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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 475
A cavern, its walls filled with writhing, living membranes.
Only the Outspacers more specifically, only the chosen among them could ever enter such a place. And there, within its depths, a gigantic Outspacer lay in repose.
This being had no thick carapace, no sharp claws or armored appendages for protection. Except for its immense size, nothing about it appeared especially dangerous.
But appearances could not be trusted. For this was one of the deadliest creatures in the entire universe.
She was the Mother of all Outspacers the Empress who birthed queens, the progenitor from whom the highest strains descended. Among the great beings, she was known simply as the Mother of the Sky.
Now, the ultimate Outspacer rested in her palace, listening to the report of one of her subordinates.
｢So… it has come to this.｣
The biowaves she emitted made the mucous-coated cavern walls tremble.
Just hours ago, her link to two thousand queens had been severed all at once. Every one of them had been a commander dispatched to capture the Amorph within Megacorp territory.
Billions of soldiers vanished with them. All wiped out by the Amorph—snuffed out in a single moment.
Only a handful had survived: Torders, acting as her proxy in commanding the army; and a few of the heavily-armored Queen’s Guard.
The Amorph might be formidable, but even it should not have been able to annihilate such a vast swarm in mere seconds.
That was why she was now listening to Torders’ explanation, to understand exactly what had happened.
‘…To think it forced the garbage vessels to leap all at once and collide.’
The Amorph had deliberately triggered accidents that only rarely occurred during faster-than-light jumps.
Countless derelicts had slammed into one another at translight speeds, releasing unimaginable energy.
The resulting shockwave had torn through her legions, erasing them.
Even the Screamer—engineered with the power of Prometheus—was destroyed with them, but that was of little comfort. The true target, the Amorph itself, escaped unscathed.
｢Has Krieger’s corpse been found?｣
In answer to the Empress’s question, Torders reported that the search was still ongoing.
Krieger, who had been deployed alongside him, was caught in the shockwave and cut off. Like the others, it was most likely dead—its remains adrift somewhere in space.
｢Its essence must be recovered. At all costs.｣
Krieger had been her finest creation, unmatched in tracking ability. Only with its essence could she mass-produce pursuers capable of hunting the Amorph.
‘Damn it!’
Curse that infamous Morph Butcher—because of him, the losses were immeasurable.
Ninety percent of her invasion force against Megacorp was annihilated. Three of her four painstakingly bred Queens lost. Fungusnote captured outright by Megacorp. Krieger vanished within their territory.
That much she could accept. Armies and genetic essences could always be replaced.
But what truly left her seething in anguish was something else entirely.
‘…Joy.’
Joy Spencer—her beloved, the one she had sworn to spend her life with when she returned to reality. Now dead, slaughtered by the vile Amorph, violated and devoured alive.
The Joy she remembered had been gentle, pure-hearted—someone utterly unsuited for the brutal life of space survival. She had shielded her as best she could from danger, and yet it had all ended so suddenly, so pointlessly.
‘Beomho, you bastard… no reply at all!’
When Joy first noticed the suspicious signs, when she made her move against the Amorph, the Empress had reached out to Beomho, begging him to protect her.
But Beomho had ignored her. Not once did he answer her call.
‘Do you think I’ll forgive you? Never. Never!’
To her, both the Amorph and Beomho were guilty. Both shared in the killing of Joy. Both had to pay the price—through death.
Having resolved herself, the Empress unleashed a new wave.
｢Every queen is to return, except those assigned to tracing Krieger. I will create a new queen.｣
The queens had failed in their duty, unable to protect Joy despite their strength. Even though Joy had been more powerful than any other Outspacer, she had been defeated.
Failures had reasons. They would be analyzed, and the swarm improved. That was the way of the Outspacers—the way of the Mother of the Sky.
‘…I should move the nest.’
With Joy dead and Beomho a traitor, there was no longer any reason to remain among the Returnists. She had to relocate her dwelling to a place none of them could know.
She was about to add one more command when another Outspacer’s wave cut through the chamber.
The message was brief: A colossal fleet was approaching.
‘No… it can’t be!’
Only one other being alive knew the location of her nest—Beomho, the leader of the Returnists. He must have betrayed her to the Dominators, feeding them this information.
｢All of you—repel the invaders!｣
But most of her forces were already away, striking at Megacorp and the Cult Empire. Left behind were only her Queen’s Guard and a token garrison—far too few to stand against a full assault from the Dominator forces.
As she ordered the defenders to hold as best they could, the Empress herself prepared to flee.
Moments after she activated the bio-portal, the entire planet shuddered violently beneath her nest.
***
“How did it go? The Empress?”
｢We lost her.｣
“What?”
Inside a pristine, orderly room.
When the words flowed out of the diamond-shaped monument, Chloe Garmelda frowned.
“We even brought the upgraded Prometheus. And still, you’re telling me you lost her?”
｢Hmph. Prometheus can’t block a bio-portal. Neither can the lightweight V2.｣
“…She’s still using those unstable bio-portals? I thought she’d already switched all warp systems, especially after that last queen specialized in mobility.”
｢Looks like she kept it as insurance… for situations like this.｣
“Tch. Typical of her personality.”
At Star Union’s Grand Elder Jubaca’s words, Chloe clicked her tongue softly.
This operation had been launched based on intelligence her own house’s spies had stumbled across—information that an Outspacer had nested in a place utterly barren and beyond the reach of the great powers.
That planet was OW-33, so desolate it was near impossible to detect signs of life. From the perspective of an Outspacer—whose strength was measured by the abundance of organisms—that was the worst possible choice of nest.
Which is exactly why Fourth Ranker had chosen it. No one would ever expect her to hide there. Until the report came in, even Chloe herself had never imagined Fourth would lurk in such a place.
As soon as they uncovered the base, the two mobilized and stormed OW-33. Yet the result, as they now saw, was failure.
“Damn. If I knew it would turn out like this, I’d have tightened preparations and gone in harder.”
｢If it’s Fourth, she would have sensed our move the moment we stirred.｣
“True enough, I suppose.”
｢Regardless, now she’ll likely keep her head down for a while. We can’t waste this chance.｣
Jubaca’s deep voice came through the monument. Chloe understood all too well what he meant.
This was their opportunity to accelerate the secret project they had been conducting behind Akira’s back: The Dream of Jacobus.
｢The Machine Committee insists—if we want faster progress, we need tighter collaboration among the researchers.｣
“Of course. Even with multiple specialists working together it’s not going to be easy.”
｢So why not come here outright?｣
“What?”
｢Since Pyra Eleven was lost, our research pace in genetic design has plummeted. We need you to bring it back up.｣
Chloe knew Pyra Eleven well. An android with unusually flexible thinking, one so notable that even Jubaca kept a close eye on her. If she hadn’t been slain by the Amorph, she would’ve been invaluable to the project.
｢Weren’t you planning to join us permanently once the project completed anyway?｣
“Well, yes, but…”
It was true.
Once the project was complete, she would leave Megacorp behind. By then, the overwhelming power secured through the project would make the Garmelda family irrelevant.
‘Still… until then, being part of the house is useful.’
Her family wielded vast connections and influence. Those assets were vital to pushing the project forward.
“For now, it’s difficult. There’s still plenty I can obtain here in Megacorp.”
｢Tell me what you need. I’ll provide as much support as possible.｣
“Oh? If I said I wanted antlers from the Cult of Staghorns or horns from the Yakhorns, could you actually get them? You’re the Grand Elder—you can secure almost anything. But honestly, it takes forever, doesn’t it?”
｢Hmm. That’s… true enough.｣
“Even if I joined you now, the speed boost wouldn’t really be worth it…”
Suddenly, her levitating chair flashed. A message popped up on the console—sent by her aide.
‘Didn’t I tell you not to disturb me? What’s this about?’
｢Hm? An emergency transmission, you say?｣
“Huh?”
Not just her—Jubaca too seemed to have received something urgent from his subordinates. His voice through the monument wavered, then faded.
‘Did we both just get emergency calls?’
Chloe began to check her console—when Jubaca’s voice shot out, sharp with urgency.
｢Chloe! Look at the news immediately!｣
“The news?”
Chloe pulled up the message from her aide. A link was attached, titled “Breaking Emergency Coverage,” with only a note: This is huge.
She opened the link, streaming it as a hologram.
｢…For the past four months, I have lived in utter darkness. My free will was crushed, great swaths of my memory erased…｣
“The Old Man?”
On the screen appeared Akira Yujin, CEO of Megacorp.
But this was unlike the man’s polished usual appearances. He looked gaunt, frail, clad in a patient’s white gown, fingers clutching a respirator.
｢The Cult did not stop at brainwashing me—they went further, abducting me. If not for an explosion in a scrapyard nearby, damaging their transport vessel… cough, cough… I might never have escaped.｣
“The Cult? Abduction? You have got to be kidding me…”
｢No. It’s on every single Megacorp channel right now.｣
Under the broadcast, captions scrolled nonstop: ‘Megacorp CEO discovered near scrapyard system,’ ‘Was the Imperial Council behind the abduction?’ ‘Cult-linked stocks plummet!’
Chloe quickly switched channels. Every broadcast was the same.
‘The Cult abducting him? What kind of absurd nonsense is this?’
And still, Akira’s voice carried on.
｢This abduction is an act of terrorism that shakes the very order of the universe. I, Akira Yujin, will never stand idly by in the face of such injustice. Therefore, I call upon the Cult Empire to cooperate fully in investigating these terrorists. If they refuse, then… cough! Cough! …we may have no choice but to resort to force!｣
｢We apologize for the unstable broadcast. We, DailyMars, are now attempting to contact the Yujin family for further details on this shocking abduction…｣
“……”
As soon as Akira’s broadcast ended, Chloe shut off the hologram.
“…We’ll have to postpone the project discussion.”
｢That would be wise.｣
The moment the transmission cut, Chloe immediately summoned her aides and researchers.
The situation had taken a turn no one had foreseen—but one truth stood out crystal clear.
The stable order of the universe was about to be shaken to its foundations.
And the announcement they had just witnessed marked the very turning point.
***
I had a long dream.
In that dream, I wandered not Earth, but the vastness of space. I visited countless planets, met beings of every form.
Most were my enemies… but some became my friends. With them I shared adventures. With them I endured crises.
There was a bond between us. Though we were of different races, we lived not merely as friends—but as family.
｢■■■■?｣
In reality, I had never known such connections. I had no friends, and my ties with family were poor at best.
Perhaps that was why… in the dream, I was happy.
If only reality could be the same…
｢■■■!｣
‘Who…?’
Someone was calling to me. A voice that carried both a warmth I knew and a desperation that felt strange.
I was certain it belonged to someone familiar—but the memories would not come. Like fragments of a dream slipping away upon waking, everything was hazy.
I wanted to ask, Who are you? But my mouth would not open. My body refused to move, as if bound by sleep paralysis.
“Ah? Th-the patient is waking up!”
A high-pitched voice stabbed at my ears. At the same time, sensation crashed over me, like surf pulling me from sleep.
The steady rhythm of a beeping monitor. The faint sting of antiseptic in the air.
The voice was unfamiliar… but everything else was not. I opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw—white curtains I recognized.
And beneath them, I realized—I was lying on a hospital bed.
‘Why am I here?’
Just moments before, I had been somewhere else—somewhere that saved no lives, only destroyed them.
‘…I can’t remember.’
As fragments slipped away, someone yanked open the curtain—and suddenly threw their arms around me, pressing me tight.
“■■! Are you alright!?”
“Ah…ahh.”
“Gods, thank you! Thank you so much! My son—my son Hyun-seo has awoken! Thank you—thank you!”
The man’s sobs shook against me. The instant I heard his voice, I realized who it was.
A voice I had not heard in so long—yet one I could never forget.
“F…Father…?”
It was my father’s voice.
“Hyun-seo’s father! He’s really—Hyun-seo, my dear!”
My mother burst in with nurses, covering her mouth in shock as tears welled in her eyes.
The sight of both their faces cleared my mind like skies after a storm. Worries that had bound me fled like mist into nothing.
And I understood. Finally, I had awakened from the long dream.
｢■■■….｣
“Please! The patient must not be agitated yet! Guardians, step outside for now—he needs time to stabilize!”
The room was soon full of commotion.
And so… the strange voice that had brushed past my ear in that fleeting moment, I forgot just as quickly.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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