Chapter 250
Chapter 250
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: Ep. 250
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A spaceship prowled around a planet as white as a snowball.
It was Sihyun Yujin's vessel, lurking in the shadows to overthrow Akira Yujin, the usurper of the Yujin Family. With the owner currently down on the planet's surface, her butler Minseok Yujin was serving as acting captain.
In Sihyun's office, Minseok was handling various duties in her stead.
He tore his gaze from the terminal pad and pressed his temples hard with his fingers. A report he'd received just a few hours earlier was piling on his stress.
'They found a relic.'
Contact had finally come from the survey team, which had been out of touch due to radio interference.
Sihyun had recovered the relics yesterday and was now en route back to the survey ship. Minseok had thought her actions were nothing but childish nonsense, but apparently, they weren't.
'...Still too early to tell.'
From time to time, when pioneering new planets, objects resembling ancient relics would turn up. But none of them ever wielded the tremendous power seen in the media. They were just deemed unique curiosities and shipped off to museums or auction houses.
So the chances were high that what Sihyun had found was something you'd see at an auction. If so, his mistress had wasted a ton of time on pointless make-believe.
'Who'd have thought a clone would have side effects like this.'
While Mega Corp banned human cloning, Star Union did no such thing. Just as Mega Corp modified its employees into Hulk mutants, Star Union used clones as raw material for bioweapons. That was proof their cloning tech was fairly advanced.
However, Star Union's cloning tech came with side effects. Memory implantation issues, brain disorders, exacerbated mental instability, and so on.
Sihyun Yujin had tried to minimize these by applying Mega Corp's genetic modification techniques, Cult psychic powers she'd learned as a child, and more.
In other words, the being down there beneath that white star—the "cloned Sihyun"—was the pinnacle of the galaxy's most advanced intelligences' technology. It frustrated Minseok that such a being was distracted by bizarre legends and myths.
'If I use the item she left me...'
Minseok pulled an object from an inner pocket.
The lighter-sized remote control in his hand was something she'd left him—the original Sihyun Yujin.
If the clone deviated from the set plan, it was the means to stop her that she'd entrusted to him.
"Hoo."
He sighed, fiddling with the remote, when the terminal pad suddenly lit up. It was a call from the situation room.
"Minseok here. What is it?"
｢Gr-Gr-Great trouble, sir! The satellite we placed at the system edge has detected massive warp energy!｣
"What?!"
Minseok shot to his feet at his subordinate's frantic voice.
"Where's it coming from? Can you identify it?"
｢Energy analysis shows a 78% chance it's Star Union's elite fleet! The flow suggests the vanguard will arrive within hours!｣
"Damn it! Any word from Wacks-01? What's going on over there that we haven't heard?"
｢I-I'll check!｣
Minseok spat a curse and rushed out of the office. As he sprinted toward the situation room, he barked orders at his subordinate.
"Later! Priority one is retrieving Lady Sihyun. Track the survey team's path, input the coordinates, and dispatch a shuttle there. Got it?"
｢Understood!｣
Sihyun had found the relics yesterday and was heading back. Even at top speed, it would still take a week based on the distance.
'If Star Union catches us, we're dead!'
The ship had undergone multiple upgrades boosting its combat power significantly, but it wasn't overwhelming enough to take on an elite fleet. Even against their recon vanguard, victory wasn't guaranteed.
By the time Minseok reached the situation room, a small shuttle had launched toward the white star.
[Zzu zzuzu zzuzu (Anything left?)]
I asked Adhai in the empty cavern. He circled the chamber on legs as sturdy-looking as a deer's. ｢That｣ ｢Was｣ ｢Last｣ ｢Nothing｣ ｢More｣ Once we learned the elite fleet was en route, we hurriedly prepared to evacuate. While PS-111 inspected the ship, Adhai and I headed to the Galleron nest. Upon arriving at the dragon's lair, we roamed around waking all the Gallerons and explaining the situation. Extremely powerful enemies were coming, so we had to flee. I figured convincing them would take time, so I rushed, but surprisingly, the Gallerons offered no resistance. The moment they heard Adhai, they immediately started preparing to leave. After that, things went smoothly. Green and White Gallerons carried the young Blue Gallerons on their backs and flew to the ship. I joined Black Galleron ship Ort in ferrying the Blues. Next came the eggs. The dragon's lair held over fifty. Galleron eggs can't hatch if exposed to cold too long, so I and ship Ort—with our large bodies and fast flight speeds—handled transport. Six hours passed as we made repeated trips shuttling them. Now, only the seven eggs I currently held remained. I'd yanked out all my assimilation tentacles, gripping one egg each, with the last clutched in my chest's small arms. [Zzuzu zzuzuzu zzuzu zzuzu (Last trip, so let's check everywhere)] ｢Big｣ ｢Lord｣ ｢Thanks｣ Adhai expressed gratitude as I meticulously checked for any overlooked eggs. Gallerons hatching from these would grow into combat strength. With luck, one might even become a Red Galleron like Adhai. I was just being thorough to avoid missing any, but he seemed to think I cherished the Gallerons that much. 'No need to correct him.' We left the egg storage area and split up to inspect the surrounding caverns. This spot—being for egg storage—was the deepest in the dragon's lair. I'd only sensed it indirectly through the nest before; this was my first time walking here myself. Carrying the eggs, I tread natural passages formed by hardened minerals. Entering a nearby cave room, I saw traces of eggs that had already been cleared—ship Ort had been through. 'One more spot, then out.' The final place was a massive cavern even deeper than the egg room. Rounding a bend in the passage, dazzling light struck my eyes. 'What's this?' The glow emanated from within the large cavern. Entering, I was stunned. There was a sea of gems. '...Jackpot.' Fitting for Gallerons modeled after Western dragons. This place, brimming with an enormous hoard of precious metals, had to be Od Grad's lair. 'Gallerons do love rare minerals.' Mythic dragons hoarded gems out of greed, but Gallerons collected them for a slightly different reason. They favored metals like Moon Silver, which amplified psychic powers, or Nova Metal, key material for brains and imperial motherships. It stemmed from their vulnerability to energy shortages as hatchlings, evolving into a kind of obsession. Anyway, the metals in Od Grad's lair were all unrefined lumps of rare ores. Some still held vast energy; others had leaked it all, reduced to ordinary gems. 'If I weren't an Aimorph, this would be chaos.' Selling half would buy two or three planets. I admired the jewel sea briefly, then picked up a few metal chunks. 'Sky Mother will need these.' The place we were heading after leaving this planet was crucial for both Sky Mother and me—evolution for me, ascension to godhood for her. 'Unless we finish what we came for, no detours till then.' With eggs in hand, I couldn't grab much. I clamped a few metal lumps in my tail's pincer. 'Time to—huh?' As I turned to leave, something caught my eye. A rhombus-shaped stone was mixed in among the gems. 'What's that?' The other metals were rough, unprocessed, but this stone stood out. It looked meticulously crafted, its surface etched with tiny letters and patterns. 'A stele?' I picked up the rhombus stone—or stele. No doubt it bore the touch of civilization. 'Why would Od Grad have something like this?' Thinking of it as artificial brought something to mind. The emotion-concealing ring he'd worn. That hadn't seemed like a Galleron's possession either. 'I'll check it on the ship.' Od Grad's ring was now in the ship's sample vault. I'd removed it before devouring the genetic sample and completely forgotten about it. Tucking away the rhombus stele, I exited the cavern. Then I heard Adhai running from down the passage. [Zuuuuu (Adhai?)] ｢Big｣ ｢Lord!｣ ｢Big｣ ｢Trouble!｣ [Zu (Yeah?)] ｢Little｣ ｢Lord｣ ｢Here｣ 26 had come? As I started to ask what he meant, a familiar wave touched my monster's tentacles. ｢Big baby! Friend says come out quick!｣ It was definitely 26's wave. He'd come to the dragon's lair. 'Why so sudden?' Something bad had happened for sure. Adhai and I hurried out of the nest. The moment we emerged, a massive steel hunk loomed—a gigantic ship hovering above the cliffs encircling the lair. The Wacks Alpha-class battleship seized from Pira Eleven: the Screamer support vessel. 'No way.' There was only one reason PS-111 would haul the ship here in such haste. Star Union's elite fleet recon had entered the system. 'Faster than expected!' PS-111 had predicted 18 hours for the vanguard, but he'd been way off. 'The Great Leader.' He must have intervened, spurring the elite fleet to move at max speed. I flew up with Adhai and boarded. Green Gallerons greeted me in the hangar. [Zzuzu zzuzuzu zzuzu (Give these eggs to 26)] ｢Will｣ ｢Do｣ I handed off what I'd gathered to the Greens and raced to the situation room. PS-111, linked to the ship, and Sky Mother awaited me.
"What happened?"
"The recon unit entered the system faster than I predicted. They'll surround this planet in ten minutes."
"Anything else noteworthy?"
Sky Mother answered instead of PS-111. ｢They brought a Warp Finder.｣ A Warp Finder tracked jumps by residual energy signatures. Even hyperspace now, they'd catch us quick.
"Enemy numbers?"
"30 X10-class medium destroyers, 3 XAX-5 high-speed cruisers, and numerous corvettes."
A hefty force for recon. They'd come prepared to finish me off. 'Wiping them out would take time.' Mobilizing all Gallerons made total annihilation possible, but the time it'd consume was the issue. They'd arrived a third faster than PS-111's estimate. The main elite fleet might come sooner too. 'Maybe this recon is just a delay tactic.' They knew I could assimilate and seize ships. Or figured I'd gained spaceflight by now—like in a game. Thus, assigning a Warp Finder to recon to lure me into fighting. I couldn't pinpoint which ship had it, so to evade pursuit, I'd have to destroy them all. 'Buying them time naturally.' Even if I annihilated them and escaped, the delay would let them track my trail—profit for them. 'Warp Finders track for max 30 minutes.' About when the elite fleet would arrive. So, annihilate them in under 30 minutes to shake pursuit. 'Normally, yes... but.' Their plan lacked the genius mutant Screamer, PS-111. And they didn't know how many Gallerons crammed this ship. I eyed PS-111.
"You said they brought a Warp Finder?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell which ships have it?"
"Confirmed on five vessels."
"Tell me before we engage."
"Understood." ｢You don't mean...?｣ Sky Mother caught on, startled. [Zzuzu zu zzuzuzu zzuzuzu zu zu (Take out those five ASAP and bounce)] ｢...Isn't time tight?｣ [Zzuzu zzuzuzu zzuzuzu zzuzu zzuzuzu (No choice. Clean up here or it gets worse)] I'd survived by racing the clock so far. Time-limited fights were my wheelhouse. '25 minutes max.' Target: the five with Warp Finders. Destroy them in 25, and I win. With that, I left the situation room. This was my last battle before fleeing the planet.