Chapter 276
Chapter 276
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 276
Chapter Title: Collapse (1)
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Where had it all gone wrong?
He hadn't skimped on security ahead of a major deal, nor had he burned bridges with the other cartels.
Montana straddled the line between illegal and legitimate operations, always careful not to make unnecessary enemies. He ran his cartel not like a pirate, but like a businessman.
The result was a cartel so massive it ranked among the top three in Space Dogs. By any measure, his approach had been a resounding success.
At least until today.
Montana, who had just stepped into the private elevator of the Second Command Headquarters, barely suppressed the urge to scream and thrash about.
Even the beautiful music flowing from the elevator's speakers couldn't calm him. The gunfire interspersed with the smooth piano melody kept dragging him back to reality.
His fortress was crumbling.
"...Fuck."
In this situation, he couldn't hold back the curses. As he muttered under his breath, the bodyguards behind him flinched.
This attack wasn't limited to the Second Command Headquarters. Contact with the Third had been completely cut off, and the reinforcements from the First were isolated by the bizarre monsters swarming everywhere.
'All that's left is...'
To escape this fortress.
Each headquarters had an escape route on the 110th floor. It was a personal shuttle crafted long ago by imperial bureaucrats for inspecting the planet.
Shaped like a rocket, it launched directly to a designated spot on the planet at high speed. The shuttle itself was protected by reinforced shields typically used on warships, making it safe.
The downside was that it couldn't be piloted and only landed at a fixed location. Once down, you'd have to wait for a rescue team.
'Asking other cartels for help is out of the question.'
The reason he'd fled the central control room was the report that enemies had breached the underground bunker. No way those merciless monsters would leave the VIPs there alive.
With the fortress falling and his VIP backers gone, no other cartel would lift a finger for him.
'...Wait a second.'
The people in the banquet hall were done for, but those upstairs weren't necessarily.
Especially the female Cult he treated with the utmost care.
She hadn't come down to the hall, citing personal reasons. She avoided contact with others, so she was likely still up there.
The head of the Carmel family had personally instructed him to treat her well. If he hid on the planet with her, Carmel would surely send a rescue.
As the display hit the 90s, he punched 100. That's where his last insurance policy waited.
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"Dieee!"
"Fall back! Fall b...aaagh!"
Curses and screams punctuated the hail of bullets.
The vibrations from those familiar sounds were picked up by the auxiliary organs under my jaw. And to top it off, a sweet aroma wafted in.
Corrosion tentacles dragged pirates out from cover at the corridor junction. Before they could resist, the six appendages at the tentacle tips shredded their flesh.
Warm blood, innards, and chunks of meat that shouldn't be spilling out. If you compared the scent to music, it was like an elegant melody from distinctive string instruments blending together.
'A human would've puked.'
The pirates splattered with their comrades' blood looked like they were losing their minds. Staring blankly at their mutilated fellows, they were soon torn apart by the claws of the mutants emerging between my legs.
"Grkikikiki!"
A mutant roared, clutching a tentacle ripped out with its head as a trophy. The others charged the enemy to claim their own.
'Wonder how that one's doing.'
It had been a while since PS-111 started hacking the Third Command Headquarters. I'd modified it several times before coming here. It should have breached their system defenses by now.
'Probably takes ten minutes to finish...'
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a massive boom echoed from outside.
The foghorn-like blast was loud enough to hear anywhere in the fortress. The blood and flesh soaking the floor floated up, then rained back down.
'It worked!'
The phenomenon before me signaled a gravity anomaly in the fortress. That meant PS-111 had seized control of the life support systems.
And the thunderous roar reverberating through the entire structure? Another good sign for me.
'It's venting the oxygen.'
I knew this trick well from games.
Not content with cutting off oxygen supply, it was purging it to the outside. Even if the First and Second tried overpressurizing to compensate, the outflow would outpace inflow—it wouldn't be easy.
In about an hour, every living thing in this fortress would collapse from oxygen deprivation.
'No point fighting pirate forces anymore.'
Leave the remaining grunts to the mutants and the mercenaries spreading madness like wildfire. Time for other business.
'Clear the escape routes.'
The military port with its docked capital ships was already obliterated. In this mess, they had only one option left.
'The shuttles in the command posts.'
Kesha Arma was a space facility orbiting the mining planet periodically. Each command post housed high-speed shuttles direct to the planet—essentially space rockets for bureaucrats to inspect for issues.
Launched from silos running from the cylindrical command post's summit through the fortress's reinforced glass canopy. No manual control, but it got you planetside in under a minute.
'If survivors use them, it'll be a hassle.'
Chasing them down to the planet would be annoying. Not hard, but I was on the verge of evolution. No need for extra headaches.
'Shuttles at the top, right?'
Command post peak was floor 110. I was on 3.
'Gotta smash my way up.'
[Zrzzzr zz (Come here)]
｢Yeah.｣
I relocated No. 26 from my head. Cradling it gently with an arm from my chest, I activated the bio-cannon reaching the ceiling.
The spore sac filled with explosive fluid left the barrel and detonated on impact. A third of the ceiling collapsed in a heap. My carapace and head felt a brief heat, but no real damage.
'Seems fine.'
I began smashing upward through the building's interior at speed.
"What the fu—?!"
"Incoming...argh!"
Pirates barricaded in the upper corridor, battling mutants, got pulverized by me bursting through the floor. Some plummeted into the hole; others writhed under debris until mutants tore them apart.
｢Big one okay?｣
No. 26 fretted over the rubble piled on my head and back.
[Zrzzzr zzrzrz (Tough, no hurt)]
｢Tough! Super tough!｣
I shook off the debris effortlessly, and it sparkled with delight.
From there, I kept ascending—blasting ceilings with explosive spores, slamming them with wing arms, whatever worked.
Sometimes pirate-held corridors, sometimes lavish halls decked in opulent decor, sometimes pools with water floating everywhere. Each floor got a 10m-plus hole punched through, but the structure held. Probably thanks to the shielding walls around the exterior.
Wrecking the command post interior, I neared the top before long.
'Almost there.'
No more human scents after the ornate 100th floor. Instead, the floors grew twice as thick. Getting close to the shuttle level.
'Doesn't matter against acidic breath.'
Thick or not, it wasn't shielding-grade. I gaped my maw and unleashed a highly acidic fungal breath.
Like a classic SF horror where creatures melt out with acidic blood—a huge hole burned through the ceiling. It wasn't just one floor; melt marks scarred the one above too.
I pushed through the molten wall and kept going, finally reaching the summit.
A silo stretched beyond the command post's height to greet me. Shielding hid the view now, but normally you'd see the fortress expanse and the planet beyond the reinforced glass.
Below, in the multi-layered metal silo, sat a small shuttle. Nearby, a handful prepping to board stared at me in shock.
A portly pirate, three bodyguards, and a female Cult with antlers on her head.
'Antlers?'
I'd fought antlered Cults before, but they weren't common. In Cult society, they wielded the strongest psy-powers and ranked among the top nobility. Few in number, rarely active externally.
Of those I'd faced, Muriel and Jason had antlers—both players, not typical Cults.
'Player maybe?'
Come to think of it, Kadtun mentioned a heavyweight among the Marcio Cartel's clients.
'Deal with the shuttle first.'
Player or not, block the exit. I readied psy-breath immediately.
The monster's tentacles, dyed purple, unleashed potent energy. A violet beam mimicking draconic might lanced toward the shuttle.
Its heavy shields were offline—couldn't block my attack.
But what happened next exceeded expectations.
The antlered Cult thrust her right arm skyward. A circular mandala of purple psy-threads unfurled, nullifying the psy-breath. Not just blocking—erasing it like it never existed.
The mandala curved into a dome, enveloping the shuttle and her group.
'What technique?'
Few defenses I knew could invalidate attacks so smoothly.
Red Galleron's Red Armor or Vortex One tech might manage, but she was just a Cult. Some psy-powers could counter psy-breath, but not this effortlessly.
'And no rebound force.'
Adhai's Red Armor still got pushed back by impact.
She seemed to manipulate and nullify the breath's properties entirely. Like when I used 'Complex Spectrum'.
'No way?'
Unknown technique. Antlered Cult roaming a pirate fortress.
Only one answer fit.
'Cult Ranker.'
"...Number 5."
The cold-faced Cult murmured chillingly as she eyed me.
An unexpected foe in an unexpected place, under unexpected circumstances—a Ranker like me.
Intense psy-power surged from her open left hand, barreling toward me.