๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐: ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง (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.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ! ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ!
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.
๐๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ. . .!
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.
๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ต!
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.
๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ!
The two war machines simultaneously opened the hatches on both shoulders, revealing gatling guns.
๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต!
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.
๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต!
Spent cases poured from the war machines’ feet. The tentacles baring their teeth and charging ferociously were shredded as they were.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ!
โ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ. . .!
A gaping bullet wound pierces Kreion’s flank, visible all the way through to the other side of his body.
“Focus on your battle!”
โ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ. . .๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฌ. . .!
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.
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ!
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.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!!!
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.
๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ!
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. . .!
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.
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. . .!
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. . .?”
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ!
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. Thenโ
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ!
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.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ!
But before the plasma weapons could spit fire, something heavy ambushed the war machine from behind.
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ! ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ!
. . .๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฅ!
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.
๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ!
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. . .?”
‘๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐’๐ฎ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.’
โ๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐ค๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ’๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ. . .
‘๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต?’
โ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐. . . ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐’๐ฆ. . .
‘๐๐ฐ๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฆ๐ต’๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.’
As Kreion hurried to move, he noticed Ludwig’s gaze.
He had forgotten something.
No, he had been ignoring something he was aware of.
โ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ. . .? ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฑ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ก๐’๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐. . .? ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ง’๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ซ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ, ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ. . .
Ludwig’s gaze ended at Haber.
It seems he had been hiding behind the tree sculpture since the skirmish began.
โ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง. . . ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐. . .
‘. . .๐๐ฆ’๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ต ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต. ‘
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.
‘๐๐ฆ๐ต’๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ.’
โ๐๐๐ฌ. . . ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ. . .
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.
๐น๐น๐น๐น๐น๐น
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.
โWe must depart quickly.โ
โYes. . . Since we killed those humans earlier, the Foundation would have identified our location. . .โ
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.
‘๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ถ๐ฆ.’
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.
‘๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ.’
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.
‘๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ?’
The heart under the artificial brain beats faster and faster.
‘. . .๐๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต.’
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.
‘๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฆ?’
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.
‘๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ป.’
It was worshiping the transcendental being that had entered its heart, as the first instinct prompted.
‘๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.’
๐๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ!!!!
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.
‘๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ.’
“. . .Why are you going back to the human domain. . .?”
“We need to use the dimensional passageway.”
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