Ch.301Infiltrate (4)

I activated MPS-05, but an unexpected problem arose.

This battleship had an excessive number of surveillance cameras in its corridors.

I knew battleships had high security levels, but this was the first time I’d seen cameras installed every few meters.

For MPS to hack safely, it needed to be physically connected to a computer with high-level authorization. And the computer with the highest authority on the ship was in the command center.

The problem was that getting to the command center was nearly impossible in this situation.

Even if I could get through the camera field as a “clever underdog,” the Cult was the real issue. The battleship had even more crew members than cameras. Thanks to my mimicry organ, I wouldn’t be caught outright, but the chances of arousing suspicion were high.

I had no choice but to change my plan.

As a second-best option, I decided to target the “Shield Management Office” that managed the ship’s outer walls and shields.

I needed to visit the Shield Management Office anyway to erase the records generated during my infiltration.

Only MPS-05 and I would go there. We decided to leave the Sky Mother in the artillery room where No. 15 had been.

When the crew’s bedtime came, we immediately began our operation. We spent quite some time avoiding the eyes of the warrior unit members on night patrol, but we managed to arrive safely at our destination.

Still, as they say, misfortune can turn to blessing. In the middle of our smooth hacking operation, an opportunity literally walked right to us.

One of the two targets we needed to find on this ship—the Knowledge Manager.

“Kh, kheek… p-please spare me…”

A female Cult member struggled in the grip of my combat arm. The domineering attitude she had when she mistook me for No. 15 was nowhere to be found.

‘I didn’t expect her to come to us on her own.’

The Knowledge Manager also serves as the ship’s chief engineer. Checking errors in the ship’s defense system was also her job. She came to check the shield error that occurred during my infiltration.

Thanks to that, I captured her very easily.

“Ship. Re-record. Copy.”

“Be careful not to get caught.”

“Worry. Invalid.”

The little guy who had been hiding in the tool room came out again and continued his work.

‘Now I’ll do my part.’

I looked down at the trembling Knowledge Manager.

Currently, my parasite was receiving enhancement effects from both “Great Infector,” my unique characteristic, and “Shape Dominator,” a trophy from a powerful enemy.

Before going to the space fortress “Kesha Arma,” when I raided the pirates’ slave market, I chose “Parasitic Swarm” as the enhancement target for Great Infector.

As a result, my parasite underwent many changes. It grew much larger than in the game, and its abilities were greatly enhanced.

In addition, I gained a new method of control.

‘You know what to do, right?’

I sent a strong will to the parasite that crawled out from inside my hand. The eel-like parasite nodded with what might have been its head or body, then crossed over to my other hand.

“?!”

The Knowledge Manager was horrified at the sight of the parasite. The Cult woman’s beautiful face twisted hideously.

She tried to avoid the black eel by keeping her mouth firmly shut, but it was useless. Thread-like tendrils shot out from the parasite’s body—enhanced by the Great Infector effect—and forced her mouth open.

“Mmph! Mmmmph!”

The parasite that instantly entered the Cult woman began its activity.

Its mouth quickly gnawed away part of her brain, while its body invaded her spinal cord. After shaking violently for a few seconds, she went limp as if dead.

“Stand up.”

The motionless woman began to move. When I relaxed my hand, she stood up on her own.

“You may speak.”

“W-what is this…?”

Her eyes were filled with confusion. No wonder, since her body suddenly wouldn’t move as she wanted.

“State your name and position.”

“My name is Charas, Knowledge Manager. W-what have you done to me?”

“Shh.”

“…!”

Originally, the parasites of the Parasitic Swarm take over the brain to control the infected person’s body at will. The basic method remains similar even after enhancement.

This makes it difficult to use when the information in the brain is important, like now.

The Knowledge Manager’s brain plays a crucial role in remembering and utilizing vast knowledge and information. If I want to use her, I need to be careful with her head.

That’s why I used the newly acquired method this time.

Currently, the parasite is attached to part of her brain and spinal cord. It controls by partially affecting the brain and compensating through fusion with the spinal cord. This way, I can control her without damaging her head.

‘Though it has significant drawbacks.’

The control is weaker than completely replacing the brain, and the replacement is irreversible.

The parasite is fused with the victim’s spinal cord, making it impossible to separate by any means. When the parasite’s lifespan ends, the infected person dies too.

Therefore, Knowledge Manager Charas must serve me until her death.

I spoke to Charas using No. 15’s voice.

“Let’s start with the ships that can access Beryan02.”

Her body and knowledge are now mine.

–

Two days had passed since the anomaly occurred in the Aur star system.

The unidentified magnetic field was no longer detected.

One of the Knowledge Managers pointed out a possible connection to the “Three-Headed Demon,” but no clear conclusion was reached. There was insufficient evidence, and the Knowledge Manager who raised the issue later submitted a corrected opinion.

Eventually, the Surveillance Center ordered the ships waiting at the anomaly site to return. The ships drifting in the middle of space instantly returned to the Surveillance Center using FTL navigation.

“This one ended rather anticlimactically.”

“Indeed, sir.”

“I should take comfort in the fact that there were no casualties from combat. Otherwise… Hmm? Where’s the Knowledge Manager?”

“She submitted a vacation request this morning, sir.”

“Ah, right. She said she was going down to Beryan02, didn’t she?”

The captain felt disappointed at his subordinate’s words. Charas was quite an attractive woman, regardless of her position. He had wanted to develop a better relationship with her, but in the end, he couldn’t even speak to her once.

“You should have talked to her earlier, sir.”

“How could I during an operation?”

“Seeing how she disappeared as soon as we returned to the Surveillance Center, she might have a lover.”

“…You seem to want a demotion.”

The captain and crew member chatted as they disembarked.

As the crew’s disembarkation was ending, a personal spacecraft flew near the battleship. The elongated triangular spacecraft positioned itself very close to the battleship.

After staying there for about a minute, the spacecraft left.

Since it happened so briefly, not many witnessed it.

Likewise, no one saw something pitch-black boarding the personal spacecraft.

The spacecraft blended in among the other vessels flying around.

At the end of the procession of numerous ships traversing the massive space structure of the Surveillance Center was a large gate. It was the checkpoint used by ships leaving the Surveillance Center.

Personal vessels were inspected one by one at the gate before exiting. Finally, it was the triangular spacecraft’s turn.

“Knowledge Manager Charas?”

“That’s correct.”

“You reported Beryan02 as your destination. What’s the purpose?”

“Vacation.”

“Do you have any companions?”

“I’m the only Cult member.”

“If you’re visiting Beryan02, we need to conduct an internal inspection as per procedure. Please cooperate.”

“One moment. I reported to my assigned ship and the Surveillance Center this morning and received visit permission. Please verify.”

The person on the other end of the communication device fell silent at Charas’s words. After a moment, the voice came through again.

“Verified. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Charas passed through the gate and exited the Surveillance Center. A faintly reddish planet appeared before her eyes.

That planet was her destination, Beryan02.

The spacecraft, which had been accelerating since leaving the Surveillance Center, approached Beryan02. Though invisible to her eyes, countless ground batteries were targeting her ship.

Of course, a spacecraft with the Surveillance Center’s permission wouldn’t be attacked. The ship safely passed through the atmosphere and approached the ground. The view beyond the reinforced glass was a red landscape and an endless forest of buildings.

It was an amazingly wondrous sight, but her face remained expressionless. She had been like that since leaving the Surveillance Center.

Despite her blank, emotionless face, her hands quickly prepared for landing. The ship landed at a small airport quite far from the forest of buildings.

“We’ve arrived.”

No other Cult members were aboard this ship. Except for beings that weren’t Cult.

Behind her face, which was staring at the reinforced glass in front, rose the massive maw of “it.”

“So this is Beryan02.”

“It” spoke with an ordinary human voice.

Charas could easily predict what “it”—no, the Three-Headed Demon—that she had brought would cause on Beryan02.

It would be destruction. Just as it had been at the holy site in the past.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

“High temperature. Detected.”

Different voices were heard from behind. The beings the demon had brought approached the driver’s seat where she was sitting.

A female Volf with a raptor’s head, a horrific monster with a human head adorned with dangling metal parts and legs.

The Three-Headed Demon and its minions had finally succeeded in landing on Beryan02.

“Now we just need to wait for the kids.”

The demon grinned, flicking its long tongue.