Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Predator Sense
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'Predator Sense?'
I double-checked the traits listed in the text box.
👽 Species:Unidentified Hostile Space Creature
📈 Status:Hatchling
🎯 Goal:Survive
🔹 Possessed Traits:Predator Sense (Fusion), Wings, Chitinous Exoskeleton, Robust Vitality, Paralysis Venom Needle
I knew that Space Survival had a trait fusion system. It was a mechanic that combined two or more related traits into a single, enhanced one.
Oftentimes, even seemingly useless traits could transform into powerful ones through fusion, so I'd made active use of it myself.
After using it so much, I'd memorized every trait in the game along with their fusion recipes.
'A trait even I don't know about?'
No matter how many times I looked, it was something I'd never seen before.
'Detects threats in advance.'
There were future-prediction traits in the game too, but they were mostly implemented as evasion rate boosts.
To be blunt, they sounded good but weren't actually that useful.
'But this is reality. I wonder how it really works.'
Just like with Super Sense, I focused my senses on my auxiliary organ.
The slender, tentacle-like auxiliary organ on my jaw wriggled, reading the information floating in the air.
Thanks to its enhancement, the amount of data it gathered was on a whole other level compared to before.
I could even tell what insects were in the cargo hold and what shape the weapons in the containers took.
But the future precognition effect I'd hoped for didn't activate. Probably because no threat was coming my way.
'It's a passive type, huh.'
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing that it was a passively activating trait. Threats could strike at any moment, so this was a definite advantage.
'Man, eating a mammal gives way more energy.'
The vitality coursing through my body was great, but the sense of fullness was on another level entirely. My exoskeleton covering my belly and back even felt a bit taut.
Basking in that pleasant satiation, I returned to my nest.
Historians say that Mega Corp originated from seven corporations on Earth and Mars that colluded to maximize their profits.
The government couldn't stand idly by while mere merchants encroached on their authority, so they declared war on the seven conglomerates.
After countless sacrifices that turned the seas red with blood, the seven corporations emerged victorious.
Thus began the era where every planet in the solar system fell under the command of a single massive corporate alliance—Mega Corp.
Afterward, five of the seven foundational companies, headquartered on Earth, became the five great families of the Noble Capital. The two on Mars became Mars's aristocratic Prime Capital.
Among the Noble Capital's five great families ruling Earth, the Yujin Family might come as a surprise, but it started as a small agricultural company.
The Yujin ancestors had early insight into the potential of genetically modified foods and poured massive investments into genetic engineering.
This tradition persisted even into the space age. As a result, the Yujin Family possessed some of the galaxy's premier genetic engineering technologies.
It was thanks to her family's background that Kisaragi Yujin became such an exceptional geneticist.
Having shown prodigious talent from a young age, the family invested heavily in her.
Growing up without ever knowing deprivation, she always got what she wanted—immediately if possible, or soon after with a little patience.
And so?
She could hardly accept that, for the first time in her life, she'd lost something she owned.
"When can I see Kaiser?"
"The soldiers are searching, so if you just wait a bit longer..."
"It's already been two hours! Kaiser never misses mealtime. Something must have happened!"
Anyone who knew Kisaragi would be shocked by her appearance. Her perfectly maintained black hair was disheveled, and her usual icy expression was gone.
Right now, she was a complete madwoman.
Captain Yuseong Samuel sighed as he watched her, clearly out of her mind.
"This is a ship. Unless the cat hijacked an escape pod, it's somewhere onboard."
"That's why I'm telling you to find it right now!"
"What I mean is, if you wait, there'll be good results."
Yuseong was a Third Capital from Saturn's moon Titan. Far from low-class, but nothing compared to the Noble Capital before him. If she told him to step down as captain, he'd have to relinquish the position—the gap between them was that vast.
With the person holding his life in her hands half-mad, even Yuseong felt like losing it.
'What the hell is so special about that damn cat!'
He barely suppressed the urge to scream that he didn't deserve this torment.
"What about the guards? What happened to them?"
"They're all detained. We'll follow due process once we reach our destination..."
"Execute them immediately."
"Pardon?"
Yuseong thought he'd misheard.
"Captains have summary execution authority, right? Use it now."
"Executing them over something like this would unsettle the other soldiers."
"Something like this?"
Meeting her murderous glare, Yuseong cleared his throat and corrected himself.
"Ahem, what I mean is, we should discuss punishments after the search progresses. Nothing more."
"Have you forgotten this all happened because the soldiers didn't do their jobs?"
Yuseong knew it well: the soldiers aboard weren't fond of the cat at all.
Even he, the captain, only got fresh meat once a week, filling up on cultured stuff the rest of the time.
'Meanwhile, that damn furball gets beef every meal.'
If even he hated the cat that much, how must the soldiers feel?
Surely plenty were secretly pleased by its misfortune.
But voicing that would direct her rage at him, so Yuseong kept quiet.
"I'm fully aware of your concerns, Research Team Leader. I'll use this as an opportunity to tighten discipline among the soldiers."
"...I'll be back in two hours. If there's no progress by then, you'd better take off that hat."
Kisaragi warned Yuseong and left the captain's quarters.
'Where the hell are you?'
She hadn't been sitting idle while the soldiers searched.
Using hairs left on the cushion, she'd crafted a tracker to pinpoint where Kaiser had gone.
The device worked perfectly, but the results left her baffled in reverse.
Her cat had gone somewhere impossible without human intervention.
Kaiser had unscrewed the vent grate, headed to the cargo hold, and vanished.
It screamed human involvement, so she summoned the cargo hold manager.
He had a solid alibi—he'd been drinking in the mess with colleagues all day. But he'd still neglected his duties, so she tried to kill him.
If the captain hadn't intervened, the manager would be drifting eternally in the void of space.
Suppressing her killing intent, she dragged the trembling man through every inch of the cargo hold.
Kaiser's trail ended near a container. And there were traces of some unidentified creature.
She collected samples, ran them through the analyzer, but got only "No Data."
'Genetic info not even in the Mega Corp database.'
Even for her, building a tracker for an unknown entity wasn't easy. She could do it, but it would take longer than usual.
At least a day at best; two with extra tweaks to boost success odds.
Kaiser wouldn't starve to death in that time, but she felt an inexplicable unease.
Something was definitely wrong.
Her instincts screamed that something horrific had happened in the cargo hold.
That's why she'd hounded the innocent captain to find her cat faster.
'Whoever you are, if you touched what's mine, I'll kill you.'
Unconsciously, she bit her nail. The blood dripping from the tip laid bare her emotions.
'Hm?'
As I lay in my nest leisurely digesting, I sensed changes aboard the ship.
The humans were more frantic than usual. They'd realized the cat was missing.
Thanks to my upgraded auxiliary organ, I could even roughly make out the humans' appearances. Their sturdy builds and forceful movements marked them as soldiers on search duty.
Soldiers rolling around half-starved searching for a pet they didn't even like. Some things never changed, even in the space age.
'Everything's going according to plan.'
Killing the cat netted me two big gains.
First, clouding Kisaragi Yujin's judgment.
Considering her actions and the cat's condition, she doted on her pet immensely. Devil to test subjects and researchers, but an angel to her own animal.
People who only act human toward what they cherish weren't rare. And they shared another trait.
'Lose what you hold dear, and you snap.'
She wasn't worried about the pet dying or being in danger. She was furious that a stranger had stolen her possession. She'd react the same even if it was her least valuable item.
An irrational possessiveness—obsession, plain and simple.
And the obsessed can't stay rational.
Second, sowing discord between Kisaragi Yujin and the soldiers.
The biggest obstacle to ambushing her was the guards. With soldiers shadowing her everywhere, surprise attacks were near impossible.
Even if I somehow took her out, discovery by the soldiers afterward would cost more than it gained.
So I created an opening.
By driving a wedge between her and the soldiers.
'The guards didn't like the cat.'
Who wouldn't be pissed watching it eat meat they couldn't touch, used as pet food?
Truthfully, the cat was just an excuse—the root was class resentment. The absurd privileges of Noble Capital were infuriating, but too risky to protest directly.
'Scary owner, but the pet? Fair game.'
In short, her cat had served as a shield of sorts.
What happens when that scapegoat vanishes?
Especially when it's someone they hated, forcing pointless hardship?
Would the soldiers still loyally protect her?
And it wasn't just them. Kisaragi Yujin no longer trusted the soldiers either.
Their negligence was the primary cause of her precious possession's loss.
'Heh, thanks for the assist, kitty.'
They never imagined a worthless lump of meat could trigger this butterfly effect.
I rose from my spot.
Plant the seeds, then reap the harvest—that's the way of the world.
The time had come to claim Kisaragi Yujin's genetic essence.