Chapter 254:

Chapter 254:

Several superluminal jumps had taken place, yet no pursuers followed. All that could be seen was a black velvet sky adorned with multicolored stars.

I returned to the ship through the open hangar bay.

Inside the hangar, Griffion Wolf, Mother of the Sky, was inspecting the aircraft. She was examining the storm gun mounted under the wing when she noticed me entering and spoke up.

「Any signs of pursuit?」

[ZZ (None)]

「That 'wavelength' from before—could that be why they couldn't follow us?」

[ZZ (Who knows?)]

Thanks to the sudden anomaly, we managed to escape from the Star Union.

An intangible wavelength had swept in from somewhere, decimating the enemy fleet. Since I was facing the enemy directly, I understood what had occurred right away.

‘The Captains—all dead.’

Ships that halted mid-movement or repeated the same actions could mean only one thing: the cyborg captains who controlled them were dead.

After the wavelength swept through the area, the ships never returned to normal. In the Star Union, if a cyborg capable of connecting to the ship’s computer with a cable, like PS-111, was on board, they could temporarily take over command.

In other words, the fact that the ships didn’t recover despite the flames I breathed suggested that all the cyborgs aboard were dead.

「There wasn't any event like this in the game, right?」

[ZZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (I've never heard of a wavelength that kills only cyborgs)]

「...Whatever caused it, we were lucky.」

She was right.

What if that wavelength hadn’t targeted just the cyborgs but all living beings? Or if it had occurred after we’d lost to the Star Union?

If that were the case, not everyone would have made it out unharmed like we did.

‘But it wasn't entirely luck.’

The anomaly that had occurred at the right moment wasn’t beneficial solely to us.

There was the fleet led by the remnant forces of Si-Hyun Yujin. They, too, had been engaged in battle with the Star Union fleet.

‘The Nianmen Beast mentioned it before.’

The remnant forces of Si-Hyun Yujin had visited a frozen planet in search of a relic. Perhaps the wavelength that wiped out the cyborgs was related to the relic they found.

‘It’s uncertain, but...’

There’s little chance we’ll encounter them in the near future. Our ship is headed to a place beyond the control of the megacorps, the Star Union, or the Cult Empire.

‘It’s also a place where information is easy to obtain. Maybe I’ll look into it.’

「Anyway, now that you're back, I should take a break.」

[ZZZZ (You’ve worked hard)]

「Hardly.」

Mother of the Sky and I left the hangar together. She seemed to be heading somewhere else to rest, not back to the storage area, and was about to head in the opposite direction.

[ZZZ ZZZ (Wait a moment)]

「Hm?」

I called out to her and headed into the storage area.

Inside, Number 26, having enlarged its body, was resting in front of the wall. It had fully extended its usually hidden fin-legs and was wrapping them around something.

‘What’s it doing?’

Between the fins, I could see Gallagon eggs. Much like a hen brooding her eggs, Number 26 was using its body and fins to protectively cover them.

The green Gallagons were fine, but the blue Gallagons and the eggs required psychic power for survival. That’s why Number 26, capable of generating psychic power on its own, was ensuring the eggs wouldn’t perish.

‘That’s another issue to address.’

I carefully entered the storage area, taking care not to wake it. A few green Gallagons were also lying between the frozen containers, sleeping.

Amidst them was the backpack filled with the items and equipment I’d taken from the Dragon’s nest.

I extended my long, spider-like combat arm and picked up one of the mineral fragments.

When I emerged from the storage area, she, who had been yawning, promptly closed her mouth. I held the mineral out to her.

[ZZ (Take it)]

「What’s this?」

[ZZZZ ZZZZZ (It's for your deification)]

She widened her eyes upon seeing the raw mineral in my hand.

The black mineral, speckled with white grains, was known as a "Star Pearl", It was used to craft the tools necessary for enhancing Wolf’s deification.

‘It’s not something we can process right now, though.’

Star Pearls are extremely hard, making them impossible to process with ordinary equipment. But that didn't matter. The place we're headed would have the machinery and technicians needed to refine them.

As she took the beautiful mineral that resembled a pearl plucked from the stars, she gazed at it with a subtle expression.

「Oh, I had already taken one of these before.」

[ZZZZ (You took one?)]

「Yes, when Ham Ort and I returned to the nest. I mentioned that we would be looking around with PS-111. I picked it up then. I stowed it in the backpack, but I guess you didn't see it.」

Now that I thought about it, it had been quite a while since I'd carried the backpack myself. The last time I rummaged through it was when I was preparing to consume the Blood River.

Since then, Adhai and Mother of the Sky had been taking care of the backpack.

[ZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ (Keep it, just in case)]

「Sure. It can’t hurt to have one more.」

Having nothing more to say, I started heading back into the storage area, but she called out to me. She scratched her beak with her talon and spoke.

「Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.」

She left behind a wave of gratitude before walking away.

‘Star Pearls have other uses aside from deification.’

The mineral is also used in crafting the Cult’s and Wolf’s high-end equipment. As long as it can be processed, it would be more than beneficial for her.

-

In a lavish office, Akira Yujin glared icily at the mahogany table in front of him. There lay a diamond-shaped stone etched with strange symbols.

“.......”

He had immediately destroyed the stone he'd loaned to Odd Grad, but that didn’t make things any better.

The conversation hadn’t been long, but if that damned Amorph was involved, it would have extracted a wealth of information even from that brief exchange. It always did so in the game.

Knowing this, Akira's insides burned like a raging volcano.

‘くそ!(Damn!) くそ!(Damn!) くそ!(Damn!)’

And then there was the Amorph’s parting taunt. It had dared to declare that it would kill him.

Akira Yujin, the CEO of one of the most powerful factions in the universe, The Megacorp, and the ruler of Earth. If anyone else had said such a thing, he would have torn them limb from limb with a smile.

Even Joubacca, the Star Union’s ranker, and Chloe Garmelda, the Megacorp ranker, would never dare speak to him that way. They knew he’d hunt them down and rip their mouths apart if they did.

But at this moment, he could do nothing to the Amorph. He wanted to hurl curses, but he couldn’t—there was a chance that doing so might divulge more information to it.

As this realization sank in, Akira reached his breaking point.

“Grrraaaaah!”

His scream, half a wail and half a roar, filled the room as his arm twisted and mutated grotesquely. The monstrous limb lashed out, splintering the mahogany table into four pieces. Several other luxury items met the same fate under his frenzied assault.

“Odd Grad! Jaaaasoooon! You idiots! How dare you! Do you even know who I am! Aaaaargh!”

Inside the soundproofed office, Akira’s frenzied rampage continued for some time.

—

「Have you received the ‘cargo’ I sent, Chloe?」

“Yes, of course. Thanks to Cynthia, I think the research is going to make significant progress.”

「Please don’t forget to ensure my safety.」

“Don’t worry. That place is out of the old man's reach.”

「I suppose, seeing it for myself, I can believe that.」

“I’ve already smoothed things over on that side, so there shouldn’t be any issues. Let’s talk again soon.”

「Understood, Chloe.」

As the light on the diamond-shaped stone connected to the communicator dimmed, Chloe Garmelda, who had just ended her call with Cynthia, floated out of the room in her levitating chair.

“Cynthia’s hidden safely, and that old bastard’s got a taste of real trouble. I’ve lost contact with Joubacca, but he’s always busy, so I’m sure he’ll manage.”

Chloe felt satisfied for the first time in a while, as things were finally going smoothly.

Previously, Akira Yujin, Cynthia, Joubacca, and Chloe herself had planned a hunt for the Amorph. Cynthia provided the location to the Cult ranker Jason, while Akira Yujin sent the Black Gallagon to kill the target.

After the meeting ended, Chloe had a private conversation with Cynthia. She’d made one specific request.

In the unlikely event that Jason succeeded or failed in the Amorph hunt, she wanted to be the first to know.

Currently, Chloe was independently conducting research into genetically synthesized organisms, or "Hulk Mutants", alongside Joubacca from the Star Union. And what she needed most for that were the genes of rankers.

If the Amorph were killed, Akira Yujin would undoubtedly demand the corpse. Unlike the surprisingly unsophisticated Jason, who’d be satisfied with obtaining a special trait, he would easily hand the body over to Akira.

That couldn’t be allowed. So Chloe had asked Cynthia, who was in personal contact with Jason, for a favor.

The outcome of the battle was Jason’s defeat. He returned to Cynthia with only his decapitated body.

Immediately, Cynthia informed Chloe of Jason’s death, and it was then that Chloe made a deal with her.

She assured Cynthia that she would guarantee her safety, as long as she didn’t inform Akira that Jason was dead.

If Akira Yujin learned of Jason's defeat, he would undoubtedly concoct another scheme to capture the Amorph. Not only that, but he would also try to claim Jason's corpse.

So, she delayed informing him about Jason's death by just a little.

‘I didn’t expect things to work out so perfectly.’

Under normal circumstances, Akira Yujin would have caught on. With the Black Gallagon stationed on the same planet, he could’ve easily verified Jason's defeat.

But this time, fate was on her side.

Akira Yujin had been preoccupied with negotiations to end the civil war and was too busy to grasp the full situation.

Thanks to that, Chloe accomplished her goal without much difficulty.

‘Jason left so much behind, even in death. His body and all those samples.’

Her levitating chair halted in front of the laboratory door. From the terminal beside the door, a faint light scanned her entire body.

「Welcome, Chloe Garmelda.」

The familiar voice greeted her as the heavy metal door opened.

A pristine, monochromatic space lay beyond, as if the entire room had been bleached. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all a stark white.

The only splashes of color came from the researchers bustling about and the dozens of incubation chambers.

One of the researchers, noticing Chloe, bowed to her.

“Madam, the progress on the clone cultivation has reached 23%. It’s far more stable compared to the previous specimen.”

“That’s good news. Once it reaches over 50%, initiate the gene fusion.”

“Understood. But Madam, Chief Researcher Li Zhao has been wondering where you managed to obtain such materials.”

As the researcher moved closer to her chair, Chloe placed a finger over her lips, gesturing that it was a secret.

“Tell him it's classified family information.”

“Haha, of course. Ah, since we have a new specimen, perhaps you'd like to name it again?”

At this, Chloe tapped the armrest of her chair with her finger. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke.

“Let’s go with JS this time.”

“JS? Last time it was PS—does it have any special meaning?”

Instead of answering, Chloe responded with a faint smile. Seeing that she wasn’t going to explain, the researcher shrugged and refrained from asking further.

‘I wonder just how useful Jason will prove to be.’

With that thought, she gazed at the Cult clone within the incubation chamber.

Her eyes, beautiful as a young girl’s, shimmered with a tranquil madness.