My Children Swarm the Cosmos – Chapter 23

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑: 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (3)

Today, the nations of humanity are connected by dimensional passageways, for it is impractical to traverse space from star to star in ships.

The dimensional passageways are vast, ring-shaped structures suspended in space, with an average ring radius of 245km.

This is so that the myriad ships and spacecraft that utilize the dimensional passageways can safely pass through without colliding with each other, and so that they can travel to their intended destinations.

The dimensional passageways precisely warp space like a tunnel to the destination coordinates by manipulating gravity. They support course guidance and coordinate designation for each ship that passes through the dimensional passageways at any given moment.

It is similar to the gravitational wave cables that humanity constructed within a star system for communication. The specific principle beyond that is a secret that all of humanity maintains for technological safety.

“Then which organization constructs and operates the dimensional passageways . . . ?”

“It is an organization called New Ark Corporation.”

“Considering the influence that the dimensional passageways have on humans . . . it must be a powerful organization . . .”

“It is a combination of a foundation and a corporation, so it does not pursue profits beyond the construction of dimensional passageways. Furthermore, under the supervision of the UNF, New Ark cannot establish a military organization or a civilization unlike other large corporations.”

Kreion’s accumulated knowledge and common sense, which he had learned so far, shone through at times like this.

Ludwig, who had been listening to his words and thinking about the scale of humanity, now came to his senses.

“If even such colossal beings are under the UNF . . . then even the Darwin Foundation that made us flee must be relatively weak when considering all of humanity . . .”

How many diverse organizations might there be in this galaxy inhabited by 74 billion?

“That’s right.”

“I guess I have underestimated humans . . .”

“That is not the organization we need to worry about right now. We need to deal with those chasing us from behind.”

The Darwin Foundation’s facility, Apoptology, is located in the Opeltes Cloud. Lemegeton, which had escaped from there, was suddenly heading toward the core of the Nemea star system.

“Yes . . . they wouldn’t let us go so easily . . .”

Three armed ships were following Lemegeton from Apoptology. With a design that resembled an old-fashioned submarine, they were only half the size of Lemegeton, but their firepower seemed comparable to that of Lemegeton, given the size of their propulsion engines and the number of cannons mounted on their decks.

“Is that what they call a battleship . . . ? With a main cannon, secondary cannons, and carrier-based aircraft . . .”

“It seems so.”

However, Ludwig was puzzled by the fact that only three ships from Apoptology were in pursuit.

“It seems like they are not putting all their effort into chasing us . . . I’m sure there were dozens of biomechanical spacecraft and armed ships in the vast harbor that we saw earlier . . .”

To this, Kreion replied,

“It is because moving a large fleet can attract public attention. They want to hide my existence, considering it a mistake.”

The distance between Lemegeton and the three enemy ships was about 50,000km. At this distance, the enemy ships could easily use their main cannons.

However, for some reason, the three enemy ships were not firing their main cannons, let alone their cannons. Instead, they were launching dozens of carrier-based aircraft that they had been carrying.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥 . . . 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥 . . .

The carrier-based aircraft that were closely following Lemegeton were raining down tungsten-carbide bullets. The tungsten-carbide bullets fired by gauss weapons in an environment with no air resistance accumulated damage on Lemegeton’s armor.

Kreion left Ludwig in the core and entered Lemegeton’s hangar.

━𝐋𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 . . .

‘𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘭𝘭. 𝘞𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳.’

━𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 . . .

As fire broke out in the hangar, what had been hidden in the darkness was revealed.

Lemegeton, the biomechanical spacecraft, was a bioweapon capable of acting as a carrier-based aircraft. In other words, it was carrying hundreds of bio-fighter jets in its hangar.

Kreion approached the bio-fighter jets that were restrained by machines without hesitation. They seemed to be in a kind of sleep, continuously receiving a special drug.

𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘢𝘢!!

𝘒𝘸𝘢-𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥!

As he stretched out his right hand, a black tentacle lashed out at an incredible speed and pierced the bodies of the bio-fighter jets. Then, he stretched out his left hand toward the back, and another tentacle extended from his left hand, coiling like a snake and settling in the center of the hangar.

As if connecting equipment with cables, the bioweapons pierced by the tentacles became resources and moved into Kreion’s body. Then, the resources that had been recombined in his body moved again along the tentacle of his left hand.

𝘒𝘸𝘢-𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥-𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥-𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥 . . .

The coiled tentacle melted like clay and combined tissues. It rose little by little in a bowl shape, revealing an exoskeleton that soared in all four directions.

A cylindrical biological tissue grew from the center of the bowl shape, which had risen to about 4m, and soared to 6m.

It was a makeshift colony with reddish-brown skin and a black exoskeleton.

𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 . . .

From the bottom of the makeshift colony, a viscous black fluid like tar spread along the deck.

‘𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴.’

The identity of the black fluid was Xenotera, which Kreion’s collective consciousness had absorbed.

𝘉𝘢𝘮! 𝘉𝘢𝘮!

Xenotera expanded rapidly like a living carpet. The bio-fighter jets restrained by machines were quickly dismantled as they were enveloped by Xenotera, like living organisms covered in tar. The dismantled matter was carried along Xenotera to the makeshift colony through the expanded blood vessels.

Their genetic information also became a resource.

‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯.’

The bio-fighter jets carried in Lemegeton resembled moths without wings. Their veins carried copper-based blood, emitting a green light, and their large abdomens contained pressurized, high-temperature plasma that was shielded. It was a plasma bomb, an engine, and a thruster.

These bio-fighter jets were not designed to launch something at a target.

They were designed to rush at the target and self-destruct, and if the self-destructed bio-fighter jets exposed vulnerabilities in the enemy ship’s armor, they would rush in again and self-destruct.

Kreion redesigned them.

He had seen the long body like a moth, three pairs of legs, vestigial wings, vestigial mouth, highly developed eyes, and hair-like tentacles for catching radio waves somewhere before.

It was similar to the chimeraz that Kreion had absorbed before.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘥 . . .’

In the preliminary selection, the main force of Subject 470 was the Crescent Herd. The appearance of the children she had handled came to mind.

The hunched back, three pairs of legs, a head curved like a crescent moon, a red single eye, a mouth like a human’s, and tentacles that fluttered behind her head like hair.

Reflecting on his memories, Lemegeton’s bio-fighter jets and the 470th Crescent Herd had many similarities in appearance.

Thanks to this, he had less trouble redesigning the bio-fighter jets by absorbing their genetic information and reincarnating them as chimeraz.

He cut out conflicting parts from the genetic information recombined from the two living organisms. This was because if the genetic blueprint of the same part was duplicated, a crude mutation would occur.

Similarly, he improved what needed to be improved. The developed eyes of the bio-fighter jets were combined with the red single eye of the Crescent Herd, resulting in a larger, more developed red single eye. Large eyes would be useful in the vast expanse of space where visibility was long.

The torso was that of the Crescent Herd, and the legs and abdomen were those of the bio-fighter jets.

The extra space secured by the elongated torso was filled with a joint like a wing with a thruster. Referring to Ludwig’s tree branch-like blade structure, he attached six pairs of engine nozzles that could move independently.

He created an internal passage so that the plasma output from the large abdomen could reach the thrusters on the wings, and he redesigned the original nozzles used in the abdomen into gun ports for firing plasma clusters.

When the plasma bomb exploded in the abdomen, its firepower would escape through the gun ports and be launched.

Since hydrogen and energy sources were absorbed from the skin, unnecessary mouths and teeth were vestigialized and removed. This was to reduce the complexity of the genetic information and optimize it for mass production.

And he applied the role of the receiver that the tentacles of the bio-fighter jets had performed to the hair of the Crescent Herd, so that the chimeraz could catch the waves well even in space.

Lastly, he modified the detailed design and attached an exoskeleton characteristic of Kreion’s collective consciousness.

And once he infused it with instincts and self-consciousness, it was complete.

‘𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳.’

In the makeshift colony, makeshift egg chambers connected to tentacles and Xenotera pulsated.

‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮-𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘺.’

𝘡𝘻𝘻𝘻𝘵!

Cracking the hard egg, Cresecter was born without a birth cry and spread its thruster-equipped wings like tree branches.

Then, it blinked its red single eye in front of its curved head, stared at its master, and emitted a green light from its abdomen.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

Cresecter, numbering in the dozens, poured out of Lemegeton into space.

The Cresecter swarm engaged in combat with the Darwin Foundation’s carrier-based aircraft in a chaotic manner. They hunched their backs even more and aimed their abdomens forward. Then, from their abdomens filled with energy, dark red plasma burst forth like fireballs, bursting through the green impurities.

𝘉𝘢𝘮!!!

The carrier-based aircraft hit by the plasma cluster exploded before their armor could even melt.

A battle had broken out between the chimeraz’s first fighter and human carrier-based aircraft. 

To the foundation personnel watching the scene, it seemed like the chimeraz were showing off their ridiculous evolutionary speed.

Francis Darwin shook his head as he watched the hologram screen in the command center of the private soldiers.

“Stop chasing them.”

“Chief, Lemegeton cannot be brought down with conventional carrier-based aircraft. Please allow the use of the main cannons and sniper cannons of the battleship.”

“Just let them go. Too many of our valuable private soldiers have died. Withdraw the mercenaries gathered at the harbor as well.”

When Darwin gave such an order, the mercenary operations manager could not understand.

“Chief, it’s Kreion from chimeraz, not some other weapon. That Medusa-class lifeform killed 297 people and even created a weapon to counter carrier-based aircraft, and it’s heading to the dimensional passageway.”

“I know.”

“But how can we just let them go like this? If they go through that dimensional passage, they will pass through the solar system no matter where they go. If the public finds out, our foundation itself could be dismantled.”

Francis Darwin had been running a first-class foundation through numerous incidents and accidents.

He insisted firmly,

“That’s why we’re just letting it go. Because the failed product of the top-secret project, the Medusa-class lifeform that killed 297 people, has already gone that far. If this incident comes to light, our foundation will be finished. So let’s not touch it anymore and let it go.”

“What the . . .”

“Chief, he’s here.”

The short humanoid who was always by Darwin’s side informed him. Darwin spoke quickly.

“Mercenaries, private soldiers, withdraw and return everyone. The armed operation is over. Everyone, get out of here.”

The soldiers in the command center hurriedly left their seats.

Soon, Darwin, who was left alone with the humanoid, let out a quiet sigh.

“Come in now.”

𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬! 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘳!!

The airtight door opened.

Beyond it, a man wearing a light gray suit with a peculiar badge in the shape of a ring on his chest entered.

And behind the man, two humanoids in the same light gray suits and with the same badges entered together.

“Chief Darwin, we were watching.”

The man’s expression was hard and emotionless.

“. . .T-That . . .”

Darwin could not say anything in front of him.

“We watched with trust, but the situation has become too serious to be reversed. Why didn’t you report it when the rampage began?”

“. . .I was so overwhelmed by the urgent situation that I lost my mind. It was entirely my fault. I am ashamed.”

“I see. Do you have a solution to this problem?”

Darwin’s spirits sank at the heavy question. His shoulders slumped, his head bowed involuntarily, and his voice became strained.

“I’m sorry.”

“Can I take it as you’re saying you don’t have one?”

“I don’t. I’m sorry. I should have asked for help before this happened. . . I was greedy because of the achievements I had made so far. . .”

The man stopped Darwin’s words by showing his palm.

“Medusa-class chimeraz, Kreion, is heading to Nemea’s dimensional passageway with an unregistered biomechanical spacecraft.”

“Ah, yes. . .”

“Unregistered ships without transponders cannot receive the support of the dimensional passage’s dimensional gravitational acceleration. As a result, Nemea’s government will detect them the moment they enter the dimensional passage, and it will be reported to the UNF.”

“B-But Kreion won’t just go to the solar system and run wild. Kreion will definitely escape to a remote part of our galaxy through various dimensional passages in order to find a way to survive right away.”

“Mr. Haber insisted that that was not all a while ago.”

“. . .”

Darwin was speechless.

“Kreion is planning revenge. Let’s hope that the target of his revenge is entirely the Darwin Foundation, not humanity.”

Darwin was so overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation that he made the same expression that Haber had made after watching Kreion’s back.

The man continued, regardless of Darwin’s reaction.

“For now, we will report this under the name of an experiment on the suitability of biomechanical spacecraft for dimensional passages. And we will temporarily register the transponder on our side so that it can receive support from the dimensional passage.”

“The rest, what next. . . If Kreion creates even a planet-sized colony, we can’t handle it. . .”

“The failed product of the Medusa class must be disposed of. We will find another suitable person who can solve this serious problem.”

It meant that he would leave the rest to another person, organization, or group. To Darwin, those words sounded like a disciplinary dismissal.

“Leave the Darwin Foundation alone. We will scrap the chimeraz project. Erase all related records from Apoptology and replace the related experimental and research facilities with something else.”

At that moment, Darwin grabbed the man’s wrist and pleaded.

“Give me just one more chance. . . ! I can do better. . . ! It’s not just words, I can do it faster this time. . . ! Really!”

The man slowly and coldly pulled Darwin’s hand away.

“This is a measure taken in consideration of the chief’s hard work and loyalty so far.”

“What? This? How can a measure to scrap, erase, and abandon everything. . .”

“Be grateful that you’re not being purged.”

A chilly and dangerous sensation hung in the air.

“What would have happened if it had been someone other than you who had failed so spectacularly. . . Do you know what I mean, chief?”

“. . .I understand.”

Just like that, the man and two humanoids who had visited Apoptology leisurely left in their ship.

Darwin, who collapsed in the chair of the command center, seemed to be lost in thought.

“He’s gone.”

“. . .Is he really gone?”

“Yes.”

“Dammit!!!”

Darwin gritted his teeth and pulled his hair.

It was anger towards himself.

“A whole. . . A whole 18 years, 18 years!!”

“Chief, as the director, you should refrain from violent language.”

“I finally thought it had paid off, but what is this?! For such a trivial reason, because of a malfunction? Can anyone be this stupid and make such a pathetic mistake? I raised and taught them well so far. . . !”

“Calm down. Anger clouds judgment.”

Darwin glanced at the hologram screen where he had been tracking Lemegeton’s path.

The three battleships and carrier-based aircraft that had been pursuing Kreion were returning after suffering some damage.

And Lemegeton, which had just entered Nemea’s dimensional passage, was escaping this star system on an untraceable path.

Surely, it would pass through the solar system, which served as the hub of all dimensional passages, and then leave far into space through some other dimensional passage.

“This can’t be. . . I’ve never failed once since I created this foundation. Whether it was an experiment, research, or a choice.”

“That’s right.”

With great effort, he calmed his anger and regained his composure, and a new thought came to his mind.

Attachment.

Sense of responsibility.

Recovery from mistakes.

A never-give-up attitude.

It was ‘obsession’, the essence of which was hidden by such things.

‘𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. . . 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦. . . 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯.’

Darwin ordered,

“Form a pursuit fleet. Find out where Kreion is going. We may never find him if we miss him now.”

“Understood. Then I will arm the units to be formed with weapons and soldiers that can respond to the Medusa class.”

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘒𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. . .’

Was it the price of his complacency?

Was it the price of human arrogance?

What had he created?

What had he brought into existence?

“The order has been relayed. What is the mission objective to be relayed to the pursuit fleet?”

“We, the foundation’s failures, will dispose of it with our own hands.”

The seeds of ruin were advancing through space.

No matter how much it took, even if it meant turning all the products of past efforts into dust, they must. . .

“What method of disposal?”

Without fail.

“Annihilate it. When it settles down somewhere.”

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