My Children Swarm the Cosmos – Chapter 22

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐: 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (2)

Six Tritulas fired their bony spikes at them. At the same time, sophisticated machines reacted faster than human senses, spewing flames from their weapons.

Energy bullets fired at the speed of sound, shells launched at the speed of bullets, plasma beams flying at nearly the speed of light barrage the six Tritulas. 

𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮! 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮! 

The Tritulas explode in bursts of red flesh all at once. In the next moment, before the creatures die, the highly toxic bony spikes they fired trace gentle parabolic trajectories and pierce the human troops.

“Argh!” 

“Ah!”

The power of the toxic bony spikes barely penetrated the soldiers’ combat suits. Strictly speaking, they only inflicted shallow external wounds. 

However, chimeraz viruses were in the air, and the bony spikes were coated with an extremely lethal toxin for non-chimeraz organisms.  

The fourteen soldiers were saturated by the spikes, with no way to escape infection and poisoning, dying instantly.

In that brief moment, Kreion and Ludwig moved. 

𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩. . .!

Ludwig, who usually moved his tail in an S-shape, now flattened himself to the floor in a straight line. He slid across the floor to evade the humans’ line of fire.  

The more skilled workers among them noticed this.

“That snake-like monster. . .!”

“Eric! Now’s not the time to shoot it!”

Ludwig darted around erratically, using pillars and cover to make his movements and speed hard to predict and target, even for computers. The irregularity of an unfamiliar organism’s behavior had clear limitations.

𝘛𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘵!

At the same time, Kreion in black armor dashed off in the opposite direction from Ludwig. He unfurled wing-like tentacles from his back and charged at the enemies.  

The tentacles, based on Hydra genetics, essentially expanded at missile speed. What’s more, each tentacle tip was equipped with a jaw boasting tremendous bite force.

Eleven seconds after combat began, the six Tritulas were dead and fourteen soldiers died instantly from poisoning and infection, while Ludwig and Kreion evaded the line of fire.  

The remaining forces now were eight humanoid soldiers and two war machines.

“Forget the snake, kill Kreion first!”

The two pilots of the war machines were workers from the Darwin Foundation. Here, the professionals with more experience than mercenaries, who handled only dangerous and important tasks, resolving tricky problems, were called workers. They acted as elite troops.

𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘨!

The two war machines simultaneously opened the hatches on both shoulders, revealing gatling guns. 

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵!

They fired energy bullets, propelled by combusting special chemicals. Less accurate than particle beams, less powerful than gauss weapons, and less versatile than optical weapons.  

But energy bullets with physical force were perfect for maximizing damage with minimal output in air environments. Especially against simple organisms without shields or special armor.

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵!

Spent cases poured from the war machines’ feet. The tentacles baring their teeth and charging ferociously were shredded as they were.

𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮! 

━𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. . .!

A gaping bullet wound pierces Kreion’s flank, visible all the way through to the other side of his body.  

“Focus on your battle!”

━𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. . .𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬. . .!

The black armor, supposedly strengthened tremendously with an alloy of titanium, is pathetically vulnerable to the humans’ real firearms.  

Rather than relying on his armor’s defensive capabilities, Kreion closes the distance with them, leveraging his regenerative abilities instead. He then rips out the bones from his right shoulder down to his right hand, shaping them into an extremely long spear which he hurls violently.

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!

Two humanoid soldier pierced by the spear’s sharply pointed tip, strung up like shish kebabs.  

At that moment, the tip of the spear skewering the humanoids curves into a hook shape. Kreion grabs the spear and yanks the two humanoids towards himself to use as a shield.  

He counters the humans’ firepower with armor made of humans.  

To the workers, this looked like a hostage situation. Thinking Kreion’s bluff with the hostages wouldn’t actually deter them from firing, they instinctively unleash their weapons, unwilling to hold back.  

As it happens, the humanoids’ armor, now being used as a shield, is resistant to energy rounds.  

“Blow him away!”

The two workers piloting the war machines seize this opportunity, unloading a barrage of missiles and plasma at Kreion with enough force to reduce him to dust. The six other humanoids add to the onslaught. Amidst the chaos, Kreion charges to within ten steps of the six humanoids.  

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘔!!!

An extremely condensed explosion occurs, cratering the floor. Shrapnel and pulverized metal and concrete create a dust explosion, the force of the blast sending air currents blowing towards the distant ventilation shafts.  

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨! 

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬! 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬. . .!

The sounds of metal breaking follow in succession from within the dust cloud.   

In the midst of rapidly forming vacuum, the dust explosion quickly settles. As the cloud disperses, the wreckage of the shattered, broken-down humanoids is revealed in phases. 

Kreion is nowhere to be seen.  

“Where is he?!”

“Above. . .?”

A defining trait evidenced consistently across Kreion’s 18 years of combat was his leaping ability – data compiled in the auxiliary AIs of the war machines. Catching on right away, the two workers instantly directed their sights and weapons upwards.  

“No!!”

Whether he had anticipated that reaction or not, Kreion had somehow already closed in on the war machine from below, crouched at its feet with his arms brandishing protruding chrome blades. He seems to have lunged in low to the ground.  

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬. . .!

His two blades slash into one of the bipedal war machine’s legs twice in quick succession. The war machine loses balance while Kreion’s two blades shatter against the humans’ advanced composite armor.  

The situation has drastically transformed.  

“Eric. . .?”

𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩!

Kreion leaps onto the collapsed war machine, vomiting corrosive digestive fluids from the gill-like holes in his face directly into the machine’s facial opening.  

“Wait. . .! Don’t. . .!”

But the disgorged fluids have already begun corroding the downed war machine’s upper body, seeping into every crack and crevice of its mechanical internals.  

“GYAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

The bloodcurdling screams of the pilot trapped inside echo out as the fluids melt his entire body. Then━  

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!

Kreion stabs a short spear into the war machine’s cockpit, piercing the man’s windpipe and cutting off his breath.  

“You b*stard!!!”

The remaining war machine workers poured out rage bordering on shrieks from outside the war machine, taking aim with plasma weapons at close range. 

𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮!

But before the plasma weapons could spit fire, something heavy ambushed the war machine from behind.  

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬! 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬! 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬!

. . .𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥!

Ludwig rose from the back of the fallen war machine like a salmon.

“The six children you killed were ‘my pack’. . .”!

Ludwig tore into the back of the war machine with the blade-like tree branches attached to his body. Soon, bright red blood spurted like a fountain from the torn wires and twisted armor.  

“Ha. . . Ha. . .”

Kreion, who had suffered considerable injury, approached any soldier’s corpse.  

𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬!

He stabbed his hand into the corpse to absorb the lacking substances. Then the black armor regenerated and the bullets lodged in his body popped out of his skin.  

“Master. . . Are you alright. . .?”

‘𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.’

━𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. . .

‘𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵?’

━𝐍𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. . . 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈’𝐦. . .

‘𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.’  

As Kreion hurried to move, he noticed Ludwig’s gaze.  

He had forgotten something. 

No, he had been ignoring something he was aware of.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫. . .? 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. . .? 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. . .

Ludwig’s gaze ended at Haber.  

It seems he had been hiding behind the tree sculpture since the skirmish began.

━𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧. . . 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝. . .

‘. . .𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵. ‘

Kreion passed by Haber without even meeting his eyes.  

“Young Master. . .”

“You live and watch.  

“I. . . I. . .”

“I will return. So you live to the very end and watch closely with your own two eyes. The moment you are seized by bitter regret and despair, I will kill you myself then and there. Haber.”

Haber froze on the spot.  

What feelings Haber had and what thoughts he was having right now were unimportant to Kreion.  

They had become unimportant. The events here and the lives of the humans here had become completely irrelevant to him.  

And so Kreion took a step. Towards the biomechanical spacecraft he saw ahead.  

And Ludwig followed right behind him as well.  

‘𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰.’

━𝐘𝐞𝐬. . . 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. . .

The blood footprints proceeding rhythmically two steps at a time and the S-shaped blood footprints faded more and more into the distance, farther and farther from humans.  

And the feelings of Haber watching the receding figures of the two beings was already regret, already despair.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

A common characteristic of space ships classified as vessels is that they can operate within the galaxy with a strong engine output as the basis.

The strong engine output can generally be obtained from nuclear fusion reactors, nuclear fission reactors, and antimatter reactors. Even if one travels around at the speed of light, it is utterly impossible to move faster than the speed of light in the vast universe. So intelligent civilizations that have advanced into space have found the answer in gravity manipulation. 

Manipulating gravity absolutely requires enormous output, and after accelerating the pure speed of the spaceships to the maximum, they have become able to arrive at the destination slower than light but earlier than light by warping space with gravity.

The huge output of the engine, the precisely calculating device for gravity manipulation, and the design of the hull to withstand threats arising from artificially distorted space-time and the effects of various celestial bodies have inevitably increased the size of the spaceships.

The prototype biomechanical spacecraft of the Darwin Foundation resembles the design of a deep-sea jellyfish like an Atolla Jellyfish . However, only the overall body design, color, and texture of the biological tissue resemble Atolla.  

It does not have a mouth, eyes, or fins. Unlike Atolla, it is a biomechanical spacecraft without luminescent tentacles. In the stubby tail part, a machine that spews out the engine output is located, and from the tail to the mouth, a part connected like a line has armor made of metal material and small windows installed.

In place of where the mouth should be, there is something like a cargo bay door attached, so that when it opens, a launch pad that can collectively launch multiple aircraft is revealed.

Still, the length from tail to head is close to 320 meters, appropriate for a spaceship.  

“Master. . . This is a spaceship mixed with human machinery and biological tissue. . .”

“That’s right.”

“Is this ship alive. . .?”

It is a biomechanical spacecraft harmoniously mixed with cutting-edge antimatter reactors, regenerative steel, new materials armor, artificial brains, titanium deck, carbon fiber-based artificial neural tissue and fiber optic wires.

Although there is an artificial brain instead of the main computer, there are no instincts or desires so it does not reproduce and does not require energy for cell activity but does not ingest food. 

Kreion cannot even judge whether this can be defined as life or not.

“Lemegeton. A biomechanical spacecraft developed by the Darwin Foundation as a test vehicle.”  

“So it’s neither alive nor a machine. . .”

“Lemegeton. And from now on, Lemegeton will become a chimeraz.”

Kreion entered the heart of Lemegeton. The mechanical heart makes pump noises echoing through the space as it starts pumping, and the huge biome artificial brain mounted above it shakes.

Below that, at eye level, terminals that can control Lemegeton are spread out like a complex instrument panel.

“We must depart quickly.”

“Yes. . . Since we killed those humans earlier, the Foundation would have identified our location. . .”

Kreion climbs onto the instrument panel. And connects the tentacles emerging from his fingertips to the enormous artificial brain.

Then Lemegeton’s consciousness is felt.

‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘦.’

Lemegeton merely reacts to his direct connection. It is a simple electrical reaction without curiosity or fear towards Kreion. As if it were a machine. 

But unlike other ships, Lemegeton was able to think.  

‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦.’  

Kreion inserts complex reactions into the artificial brain. It was the essential consciousness of a living being that could not be organized by any words like instinct, emotion, desire.

‘𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?’

The heart under the artificial brain beats faster and faster.  

‘. . .𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵.’

The parts that make up the “living” in the living ship are reborn as Kreion’s cells. Genetic information is put into Lemegeton’s cells which did not even have genetic information, and Lemegeton, which did not even have a will, gains the desire to preserve offspring and species.  

It was Lemegeton’s desire as an individual life form and as a Lemegeton species to continue to exist in this universe.

Such desire gave birth to another desire.  

‘𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦?’

Humans breathe, build relationships, make money, and strive for self-realization in order to survive.  

And Lemegeton now judges how it should act in order to survive and have a better future.

The world is too big and there are infinitely many things Lemegeton does not understand. But Lemegeton now has something he wants for the first time, allowing him to make the most appropriate judgment voluntarily in this situation.  

‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘻.’  

It was worshiping the transcendental being that had entered its heart, as the first instinct prompted.

‘𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳.’  

𝘒𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶𝘶!!!!

Lemegeton’s nuclear fusion reactor, filled with its will, reacts explosively. Lemegeton’s whole body shakes so much that it is difficult to stand on two legs.  

This majestic sound must have reached the ears of humans.  

Lemegeton forcibly tore off the mechanical landing gear that fixed its body like pincers.  

And it powerfully escaped into outer space. The port behind was terribly smashed by the aftermath of its huge struggle.

Ludwig looks up at the oddly revitalized artificial brain.

“Master. . . Do you have a destination in mind. . .?”  

Finally escaped from the facility.  

Ships and spacecrafts of the Darwin Foundation will probably chase it down. But escaping for now was a success.

“Where I’m going is the path of the chimeraz.”  

Kreion is now connected to Lemegeton’s mind, unfolding the galaxy even though Ludwig’s eyes cannot see.  

“We need to settle down and build up our strength.”

“I want to spread my colony as soon as possible. . . I have to make children and prepare for revenge. . .”

Kreion chose the most remote part of the galaxy. It was an area with insufficient resources, no human civilization nearby to explore, and not even worth exploring, a region with low density of matter.   

At the center of the galaxy there is a bulging disk packed with old stars and super massive black holes. Beyond that bulging disk, the outermost rim of the opposite disk seemed like a candidate site for the colony.   

However, even with Lemegeton’s state-of-the-art gravitational manipulation technology, it would take at least 60 years to reach there with the pure power of the ship.   

‘𝘓𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳.’  

“. . .Why are you going back to the human domain. . .?”

“We need to use the dimensional passageway.”

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