Ch.355Snack (2)

“There’s not much left, huh?”

I shook the broken pirate ship like emptying the last crumbs from a snack bag. Pirates still inside—both living and dead—spilled out into the zero-gravity space. All of them entered my three separate mouths, regardless of their condition.

“Chomp.”

Perhaps because I’ve grown larger, dozens of pirates barely registered as a snack. The heads on either side of me seemed unsatisfied too, licking their lips with their tongues.

「Big one」「Glutton」「Glutton」

Adhigh Orr, pleased after devouring a pirate, circled around me teasingly.

「Don’t tease the big baby.」

「Glutton」「Truth」

No. 26, who had been nestled in my small chest arms, didn’t like Adhigh’s attitude and generated tentacles from its body. Then it struck the small Gallergorn’s head.

Or rather, tried to. Adhigh moved nimbly to dodge, causing the attack to miss completely.

「Little one」「Attack」「Prediction」「Easy」「Now」「Won’t hit me」

「Really?」

「?」

「Really? Really? Really? Really? Really?」

「Wait」「That’s」「Too many」

「The little baby is good at dodging, so it’s fine.」

「That’s」「Unfair」

No. 26, suddenly in battle mode, escaped from my arms and began chasing after Adhigh.

Leaving them to play together, I shook the ship to see if any pirates remained.

Just then, Sky Mother emerged from another piece of debris. In her Griffon form with agate-colored wings spread, she flew toward me.

「While cleaning up, I found something strange.」

[Zzzzzz (Something strange?)]

She showed me what she was holding in her beak.

Length between 60-70cm, a thin rectangular design elongated, green rails on the front, a small terminal pad mounted on top, and finally a small trigger and stock.

All the features matched exactly with an item I’d seen countless times while gaming.

‘A plasma rifle?’

According to the lore, the history of plasma weapons is essentially the history of miniaturization and stabilization.

Plasma weapons, developed for space combat between vessels, had tremendous firepower but significant drawbacks. They were large and consumed so much energy that only military spacecraft could handle them.

After continuous research, plasma weapons gradually decreased in size.

The successful size improvements resulted in plasma launchers, plasma bolters, and pistols.

However, calling these perfect successes would be slightly misleading.

First, bolters are difficult to use without wearing power armor due to their weight and recoil. Plasma pistols have lower safety ratings and absurdly high production costs. Launchers were developed as squad support weapons, so they’re a different category altogether.

But among plasma weapons, there is one that perfectly overcame these drawbacks.

That’s the weapon Sky Mother showed me—the plasma rifle.

It’s a perfect weapon that passes all tests for weight, firepower, and safety.

Its firepower exceeds that of a bolter with almost no recoil. It’s light enough for a trained soldier to carry for extended periods. Its safety is also guaranteed as it’s made from rare metals that don’t easily deteriorate with prolonged use.

However, due to high production costs and the advanced technology required for manufacturing, only top-tier Megacorp players can make them in the game. It’s classified as the highest tech weapon in the system, which makes sense.

Additionally, in the game, plasma rifles are set to be used only on Earth and Mars. The seven Houses strictly control their use to designated planets, fearing technology leaks.

‘But why is it here?’

[Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzz (Pirates having plasma rifles?)]

「Yes. Not all of them, just one was carrying it.」

Of course, in the game, mercenaries armed with plasma rifles could be seen everywhere thanks to trading between players.

But that’s just in the game. There’s no way an ordinary pirate could easily obtain a plasma rifle that’s only authorized for use in the solar system.

[Zzzz Zzzzzz Zzzz Zzzzzzz (They couldn’t have raided a solar system ship)]

「Maybe they’re pirates connected to players.」

Her reasoning makes sense—it’s natural to assume these pirates have connections to players.

However, there are a few puzzling aspects.

‘They’re too weak to be associated with a ranker.’

Plus, this isn’t a particularly important star system.

This place has no rare resources and holds no significant military value. I only stopped here during my FTL travel to grab some snacks.

‘I should ask the others.’

While I was attacking the pirate ship, a few pirates had boarded the mining vessel. One of them might have been carrying a plasma rifle.

I bit into the mining vessel’s outer wall with my three mouths. After tearing through the sturdy exterior, I stuck my head inside.

With my head thrust into the corridor, just as I was about to spread monster waves with my tentacles…

A long-bodied figure appeared at the far end of the corridor bathed in red emergency lights. It was Isabelle, with her snake-like long body and dozens of arms.

She was about to swallow a pirate she had in her mouth when our eyes met. I noticed one of her many hands holding a plasma rifle.

[Zzzzzz Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzzz (So there was a plasma rifle here too)]

Hearing my words, she spat out the cyborg pirate she was holding. Despite wearing power armor, the unconscious man was completely mangled. She picked up her discarded prey and approached me.

“I kept it just in case. I see there was another pirate ship.”

[Zzzz Zzzzzz (Are you okay?)]

“I got hit a couple of times, but I’m fine.”

Isabelle elegantly rotated her body floating in space. There were some burn marks on her chrome-colored scales, but no serious damage.

[Zzzz Zzzz Zzzzzz (No more than this one?)]

She shook her head at my question, while holding up the pirate in her hand.

“This one was carrying the rifle. Seems like he was the boss.”

[Zzzz (Really?)]

That’s good news.

I pulled my head out and inserted my combat arm into the hole I’d made in the mining vessel. Enhanced parasites shot out from the holes in my arm and moved toward their new home. After a moment, the relocated parasites sent waves back to me.

[Zzzzzzzz Zzzz Zzzz Zzzzzzzz (Sorry, but could you interrogate him for me?)]

Since I’m quite large, it’s not easy for me to interrogate pirates in space. Leaving it to Sky Mother, I examined the floating debris of the pirate ship again.

‘Is there anything unusual?’

I had already confirmed before the attack that the pirate ship’s armaments were terrible. Indeed, I found nothing unusual.

‘Wait, nothing at all?’

At that moment, I recalled a characteristic of Space Dogs. Pirates usually paint their cartel’s unique mark on their ships. This helps them avoid fighting with other pirates from the same group.

But this ship had no cartel mark at all.

‘Was it erased when I destroyed it?’

I checked even the smallest debris but found no trace of paint on the outer walls.

‘They have plasma rifles and no pirate marks.’

I don’t know who they are, but we should leave this place quickly.

Just then, the parasite lodged in the pirate boss’s head sent me a signal. Sky Mother, Isabelle, and PS-111 emerged from the hole I had made, having finished their interrogation.

[Zzzzzz Zzzz (How did it go?)]

「…It seems they’re related to players after all.」

[Zzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzz Zzzzzz Zzzz Zzzzzzzz (I hope it’s not related to where we’re heading?)]

「There are no Space Dog rankers in the Return Faction, so it shouldn’t be. Oh, and look at this.」

At her gesture, Isabelle approached my head and held out a small piece of cloth she was carrying. The cloth, which looked like a badge, had the pirate cartel mark I was looking for.

But something was strange about the mark. Their mark wasn’t a picture but letters.

[Zzzz Zzzz Zzzz (Isn’t this Japanese?)]

「Yes. Japanese on the front, Chinese characters on the back. The boss said he’s the leader of the Shinoroku (しの六) Cartel.」

The Japanese language reminds me of a certain player—the arrogant and brutal Megacorp ranker, Akira Yujin.

‘Is this related to the 3rd ranker?’

「Their cartel has a unique structure. Unlike regular pirates, they formed an alliance. When I asked, he said six cartels have united.」

[Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzzzzz (So that’s why the number six is in the name)]

「Yes. He said they received these weapons from the No. 1 cartel.」

According to what I heard from Jason before, the 3rd ranker currently serves as the head of House Yugin. He might have used his authority as the house head to organize pirates and provide weapons.

‘The one who organized the cartel must be a ranker too.’

To control pirates who betray each other regularly, there must be a ranker involved. A Space Dog ranker working with Akira must be commanding them.

[Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzz (What’s their purpose?)]

「I asked, but there’s no special purpose. Just using weapons to consistently plunder in designated areas. That’s all.」

[Zzzz Zzzzzzzz (What about the other cartels?)]

「They operate independently, so he doesn’t know what they usually do. Apart from regular communication, there’s almost no interaction.」

The pirate boss, whose skills didn’t match his weapons, didn’t know much.

Their true purpose remains unknown.

‘Still, it’s fortunate we discovered them before they found us.’

Just knowing that the Dominance Faction is plotting something is valuable information.

[Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzz (We can’t let them know we encountered them)]

「We’ve already destroyed the ship, so how?」

[Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzz Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzz (There’s a new ship, we can move them there)]

The most important person, the boss, is still alive, and two plasma rifles remain undamaged.

Also, there are still crew members inside the mining vessel. PS-111 and Isabelle were in the middle of dealing with the personnel when I called them.

If we implant parasites in the mining vessel’s crew and disguise them as pirates, we can avoid being tracked.

Once the decision was made, action followed.

My companions and I worked together to find the crew members inside the mining vessel and infect them with parasites. We left some survivors uninfected, but it didn’t matter. There weren’t many of them, and we destroyed all escape vessels, so there was nothing they could do.

After completing all the arrangements, I instructed the parasites to make the infected crew follow their usual routes and behave as they normally would. Even when I’m far away, the parasites will continue to follow my orders.

「Humans go far away.」

The pirate ship grew smaller and smaller behind No. 26, who was innocently waving its tentacles.

‘Good.’

From now on, if we encounter pirates, I should ask if they know anything about the cartel alliance. Pirate alliances aren’t common, so someone must know something.

After sending the pirates away, I entered FTL travel with my companions on board.

My body, surrounded by blue energy, not only exceeds light but transcends space itself. Stars and darkness in my vision mix chaotically like different paints.

It’s an amazingly beautiful sight, but I can’t afford to be distracted. Every second, my physical body crosses stars. I need to constantly monitor the jump route to safely arrive at our destination.

How much time passed like this?

The swirl of brilliant stars subsided, and a red glow took its place. An aging star was emitting its final light in the darkness of space.

The name of this red giant, overwhelmingly larger than our sun, is “Olga.”

On one of the planets under this ancient sun’s light, the Return Faction’s weapons management ranker is hiding.