Ep. 245
PS-111 bought us valuable time. From here it is my turn.
You must physically disable the FTL engine or find Pyrrha Eleven, who controls the ship.
‘The total length of the Sachs Alpha-class battleship is about 1km.’
Fira Eleven removed part of the front part and made a bio-drone and hose, so the size was reduced, but it still reaches between 700 and 800 meters.
Going around looking for two targets one by one is not only inefficient, but it is also highly likely that it will not prevent the ship from jumping to faster than light speeds.
‘It would be better to leave the engine to PS-111.’
Control has been taken away, but he will find another way.
As if reading my thoughts, a broadcast came out of the speakers.
「Main Controller Amorph. I will take care of the engine. Please find Pira Eleven.”
“Pira Eleven.” Attempt to hijack ship control detected. “Confirmation of physical contact at the reactor.”
As soon as he and Pyrrha Eleven’s voices were heard, the ship tilted sharply. From the looks of it, it seemed like they couldn’t stop the faster-than-light navigation themselves, but they touched on other functions to prevent them from running away.
“You will regret it 111 times.”
“That is none of your concern. “Pira Eleven.”
I raced down the metal hallway while listening to the two arguing.
If it were a regular battleship, it would have been difficult to move around with my body measuring nearly 40 meters, but that wasn’t the case with this ship. Because it was an unmanned ship, there was no need to provide facilities for the cyborg crew.
‘It certainly seems like they were only pursuing efficiency.’
The floorboard of the hallway I was running on was a grating type floor, similar to that used in ship cargo holds. This is the floor made of grid-like bars that I saw when I first opened my eyes in this world.
As I crawled through the hallway, which completely excluded aesthetic elements, I could no longer hear voices from the speakers. Both are probably fighting fiercely in an invisible realm.
I turned off the speaker and set out to find Pyrrha Eleven. As I was moving toward where it could be, Number 26, which was overhead, tapped me.
「Big baby.」
[Zuzuzu (What’s wrong?)]
「I feel a strange feeling over there.」
He pointed with one of his pink tentacles to the passage I had passed by earlier.
Just as I was about to pass on the thought that it had sensed the scent of food just like me, something suddenly occurred to me.
‘Now that I think about it, there was something like this before issue 26?’
Apparently, he said something similar when he entered the canyon to find Para Eleven. Immediately after he said he felt a strange feeling around him, very large hoses appeared from the floor.
It’s unclear how he senses Pyrrha Eleven’s location, but this is the second time he’s reacted like this. It was hard to just get over it.
‘how will we do it.’
There is not enough time to worry.
[Zuzuzuz (Please guide me)]
「Yes! “Trust me!”
I turned back and crawled in the direction indicated by No. 26.
If the corridors I have traveled so far are a kind of arteries, the path that No. 26 took us is a capillary-like passage. This means that the hallway is narrow.
I was crawling quickly, using my fighting arms and blunt claws all over my body, when my assistive organs sensed something.
‘smell?’
A foreign smell was mixed with the metallic smell coming from the grating in the hallway.
A contradictory smell that is both unfamiliar and familiar. This time, Eimoff’s body remembered faster than I thought.
‘The smell of rotting meat and foul chemicals.’
Monument’s genetic archive, a corpse storage facility located on Megacorp’s research ship. It’s similar to the smell that came from there.
The smells grew stronger each time I passed through the doors in the narrow hallway.
‘I said there was a screamer production facility.’
This is probably the area where the storage is located. Beyond the steel doors located throughout the hallway, the genetic samples he brought with him and the corpses he hunted on this planet will be stored there.
‘I must seize this ship at all costs.’
Just by smelling it, I could tell that quite a bit of genetic essence was stored there. If you feast on the things on the ship, you can say you’ve gotten most of what you can get on this planet.
‘For now, let’s focus on Pyrrha Eleven.’
I resumed my search, imagining that I would later go in and dump genetic samples into my mouth.
After passing the area where the storage was located, we came to a hangar. As soon as I entered the hangar, the temperature dropped significantly. From the open door of the hangar, we could see the planet we had left in great shape.
Perhaps because there were no engineers on board, there were more machines in the hangar to manage aircraft than aircraft.
The management machines were maintaining the aircraft as if they had no idea what kind of crisis their ship was currently in. It looked more like a manufacturing factory than an aircraft storage facility.
Upon arriving at the hangar, No. 26 retrieved the tentacle.
“I get a strange feeling from here.”
[Zuzuz, zuzuzu, zuzuzuzu (I don’t know where it is?)]
“Yeah.”
I don’t think he made a mistake. His way of expressing himself may be childish, but he is actually a very smart guy.
When he felt it, it meant that Pyrrha Eleven was somewhere here.
‘Wait, no way?’
Only then did I realize what Pyrrha Eleven intended.
‘If he thought he was going to lose the engine, he was planning to overload it and get out!’
He took advantage of the fact that PS-111 and I thought that Pyrrha Eleven would escape on the Screamer support ship. If I had run to the engine, I would have blown up the ship right away.
‘coon.’
Of course, he would not have assumed that he would lose this ship. Originally, we tried to organize it in Blood River, but it failed due to the variable of number 26.
However, the one led by the dragon took out insurance against an unexpected situation. It means preparing a ship-based aircraft and then taking off when the situation arises.
‘That’s why I guided you here.’
Just as No. 26 taught us, he is here. He’s probably hiding somewhere in the hangar, piloting the ship.
I glared at the machines that were moving hard.
‘It won’t be on a carrier plane.’
As a member of the Mechanical Committee, he is the most powerful android in Star Union. So, this ship must have been controlled by remote control.
‘But now that we have a variable called PS-111, we won’t make such an unreasonable attempt.’
If you’re not careful, your command will be completely taken away.
Instead of looking at the aircraft, I approached the machines scattered around. And as if my prediction was correct, a plasma heat ray came from inside.
I raised my wing arm to block the heat ray from hitting No. 26.
“Pira Eleven. I don’t understand. How did know?”
An incomplete form of Pyrrha Eleven was seen among the repair machines.
The human-like face and the thin hose pipes hanging behind the head were similar to PS-111, but the other parts were not similar at all. It was difficult to see its body as either a screamer or an android.
The upper body was covered in patches of pink flesh that looked like it had just been cultured, and the lower body looked like it had been forced onto the Screamer’s metal skeleton. The bio-drone I had seen before was attached to my chest.
‘I was wondering how you escaped.’
It seems he escaped by secretly stealing a drone with a memory backup. Looking at that, it is understandable that No. 26 reacted in the same way.
“Wow. “I really hate it.”
This is the first time I’ve seen No. 26 show such disdain. I also have similar thoughts.
Because the enemy in front of me now was so weak and disgusting that he could not be considered a Supreme Council member.
I walked towards the guy. Then the bio-drone attached to its chest fired a plasma heat ray again.
But its attack wasn’t very effective.
An attack launched by a drone the size of your finger would be meaningless if thousands of biological drones fired at the same time.
“Pira Eleven. Commanded. “Protect me, the maintenance android.”
As if it were a last-ditch effort, he called the androids managing the aircraft. I charged at the androids, whose only weapon was a metal injector equipped for welding.
Meanwhile, it disconnected the hose from its head, severing its physical connection to the ship. The guy moved his body half-heartedly and crawled towards the aircraft carrier.
‘Where are you going?’
I was trying to chase after him, but the androids blocked my path. They pricked my body with metal injectors mounted on my arms.
I swung my fighting arms as if shaking off a pesky mosquito. The androids that hit my arm scattered on the floor with their upper and lower bodies separated.
Several androids climbed on top of my head, but all of them were hit by the tentacle swung by No. 26 and their heads were separated.
At that time, the aircraft on board that were quietly waiting moved in unison and began firing their equipped storm guns. I spread the flaps of my wing arms wide and covered No. 26’s body.
‘It’s remote control.’
I was very persistent because I was worried that someone might not be the top committee member. Pyrrha Eleven, who had gained time through remote control, boarded one of the ship’s planes.
I covered myself with a shield and approached the aircraft the guy was on.
Then, it stretched out its eroding tentacles and wrapped them around the aircraft carrier. When I applied force to the tentacle, the rocket attached to the back and the wings on the side were crushed.
As the aircraft was being scrapped in real time, Pyrrha Eleven broke the tempered glass on the front and jumped out.
He shot me in the eye with a heat ray, but that only made me irritated. I picked up the damaged aircraft carrier and hit him. Thanks to this, the metal skeleton that replaced the creature’s lower body was completely separated.
I stretched out my erosion tentacles and wrapped them around him. I looked to remove the bio-drone attached to his chest, but there was nothing on his chest.
In that brief moment, the drone separated and ran away.
As soon as I noticed that, another aircraft flew out of the hangar. He hurriedly stretched out his tentacles, but the aircraft he was on had already escaped into space.
As soon as he left, the aircraft stopped shooting and the ship tilted sharply. This is because its remote control has been disabled.
The remains of various machines and androids were thrown to one side of the wall. As the ship crashed, the aircraft quickly moved away.
‘Tough guy.’
He probably thought he escaped safely by now.
At that time, the speaker was activated and Para Eleven’s voice came out.
“Pira Eleven. Warning. I have already requested support from Star Union. When the Mechanical Commission’s fleet arrives, Special Target A will disappear.”
The one who succeeded in escaping had established a communication connection from the ship’s aircraft to this direction.
It was a kind of declaration of victory. It lost ships and screamers, but gained something more important. Information about me.
If he joins the Star Union fleet and hands over my information, my safety will be greatly compromised. Not only the players but also the Machine Committee will try to capture me and experiment on me.
‘Of course, this is only when he escapes safely.’
Is it because I transferred my consciousness to the pile several times in a short period of time? He missed a very important fact.
He had to wonder why I wasn’t chasing him. Also, what awaits him outside.
Red and white meteors are visible in outer space filled with infinite darkness. A star emitting an ominous light that seems to hint at destruction is rapidly narrowing the distance between itself and the aircraft carrier.
As if it was about to collide with the ship carrying Pyrrha Eleven.
“Your genes must belong to me…”
Before the words were finished, communication was cut off from the speaker.
A small fire can be seen in the distance. The final flame created by a naval aircraft that was pierced by a meteor.
A small dragon with red wings appears in the explosion that engulfs one of the most powerful figures in the Star Union.
“I tried to handle it, but it’s a shame.”
PS-111’s voice came out of the speaker. The ship that was falling with him regained its balance.
The long fight has finally ended.