Ch.289Moving (2)

The 2km spherical mining ship Gigacracker is among the five largest vessels in Megacorp.

It’s not just large in size; its structure differs significantly from conventional spaceships.

For one, there are almost no facilities for crew members. Looking at the interior, most of the space is occupied by facilities for operating ion cannons or storage for mined minerals.

With so many facilities to manage relative to the number of passengers, about 80% of the ship is under machine control. The crew’s role is to maintain control over these machines and handle maintenance and repairs.

This demands high expertise from the crew. Noble Capital Saintkay doesn’t meticulously manage Gigacracker’s crew for nothing.

Though not from the upper echelons like Noble Capital or Prime Capital, they received comparable education.

The ship’s managers are now walking through corridors shrouded in darkness.

They all wear advanced enhancement suits—a hybrid of exoskeletons and spacesuits. In both hands, they carry plasma rifles, the standard weapon of the district defense force.

The leader of the heavily armed group spoke.

“Is faster-than-light travel still impossible?”

In response to Gigacracker’s captain Tyron Saintkay’s question, the team leader checked the computer pad on his wrist.

“Yes. Unidentified electrical signals from outside are blocking remote control.”

“So we have no choice but to go there directly.”

After being caught off guard in the conference room, they retrieved necessary equipment from the emergency armory and headed toward the engine room.

Communications went completely dead after the emergency broadcast before the collision. Remote control between facilities was also impossible, as they could see.

It was a crisis they had never experienced before.

“What do you think is causing this? A magnetic storm?”

“The phenomenon is similar, but the range is too small. The path is unnatural, and the origin point is imprecise.”

“Seeing the errors in electronic devices, it could be a swarm of Metallic Gremlins.”

“I doubt it. Metallic Gremlins don’t have enough power to shake a 2km ship.”

The team leaders exchanged their specialized knowledge while moving, trying to determine the cause.

“Could it be Outspacers? Aren’t the large ones about the size of a regular battleship?”

“Come to think of it, there have been rumors of signs of a major offensive from the Empire recently. Perhaps a group of Outspacers here…”

“That’s probably not it.”

When the word Outspacer came up, Tyron immediately denied it.

“Outspacers can’t travel faster than light like regular battleships.”

“Is that so?”

“They contaminate planets, then build special devices that enable interstellar hyperspace jumps. They can only move with those devices.”

“The captain’s point makes sense. Records of past major offensives show that they poured out from contaminated colonies.”

Those below Noble Capital and Prime Capital have limited access to the Megacorp database. This often leads to differences in acquired information, as in this case.

For example, the Outspacers’ unique mode of transportation, the ‘Bio Portal,’ is classified as top-secret information because it relates to their essential nature.

Captain Tyron, as a member of House Saintkay, possesses more knowledge than the team leaders present.

“Navigation Team Leader. When was the last contact with the base in the nearby star system?”

“Two hours ago.”

“Regular contact occurs every three hours. In just one hour, they’ll realize something’s wrong with the Gigacracker, so let’s not lose hope.”

Tyron deliberately reminded them of facts the team leaders already knew. He mentioned again that rescue would arrive in an hour to give them hope.

‘If a nearby dwarf planet or asteroid were a Bio Portal, that would be a different story…’

In truth, Tyron hadn’t told the team leaders everything he knew.

For instance, that Bio Portals and contamination aren’t actually related.

Portals aren’t created by contamination but by Outspacer queen specimens. Usually, planets where queens reside quickly become contaminated, making the two appear correlated.

What if there was a queen somewhere nearby, and it had created a Bio Portal on a nearby meteorite? Then their forces could pour in without a contaminated planet.

Moreover, there was a rumor circulating among Noble Capitals. A rumor about specimens that had evolved to travel faster than light.

‘No need to discuss this here.’

The team leaders walking through the dark corridor maintained their composure thanks to their long, intensive training. If the hope of survival disappeared, this order would quickly collapse.

“Which direction should we take to reach the engine room?”

“Facilities Team Leader?”

“The captain’s quarters line is faster than the dining hall line. However, the situation room connects to the dining hall line. We could rendezvous with that team on the way, so there are pros and cons.”

“Hmm.”

To hold out until rescue arrives, they first need to secure control of the engine room, regardless of whether the enemy is Outspacers, Metallic Gremlins, or a magnetic storm.

After considering the Facilities Team Leader’s explanation, the captain made his decision.

“The more personnel we have, the safer and faster we can reach our destination. Let’s take the dining hall line.”

“Yes, sir.”

Following the captain’s decision, they moved along the route that passed through the dining hall.

In corridors as dark as space itself, the gauge bars on their plasma rifles twinkled like stars.

As they moved through the eerie corridors toward the ship’s core, an obstacle blocked their path.

“This way is blocked too.”

The entire group stopped in front of a thick blast door.

The ship’s AI had detected the crisis and closed the blast doors to restricted residential areas as a protective measure. Remote control seemed to be blocked, as even the situation room couldn’t do anything.

“I’ll release the automatic blast door.”

Fortunately, they could release it by directly connecting the computer pad in their enhancement suits to the door terminal. The Technology Team Leader and Research Team Leader worked together to open the blast door.

The moment the connected door opened, a loud noise was heard from afar.

“!”

“Did you hear that?”

A sound like something sharp tearing through metal plates. It was clearly distant, but they couldn’t feel at ease.

“…We need to move faster.”

“Yes, sir.”

At Tyron’s urging, everyone quickened their pace.

After passing through the corridor, they encountered another blast door.

“The dining hall is next.”

While the Technology and Research Team Leaders worked on opening the door, the captain and other team leaders kept watch.

‘The sound stopped.’

The irritating noise that had been echoing like water flowing through pipes behind the walls suddenly ceased.

Tyron felt uneasy. A worry that the problem was getting worse, not better, crept into a corner of his mind.

Once again, the door opened with a hissing sound.

Inside the dining hall, the lights hadn’t completely gone out but were flickering.

However, because of that remaining light, they had to witness the massacre that had occurred there.

The dining hall, one of the few places on the Gigacracker where one could enjoy some small pleasures.

This place, familiar to everyone aboard, was now immersed in death.

The once-white floor was covered in blood, and pieces of flesh and bone were stuck to the metal tables and chairs.

It was impossible to determine how many had died, as all corpses were too fragmented to guess their original state.

And under the flickering lights was a pink death.

That constantly undulating something looked at the new sacrifices with hundreds of eyes from atop an altar built of corpses, blood, and bones.

“Ugh, ugeeeek!”

Was it the gaze that made him lose his composure? The Medical Team Leader aimed his plasma rifle with a bizarre scream. Just as green energy was about to discharge, something white and red mixed fell from the dining hall ceiling and pounced on him.

Tyron thought it was a tablecloth soaked in blood. But he was wrong.

Nowhere in the world do tablecloths suck human blood with tentacles.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Everyone, open fire!”

What he had thought was a blood-soaked part was actually the wing of the monster, not a tablecloth. The creature with four red wings on its white body was pressing down on the Medical Team Leader and devouring him.

The other team leaders, who had been staring blankly at the scene, heard Tyron’s order and hastily opened fire. As the energy gauge on the side of the rifle charged, cylindrical energy bullets fired from the muzzle.

Energy bullets flew toward the white and red ghost. Just as they were about to touch the creature’s body, the red of its wings spread like ink to cover the impact point. The energy that touched the creature’s red body was neutralized as if by magic.

“It’s, it’s useless… gack!”

The Crisis Management Team Leader, seeing this, tried to shout but suddenly twisted his arm abnormally. Some invisible force had twisted his arm. Thanks to quickly activating the shield built into his advanced enhancement suit, he was able to protect his arm.

Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that the entity trying to twist his arm had enough output to overwhelm the shield.

“I’m alive…!”

Just as the Crisis Management Team Leader was about to shout that he was alive, his limbs were torn off in all directions. Like a puppet whose strings were all pulled at once, his fragments scattered across the dining hall.

“Aaaaargh!”

The Facilities Team Leader screamed at the horrific sight that would make even a battle-hardened veteran shriek.

Despite this, Tyron barely maintained his composure and tried to find what had caused the Crisis Management Team Leader’s demise.

‘There it is!’

Tyron’s gaze turned to a giant pink jellyfish sitting on the corpses. He fired his rifle wildly at it, praying that at least one shot would hit.

Did his wish come true? One of the green plasma bullets collided with the pink monster’s tentacle. It flinched as if in pain. Other energy bullets followed, raining down on its body.

As if that had been mere luck, the green energy masses failed to reach their target and dissolved in mid-air, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.

“■■■■” “■■■”

“■! ■■■!”

The pink monster that had dissolved the energy bullets in mid-air didn’t counterattack. The ghost with red wings also showed a completely different reaction from its earlier agility.

‘I don’t know what’s happening, but…!’

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“Yes, sir!”

Tyron and the team leaders hurriedly escaped back through the corridor they had come from.

The two monsters didn’t pursue them.

–

“What” “was” “that” “just now?”

“I don’t know! I concentrated and it went pabat!”

“Pabat?”

“Yes.”

“Do it” “again”

At Adhigh Orr’s request, No. 26 concentrated with effort. Suddenly, a purple energy stream appeared in mid-air. Undulating like waves in the deep sea, it covered the area around No. 26.

Adhigh tapped the purple wave pattern with his foreleg covered in “Red Armor.” A rebound-like force strongly pushed back his foreleg.

“This” “similar to” “power of stars”

“Power of stars? What’s that?”

“Strong” “leader” “symbol”

“Wow! My studying paid off!”

“Disagree” “power of stars” “study” “unrelated”

“No! Big Baby said if I study, I’ll get smarter and stronger!”

No. 26 proudly waved its tentacles, emitting waves. Adhigh had heard similar things and couldn’t refute it. Instead, he grumbled while fluttering the tentacles around his mouth.

“With this, I can protect Big Baby too, right?”

“Perhaps”

“Great! That’s good! I’ll eat more and more so Big Baby won’t get hurt!”

“Agree” “if” “Big Elder” “hurts” “egg” “difficult”

After saying this, the two resumed eating to build up their strength.

The reason they didn’t chase after those who fled was simple.

Big Baby, also known as Big Elder, had declared:

This ship belongs to him.

Their experienced leader never lets prey escape.