Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Chapter 102

It had been a day since the Colossal Raider entered Sector I-97. During that day, there were many events within the Loose Rock Cartel, to be more precise, many “unfortunate” events.

“Hurry up! We need to build a defense line before that creature crosses the zone!”

At the rear of the Colossal Raider, the remaining pirates were busy barricading. This place was the last stronghold because the mysterious monster that attacked their ship had taken control of the entire front area.

One of Milo’s subordinates captured the identity of the monster on camera just before falling victim to it.

When Milo saw the creature’s appearance, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The entity slaughtering pirates as it roamed the ship looked like a pink balloon, resembling a bubble amoeba, except for the fact that it had enormous tentacles exceeding its body.

“Can a bubble amoeba really kill people?”

Milo knew that bubble amoebas were harmless herbivores living on plankton in the ocean. However, this one was different. It tore its victims apart with bizarre strength and, contrary to its whimsical appearance, moved quite swiftly.

It mocked the fleeing pirates with its tentacles, capturing them effortlessly and tearing their limbs apart.

In different circumstances, Milo might have found this peculiar bubble amoeba intriguing. Bubble amoebas are not known for killing people by engulfing them with tentacles or disintegrating them with psychic powers.

The problem was that half of the pirates who boarded because of this bubble amoeba had fallen victim to it. They were not only captured but also devoured by the creature.

“Damn, it’s all screwed up. We can’t withstand this.”

Milo’s subordinates in front of him were working frantically to install what looked like adult-sized turrets – officially called APDT (Automatic Point Defense Turret). These were primarily used by the StarUnion for security and self defense.

Other species often nicknamed them as “storm guns” because of their storm-like saturation of firepower.

These turrets use depleted uranium rounds as their default ammunition, with a maximum capacity of a thousand rounds. Unless manually controlled by the user through a terminal, a built-in small AI automatically fires based on motion detection sensors.

Depleted uranium rounds were more affordable than the tungsten rounds of a mega-cannon, but that didn’t mean they were cheap.

The large ammunition capacity meant significant credits were consumed with each use. Moreover, obtaining them was challenging if not affiliated with the Star Union.

“The crazy robot bastards don’t even spare ammunition for other species.”

Thanks to capturing and looting StarUnion trade ships, the Loose Rock Cartel had access to the storm guns and a massive supply of ammunition. However, due to restricted ammunition, they only used them when dealing with tough-skinned creatures, akin to mountain crawlers.

“At least they keep the second arsenal in reserve.”

The first arsenal located at the ship’s front had been devastated by the monster’s attack, resulting in the loss of all the bombs and weapons inside.

If Milo hadn’t built the second arsenal in anticipation of such events, they would have all become prey for the monster long ago.

“Captain! Storm guns installation completed!”

“Good. How about the Beta team?”

“Storm guns installed! Returning to the situation room!”

Having activated the storm guns, Milo retreated to the rear area with his subordinates. While engineers closed bulkheads and welded during the retreat, others repeated the tasks they had been doing.

“Captain?”

“What?”

“The ship’s AI has something to report. It’s about changes in the surrounding environment.”

“I’ll check it later since I’m busy.”

Milo ended the communication from the situation room and, with his subordinates, carried the storm guns.

“Damn, as the captain, I never thought I’d be dealing with this.”

The ship was a mess due to the mysterious monster, and the storm guns had wiped out a considerable amount of credits. On top of that, Milo had to endure such hardships for the sake of his captain’s dignity. Milo, with a complicated mind, quickly forgot about the communication from the situation room.

***

Having successfully cleared the bombs without significant issues, I immediately initiated corrosion. During the corrosion process, to defend against pirate attacks, I entrusted tasks to Number 26 and Adhai.

Firstly, I assigned Number 26 the role of diverting the pirates’ attention. Being with me for a long time, it had become a skilled hunter and should easily be able to suppress the pirates. Of course, since Number 26 could be in danger, I also sent a group of Tooth Fairies with it. The Tooth Fairies were connected to me mentally. If any unforeseen danger occurred for Number 26, they would warn me in advance.

It seemed to like the idea of helping me, but it also enjoyed moving with its beloved group of Tooth Fairy Swarm.

And to Adhai, I assigned the role of protecting me during the corrosion process.

‘It’s disadvantageous for her to fight indoors.’

While Adhai would be overwhelmingly advantageous in free flight in space, her body was not suitable for fighting inside the ship. Unless it was a spacious area like a cargo hold. Although she seemed displeased that she couldn’t go hunting, after a few requests to stay vigilant, she seemed to have eased up.

Even now, she flew slowly around the cargo hold, monitoring who was coming and who wasn’t.

‘Smooth.’

It had been four hours since I initiated corrosion. If I could endure for just one more hour, the ship would be mine. I had already secured not only the cargo holds on the first and second floors but also the entire third floor. As for the fourth floor, the ship’s front was under my control, with only the central and rear areas remaining.

‘Seems like they’re staging a protest from over there in the situation room.’

They had sealed off the area around the situation room on the aft 4th floor of the ship. Coincidentally, Number 26 was climbing the stairs to the 4th floor using multiple fins.

‘Hmm.’

Having cleared all the bombs and turned the armory into a mess, I thought there wouldn’t be a significant threat. Nevertheless, just in case:

‘I can handle the remaining ones myself.’

There was no need to actively engage those who were passively approaching from over there. After all, once corrosion was complete, they would all be in my hands.

I signaled Number 26.

[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ(Hold on)]

[ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ(Come back now)]

「Are you okay?」

[ZZZZ ZZ (Yes)]

Having recalled Number 26 and the Tooth Fairy swarm, I focused on corrosion again.

‘It’s been a while since things went smoothly like this.’

He called the ship’s AI, Calvin, again.

“Calvin! Connect to the area cameras!”

“It’s impossible.”

“I command you again! Calvin! Connect the cameras and display them on the monitor!”

Squealing noise

Despite Milo’s repeated commands, there was no response from Calvin. Instead, an annoying noise echoed through the room.

“Calvin! The camera...”

Squealing noise, Calvin is...

Just as he was about to speak again, the speakers in the situation room were reactivated. The voice that followed was completely different from Calvin’s, which was based on a female voice AI.

“Calvin... is dead.”

“What?”

“You all will die too.”

A splitting male voice declared, and all lights in the situation room went out.

“Aaaah! Gahhh...”

“Uwaaaah! Save me!”

“Grrrr!”

In the complete darkness of the locked situation room, screams and the sounds of mutants pounding fists could be heard. It was a sign that everyone in the situation room was still alive, but that didn’t last long.

Utter silence engulfed Milo.

As a species sensitive to smell, Milo, despite disliking it, could smell it.

All of his subordinates had died.

In the stifling atmosphere that felt like suffocation, he tremblingly turned on the terminal.

A small light illuminated “it” in front of him.

Six appendages resembling jellyfish and snakes with mouths were rising from the floor, devouring the corpses.

“Sigh...”

The entity that boarded the ship surpassed his understanding far beyond reason and common sense.

Having given up everything, Milo turned off the light on the terminal.

‘I ate well.’

I patted my stomach with a pleasant sense of fullness. Although Amorph doesn’t get full easily, it somehow felt right to do so.

‘This plan went smoothly from start to finish.’

After clearing all the pirates, including those on the pirate ship Calvin, the time I could maintain the ship increased significantly to 50 days.

‘Eating the Hulk Mutant really paid off.’

I was pleasantly surprised that every time I ate one, it extended my time by 10 days. Moreover, after devouring both, I gained three new traits.

「Big Baby」 「Food.」 「A lot.」

Since I could sustain for 50 days, I handed the remaining food to Number 26 and Adhai. Thanks to that, they could enjoy a feast after a long time.

“Now, shall I check the ship’s computer?”

I accessed the ship’s database. A vast amount of information flowed into my head through the tentacles of corrosion.

Among them, the first thing delivered to me was information about cosmic phenomena that occurred in the vicinity before I corroded the ship.

‘Is there a rocky area nearby?’

I focused my senses on the outer hull, but I couldn’t feel anything in particular.

‘It’s probably nothing... Huh?’

I tried to brush it off, but suddenly, a bad feeling crept in.

‘Wait.’

I carefully read the detailed report on cosmic phenomena stored in the AI database.

In summary, the report mentioned an abnormal group of meteoroids moving in an erratic orbit, concentrated by a special magnetic field.

Moreover, this group of meteoroids was expected to enter this vicinity within the next two hours.

‘No way.’

I know very well what this means.

I urgently focused all my senses on the outer hull. My consciousness didn’t stay only on the hull but spread to the surroundings.

The time reported by the ship AI was two hours ago.

Despite my highly developed senses, there was nothing visible or perceptible in the vastness of space. However, I detected something.

At first, it looked like a shining star.

No, it wasn’t a star but white clouds.

White clouds rapidly approaching.

‘Oh, damn!’

The identity of those clouds was a swarm of metallic gremlins.

The ship’s natural enemy and cosmic marauders were now targeting us.