Ep. 116
Cruiser's situation room.
The pirate leader heard my voice and kept his mouth shut.
She seemed quite surprised as I could hear her breathing very shallowly.
"…Fifth place Amov."
She said that in a slightly trembling voice.
The first thing the boss, or rather the player, said was, unexpectedly, my personal identity.
She knows exactly who I am.
'Well, I caused that mess.'
It's not like I'm overly self-conscious or anything like that. There weren't many Aimorph players who used skinned corpses to engage in psychological warfare against their enemies.
If you're a player who's been playing the game for a long time, you've probably heard about me at least once.
"Your liver is also big. "Do you know who I am?"
"Huh, my, my, my, my, ranking, king, 2, 0, up, I'll go."
"I know very well."
After occupying the situation room, I was busy doing other things until the communication came.
The task was to view the pirate leader's information stored on the computer.
The name of the pirate leader, or the woman talking to me through the communicator, is Muriel.
It was the same name as the player who was the 20th ranked Space Dog in the game.
'I've never met him in person, though.'
Not long after she became a ranker, I quit the game because of academic probation. So, I have never met and fought with Muriel in person.
Of course, I had collected information about other rankers even without fighting. I know at least what race, what force, and what clan she belongs to.
'It probably wasn't a cult to begin with.'
As far as I know, Muriel, the 20th ranked ranker, was a space dog from the cyborg race. Therefore, I had no idea that the pirate leader was a ranker until I checked his name on the computer.
'Of course, it's not like there aren't space dogs from the cult…'
He was a man, not a woman. I remember him because he is an American ranked 11th and has fought a few times in the past.
Anyway, if you look at the picture of Muriel on the computer monitor, no matter how you look at it, it is a female cult, and even a cult with deer antlers, a symbol of cult royalty.
'I don't know why the Staghorn Cult is engaging in piracy.'
If she were a ranker, she would know how much the Antler Cult can do in a cult society.
The ship would not have been a cruiser, but an imperial carrier.
'I'll have to find out about that step by step.'
Currently I know very little about the player. There are many things I don't know, such as whether she and I are the only players in this world, or whether there are other players besides us.
Therefore, you must obtain sufficient information through conversation with her.
"The fact that you were ranked higher than me is just a story in the game. "Do you still think you can beat me as a sub-adult?"
She speaks with confidence, perhaps having decided that there is no need to be nervous anymore.
Even though the cruiser was taken away, he has a very confident attitude, as if he has some faith in him.
I know I've heard bad things about her, like she's the queen bee and all.
But even so, she is also a space survival ranker.
Unless that person is impersonating the 20th ranked ranker, he or she must be hiding a secret trick.
'Shall we talk more?'
"Sun, Yang, Ham, Ka, Ji, Pe, As, Gin, Ju, Je, E, Gi, Go, Man, Jang, Ha, Gun."
"joy. "That ship is just a portion of the power we have."
"U-ri?"
What does she mean by 'we'?
It may have been referring to the Humanity Cartel, but it had no such nuance. Thanks to Aimorph's unique extrasensory senses, I can understand some of the emotions contained in the other person's voice.
'It feels like it's referring to a colleague, not a subordinate.'
That would mean that the player or a being equivalent to the player shares her will.
Even as I was quickly racking my brain, she continued talking.
"It's commendable that the subadults came all the way to this planet, but that doesn't stop there. "If I had been calm, I would have let it go."
"I'm mistaken. He ordered me to attack that side of my stomach. "Are you sure what to say?"
"That's stupid. There's no way I would leave an intruder whose identity I don't know. Moreover, now you are nothing more than a weakling. The weak have no right to protest against me.'
Her words sounded childish, but they were words that penetrated the core of this world.
The world of Space Survival was a dystopian world dominated by the logic of survival of the fittest.
'Further conversation is meaningless.'
Looking at her attitude of talking about the weak, it would be a shame to bring up the topic of negotiations.
For more detailed information, I think I will have to meet her in person and hear it from her mouth. Because I have many useful tools to help others tell only the truth.
"I feel like I'm completely absorbed in this world."
"under. That's what happens to everyone who stays in this world for a long time. You know it too, right? "What kind of world is this?"
I was about to end the conversation, but she gave me an important clue.
'It's been a long time?'
It has been less than half a year since I came here.
Of course, it is true that it felt long because I was doing something almost without a day off. However, that doesn't mean I can say it's been a long time.
'…Muriel and I have been here for different times.'
At least she must have been in this world much longer than me.
'This part is a bit interesting.'
There were more reasons to somehow capture Muriel.
"And then. "You must be thinking that I'm talking about such useless things without thinking, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think I'm such a fool? "Do you think I didn't prepare anything on the cruiser?"
she said as if it were ridiculous. It sounds as if something was done to the cruiser.
"Are you going to say something like a bomb?"
「Huh?」
"You, Hee, Su, Pe, E, Su, Dok, Eun, Bomb, Tan, Eul, are very, very good."
Before I took over the situation room, the toothworms that had been sprinkled throughout the ship reported the danger to me. They say that there are bombs placed around the reactor that can be detonated by remote control.
Since it was installed very secretly and there was no record of it on the ship's computer, it seemed that Muriel had probably installed it with the intention that the ship would be taken over.
If I hadn't had the experience of fighting Space Dog on a previous research ship, I wouldn't have thought about the bomb. The idea of installing a bomb in the nuclear reactor, the heart of a ship, is truly an idea that is difficult to imagine.
"…under. It's true. "You're definitely ranked 5th, right?"
The bomb's wires were already cut and it was inoperable.
Muriel let out an exclamation as if confirming that fact.
But the emotion permeating that voice was different from what I expected.
It was a feeling of relief, not surprise or dismay.
"He's smart, though. Do you really think I prepared just that?"
"Unidentified energy flow detected in planetary orbit! It's dangerous! Everyone, evacuate!"
As soon as Muriel finished speaking, a warning sound rang out in the situation room.
'orbit? no way?'
"It's a bit of a waste to be hungry, though. Still, if you throw it as bait to catch rankers, it's still a profitable business, right? Isn't that right?"
I left the situation room without delay.
Energy flow in orbit can only point to one thing.
Orbital bombardment.
If it is an orbital bombardment delivered through a fleet, the cruiser's ship AI can detect it. Since it was said to be an unidentified energy flow, it is not a spaceship carrying out orbital bombardment.
'A first-class weapon!'
Among the unique weapons that only the cult can obtain, there is a satellite weapon that helps the cult attack a specific area from orbit.
Its name is 'Rain God'.
It is a satellite weapon that operates using the owner's psychic power as fuel and sends a huge bolt of lightning down on the target.
Lightning sounds weak, but its destructive power is greater than that of a nuclear bomb. If you shoot it once on the ground, everything in that area will be destroyed.
Although it has the disadvantage of having a cooldown of 14 days after firing once, it is a very popular equipment in games because it is unconditionally beneficial if used in advance when fighting powerful enemies.
'If it were an Eucharist, it would hold up, but not now!'
Even if you are a semi-adult, if you are hit by lightning fired by the Thunder God, you will die instantly.
I quickly crawled down to the ground through a hole drilled under the cruiser.
'This isn't enough.'
The distance from the ground is well over a hundred meters, but I still can't feel at ease. After I got into the ground, a nest filled the hole I dug, but it wasn't enough.
I quickly dug downwards.
When we fell a few hundred meters from the surface, the link to the tooth fairies was lost.
Then, I felt a strong vibration from above.
The lightning thrown by the Thunder God fell to the ground.
–
"It's Minister Hwiyu."
Raijin's lightning was so powerful that it was visible even from a long distance away from the cruiser. The night sky became clear with all the clouds cleared by lightning that flew from the planet's orbit.
In the area struck by lightning, a huge nuclear cloud rose upwards from the explosion of the cruiser's nuclear reactor.
Even a jungle filled with redwood trees measuring hundreds of meters or more could not withstand this unprecedented event.
A huge fire demon devoured the jungle and the creatures that lived there.
Muriel clapped happily as she watched countless lives being extinguished.
"As expected of Thunder God. One thing is certain: performance."
「….」
The Mother of Heaven gritted her teeth as she saw the Thunder God operating for the second time.
This is not the first time Raijin has been activated on this planet. This is because Muriel used it to catch Father Earth and Mother Heaven.
The Earth Father was named Wolff, who had surprisingly high defense, but it was not enough to withstand the Thunder God's lightning.
Moreover, in order to protect the Heavenly Mother, Father Earth covered himself over her body and was hit by lightning instead.
Thanks to this, he was put to death in one blow and was subsequently beheaded during the battle with Muriel.
"Hmph, even if you're ranked 5th, there's no chance of surviving being hit by lightning, right? Even Father Earth? "He can get away with this in one fell swoop."
「….」
"Well, safety comes first. "I have to see the corpse with my own eyes."
Muriel called some of her subordinates.
"Brothers, go here with Heavenly Mother and check it out."
"…Don't be funny. Do you think I will listen to you?"
"Huh? "Isn't it obvious?"
After responding like that, Muriel unfastened the javelin she was carrying on her back. And with a nonchalant expression, he killed one boy, Wolf, by stabbing him with a spear.
"You bitch!"
"You have a 'family' and you're going to abandon them?"
"I will kill you! "I will tear you to death no matter what!"
"Oh my, you're so scared. But I think these cute kids here will die first before they kill me."
"Ugh!"
"If you want to save your family, you'd better listen to me. "15th ranker."
"Damn it…"
The Mother of Heaven had no choice but to lower her head again in response to Muriel's threats.
–
'I thought I was going to die.'
It was somehow possible to avoid the range of Raijin, but that didn't mean it was completely safe.
This is because the enormous fire created by the combination of the two elements, such as the explosion of the nuclear reactor and the bomb, penetrated into the tunnel I had dug.
Fortunately, it evolved into a subadult and its shell became stronger, so it was able to withstand the flow of destructive energy.
And thanks to Raijin's lightning, the earth's crust was greatly shaken and the tunnel I had dug collapsed, so the heat that seemed to engulf my whole body could not continue to pursue me.
I waited underground until the aftermath of the explosion was over and then came up to the surface.
The place that was originally filled with redwoods and grass became a truly barren field.
The place where the cruiser was was not empty words, only sand remained, and the jungle in the distance was still burning brightly in the fire.
'It came out like this.'
Until now, I have eaten countless lives, including humans.
However, there was that thought somewhere in my mind.
I thought it would be okay since they don't live in the same world as me.
That may be why he approached her, a real person, with an ambiguous attitude.
Even though I knew that Muriel was the one who posed a great threat not only to me, but also to No. 26 and Adhai.
It was definitely like that.
Now that thought has completely disappeared.
'Even if I kill a kid who sticks a lightning bolt in someone else's head, it's self-defense, right?'
After crawling out of the ground, I quickly crawled towards the burning forest in the distance.
I couldn't tell if the heat I felt in my body was because of the aftermath of the nuclear explosion or because I was angry.
It doesn't matter anyway.
'Rain God's cooldown is 14 days.'
I don't know if this is her trump card or if there is something more hidden.
But it doesn't matter now.
'I won't kill you right away.'
Because there is information I need to get from her.
Instead, I should let her know that sometimes there are things more fearful than death.
Using all the strategies and means I have.
She'll soon find out just how scary a pissed-off Aimov can be.
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