Martio Cartel that brokered pirate trades, he had encountered many rare creatures.

“Bring me the people who recorded this.”

“Uh, the patrol team that recorded this is showing symptoms similar to the junkies…”

Whatever this creature was, it clearly wasn’t an easy opponent. That’s probably why his subordinate had come to Kadun.

‘Which bastard released something like that?’

Not all pirates visiting the fortress successfully trade contraband animals. Failed trades are common. Pirates sometimes abandon rare animals in inactive zones when they can’t sell them.

Kadun assumed this was a similar case.

The problem was that the damage was much greater than usual.

“Grrrr, they’ll need me to catch it. I’ll deploy. Get everyone ready who’s coming along.”

“Yes sir!”

“Before we enter, spray gas throughout the zone. Even if it doesn’t kill the creature, it should weaken it.”

“Yes sir.”

Kadun decided that today’s training would be catching this monster.

–

‘The bait has been taken.’

An hour ago, I received a signal from the parasite connected to my consciousness. The connection with the five minions I sent to lure the enemy was cut off.

‘They must be busy preparing now.’

After bringing all the kids to the religious zone, I cast bait to draw out the vice-boss.

The bait suggesting I might be the source of the virus spreading through the fortress.

For the past few days, people driven mad by me have been wandering the fortress. Apart from the few controlled by parasites, the rest have become lunatics because of the “Herald of Chaos.”

Some of them have mental parasites called “madness bombs” in their heads. When someone infected with a madness bomb dies, it infects those nearby. Like dandelion seeds spreading in the wind, madness bombs spread rapidly.

The pirates know this isn’t a drug problem, but they don’t know why it’s happening.

Instead of finding the cause, they chose another option: immediate incineration of anyone showing symptoms.

Though it seems crude, they have their reasons. Medical personnel are rare among Space Dogs in any cartel. If they deployed doctors to investigate the virus only to have them infected, they’d lose even more.

The Martio Cartel is wealthy enough to use a space fortress as its base. They naturally have many doctors and researchers, but timing is the issue. They’re preparing for a major auction. Many VIPs will visit, and losing doctors would be disastrous.

‘Better to lose hundreds of subordinates than doctors.’

That’s how a Space Dog would think.

Of course, this is just a temporary measure. The best solution is to eliminate the source of the problem.

In such a situation, what if I appear surrounded by suspicious fog? Moreover, if those who filmed me start showing symptoms? They would definitely think I’m the source of contamination.

‘It’s staged, of course.’

The fog is caused by enhanced Gremlin moss effects, and people going mad is due to the Herald of Chaos and enhanced parasite effects.

Of course, they won’t realize they’re being deceived. Even if they figure it out, by then the fortress will be on the verge of collapse.

‘Hmm?’

I smelled something strange.

Lying prone in a temple with one wall collapsed, I raised my head. The auxiliary organs under my chin quickly read the changes throughout the space.

‘As expected.’

Toxic gas was mixed in the air. They must be planning to weaken me by spraying poison gas before entering to capture me.

‘Not that it will help.’

Unless it’s something like the swamp on the Cult sanctuary planet we visited before, they can’t inflict fatal damage on us.

‘No. 26 can withstand this much, and Adhigh Orr has grown stronger, so he won’t be poisoned.’

PS-111 is a mechanical lifeform, so he’s free from poisoning issues. Sky Mother might be slightly concerning.

I took out the hidden monster tentacle and sent a wave to her.

[Zzzzz zzzzzzz zzzz zzzzzz (They’re spraying poison gas)]

“Don’t worry. I’ve already transformed.”

“High concentrations of chemicals detected in the air. ‘Middle Baby’ should be careful.”

“…I would have really appreciated not being called ‘Middle Baby’.”

“What’s” “happening?”

“The sky is wriggly weird.”

“Wriggly?” “Cannot” “understand”

“Gotta collect the wriggly stuff.”

“I” “can’t see” “where are you?”

“Gallergorn cannot visually observe gas flow.”

Everyone was hiding in different places using their own methods. Toxic gas filled the entire zone, but none of them seemed to be suffering.

I listened to the kids’ chatter while waiting for the prey to arrive.

After about an hour, the toxic gas in the zone began to thin. They must be preparing to enter soon.

Not long after, I felt subtle vibrations in the air. Three patrol ships full of pirates entered the airspace above the zone.

‘They’re here.’

The pirates aboard the patrol ships were all equipped with mid-grade power armor and armed with psychic rifles and gauss rifles. Moreover, the vice-boss, despite being a Volf, was wearing high-grade power armor.

As expected of a cartel that operates an orbital habitat. Impressive specs for pirates.

‘The problem is that we can read everything.’

I still have three undetected minions. They’ve boarded one ship each and are sending me information.

They think the five decoys I threw out were all of us. They have no idea that three spies are among them.

‘Let’s begin.’

I organized the information I’d gathered and sent waves to the kids. We’ve fought together dozens of times. They quickly understood my waves and began to move.

Matching the kids’ movements, I crawled out of the church. My massive wing-arms crushed the Cult symbols on the ground.

‘Distance to the enemy: 1km.’

One of the patrol ships is attempting to land in a plaza 1km away. Considering my movement speed, it’s not a far distance at all.

I moved my wing-arms and combat arms, running toward them.

Metal alloy buildings blocked my path, but my body pierced right through them. As I charged through collapsing buildings, I could see the pirates’ ship.

The patrol ship still had tens of meters to go before landing. I pulled out the corrosive tentacles hidden on my back.

Like giant serpents from mythology, six massive tentacles flew toward the ship. The ship’s guns moved hastily, not expecting an attack during landing.

But that was the wrong choice. They should have performed evasive maneuvers to avoid my tentacles.

My tentacles wrapped around the patrol ship’s stern. The hull shook violently, and the gun fire completely missed its target.

After capturing the patrol ship, I pulled my tentacles toward me. The pirates, realizing their predicament, opened the stern hatch. Thanks to their mid-grade power armor, they could jump from tens of meters without dying.

‘That’s also the wrong answer.’

Because my corrosive tentacles were gripping the ship’s stern. Some of my tentacles swallowed the airborne pirates whole.

“Watch out!”

“Mother f—!”

“Ugh, aaaaargh!”

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough corrosive tentacles to devour all enemies. My tentacles caught four pirates. The rest landed safely on the ground.

‘It’s not over yet.’

“Everyone scatter!”

“Crazy monster bir—aaaah?!”

“The ship is falling! Get away!”

I dropped the patrol ship I had been holding with my tentacles onto their heads.

The explosion, smell of gunpowder, and blood.

Elements familiar to AMorphs announced the opening of the hunt.