Chapter 357: |
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The planet Asuka-44, with its highly active volcanic activity, possessed a history as unique as its environment.
Eighty years ago, the Emperor of the Cult Empire suddenly descended into madness, beginning a reign of terror. He purged competent ministers and priests, and insulted the divine principles the cults worshipped. During this chaos, a new faction that revered the Emperor seized control of the assembly, nearly causing the empire to fall into civil war.
Already weakened by corruption, the empire collapsed further under the Emperor's insanity. Many cults, disillusioned with their homeland, left for Megacorp, and vast wealth was funneled into other rising powers.
The Emperor's reign of madness lasted for five years before it ended. The Emperor, who spent his days engaging in debauchery with dozens of slaves in his private palace, was assassinated by the last remaining loyalists of the empire.
Interestingly, among the assassins was a space dog from the cult. The exact role he played in the assassination remains unknown, but it was enough to spark curiosity among many.
The cults' fairytale, ‘The Legend of the Pirate King Who Killed the Tyrant’, was based on this very event.
But what does the mad Emperor's tale have to do with the extreme environment of Asuka-44?
The answer is that Asuka-44 was where the Emperor hid the slush funds to support his followers. Some of the treasures from the Imperial Palace and a portion of the Emperor's accumulated wealth were hidden there.
The room they entered was more lavishly decorated than the Imperial Palace itself.
A wolf with the head of a Mastiff stared out the window.
The building he was in had a gravity control system, allowing it to float above the lava. The outer walls were reinforced with multiple layers of shields.
He was the overseer of this planet, looking out at the legacy left by the Cult Emperor.
“Salman, new cargo has been prepared.”
The wolf, Salman, turned his head, his Mastiff head tilting slightly.
"Are the transporters ready?"
"Yes. We have prepared those who would disappear without question."
"Good."
Salman exited the room with the servant.
They passed down a corridor decorated with expensive artwork, eventually arriving at a massive, open space.
This room, unlike the lavish surroundings, gave off a sense of extravagance to the point of excess. There were no decorations here; the only machinery was the lighting on the walls and a dome-shaped gate replacing the ceiling.
The landscape resembled a spaceport. However, at the center of the space was something far from a ship. A gigantic mountain of rock, seemingly transported from a volcano, filled the entire area.
In front of the rocky mass lay a creature.
The creature resembled a hedgehog but spat out lava instead of blood. This creature was an Elemental Hog, one of the apex predators native to this planet.
Salman took the long spear handed to him by the servant and approached the Elemental Hog. The 13-meter-long, giant carnivorous hedgehog glared at the much smaller wolf with wide eyes.
Salman approached without speaking, lightly poking the creature with his spear.
“Guuuuu”
Salman, unfazed, moved closer and placed his hand atop the creature's head.
Something strange happened.
The Elemental Hog, who had been hostile just moments ago, suddenly rolled onto its side and exposed its belly. It even began making cute, whimpering sounds, resembling a pet dog greeting its owner after an absence.
However, no one present found this surprising.
"That's enough. Treat its minor injuries and send it to 'The Empress’.”
"We'll prepare it immediately."
"Has the Magmasaur been found?"
"We believe the activity in five volcanoes is due to the Magmasaur's movements."
"Good. Mobilize all personnel to track the Magmasaur."
"Understood."
Salman handed off the task of dealing with the Elemental Hog to the servant and glanced at the rocky mountain.
"Oh, and don't forget to feed it”.
"Yes."
With that, Salman left the room.
While other servants moved in to transport the Elemental Hog, the mountain remained motionless.
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｢Delicious!｣
｢Flavor!｣｢Spicy!｣
A feast was held on a strange planet after a long time.
Number 26, its body greatly enlarged, extended its tentacles to scoop up the Lavaraptors, while Adhai used the tentacle bundles attached to her body to pierce the food and suck out the blood.
Since they hadn't had a satisfying meal since leaving Adhai's homeland, everyone focused intently on feeding. Even Mother of the Sky, who usually refrained from consuming wild animals, was enjoying the Lavaraptor meat.
She first chopped up the Lavaraptor and skewered the pieces with a golden spear. Then, she held the meat over the flowing lava, roasting it with its intense heat.
When the surface of the meat became crisp and the fat between the flesh began to melt and drip away, she withdrew the spear and began eating.
｢What's wrong? Why?｣
[ZZZZ ZZZ (It's nothing.)]
Noticing my gaze, she daintily wiped her beak, now covered in grease. I almost complimented her on how good it looked, but I decided against it.
‘I’m the same, after all.’
After a long period of high-speed travel without rest, I was feeling quite hungry. I had pilfered some food from a pirate ship along the way, but it wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy me. Even with the heart of a dragon, it didn’t fully take care of my hunger.
‘In games, I didn’t have to worry about this sort of thing.’
｢Middle child, is it good?｣
｢Huh? Want me to give you one?｣
｢Yes, yes!｣
｢Here.｣
Mother of the Sky took a piece of meat and handed it to Number 26's tentacle. It pulled the tentacle back toward its body and took the meat in, its body glowing brightly.
｢Even better!｣
｢Is it?｣｢Yes!｣
｢Friend!｣
｢Now you're calling me a pretty friend?｣
｢I reject that｣｢A pretty friend!｣
｢I won’t fall for it now. Go away.｣
｢That’s mean!｣｢Mean!｣｢Mean!｣
Watching everyone enjoy their meal, I tossed a piece of Lavaraptor into my mouth. The hot heat and the distinct flavor of the blood soaked my tongue. Even though it was raw meat without any seasoning, I could still taste a sharp spiciness. If I had to compare, it tasted like lamb grilled over direct fire with a hint of cumin.
‘The texture... what should I call it? It’s much softer than lamb.’
It had more of the texture of rare beef, not lamb, so there was quite a difference, but the taste itself was still undeniable.
‘And I’ve gained a new trait, too.’
After eating dozens of Lavaraptors, I was able to acquire a trait.
One of their biological traits was their well-developed hind legs. One of the Lavaraptor’s strengths had now been absorbed into my body.
‘Enhanced Hind Legs.’
As the name suggests, this trait improved the performance of my hind legs.
With the ‘Enhanced Hind Legs’ trait activated, the muscle mass in my legs increased significantly. Additionally, new biological vessels were added within my legs, alongside the blood vessels. Whenever I ran or jumped, a special liquid flowed through these vessels, reducing the strain on my leg muscles.
In accordance with the internal changes, the thickness of my legs also increased. While I was always able to stand on two feet, I now had a much more stable posture.
‘It’s not a crucial trait, but it’s better than not having it at all.’
In fact, the trait I actually wanted from this planet could be obtained from a different creature.
The strongest apex creature found on a volcanic-type planet: the ‘Magmasaur’.
This enormous beast constantly emits magma and fire from its body and is classified among the upper ranks of apex predators.
The interesting thing is that it doesn’t eat meat, despite having immense power. To be more precise, it consumes the energy that erupts from lava and volcanoes. There aren't many Apex creatures that don't consume meat, and it is one of the few exceptions.
‘Of course, just because it doesn't eat meat doesn't mean it's weak.’
The Magmasaur lives deep within the volcanoes, making hunting it a highly difficult task. On top of that, it possesses unique abilities that make it incredibly difficult to face. Even in the game, I struggled quite a bit trying to capture it on my own.
‘Well, that’s a story from the game. Things are different here.’
Right now, my situation is far better than in the game. My own specs are pretty high, and I have many friends who can help me.
‘The problem is, it's not easy to find it.’
Since it hardly ever emerges from the depths of the volcano, I’ll need to go directly to it. And this planet has a lot of volcanoes. To hunt the Magmasaur, it would take a considerable amount of time to enter and exit each one.
‘I can't afford to waste time just looking for it.’
There are a lot of things I need to take care of on this planet: capturing Wolf Ranker, raiding the equipment storage of the Returner that it guards, and gathering materials for the equipment I need to make for the Mother of the Sky. There’s more than enough to keep me busy.
'First priority is to capture Wolf Ranker and gain the necessary traits.’
It’s definitely faster to find Wolf Ranker and other Apex creatures than to hunt the Magmasaur. I was still sorting out which goal to pursue first when PS-111 approached me.
"The structure of the hind legs has changed to a shape similar to that of a 'Lavaraptor'. I request an autopsy experiment to confirm the internal structure."
[ZZZ (No way)]
It had been staring at my legs with its red camera lens for a while. Unless I were injured, I had no intention of letting it cut into my perfectly fine legs, so I refused.
"Sorry, but no."
"Of course, you'd oppose cutting off a perfectly good leg."
PS-111 squinted at my legs in disappointment. Isabel, seeing this, shook her head.
[ZZ ZZ (How’s it taste?)]
"To be honest, it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten in my life."
It seemed genuinely impressed, wiping its mouth with one of the arms near its head. Then, using its gallagon tail with claws, it prodded a Lavaraptor on the ground, picked it up, and roasted it by holding it near the lava.
｢Pretty little one｣｢Give it to me.｣
"Want it? Just wait a second, I need to cook it."
｢Pretty little one｣｢Good｣｢Ugly friend｣｢Bad.｣
｢…Ugh, look at that vile little lizard. Yuck.｣
‘It looks like it’s eating well, I’m relieved.’
I stretched out my battle arm to eat another Lavaraptor. Just as I was about to take a bite, my auxiliary organ sensed a faint vibration in the air.
‘What’s that?’
I stopped and looked up. Through the volcanic ash, I could see a small light in the dark sky.
That’s not a star.
"Amorph?"
｢Why the sudden… huh? Could it be?｣
[ZZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ (It’s an airship. It’s coming this way.)]
An unidentified airship was heading toward us.
‘An airship.’
I couldn’t see any other aircraft or patrol ships in the area. Taking care of that one wouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
‘No, wait…’
This planet, with no terraforming at all, is not easy for humans to inhabit. So, this airship likely came from one of the few artificial settlements on this planet.
‘And in that settlement, I’ll likely find the Wolf Ranker and the equipment storage I’m looking for.’
If I follow that airship, I won’t need to fly around searching for the settlement myself.
Making up my mind, I slammed my wing-arm into the ground with great force. The ground cracked open, and a large crater formed where I struck.
[ZZ ZZ (Everyone hide)]
I gathered the others into the crater, using my wing membrane to sweep dirt and rock fragments over them to cover them up. After that, I leaped into the nearby lava.
The depth of the pooled lava wasn’t deep enough to fully conceal my large body, but I had certain traits.
My ‘Dark Veil’, which can hide me from electronic devices, and ‘Camouflage’, which activates when I remain still for several minutes in one spot, combined, could keep me from being detected by the airship.
With my body concealed, the airship flew right over us. They were headed toward the volcano I had used to enter the planet.
‘Do they have business at the volcano?’
At first, it seemed like they were just passing by, but then they suddenly veered off course and landed near the spot we were hiding. Two individuals wearing thick, reinforced suits similar to spacesuits disembarked from the airship.
"Why did the Lavaraptors all die?"
"Maybe they got caught in a volcanic eruption?"
"This isn't their territory. There's no reason they would come all the way here to die."
"Let's collect samples first."
Based on their conversation, it seemed like they were researchers. One of them took tools from a kit attached to their abdomen and began collecting the Lavaraptor corpses, while the other held a lantern, inspecting the surrounding area for signs of footprints or other traces.
As they followed the footprints with the lantern, the researcher suddenly shouted loudly.
"Hey! Look at these tracks!"
"Why? What... what is this?"
"...These aren't in Dreadsong’s territory, are they?"
"Of course not. No one can enter there."
"Then what the hell are these? Is there some creature we don’t know about?"
"Could these be traces of a Magmasaur?"
At that moment, I heard the name of a familiar creature from their conversation.
‘Dreadsong and Magmasaur?’
"No way. Do you think the Lavaraptor would be crazy enough to take on one of them? It would just run away."
"Then what about these tracks?"
"If I knew that, I wouldn’t be here... Huh?"
"What? Did you figure it out?"
"No, it’s not that... but why do these tracks stop here?"
"Huh?"
The researchers, following the tracks I had made, stopped right in front of the lava where I was hiding. I could feel their eyes on me.
‘Well, this works out perfectly.’
I had only planned to sneak along with the airship, but now a better idea had come to me.
I stood up from my hiding spot.
"Uh? That thing’s moving?"
"An earthquake..."
As soon as I rose to my feet, the researchers’ conversation abruptly stopped.
"How much do you know about the Magmasaur and Dreadsong?"
They seemed like they could be useful guides.