Ch.475Turning Point (2)

A cavity filled with living, pulsating mucous membrane.

In that place, where only Outspacers—and among them, only the chosen ones—could enter, a massive Outspacer lay.

The creature possessed no means of self-protection like thick carapaces or sharp hook claws. Apart from its monstrous size, it had no particularly dangerous features.

But one should never judge by appearances alone. For this being was one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe.

The great mother who gave birth to all Outspacer kings and queens. The higher entities call this being the Empress.

The ultimate Outspacer lay in her palace, receiving reports from her minions.

“So that’s what happened.”

The biological wave emitted by the Empress shook the mucous-lined cavity.

Several hours ago, the connection with 2,000 queens was suddenly severed. The lost entities were all commanders of the legion sent to capture the AMorph in Megacorp territory.

A legion numbering hundreds of millions had been annihilated by the AMorph. And in an instant, no less.

Only a handful survived. Toderus, who commanded in the Empress’s stead, and a few queens with thick armor from the Queen’s Guard.

No matter how extraordinary the AMorph might be, it should be impossible to annihilate so many Outspacers in mere seconds.

She had just listened to Toderus’s explanation to understand exactly what had happened.

‘…Making all that garbage jump simultaneously and collide.’

He deliberately caused an accident that occurs with low probability during faster-than-light jumps. Countless pieces of debris flew into each other at superluminal speeds, generating enormous energy. The resulting shockwave wiped out the legion.

The Screamer possessing Prometheus’s power was also destroyed, but that was little consolation. They had lost their most important target—the AMorph.

“Did you find Krieger’s corpse?”

To the Empress’s question, Toderus answered that the search was still ongoing.

Krieger, who was sent along with Toderus, lost connection after being caught in the shockwave. Like the other entities, he was likely dead. His corpse would be floating somewhere in space.

“His essence must be recovered. Without fail.”

Krieger possessed the most excellent tracking abilities among all her creations. His essence was necessary to mass-produce entities for pursuing the AMorph.

‘Damn it!’

That infamous morph-lover had caused immeasurable damage.

Ninety percent of the legion mobilized for the Megacorp invasion had evaporated, and she had lost three of the four queens she had painstakingly created. Hungersnot was taken by Megacorp, and Krieger was missing in Megacorp territory.

No, she could accept that much. Lost legions and genetic essences could be restored.

What pained her most was something else.

‘…Joy.’

Joy Spencer, her lover who had promised to be with her when they returned to reality. She was dead. Violated and devoured alive by the vicious AMorph.

The Joy she remembered was a tender-hearted, pure woman. She didn’t belong in the harsh world of Space Survival.

She had taken every precaution to keep her from danger, but never imagined she would leave so emptily.

‘Bumho, you bastard, not even a reply!’

When Joy discovered something suspicious, when she was about to move to fight the AMorph, the Empress contacted Bumho. She asked him to help Joy.

But Bumho never responded to that request.

‘Think I’ll forgive you? Never.’

The AMorph and Bumho. Both were essentially accomplices in Joy’s death. Enemies who took away what was most precious to her.

They would pay for it with their lives.

Having made her decision, the Empress emitted a new wave.

“All queens except those tracking Krieger shall return. I will create new queens.”

The queens failed their mission in trying to help Joy. Joy was made stronger than any Outspacer but was defeated.

If there’s a reason for failure, analyze it. Then improve the swarm by addressing the problems.

That is the Outspacer way—the Empress’s way.

‘I should move the nest too.’

Now that Joy was dead and Bumho had betrayed her, there was no reason to remain with the Returnists. She needed to relocate to a place unknown to the Returnist members.

Just as she was about to add another command, a wave from another Outspacer arrived.

The message was short and concise. A large fleet was heading this way.

‘No way?!’

Only one person besides herself knew the location of the Empress’s nest. Bumho, the leader of the Returnists. He must have leaked the information to the Dominists to get ahead.

“Everyone, stop the invaders!”

Currently, most of the Empress’s legion was out attacking Megacorp and the Cult Empire. Only the Queen’s Guard and a small force remained to protect the Empress.

That wouldn’t be enough to face the Dominist army that had come with clear intent.

After ordering the nest’s defenders to protect it, she hurriedly prepared to escape.

Just after the bio-portal activated, the entire planet containing the nest shook violently.

–

“How did it go? The Empress?”

“She escaped.”

“What?”

In a room with a clean atmosphere.

Cloe Garmelda frowned at the words flowing from the diamond-shaped Monolith.

“You even took the upgraded Prometheus. And you still let her escape?”

“Hmph. Prometheus can’t block bio-portals. Neither can the lightweight V2.”

“…She’s still using those inconvenient bio-portals? I thought she’d replaced all her warp methods, like that transport-specialized queen from before.”

“She seems to have kept it as insurance for situations like this.”

“Tsk. That personality of hers.”

Cloe clicked her tongue softly at the words of Jubaka, the Grand Marshal of Star Union.

This operation was executed based on information accidentally obtained by House Garmelda’s spies. Information about Outspacers nesting in a useless place untouched by the great powers.

The planet’s name was OW-33. A barren place where traces of life were hard to find. The worst environment for Outspacers, whose strength comes from their numbers.

That must be why No. 4 chose it as a nest. No one would think Outspacers would be in OW-33. Indeed, until they received the intelligence, no one suspected No. 4 was hiding in such a place.

Anyway, upon discovering the enemy’s hideout, the two quickly assembled forces and raided OW-33. And as you can see, the result ended in failure.

“Hmm. If I’d known this would happen, I should have prepared more thoroughly before moving.”

“No. 4 would have quickly noticed our movements.”

“I suppose so.”

“Anyway, this will keep her quiet for a while. We mustn’t miss this opportunity.”

Jubaka spoke softly. Cloe also knew well what opportunity he was referring to.

The opportunity to focus on their secret project, “Jacobus’s Dream,” which they were advancing without Akira’s knowledge.

“The Machine Council says that to accelerate research, exchanges between researchers must be more intimate.”

“Well, that makes sense. It’s not easy even with experts from various fields working together.”

“So come here now.”

“What?”

“Since losing Pyrrha Eleven, the pace of genetic design research has dropped significantly. We need you to bring that speed back up.”

Cloe knew about Pyrrha Eleven. A high councilor with flexible thinking unusual for an android, whom even Jubaka had been watching closely. If she hadn’t been killed by the AMorph, she would have been a great help to the project.

“Weren’t you planning to come over once the project was completed anyway?”

“That’s true, but…”

Jubaka was right.

Once the project ended, she would leave Megacorp. They would have such overwhelming power in their hands that they wouldn’t need to worry about House Garmelda anymore.

‘But until then, it’s better to stay here.’

House Garmelda possessed many connections and power. These resources were necessary for the smooth progress of the project.

“It’s difficult right now. There’s a lot I can get from Megacorp.”

“If there’s anything you want, just say so. I’ll support you as much as possible.”

“Can you provide things like deer antlers or yak horn cults if I ask? I know the Grand Marshal can get anything, but honestly, it takes time.”

“Hmm. Indeed.”

“Me going there to speed things up…”

In the middle of their conversation, a light suddenly flashed on the hovering chair. A message sent by her aide appeared on the terminal screen attached to the chair.

‘I told them not to contact me, what is this?’

“Hmm? Emergency communication?”

“Huh?”

It seemed that not only she but also Jubaka had received a message from his subordinate. His voice from the Monolith suddenly faded.

‘Both of us received emergency communications?’

As she was about to check what was happening, Jubaka’s urgent voice flowed from the Monolith.

“Cloe! Check the news right now!”

“News?”

Cloe checked the message from her aide. It contained a warning about a major incident along with a video link titled “Breaking News.”

Cloe operated the terminal on her chair to display the link as a hologram.

“…For the past four months, I’ve lived in complete darkness. My free will was trampled, and my memories of several months disappeared.”

“Chairman?”

The person in the video was Akira Yujin, CEO of Megacorp.

Unlike his usual appearances in the media, he looked very haggard. He wore a white patient’s gown and held a respirator in his hand.

“The Cult not only brainwashed me but also carried out an abduction. If there hadn’t been an explosion in the junkyard by chance, if that hadn’t caused problems with the abduction ship, *cough*, I would never have escaped.”

“Cult? Abduction? Is this a joke?”

“No. The same broadcast is airing on all Megacorp channels.”

Below the video, captions like “Megacorp CEO found near junkyard star system,” “Imperial Council behind the abduction?” and “Cult-related stocks plummeting” were continuously displayed.

Cloe operated the terminal to check other channels, but they were all the same.

‘The Cult abducted the Chairman? What kind of nonsensical bullshit is this?’

While the two rankers were bewildered, Akira’s mouth didn’t stop.

“This abduction is a serious act of terrorism that shakes the order of the universe. I, Akira Yujin, will never tolerate such injustice. Therefore, I request the Cult Empire’s full cooperation in investigating these terrorists. If they refuse, military action may… *cough*! *cough*!”

“We apologize for the poor broadcast condition. Our Daily Mass has contacted House Yugin to understand the circumstances of the abduction…”

“…”

When Akira’s video ended, Cloe turned off the hologram.

“…We’ll have to discuss the project later.”

“That would be best.”

As soon as the communication ended, Cloe summoned her aide and researchers.

Although the situation was flowing in an unexpected direction, one thing was certain.

The stable order of the universe would be greatly shaken.

The announcement they had just witnessed was the turning point.

–

I had a long dream.

In it, I traveled through space, not Earth. I visited numerous planets and met various creatures.

Most were my enemies, but some became friends. I had adventures with them and overcame crises together.

We had a bond. Though we were different species, we lived like family, beyond friendship.

“■■■■?”

In reality, I had never formed such relationships. I had no friends, of course, and my family relationships weren’t good either.

Is that why? In the dream, I was happy.

If only I could be like that in reality…

“■■■!”

‘Who?’

Someone is calling me. I sense familiar affection and unfamiliar urgency.

It’s definitely someone I know, but I can’t remember. Everything is blurry, like when you try to recall a dream after waking up.

I want to ask who it is, but my mouth won’t open. I couldn’t move at all, as if paralyzed by sleep paralysis.

“Oh? The, the patient has woken up!”

Then I heard a high-pitched voice that pierced my ears. At the same time, bodily sensations rushed in all at once, as if I had just awakened.

I hear regular beeping sounds from the head of the bed. And the faint smell of disinfectant tickles my nose.

The voice is unfamiliar, but everything else is familiar. I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was a familiar white curtain.

Where I’m lying is a hospital bed.

‘Why am I here?’

Just a moment ago, I was in a completely different place. Not a hospital that saves lives, but the opposite.

‘…I can’t remember.’

As I was trying to recall my memories, someone abruptly pulled back the curtain. Then they hugged me tightly as I lay in bed.

“■■! Are you okay?”

“Ah, aah.”

“God, thank you so much! My son, my son Hyunseo has woken up, thank you so much! Thank you…”

The man hugging me weeps. The moment I heard that voice, I realized who it was.

A voice I hadn’t heard for a long time, but one I could never forget.

“F-Father…”

It was my father’s voice.

“Hyunseo’s dad! Is it really… Hyunseo!”

Following them, my mother and nurses entered the room. My mother covered her mouth with her hand, her face shocked.

Seeing their faces, my head cleared as if clouds were parting. The thoughts and worries that had been bothering me dispersed like smoke.

And I realized it. I had finally awakened from a long dream.

“■■■…”

“Just a moment! The patient still needs to rest! Could the guardians please wait outside for a…”

The hospital room quickly became noisy.

So I soon forgot the voice that had brushed past my ear.