Ch.470Trash Planet (2)

Since the dawn of human history, one thing has remained unchanged.

That is territorial consciousness. Even after humanity expanded into space and nations disappeared, the concept of territory remained the same.

If in the past people claimed ownership of land to grow crops and raise livestock, now they claim ownership of planets to extract resources and cultivate humans.

Above the infinite sea sliced by invisible lines, there is a single spaceship.

It’s a mining vessel produced by a Megacorp that has just successfully completed a jump.

“Jump successful. Engine stabilization initiated.”

“Any Outspacers nearby?”

“None detected, Captain.”

Despite the successful faster-than-light jump, tension lingered on the bridge.

“Surveillance Chief?”

“I’ll check.”

The one called Surveillance Chief waved his hand while wearing a specially made helmet. The cables connected to the back of the helmet swayed like living snakes.

“…Hmm. I don’t see anything dangerous.”

After a moment, the Surveillance Chief removed his helmet. Unlike the other crew members, he had two horns on his head.

“Phew.”

At the Cult’s words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s good. Mining team and material management team, get ready.”

“Yes!”

Captain Eusung Samuel, now reassured, gave mining orders to her subordinates.

“And Surveillance Chief. Well done again.”

In response to her commendation, the Surveillance Chief nodded instead of answering.

It was quite an insolent attitude, but Eusung didn’t mind. This Cult named Heinrie was worth it.

About a month ago, Eusung had captured a Cult civilian ship that had drifted into Megacorp territory. The ship carried refugees fleeing from Outspacer offensives. Heinrie was one of them.

‘From Beryan02, he certainly has many uses.’

As someone from Titan satellite, a Third Capital, she knew well what Beryan02 was.

Once one of the central places supporting the Empire’s economy, but destroyed for unknown reasons.

Heinrie had been an information broker on that planet. Perhaps because of this, he was knowledgeable about other species’ mechanical devices and weapons.

Installing the Cult-style surveillance radar on the mining vessel was entirely Heinrie’s contribution. Thanks to him, they could move around safely even during the Outspacer invasion.

And Eusung was actively using this dual detection system to find safe star systems and conduct illegal mining.

‘Hehe, while everyone else is being cautious, I need to make my fortune.’

She smiled as she watched the crew working diligently.

“Mining complete.”

“Hmm.”

Dozens of minutes later, the results of their work appeared on the bridge’s hologram. Seeing it, Eusung nodded.

“It came out as predicted. Good. Let’s move to where the next target is.”

The resting engine resumed activity. The hull, affected by the faster-than-light travel, vibrated slightly.

The second mining target is in the same star system. It would take just a few minutes to reach the destination. That is, if no unexpected problems arise.

“Huh? Captain, the mining target has disappeared.”

“What?”

“Instead, a new celestial body has appeared in its place.”

The crew member operating the computer displayed a hologram map.

The designated mining target was nowhere to be seen, and only the signal of an unfamiliar asteroid appeared.

“We need to check this. Stop.”

“Yes!”

The crew hurriedly halted the faster-than-light travel. The mining vessel, which had been moving at a speed beyond light, soon came to a stop.

“Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know. It’s a celestial body not recorded on the star system map.”

“Hmm. Let’s see what kind of celestial body it is. Activate the mineral detector.”

“Yes. Mineral detector ready.”

“Beginning detection.”

The detector mounted on the mining vessel began analyzing the composition of the unidentified asteroid. Information confirmed by the detector appeared one by one on the hologram.

“Huh?”

But the content was quite strange. Apart from size and shape, everything else came back as “analysis impossible.”

“Uh, this is the first time this has happened… I’ll try again.”

The bewildered crew member reactivated the detector, but the result was the same.

‘What on earth is that?’

The suddenly appeared celestial body had a perfect spherical shape. Combined with the “analysis impossible” result, it was difficult to consider it an ordinary celestial body.

‘Judging by its size, it’s definitely not a ship.’

The size of that entity was larger than a Gigacracker. There are no ships larger than that in the Megacorp.

After a brief deliberation, she gave instructions.

“If the detector doesn’t work, we’ll have to use another method. Send the mining team for reconnaissance.”

“Should they collect samples too?”

“No. Tell them to scout from a distance without approaching.”

Shortly after, a small exploration vessel left the mining ship.

“Approaching target.”

“Are there any unusual aspects around?”

“No. No unusual elements visible.”

The video captured by the exploration vessel was played as a hologram. In the center of the video was the target, a black sphere, appearing as small as a fingernail.

“Captain. I have something to say.”

As Eusung was watching the hologram like everyone else, Heinrie approached and spoke to her.

“Surveillance Chief?”

“It’s a very important matter, so please spare me a moment.”

Seeing Heinrie’s appearance, Eusung was slightly surprised. His face was as pale as a corpse.

“Navigation Chief. I’ll be back shortly, so take command.”

“Yes, Captain.”

After entrusting command to her subordinate, she left the bridge with Heinrie.

“Recall that exploration vessel immediately.”

As soon as they left, Heinrie blurted out in a trembling voice.

“What?”

“We need to flee from here as quickly as possible. There’s no time.”

“What are you suddenly saying? Is it perhaps Outspacers…?”

“Damn it! There’s something more dangerous than them over there!”

Eusung was taken aback by the unexpected statement that there was something more dangerous than Outspacers.

“What do you mean? Explain in detail.”

“…On the day I escaped from Beryan02, I met a customer at my shop.”

Heinrie paused briefly. His wrinkled face looked at least 10 years older.

“It was something that took the form of a Cult. It was the first time in my life I’d encountered such a dangerous being. It was enough to make me decide to leave the planet immediately upon seeing it.”

“What does that have to do with this situation?”

“I feel that same fear again.”

She didn’t fully understand the old Cult’s words.

But one thing was certain.

The terror that had swallowed Beryan02 was nearby.

“Captain? You need to come back for a moment.”

Just then, a crew member from the bridge came out and called her.

“Captain! Believe me! Right now…”

“Enough. I understand what you’re saying. I’ll take measures as soon as we go in.”

“Please! Please remember!”

Leaving behind the urgently shouting Surveillance Chief, she returned to the bridge with the crew member.

“This is the bridge. The exploration vessel is too close to the target. Repeat. The exploration vessel…”

“Communication status is unstable.”

“You idiots! I told them not to approach, why are they doing this?”

In the short time she was gone, the atmosphere on the bridge had changed dramatically.

“Navigation Chief, what’s going on?”

“The mining team is disobeying orders and approaching the target.”

The Navigation Chief pointed to the video in the hologram as he spoke. The asteroid that was just fingernail-sized before now filled the entire hologram.

The exploration vessel that sent the video is rushing toward the unidentified celestial body.

“Tell them to stop immediately!”

“It’s impossible due to an unknown communication interference!”

“What communication interference…?”

“Crackle, here, mining team, crackle”

The bridge suddenly fell silent at the unexpected communication.

“Mining team? Return immediately. Repeat. Return immediately.”

“Under, crackle, stood, crackle, sample collection, crackle, starting, crackle”

“Sample collection? Was this your order, Navigation Chief?”

“N-no, it wasn’t!”

“Mining team! Don’t approach any further and come back!”

“Crackle, no, crackle, we must, crackle, star, calling, crackle, us.”

“What nonsense! Mining team! Return immediately!”

“No. We must, crackle, must go, crackle”

The content of the communication from afar became increasingly eerie. The voice of the mining team member, repeatedly saying they must go, conveyed a sense of madness.

While everyone was overwhelmed by the bizarre atmosphere, Eusung suddenly looked at the hologram.

And her eyes widened in shock at what she saw.

“J-jump immediately! Quickly!”

“What? B-but we haven’t yet…”

“Tsk! Move aside!”

Eusung pushed aside the hesitating crew member and operated the computer herself.

Soon after, the video displayed on the hologram was cut off. This was because the mining vessel had entered faster-than-light travel.

“C-Captain?! Calm down!”

“It’s dangerous!”

“It might chase us!”

“Chase us? What do you mean?”

“We need to escape as far as possible, even further…”

“Damn it! Grab the captain!”

“Reset the destination to a safe zone immediately!”

The crew members hurriedly tried to dissuade Eusung.

Faster-than-light travel without properly setting a destination is extremely dangerous. As a captain, she knows this fact.

But right now, she had no capacity to recall that.

Just before the video was cut off, the last thing she saw was a mouth.

A maw protruding from the planet’s surface was about to swallow the approaching prey.

“Destination setting error! Initiating emergency stop!”

“F-fuck! Everyone brace for impact! Brace for impact!”

“Emergency. Notifying everyone on board. Emergency. Emergency.”

The shouting voices of crew members echoing everywhere. The red light of emergency lamps filling the bridge. It was complete chaos, but Eusung, who had fallen into panic, couldn’t perceive it.

“Must escape. Must escape. Must escape…”

“Space fortress confirmed ahead! 5 seconds until collision!”

“C-Captain! Watch out…!”

“Aaaaargh!”

Fortunately, the fear didn’t last long.

The sound of tearing metal was her last memory.