Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: No Escape
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"Damn it! Big Dee's down! Conjay too!"
"Now's not the time to worry about that! Keep running!"
Five heavy-duty walkers thundered through the ship's interior, kicking up noise in their wake.
The hole they'd come through behind them had long since vanished. Far from bringing relief, the sight only drove them to the brink of madness.
The terror that they might all die here crashed over them like a wave.
"Right? Left? Which way?!"
"Where'd everyone go? Where to, zzzt, crackle?"
"Don't scatter! Stick together!"
Countless branching corridors had suddenly appeared where none had been before. One of the walkers lagging behind was left stranded.
'This won't do!'
The walkers they piloted, called Sentinels, were perfect for combat but ill-suited for prolonged survival in isolation. Their massive power draw made extended operations impossible.
Their freighter was toast, and the shuttles they'd arrived on were likely in the same boat. Who knew how long they'd be trapped inside this monstrous vessel.
"Everyone, halt!"
McKay called the remaining three walkers to a stop.
"Check your energy reserves! If these walkers go down, we're as good as dead."
The cyborgs hurriedly scanned their walkers' remaining power at his words, as if realizing their oversight.
"Energy's fine, but... damn it!"
"What's the point?! We're gonna die here anyway!"
"No place to run!"
Their situation was grim, just as their comrades said. They were essentially trapped in the belly of a colossal beast.
Still, McKay had one thing he could count on.
'The Machine Committee will send a rescue team. We just have to hold out until then.'
A month ago, Star Union's highest authority, the Machine Committee, had issued a directive to all departments and civilian spacecraft.
Any encounters with unknown lifeforms or materials were to be registered immediately in the Starlink database. They'd also mandated that every vessel install a special signal chip produced by the Committee itself.
With the sheer number of creatures in space, reporting every one was next to impossible. And signal chips? That screamed surveillance. No civilian operator welcomed it.
Any other faction couldn't have pulled it off, but Star Union could. The Machine Committee had override authority over every android and drone produced in Union space.
That was why the freighter McKay and the cyborgs had arrived on was equipped with one. With the ship destroyed, Star Union would get word within an hour or two.
"Hold out for a day, and rescue from the Population Management Division will arrive. We wait it out."
"What? How would they even know where we are?"
"Don't worry about it. In a few hours, Star Union will have our status report."
The ship's exterior, position, and data gleaned from tissue samples had already been uploaded to Starlink.
So there was only one thing for the survivors to do.
"We buy time until the rescue fleet gets here."
"Time?"
"This monster can probably make FTL jumps. If it warps to another system, it'll drag out the search."
The cyborgs nodded.
JP-99 was fringe territory under Cult control. A behemoth like this hopping around without FTL would've been spotted ages ago.
"We have to stop it from escaping."
"What? No way!"
"Impossible! We saw it regenerate from our attacks in seconds."
"I know that. Blind-firing just wastes ammo. We need to pick our targets."
"Targets?"
Before answering, McKay shared a composite map stitched together from the scout drones' feeds.
"Take a look."
"?"
"Everything else keeps shifting, but a few spots stay constant."
"So what?"
"This ship—no, whatever this monster is—needs vital organs if it's alive."
"...You mean those static spots are where its heart or something is?"
"Exactly. Hit those organs, and we might cripple its FTL drive."
The cyborgs fell silent at McKay's proposal.
It was full of holes. Follow his lead into a trap, and they'd die pointless deaths. Problem was, they had no better ideas.
With their lives on the line, everyone pondered deeply. But harsh reality offered no respite.
"The corridor's moving!"
"Shit! Run!"
As the four walkers charged ahead, the passage warped dramatically. The narrow hallway twisted and ballooned into a vast chamber.
"This real? What I'm seeing?"
"F-fuck, this is insane."
Sentinel walkers stood about 8 meters tall. Yet this space loomed three or four times higher, materializing out of nowhere.
Even McKay struggled to keep calm amid the unbelievable sight.
"St- stay sharp, everyone!"
He steadied his comrades while activating his weapon systems, vowing to blast anything that moved. Then an unfamiliar noise reached his ears.
'What was that?'
It was a sound almost never heard in space.
'Wind?'
A faint whoosh emanated from the empty space overhead.
Whatever it was, McKay swung his barrel toward the ceiling to fire—when it struck from the source of the noise.
"Agh!"
Thud.
A short scream, followed by a thunderous crash. McKay whipped his camera around to see one walker toppled.
Sentinels had weaker hulls than starship plating but came with integrated shields. A massive two-meter hole had been punched clean through the armored cockpit. Faint purple glows traced the edges, sliced with plasma cutter precision.
No pilot inside the pierced chassis. Just blood dripping amid shattered machinery, telling the tale.
"Wh-what the hell was that?!"
Now only three walkers left, McKay included.
The wind sound returned. Realizing it was the attack's prelude, McKay shouted.
"It's coming—!"
"Huh?"
Thud.
Before he finished, another walker crumpled. Same two-meter hole, purple residue, mangled remains of a pilotless cockpit.
"Damn it!"
Minutes into this chamber, two walkers lost. Just McKay and one other now.
"Watch for the wind sound!"
"M-mother... wind in space, what the fu—"
Leaving his trembling comrade to guard, McKay scanned the wreckage. He spotted blood splatters on the floor.
His walker's synced camera traced the trail. Sporadic drops led to the wall.
There lay a fellow cyborg, limbs severed, sprawled in ruin.
"Eek?!"
"......"
They'd found the missing man, but a problem remained.
'Where's the last one?'
The cameras panned upward.
In the corner where wall met ceiling lurked it.
A green demon with tentacles plunged into the cyborg's facial orifices, slurping fluids.
"G-guh, urk, urk..."
■ ■■■
Every hole—eyes, nose, mouth, ears—bristled with throbbing tentacles like straws. The pinned cyborg writhed, emitting grotesque moans.
Watching, McKay knew one thing.
He had to run.
"Uwaaaagh!"
His comrade opened fire at the beast in panic. It vanished like a mirage in a blink.
While the distraction held its gaze, McKay bolted.
His sole target: the door ahead.
Get through it, and this nightmare might end—that thought dominated his mind.
"Urk?!"
Thud.
A stifled groan and collapsing walker echoed behind. McKay's walker hand reached the hatch.
No wingbeats from the demon. He pried the door open and slipped out.
Thud.
"Hoo..."
Only after sealing it did he exhale. Silence beyond.
Just as relief dawned—
A voice spoke from behind.
"Prey delivers itself?"
Flat tone, utterly mismatched to the horror around him.
In that instant, McKay realized.
He hadn't escaped the nightmare at all.
'Saved me the trouble.' The walker that fled Adhai's assault into here spotted me and freaked. Me, fused to the reactor, wielding countless erosion tentacles like limbs. Cyborgs who quaked at cute little Adhai? My form must terrify even more. The panicked walker tried blasting me with its stormgun but failed. Erosion tentacles had snared its arms and legs. 'Adhai's really grown.' Thanks to Mother's training from the sky? Adhai wielded 'super acceleration' adeptly even in tight quarters. Super acceleration was Green Gallerons' innate ability, but strictly for movement or evasion. Never this aggressive in enclosed spaces. 'Would've hurt bad before.' Adhai cloaked in Purple Lightning, melting foes with psychic power on impact. Simply put, like charging enemies wrapped in Purple Spraygun's psionic flames. 'Come to think, Cult players loved that trick.' Shielding weapons with psychic power before smashing, or body-flaming like Adhai. The new technique minimized collision damage. Perfect for a mutant Galleron lagging in physical stats. Not flawless, though. Green Galleron psychic power was weak. Wrapping the body offered incomplete protection. More aggressive now, but until White Galleron, caution remained key. 'Dragon's Nest might have evolution paths for Adhai.' Energy topped up nicely. Finish this cyborg and head out. Fused to the reactor, I dismantled the walker with erosion tentacles. Peeling it like an onion revealed the cyborg inside, cables dangling. My tentacles coiled around the trembling male cyborg. 'Test material on this one.' Harvesting via shipboard jaws didn't yield humanoid trait ingredients. Hundreds tested earlier triggered only predation effects—no gene storage. 'Ship fusion blocking it?' Fused state limited some flesh traits. Humanoid mimicry among the unusable. Thus, despite devouring hundreds, attached mimics stayed Cult-based. 'Mimic organ works fine, though.' Couldn't fathom ship-scale camouflage. Tried, but some condition unmet. 'Anyway.' My tentacle gaped wide to swallow him whole. The cyborg laughed madly at the sight.
"Kuhuhu! I die here, cough, but you'll follow soon."
Usually begs for mercy or apologies. Refreshing last words. No mercy, though. As I ignored and engulfed him, his words halted me.
"S-soon, Star Union's fl-fleet comes! You can't escape!"
"Star Union fleet?"
They supplied vital manpower, but to Star Union? A necessary evil. Essential for society, yet awkward to admit. Why rescue such? Besides, Cult territory. Low odds Star Union risked diplomatic fallout chasing me. 'Wait.' Uneasy hunch rising, I rummaged the walker wreckage. Included its onboard computer. Tiny tentacles booted the half-dismantled unit. There: comm logs to Star Union's central database, Starlink.