Ch.354Snack (1)

“D-Damn it! Everyone, prepare for battle!”

“Captain? This ship only has laser weapons.”

“Shit! Are we just going to bend over for the pirates? We have to fight with whatever we’ve got!”

“Ahem, our armaments won’t last even an hour. If we resist unnecessarily, things might get worse…”

Jinchen barely suppressed the urge to smack the navigation team leader’s shiny head.

In Megacorp territory, piracy is treated as a serious crime.

Space Dogs are criminals who routinely engage in human trafficking, murder, smuggling, and more. The damage they cause to Megacorps is substantial. As a result, not only piracy itself but even cooperating with pirates is punishable. Jinchen had seen several colleagues who had dealings with pirates end up as their “employees.”

However, they lacked the weapons to fight back. Their only personal firearms were laser rifles, and their protective equipment was limited to the mid-grade exosuit he could use.

‘That fucking bastard! He said pirates don’t come to this star system!’

He had used the safe route his colleague recommended, never expecting this situation. Regret washed over him, but it was too late.

The pirate ship’s emblem was getting closer. He couldn’t die here, not when he finally had a chance to become rich.

“Can we communicate with that ship?”

“Yes, we can.”

Jinchen recalled what his friend, who was knowledgeable about black markets, had told him. According to him, common minerals, unlike rare ones, weren’t popular items in black markets. They were difficult to transport but not particularly valuable.

If his friend was right, these pirates wouldn’t attack the mining ship recklessly. Unless they were fools, they wouldn’t risk casualties just to steal minerals that weren’t even that expensive.

Of course, this ship’s armaments were terrible, but the pirates didn’t know that. If he played his cards right, they might get away with minimal damage.

“Communication established.”

A rectangular screen appeared in the center of the star system hologram map. Inside was a menacing man with mechanical devices embedded in his face.

“Huh, you dare to contact the Shinoroku Cartel first?”

“…Are you the boss?”

“Yeah. I’m the boss of the Shinoroku Cartel.”

Jinchen gulped at the sight of the frightening cyborg pirate. The pirate, with an electronic cigarette containing synthetic drugs in his mouth, asked him:

“Well, communication goes both ways. What’s your name?”

“J-Ahem, I’m Jinchen. The owner of this ship and…”

“Enough. If you don’t want to die, hand over everything you’ve got.”

“This is a mining ship. We only have minerals. There’s nothing for the Shinoroku Cartel to take.”

“You Amicorp bastards never learn until you see blood. Hey, everyone, prepare to dock.”

Behind the boss, equally intimidating pirates could be seen moving with weapons. Seeing this, Jinchen hastily continued.

“Wait! Th-This ship has numerous skilled combatants aboard.”

“So what? Does experience make you bulletproof?”

“…Combat personnel in exosuits are standing by. Even if we lose, your losses won’t be small either.”

In response to Jinchen’s bluff, the pirate boss took a deep drag from his cigarette. He exhaled smoke and asked:

“I’ll hear your offer. How much can you give?”

“I’ll give you 10% of our minerals.”

“Boys, the captain wants to fight. Prepare to attack.”

“T-Thirty percent!”

“Everyone, hold. Hey, Jinchen was it? Being the ship’s owner with such little courage won’t do.”

“…How much do you want?”

“70%. Give us 70% and we’ll let you go.”

Jinchen almost cursed out loud at the pirate’s demand for more than half.

‘That damn pirate bastard, seriously!’

But he could only curse inwardly while remaining outwardly compliant. In reality, he would have to accept even if they demanded all the minerals. Getting away with just giving up 70% would actually be fortunate.

“F-Fine. I’ll hand over the minerals…”

“Captain, a new signal has been detected.”

“What?”

“What’s this?”

It seemed they weren’t the only ones who noticed something. The pirate boss’s gaze shifted elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Jinchen also checked the new marker that had appeared on the star system map.

A square-shaped marker was approaching them faster than the pirate ship.

“This is Shinoroku Cartel’s territory, who the hell is that?”

Jinchen had thought it might be another pirate, but seeing the boss’s confusion, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“Are you trying to lure us into a trap?”

“N-No! We don’t know that ship either!”

“You bastards! Everyone, battle—”

Just as the enraged pirate boss was about to initiate an attack, the communication abruptly ended. Not only that, but suddenly the lights in the control room flickered and the hologram shook unstably.

“What’s happening?”

“We’re experiencing an unexpected radio interference!”

“Why suddenly?”

“We don’t know either…”

Jinchen barely suppressed a sigh at the crew’s incompetent response. Suppressing his rising irritation, he focused on the unstable hologram.

And he noticed something strange. The square marker that had been there until just now had disappeared from the map.

“Where did the square marker go?”

As soon as he spoke, the lights in the control room went out. Soon after, the emergency power activated, bathing the control room in red light.

“What’s going on?”

“I-I don’t know, sir.”

“Damn it! If you don’t know, find out!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Only when Jinchen shouted did the crew finally start moving.

“Navigation team leader, please take command for a moment.”

“What?”

Ignoring the incredulous looks from those around him, he left the control room. The situation didn’t look good. He felt he needed to put on the mid-grade exosuit in his captain’s quarters to calm down.

Hurrying back to his quarters, he donned the exosuit. The metallic sounds of the reinforced exoskeleton moving and the electronic beeps of the activated mechanical pads gave him a sense of security.

Just as he was about to leave his quarters after grabbing his laser rifle, the entire ship suddenly shook violently. It was a shock unlike anything he’d experienced since boarding the mining ship.

Moreover, that wasn’t the only problem. When the ship shook, there was also an explosion. The mining ship had definitely collided with something.

“Control room! Is everything alright there? Control room!”

He tried to contact the control room, but the communicator was completely dead.

‘Is this the pirates’ doing?’

They must have finally attacked the mining ship. He injected the enhancement drug built into his exosuit. He knew there were side effects to using enhancement drugs, but it was better than dying.

After completing all preparations, Jinchen headed for the control room.

The corridor, bathed in red emergency lights, was eerily ominous. It seemed like a lie that he had been running through it familiarly just moments ago.

‘Why is it so quiet?’

If pirates had entered the ship, there should be loud noises, but the corridor was only quiet. Even a Hulk Mutant couldn’t massacre the crew in such a short time.

‘What’s going on here?’

After the communication with the pirates was cut off, everything had gone beyond his understanding. With each step, the sweat on his neck increased.

Fortunately, nothing happened until he reached the control room. He could see the control room door firmly closed in front of him.

As Jinchen approached to open the door, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

The ship had received a major impact, yet there was not a single person coming or going from the control room? Plus, this silence. It definitely wasn’t normal.

He carefully put his ear to the door to check if there was any sound coming from inside.

“!”

The moment his ear touched the door, he was startled.

It wasn’t because of the coldness rising from the alloy wall. It was because he heard a sound that shouldn’t be coming from inside the control room.

That very faint sound was clearly a scream.

“S-Shit!”

Something unknown had entered the control room and was doing something terrible. Realizing this, he immediately turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

The corridor resonated with heavy thuds as he ran in his exosuit. He heard the sound of air escaping as the door opened. Whatever was in the control room must have heard his footsteps and come out.

From behind him, he heard a strange sound like several pointed objects scratching the alloy wall. And a sticky, damp metallic smell stung his nose.

‘D-Don’t come!’

Instead of using the laser rifle in his hand, he chose to flee. Thanks to the enhancement drug, he could run very fast. The eerie metallic sounds mixed between the heavy footsteps gradually faded.

‘I need to escape on the escape pod!’

If he escaped on an escape pod, there was a high chance of being caught by pirates, but he didn’t care. Rather than facing an incomprehensible entity, it was much better to be caught by understandable pirates.

“Shit, shit, shit…”

Jinchen mechanically cursed as he continued running toward the escape pods.

Just when he was almost at the escape pods, a group appeared in front of him.

“…Damn it.”

The face of the person at the front of the group was familiar. It was the pirate boss he had been talking to via video communication earlier. While Jinchen was putting on his exosuit, they must have infiltrated the mining ship.

The pirates were holding the mining ship’s crew and saying something.

Jinchen quickly hid behind a wall at the intersection.

‘Huh?’

As he watched from hiding, the atmosphere seemed strange. Though it was dark and distant, the crew didn’t seem particularly afraid. Rather, the pirates holding them seemed more urgent.

Then Jinchen’s eyes caught something strange. Behind one of the pirates at the back of the group, there was a pair of unfamiliar arms. Those slender arms, tinted red by the emergency lights, embraced the pirate like a lover.

And very quietly, they pulled him into the darkness. It was so swift and silent that the other pirates didn’t notice their comrade had disappeared.

It was like one of those horror stories the crew occasionally told. Even seeing it with his own eyes, it was hard to believe.

When those thin, smooth woman’s arms shot out again and snatched another pirate, Jinchen realized what he was seeing wasn’t a ghost story but reality.

And he wasn’t the only one who witnessed a subordinate being led away by suspicious hands. The pirates also recognized that their comrades were disappearing and began to look around warily.

When the third victim was taken in the same way, the weapons the pirates were holding spewed fire. Thanks to the flashing green light, Jinchen could see what was in the darkness.

A “snake” with dozens of arms was floating in the air, attached to the ceiling.

It didn’t avoid the attacks directed at it but took the hits while easily grabbing the pirates. As those arms pulled the pirates away, the head of the “snake” that had been hidden in the darkness was briefly revealed.

It was a surprisingly beautiful woman’s face. The pirates who had been struggling in the arms stopped resisting when they saw the face.

However, the moment the beauty opened her mouth, the pirates woke from their fantasy. Because the mouth, stretched wide like a snake’s, swallowed a pirate whole.

“U-Uwaaaaah!”

“S-Shit?! It followed us here!”

“Everyone ruuuun!”

Even pirates who had seen it all probably had never witnessed such a sight. A snake with a woman’s face and arms swallowing their comrades alive.

Jinchen thought he should run, but his legs wouldn’t move. His body was frozen in extreme fear.

And then.

“I’m glad ‘little sister’ is adapting better than expected.”

A woman’s voice from behind him.

No women were aboard Jinchen’s mining ship.

So it was easy to imagine whose voice it was.

“It’s a shame she’s picky about her food, though.”

The smell he had detected from the control room wafted around his neck.

Jinchen stopped thinking.