Chapter 62

Chapter 62

From Cosmic Rascal to Professor.

Episode 62: Celestine Incident – Preliminary Skirmish (2).

Family.

What is a family?

Ceti had pondered this question for much of her life.

To find the answer, one must consider everything from their birth.

The reason for Ceti’s birth was not particularly special.

“You are a bridge to unite the Reinhardt and our Adelwein family. Remember this, at least.”

The answer lay in her mother’s words.

Ceti’s mother had ambitions to fulfill—ambitions to overcome the resentment of being born a collateral daughter in her own family by swallowing the Reinhardt family whole.

For that, Ceti had to become the head of the Reinhardt family.

Maybe she started making efforts from that moment.

To please her mother.

To fulfill her mother’s dream.

To be loved by her kin.

She didn’t intend to dismantle the Reinhardt family and side with the Adelwein.

Both were relatives; how could she choose only one side?

She just wanted to be great.

She wanted to be recognized.

She wanted to prove that she wasn’t just a child born from a contractual marriage.

“What kind of family head are you without love? Just a leftover, right?”

That resolve was frequently tested.

Aidel was the son born to the first wife of the Reinhardt family. It is said that she died of postpartum complications when he was born.

Was it because he grew up without a mother? His actions were vile and violent.

He would beat, curse, and steal pocket money from her whenever he got the chance.

She hated him to death. But still, she could endure it. These were all superficial issues to her.

What she couldn’t stand was when her dreams were disregarded.

“Stop the dog-like behavior and live normally. What kind of behavior is that?” she would often hear.

Around the age of ten, Aidel declared that one day, he would become a businessman and ascend to the position of head of the Reinhardt family. Even after several years, Aidel’s attitude remained the same. No, rather, his personality began to fall apart even more.

Tormenting, tormenting, and tormenting her again.

At some point, he no longer thought of her as his sister. And soon, she no longer thought of Aidel as family either.

What about other people?

Father, mother, and other siblings?

“We’re busy, Ceti. If you need anything, talk to this android here.”

Her parents always used work as an excuse not to show their faces to each other. Both being doctors, she thought that was the reason, but it was excessive for her to understand. Sometimes, they wouldn’t come home for over a year.

And that wasn’t all.

Apart from Aidel, her other two siblings also subtly avoided her. Eventually, she realized it was restraining her from growing further. The position of the family head was out of reach for her.

At some point, Ceti began to harbor the sinister thought that she was being ostracized by her own family. The only one who supported her was the android, Bella, that her family gave her. But even Bella, in the end, was just a robot by her side—a mechanical device that moved only as programmed.

In the end, she had no true family. Ceti was an entity that could never, under any circumstances, be loved by her blood relatives.

“Oh, brother. Stop it! It hurts! It really hurts! Uwaaah…”

She spent many days with Aidel, who was born in the same year as her. She remembered Aidel grabbing and pulling her hair, tormenting her until she cried. She wanted to die. She wanted to kill him.

A torrent of negative emotions exploded in her head like fireworks.

No, wait.

This isn’t right.

Recently, she couldn’t remember feeling such negative emotions.

I don’t know.

Ceti’s consciousness blacked out right then.

A massive change in Pron has been detected!

The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is displeased with this.

The unthinkable began to happen.

Far away, where the students were gathered, dark tentacles began radiating outward, resembling the spines of a sea urchin.

No one had a chance to even grasp the situation.

The bodies of the students closest to the epicenter were pierced through in an instant.

“Professor Clark!”

“I know,” he replied.

Professor Naier shouted as she drew her plasma sword.

“All forces, prepare for battle!”

The Fourth Bay quickly turned into a battlefield.

Just moments earlier, they had warned the students that an attack from Outer Gods might occur. But before they could even fully alert them, the disaster had already struck.

It was the worst possible scenario.

However, it wasn’t without hope.

“Everyone to the orbital elevator!” someone commanded.

Under the control of androids, a significant number of students began to evacuate. The relief team kept on standby swiftly extracted the injured. Although uncertain, no deaths had been reported yet. The Federation’s medical technology was so advanced that even brain-dead patients could be revived, making it unlikely for students to die from moderate injuries. That was the prevailing thought.

“Everyone, find and slash the possessed one!” Naier shouted.

She sliced through the tentacles flying in the direction of the retreat while calmly directing the soldiers. Naier was truly a Great Omega class swordsman. Despite the sudden chaos, she handled everything smoothly, showing no signs of panic.

“Young master, please evacuate the place,” Sonia urged, approaching me.

“If not now, you might not get another chance to escape.”

I scanned the area and asked, “Ceti?”

“If you’re looking for Miss Ceti, Bella is probably taking care of her.”

“I’ll stay here until I meet Ceti,” I insisted.

Sonia frowned. “That’s not possible. You must prioritize your survival, young master…”

“Sonia,” I interrupted, raising my hand to stop her. “She’s my family.”

“……”

“As long as we share the surname Reinhardt, we are family.”

“……”

“Does it make sense for siblings connected by blood to abandon each other in times of crisis?”

“Just a year ago, you would have done what I said,” she retorted, even in this dire situation. That was so like Sonia. I smiled faintly and stayed close by Naier’s side, waiting.

After a few minutes, someone came running breathlessly towards me.

“Bella!”

It was Bella, Ceti’s personal android.

She fell to her knees in front of me, bowing her head.

“I have committed a crime worthy of death, young master!”

“What?”

“Miss Ceti! Miss Ceti has…!”

Hearing the story, I staggered for a moment, my mind struggling to process the information. Even after being rewarded with hundreds, thousands of Prons by Cartesia, I had never felt such dizziness.

“Where is she? Where is she now?” I demanded.

“Th-that is…”

“Speak quickly, will you?”

“…Sob, sob! She left the bridge and headed to the captain’s quarters!”

“The captain’s quarters…?” I looked ahead, my vision narrowing on the path before me.

Veteran swordsmen who had come with Instructor Naier were skillfully cutting through the nest of tentacles, clearing the view for us. In the extension of that view, there was a door leading to the captain’s quarters.

I was about to dash forward when Naier grabbed my wrist.

“You fool! Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the captain’s quarters!”

“Do you want to die? Leave it to us and go down to the surface! Hurry!”

I shook my head firmly. “She’s my younger sister.”

I had vowed right after being transported into this world to clean up the mess that Aidel had made, to restore all the ruined relationships to at least an above-average level. And Ceti was one of them. Just when I thought we had finally returned to a normal sibling relationship, she was in danger of dying here? No. I would not let that happen.

I glared at Naier with a determined look, making it clear that I wouldn’t back down. She sighed, then moved her lips.

“Don’t go in without a plan.”

“I have a plan,” I answered.

“It’s a bit extreme, but don’t be shocked.”

The Captain’s Quarters

Beyond the transparent, reinforced glass, the beautiful scenery of the Milky Way was reflected. The girl admired the view as she lowered her hand.

Tack.

The two androids acting as the captain and co-captain collapsed lifelessly. One had its head split open, and the other was cut in half.

“……Huh.”

The girl’s lips twisted grotesquely as she watched this. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed over. Saliva dripped from her mouth. Her limbs wobbled, and around her, sharp, wire-like tentacles wriggled like mirages. Her movements were sluggish as if she was high on drugs.

Possession. The girl with white hair and golden eyes, Ceti von Adelwein Reinhardt, was possessed by an Outer God named Populus.

“Success.”

Populus checked the plan. There were two objectives: the first was to eliminate the human who dreamed of developing a Graviton bullet; the second was to defeat the timid Outer God in this remote galaxy and obtain a new sanctuary. By doing so, Populus would acquire the massive energy emitted by the galaxy.

In fact, the first and second goals were interconnected. The boy and the Outer God were connected. For some reason, this Outer God couldn’t properly control even a single inferior creature it was connected to. For Populus, taking over a human’s mind had been easy. It must mean the Outer God in the human boy was weak.

Populus manipulated Ceti’s body loosely as he thought of his plan. After shaking the boy’s mental state through Ceti, he would seize the boy’s body by exploiting the mental gap that appeared. Then, by going backward along the boy’s cerebral cortex, he would invade the black hole where the Outer God resided. That would be the cleanest way to win.

The movement of the Incarnates would start if that method didn’t work.

“……You’ve arrived.”

Thud!

The door to the captain’s office opened, revealing two figures: a Great Omega-class swordsman and the boy who was the target for elimination. The inspector’s role was particularly challenging. She was backed not just by one or two sponsors, but by several billion. Honestly, it would be one thing if Populus was here with his own body, but it was too much to handle with a possessed body.

The Omega-class swordsman, Naier, asked Aidel, “Is that child your sibling?”

“Yes, she is my sibling.”

Populus, who was remotely controlling Ceti, let out a chuckle. He had combed through the memories of the people on the ship for the past few months, considering who to possess to give the boy the greatest blow. After searching, he found this girl. They seemed to have been close for at least a few months. Of course, memories from before that were filthy like trash, but for humans or Outer Gods, what mattered was the present.

Was it called blood ties? It was an irresistibly delicious prey for him to possess.

Populus decided to start the act he had planned.

Trudge.

“Br…other…” He uttered through her mouth.

“Meee, it’s me, me…” He dragged out his words like someone on their deathbed to give the impact.

Surely, this would disturb the boy’s mind. After all, these were the words from his one and only precious younger sister.

Even knowing she had become a possessed body and could not be returned to her original state, he would try. They would hope that her ego or nature was hidden inside despite the possession, and they might hesitate to attack her, thinking she could still be saved.

Unfortunately, there was no way to save her. The takeover of the body was complete, and the Pron values were barely keeping her alive. She was essentially in a vegetative state, a state of coma.

Populus saw this as an opportunity and immediately deployed his tentacles.

“How futile.”

Buzz!

Naier swung her sword and cut off the tentacles in one slash. She had an indifferent expression on her face like she had faced such monsters many times. Her skills were so amazing that it made sense for her to look expressionless.

“…….”

It was difficult even for Populus himself to withstand the attacks with dozens of constellations backing her. Being in the body he possessed made things a lot more difficult for him to fight and win. To take advantage of the terrain, he chose the narrow location of the captain’s quarters.

The tentacles, which seemed to be made of steel, moved, slid, and bent freely in such a small space and could even aim for the blind spots that the humans couldn’t.

On the other hand, if Naier decided to use any strong technique, then the hull of the room would blow apart, making the battle more unfavorable for the humans. And so, the victory felt sure.

“Huh.”

Populus once again extended his tentacles, examining the face of this lower species called Aidel or something.

Soon, Naier had brushed off the tentacles that attacked for the second time, and in that gap, Aidel had come close, now just a short distance away.

“……Brother?”

Feeling something strange, Populus hurried to create distance, but it was already too late. Above Ceti’s head, calipers were moving.