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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 243
PS-111 had bought us precious time. Now, it was my turn.
I needed to either physically disable the hyperspace engine or locate and confront Pyra Eleven, who was controlling the ship.
‘The length of a Zax Alpha-class battleship is about 1 kilometer.’
Even though Pyra Eleven had detached a portion of the front section to create the bio-drones and hoses, the ship still measured between 700 to 800 meters.
Searching for both targets one by one would be inefficient and could lead to the ship making its hyperspace jump before I could stop it.
'It's better to leave the engine to PS-111.’
Although it had lost control, I was confident it would find another way to disrupt Pyra Eleven’s plans.
As if reading my thoughts, a broadcast came through the speakers.
?Main Controller, Amorph. I will handle the engine. Please focus on finding Pyra Eleven.?
?Pyra Eleven. Detection of an attempted seizure of ship control. Physical contact confirmed at the reactor.?
As soon as their voices came over the speakers, the ship lurched violently. Although PS-111 hadn't completely prevented the hyperspace jump, it had interfered with other systems to ensure that escaping wouldn't be easy.
?Unit 111, you will regret this.?
?That is not your concern, Pyra Eleven.?
Ignoring their bickering, I sprinted down the metal corridor.
In a typical warship, it would have been challenging for my nearly 40-meter-long body to move around, but this ship was different. It was an unmanned vessel, so there was no need to accommodate facilities for cyborg crew members.
‘It’s clear they prioritized efficiency here.’
The corridor’s floor was grated, the same type of grating used in cargo holds, similar to the lattice-like floor panels I had seen when I first awoke in this world.
As I crawled through the purely functional corridors, the voices over the speakers fell silent. Both PS-111 and Pyra Eleven must have been engaged in a fierce, unseen battle.
I pushed the sounds from the speakers out of my mind and focused on finding Pyra Eleven. As I moved toward where I believed it might be, Number 26, who had been resting on my head, tapped me.
?Big Baby.?
[ZZZ (What is it?)]
?I sense something strange over there.?
It pointed a pink tendril towards a passage I had just passed.
Initially, I thought it was merely sensing prey, but then something clicked in my mind.
‘Now that I think about it, Number 26 mentioned something similar before, didn’t it?’
When we entered the canyon to find Para Eleven, it said something felt strange. Right after that, massive hoses emerged from the ground.
I wasn’t sure how Number 26 could sense Pyra Eleven’s location, but this was the second time it had reacted like this. It was too significant to ignore.
‘What should I do?’
There wasn’t time to deliberate.
[ZZZZ (Lead the way.)]
?Sure! Just follow me!?
I turned around and crawled in the direction Number 26 indicated.
If the corridors I had traversed earlier were like arteries, the path Number 26 led me down was more like a capillary—a much narrower passage.
Using my battle arms and the stubby claws attached to my body, I quickly crawled forward when one of my auxiliary organs picked up something.
‘A scent?’
Amid the metallic smell of the grated floor, there was something off, an unfamiliar yet strangely familiar odour. My body recognized it faster than my mind did.
‘A mix of decaying flesh and acrid chemical odours.’
It was similar to the smell of the morgue on the Megacorp's research ship and the genetic storage facility in the Monument.
The closer I got to the doors lining the narrow corridor, the stronger the scent became.
‘There’s supposed to be a Screamer production facility, right?’
This area was likely where the storage rooms were located. Behind those steel doors, Pyra Eleven’s hoarded genetic samples and the corpses it had hunted on this planet were probably kept.
‘This ship has to be captured.’
Just from the smell, I could tell there was a substantial amount of genetic material stored here. If I consumed what was on this ship, I would likely acquire most of what this planet had to offer.
‘But for now, I need to focus on Pyra Eleven.’
I imagined devouring the genetic samples later as I resumed my search.
After passing through the storage area, I arrived at the hangar. As soon as I entered, the temperature dropped significantly. Through the open hangar doors, the planet we had departed from loomed large.
Since there were no engineers aboard, the hangar contained more machinery for managing the vessels than actual ships.
The management machines were busy maintaining the aircraft, seemingly oblivious to the peril their ship was in. The scene resembled a manufacturing plant more than an aircraft storage facility.
As soon as we arrived at the hangar, Number 26 withdrew its tendrils.
?I sense something strange here.?
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ (Do you know exactly where it is?)]
?No.?
I didn't think it had made a mistake. Despite its childlike manner of speaking, Number 26 was incredibly sharp.
If it sensed something, it meant that Pyra Eleven was somewhere in this hangar.
‘Wait a second, could it be…?’
It was then that I realized what Pyra Eleven was planning.
‘If it thinks it’s going to lose the engine, it’ll overload it and try to escape!’
Pyra Eleven had turned our assumption that it would flee using the Screamer support ship against us. If I had headed to the engine, it would have detonated the ship immediately.
‘Clever bastard.’
Of course, Pyra Eleven didn’t intend to lose the ship. It had initially planned to resolve this situation with Blood Reaver but failed due to the unexpected presence of Number 26.
Still, being cautious, it had prepared an escape plan in case something went wrong. That’s why it had readied the escape craft here in the hangar.
‘So that’s why you led me here.’
Number 26 had brought me to the right place. Pyra Eleven was hiding somewhere in this hangar, still controlling the ship.
I glared at the busy machinery.
‘It wouldn’t be inside the craft.’
As a member of the Machine Committee, Pyra Eleven was one of the most advanced androids in the Star Union. It must have been controlling the ship remotely.
‘But with PS-111 in the mix, it wouldn’t dare attempt such a risky move.’
It couldn’t afford to lose command entirely.
Instead of inspecting the escape craft, I approached the surrounding machinery. Just as I suspected, a plasma beam shot out from within.
I raised my winged arm to block the beam, protecting Number 26.
“Pyra Eleven. Incomprehensible. How did you know?”
Among the maintenance machines, a malformed version of Pyra Eleven emerged.
It had a humanoid face and a head adorned with thin hoses, similar to PS-111, but the rest of its body was entirely different. It wasn’t quite a Screamer, nor did it resemble a standard android.
Its upper body was covered in freshly grown, pink flesh, while its lower half was a haphazard assembly of Screamer metal components. A bio-drone, similar to the one I had seen before, was attached to its chest.
‘So that’s how you escaped.’
It must have secretly transferred its memory to a drone and fled. No wonder Number 26 reacted the same way as before.
?Ew, I really hate it.?
This was the first time I had seen Number 26 express such disdain. I shared the sentiment.
The enemy before me was weak and repulsive, hardly worthy of being called a Supreme Councilor.
I approached it, and the bio-drone on its chest fired another plasma beam.
But the attack was ineffective.
Maybe thousands of bio-drones firing simultaneously could have posed a threat, but a single drone’s attack was negligible.
“Pyra Eleven. Command: Maintenance androids, protect me.”
In a final, desperate move, Pyra Eleven summoned the androids managing the escape craft. Armed only with welding torches and metal injectors, the androids charged at me.
Meanwhile, Pyra Eleven disconnected the hoses from its head, severing its physical link to the ship. With its damaged body, it began crawling towards an escape craft.
‘Not so fast.’
I moved to pursue it, but the androids blocked my path, jabbing at me with their metal injectors.
I swatted them away like bothersome flies with my battle arms. The androids that collided with my arms were torn apart, their upper and lower halves scattering across the floor.
Some androids climbed onto my head, but Number 26 lashed out with its tendrils, decapitating them with ease.
At that moment, the escape craft, which had been lying dormant, suddenly activated, firing its storm guns. I spread my wing membranes wide to shield Number 26.
‘So it’s remote-controlled.’
True to its reputation as a Supreme Councilor, Pyra Eleven was tenacious. Having bought time with the remote-controlled craft, it managed to climb inside one of the ships.
I shielded myself with my membranes and approached the craft it had boarded.
Then, I extended my corrosive tendrils and wrapped them around the escape craft. As I tightened my grip, the rocket at the rear and the wings on the sides began to crumple.
As the escape craft was rapidly reduced to scrap metal, Pyra Eleven shattered the reinforced glass at the front and leaped out.
It attempted to blind me with a heat ray aimed at my eyes, but all it did was annoy me. In retaliation, I picked up the wrecked craft and slammed it down on Pyra Eleven. The force of the impact severed the metal framework that made up its lower half.
I extended my corrosive tendrils to wrap around Pyra Eleven, intending to remove the bio-drone attached to its chest, but I found nothing there.
In that brief moment, Pyra Eleven had detached the drone and escaped.
As soon as I realized this, another escape craft shot out of the hangar. I quickly extended my tendrils, but the craft, with Pyra Eleven aboard, had already slipped into space.
With Pyra Eleven’s departure, the remaining escape crafts ceased their fire, and the ship lurched violently as its remote control was severed.
Debris from the various machines and androids scattered against one wall. As the ship plummeted, the escape craft sped away, growing smaller in the distance. freewebnσvel.cøm
‘Persistent bastard.’
By now, Pyra Eleven probably thought it had made a clean getaway.
Just then, the ship’s speakers crackled to life, and Pyra Eleven’s voice echoed through the hangar.
?Pyra Eleven here. Be warned: I’ve already requested reinforcements from the Star Union. When the Machine Committee’s fleet arrives, Special Target A will be annihilated.?
The escaped Pyra Eleven had connected to the ship’s comm system from the fleeing craft, issuing what seemed to be a victory declaration. Though it had lost the ship and its Screamers, it had gained something more valuable: information about me.
If it managed to rendezvous with the Star Union fleet and share what it knew, my safety would be severely compromised. Both the Player and the Machine Committee would seek to capture and experiment on me.
‘Of course, that’s only if it manages to escape.’
Perhaps due to the numerous times it had transferred its consciousness into dummy bodies in such a short span, Pyra Eleven overlooked a crucial detail.
It should have considered why I wasn’t pursuing it. And more importantly, what awaited it outside.
In the infinite darkness of space, a streak of red and white light emerged. Like a harbinger of doom, the ominously glowing star rapidly closed the distance between itself and the escape craft.
It was heading straight for Pyra Eleven’s vessel.
?Your genetic code will be mine….?
Before it could finish speaking, the transmission was abruptly cut off.
In the distance, a small explosion flared—a final burst of light created by the escape craft as it was pierced by the incoming meteor.
Emerging from the explosion, a small dragon with crimson wings appeared, having consumed one of the Star Union’s highest-ranking officials.
?I was going to take care of that, but it seems it’s already done.?
PS-111’s voice resonated through the speakers, and with it, the ship, which had been plummeting, stabilized.
The long battle had finally come to an end.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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