Chapter 318
Chapter 318
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 318
Chapter Title: Side Story: The Monster's Dream
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Plunderers surviving in the barren cosmos, the Space Dogs.
This band of pirates, made up of orphans, escaped slaves, war criminals, and mercenaries, had no family, no wealth, no home. They lived day to day off whatever spoils they raided that day.
However, some among them did think about something called the "future." The pirates who had survived for a long time used the wealth they'd accumulated through plundering to devise long-term plans for maintaining their cartel.
The path they chose was to integrate into the order created by the three great powers: Mega Corp, Star Union, and the Cult Empire.
At this point, with the great powers' spheres of influence firmly entrenched, pirates who didn't care about territory and just captured slaves or rare creatures were like a backscratcher for an itch. The gray zone between legal and illegal became the Space Dogs' new stage.
For instance, selling captured prisoners from raided ships as slaves or lab guinea pigs was one of the cartel's streams of income.
Among the pirates who made human trafficking their main business, the most infamous group was two.
The Humanity Cartel and the Sathua Cartel.
They didn't stop at mere plundering and kidnapping; they outright occupied entire planets and sold off all the natives. It was possible only because both had the backing of the Cult Empire.
Between the two, which was more evil and terrifying? The Sathua Cartel. The Humanity Cartel was a relatively new one, so its notoriety hadn't spread as far.
In contrast, the Sathua Cartel was a venerable group with over 40 years of activity. Their forces were so vast they could be called warlords of the cosmic fringes. They outnumbered and outshipped any other cartel.
On top of that, they even trafficked their fellow pirate comrades. Because of this, even among the Space Dogs cartels, Sathua was treated as an utterly loathsome group.
Of course, there were few cartels that could challenge Sathua's power, and even those that could were already in tight alliances with the major cartels.
The Sathua Cartel, one of the Space Dogs preparing for the future.
With the patronage of the great powers and aid from the major cartels, it seemed no threat existed in this universe that could touch them.
That is, until "those things" appeared on the planet that served as Sathua's base.
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'Damn, damn, damn, damn!'
The Sathua Cartel's deputy leader, hiding in the mud, spat curses endlessly in his mind.
He didn't know when or where this disaster had begun.
Ships en route to the slave market going dark. Contact lost with forest camps. Comrades sent to restore communications delayed in returning. A sudden outbreak of some unidentified plague. Which of these was the cause?
No, perhaps they all were.
It didn't matter anyway.
What was clear was that the Sathua Cartel, with its long history, was finished.
"Grraaaah!"
"Aaaargh!"
"Kreeeech!"
Screams from afar, roars from unknown entities, and gunfire mingled in chaotic symphony overhead.
Sounds he never would have heard until yesterday. They were coming from the cartel's main camp. His comrades were being mercilessly slaughtered by the enigmatic beings.
'What the hell did we do to deserve this?'
The deputy had committed countless raids and crimes up to now. He'd heard victims' wails so often it bored him.
But he'd never thought of himself as wrong.
Wasn't that how the world worked? The strong prey on the weak—that's nature's law. He and his men, his comrades, had simply followed it faithfully.
As he cursed the culprits behind this mess, the distant noises gradually faded.
"......"
A long while after the surroundings fell quiet, he cautiously lifted his head from the mud.
The forest, sunlit when he'd fled, was now starting to dim.
From afar came thump, thump—like an animal's cries. The deputy moved as slowly as he did when lining up a sniper shot.
Thump, thump. The beastly wails mixed with wingbeats. Ignoring the sound drilling into his ears, he crawled along the ground. There was a fighter craft deeper in the forest. Escaping on that was his top priority.
Thump, thump. The cries, faint at first, grew louder. Was it because he was moving silently? That sound was starting to grate especially.
'What kind of bastard...'
Mid-curse in his head, he realized the sound wasn't unfamiliar.
An animal native to this forest? No. He'd heard it recently.
To be precise, right before the camp turned to ashes.
Thump, thump.
The moment that thought hit, the sound drew closer. The deputy sprang up.
Less than 10 meters from "it." He planned to sprint straight to the fighter.
"!"
Pain shot through his ankle, and his body pitched forward. Having just stood, he now tumbled again and looked down at his ankle.
"H-Hiiik?!"
A pink tentacle had burst from the underbrush, tightly coiling around his leg. And the tentacle's owner bounced into view before him with a thump, thump.
"W-Wai...!"
His words never finished.
The pink blob-like "thing" ballooned massively and engulfed him.
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｢Me｣ ｢the one I was gonna catch｣ ｢little adult｣ ｢you stole｣
｢No way! I spotted it first!｣
｢Me｣ ｢ugly dwarf｣ ｢running away｣ ｢I saw｣
｢You didn't know where it went. I did. So I caught it first!｣
Specimen 026's point was valid.
Adhai had gotten distracted by another fugitive midway and lost the ugly dwarf. Meanwhile, the little adult, Specimen 026, had stuck to her original target.
Thanks to that, the fleeing pirate deputy was mangled beyond recognition.
｢Adults｣ ｢sharing｣ ｢is important｣ ｢little adult｣ ｢greedy｣
｢Big sis said whoever catches it eats it.｣
｢That｣ ｢I agree｣
With even big sis brought up, Adhai gave in.
Her beloved male was safely asleep somewhere. Just like always, he'd entered a long slumber to grow his body.
Big adult always foraged for food after growing. Adhai did this out of a desire for her love not to go hungry.
And Specimen 026 felt the same.
｢Big adult｣ ｢when done｣ ｢food｣ ｢wanna give as present｣
｢If you catch other food, take it.｣
｢Really?｣
｢Eat this and let's go hunt together.｣
｢Agree｣
Thoughts aligned for once, the two set off after another fugitive. Specimen 026 extended tentacles to digest her catch in one bite.
｢Huh?｣
While sweeping meat chunks inside, she felt an odd texture. Something new was in the corpse.
｢What is it?｣
｢Little adult｣ ｢done eating｣ ｢let's go｣
｢Yeah.｣
She didn't know what it was, but it looked fun, so Specimen 026 pocketed it.
After that, short screams echoed through the forest several times. Galleron and the Seed Demon, the scream-makers, returned to the burning camp only at nightfall.
"Welcome back?"
PS-111, who had been stacking corpses in the camp center and extracting needed genes and biometric data, greeted them.
｢Where｣ ｢put this?｣
"Inside that building over there."
｢Where's middle baby?｣
"Guarding the 'Aimorph' inside. Why?"
｢Got a question.｣
｢Little adult｣ ｢weird thing｣ ｢found｣
"Weird thing?"
Specimen 026 pulled out the object wrapped in her tentacles. PS-111 extended a claw-tipped leg to carefully take it.
｢Know what it is?｣
"It's a type of Cult pad terminal. But differing in appearance from standard models and detecting residual psychic power suggests it's a modified version for a special purpose."
｢That｣ ｢means you don't know?｣
"It differs from stored data, but I never said I didn't know."
｢Everyone worked hard.｣
｢It's middle baby!｣
As they discussed the item Specimen 026 brought, a griffon beastkin emerged from the large warehouse at the camp's rear.
｢Huh? What's that?｣
"Pad terminal brought by the main controller."
｢Snatched it from a human while giving him a beating.｣
｢Little adult｣ ｢ugly dwarf｣ ｢hunt｣ ｢success｣ ｢spoils｣ ｢got｣
｢Ugly dwarf—Wolf deputy, right? Something taken from him? Mind if I see?｣
Sky Mother took the terminal, her amber eyes gleaming. Like PS-111, she was slightly puzzled by its appearance.
｢Kinda weird-looking, huh?｣
"Presumed modified for special purposes."
｢Special purposes, eh.｣
She examined the pad closely from all angles, then called Specimen 026.
｢Hey, infuse a bit of power here. Not much—just a tiny bit.｣
｢Okay. I'll try.｣
Specimen 026's tentacle touched the pad Sky Mother held. As it tinged faintly purple, the pad activated.
｢Knew it.｣
Watching it work, Griffin Wolf let out a short exclamation.
"What is it?"
｢A tool to teach psychic power usage to non-Cult species. Like Braille for superpowers, metaphorically?｣
"Such a thing exists?"
｢I only heard about it in the settings... ahem, never knew they actually existed.｣
Sky Mother, nearly slipping into game lore, cleared her throat and operated the pad.
Everyone present reacted. Massive images had suddenly built themselves before their eyes via psychic power.
｢What?｣ ｢What?｣ ｢Weird!｣
"Trace psychic power distorting my sensory organs."
｢What's this? Everything feels so hazy! Amazing!｣
The top psychic users, Specimen 026 and Adhai, showed the strongest reactions. Sky Mother and PS-111, with weaker psychic aptitude, merely levitated slightly.
｢Activate it, and it projects psychic images on set themes like this. This one's... hm, like a Cult fairy tale?｣
As she said, anyone with psychic potential could sense the pad's images. The more sensitive to psychic power, the more vividly and in detail they could experience it.
Now, they weren't in a ruined pirate camp but inside a lavishly decorated palace.
"Comparing to stored data, 55% match to the interior of a palace primarily used by the Cult Emperor."
｢Palace?｣
"The records stored seem to be the legend 'The Pirate King Who Assassinated the Tyrant.' It's about brave Pirate King and heroes punishing the Emperor after he fell to madness and tyranny."
｢Hmm, never heard of that fairy tale... huh?｣
Sky Mother paused, admiring the illusion while listening to PS-111, as a new group appeared.
The newcomers were a mix of humans, wolves, Cult, cyborgs, and all sorts of races. Fine up to there, but the issue was their gender and attire.
｢W-What the hell?!｣
｢Whoa! New humans!｣
｢Dwarves｣ ｢lots of types｣
"Diverse races, but all same gender."
｢I know that!｣
The women's outfits were miles from palace-appropriate. So provocative even pleasure district bottom-feeders wouldn't wear them.
'C-Crazy! This is porn!'
Only after the scantily clad women climbed onto the bed did Sky Mother realize the pad's content.
It was adult material based on the tyrant legend. Psychic-powered virtual reality porn.
Her homeworld was deeply conservative on sexual matters, so she knew it well. Her favorite VR game had even failed review because of such elements.
｢Whoa! Humans exchanging food with tentacles!｣
｢Food?｣ ｢Don't see｣
｢There, shoving tentacles in their bodies. That's how they feed!｣
｢That's｣ ｢not tentacles｣
"Confirmed as specialized body parts. But pressing that part to that one is inefficient."
Hearing the three monsters' chatter snapped Sky Mother alert.
To her, with weak psychic handling, it was just visuals. But not for them. Psychic beings like Galleron and Seed Demon would feel like they were actually there.
So she shut off the pad immediately.
｢What? Feeling gone suddenly.｣
｢Middle adult｣ ｢broke the thing｣
｢...Didn't break it, but you're too young for it.｣
｢?｣ ｢Me｣ ｢pack leader｣ ｢plenty adult｣
｢I'm adult too. Wanna see more.｣
She'd blurted it was for kids only, but it fell flat. As Specimen 026 and Adhai protested, Sky Mother hid the pad behind her back.
｢Uh, even adults shouldn't see it.｣
｢My thing. Mine, so I do what I want!｣
｢Agree｣ ｢thing｣ ｢little adult's｣ ｢property｣
"Agree. Biologically intriguing data. Request reactivation of pad."
｢.......｣
With PS-111 joining in, she was out of arguments.
Truth be told, with such different species, knowing the content posed little risk. She knew that.
Yet she acted this way because the creatures before her were far from typical wild animals. Possessing intelligence beyond humans, they'd quickly grasp what knowledge this pad offered.
And what they could do with that "knowledge."
'...Not my business anyway.'
Who they bonded with was clear. They wanted deeper ties with the Aimorph preparing new evolution.
Deciding relations with Specimen 026 and Adhai was the Aimorph's call. No reason for third-wheel her to interfere. She'd thought that before, in a similar case.
But now, was it because she saw them as children? Or some other emotion she didn't recognize?
'Whatever, this twisted stuff is bad!'
She couldn't pin down why, but she couldn't back down. No telling what "hardcore group adult content" might do to smart beasts. Had to stop it.
She pulled the ultimate card.
｢Uh, b-big sis would hate it.｣
｢Big adult?｣ ｢Why?｣
｢Why? It's fun.｣
｢Big sis hates this stuff. So, PS-111.｣
Before the kids pressed further, she handed the terminal to PS-111.
｢Extract all important data and scrap the rest. Remember what the Aimorph needs to find?｣
"Info on the pirates' auction? Understood."
Sky Mother's rare firm tone buried the pad issue.
Adhai, intrigued at first, lost interest and headed to the food storage building. Sky Mother, embarrassed to linger, slipped away too.
PS-111, tasked by Aimorph and Sky Mother, analyzed the pad. As she cabled it up, Specimen 026 approached.
｢Friend.｣
"Yes."
｢Wanna see what's inside.｣
"'Middle baby' said 'Aimorph' would hate it. Okay with her resentment?"
｢Don't want big sis mad! What I want is different.｣
"Different?"
｢Yeah. If I study what big sis hates, won't it help later?｣
PS-111 paused at Specimen 026's waves.
｢Big sis is strongest as leader, but if stronger bad guys come, I gotta help.｣
"Logical point."
｢So I gotta study. Even what big sis hates.｣
PS-111 nodded at the articulate pink jellyfish.
"Main controller's view noted. Will copy contents for review."
｢Don't get it.｣
"Means I'll grant your request."
｢Yay! Thanks!｣
"In return, I'm interested too. We'll study together."
｢Fun!｣
It was far from what Sky Mother hoped, but she never knew.
One thing sure: her feared outcome wouldn't happen.
Until arriving on this planet, Specimen 026's dream never changed.
Guiding her kin and family to greater happiness and prosperity—that was her dream.
And that family included everyone she loved.
For their happiness, she'd learn anything.