Those Who Gather (2)
The capital planet of the Star Union, Jax-01.
It was a place defined by densely packed factories, overwhelming smog, and ceaseless acid rain — and there, one peculiar structure stood apart from the rest.
White and black spires, their outer walls wrapped in countless pipes, batteries, and machines of every size. Gathered together in a single place, they formed an intimidating pyramid of thorns.
The name of this bizarre yet breathtaking structure was Prime Head — home to the Machine Council, the supreme seat of power in the Star Union.
And at the very top of Prime Head, in its tallest spire of all, sat the office of the Great Leader, father to every cyborg in existence.
It was a chamber where silence and solemnity were always preserved. Today, however, was the exception. From behind the tightly sealed doors of the office, the voices of many echoed one after another.
｢You suffered a considerable loss, and yet you failed in the end.｣
"That is correct."
A white-haired man with one eye replaced by machinery sat before four diamond-shaped monuments, engaged in conversation.
The mechanical eye, along with a magnificently groomed mustache and a powerfully muscled frame — this was the Great Leader of the Star Union, Jubaka.
｢The unique traits confirmed so far are the transformation of his body. And…｣
｢It appears he also possesses the ability to assimilate a ship into his own body.｣
｢Fortunately we learned of it now. Hahaha. Jubaka, you've done us a great service.｣
"…Akira. Just what the hell did you take me for?"
The losses Jubaka had suffered because of that damned Morph-fucker were immense. The Nemea Fleet had been all but annihilated, and the Arrow and Redtail Fleets supporting him had taken heavy damage as well.
'And that isn't all.'
Because of the creature's sowing of discord, relations with the Cult had deteriorated badly. He had trespassed into Cult territory without permission and blown an Imperial Carrier to pieces, so it was only natural. Thanks to the incident, talk of war with the Star Union had begun surfacing in the Cult Council itself.
Since a war with no profit to be gained was one to be avoided, Jubaka had been forced to send an envoy to apologize to the Cult Council. Chloe Garmelda of the MegaCorp Noble Capital had backed him up, pressuring the Cult's Reform Faction on his behalf.
Thanks to that, an all-out war between the Cult and the Star Union never broke out.
But there was no denying that the face of the Star Union's Highest Dignity had been gravely stained by the affair. Having been thoroughly humiliated over a single Amorph, Jubaka could not contain his irritation.
At his anger-laced words, Akira answered with perfect composure.
｢Did you truly believe capturing him would be that easy? You still fail to understand the creature. Consider it fortune alone that your fleets were not wiped out entirely.｣
"…Tch."
｢Lord Akira, the body-transformation trait — might it be one he obtained from Muriel?｣
｢Hard to say. That matter warrants caution. We should assume he possesses somewhere between two and three unique traits.｣
"What good does knowing his traits do us now? Every clue to finding him has vanished completely."
｢Was his bio-sample not registered in the Starlink? We could track him using that.｣
"For reasons unknown, the scanners can no longer detect him. He read clearly right up until we pursued Ship 98."
The moment Jubaka had heard that a Star Union personnel supply vessel had discovered a suspicious organism, he had mobilized immediately.
He had synced the Amorph sample registered in the Starlink database — the Star Union's proprietary information processing system — with the Bio Scanner, and layered the Warpfinder, their faster-than-light tracking system, on top of that.
Because he had deployed every tool at a Great Leader's disposal, tracking the Amorph itself had posed no difficulty. Up until the discovery of Ship 98, at least, it had merely been a question of distance and time — they had found the creature quickly enough.
The problem was that it had all been a trap.
｢It will be that nest trait of his — Unclean Mixture. An ability that randomizes the composition of his nest, rendering tracking impossible.｣
"Goddammit! If you knew that, you should have said something beforehand!"
｢Hahaha, calm yourself. Did we not learn something new because of it? That an environment identical to his nest can be established inside a bio-infested ship.｣
｢Then we must assume he is capable of using his other abilities as well.｣
When Jubaka had discovered the creature, he had relayed the news to the other members as well. At the time, Akira had done nothing but laugh and say nothing at all.
But judging by his manner of speaking now, he had clearly predicted this outcome. He had used Jubaka as bait simply to test whether his own speculation was correct.
"Enough. This is hardly a situation we can afford to sit back and laugh about, Akira. We've lost him. Which means there's no telling how much more dangerous he'll become the next time we meet."
Just as he said, the creature that had left Ship 98 had vanished as though it had become a ghost — not a single trace to be found. They had ransacked every corner of the neutral star systems, but nothing connected to him remained.
｢Is the Warpfinder of no use?｣
"The last place Ship 98 was spotted was in the neutral systems. Ships by the dozens jump in and out on FTL routes by the minute — finding him there is impossible."
｢I suppose it would be difficult, not knowing the class of the ship he commandeered.｣
Going by everything confirmed so far, the Amorph possessed the ability to corrupt and then dominate a vessel. He seemed able to refit them as well, but apparently not their FTL drives — which was why the Warpfinder had still been able to track him.
The problem, as Akira had said, was that there was no way to know what class of ship he had taken this time.
"We checked whether any vessel had been raided, but there was no information connected to him."
｢Could he not simply have traded for one? Purchased a ship through the effects of a unique trait, or by bringing along his companions…?｣
"Absurd! Companions? A personality-collapsed creature like that? Ha. Unimaginable."
｢Hahahaha, it's been a while since Cynthia cracked a decent joke.｣
Everyone gathered in this meeting had fought Number 5 at least once. They all knew intimately how terrifying he was — but the information each of them possessed varied.
Cynthia, for instance, had fought Number 5 only twice, while Jubaka had clashed with him head-on roughly eight times. Akira, ranked higher than either of them, had faced him far more still.
Which meant Cynthia knew comparatively little about Number 5.
｢Hehe, knowing him, even if he had companions, he'd likely carry them around as emergency rations. Or dominate them as parasites.｣
"Hmph. If it's that Morph-fucker, that's entirely plausible."
｢In that case, he might even control cyborgs through parasitism to purchase a ship.｣
"Naturally, I anticipated that as well and am looking into it. The problem is that it will take considerable time."
High-performance androids were currently combing through every transaction record in the neutral star systems. They would turn something up within a month — but in the meantime, the creature might well abandon this ship for another.
It was then that Akira spoke.
｢Hmm. There is no real need to chase his tail, is there?｣
"What do you mean?"
｢If we know where he is going, we need only prepare in advance.｣
"That's precisely why we're stuck like this. Akira, stop wasting our time with—"
｢Hehe, so impatient. Then listen. As it was in the game, so it is now — he despises waste. Now that he's reached Young Adult, he'll want to become an Adult as quickly as he possibly can.｣
"…Go on."
｢The fastest way for him to fulfill his evolution conditions is to hunt the special organisms known as APEX. Which means he will make for a place where APEX creatures dwell in numbers.｣
｢Do you mean the Dragon's Nest?｣
Akira did not answer Cynthia's question. Instead, a star chart marked with multiple plotted routes materialized from his monument.
｢These are hypothetical routes, estimated and calculated from the direction of his movement. As you can see, he held a steady course — until he abruptly veered off upon entering the neutral systems.｣
｢What does that mean?｣
｢Had he not been pursued, he would have continued along this path.｣
"Damn it all! Get to the point. What are you trying to say?"
｢Follow this course to its end, and at the far end lies the Dragon's Nest.｣
"What?"
A red marker flickered into existence near the outer edge of the star chart.
｢The place where the Eugene family procures their Gallagon genes — and the home of my 'old subordinate.'｣
"The place isn't even on the charts. How would he know of it, let alone travel there?"
｢I cannot say. But if it's him, he will make for that planet without fail.｣
Jubaka glared at the red marker. Since the planet was unrecorded, no information whatsoever appeared beside it.
"So he is heading there…"
｢Notify my old subordinate at once. An Amorph in the Young Adult stage could never defeat her.｣
"Just who is this person, that you're so certain?"
｢Heh heh. Would the words 'an elderly Black Galagon' serve as your answer?｣
"!"
At those words, Jubaka started in genuine shock.
Black Galagons occupied the second-highest stage of Gallagon development. Above them existed the Red Galagons, but those were so exceedingly rare that one almost never saw them.
In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that the Black Galagon was the most powerful being among wild Gallagons.
'Against a Black Galagon, even an Adult Amorph would have to wager its life.'
No matter how powerful a trait the Morph-fucker possessed, so long as he remained a Young Adult, he stood no chance against a Black Galagon. Part of it was the Black Galagon's sheer strength — but he would also have to face the entire pack dwelling in that nest alongside it.
｢Lord Akira, would it be permissible to share this location's coordinates with Lord Jason? He has expressed a wish to redeem himself for this affair, one way or another.｣
｢Hahaha, then his death becomes all the more certain. By all means.｣
And on top of it all, the participation of the Cult player, Jason.
Jason was ranked 10th. Lower than Akira or Jubaka, to be sure, but a ranker was a ranker — a fighter of considerable ability.
A Black Galagon pack, plus a 10th-ranked player. The Morph-fucker's fate was, in effect, already sealed.
After a few final arrangements, the meeting came to a close. Confirming that the monuments had deactivated, Jubaka picked up his still-active communicator.
"You heard all of that, didn't you?"
｢…That damned old fossil. Still using people like tools, I see.｣
Ever since learning that Akira had a spy, Chloe had manufactured one excuse after another to avoid attending the monument meetings. Instead, she relied on Jubaka's help to eavesdrop on the proceedings, just as she was doing now.
"Chloe. I have a request."
｢Hmm?｣
"I'm thinking of sending Pyra Eleven's Screamer units."
｢What?｣
"The official justification will be a clinical trial to assess their combat performance."
｢Hold on! Jubaka, honey! They're still prototypes. They're incomplete — there's no telling what kind of malfunctions they might suffer.｣
"But you'll need Amorph genes to complete that little 'project' of ours anyway, won't you? Hardly an unfavorable arrangement, I'd say."
｢It would certainly help, but…｣
"Besides, if that planet really is where they harvest Gallagon genes, so much the better. If a few Gallagons happen to 'tragically die in battle against the Amorph,' I can land a blow on Akira at the same time."
｢Hmmmmm. Now that is a little tempting.｣
"Send the newly updated Hulk Mutants. Have them converted into Screamers immediately and dispatched."
In all his life, Jubaka had never once let an attacker walk away. Not in the real world, and not in this dystopian one either.
He had no intention whatsoever of forgiving Akira, who contented himself with petty checks and feints while Jubaka had been properly humiliated by the Morph-fucker and his companions.
'I will make them all pay back. Every last one.'
The mechanical eye of Jubaka, still conversing with Chloe, glinted with menace.
[Zzzzzzzzz (That's the place?)]
｢Blue｣ ｢Star｣ ｢Ring｣ ｢Confirmed｣ ｢Nest｣ ｢Correct｣
Understanding Adhai's psychic waves transmitted from outside the ship, I nearly let out a whoop of joy.
'It's been a long time coming.'
After forty days of nonstop travel aboard a cramped ship, the planet housing the Dragon's Nest had finally come into view.
A sky-blue planet, reminiscent of the open sea, lay before us.
The planet bore a ring, much like Saturn's — a halo formed by fragments of rock caught in the planet's gravity, orbiting it in a continuous band.
The beautifully radiant azure world and the pale ring drifting around it gave the impression of an exquisitely crafted aquamarine ornament.
'I'd love to admire it a little longer.'
But neither I nor the kids could afford it — we were all starving.
What I had judged to be a sufficient food supply had run out two days ago. We hadn't laid eyes on another ship or living creature in ages, so finding fresh prey was impossible. In that situation, I had no choice but to keep pushing forward.
'If Adhai had made even the slightest mistake in her calculations, it could have ended very badly.'
If she had miscalculated the coordinates, we might have drifted aimlessly through this remote corner of space and starved to death.
'An Amorph, dying of hunger. Unbelievable.'
I had almost experienced in reality a death I had never once suffered even in the game.
'First priority — get down there and fill our bellies.'
I readied myself to plunge into the nameless blue planet. After pulling Adhai back inside the ship, I increased our speed.
As the distance closed, the ring came into sharper focus.
Ordinary stones and chunks of ice, masses of unidentified metal, even fragments of starships flung from who knew where — countless objects, all mingled together, hurtling in a single direction.
Any creature with ordinary skin would have been shredded to ribbons the moment it entered that ring, but I was no ordinary creature.
My ship — an interweaving of metallic and living tissue — shrugged off the cascade of debris battering its hull without effort. Passing through the ring without the slightest difficulty, I accelerated toward the planet's atmosphere.
Unlike Earth, with its rich palette of blue seas, brown land, and white clouds, this planet was a study in uniformity.
Sky-blue and white. That was all this world had to offer.
'An ice planet.'
Even in the game, the regions where Gallagons dwelt were as extreme as the world before me. Either a fiery hellscape of unending volcanic eruptions, or a frozen hell filled with nothing but darkness and cold. The brutal environmental conditions themselves were one of the many factors that made Gallagons so difficult to deal with.
'I don't mind it, but I wonder if the kids will be okay.'
According to Adhai, the temperature everywhere outside the Dragon's Nest was bitterly low. She said that under normal circumstances, she herself would have frozen to death not long after being abandoned by her kin.
Aside from No. 26, who had lived in the deep sea, it promised to be a grueling journey for the other two.
Even as these thoughts crossed my mind, my body was already cutting swiftly through the atmosphere.
What greeted my eyes as I punched through the thick blankets of cloud was a frozen wasteland with no end in sight.