Ch.375Swamp (1)

The giant star blazes like a hearth fire illuminating the pitch-black darkness.

While the ancient celestial body named red giant “Olga” emits its own light, a spaceship appears, glowing blue.

“Superluminal navigation complete. Red giant ‘Olga’ confirmed. We have safely arrived at the Dorane system.”

The control room has a clean atmosphere as if built with white marble.

In front of the holographic star system map floating in the center, humans in military uniforms operate computers. Everyone in the control room is orderly in both dress and behavior, reminiscent of soldiers.

However, they are not military personnel.

“Hey. We’ve arrived, so contact the employer again.”

“Yes, Captain.”

The one called captain by the crew is Sechan Hamilton. A Space Dog from Megacorp.

Once he was a soldier working in a battleship’s crisis management team. After retiring, he became a pirate. Sechan’s force, the Hamilton Cartel, consists entirely of retired military personnel.

Piracy is a serious crime in Megacorp, but many soldiers engage in corruption through interactions with pirate cartels. Most get caught and meet miserable ends, but some are lucky enough to retire without being caught. Sechan and his subordinates were such lucky cases.

Perhaps because of this? Unlike ordinary pirates, they preferred to operate in the open.

Instead of serious crimes like smuggling or human trafficking, they earned credits through security-related activities such as VIP protection and transportation of important goods.

Of course, if they only engaged in legal activities, they wouldn’t be called pirates. They often took on suspicious jobs like protecting criminals or secretly transporting terrorist materials. Such illegal work was necessary as it brought proper profits.

Anyway, Sechan was quite good at his job. The Hamilton Cartel had never been pursued by Megacorp or other major powers. Their relationships with other pirates were also relatively good.

This was all because he managed his connections well.

Maintaining friendly relationships with contacts from his military days and profitable clients to continue transactions. He thoroughly managed those he deemed important.

Thanks to this, the Hamilton Cartel could safely engage in piracy while avoiding pursuit from major powers.

The client on Askha44 in the Dorane system was one of Sechan’s main management targets.

The client’s requirements were very simple. Regular supply of numerous slaves, luxury goods, and other necessities. The compensation was very generous compared to the simple demands.

From Sechan’s perspective, there couldn’t be a better client. That’s why he personally visited the planet whenever a deal was made.

He intended to do so this time as well, but a problem arose.

Normally, a reply would come when he sent a message 3 days before arrival, but this time there was no response. He continued sending messages until yesterday, but still no reaction.

“Captain, we still can’t establish contact.”

“What? Keep trying.”

“Yes, sir.”

After giving orders to his subordinate, Sechan frowned.

‘What the hell is going on suddenly?’

They had already finalized the deal 7 days ago, and he had received part of the payment in advance. In such a situation, the other party wouldn’t suddenly cancel the deal.

‘Could they have started dealing with others instead of us?’

He had heard that pirates with strange names had been roaming around the Dorane system recently. They called themselves the Sino Union, and their power was not to be underestimated.

‘…No. If that were the case, they would have canceled the contract earlier.’

As far as he knew, client ‘S’ was cautious and suspicious about everything. The probability of becoming friendly with pirates who had appeared recently was low.

‘Then something must have happened.’

“Still no contact?”

“No. Judging by the fact that the signal itself isn’t going through, there seems to be a problem with the satellite.”

“Any traces of superluminal navigation nearby?”

“None detected.”

The Dorane system is a no man’s land. Those staying on Askha44 are virtually the only sentient beings here. In such a situation, the probability of being attacked by someone is practically zero.

‘Hopefully the satellite is just having problems and being repaired.’

The atmosphere was not good at all.

If it were any other client, he would have backed off immediately, but unfortunately, the counterpart is client S. Breaking the contract now would make it difficult to find such a good client again.

“What would you like to do?”

“Hmm.”

The vice-captain standing next to the captain’s seat asked him.

Sechan, who had been staring at the hologram, finally made a decision.

“Approach Askha44 and try to communicate again. Even without a communication satellite, the signal should reach if we get close to the planet.”

“Understood.”

As the destination was set, the rocket thrusters attached to the sides and rear of the hull spewed fire.

As the ship moved, the holographic map changed moment by moment. The triangular-shaped ship gradually approached Askha44. No other structures were displayed.

“No communication satellite detected. Could something have happened?”

“We’ll find out when we get there.”

“…We should proceed with caution.”

Sechan nodded slightly at the vice-captain’s advice.

An hour later, Sechan’s ship approached Askha44.

“Good. Try again.”

“Yes, sir.”

The crew member who received Sechan’s instruction attempted communication. Whether it’s a ship or a structure, if there’s any communication equipment on the planet, it will receive the signal they sent.

Everyone watched in silence as the “Attempting Communication” message was displayed on the hologram.

And after a moment, the message changed.

“Communication established with the ground.”

“Phew. That’s good. Where is the connection?”

The crew member in charge of communications manipulated the computer and then tilted his head.

“Uh, well, we’re connected to a ship’s communication network, not the base.”

“Ship’s communication network? Why are we getting a response from a ship instead of the base? More importantly, why aren’t they connecting via video?”

“I’ll check.”

The crew member entered a message and sent it to the other side. Then a new message appeared at the bottom of the hologram.

“The base collapsed due to abnormal activity of the supervolcano, and volcanic ash is covering the atmosphere causing radio interference, so please understand… What nonsense is this?”

“It’s true that Askha44’s volcanic activity is intense, but…”

“No, even so. I’ve been there, and it’s not the kind of place that would collapse because of that.”

Sechan had visited the base on Askha44 several times before for deals. So he knew how sturdy the base was. Unless a bomb exploded inside, it would never collapse.

Another message arrived, and the crew member checked it.

“They say the base personnel are evacuating to a safe place with the remaining ships.”

“Evacuating? Activate the detection system and check if that’s true.”

“Yes, sir.”

This ship is a modified version of House Egerton’s large destroyer. As it’s still an active vessel, it’s in a completely different league from the scrap metal ships used by ordinary pirates. The detection system is also much more advanced.

External cameras mounted outside the hull filmed the point where the communication was connected. Soon, the results captured by the cameras were transmitted as holographic images.

Several ivory-colored ships were docked on the black ground. Most had blackened outer walls, and some had damaged cannons and thrusters.

In front of them were structures that appeared to be temporarily installed.

“There are signs of metal structure changes due to high temperature heat.”

“That part appears to be damage from a collision.”

“It certainly seems to have been caused by a volcanic eruption.”

“Life form reactions?”

“Life reactions confirmed throughout the entire 10km radius from the ship where communication is connected. The radio interference seems to be causing errors.”

After running various detection systems, everything came back as gibberish except for the camera footage of the ships and temporary structures. It was certain that problems had occurred due to the supervolcano eruption as they claimed.

‘Still, though.’

Sechan couldn’t understand.

These were people who deliberately came to live on this remote volcanic planet in this distant star system. He wasn’t sure if it made sense that they would completely collapse just because a few volcanoes erupted.

While he was holding onto his suspicions, another message arrived.

“Captain, given the situation, they say they’ll come directly to us to receive the goods.”

“They’re coming to my ship?”

“What should we do?”

“……”

As soon as he heard those words, he was certain.

‘This bastard is planning something.’

Client S had never sent anyone to his ship before. He always conducted deals only at his base.

For such a person to suddenly say they would trade on the other’s ship due to the situation, it was suspicious to anyone.

“Tell them we’ll go there. Vice-captain. Select personnel to go down, and prepare the equipment I’ll need.”

“It’s dangerous!”

The vice-captain, also sensing the suspicious situation, tried to stop Sechan.

But he had already made up his mind. His gaze turned to the ships captured by the camera.

‘I don’t know what trick they’re trying to pull…’

As a former soldier, he knew how valuable those carelessly placed ships were.

‘Their base is destroyed, and they have few ships. There probably aren’t many survivors either.’

It’s uncertain whether they can continue trading in the future. If that’s the case, it might not be bad to end the relationship at this opportunity.

“From now on, the vice-captain will serve as acting captain. The period is until I return.”

“Captain!”

After entrusting command to the vice-captain, Sechan left the control room.

Client S has been a customer who has brought him much profit over the years. He’s grateful for that part, but he’s a pirate. He has no intention of showing mercy when he can extract more from the other party.

‘I’ll take the ships as souvenirs for the end of our deal.’

Ten minutes later, a transport ship from Sechan’s vessel penetrated the planet’s atmosphere and descended.