Chapter 266
Chapter 266
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 266
Chapter Title: Incarnations of Nightmares (4)
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The pirates in the A guard room stared at the monitors with bewildered expressions.
The screens displaying the camera feeds were blinking out one by one at a rapid pace. First the surveillance outpost, then the entrance, and now the underground passages. The sequence of malfunctioning cameras was steadily drawing closer to their guard room.
Everyone there knew it wasn't just random camera failures. The walls of the guard room were trembling faintly even now. The space vibrated intermittently, just like when something massive was on the move.
The problem was that the vibrations were growing stronger. An unknown entity was barreling through the passage cameras and blast doors, heading straight for them.
"Passage lockdown procedure?"
"It activated the moment the outpost camera went down."
"...Damn it. Even with a plasma cutter, they couldn't get here that fast."
"No good. Everyone, grab your gear. Skinny, you head to B Sector."
"Tell the mercs on the way."
"...Shit. Got it."
The pirates hurriedly grabbed the equipment stocked in the guard room. While his comrades prepared for battle, the scrawny pirate snatched a single psychic rifle and bolted out of the room.
The lights embedded in the passage ceiling shone brightly overhead. The plain cylindrical passage, devoid of any decorations, looked exactly as it always had.
If not for the vibrations shaking the lights, that is.
The skinny pirate dashed across the short passage to the blast door on the opposite side and manipulated the terminal beside it. Even as he did, the intervals between vibrations were shortening.
"Come on, open already!"
The pirate stamped his feet impatiently in front of the slowly opening door. That's when the light above his head began to flicker unsteadily.
Startled, he whipped around to see the guard room lights blinking out. The only remaining glow was the faint spill from inside the room.
And even that snuffed out like a candle in the wind.
"...Gulp."
As the pirate swallowed hard at the sight, the blast door finally slid open. He practically dove inside and slammed it shut.
These blast doors between passages were over a meter thick with a double-layered structure, tough enough that even a plasma cutter would struggle to breach them. They were sturdier than the entrance doors, so even this mystery intruder wouldn't get through easily.
Nothing lunged out from the darkness until the door sealed completely. An unnatural silence hung in the black passage.
"Phew."
He let out a sigh of relief and stepped away from the door.
He had to reach B Sector and warn them before the thing arrived.
The space he now stood in was so vast he had to crane his neck to the limit just to see the ceiling. It wasn't empty, though—cryo-containers were stacked several layers high in places throughout.
This was the A Sector vault.
Those containers held goods brought by clients visiting the city for the auction. Deeper inside, though out of sight from here, mercenaries and androids guarded them.
The skinny pirate connected a battery to his psychic rifle and ventured inward. The air was chilly from the cold leaking from the containers. If not for the android standing in front of one, he might have been shivering from both the cold and fear as he walked.
"It'll be fine. Just some mix-up. Yeah, that's all."
Muttering to himself, he walked for a few minutes until voices drifted from behind a large container. Rounding it, he spotted five mercenaries chatting idly.
"Huh? Isn't that the pirate from the guard room?"
"What's he doing here?"
The skinny pirate shouted urgently at the mercenaries.
"This isn't the time to be lounging around! The outer area's in total chaos right now!"
"Outer area?"
"What bullshit is that?"
"No word from our team out there."
"Of course not—they've all been taken out! We need to alert the outside now..."
"What? Come on, that's ridiculous."
"You think you can spout that crap to us?"
Frustrated as the mercenaries showed no sign of listening, the skinny pirate grew desperate. Whether drawn by his shouts or not, more mercenaries from other containers approached.
"What's with all the noise?"
"Says our outer team got hit."
"Please! If you don't believe me, just have someone check!"
The pirate yelled at the twenty or so mercenaries now gathered.
"World's gone soft. Some punk pirate barking orders at us."
"You lot deserve it. Cannon fodder."
"What the fuck did you say?"
There were plenty of Space Dogs mercenaries, and just as many mercenaries who moonlighted as pirates. The ones here were no exception—their quality left much to be desired.
The skinny pirate knew that full well. But shouldn't they at least grasp the situation? It was pathetic how clueless they were about what was happening outside and what had become of their comrades.
"Hey, the guard requests it. Someone make a call."
"If you're wrong, you're dead."
Most mercenaries just smirked with arms crossed, but one grabbed his radio.
"What're they saying out there?"
"......"
"Why? Telling us not to bullshit?"
"No contact?"
The others froze at the radio-wielding mercenary's words.
"Nah, cut the crap."
"No, seriously. You guys try contacting your teams."
His expression was too grave for it to be a joke. The other mercenaries, still smirking, reached out to their outer teams.
And within minutes, the smirks vanished from their faces.
"Why no response?"
"What the hell's going on?"
As they panicked, the ceiling lights suddenly all winked out. In the instant pitch blackness, the only illumination came from the cigarettes gripped by a few mercenaries.
"Battle stations, everyone!"
Though the lights were gone, the mercenaries didn't falter. They donned see-through goggles or activated cybernetic eye lenses to prepare for combat in the dark.
"Hey, guard buddy. They won't know about this deeper in, right?"
"Th-they might suspect, but not for sure."
"Take this and go check. Call for backup."
"Y-yes, sir."
Realizing the pirate wasn't wrong, the mercenaries sent him toward B Sector. They figured his comrades were deeper in, so he should request support directly.
The pirate donned the goggles handed to him and sprinted toward the passage leading to B Sector. As he ran, a swarm of androids rushed past him. They'd detected the anomaly and were heading to link up with mercenaries on the opposite side.
Moments after the androids vanished into the darkness, gunfire erupted. The staccato bursts, like automated factory machinery, echoed louder off the containers.
Well-armed mercenaries and top-tier androids—an objectively reassuring force. Yet his heart wouldn't settle.
Ominous. The entire underground vault felt like it was sinking into bottomless quicksand. The vibrations had stopped since entering the A Sector vault, so where was this dread coming from? No answers came no matter how hard he pondered.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
His ragged breaths shattered the heavy silence in the chamber.
No other sounds. No more gunfire, no screams, no mechanical shrieks of destroyed androids. Nothing.
Had the mercenaries won? That would be a relief, but if not...
"......"
With trembling hands, the skinny pirate barely managed to activate the terminal. The massive blast door slid open slowly. He slipped inside the moment it budged and triggered the lockdown before it was fully open.
The door closed at an agonizingly leisurely pace. As he bit his lip in anxiety, something appeared on the other side.
"!"
"Wait!"
One of the mercenaries he'd seen earlier was sprinting toward the blast door.
"...Fuck!"
The pirate considered sealing it anyway but changed his mind. Two were better than one to escape the mystery intruder. He worked the terminal to halt the closing door.
The instant the mercenary reached the threshold, a thunderous boom rocked the door violently.
"Wh-what?!"
"It's the thing! Monster's chasing me!"
"Son of a bitch!"
Hearing the mercenary's cry, the pirate slammed the door shut. Through the narrowing gap, he glimpsed something writhing beyond, just as the man had said.
'!'
It was only a split-second glimpse, but the pirate knew he'd never forget it. A pink snake covered in countless eyes. It writhed toward them as if greeting them, then vanished.
"Wh-what the hell was that? Never seen anything so grotesque."
"...No idea."
"Damn it! We need to tell B Sector... What about your weapon?"
"Dropped it running from the bastard."
The skinny pirate scowled at the mercenary's words. Without weapons, they had no way to fend off the monster if it pursued.
'Or maybe use him as bait.'
He was the only one armed here. If the monster broke through before they reached B Sector, he could toss the mercenary as feed.
"Let's head to the B Sector guard room first."
"Yeah."
The mercenary seemed oblivious to the pirate's thoughts. The two proceeded down the passage connecting to the B Sector guard room.
'Cameras are still up, at least.'
The skinny pirate eyed the passage cameras as he walked. Fortunately, the ceiling-mounted ones still had power. The B Sector guard room would know they were coming and be taking measures.
'No, better contact them here.'
Even without working radios, there was one sure way to communicate.
Each sector in this underground vault had a hardwired intercom operating on a closed circuit. Installed by the Marsio Cartel for situations like this—when comms failed or against alien EMP attacks.
He'd wanted to use it before crossing over, but the A Sector unit was near the vault entrance, so no choice. The skinny pirate signaled the passage camera that he'd use the wired intercom.
"What're you doing?"
"None of your business."
No need to be polite to potential bait. He curtly replied and approached the passage wall. Amid the bare surfaces, one spot had a small switch. Pressing it popped out an ivory rod connected to wiring inside the wall.
"What's that?"
"Cult wired intercom."
"Hmm? Didn't know we had one of those."
The mercenary sounded intrigued, but the pirate ignored him.
He detached the charger from his psychic rifle and plugged it into the rod's port. Being Cult tech, it needed psychic power.
Moments later, the intercom lit up.
"Got it! This is A Sector guard room. You copy?"
｢Zzzt... look... zzzzzzt｣
The skinny pirate let out a brief cheer and shouted into it. Static crackled back, mixed with a voice.
"Barely hearing you. A Sector guard room. Copy?"
｢Zzt... behind... zzt... behind... zzzzzzt｣
"What?"
｢Behind! Behind! Check your back!｣
The connection cleared just in time for a frantic shout.
"Behind? What's behind...?"
Not understanding, the skinny pirate turned. That's when he grasped what the B Sector guard room meant.
｢Monster behind you!｣
No one was left alive in the passage to answer the intercom dangling from the wall.