Ch.421Ill Fate (4)

# Space Survival had quite a few players who disliked me.

Not just rankers, but also those belonging to large clans or massive alliances targeted me. Communities would occasionally recruit AMorph hunting parties specifically to take me down. Once I clashed with them even once, my information would spread instantly.

Because of this, I rarely shared information with anyone. Except, of course, when spreading false information to confuse my enemies.

Perhaps that’s why.

This situation—trusting someone else and sharing what I knew—felt somehow strange and fascinating.

Players who had previously aimed for the ending, the AMorph-type creature that replaced the original ending boss, the Information Unit that showed me these things through visions.

I told her everything I had seen, without omission.

“Let me summarize this.”

After listening to my story, the Sky Mother, who had been deep in thought, sent a telepathic message.

“Two things are certain. The ending boss has changed into a monster that looks like an AMorph, and 3rd-ranked Akira, who participated in the raid, knows the secret of the ending. Right?”

“Exactly.”

“Can we trust what that Information Unit said?”

“I don’t think it has any reason to lie. If it wanted to deceive me, there would be easier ways.”

It could have shown me stronger visions, or controlled me using abilities I’m unaware of—there are many methods.

She seemed to share my thoughts and nodded.

“So we need to go to Earth to be certain?”

“Probably.”

“Even for you, breaking through the solar system won’t be easy.”

“We don’t necessarily need to enter the solar system. We can lure him out.”

“How… Ah. You’re planning to use the 25th ranker.”

“Yes.”

The leader of the pirates coming here has connections with Akira. If we capture him, we can obtain information that could lure Akira out.

“The main pirate force will arrive in about 12 days. We’ll prepare until then and ambush him.”

The opponent is a powerful figure aiming for the top Apex position. By no means an easy target.

That’s why I plan to turn this place into a trap to hunt the ranker.

“Anyway, I think we’ve covered all the important matters.”

Currently, PS-111 has completely taken control of the planet’s communication system, and I’ve also established several nests.

Still, there are more preparations to make. I need to expand the nests further and consume more genetic samples from the research complex above.

Plus, I need to find useful humans in other cities. There’s much to do and limited time.

Then the Sky Mother asked me.

“What will you do with those children?”

“Children?”

Her eyes turned toward the inner part of the nest where the young Volfs were.

In truth, now that I’ve obtained sufficient information, they’re unnecessary.

Being from a primitive tribe, they can’t immediately pilot spaceships or operate mechanical devices. Teaching them would take considerable time. And they’re too young and weak to be used as simple combat units.

Besides using them for enhanced parasite experiments or turning them into face parasites, they have little utility.

“I’m sorry, but could I take care of the children?”

The Sky Mother spoke first, seemingly having read my thoughts.

“The Volfs don’t seem particularly useful.”

“They’ve experienced severe trauma and might not remember important information even if they know it.”

“Hmm.”

“There’s no immediate reason to dispose of them, so I’ll keep them with me.”

The Sky Mother scratched her beak with her front claw as she spoke. Her gaze remained fixed on the inner part of the nest.

‘What’s this about?’

This attitude is different from usual. Her eyes fixed on the children throughout our conversation, the slight trembling in them revealing her emotional state.

‘Perhaps she’s remembering the past?’

Just before meeting me, she lost her family because of Muriel, a ranker from the Dominance faction. Her husband, the “Father Land,” and the entire Volf tribe she cared for were massacred.

After Muriel died, she collected the abandoned bodies of the Volfs. I remember there were quite a few young ones among them.

‘The corpses she buried then and these survivors are of similar ages.’

Her excessively aggressive behavior earlier might have been triggered by experiencing a situation similar to her past.

‘Still, it’s unexpected.’

We’ve encountered slave traders and pirates many times before, but she’s never been this affected by seeing slaves. Naturally, this is also the first time she’s made such a request to me.

“Alright. Having them around might be helpful somehow.”

I considered asking for details but decided against it.

Questions and words carelessly thrown at someone with past trauma can become wounds. I know this well from similar experiences.

‘She’ll talk about it when she’s ready.’

There’s no need to press on something that isn’t causing problems.

“When they’ve recovered, they can stay in the research complex above. Being Volfs, they’ll probably prefer that to here.”

“…Thank you.”

After entrusting the Volfs’ care to the Sky Mother, I peeled the pirates off the wall.

“You all need to come with me.”

Unlike the Volfs, these ones have uses. High-ranking officers like Ventris will be used to send false reports to Sino Group’s main force. The rest will serve as bait to lure them into traps.

I carried the pirates and left the nest.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve used an entire planet as a trap.’

In the game, I rarely utilized whole planets as traps. Due to their size, establishing and expanding nests takes an extremely long time. Even I failed more often than not, being discovered during preparations.

So I only created them when I was confident I could lure enemies, or when I needed a permanent lair.

‘This case falls into the former category, I suppose.’

Of course, covering the entire planet with nests within 12 days is impossible. I’ll need to predict where the enemy will station themselves, where to lure them for an ambush, and set traps accordingly.

And that part must be solved with my capabilities and experience.

I spread my wings and soared into the cloudy sky. The cityscape, submerged in black slime, came into view.

The 25th ranker and his subordinates rummaging around everywhere.

By the time they arrive, the landscape here will be very different from before.

What will welcome the guests won’t be a terraformed planet, but a planet dominated by AMorphs.

–

Stars embedded like grains of sand in the black universe.

In the middle of it, a blue light suddenly flashed.

Like lightning tearing through the sky, a fleet that had successfully completed faster-than-light navigation appeared.

With nearly 50 vessels, it rivaled the fleets belonging to major powers. However, looking at the individual ships, they were far from an elite fleet. The shapes, sizes, and specifications of the ships varied greatly.

Some ships had Cult-style cruiser bases with drone command towers attached, while others had plasma cannons mounted on Megacorp mining vessels.

Among them was an exceptionally large vessel.

With its front section split into three prongs like a trident, it was a Star Union XAX02-class battleship, commonly known as a Jax Beta.

Originally meant to serve the well-being of the cyborg people, this particular vessel now served a different master. The infamous Space Dog, specifically the pirate alliance sharing the name “Sino,” was its master.

“Boss. We’ve arrived at the Zer-11 conflict zone.”

On the bridge of the Jax Beta, an insectman pirate reported to a human male sitting in the captain’s seat.

His name was Sutherland, the leader of the Sinoichi Cartel, the first cartel to join the Sino Group.

“Any stragglers on the way?”

“None.”

“Good. First scan AG-01 and its surroundings completely, then tell Sinoni to contact the team that landed on the planet.”

“Yes, sir.”

The pirates who received the order operated computers that had been arbitrarily installed on the bridge.

“Um, boss?”

While doing so, the pirate managing the ship’s sensors called out to the boss.

“The status of AG-01 seems a bit strange. The planet’s atmospheric conditions are extremely unstable.”

“How bad?”

“Massive storms are occurring at various points on the planet, making it difficult for our ship scanners to work properly.”

Sutherland frowned at his subordinate’s words.

“There was no mention of this before we came here. What happened?”

“Judging by the sudden weather anomalies, it seems there might be a problem with the terraforming machines.”

“Boss, we’ve received a reply from Sinoni.”

At that moment, a cyborg pirate in charge of communications joined the conversation.

“There was a terrorist attack by separatists three days ago. That’s what caused the problems with the terraforming machines.”

“Separatists? The regular report said they were all eliminated.”

“It seems some remnants were left unhandled. They say they’ve dealt with all of them now.”

“What should we do?”

Sutherland scratched his head irritably. After scratching until blood appeared under his nails, he reluctantly spoke.

“Is there any problem at the rendezvous point?”

“Apart from slightly unstable communications, there’s no problem.”

“Keep scanning with this ship, and the rest can land. Oh, and those bastards who switched to mining vessels without permission last time. Tell them they have one day to fix the terraforming machines as quickly as possible.”

“Are you referring to the Sinoroku Cartel?”

“Yeah.”

“Understood. I’ll relay that message.”

“…I’ll rest in the captain’s quarters. Handle the rest as we’ve done before.”

“Yes, sir!”

With those words, Sutherland left the bridge.

As he approached the captain’s quarters, the shadow on his face deepened. There was a reason for his expression, despite just going to rest.

Other pirates thought Sutherland was the owner of this ship, but that wasn’t the case. This ship, and the cartel he belonged to, had a different owner.

Upon reaching the captain’s quarters, Sutherland carefully knocked on the door.

“Master Sino, it’s Sutherland. I have a report to—argh?!”

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden, intense headache made him collapse to the floor.

Through his agony, a young man’s voice pierced his ears.

“Incompetent bugs as always. Can’t you handle even such a simple task?”

“Aaaargh!”

“Should I just replace that defective brain of yours while I’m at it?”

“Ugh, please forgive me just this once…!”

Despite the playful tone that made it sound like a joke, the obedience device was still active. Even as blood poured from his nose and ears, Sutherland desperately begged.

“Pisces Twelve. Speaking. The subject still has utility. Consuming him at this point would be inefficient.”

Next, a woman’s voice mixed with mechanical sounds intervened. It seemed to work, as the owner of the voice stopped the obedience device before Sutherland lost consciousness.

“Well, things have changed from the plan, but it’s not a major issue, so I’ll let it go at this. Grateful, aren’t you?”

“Th-thank you! Thank you so much for sparing me!”

“Pisces Twelve. Commanding. Some of the subject’s instructions need supplementation. Enter.”

With those words, the door opened automatically.

The true “masters” of the Sino Group were calling him.

‘…Fuck.’

Though he resented his past decision to follow them, there was nothing he could do. He could only curse inwardly.

Covered in blood, Sutherland staggered inside.