Capital of the StarUnion, Starks-01.
In a place characterized by densely packed factories, vast smog, and incessant acidic rain, there exists a peculiar structure. White and black spires intertwined with numerous pipes, batteries, and machines of all sizes adorned the exterior, forming an imposing pyramid of spikes when gathered together. This eerie and awe-inspiring structure is known as Prime Head, where the highest echelons of the StarUnion’s power apparatus, the Machine Assembly, reside.
At the summit of the tallest spire, Prime Head, lies the office of the Grandmaster, the progenitor overseer of all cyborgs. Though typically a space of solemnity and austerity, today was different. Within the tightly sealed office, multiple voices could be heard speaking in succession.
“You’ve suffered considerable losses, but ultimately failed.”
A Caucasian man with one eye replaced by machinery conversed in front of four diamond obelisks. Adorned with a meticulously groomed moustache alongside a robust muscular physique, he was none other than the Patriarch of the StarUnion, Jubaka.
“So far, the known enhancements involve bodily modifications. And…”
“It seems the ability to integrate with ships is also present.”
“It’s fortunate we could confirm that this time. Jubaka, you’ve done a great job.”
“…Akira. How did you come across this information?”
Jubaka had to suffer significant losses, all due to the ranked 5 Amorph and his friends. The Nemea Fleet was almost decimated, and the Arrow and Redtail Fleets that supported him suffered considerable damage too.
Due to his meddling,StarUnion’s relations with the Cult deteriorated significantly. It was only natural, considering his reckless invasion of Cult territory and the destruction of Imperial battleships. This incident often brought up talks of war between the StarUnion and the Cult.
To avoid a fruitless war, Jubaka had to send envoys to the Cult Council to apologize. Noble Capital Megacorp and Cloé Garmelda exerted pressure on the Cult Reformists to support Jubaka.
Thanks to them, an all-out war between the Cult and the StarUnion was averted.
However, this incident greatly tarnished the StarUnion’s utmost dignity. Due to just one Amorph, Jubaka, who had been thoroughly humiliated, couldn’t contain his irritation.
In response to his enraged words, Akira replied nonchalantly, “Did you really think it would be that easy to capture him? You still don’t know him well. Be thankful the entire fleet wasn’t annihilated.”
“Akira, could the enhancement of bodily modifications possibly be obtained from Muriel?”
“Well, I’m not sure. We should be cautious about that aspect. It’s likely he possesses between two to three enhancements.”
“What’s the point of investigating his enhancements now when all traces of him have vanished?”
“Wasn’t his biometric sample recorded in Starlink? We could track him based on that.”
“It seems the data’s been tampered with. Scanners can’t confirm anything anymore. It was fine until we chased after ship 98.”
Upon hearing rumors of suspicious organisms discovered by the StarUnion supply line, Jubaka immediately took action.
Syncing the Amorph sample registered in Starlink, the proprietary information processing system of the StarUnion, with a bioscanner, and additionally, with the Warp Finder, a superluminal navigation tracking system.
Thanks to utilizing all available means at the Patriarch’s disposal, tracking the Amorph wasn’t difficult. In fact, until the discovery of ship 98, the main concern was distance and time, as locating the entity itself was rather straightforward.
The issue lay in the trap it posed.
“It’s likely due to the impure mixture related to the Nest’s characteristics. It possesses the ability to randomly alter the Nest’s composition, making tracking impossible.”
“Damn it! You should’ve mentioned that earlier!”
“Heh heh heh, don’t be angry. Didn’t we learn something new because of it? We discovered that it’s possible to create an environment identical to the Nest within a bioship.”
“Then it’s reasonable to assume it can utilize other abilities.”
When Jubaka discovered the entity, he relayed the information to the other members. At that time, Akira merely laughed and said nothing.
But now, judging from his tone, it seemed he had anticipated this outcome. He likely used Jubaka as bait to verify his conjecture.
“It’s not a situation to remain calm about, Akira. We’ve lost track of it. It means the next encounter with it could be even more perilous.”
Indeed, the entity that departed from the 98th fleet seemed to vanish completely, like a ghost. Despite meticulously scouring neutral territories, no trace related to the entity remained.
“Is it difficult to locate it with the Warp Finder?”
“The last known location of ship 98 was within neutral territories. With ships zipping in and out at the speed of light, finding it there is impossible.”
“Of course, it would be difficult if it doesn’t know the model of the ship it boarded.”
Based on the currently available information, the Amorph contaminated the ship and seems to possess dominating abilities. It might be able to modify ships, but it was still traceable with the Warp Finder, except for changes in the ship’s type as Akira mentioned.
“We tried to find any attacked ships, but there was no information related to the entity.”
“Could it be that the ranked 5 made a deal and purchased a ship? Whether it’s for the essence collection or bringing along comrades…”
“Nonsense! To call such a personality a comrade? Hah, absurd.”
“Hehehehe, it’s been a while since Shinshia cracked an amusing joke.”
All present had fought the rank 5 Amorph at least once. They were well acquainted with his dread, but there were discrepancies in the information they possessed. For instance, while Shinshia had only fought the ranked 5 twice, Jubaka had faced him about eight times. And Akira, with a higher rank than both, had faced him many more times.
As a result, Shinshia had relatively limited knowledge about Fifth.
“Heh, if it’s him, he might use comrades as bait or dominate them like parasites.”
“If the Amorph is with him, that’s entirely plausible.”
“In that case, he could control cyborgs as parasites to purchase a ship.”
“Of course, we’ve considered and are investigating that as well. The problem is it takes a lot of time.”
Currently, high-performance androids are thoroughly investigating all trade records within neutral territories. It might take a month to find out, but in the meantime, Fifth might switch ships again.
At that moment, Akira spoke up.
“Hmm, perhaps there’s no need to chase after it relentlessly, is there?”
“If we know where it’ll go, can’t we prepare in advance?”
“Because you don’t know, that’s why you’re talking nonsense, Akira.”
“Heh, no need to be so impatient. Listen. Just like in a game, he dislikes wasting time. If he’s become a Larva, he’ll want to evolve into an Adult as quickly as possible.”
“The fastest way for him to fulfill his evolution conditions is to capture what’s called an Apex, a special organism. Then he’ll aim for places where many Apexes reside.”
“Are you referring to the Gallagon’s Nest?”
Akira didn’t respond to Shinshia’s question. Instead, a space map appeared from his obelisk, showing various projected routes from where the entity had moved.
“These are speculative routes and calculations based on the direction and path the entity took. It indicates that it continued in a certain direction until it abruptly changed course when it entered neutral territories.”
“And what does that mean?”
“If it wasn’t being pursued, it would have continued in this direction.”
“Damn it! Get to the point. What are you trying to say?”
“If it continues in this direction, it’ll lead to the Gallagon’s Nest.”
A red marker appeared near the outer edges of the space map.
“It’s where the Yujin family stores Gallagon genes and where my ‘old subordinate’ resides.”
“But how does he know to go there when it’s not even marked on the map?”
“I don’t know either. But if it’s him, he’ll definitely target this planet.”
Jubaka eyed the red marker. Since it wasn’t a recorded planet, no information appeared at that location.
“If he’s heading here…”
“Contact the old subordinate. A Larva like Amorph stands no chance against them.”
“And who exactly are you so sure of?”
“Hehe, would it help if I said an aged Black Gallagon?”
Upon hearing that, Jubaka was taken aback.
Black Gallagon is the second-highest stage in the Gallagon growth hierarchy. Beyond that are the Red Gallagons, but they’re so rare that they’re hardly ever seen.
In other words, Black Gallagon is arguably the most formidable among wild Gallagons.
“If it’s a Black Gallagon, then Amorph, no matter how powerful it has gotten, won’t stand a chance against it. Not only is the Black Gallagon powerful itself, but it also has its entire Nest to contend with.”
“Akira, may I inform Jason of the coordinates of that location? He expressed a strong desire to rectify this situation.”
“Hehehe, then the certainty of his death will be even more assured. Go ahead.”
And now, even Cult player Jason was involved.
Jason’s ranking is 10th. Though lower in rank than Akira or Jubaka, he’s a skilled player in his own right.
With the Black Gallagon and a 10th-ranked player involved, the fate of the Amorph and his party was practically sealed.
With a few more adjustments, the meeting concluded. Confirming that the obelisks were deactivated, Jubaka picked up the activated communication device.
“You’ve heard everything up to now, right?”
“…That damn inspiration. Always using others.”
After learning about Akira’s spy, Cloé made various excuses to avoid participating in the obelisk meeting. Instead, she relied on Jubaka’s assistance to eavesdrop on the meeting.
“Cloé, I have a favor to ask.”
“I’m thinking of sending Pirah 11’s Screamer Unit.”
“We’ll justify it as a clinical experiment to assess operational capabilities.”
“Just a moment! Jubaka, they’re still prototypes. They’re in an incomplete state, so who knows what errors might occur.”
“Anyway, don’t you need Amorph genes to complete your ‘plan’? It’s not a bad condition, is it?”
“It would certainly be helpful, but…”
“Moreover, if that planet is where Gallagon genes are collected, it’s even better. If the Gallagons ‘accidentally die while fighting Amorph,’ it could also deal a blow to Akira.”
“Hmm, that does sound appealing?”
“Send the newly updated Hulk Mutants. Convert them into Screamers and send them immediately.”
Jubaka had never let anyone who had attacked him go unpunished. Whether in the real world or in this dystopian world, he had no intention of forgiving Akira or his associates who had properly crossed him.
Jubaka’s mechanical eyes flickered menacingly as he spoke to Cloé.
｢Blue｣ ｢Star｣ ｢Ring｣ ｢Confirmed｣ ｢Nest｣ ｢Affirmative.｣
Understanding Adhai’s telepathic communication from outside the spacecraft, I was on the verge of cheering.
‘It’s been a long time.’
Thanks to traveling non-stop for a month and ten days on a cramped ship, we finally arrived at the planet where the Gallagon’s Nest was located.
Before us lay a sky-blue planet reminiscent of the ocean. The planet had rings like Saturn, formed by rocky debris orbiting the planet due to its gravity.
Seeing the beautiful sky-blue planet and the pale rings orbiting it felt like admiring a well-decorated aqua marine ornament.
‘I’d like to explore more, but…’
Both my companions and I were starving. We ran out of provisions two days ago. Since we hadn’t seen any other ships or creatures for a long time, finding new food was impossible. In that situation, we had no choice but to continue onward.
‘If Adhai had made even a small mistake in the coordinates, we could have been in big trouble.’
If he had miscalculated the coordinates, we might have wandered and starved to death in this remote place.
I almost experienced a death that I had never encountered even in the game.
‘Let’s go down and replenish our supplies first.’
I prepared to enter the nameless blue planet. After bringing Adhai inside from outside, I increased the speed of our movement.
As the distance to the planet decreased, the appearance of the rings became clearer. From ordinary rocks and ice fragments to unidentified metal chunks and fragments of spacecraft from unknown origins, numerous objects were flying together in the same direction.
If it were a creature with intact skin, it would have been torn to shreds upon entering those rings, but I am not an ordinary creature. I effortlessly caught the fragments pouring over the outer wall, a mix of metallic and biological tissues. Passing through the rings without much difficulty, I quickly approached the planet’s atmosphere.
Unlike Earth and the Moon, which have various colors such as blue seas, brown land, and white clouds, this planet was uniformly colored.
Sky-blue and white. That was all this planet had.
Even in the game, regions where Gallagons inhabit are extreme, much like the planet before me. Constant volcanic activity creating a hellish landscape, or subzero temperatures plunging into an icy hell. Extreme environmental conditions were one of the factors that made it difficult to deal with Gallagons.
‘It doesn’t concern me, but I’m not sure about the others.’
According to Adhai, except for the Gallagon’s Nest, the temperatures in the other areas of the planet were very low. Normally, she said she should have frozen to death not long after being abandoned by her kind.
Except for Number 26, which inhabited the deep sea, the journey ahead would be quite difficult for the others.
As I pondered these thoughts, my body was swiftly passing through the atmosphere. After pushing through the dense clouds, what came into my view was an endless expanse of ice.