Ch.270Swarm of Rats (1)

The subway of Kesha Arma was a facility that incorporated relatively new technology by Cult Empire standards.

The Cult preferred transportation facilities that moved above ground or in the air. Before becoming an empire that commanded space, they had developed their civilization on desert planets. As a result, building anything underground was unfamiliar to them.

This characteristic remained even now. When developing various facilities such as bio-dome type colonies and orbital habitats, ground transportation methods like hover buses or psychic trains were primarily installed.

The point when the Cult’s perception changed was, surprisingly, from when the empire began to collapse. As the empire’s territory shrank and economic problems frequently occurred, their thinking changed.

For instance, they began to use existing structures more efficiently.

The subway of Kesha Arma was a product of this change.

The Cult’s subway, powered by psychic power engines fueled with low-quality moonsilver, was created to quickly transport equipment needed for planetary mining and excavated minerals. Even as time passed and ownership changed, the subway still functioned as the bloodstream of the space facility. Though it now carried people instead of tools, what difference did that distinction make in the space age?

The interior of the train was packed with pirates who had boarded from various sectors. Since everyone had brought weapons, there weren’t as many empty seats as usual.

Of course, having ample space didn’t mean it was comfortable. The smell of sweat, alcohol, and drugs clung to the interior of the car. Naturally, the pirates forced to inhale this cocktail of foul odors into their bronchi weren’t in good spirits.

“Damn, this is taking forever.”

“Shit. All those mercenary bastards got to take buses or ships.”

“They don’t let junkies on the buses up there.”

“What did you say, asshole?”

“It’s too cramped to fight in here. We’ll arrive in a few minutes anyway.”

While the pirates grumbled, the train continued to move diligently. In just a few minutes, they would arrive at the military port near the underground storage facility.

As everyone was thinking about breathing fresh air as soon as possible…

The entire psychic-powered train shook violently. Pirates who had been standing all toppled forward from the momentum.

“Urghh!”

“Aagh! Damn it!”

The car’s interior was in complete disarray—a human with teeth broken after colliding with a propped-up gun, an insectman crushed under a heavy cyborg. The already unpleasant atmosphere rapidly deteriorated.

“Looks like the train stopped?”

“Already? What’s going on?”

The subway built by the Cult automatically travels back and forth on a predetermined track without a driver. It doesn’t stop like this unless the fuel runs out or there’s a problem with the rails.

“Someone go out and check.”

A few pirates opened the doors and poked their heads out to check. The light from the train dimly illuminated the tracks laid in the underground passage.

“Looks fine to me.”

“You idiot. You can’t see anything that way. Go out and check.”

“…Bastard. Why don’t you do it yourself.”

The human pirate grumbled as he stepped out of the train. Pirates from other cars also came out to examine the train.

“Found anything?”

“Don’t know. I just came out too.”

“This is the first time the train’s broken down.”

The human pirate took the opportunity to pull out an electronic cigarette. As he inhaled the synthetic drug with all his might, the unrefined hallucinogen seeped into his lungs.

“The train seems fine. Maybe it’s the tracks?”

“Hey, since you’re out here too, come take a look.”

“Let me finish this first.”

He intended to take one more puff before joining his comrades. Just then, he heard a sound from up ahead.

‘Huh?’

His eyes turned toward the tracks stretching ahead of the train.

‘……’

With the cigarette in his mouth, he blinked several times. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and the surrounding scenery became clearer.

There was a heat haze there.

At first, he thought there might be a fire. After all, what was flickering in the darkness was pitch black.

However, it didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t smoke but “something alive.”

In an abyss reminiscent of outer space, countless things were writhing.

It was like a snake pit filled with vipers, or maggots swarming on a corpse’s skin.

Greedy and chaotic disorder. Even in his drug-induced state, he could tell it was a dangerous entity.

The “swarming entity” moved. Stems that had been swaying like seaweed underwater suddenly extended and snatched one of his comrades standing in front of the train.

“Huh?”

The pirates looked bewildered as their comrade vanished in an instant. The pistol with an attached flashlight fell to the ground where their comrade had been.

As the gun made a dull noise hitting the floor, the pirates’ expressions began to change rapidly. Their mouths opened, preparing to scream.

But the evil entity lurking in the darkness didn’t leave them be. Dozens of tendrils, each split into three at the tip, shot out and dragged away all his comrades.

It took less than a few seconds for all the comrades who had exited the train to disappear.

“……”

The human pirate who had witnessed this from the beginning trembled violently. He slowly backed away and re-boarded the train.

“What’s up? How did it go?”

“Is it fixed? What was the problem?”

He didn’t answer and closed the door. With trembling hands, he picked up his electronic cigarette and took another deep puff. Somewhat calmed by the drug, the human pirate was barely able to speak.

“…There’s a monster outside.”

“What?”

“It took everyone from the other cars.”

Hearing this, the expressions of the pirates on the train became strange.

“This guy seems to have lost his mind.”

“What monster? This isn’t even the underground storage facility.”

“They say drug users are never normal.”

The pirates mocked him with disbelief. Just then, a large cyborg pirate shouted loudly.

“Hey, let’s just walk instead of wasting time. Our destination isn’t far anyway.”

Saying this, he grabbed the car doors with both hands. Seeing this, the human pirate panicked.

“D-don’t open it!”

The car door opened wide. There was nothing outside.

The cyborg pirate, who had been certain of this, smirked.

“You idiot, look. There’s nothing—”

Before he could finish his sentence, something leaped out from the darkness and pounced on him.

“Gack?!”

“Gigigigigigi”

The entity that attacked the cyborg pirate was a human with abnormally grown ribs, making it look as if there was a mouth on its chest. The deformed being savagely slashed at the cyborg with its protruding bones.

The comrades who had been blankly watching this scene finally realized that what the human pirate had said was true.

Just as they hurriedly reached for their weapons, all the windows of the car shattered and numerous black tendrils entered the train.

Screams, gunshots, and the flickering lights inside the car.

There, the human pirate clutched his head and prayed for this nightmare to end.

Afterward, the screams echoing in the underground passage didn’t last long. What replaced them was the rough breathing of a pack of beasts.

–

“Yes. They haven’t arrived yet. What? No, no! We’ll enter immediately!”

Mercenaries brought by guests from Megacorp, Hulk mutants, and pirates from numerous cartels in Kesha Arma were surrounding the front of the underground storage facility.

Among them, a pirate in charge of communication with headquarters terminated the call. Wiping away cold sweat, he relayed the orders from above to the representatives of each team.

“They want us to begin the operation now.”

“But our people haven’t arrived yet.”

“I heard the enemy is powerful. Wouldn’t we risk being picked off if we enter separately?”

“Th-they said that checking the status of the goods is the priority right now. I think we should verify first…”

Hearing this, the mercenary representatives sighed. They didn’t like it, but they had no choice.

If the auction items were stolen, who would the “owners of the goods” blame? They would certainly hold responsible those hired to protect the merchandise.

The mercenaries here were agents employed by Megacorp’s upper class. Treating them carelessly would lead to dire consequences.

“We have no choice. It’s best to send in a small team to check the goods first and then withdraw immediately.”

“After that, we’ll join forces with the troops arriving at the military port station and push forward.”

“W-well, we have no choice. Let’s do that.”

Having made their decision, the representatives returned to their respective teams. Search team members selected from each team gathered in one place and entered the underground storage facility.

“…Now I see why we couldn’t contact them.”

With each step the search team took, a sticky, wet sound filled the corridor. It wasn’t a leak. The entire corridor they were walking through was covered in blood.

The search team’s expressions darkened as the intense smell of blood was strong enough to numb their noses. Expecting the goods to be intact when the corridor looked like this was nonsensical.

They continued inside, wondering what excuse they would give their employers, passing through the shattered security office until they reached storage area A.

“The goods are intact!”

“Here too!”

“They didn’t touch this area? That’s a relief at least.”

Contrary to their concerns, the containers holding luxury items and valuable documents were undamaged. The scattered mercenaries sighed with relief after confirming that their masters’ goods were unharmed.

“Why are these untouched? Weren’t they after valuables?”

“Let’s check the inner areas too.”

“We’re moving out! Everyone gather up!”

The scattered mercenaries regrouped to move to the next area. Just as they were about to depart, a Volf mercenary raised his hand.

“What is it?”

“I hear something.”

“A sound?”

“Someone’s coming.”

All members of the search team raised their weapons upon hearing the rat-headed Volf’s words. The Volf kept twitching his large ears before fixing his gaze in one direction.

“?!”

“What is that?”

What emerged from the darkness was “something walking on two legs.” With an abnormally developed right arm, it was walking toward the search team wearing tattered reinforced clothing.

“Gigigik”

One of the mercenaries shot it with a Gauss rifle. The creature, with half its head blown off, fell backward. The fallen creature didn’t move.

“Is this the culprit that made this mess?”

“What the hell is that? A Hulk mutant?”

“Well, as far as I know… Wait. Everyone be careful.”

“Huh?”

Just as the rat-headed Volf warned them to be careful, the fallen monster twitched and rose to its feet.

“Gigigigigi”

Unpleasant groans and viscous black liquid flowed from the mouth of the creature with its head destroyed. The mercenaries frowned at the disgusting sight.

“Tsk.”

The mercenary with the Gauss rifle aimed again to finish it off.

But soon he had to adjust his target. Behind the head-shattered monster, another equally grotesque creature appeared.

“Huh?”

The mercenaries’ faces gradually hardened as they saw the enemy. This was because the monsters emerging from the darkness inside the storage facility weren’t just one.

“Gigigigigi”

“Gigigigigigi”

“Gigigigigi”

“Gigigigigi”

“Gigigigigigigigi”

The bizarre cries of tens, no, hundreds of entities.

It was overwhelming enough to crush any resistance from the search team members.