Chapter 291:

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There is something that has not changed, even in an era when humans freely roam between the stars.

A time when humans can manipulate genes as they wish, alter planetary environments, and move massive metal structures across entire star systems.

Now, humans can recreate miracles once thought to be divine with their bare hands.

Yet, if there is something that remains unchanged, something that cannot be altered, it is the "limitations inherent in human beings."

Death. The end. Problems that even though humans can handle divine miracles, they are not divine themselves and thus cannot solve. Fear of these issues manifests in many forms.

Myths about the infinite evil lurking deep within the universe.

Stories of landing on an uninhabited planet, only to find that the crew size has mysteriously increased.

Rumors of a ship setting off with a full crew, only to arrive with no one on board.

Ironically, even in the age of space travel, such ghost stories still persist. They have simply evolved to remind humanity of its limits and stir up primal fears.

Yamada, the leader of the rescue fleet team aboard the Megacorp space fortress in the OS-255 star system, had heard many of these ghost stories in the past.

Once, as a simple crew member, he had heard every ghost story possible. After all, that was the sort of thing sailors, navigating the vast sea of stars, often talked about over drinks.

But never had he heard a story as terrifying as the one he was about to hear now.

“Are you saying we’ve lost contact with the Gigacracker?”

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Yamada was jolted awake by a message from his subordinate, and he felt the chilling sensation of his spine going cold.

「Yes. It’s the scheduled communication time, but we’ve received no contact.」

“Could it be that it's completely vanished?”

「No, the Gigacracker's energy signature is still intact.」

The rescue fleet is equipped with devices that can track the unique energy traces of the Gigacracker. As long as the ship hasn’t been destroyed outright or it’s not too long since the trace was made, they can follow it.

“...That’s a relief. Wake everyone up and prepare the ship for immediate departure.”

「Understood!」

Ending the communication with his subordinate, Yamada sent out an urgent message to the entire fleet.

“Attention all rescue fleet units. Communication with Gigacracker 14 is lost! Communication with Gigacracker 14 is lost!”

Five minutes later.

The rescue fleet had assembled outside the fortress in the vastness of space.

If it had been an ordinary ship facing a problem, they wouldn't have mobilized this quickly. But this was an unprecedented situation: the loss of contact with the Gigacracker, and that made all the difference.

“Is the Gigacracker’s energy signature still there? Is it unchanged?”

“Yes, the energy signature is still present at the same location.”

“...This could be the work of Star Union agents.”

Naturally, it would be a far greater problem if the Gigacracker was not destroyed but stolen by another faction. The danger to Megacorp's planets was a secondary issue; the primary threat was reverse engineering.

The design and key technology behind the Gigacracker were known only to Saint K. If that knowledge were to leak, Saint K. would suffer a catastrophic blow.

It was obvious where the anger of Noble Capital, having sustained such a huge loss, would be directed. Those working in the rescue fleet would likely face severe punishment, to the point that even being employed by the company would feel like a luxury.

“The entire fleet is ready for hyper-velocity travel.”

With Yamada's command, the entire fleet began to shine in a deep blue light. Just like a star shining in the vast dark of space, the light that had illuminated the black expanse of space vanished in an instant.

A few minutes later, they arrived in a completely different star system, far away. Thanks to their hyper-velocity engines, a journey that would normally take months was completed in a matter of minutes.

“Destination reached.”

“No ships left behind.”

There were no dazzling fireworks of a grand fleet battle. It was more like waves sweeping over a sandcastle. Battleships, destroyers, and frigates—hundreds of ships—were struck by the beam and vanished without a trace.

‘In the game, I would have been the one doing that.’

Even if a being evolves to its peak, the means to defend against a superweapon are extremely limited. Only with the most powerful of abilities—like those of an Apex-tier entity—could they potentially counteract it.

‘Now that I think about it, it was the same when I fought the Imperial dreadnought.’

Even when blocking the cosmic bolts of the Imperial flagship, I had to unleash everything—the perfected form, the King of Beasts, the God’s Whip, and even the three-headed psychic breath—just to barely win.

In truth, such a situation was rare in the game. Most of the time, the superweapon would activate and end the battle before it ever got to that point. What happens if you fail? You end up like those ships.

‘Is this the end?’

The Gigacracker’s hull, which had unfolded like a blooming lotus, was now folding back in. Normally, it maintained its spherical shape, but when it fired the ion cannon, the external hull around the weapon would unfurl like flower petals.

‘That’s why it was nicknamed “Tangerine.”’

With the ion cannon in dormancy, the Gigacracker was returning to its original form.

I was watching it all unfold in space, wrapped in the “Dark Veil” from beginning to end.

‘Now it’s my turn.’

The survivors were limited to the fast-moving frigates and a few battleships that had evaded the attack with quick thinking and maneuvers.

If they make it back safely, it would be troublesome.

With the veil still active, I moved toward them. As soon as the surviving ships saw me approach, they scattered.

Thanks to the dark veil, my body was cloaked in a material that disrupted the enemy's detection systems. From their perspective, I must have appeared as a massive energy anomaly.

Perhaps it was the ion cannon's continued firing, or the new attack, but the enemy seemed to be in complete disarray.

I dove into their ranks, swinging my right tail toward a nearby frigate. The once larger frigate was now dwarfed by me, and my scorpion-like tail cleaved it in two.

As I swung my tail, the rest of my body didn’t remain idle. From the pipes along my body, instead of the dark veil, “Gremlin Moss”—enhanced with the trait of the “Great Infector”—was released in a smog-like cloud.

The gremlin moss cloud, which disabled machinery, stuck to the remnants of the rescue fleet. Ships caught in the mist flickered with brief flashes before coming to a complete stop.

The incapacitated prey was handled by the two heads on either side of me. The right head blasted a large hole into a ship with an enhanced acidic breath, while the left head simply bit another ship and tossed it toward another enemy.

My battle arms transformed into scythe-like blades or large, clawed hands, depending on what was needed, and struck at the nearby ships. Thanks to the “Variable Bioweapon” trait, my arms kept changing shape, tormenting the enemy.

As the number of surviving frigates rapidly dwindled, the remaining battleships seemed to recognize what was attacking them. The surviving ships retreated, and their main guns powered up, opening fire on me.

The plasma energy from their cannons struck my body, but it didn’t cause significant damage. It wasn’t entirely painless, but compared to what I had endured before, it was practically nothing.

‘So you want a gunfight?’

It seemed like that’s what they wanted, so I decided to give them what they were asking for.

The heads, which had been moving on their own, now halted and followed my will, shifting toward the front.

From my entire body, the enormous energy pumping through me—like a dragon's heart—surged upward in a fountain of power. Where previously, psychic power had concentrated in just one head, it now flowed into three directions, splitting evenly. The tentacles, now charged with that immense energy, writhed in unison.

And when the accumulated energy reached its peak, my tentacles erupted in flames.

The breath of the dragon, now far surpassing its original form, washed over the ships. Even though my power still didn’t match that of a superweapon, enduring the psychic breath was a different matter. The heavily armored battleships melted through their hulls, and the smaller frigates vanished without a trace.

When the firestorm ended, no movements remained.

What was left in the void of space were simply the wrecks of the fleet.

‘Should I finish cleaning up and head back?’

I unleashed one final burst of purple flame. The psychic breath engulfed the scrap ships, reducing them to cinders.

After erasing all traces of the rescue fleet’s presence, I turned away.

The little ones are waiting for me at the new home.