Ch.427Feint (3)

The creatures that crawled out of the pit had various appearances.

Some looked like dirty homeless people, while others resembled ordinary citizens.

If there was one thing in common among these beings with their diverse clothing and body types, it was that they all took the form of ordinary humans.

But none of those present thought they were actually people.

“Damn it! Get these bastards off me!”

Dozens of “those things” swarmed over the Monster Walker.

The Walker struggled desperately to shake off the enemies. The plasma cutter attached to its arm sliced through the bodies of “those things,” and its heavy legs kicked away the remains. The alloy armor became filthy with scattered pieces of flesh.

A normal human would have been incapacitated by such attacks, but not “those things.”

Each time their bodies were split apart or crushed, swarms of black threadworms burst out from inside. Massive numbers of these threadworms burrowed into the gaps all over the Walker’s body.

Though the Monster Walker was protected by thick armor, not every part was fully covered. As a mobile weapon, it inevitably had gaps at joints. With countless threadworms attaching to these joints, the Walker’s movements gradually became sluggish.

“Get off me, you bastards!”

“Enemies everywhere!”

As the Walker’s movements slowed, the number of enemies didn’t decrease. Instead, the pit kept producing more and more of “those things.”

“Damn it! When will this end?!”

Worse still, the Walkers weren’t just fighting against “those things.”

“I’ll burn all these damn bastards to—ugh!”

“Shit! Everyone be careful!”

A green heat ray suddenly struck a Walker that was entangled with “those things.” The giant, hit in the cockpit area, staggered and fell. The enemy that had shot down the Walker fled into a building.

Other pilots were shocked by what they saw. This was because the entity that had fired the launcher was wearing the enhancement suit provided by the Shino Group.

“Wasn’t that a launcher just now?”

“That guy’s on our side! Why is he attacking us?!”

“Boss, what should we do? At this rate…”

“……”

Amid the confused communications flying back and forth, Sutherland’s transmission reached Shinobu.

The situation had already far exceeded what Sutherland could handle. He couldn’t do anything until the boss authorized it.

But Shinobu didn’t answer and turned off Sutherland’s communication.

He was currently in discussion with Pisces Twelve, an entity far more important than these pawns.

“…This is AMorph’s doing.”

“Pisces Twelve. Query. Are you referring to the entity that the Megacorp-Star Union joint fleet attempted to subjugate previously?”

“Yes. There’s only one creature capable of this kind of stunt.”

“Question. ‘AMorph’ was not observed to possess such advanced hacking technology.”

“That bastard has a Screamer among his pets, doesn’t he? He probably had it do this.”

“Even an enhanced Screamer wouldn’t have such abilities…”

“ちくしょう! (Damn it!) I don’t care about that! As long as AMorph is here, we need to escape right now!”

Shinobu knew his limitations well.

Even Akira Yujin, with the support of a large fleet, couldn’t match that creature. There was no way he could win.

Moreover, this place had become AMorph’s nest. Those monstrosities attacking the Walkers—the “Hiveformers”—made that clear.

Fighting in this situation would only lead to certain defeat. The best course of action was simply to escape.

“Prepare an orbital bombardment right now. I’ll get out of here in the meantime.”

“What about Prometheus V2?”

“…Tch, as much as I hate to, we have to abandon it for now.”

Shinobu hesitated briefly before answering Pisces’ question.

That weapon was one of only two in existence in the Star Union. Since the other one was exclusively used for Jax-01 defense, there was effectively only one available weapon.

Though he hated leaving such a valuable item behind, he had no choice.

“That creature will definitely use it as bait. If we get caught in that trap, we’re finished.”

This wouldn’t be the first time it had happened in the game. He couldn’t fall for the same trick here.

“Besides, as you know, AMorph can’t use that weapon. It’s not too late to recover it after we capture him.”

Unlike the standard version, Prometheus V2 requires a “special material” to operate. And AMorph could never obtain that material.

“A rational decision.”

Pisces seemed to agree with his assessment and immediately concurred.

“Following your opinion, I will prepare the bombardment. Evacuate the area within 10 minutes.”

“10 minutes? Got it.”

The communication ended.

‘This should buy us some time.’

There was something he needed to do during that time.

Use his Perk.

Shinobu manipulated the communication device he had temporarily turned off.

“Listen, everyone. I’ll be taking command from now on, so obey me.”

“Huh?”

“Who’s that just now?”

“Th-that’s the boss! Everyone follow his orders!”

“Everyone who can hear my voice, switch your communication systems to ship-based channels.”

With AMorph having taken control of the communication satellites, using regular communication networks was dangerous. After taking measures to prevent information leakage, Shinobu continued issuing orders.

“The fleet in orbit will bombard this place in 10 minutes, so we need to get out before then.”

“T-ten minutes?! Understood!”

Knowing the terror of orbital bombardment, the pirates hurried to move. They slowly retreated backward while scorching approaching enemies with plasma emitters.

But something was strange. Less than half of the Walkers had retreated to the rear. The other Walkers remained in place fighting “those things,” as if they hadn’t received any orders.

“They’re buying us time. Don’t worry about them.”

“Y-yes sir!”

They were decoys. Decoys meant to buy time until Shinobu and a few Walkers could escape. That’s why he hadn’t sent them any communications.

The retreating pirates noticed this intention but said nothing.

However, there was something the escaped Walker pilots didn’t know.

‘Seven Walkers escaped besides me. I’ve picked out the skilled ones, so they’ll make good shields.’

Shinobu rushed toward the port exit with the seven Walkers he intended to use as shields.

From the shaking cockpit, he carefully took out a small ampule.

This ampule containing golden liquid was incredibly valuable. It was worth enough to buy hundreds of planets like the one he was on.

Knowing its value better than anyone, Shinobu poured the contents into his mouth without hesitation.

As the liquid passed down his throat, he immediately felt his body changing. It was a signal that his Perk had activated.

‘Good.’

Though his outward appearance remained the same as before drinking the ampule, he could tell.

His entire body had become a kind of biological signal beacon.

In truth, his Perk wasn’t suitable for combat. Nor was it particularly helpful for survival, and its conditions for use were very demanding.

But when the conditions were met, it demonstrated tremendous power. The reason the ruling faction’s rankers sponsored him was because of this Perk’s potential.

‘AMorph. I’ll pay you back exactly what you’ve done to me.’

In the game, when AMorph fought multiple enemies, he would often turn them against each other.

This time, it was his turn to experience the same fate.

Just as he was smiling grimly at the thought of revenge, something appeared in front of the running Walker.

A ghostly white creature like a will-o’-the-wisp blocked their path at the port boundary.

And behind it stood an enormous number of Hiveformers.

“B-boss!”

“…Tch, everyone get ready.”

As Shinobu’s Walker drew the twin blades mounted on its back, the other Walkers also readied their weapons.

“■■■■■■!”

The white will-o’-the-wisp—no, AMorph—roared at the sight.

With that thunderous sound, the Hiveformer army began to move.

–

After ending the communication with Shinobu, Pisces immediately began preparing for the bombardment.

There were a total of 17 ships orbiting without landing. Among these, 5 had firepower strong enough to bombard the planet.

These alone wouldn’t be enough to eliminate AMorph. According to the High Commissioners’ observations, AMorph had survived the explosion of a PMB (Particle Manipulation Bomb). Ordinary ship bombardments would be unlikely to cause significant damage.

Of course, the XAX02-class battleship under Pisces’ control carried various bombs including PMBs. All were brought to hunt the Arcane Orca.

But they couldn’t be used here now. Doing so would reduce Shinobu to dust as well.

Shinobu on the ground must know this too. Instead of PMBs, he requested orbital bombardment that would barely harm AMorph.

This meant he had another intention.

“The orbital bombardment is a means to divert AMorph’s attention. The intention appears to be preparing a counterattack during that time.”

She didn’t know what that counterattack method was. But there was one thing she could guess.

Until now, Shinobu had never failed to hunt his designated targets. The prey always moved according to his plans. As if drawn by an invisible, undetectable force.

If he truly had the power to call wild animals, now would be the opportunity. He could summon the Arcane Orca to fight against AMorph.

Anyway, whatever Shinobu’s intention was, it would be revealed after the orbital bombardment was executed.

Pisces spread her consciousness through the communication network to take control of the remaining fleet in orbit.

“Hmm?”

Just as she was about to remotely control the computers of other ships, she detected an unfamiliar signal. Someone was attempting remote access to 4 of the 17 ships, just as Pisces was doing.

The Screamer that came with AMorph had dared to attempt hacking in front of her.

“……”

If Pisces had been human, she would have laughed mockingly.

She was the technological singularity of the Star Union, the High Commissioner representing the will of countless androids and cyborgs.

To attempt such a prank before such an entity. Pisces decided to eliminate this Screamer immediately.

Her consciousness, trapped in a mechanical body, spread throughout the extensive communication network. The virtual space constructed of circuits and machine language gradually became dominated by a single will.

The mysterious signal trying to take control of the 4 ships resisted. It generated security programs made of encrypted code to defend itself.

Pisces hadn’t expected the enemy to create such high-level programs in such a short time.

But it didn’t matter. Pisces was a High Commissioner specialized in collecting and organizing information. Information warfare was as easy for her as breathing was for humans.

She instantly analyzed the structure of the enemy’s security program and seized control.

When the opponent tried to respond by creating new security programs, she had already built a firewall that could nullify the intrusion itself.

One ship, two ships—the vessels under the enemy’s control quickly returned to Pisces’ command.

Only one ship remained.

Realizing that hacking wouldn’t work against her, the enemy changed strategies. It decided to use the last remaining destroyer to attack the XAX02-class battleship where Pisces was.

Pisces, unfazed, methodically reclaimed control of the destroyer. Eventually, the destroyer, having lost all control authority, stopped near the battleship.

Having recovered the fleet, the remaining task was to eliminate the means the enemy had used for hacking.

The communication satellite managing this star system’s network was currently under the Screamer’s control. Leaving that satellite alone could lead to unpredictable variables.

While preparing the orbital bombardment, Pisces simultaneously attempted to hack the communication satellite.

The satellite’s firewall was very robust but useless before her. The security system, which appeared to have been prepared by the opponent over a long time, was shattered in minutes.

And before her remained the final trap. It was code encrypted in a different way than before.

Even code encrypted in hundreds or thousands of ways couldn’t stop her. Pisces quickly decrypted the code.

“Hmm?”

The decrypted code wasn’t a program but a message.

“The best hacking method is to use physical force? What does that—”

At that moment, her physical body in reality detected movement. An intruder had entered her room where no one should be.

“?!”

Returning urgently to reality, she saw a large blade before her. She quickly raised both arms.

When the rushing blade collided with her arms, strong sparks flew. Beyond the sparks, she saw a mechanical weapon combining a human woman’s head with the body of a large spider.

“Correct answer.”

The enemy who had been annoying Pisces until now—the red-eyed Screamer—said quietly.