Ch.403Cocoon (3)

Apex refers to organisms positioned at the upper echelons of the Space Survival ecosystem. While it varies by case, they generally possess exceptional combat abilities.

And even within the Apex, a hierarchy exists. The creatures at the very top of the Apex possess terrifying power that could be said to transcend the laws of nature.

The Red Gallergorn, the only entity in the game capable of using “Dragon Power,” Voltex One with its power to ignore physical laws and alter reality—these are formidable enemies that require multiple players joining forces to challenge.

Similarly, the Arcane Orca is a creature with extremely powerful abilities. It possesses energy manipulation abilities specialized like its close relatives, the Sky Whale and Star Shark.

Of course, it shouldn’t be compared to the Sky Whale’s level. It’s a monster on par with Voltex One. It’s stronger than the incomplete “Ring of Agony” I fought before.

“An Arcane Orca. This won’t be easy.”

The Sky Mother sent out a thought wave tinged with concern.

She must be reacting this way because she’s well aware of the Arcane Orca’s notorious reputation.

‘No wonder.’

One of the difficulties in tackling the Arcane Orca is simply “finding it” in the first place.

Since it feeds primarily on stellar energy, it rarely approaches planets. And rather than settling in one star system, it constantly wanders in search of new food. Essentially, the entire universe is its domain.

‘That’s why it’s incredibly difficult to find.’

Even if we do find it, hunting it is another matter entirely. It’s more than twice as strong as the incomplete Voltex One I fought here.

‘Let’s set aside the fighting issue for now. Time is more important right now.’

We don’t know how long Adhigh Orr will remain in that state. It would be fortunate if he returns to normal during this time, but that might not happen.

Moreover, he’s currently absorbing all the energy around him. This place is Gallergorn’s Nest. Numerous young Gallergorn and eggs survive on energy seeping from the ground and minerals.

‘If the hunt takes too long, they’ll all starve to death.’

I looked at Ham Oort. The black Gallergorn who had brought food for his daughter couldn’t take his eyes off the red crystal.

[Zzzzzz zz zzzzzz zzzzzz (How are the young ones? Are they hungry?)]

“New nest” “Food” “Abundant” “All” “Full”

[Zz (Really?)]

“But” “Great Adhigh” “More” “Much” “Eats” “Food” “Star power” “Depleting” “Dangerous”

[Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzz (How long do you think they can hold out?)]

“Fire star” “Two times” “Until visible”

On this planet, daylight comes very briefly once every 30 days. He said they could hold out until the fire star, or the sun, appears twice, so we have about a 60-day grace period.

‘That’s cutting it close.’

Just finding a star system where the Arcane Orca might be will consume considerable time. Even if we start preparing right away, time is tight. If any unforeseen variables arise, that time will shrink even further.

‘Wait.’

Thinking about variables, something suddenly occurred to me.

No. 26, who recently devoured massive psychic power. There’s still a lot of energy remaining inside him. I called to No. 26, who was emitting dark light and grieving.

[Zzzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzzz (Can you look after the baby Gallergorn here?)]

“Young flap-flaps? Yes.”

[Zzzz zzzzz z zzzzz zzzzzzzz (With you here, they’ll be able to hold out longer)]

“Grateful”

If No. 26 supplies energy to the Gallergorn group, we can buy additional time.

Next, I asked Isabelle to stay here as well. With the “All-Seeing Eye,” we can quickly detect if any problems arise with Adhigh and the Blue Gallergorn.

“Alright. I’ll contact you if any problems occur.”

“Thanks.”

With that, I’ve done everything I can here.

With time running short, I need to start preparing for the Arcane Orca hunt immediately.

“Let’s return to the Gigacracker.”

Before leaving the room, I took one last look at Adhigh sleeping inside the red crystal.

Looking at the crystal that remained completely motionless from beginning to end, I made a promise.

No matter what happens, I will definitely get Adhigh out.

‘Just hang in there a little longer.’

With that thought, I left the nest with the others.

After returning to the Gigacracker, PS-111 immediately went to the situation room to check if the ship’s computer had any information about the Arcane Orca.

I decided to discuss with the Sky Mother about where it might be.

“I think we both know quite a bit about the Arcane Orca.”

“Yes. I’ve caught it a few times for equipment.”

The Arcane Orca’s body is used to create extremely powerful equipment or super weapons. That’s why mega-clans periodically organize search parties to track it down.

From what I remember, after her clan disbanded, she worked as a mercenary with other clans’ search parties. She must have gained information and know-how while working with them.

“I’ll be honest. My tracking method isn’t suitable for this situation.”

I’ve also tracked and killed the Arcane Orca before, but I didn’t hunt it in a particularly efficient way.

My main strategies were basically two: either checking the condition of stars directly while moving around, or secretly following clans that were tracking the Arcane Orca.

Applying these to the current situation, the former takes too much time so it won’t work, and the latter is uncertain because we don’t know if there are any tracking teams, so that won’t work either.

That’s why I need her help this time.

“True, if we go with your method, just the preparation would take more time.”

She nodded, understanding what I was trying to say.

“There is some little-known information.”

She scratched her beak with the claw at the tip of her wing as she continued.

“Usually when tracking the Arcane Orca, we mainly look at traces left on stars, right?”

“Yes. It’s common to look at the electromagnetic waves left behind when it absorbs stellar energy.”

“There was a player in the tracking team I participated in who tried a unique investigation method. Instead of stars, they investigated the planets affected by those stars.”

“The planets?”

“Primitive civilizations on planets, or NPCs in colonies, sometimes record anomalies that occur in stars.”

Investigation by interviewing NPCs on planets? This is information even I haven’t heard before.

“In primitive civilizations, they remain as folklore, and in colonies, as observation logs.”

“Folklore and observation logs.”

I’ve heard that trading players sometimes collect these observation logs. That’s because stellar anomalies can damage trading vessels.

“The tracking team at that time collected all the folklore and observation logs from places where the Arcane Orca was likely to appear. Then they filtered out the relevant ones to predict the target’s movement path.”

“Is that possible?”

“It worked when we tried it.”

“But how did this fact remain unknown?”

“The clan that first tried this tracking method soon collapsed due to internal conflict, and the clan members quit the game. I haven’t seen anyone try this method since.”

I’m not sure whether to feel disappointed or fortunate that the information didn’t spread.

“Then I guess we should check the routes you know from the game first.”

“PS-111 and I will handle that part. With him, it should only take a few days to confirm.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Don’t get your hopes up too much. If it’s different from what I know, the investigation time will be longer.”

“If we need to investigate planets, I’ll go.”

“It would be better if I went instead… Oh.”

Her glowing amber eyes fixed on my mass of tentacles. She seemed to have just noticed my changed appearance, having been preoccupied with Adhigh’s situation.

“Where did you get the Hiveformer?”

“I got it while fighting Akira.”

“…Even in the game, my heart would sink whenever I saw those tentacles, and now I’m seeing them here too.”

“You’ve seen them before?”

“We even set up a forward base on a planet to catch the Arcane Orca, but you came and messed everything up. Don’t you remember?”

“Ah.”

Now that she mentions it, I remember.

I had secretly followed a subjugation team and prepared to terrorize them when I saw them landing on a planet. Looking back, it seems she was part of that subjugation team.

“When I first saw a human infected and killed by a Hiveformer, I almost developed a trauma.”

“Well, it does cause some unusual transformations.”

“To be honest, this is more horrifying than you skinning and hanging people.”

She shuddered as if recalling an unpleasant memory. Seeing her feathers stand on end, she really seemed to dislike it.

‘It’s not that bad.’

I admit it’s a bit creepy even to me, but I didn’t expect her to dislike it this much.

“I’ll go down to the planet alone when investigating.”

She narrowed her eyes and glared at me before letting out a small sigh.

“…I’ll have to work hard so you don’t have to go down to any planets.”

With her grumbling thought wave, our discussion about tracking the Arcane Orca concluded.

The Sky Mother left for the situation room where PS-111 was, and I remained alone in the storage area.

Originally, I had planned to check my text box. Besides the Hiveformer, I had gained quite a bit from the battle.

But perhaps because this was the first rest after intense combat, fatigue suddenly overwhelmed me. I found myself lying face down on the hard metal floor without realizing it.

‘It’s not urgent, so I’ll look at this after I get some sleep.’

In the gentle vibration of the engine resonating through the floor, I fell into sleep as if I had lost consciousness.