Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Stormgun and Metallic Gremlins
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A day had passed since the Calvin entered Sector I-97.
In that one day, a lot had happened to the Ruthrak Cartel led by Milo Ruthrak.
More precisely, a lot of unfortunate things.
"Move it! We need to set up the defensive line before that thing crosses into this sector!"
At the rear of the Calvin, the remaining pirates were frantically building barricades.
The mysterious monster that had ambushed the ship had taken over the entire front section, making this their last bastion.
'Fucking hell!'
One of his men had captured footage of the monster on camera right before getting killed.
When Milo saw it, he couldn't believe his eyes.
The creature roaming the ship and massacring pirates looked just like a pink balloon monster.
Except it was 5 meters tall with tentacles even larger than its body—it was unmistakably a Bubble Amoeba.
'A Bubble Amoeba killing people? That doesn't make any sense!'
As far as Milo knew, Bubble Amoebas were harmless herbivores that fed on plankton in the ocean.
But this one wasn't.
It tore them apart with bizarre strength.
And despite its sluggish appearance, it moved surprisingly fast. Using its tentacles, it snatched up fleeing pirates without fail, ripping off their limbs as if mocking them.
In any other situation, Milo might have taken an interest in this peculiar Bubble Amoeba.
A Bubble Amoeba crushing people with tentacles or disassembling them with psychic powers wasn't something you saw every day.
The problem was that it had already taken out half the pirates aboard.
At this rate, forget capturing it—they'd all end up as its meal.
'Fuck it all. It won't survive this.'
Milo's men were busily setting up massive cannons, each the size of an adult man.
Official name: APDT (Automatic Point Defense Turret).
It was gear primarily used by the Star Union for security and local defense.
Other species called it the Stormgun because its barrage looked like a storm.
It fired depleted uranium rounds as standard ammo, with a max capacity of 1,000 shots. If the user didn't control it via terminal, a small AI took over, firing automatically based on built-in motion sensors.
Depleted uranium rounds were cheaper than Mega Corp's tungsten ones, but not exactly cheap. With such high ammo counts, each use burned through massive credits.
Plus, if you weren't Star Union affiliated, good luck acquiring them.
'Those damn robot freaks won't sell ammo to outsiders.'
The Ruthrak Cartel could use them now only because they'd looted Stormguns and crates of ammo from a Star Union trade ship.
Of course, ammo was limited, so they only deployed them against heavily armored beasts like Mountain Crawlers.
'Good thing we stored them in the secondary armory.'
The primary armory at the ship's front had been wrecked by the monster, losing all the bombs and weapons inside.
If Milo hadn't prepared a secondary one just in case, they'd all be monster chow by now.
"Captain! Stormgun setup complete!"
"Good. What about Beta Squad?"
｢Stormgun setup complete! Returning to the situation room!｣
Milo activated the Stormgun and retreated to the rear section with his men.
While engineers sealed and patched the bulkheads in each sector, the others repeated their barricade work.
｢Captain?｣
"What?"
｢The ship AI says it has a report. Something about environmental changes nearby.｣
"Too busy. I'll check later."
Milo ended the comm from the situation room and moved the Stormgun with his men.
'Fuck, me—the captain—doing grunt work like this.'
The ship was trashed by the mystery monster, his hard-earned credits would go up in Stormgun smoke, and now his dignity was in the gutter too.
His head spinning, Milo quickly forgot the situation room's comm.
Having cleared the bombs without issue, I immediately began corroding the ship.
To defend against pirate attacks during corrosion, I tasked Specimen 026 and Adhai.
First, I had 026 draw the pirates' attention.
Having been with me so long, it had become a seasoned hunter—more than capable of handling them.
Of course, 026 might face risks, so I sent the Fairy Tooth swarm along too.
The Fairy Teeth were linked to my mind.
If any danger slipped past 026's notice, I could warn it first.
It seemed pleased not just to help me, but to hunt with its favorite Fairy Teeth pack.
For Adhai, I assigned guard duty while I corroded.
'Fighting indoors puts it at a disadvantage.'
Adhai dominated in open space flight, but its body wasn't suited for shipboard combat.
Not unless it was a wide-open cargo hold.
It grumbled a bit about missing the hunt, but cheered up after I repeatedly asked it to watch over me.
Even now, it slowly patrolled the cargo hold, scanning for intruders.
'Going smoothly.'
Four hours into corrosion.
One more hour, and the ship was mine.
I'd already claimed all cargo holds on decks 1 and 2, plus the entire deck 3.
On deck 4, the front was mine; only mid and rear remained.
'They're holing up in the situation room.'
The pirates were sealing off the area around the deck 4 rear situation room. 026 was climbing the stairs to deck 4 with its many fins.
'Hmm.'
Bombs cleared, armory trashed—no major threats left, but better safe.
'I'll handle the stragglers personally.'
No need to rush if they stayed defensive. Once corrosion finished, they'd all die by my hand anyway.
I pulsed to 026.
｢Big baby, what's wrong?｣
｢You okay?｣
With 026 and the Fairy Teeth back, I refocused on corrosion.
'Haven't had things go this smoothly in ages.'
Back in the space city, there was no rest. Trying to casually fill evolution conditions in the apartment complex got busted, then enemies kept swarming.
'Gained a ton of gene essence, though.'
Got some useful traits, but the lineup felt unbalanced.
'Not much experience against wild animals.'
My traits skewed toward combat—close-range at that. Ranged options existed but limited; utility traits were scarce too.
'Hunt wild creatures after claiming the ship.'
Using the smuggler planet data in the ship computer.
Time to target more diverse gene essence there.
As I organized future plans, the awaited message appeared.
The instant the message popped up, my mind permeated the entire 300-meter-long megastructure.
The ship was so massive the sensation differed from dominating escape pods.
Simply put: 'heavy.' It felt less like entering an Aimorph body and more like merging with a blue whale.
'And way bigger than a whale.'
Focusing my mind, I heard the central heartbeat.
The Star Union-developed reactor now served as the heart of my integrated composite organism.
I drew energy from the reactor and channeled it to the hull-mounted cannons.
Plasma energy concentrated in the cannons by my will.
A powerful shot fired—far surpassing my psychic breath.
Feeling the barrel's scorching heat from destructive energy, I grinned.
'Perfect. Time to start.'
This ship was mine now.
I wasn't merciful enough to let uninvited guests linger.
"......"
The situation room buzzed with more people than usual, yet dead silent—no breaths audible.
The 40 pirates maintained tension, ready for the monster's inevitable assault.
The beast hadn't moved since, as if intent on squeezing them out.
'Something's wrong.'
Suddenly, Milo thought.
Maybe holing up here was exactly what it wanted.
'No!'
He gritted his teeth to shake off the ominous idea. He wanted to yell, but his men were too on-edge.
Forcing other thoughts, he glanced at the wall.
The black wall, sucking in light like a black hole, caught his eye.
'Was it always this dark?'
Star Union ships favored black over Mega Corp white—floors, walls, ceilings all dark metal.
Even so, the situation room walls felt darker than usual.
'Why the discoloration all of a sudden...'
The moment doubt hit, all power cut out.
"A-Argh! I-It’s here!"
"Calm down! Emergency lights soon!"
As a critical facility, the room had backup power beyond the reactor.
Red emergency lights flickered on, as Milo said.
Under the crimson glow, the pirates' faces looked half-dead.
Milo didn't realize his own wolf fur was sweat-matted and pathetic.
Half-snarling, he called the ship AI computer.
"Calvin! Turn on the situation room computers!"
｢Impossible. Power from reactor severed.｣
"Fuck, sync with the backup then!"
｢Understood.｣
Computers lit up, but no relief for Milo and the pirates.
Thumping echoed from outside.
They knew what it meant.
"C-Captain!"
"...Fuck."
Stormgun fire. The thing was coming down the corridor.
"Don't worry. Stormguns shred even Mountain Crawlers. It can't survive."
"R-Right?"
His men forced hopeful smiles.
But hope faded fast.
'Firing won't stop?'
Milo checked his terminal linked to the Stormguns. Ammo counts plummeted on the tiny screen.
The farthest turret's ammo hit zero, signal lost. Seconds later, the next one's count dropped wildly.
"C-Captain!"
"What the fuck?!"
Milo could barely stay sane now.
They'd installed Stormguns per sector and sealed bulkheads before entering.
No monster could advance this fast while depleting depleted uranium barrages.
'N-Need to check!'
He called the ship AI again.
"Calvin! Link to sector cameras!"
｢Impossible.｣
"I order you again! Calvin! Cameras on monitors!"
｢ZZZT｣
No response to his repeated command—just grating static.
"Calvin! Cameras..."
｢ZZZT, Cal·vin·is, ZZZT｣
As he opened his mouth again, speakers reactivated. The voice wasn't Calvin's feminine AI tone.
｢Cal·vin·is·dead.｣
"What?"
｢You·all·die·too.｣
A rasping male voice declared it, then all lights died.
"Aaaah! Gaaack..."
"Uwaaaah! Save me!"
"Grraaaah!"
Screams and death rattles filled the pitch-black room.
Energy bolts from laser rifles, thunderous punches from Hulk Mutant guards. Light and sound signaled survivors—but not for long.
Oppressive silence gripped Milo.
Wolves had keen noses; he couldn't ignore the truth.
All his men were dead, to the last.
Trembling in the suffocating air, he activated his terminal.
The faint light illuminated it before him.
Starfish-like appendages and serpentine mouths rose from the floor, devouring corpses.
'Ha...'
The being aboard transcended his wildest thoughts.
Beyond reason, beyond common sense.
Milo, accepting all, turned off the light.
'Good meal.'
Savoring satisfied fullness, I patted my belly.
Aimorphs didn't bloat from eating, but it felt right.
'Plan went flawlessly from start to finish.'
Clearing the pirate ship Calvin and all aboard boosted my maintenance time to 50 days.
'Hulk Mutants were key.'
Each added 10 days—shocking. Devouring both netted three new traits too.
｢Big baby no more eat?｣
｢Affirm｣ ｢Prey｣ ｢Plenty｣
50 days was plenty; leftovers went to 026 and Adhai. They feasted till bursting for the first time in ages.
'Now, check the ship computer.'
I accessed the database. Vast info flooded my mind via corrosion tendrils.
First up: pre-corrosion cosmic anomaly nearby.
'Asteroid field?'
Sensing the hull exterior yielded nothing.
'Probably nothing... Huh?'
Dismissing it, bad vibes hit.
'Wait.'
I pored over the AI's anomaly report.
Summary: Meteor cluster bound by special magnetic field, on irregular trajectory.
ETA to area: within 2 hours.
'No way.'
I knew what that meant.
Urgently, I extended senses hull-wide and beyond.
Ship AI reported 2 hours ago.
My advanced senses caught something in the empty void.
At first, like a twinkling star.
No—a white cloud.
The white cloud approached at insane speed.
'Fuck!'
That cloud: Metallic Gremlin swarm.
Ship killers, space raiders—targeting us now.