Ep. 102
–
A day has passed since the Calvin entered the I-97 sector.
During that day, a lot happened to the Rusrak Cartel led by Milo Rusrak.
To be precise, a lot of ‘unfortunate’ things.
“Move quickly! “We need to set up a defense line before he crosses the zone!”
At the rear of the Calvin, the remaining pirates were busy setting up barricades.
This was the last stronghold, as the mysterious monster that attacked the ship had taken control of the entire front area.
‘Nimi-cheek-meba!’
One of his subordinates took a picture of the monster before it was struck.
Milo couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the monster.
The being that roamed the ship and slaughtered the pirates was a monster that looked like a pink balloon.
It was definitely a bubble amoeba, except that it was 5 meters long and had tentacles that were bigger than its body.
‘Does it make sense for bubble amoeba to kill people?’
As far as Milo knows, bubble amoeba is a harmless herbivore that feeds on plankton in the sea.
But it wasn’t him.
The bastard was torn to death with strange force.
Moreover, despite its slow appearance, it moved quite quickly. It used its tentacles to catch all the fleeing pirates and tear their limbs apart, as if making fun of them.
In other times, Milo might have been interested in this strange bubble amoeba.
Bubble amoebas that crush people with tentacles or disintegrate people with psychic powers are not common.
The problem is that half of the pirates on board were harmed by the bubble amoeba.
If this continues, instead of capturing them, they will all be eaten by this bastard.
‘Fuck everything. Even he won’t be able to withstand this.’
In front of Milo, his men were busy setting up a battery that was almost the size of an adult man.
Official name: APDT (Automatic Point Defense Turret).
This is equipment mainly used by Star Union for security and local defense.
Because the way it pours out fire resembles a storm, other races call it a storm gun.
It uses depleted uranium bullets as its basic ammunition and has a maximum ammunition capacity of 1,000 rounds. If the user does not control the device with the terminal, a small AI takes over and automatically fires based on the built-in motion detection sensor.
Depleted uranium coal is cheaper than Megacorp’s tungsten coal, but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap. Because there is a lot of ammo, a huge amount of credit is consumed each time it is used.
Moreover, it is difficult to obtain it if you are not affiliated with Star Union.
‘Because those crazy robot bastards don’t even sell ammunition to other races.’
The Looserock Cartel was also able to use the Storm Gun and a large amount of ammunition stored in it while hijacking the Star Union trade ship.
Of course, since the ammunition was limited, it was only used when catching creatures with very hard armor, such as mountain crawlers.
‘It’s a shame it’s stored in the 2nd Armory.’
The first armory located at the front of the ship was devastated by a monster attack. As a result, all bombs and weapons inside were lost.
If Milo hadn’t created a new second armory out of fear of something like this, they would all have become prey to the monster long ago.
“Captain! Stormgun installation complete!”
“good. “What about Beta Joe?”
“Storm gun installation complete! “I will return to the situation room!”
After activating the storm gun, Milo retreated to the rear area with his men.
While the engineers closed and tinkered with the shielding doors in each area, other subordinates repeated the work they had done so far.
“Captain?”
“Why?”
“The ship AI says it has something to report. “It’s about changes in the surrounding environment.”
“I’m busy, so I’ll check later.”
After terminating the communication from the situation room, Milo moved with his subordinates carrying the storm gun.
‘Fuck, I can’t believe I, the captain, am doing this.’
The mysterious monster ruined the ship, and the storm gun caused me to lose all the credits I had earned.
Moreover, you put yourself through such trouble to lose the captain’s reputation.
Because Milo had such a complicated mind, he quickly forgot about the communication from the situation room.
–
After arranging the bomb without any major problems, I started the erosion right away.
While encroaching, I asked No. 26 and Adhai to defend against pirate attacks.
The first role assigned to No. 26 was to attract the attention of pirates.
If he had become a fairly skilled hunter thanks to being with me for a long time, he would be able to subdue the pirates without difficulty.
Of course, since No. 26 might be in danger, I also sent a group of Tooth Fairies along.
The tooth fairies are mentally connected to me.
If a risk factor occurs that No. 26 is not aware of, I can warn you first.
It was good to help him, but he also seemed to like the idea of moving around with his favorite group of tooth fairies.
And I gave Aadhai the role of protecting me as I proceed with the erosion.
‘Because it’s disadvantageous to fight indoors.’
Aadhai would have an overwhelming advantage if flying freely in outer space, but his body is not very suitable for fighting on board a ship.
It might be a large space like a cargo hold.
He seemed dissatisfied with not being able to go hunting, but after I told him several times to protect him, he seemed to ease his mood.
Even now, it was flying slowly through the cargo hold, watching to see if anyone was coming or not.
‘It’s going smoothly.’
Four hours have passed since the erosion began.
Now, if I just hold on for one more hour, this boat will be mine.
They have already taken control of not only the cargo hold on the first and second floors, but also the entire third floor.
In the case of the 4th floor, the front of the hull was in my hands, and only the center and rear remained.
‘I think they’re going to hold a sit-in protest in the situation room.’
They were closing off the area around the situation room located on the fourth floor at the rear of the ship. Coincidentally, number 26 was also going up the stairs to the fourth floor using several fins.
‘hmm.’
Since all the bombs have been removed and even the armory has been devastated, I don’t think there will be any major threat, but you never know.
‘I just have to deal with the rest myself.’
There is no reason to push it as long as they are passive. After all, when the erosion is complete, they will all die by my hands.
I shot a wave at number 26.
[Zuzu (wait)]
「Big baby, what’s wrong?」
[Zuzu zuzuzu (come back now)]
「Are you okay?」
[Zuzu (yes)]
After returning No. 26 and the group of tooth fairies, I focused on erosion again.
‘It’s been a long time since things went this smoothly.’
When I was in the space city, there was almost no time to rest. Ever since it was discovered that I was leisurely trying to fulfill the evolution requirements in an apartment complex, new enemies have been attacking me.
‘Thanks to you, I have collected a lot of genetic essence.’
Although I’ve gained quite a few useful traits, it doesn’t feel unbalanced.
‘I don’t have much experience fighting against wild animals.’
Currently, my characteristics are focused on combat skills and close combat. It’s not that there are no long-distance attack methods, but they are limited and lack many utility characteristics.
‘After you take the boat, you can go catch wild creatures.’
Based on the smuggling planet information stored in the ship computer.
When I go there, I will have to aim for more diverse types of genetic essence.
While I was organizing my thoughts about what to do next, the message I had been waiting for appeared. As soon as the message
“Erosion is complete.”
appeared, my mind permeated the entire 300m long structure.
Perhaps because the ship was so large, it felt quite different from when I was controlling the escape ship.
To simply define this feeling, it is ‘heaviness.’ It feels as if I have not entered Aimorph’s body but have become one with a large creature like a blue whale.
‘It’s much bigger than a whale, though.’
As I concentrate, I can hear my heart beating in the center.
The nuclear reactor originally developed by Star Union now serves as the heart of the composite organism that has become one with me.
I drew energy from the reactor and channeled it into the guns mounted on the outside of the hull.
Plasma energy is forcibly concentrated on the ship’s gun by my will.
And a powerful cannon with a power exceeding that of the psychic breath I used was fired.
I smiled as I felt the gun barrel heat up with destructive energy.
‘good. Then let’s get started.’
This ship is now mine.
I am not merciful enough to leave unauthorized guests alone.
–
“….”
The inside of the situation room was crowded with more people than usual, but not a single sound of breathing was heard.
The 40 pirates were keeping their guard up to fight against the monster that could attack at any time.
The monster has made no movement so far, as if it was planning to stop the pirates and kill them.
‘Something is wrong.’
Suddenly Milo thought.
I wonder if the sit-in protest in the situation room itself is actually what he was aiming for.
‘no!’
He gritted his teeth to somehow shake off the ominous imagination. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t because all my subordinates were so nervous.
Milo looked at the wall trying to think of something else.
A black wall that seemed to absorb all light like a black hole caught his eye.
‘Was it always like this?’
Unlike Megacorp, Star Union’s ships preferred to be painted black rather than white, so the metal plates on the floor, walls, and ceiling were all black.
However, even taking that fact into account, the color of the interior walls of the situation room felt darker than usual.
‘Why is the color changing all of a sudden…’
The moment he began to wonder, the power to the entire situation room went out.
“Ugh! “It’s no guy!”
“calm down! Emergency lights will come on soon!”
Because the situation room is an important facility, it does not receive power from the nuclear reactor but has a separate spare power supply.
As Milo said, a red emergency light soon came on inside the situation room.
No matter how you looked at the expressions of the pirates under the red light, they looked like half-corpse bodies.
I don’t know about Milo himself, but he also looked very miserable, with his unique fur soaking up a lot of sweat.
Milo called the ship’s AI computer as if he was half angry.
“Calvin! Turn on the situation room computer too!”
“It’s impossible. “Power has been cut from the reactor.”
“You can just synchronize it with the fucking backup power supply!”
“I understand.”
Soon the computers in the situation room turned on, but Milo and the pirates were not at ease at all.
That’s because a thumping sound was heard outside.
They knew what that sound meant.
“Captain Seo!”
“…Nimi.”
It was the sound of a storm gun firing. He’s coming here through the hallway.
“do not worry. A storm gun is a weapon that can destroy even a mountain crawler. There’s no way he can hold out.”
“I guess so?”
The subordinates forced themselves to look hopeful.
But it didn’t take long for the hope to disappear from their faces.
‘The gunshots won’t stop?’
Milo urgently checked the terminal connected wirelessly to the storm gun. On the small screen, the number of ammo was rapidly decreasing.
The storm gun installed in the most remote area ran out of ammunition and reception was cut off. Within seconds, the storm gun in the next area began to run out of ammo.
“Captain Seo!”
“What the fuck is this?!”
At this point, it was difficult for Milo to remain sane.
Before entering the situation room, the pirates installed storm guns in each area and blocked all shielded doors.
No matter how powerful the monster is, it cannot move so quickly and consume all of the storm gun’s depleted uranium bullets.
‘I need to check my anger!’
He called the ship AI Calvin again.
“Calvin! Connect with the district camera!”
「Impossible.」
“Order again! Calvin! Connect the camera and display it on the monitor!”
「Chijijijijik」
Milo ordered again, but there was no reply from Calvin. Instead, the only sound you hear is an annoying noise.
“Calvin! Camera….”
「Cal, Bean, Eun, Chijijijik」
The moment he was about to open his mouth again, the speaker in the situation room was activated again. The voice that came out next was a completely different voice from Calvin, an AI based on a female voice.
“Cal, Vin, is, dead, dead…”
“What?”
「You, bastard, will, will,,,,,,,,, will,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
…
“Aaaah! “Kuhuhuhhh….”
“Ugh! help me!”
“Keuuuuu!”
Screams and death rang out from the situation room, which was immersed in complete darkness.
Energy bullets fired from laser rifles. A loud noise heard as Hulk mutant guards punch. Both light and sound were signs that those in the situation room were alive, but that didn’t last long.
A terrible silence oppressed Milo.
Since Wolff is a species sensitive to smells, Milo had no choice but to know about it even if he didn’t like it.
All of his subordinates died.
In a suffocating atmosphere, he trembled and turned on the terminal.
A small light illuminated “it” in front of him.
Snakes with six starfish-like appendages and mouths were rising from the floor and devouring the corpses.
‘Ha…’
The being on this ship was far beyond his thoughts.
It is something that cannot be understood through reason or common sense.
After putting everything down, Milo turned off the light on the terminal.
–
‘It was a good meal.’
I patted my stomach, feeling pleasantly full.
There’s no way Eimoff would be full if he ate a lot, but somehow it felt like he should be.
‘This plan was smooth from beginning to end.’
After clearing out all the pirates on the pirate ship Calvin, the time I could maintain the ship greatly increased to 50 days.
‘Eating the Hulk Mutant was effective.’
I was surprised to see that my skin lengthened by 10 days every time I ate one Hulk Mutant. Moreover, by eating both of them, I acquired 3 new characteristics.
「Big baby doesn’t eat any more?」
[Zuzu (full)]
「Acknowledged」「Food」「Very much」
It was enough to sustain for 50 days, so the remaining food was handed over to No. 26 and Aadhai. Thanks to this, they were able to enjoy a full stomach-filled dinner for the first time in a long time.
‘Then, let’s check the ship’s computer.’
I browsed the database stored on the ship. An enormous amount of information flowed into my head on the tips of eroding tentacles.
The first one that was relayed to me was about a cosmic phenomenon that occurred around here before I eroded the ship.
‘Are there any rocky areas nearby?’
I focused my senses on the outer wall of the hull, but I couldn’t feel anything.
‘It’s not a big deal… huh?’
I tried to ignore it, but suddenly I had a bad feeling.
‘for a moment.’
I again read carefully the reports of cosmic phenomena stored in the AI database.
To summarize, the report said that a group of meteorites gathered together by a special magnetic field were moving in an abnormal orbit.
And this group of meteorites was scheduled to enter this area within two hours.
‘no way?’
I know very well what this means.
I urgently focused all my senses on the outside of the ship. My consciousness did not stay only on the ship, but spread to the surrounding area.
The time reported by the ship AI was 2 hours ago.
Highly developed senses caught something in outer space where nothing could be seen or felt.
It seemed starry at first.
No, it wasn’t a star, it was a white cloud.
The white clouds are getting closer at a very fast speed.
‘This is crazy!’
The identity of those clouds is a group of metallic gremlins.
The ship’s nemesis, the space predator, is now targeting us.