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In the ion cannon control room, the chief technician and the team members looked up at the ceiling with uneasy expressions.
The sharp sound of metal blades clashing, followed by the intermittent blasts—these were sounds that should never be heard from a Gigacracker.
“Shouldn’t we go check it out?”
“No. If we move, we risk losing control over the ion cannon.”
“But waiting for an hour feels... too long.”
“We’re wearing enhanced armor to prevent any potential incidents. What you’re wearing is top-tier armor. It’s resistant to most weapons.”
That meant there was something outside capable of neutralizing even such advanced equipment, right?
The chief technician made this comment in an attempt to reassure the team, but it didn’t have much effect. The team understood what he meant, but they simply refrained from arguing.
“For now, we need to hold this position until the rescue team arrives. Everyone, take your designated positions.”
“...Yes.”
With that, the team dispersed. Dozens of people broke off into groups of three, heading to the maintenance rooms scattered along the middle of the corridor.
“Damn it, I don’t know what to make of all this.”
“Tell me about it.”
In one of the maintenance rooms installed along the massive rail of the ion cannon, a group of three team members were making small talk to relieve the tension.
“The monthly report was next week... and now this happens.”
“I heard you have a family?”
“Yeah, I just got married recently.”
“That’s nice. I’m in my fifth year now... not sure if I’m supporting a family or just paying employees to earn credits. Tch.”
“If you plan to have kids, you should report it to Saint K. They offer subsidies...”
Their conversation was abruptly cut off.
They’d heard something.
It was similar to the sound they’d heard earlier from the control room, but much louder. Without realizing it, each of them tightened their grip on their plasma rifles.
“Did everyone hear that?”
“Yeah, I heard it too.”
“It’s coming from somewhere nearby...”
Whatever it was, hearing such a sound nearby could never be a good sign. It was possible that another maintenance room was being attacked.
Despite the chief technician’s orders not to leave their positions, there was no time to be concerned about such things. The three team members grabbed their rifles and stepped out of the maintenance room.
Because this facility was crucial to the purpose of the Gigacracker, it was equipped with independent power supply systems for emergencies. These systems were closed off in a way that made remote hacking impossible unless physically accessed.
The brightly lit corridor greeted them as they stepped outside. The maintenance rooms weren’t far apart. As they made their way toward a nearby maintenance room, they ran into other team members who were lingering in the corridor.
“Did you hear it too?”
“Yeah.”
“Now that we’re out, it’s quiet again.”
“Do you think another team handled it?”
“We can’t be sure. We should check.”
By the time the team reached the third maintenance room, nothing unusual had happened.
The problem arose on their way to the fourth maintenance room. In the corridor, they witnessed an anomaly.
They weren’t sure where it had come from, but tiny, dust-like particles were floating through the air.
“What is this?”
“It looks like mineral fragments.”
The particles resembled finely crushed orange-colored agate. If this were any other place, they might have marveled at the way the particles glinted like stars when reflected in the light.
This was a space dealing with advanced weaponry. The infiltration of unidentified foreign particles was never a good sign.
And soon, their uneasy predictions became reality.
In front of the fourth maintenance room, filled with particles, there lay a heavily crumpled alloy door, almost unrecognizable in shape.
“....”
Tyran and the team leaders moved cautiously through the destroyed corridor, on edge.
Without a sound, objects from the captain's office collided with their floating bodies. A picture frame flew past, revealing only the upper half of a woman’s portrait, a grandfather clock with its second hand frozen, and shattered glass from a broken cup—mundane items, yet now they all seemed eerily unsettling.
At least the corridor leading to the hangar wasn’t long. The three of them barely managed to reach the shielded door connected to the hangar.
The creature that had destroyed the corridor was nowhere to be seen, suggesting it had moved elsewhere. As soon as the research team leader opened the shielded door, Tyran and the facilities team leader rushed inside the hangar.
“Close the door quickly!”
“Yes, yes!”
They didn’t know when the creature might return. The research team leader hurriedly closed the shielded door with trembling hands.
It wasn’t until the door had sealed that the three of them could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“It seems the gravity’s still functioning in here, so the creature hasn’t come this way.”
“Looks like we’re the first to reach the escape pods. The others must be...”
No one spoke about what might have happened to the rest.
“The captain’s escape pod is over here.”
“Captain, the code.”
“Yes.”
Standing in front of an escape pod adorned with elaborate decorations, Tyran entered the emergency code into the terminal.
*Gigacracker 14th Captain, 'Tyran Saint K' confirmed.”
A brief message flashed on the terminal, and the pod’s door opened with the sound of air being released. Just as Tyran stepped forward to board, something dropped onto his shoulder.
“Huh?”
He touched his shoulder and found sticky liquid on his hand. Slowly, he looked up.
A “monster” hung upside down from the ceiling of the hangar.
The creature, dripping saliva, lunged at him.
---
‘As expected.’
Tyran had hidden in the hangar, thinking that maybe someone might try to escape. And of course, it was the captain and the higher-ups who had come running.
‘I don’t think anyone else will be coming.’
The Mother of the Sky had gone to the ion cannon control facility, Number 26 and Adhai to other sections, and PS-111 to the situation room. By now, all the crew on board had likely been dealt with.
A superweapon capable of destroying entire planets was now in my hands.
‘Not quite yet, though.’
I looked down at the newly made friend, Captain Tyran.
Like me, the insectoid creatures had grown larger. What used to be creatures about one meter in length from head to tail were now three meters long.
The insectoid with the face of a middle-aged man lowered its head as soon as it sensed my gaze.
The rescue fleet from the nearby star system would arrive in an hour, he said. Until they were dealt with, it would be premature to claim full control of the Gigacracker.
‘‘What should I do?’’
In games, I had fought against superweapons that rivaled the Gigacracker multiple times. I knew how much effort players or NPCs would put into protecting such weapons.
Even more so, thanks to the insectoid, I knew the details of the rescue fleet’s capabilities. To me, they were nothing more than good prey.
For example, I could destroy the fleet myself. Now that I had become an adult and gained my powerful unique traits, the rescue fleet was no match for me.
Alternatively, I could lure the enemies inside the Gigacracker like I usually did, and with the children, I could wipe them out.
“Or...”
I looked up at the enormous metallic structure surrounding my own huge body.
In the game, I had never once used this, only encountering it as an enemy.
“I’ve got a good idea.”
I smiled, thinking of the moths that would soon fly to their doom, completely unaware of what was coming.