Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Infection Lord's Nest
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"Well..."
Honestly, running an independent unit was nothing short of asking for trouble.
Still, the reason he stubbornly stuck with it despite all those drawbacks was for the greater freedom it offered.
And in my case, with such impressive results, it meant we could score massive spoils of war, giving us even more financial leeway.
Nora didn't press with more questions after I brushed it off.
"Nora-sunbae. If we expand the independent unit later, wanna join us?"
"Me?"
She widened her eyes in surprise at my offer.
Then a mischievous grin spread across her face.
"You planning to work me to the bone too? This big sis is too old to keep up with you youngsters."
"...Haha, by then it won't be as hectic as now. Not as cushy as life in Valhalla, sure, but it'll be plenty relaxed."
Darmosa's guidelines virtually guaranteed success at our current pace.
And once we succeeded, the independent unit's operations would gain even more freedom.
That was when I planned to scale it up.
Not just operating a lone Sheila-class battleship, but adding larger vessels and support ships to form a proper fleet.
That would expand our operational scope, letting us make full use of our autonomy. "Since it's a request from our cute little maknae, I'll think about it."
"That's all I need."
Just getting her to consider it was a huge win.
As I'd said before, Nora was a unit commander-level superhuman, a key asset even in the Central Superhuman Unit.
But pulling her out wouldn't weaken their forces noticeably.
'They've got other monsters besides Nora.'
The Central Superhuman Unit's reputation wasn't for show.
It was packed with veterans who'd stepped back from the front lines but still packed their prime punch.
Losing one like her wouldn't even register. *
We arrived at our destination after three AD Drive jumps.
We'd gotten battlefield updates en route, but Paradiso looked far worse up close in space than the reports had suggested.
"The contamination's progressed that much...?"
I'd bounced around more than twenty planets hit by aliens and seen all kinds of messes, but this was the worst yet.
"It wasn't this bad in the last report, right?"
"Yes. It was tough, but nothing this critical."
Over 30% of the visible planetary surface was blanketed in mucus membranes.
Realistically, more than half the landmass had already been devoured by the aliens.
Whatever they'd been doing, the Cross Alliance had clearly screwed up big time. "Maintain present orbit until we assess the situation."
"Orbit maintained!" The crew bustled, gathering data and controlling the ship.
A comms request came in soon after.
It was from the ships guarding the Drive Gate.
I authorized it, and a screen popped up in front of the captain's chair.
-Greetings. I am Cardinal Carl Marty, in charge of defending Vice Capital Paradiso.
"Superhuman Leonard here. I've heard about you."
Carl Marty was a middle-aged man with a stubborn gaze, long mustache, and goatee.
-Thank you so much for rushing all this way to aid the Alliance.
"No need for that. But Paradiso looks way worse than the reports. What happened?"
Even if it was rude, I asked point-blank.
The situation was dire enough that we might need to rethink everything—no time for niceties.
-Uh...
Carl's face hardened instantly as he groaned.
He clearly grasped how bad it was.
-It was an act of God.
"...An act of God?"
-28 hours ago, we faced another wave of attacks. We threw everything we had and seemed to repel it, but we never imagined an Infection Lord was among the assaulting aliens.
My mind blanked the moment I heard "Infection Lord."
It wasn't a common term.
No regular alien went by that name.
Racking my brain, I recalled its origins.
"...You mean that Infection Lord is what they call a Named alien, right?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"Urgh..."
I couldn't help groaning.
The weight of that name was immense.
It was a Named that had once wiped out an entire frontline planet.
'That thing's here...?'
Infection Lords weren't high in raw combat power.
But their mere presence accelerated contamination and boosted subordinate aliens' strength.
Severe planetary contamination sped up hatchery growth and shrank the coalition's maneuverability.
That was why the previous frontline had collapsed.
If they hadn't spotted the Infection Lord nesting in a hatchery while hunting the sudden contamination surge, they might never have identified it.
"It's already entrenched in the hatchery, then."
-Yes. Current observations predict Phase 6 by end of day.
"Talk about mountains on mountains."
-This is our fault. We should've intercepted it sooner, but the assault distracted us.
This wasn't on Cardinal Carl.
A full-on assault alone would've been chaos—spotting and taking out an Infection Lord dropping amid other aliens?
Especially one bound to have heavy escorts?
It was like a natural disaster.
'Worse than sequential assaults, even.'
Nameds rarely moved from their territories.
If this Infection Lord hadn't shown up, we'd have written it off as nonexistent.
Maintaining the status quo was hard enough—diving into a fallen planet to hunt it was impossible.
"What do you plan to do?"
I asked with a grim face.
Half of it was probing if we should cut our losses here.
No choice.
A hatchery with an Infection Lord was impregnable.
Aliens born under its influence grew stronger, and the surrounding barrier toughened.
Plus, the contamination it spewed ignored armor suits.
Prolonged exposure would corrupt even superhumans, let alone regulars—their bodies mutating.
'That's why the previous extermination failed.'
Normal hatcheries could be breached by throwing superhumans at them, no matter the resistance.
But one with an Infection Lord? Exception.
How do you assault when just approaching gets you killed?
"I'm sorry to say this, but we can't abandon Paradiso. It's a land blessed by God, home to His faithful. Please help us."
"There's no way, is there?"
No matter how vital humanity was, I couldn't shove comrades into an Infection Lord's maw.
Even if we took it down, severe bodily corruption was guaranteed—high risk of death.
'If it were just me...'
A reckless thought flashed by.
With my contamination resistance, I'd outlast other superhumans for sure.
But surviving longer didn't mean slaying the Lord—that was a whole other beast.
'Impossible.'
By the time we breached, it'd hit Phase 6.
A Phase 6 hatchery could spawn a dozen Dread Knights like the ones I'd seen before—no surprise.
And stronger ones, at that.
"The Crusader Order is en route here now."
Cardinal Carl wouldn't let go despite my obvious reluctance.
"...As you know, it's not about having superhumans."
"His Holiness said they can do it."
"What do you... Ah!" Midway through scoffing, I remembered someone I'd forgotten.
'Jang Woolf's still around.'
The man immune to Infection Lord contamination.
Not just resistant like me—completely immune, the only one.
And Jang Woolf was a member of the Crusader Order.
"I won't ask you to take huge risks. Just secure an entry path so they can reach the core."
"Understood."
His solemn face, braced for refusal, lit up at my crisp reply. "We'll join you."
"Really?"
Jang Woolf's identity was top secret even within the Cross Alliance.
Judging by Carl's reaction, he probably knew little about him.
My sudden change of heart would baffle him for the same reason. "Of course. We can't back off without trying when the Cross Alliance faces peril. We'll give it our all."
"Oh, what divine grace! Thank you so much."
Visibly moved—nearly tearing up—Cardinal Carl bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
I kept smiling, ignoring the prick of my conscience. 'Help's help, after all...'
Jang Woolf tipped the scales, but assaulting the hatchery was still daunting.
Target: Phase 6 hatchery.
With an Infection Lord, difficulty spiked at least one level above standard Phase 6.
I had zero Phase 5 or 6 assaults under my belt—practically leaping stages—so worry gnawed at me.
*
Hours after comms with Cardinal Carl, the makeshift coalition fleet arrived.
With the extra firepower, both forces skirmished sporadically to slow hatchery growth.
"Crusader Order ETA?"
"Alliance says about six hours."
That's when we'd launch the op.
I busied myself mapping terrain, alien types, picking loadouts, while shelling the hatchery alongside the fleet.
"It's not even chipping away."
"Regeneration's too fast. It's almost Phase 7 level."
We kept pouring fire despite negligible effect to force energy diversion to defenses.
Hatcheries absorbed planetary energy.
That fueled core growth, barriers, or spawning high-risk aliens from Phase 3 up.
Hitting it like this yanked energy from elsewhere to sustain the barrier, slowing growth.
'It's already Phase 6. Can't let it go further.'
That's why every ship in Paradiso except key defenses was here.
Goal: Suppress high-risk spawns until the assault team entered.
Like our first Phase 5, it couldn't ramp production just by hitting the next phase.
Facilities had to scale with the core—we'd deny it that window.
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, shit. Didn't expect to face an Infection Lord head-on."
Sheppard muttered something between awe and curse.
Nora voiced worry too.
'Well, the seniors know more about Infection Lords than I do.'
Infection Lords didn't appear in the original story.
They'd teased it, but the plot never reached there.
Just a concept sketch.
Paradiso wasn't supposed to have one either.
'Red phase, and now this. Nameds are getting unpredictable.'
Nameds popping up like this wrecked battlefields—huge threat to humanity.
But maybe this was for the best. 'If it'd stayed put, no chance like this.'
An Infection Lord's home was a late-stage hatchery.
On a planet already alien chow, turned spawn factory.
Hunting one there? No chance with our forces.
This was a golden opportunity.