Ch.308Half-Baked (2)

A formless deity wandered aimlessly through space.

His only purpose was pleasure. After all, whether here or there, everything was destined to scatter as ashes—what was the point of resistance?

So he waited for the end, enjoying everything there was to enjoy and indulging in all that could be indulged in before the world’s destruction.

The outer god lived lazily, true to his divine nature. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. He spent his days coveting newly born stars.

Aaaaah!

When a mere main sequence star is crushed by a massive gravitational field, it rapidly contracts under heat and pressure. After suppressing the electron degeneracy pressure and neutron repulsion with external force, a small, adorable black hole is born.

He extended his formless hand to envelop the star. Blowing prons into the empty cavity, radiation pressure flowed out, emitting higher-dimensional waves.

This was called an inner god (內神), a calamity born from the inner world.

“My lovely little one.”

Like a horsehair worm sprouting death in its host, the “Squirming Chaos” directly devoured stars and created empty holes.

Around the cavity, it placed higher-dimensional “chains” to bind celestial bodies. Almost like marking its territory.

“I’ll come to harvest when the time is right. You must grow well until then.”

The outer god mended the hole in the burst celestial body and headed to the next destination with one of the lower outer gods who served him like a monarch.

“It’s almost time to harvest that galaxy.”

“Time passes so quickly.”

“It’s been billions of years already.”

“I wonder how well it has ripened. I’m concerned that other forces might have taken it already.”

“Then we’ll just eat them instead.”

The two outer gods set off on their journey at a leisurely pace.

After traveling a long distance, they arrived at a very small galaxy located on the outskirts of a supercluster. However, to the crimson-black spider-like eyes of the outer god, that narrow space was visible all at once.

Of course. Even in a crowd, a parent can clearly see their child’s face like a distinct mark.

“Master, it’s over there.”

Stars flowed like a river, trickling along. It was like a painting. The two outer gods admired the spectacle for a long time.

“Lights that hasten death.”

“Yet moths still gather.”

The Squirming Chaos pointed to the southern part of the galaxy.

“That belt-like area in the middle is the second most delicious place. There’s a high possibility that intelligent life is flourishing there.”

“Where’s the first?”

“The nucleus.”

The nucleus at the center of the celestial body.

As the place that maintains the galaxy’s center of mass, its flesh is firm and its appearance appetizing.

“It has ripened well.”

“Perfect for harvesting, Master.”

“I’ll give you the second most delicious part.”

“Won’t you give me the first?”

“My disciple is quite greedy. If there’s any left after I eat, I’ll share it with you.”

“Thank you, Master.”

At the Squirming Chaos’s gesture, the disciple outer god bowed his head and slithered toward the southern part of the galaxy. He looked like a black gas mass swimming through the void.

The Squirming Chaos fixed his gaze on the nucleus.

His divine name was rather unremarkable, but he was actually the highest-ranking outer god of the Descartes’ Forces.

Renatus.

He licked his lips at the thought of the massive amount of prons, coins, and enthalpy contained in the Sagittarius black hole.

***

[“This isn’t good.”]

“What isn’t?”

[“Nothing. Just focus on your research quickly.”]

Something feels off about Cartesia’s tone.

Could she be upset about what happened earlier?

[“Do I seem that petty to you?”]

She definitely is upset.

[— Quest period adjusted: 3 months]

Now it’s been reduced from four months to just three. At this point, she might as well declare me her slave.

I’d forgotten since I haven’t taken quests for years, but this is what outer gods are like. Toying with humans is their daily routine. And the quest content is even unreasonable.

At least the rewards are prons, coins, and a crystal.

I’ve never heard of a Descartes’ Forces outer god having crystals, not even Darwin’s Legion. I’m curious about what functions it might have.

Establishing a method for designing graviton bombs isn’t easy. I’ll probably need to consult with relevant technicians.

The research budget is the main issue. To allocate funds for graviton bombs, I need to experimentally prove that gravitons can act like bombs, but to do that, I need to secure a budget first—creating an ironic situation.

“I’m Ben Ecaron, Minister of Science and Technology.”

“I’m Claire Lashminer, Minister of Finance. It’s an honor to meet you in person, Dr. Rheinland.”

I had moved from Callisto Academy to the famous Carnegie Astronomical Institute in the east. There, I unexpectedly met two high-ranking government officials.

“What brings such distinguished individuals here?”

“We’re also attending the conference as external participants. And we wanted to discuss something important with you.”

“Something important?”

“Yes, about methods to apply graviton particles.”

Surprisingly, the government approached me first. With some time before the scheduled conference, I agreed to have a meal with them to discuss.

After satisfying our hunger at the observatory’s buffet restaurant, we began our serious conversation.

“Last time when you were researching gravitons, a cult serving outer gods actively interfered. That gave me a feeling. If we advance this research, we could definitely reap significant economic benefits.”

“Economic benefits, you say?”

“It’s not complicated. If we can drive away the outer gods, that itself is an economic benefit.”

Minister Lashminer was sending strong signals.

“Do you think it’s possible, Doctor?”

“Of course.”

I took out my research results from my bag and showed them to Minister Ecaron. As the Minister of Science and Technology, he nodded after skimming through the introduction and conclusion without needing further explanation.

“So it’s about using graviton bombs to change the internal structure of black holes.”

“What do you think?”

“I’m not specialized in this field, so I don’t understand the details, but if it’s possible, it would be a groundbreaking invention in human history.”

I looked at the Finance Minister and blinked my eyelashes.

“Minister Lashminer.”

“Oh my.”

She touched her cheek and smiled freshly.

“Are you flirting with me?”

“Minister.”

“I’m just joking. You’re talking about the budget, right? To be honest, our economic situation isn’t great. Still, I believe increasing the basic science R&D budget is essential.”

Minister Lashminer brushed her blonde hair behind her ear and continued.

“As you know, the final approval for budget execution lies with Congress. The representatives need to coordinate with citizens from each planet, so increasing the budget might not be as easy as we think. Also, as a direct agency under the Federal President, we operate a separate Budget Management Office, which means there’s a lot of work involved in distribution after execution.”

Let me summarize.

The Treasury collects taxes and prepares the next year’s budget. This is passed to Congress for review and approval. After that, when actual policies are drafted, the Budget Management Office handles the work.

Congress is one thing, but I also need to win over the BMO.

It’s complicated enough to give me a headache.

“Still, we’ll do our best to help.”

“Has there been any research showing increased black hole activity from all directions?”

At my words, the two ministers stared blankly at each other. The Science Minister sighed lightly and nodded.

“…Indeed, an expert’s eye can’t be deceived. That’s correct. Strange waveforms are appearing not only from the east but also from the north. Reports indicate that outer gods’ interest in the Federation is growing.”

That makes sense. Why would a government that needs to be mindful of public opinion openly spend lavishly?

“Currently, the movement from the east is stronger and closer. Since we don’t know what might happen soon, please strengthen your defenses and refrain from entering the frontier planetary systems in that direction.”

The east.

Since Shterm appeared from the west, if it’s the east this time, it’s likely to be Renatus’s forces.

Not much is known about Renatus. Just that he’s the highest-ranking outer god in the Descartes lineage, and that he’s a strange being immersed in hedonism.

That makes his movements hard to predict. Being impulsive, sometimes only his subordinate outer god, Powehi, appears, and he doesn’t show up at all.

And the north is where the Adelbein family is located. If I were to investigate why the Adelbeins collectively ended up in prison, it’s likely that guy’s doing…

Just then, there was a thud, and the table shook.

“Ugh.”

The Science Minister collapsed, hitting his head on the table.

“Minister Ecaron? What’s happening…”

The Finance Minister couldn’t even scream. She slid down the tablecloth like melting ice cream and fell face-first onto the floor.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Starting with the two ministers, their aides, scientists, and others at different tables began to collapse one after another.

Soon, most of the diners lost consciousness and fell. All of them were foaming at the mouth with their eyes rolled back.

“Someone poisoned the food!”

It was strange. Sonia hadn’t eaten, so that made sense, but Ireh and I, who had eaten together, were fine. It seemed unlikely that only our food was free from poison.

That left only one possibility.

“…It’s pron poisoning.”

As Ireh muttered this, security personnel who had been on standby without eating sealed all exits.