Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 289
Only Noblemtl
Episode 289 – Moving (2)
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A 2km long spherical mining ship, the Gigacracker is so huge that it ranks among the top five megacorps.
Not only is it large, but its structure is also very different from a typical spaceship. First of all, there are almost no facilities for the crew. Looking at the facilities inside the ship, most of them are facilities for operating the ion cannon or storage facilities for mined minerals.
Since the facilities to be managed are so large compared to the number of passengers, about 80% of the entire ship is managed by machinery. The crew members are in charge of controlling these machines and are responsible for managing and maintaining them.
In fact, it is a spaceship on the outside, but in reality, it is an automated factory floating in space.
Since there are so many facilities that each individual has to manage, a lot of specialized knowledge is required from the passengers. It is not for nothing that Noble Capital St. K manages the Giga Cracker crew so thoroughly.
Those who are not upper class like Noble Capital or Prime Capital, but have received a similar level of education.
The ship’s managers are walking inside the restricted living quarters.
In the dark corridor, large dolls were moving busily. They were all wearing advanced enhanced suits that were a mixture of an enhanced exoskeleton and a spacesuit, and they were holding plasma rifles in both hands.
The plasma rifle, developed as the standard weapon of the Earth Defense Force, was the lightest plasma weapon before the introduction of the pistol. Although its firepower is inferior to that of the plasma bolter, it has the advantages of excellent safety and light weight.
A green, translucent energy gauge mounted on the silver gun’s exterior with a clean, streamlined design glowed in the darkness of the hallway.
“Is superluminal travel still impossible?”
The one at the front of the heavily armed group opened his mouth. The captain of the Gigacracker, Tyran St. Kay, answered the question by checking the computer pad on his wrist.
“Yes. An unidentified electrical signal from outside is blocking remote control.”
“In the end, is there no other way than to go there yourself?”
After being struck by the disaster in the conference room, they took out the necessary equipment from the emergency armory and headed to the engine room.
Communications were completely cut off after the last emergency broadcast before the crash. As you can see, remote control between facilities was also impossible.
It was a crisis that we had never experienced before while operating Gigacracker.
“What do you think is the cause? A magnetic storm?”
“The phenomenon itself is similar, but the scope is too small. The path is unnatural and the origin is inaccurate.
“If you see errors in your electronic devices, it could be a swarm of metallic gremlins.”
“Well, probably not the metallic gremlins. They don’t have the power to rock a two-kilometer-long ship.”
As the team leaders moved around, they used their expertise to offer their opinions on the cause of the situation.
“Could they be Outspacers? Aren’t the bigger ones the size of a battleship?”
“Come to think of it, there’s been talk recently that the Empire is also showing signs of a major offensive. Maybe a group of Outspacers are here….”
“Probably not.”
The team leaders suggested that it might be a group of outspacers, but Tyran immediately denied it.
“Outspacers are unable to travel at superluminal speeds like normal battleships.”
“Is that so?”
“They contaminate a planet and then build a special device that allows them to hyperspace between constellations. It is only possible to travel with that device.”
“Captain, you have a point. If you look at the records of past offensives, they say they poured out from the contaminated colonies.”
The layers below Noble Capital and Prime Capital have limited access to the Megacorp database, so there are often cases where the information obtained is different, as it is now.
For example, the Outspacer’s unique means of transportation, the ‘Bio Portal.’ This is treated as top secret information because it is related to their true nature.
Captain Tyran is a member of the Saint Kay. He has more knowledge than the team leaders in this position.
“Captain of the Navigation Team. When was the last time you had contact with a base in a nearby constellation?”
“It was two hours ago.”
“Regular contact is made every three hours. After just one hour, they will know that there is a problem with the Gigacracker, so let’s all not lose hope.”
Tyran insisted on reminding the team leaders of something they should know. He wanted to give them hope by mentioning that rescue teams would arrive in just an hour.
‘It would be different if a nearby dwarf planet or asteroid were a bio portal…’
In fact, Tyran didn’t tell the team leaders everything he knew.
For example, bio portals and pollution are not related to each other.
Portals are created by Outspacer Queen entities, not by corruption. The two only seem to be related, as planets where queens reside tend to become corrupted quickly.
If there’s a queen somewhere here and she’s created a bio-portal to something like a nearby meteor, they could pour in here without even having to pollute the planet.
In addition, there is a rumor going around among the Noble Capitals, although it is not registered in the database. It is a rumor that one of them has evolved to be able to travel faster than light.
‘There’s no need to bring that up here.’
The team leaders who walk through the dark hallways are able to maintain their composure because they have undergone long-term, intensive training. If there is no hope of survival, this order will quickly collapse.
The team leaders, unaware of Tyran’s thoughts, moved diligently.
“Which direction would be best to go to get to the engine room?”
“Facility Manager?”
“The captain’s cabin line is faster than the dining car line. However, the situation room is connected to the dining car line. You can join the team there on the way, so it’s a win-win situation.”
“hmm. ”
If you want to hold out until rescue arrives, you’ll first need to gain control of the engine room, whether the enemy is an Outspacer, a Metallic Gremlin, or a Magnetic Storm.
After hearing the facility team leader’s explanation, the captain thought for a moment and then made a decision.
“The more people there are, the safer and faster we can get to our destination. Let’s go to the dining car line.”
“yep.”
Following the captain’s decision, they followed a route that went through the mess car in the middle.
A corridor as dark as space, devoid of light. The gauge bar of the plasma rifle twinkled like a star in the pitch-black space.
As they moved through the eerie hallways toward the depths of the mining ship, something blocked their way.
“It’s blocked here too.”
The whole group stopped in front of a thick curtain door.
The shielding doors in the restricted area were closed as the ship AI detected a crisis on board and took protective measures. It seemed that even the situation room was unable to do anything, perhaps because remote control was blocked.
“Automatic shielding door, I will release it.”
Fortunately, the computer pad on the reinforced suit and the terminal on the shield door can be directly connected to release it. The technical team leader and the research team leader worked together to open the shield door.
The moment the door connected to the terminal opened, a loud noise was heard from afar.
“!”
“Have you heard?”
A noise like something sharp ripping a metal plate. Judging from the small volume, it was clear that it was far away, but it was still unsettling.
Because that ominous sound did not stop all at once but continued to be heard.
“…we need to move faster.”
“yep.”
At Tyran’s urging, everyone’s movements became faster.
As soon as the door opened, they quickly crossed the dark hallway, only to be blocked by another barrier door.
“Next is the dining car.”
While the technical team leader and research team leader opened the door, the captain and the other team leaders looked around cautiously.
‘The sound has stopped.’
The jarring noise, like water running through a pipe behind a wall, suddenly stopped a moment ago.
The silence made him uneasy. A worry grew in the back of his mind that the problem was getting worse rather than being solved.
The door opened again with a squeal of air.
Inside the dining car, the lights flickered, as if they hadn’t gone out completely.
But because of the remaining light, they could not help but engrave with their own eyes the tragedy that had occurred there.
The dining car is a place where you can have some small fun inside the Giga Cracker.
A place familiar to anyone on board this ship is now locked in death.
The pure white floor was covered in blood, and the metal tables and chairs were covered in pieces of flesh and bone.
It was impossible to determine how many people had died, as all the bodies were so dismembered that it was difficult to guess their original condition.
And beneath the blinking lights there was pink death.
Something that was constantly seething watched the new sacrifice with hundreds of eyes on the altar built of corpses, blood, and bones.
“Ugh, ughhh!”
Did he lose his composure at that gaze? The medical team leader aimed the plasma rifle with a strange scream. Just before the green energy was about to be released, something mixed with white and red fell on him from the ceiling of the dining car.
Tyrone thought it was a blood-soaked tablecloth. But he was wrong.
Nowhere in the world does a tablecloth suck human blood with its tentacles.
“Kwaaaaah!”
“All fire!”
The part that was thought to be soaked in blood was not a tablecloth, but rather, a monster’s wings. The monster with four red wings on its white body was eating the medical team leader while crushing him.
While the other team leaders were blankly watching, they quickly started shooting upon hearing Tyran’s order. As the energy gauge next to the rifle filled up, a cylindrical energy bullet was fired from the muzzle.
An energy bullet flew towards the red ghost. Just as it was about to touch its body, the red color of its wings spread around the point of impact like paint. The energies that touched its red body were neutralized as if it were a lie.
“Oh, it’s no use… Ugh!”
The crisis management team leader who saw this scene shouted and then twisted his arm in a deformed way. An invisible force was twisting his arm. He was able to protect his arm thanks to quickly activating the shield built into his advanced reinforced suit.
However, it was his misfortune that he did not know that the being that tried to break his arm had a high enough output of ‘invisible power’ to overwhelm the shield.
“I survived…!”
The moment the crisis management team leader was about to shout that he was alive, his limbs were torn off in all directions. His pieces were scattered across the dining car, as if the strings that bound the puppet had been pulled together and broken.
“Eww!”
The equipment team leader screamed at the horrific sight that would make even a veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time shiver.
In the meantime, Tyran barely managed to maintain his composure and tried to find the culprit who had caused the crisis management team leader to act like that.
‘It’s him!’
Tyran’s gaze turned to the giant pink jellyfish sitting on top of the corpses. He fired his rifle wildly at the creature, hoping to hit at least once.
Did his wish come true? One of the green plasma bullets collided with the pink monster’s tentacle. The creature flinched in pain. Other energy bullets followed, raining down on the creature’s body.
Just then, as if by coincidence, the green energy balls failed to reach their target and melted into thin air, as if they were blocked by a transparent barrier.
「■■■■」「■■■」
“■! ■■■!”
The pink monster that had destroyed the energy bullet in midair did not fight back. The red-winged ghost also showed a completely different reaction from the agility it had shown just a moment ago.
‘I don’t know what’s going on…!’
“Retreat! Retreat!”
“Yes, yep!”
Tyran and the team leaders hurried out into the hallway they had come from.
The two monsters did not chase them.
–
“Just now” “That” “What is it?”
“I don’t know! I thought about it and it just popped out!”
“Pavat?”
“huh.”
“Again” “Try it”
No. 26 groaned and focused on Aadhai’s request. Then, a purple energy stream suddenly appeared in the air. It rippled like a deep ocean wave and covered No. 26.
Adhai flicked the purple wave pattern with his foreleg, which was covered in ‘red armor’. Then, something like a rebound force pushed the foreleg back strongly.
“This” “The Power of the Stars” “Similar”
“The power of the stars? What is the power of the stars?”
“Strong” “Leader” “Symbol”
“Wow! My studying paid off!”
“Agree” “No” “Power of the Stars” “Study” “It Doesn’t Matter”
“No! I said that if a big kid studies, he will become smart and strong!”
Number 26 waved his tentacles proudly and sent out waves. Adhai had heard similar stories, so he couldn’t refute them. Instead, he grumbled while shaking the tentacles at the corner of his mouth.
“Would this be able to protect even a big baby?”
“maybe”
“Good! That’s great! I’ll eat more and more so that the big baby doesn’t get sick!”
“Agree” “Adult” “If it hurts” “Know” “It’s hard”
After saying that, the two started eating again to regain their strength.
The reason why they didn’t chase after those who ran away was simple.
The big baby and the big man declared.
This ship is his.
Their experienced leader never misses prey.