Psykers

Luckily, this time, he managed to somehow steer into the AC duct. Inside, it was covered in complete darkness and an insidious aura. Nolan took a look around. Even though he couldn't see much, he could sense the walls.

The body of a larva had its benefits as well, nocturnal superposition eyes allowed Nolan to create sharp images even in complete darkness. Though his vision range wasn't far, it was still a good innate ability to possess. He began his exploration, coming across multiple corridors, rooms, and eventually, a large storeroom.

'Looks like this ship has been hijacked.'

There were boxes of guns, dead bodies piled in a room, and many exotic creatures caged in the storeroom. 'Too bad, I can't consume any of them. Maybe if I was an adult.'

Insectoids didn't have levels like other species. To grow stronger, they solely relied on traits and mutations from other organisms. Nolan was currently searching for the control room or the security room. There were survillance cameras fitted in every corner of the ship. If he wanted to devour a human or any of the caged organisms, he needed to do it as discreetly as possible. Greydust beetles weren't strong in any case; aside from mutations, an adult Greydust beetle could die from a single bullet. Nolan knew this fact which made him plan his every step carefully.

Despite such circumstances, he smirked. It had been a while since he had faced a challenge in Celestia Online. 'I wish I could record this.'

He turned the next corner and quickly flattened his body against the cold metal surface. In front of him was a huge screen displaying live footage from various cameras. A large table with multiple terminals displayed charts and other information about the ship.

Nolan had found the security room.

All of his senses focused on the large, chubby woman sitting in the office chair.

'Is that a psyker?'

Luke was standing in front of the middle-aged woman, extra careful not to meet her eyes. She had a bob cut and wore multiple layers of an old, red military-style outfit. A dull bronze ring was tightly wrapped around her forehead.

"Madam, Mark has been experimenting with the animals again."

The chubby woman clicked her tongue in disdain. "That lowlife. I warned him just a few days ago. We cannot suffer a loss in profit because of his stupid fantasies."

"Yes, I already scolded him in my office. Should I tell the captain to keep an eye on him?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "No need to waste energy on him. We are already in a bit of a hurry. The mothership is coming to collect the loot tomorrow, and we still haven't sorted the animals. I have already ordered Captain Opal to take care of it. He's busy in the storeroom. If Mark disobeys the order again, just put him to rest."

Jane's order forced Luke to break his poker face and frown. "But Ma'am—"

"No arguments. If you want to stay aboard, you have to obey my commands."

Luke made a complicated expression before reluctantly saluting. Out of nowhere, the psyker glanced at the ceiling.

"What's wrong, madam?" He asked following her gaze.

Silence.

"It's… nothing. I thought I felt some kind of presence."

In the ventilation duct, Nolan was hiding in a very awkward position, his body wedged between the metal grilles. A few seconds later, the psyker continued the conversation. Nolan took the chance and slowly moved away from the room.

'Whew! That was close.'

He shrugged off his worries and glanced back the security room as he analyzed the situation. 'The fact that she could sense my presence means my psychic fortitude is the same as a human's. Interesting. Insectoid normally don't have psychic presence.'

Due to the psyker's existence, Nolan's attitude took a 180-degree turn. At first, he thought this was an ordinary pirate raid on a cargo ship, but now, the existence of a psyker meant he could possibly be dealing with an entire fleet of pirates.

Psykers were genetically enhanced humans who could wield many abilities using their psychic mind, based on their respective class and faction. Every psyker could detect strong distortions in a specific area caused by strong emotions. This was how that woman detected Nolan's anxiety. They were one of the more popular races among new players.

In simpler terms, psykers were essentially a mix of space mages and rangers, with very easy attack patterns and a simple build system. In the beginning, they were great, but as the game progressed, the upgrading cost for a single ability became too expensive for solo psykers. If you were playing in a team, psykers were often forced to act as bait or a meat shield due to their low core value. This was why, in the top 10, no one mained psykers. Still, the majority of combatant human NPCs were psykers.

For now, Nolan decided to leave the psyker alone and moved forward.

'She mentioned that the captain is in the storeroom, but he wasn't there. Hmm.'

After wandering for a few more hours, he stumbled into someone's personal room. It was small-about one-third the size of Nolan's original room. One bed, one cabinet, and that was it.

There, he saw an armored man.

'That should be the captain, but what is he doing here?' Nolan guessed as he stared at the large rifle strapped to the man's back.

The captain was a middle-aged man with a beard, covered in a black metal suit with a long black coat draped over him. He was mumbling something while filling a syringe with a strange liquid. The very next second, he injected the syringe into his own neck.

'Is he taking drugs?' Nolan's eyes flashed with greed.

The captain started taking deep breaths, exhaling loudly like an animal in heat.

"Today, I will taste that bitch. Rah!" He swung his fist into the cabinet, punching a hole straight through it.

'That's a strength-enhancing drug. If I manage to drink a few drops from that syringe, I could reap extraordinary traits and possibly evolve to the next stage.'

The captain placed the half-full syringe into his upper pocket and left the room in a hurry. Nolan followed him closely.

'The main problem is, how can I take down the captain without alerting the psyker? I don't have any offensive abilities, and time is scarce too. If the mothership arrives first, then I'm fucked.'

Nolan stopped in his tracks as Mark passed by Captain Opal. The psychotic scientist looked extremely depressed and disturbed.

"Where is it? Where is my Greydust beetle?"

Suddenly, a devious plan formed in Nolan's mind.

'Hehe. This shall do. Hehe. I will complete my quest and win this match. Conquering this small cargo ship will serve as the first stepping stone for my intergalactic empire.'