Chapter 46
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Choosing an Escort Ship (1)
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A single mistake.
That one slip-up ruins everything.
"Kuhahaha!!!"
The bastard was paying for it now, in the most brutal way imaginable.
If only it had properly confirmed the kill.
This catastrophe never would have happened.
"I'll make you regret ever surviving!!!"
I dashed from organ to organ, unleashing plasma blasts everywhere.
The Abomination's internal organs were made of Xeno corpses, just like the exterior.
I burned and destroyed every last one.
〔Graaaahhh!!!〕
〔Stop!!! Please, stop!!!〕
The Abomination writhed in agony.
With each organ I smashed, I could feel it breaking down.
Its body had already lost balance.
Devoid of lift, it slammed into the ground.
Of course, it hadn't just sat there idly.
To eliminate the fatal intruder inside.
Its immune system kicked into gear.
"Intruder detected."
"Must prevent access to vital organs."
"Destroy it."
Monsters crawled toward me on four legs.
At their centers spun rotary laser emitters.
Those seemed to be their main weapons.
—Ziiing!
The immune monsters that spotted me began charging their beam attacks.
Right then, an alert popped up on my helmet's combat interface.
〔Annihilation Beam activation detected ahead〕
〔Engaging primary enemy〕
〔Utrmaher exclusive defense system active〕
The same info window had appeared last time I got hit by an Annihilation Beam.
Unlike fights with other Xenos.
Recognizing the primary foe, the battlesuit automatically deployed its dedicated shield.
—Kwaaaang!
A thin protective layer formed over the battlesuit's surface.
The enemies' destructive beams struck it.
But they couldn't pierce the barrier.
"Im... impossible."
"Is our firepower insufficient?"
"No way. Our beams are Imperial tech. More than enough to shred inferior species' armor."
Realizing their weapons were useless.
The immune monsters hesitated.
I strolled toward them unscathed.
"You're way weaker than the Utr cans in the sims. What can I say... their lasers feel sloppy by comparison?"
Having fought every Utr can in the sims, time for a laser tasting review.
The Abomination's Annihilation Beams and these monsters' lasers felt half-baked somehow.
If the sim Utr cans fired authentic Annihilation Beams.
These were like bootleg knockoffs.
Appetizer's over.
I reloaded my gun and aimed at them.
"Time for the main course?"
The blaster began to glow.
Blue flames danced.
The flames soon engulfed the immune monsters.
They melted slowly, but in utter torment, before dying.
"Graaaahhh!!!"
My favorite song?
The screams of abominations.
〔No!!!〕
〔You idiots!!!〕
〔Block it from reaching the heart, you fools!〕
Despite fierce resistance from the immune monsters.
I smashed through the door and made it inside.
The heart chamber brimmed with complex machinery.
Amusement ride parts repurposed into a power unit.
Gaps filled with corpses, it seemed.
"Alright, patient. Bite down hard. This is gonna hurt."
I gripped the blaster instead of a scalpel.
Sensitive spot, so high-heat plasma mode engaged.
Planning to melt the whole heart.
〔W-Wait!!!〕
〔What do you want?! Name it—I'll give anything!〕
In desperation, it tried negotiating.
I aimed the blaster at the heart's core.
Then I spoke.
"What I want? Oh, I got one."
"This planet's mine now."
—Fwoosh!
Ultra-high-temperature plasma engulfed the heart.
It started thrashing in pain.
The entire facility shook violently.
"Graaaahhh!!!"
The heart melted slowly.
The power unit roared before exploding.
The corpse-parts screamed too.
I bolted out in a hurry.
The Abomination's entire body was collapsing.
Pipes lined the walls like veins.
They began bursting one by one.
Instinct screamed:
This place is gonna blow soon.
Had to escape now.
—Kwaang!
Blasted a hole in the wall with the plasma blaster.
Outside visible through the gap.
I squeezed through desperately.
Once out, I sprinted like mad.
"Graaaahhh!!!"
Glancing back, the Abomination writhed on the ground.
—Kwaaaaang!!!
Then it detonated in a massive explosion.
How do you even make that call in that situation?
The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets lol
You wake up surrounded by corpses, normal reaction is freak out and bail, right?
But no, guy's like "Might as well dive in and rip out its guts" lmao
At this point, who's the real abomination? Lol
Abomination of abominations ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
If Newbub shows up in abomination dreams, that's a nightmare for them
Does that mean Newbub's stronger than Bellid Empire's 5 army groups?
Comparing Bellid trash to Newbub is an insult to him
So what happens to the abominations in the sim?
Looks like the real black curtain is that Ekalshame artificial planet in the sim.
Abomination was just the tool to summon it.
Don't we gotta destroy that planet too?
Simulator's gone, so maybe we're good?
Anomaly board shows exploration success, so it's cleared.
Yeah, probably no need to worry about Ekalshame.
Good, was worried I'd have to sim again.
No prob. Fought 'em—Utrs are trash weak. Just smash.
...Huh? Who're weak?
Guy's power balance sense is totally broken.
Seen plenty underestimate Ancients and bite the dust. Newbub might flip it and stomp tho…
Right after finishing off the Abomination.
I returned to the ship.
With the Abomination gone, the planet's systems normalized.
Could leave anytime now.
But I stayed in orbit instead of departing.
Simple reason.
Kinda feel bad just leaving.
Got scammed by Varatis for 1.25M gold.
Came here, couldn't even enjoy, just suffered balls-to-the-wall.
Refund due?
Anomaly gone, park should be normal now? Play a bit.
Used to go there a ton back in the day.
Whoa, can I go too?
Try any funny business... you know.
Check anomaly rewards first. Scale like this? Jackpot incoming.
Oh yeah, rewards first.
Seeing Space Engineer's comment, I checked rewards immediately.
I posted the rewards straight to the gallery.
Comments flooded in instantly.
Whoa lolol ship points for real??
Escort ship needs 5000P? Plenty left after one, insane lol
This is why we grind hard quests ffs so jealous
Took me 10 years for escort. This guy's getting one in under a year
1 year? Been in Alpha Universe less than 6 months lol
Balance check??
This pace? Vortex Lord contract by year's end?
Nah... even for him, that's tough
Maybe?
The gallery was seething with envy.
I'd achieved in under a year what took them years.
I checked the ship upgrade menu.
Price:5000P
Upkeep:10P/year, 100M Gold/year
Price:5000P, 30B Gold
Upkeep:10P/year, 150M Gold/year
Price:5000P, 15B Gold
Upkeep:10P/year, 100M Gold/year
Price:5000P, 15B Gold
Upkeep:10P/year, 150M Gold/year
Price:5000P, 40B Gold
Upkeep:10P/year, 180M Gold/year
Price:5000P, 60B Gold
Upkeep:10P/year, 225M Gold/year
Thought it'd just be a plain escort ship.
But options galore.
Posted to gallery.
Lots of escort ship types—which to buy?
(Escort ship list pasted)
Thought just one basic. Variants everywhere.
Was gonna grab priciest but don't wanna get called sucker again.
Which one here?
These? Leave to the...
'Experts'
Immediately, suspiciously ship-obsessed folks swarmed the comments.