My Children Swarm the Cosmos – Chapter 37

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟕: 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐞 (2)

Humankind was born at an extremely early stage in universal terms as an intelligent species that formed a civilization, and is treated as an ancestor or a great power by many extraterrestrial races.

Therefore, humankind, acting in a manner befitting humankind, has established an embassy on each of the capital planets of the extraterrestrial races in the external galaxy. Thus, humankind became the race that leads diplomacy and trade in the cosmic era in the Local Group of Galaxies.

November 5th.

The emperor of the Aooa race visited the embassy established in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

The Aooa race is a system in which a small number of elders and one emperor rule, quite similar to an oligarchy.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. . .”

「The Crolrs came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and seized our self-replicating protein satellites.」

The elder Aooas and Emperor Aooa are facing people dressed in suits in the spacious conference room of the embassy.

The translation for both parties is handled by a hologram floating above the table.

“It’s the Crolrs again?”

「They are savage and violent. They monitor the planets starving from famine, and use that to blackmail them into submission. We can’t stand their exploitation.」

“I see. . .”

Emperor Aooa lowered his head as humans do, showing his willingness to cooperate.

「Humans. My resilient friends. I am ashamed to come to you as a leader with such a matter, but we are in dire need of a helping hand. Can you help us?」

“We understand your words. However, this isn’t a regular agenda item. . . We’ll discuss it for a moment.”

The embassy staff briefly paused the hologram translator and talked.

“The Crolrs are strong. Although they are a bit challenging and savage in nature, they are a race that is properly recognized as a great power and interacts with our galaxy.”

“Yes. And they are also the dominant race of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the first to make contact with humankind.”

“How do the Crolrs evaluate humans these days?”

“They value power above all else, so they evaluate humans highly. Diplomatically, they have maintained friendly relations.”

“Even though things are going well, if we suddenly help the Aooas, it will cause problems in our relations with the Crolrs.”

“But we can’t just leave the Aooas be. They are a race so fond of people. They may be small in scale, but they are quite active in interacting with others. Didn’t they visit the solar system once recently. . .”

“We can’t let emotions get in the way. This is diplomacy, so we have to prioritize profit and loss. Regardless of what we propose here, the UNF will make the final decision.”

“I agree. I’m really sorry, but we can’t answer here and now that we will help the Aooas. If we give the wrong answer here and have friction with the Crolrs, there’s a high chance they will respond aggressively, given their nature.”

“They value action over words.”

“Humans won’t lose to the Crolrs. Our technologies are similar, but if you look at our overall military strength or population, we are far. . .”

“Even so, billions will die.”

“. . .”

“The reason the Crolrs are exploiting the Aooas is to induce deprivation in the Aooas. That way, the Aooas won’t be able to grow their strength and will continue to submit to the Crolrs. If humankind helps the Aooas in any way during that time, the Crolrs won’t stand idly by.”

“I agree. It’s better to avoid doing anything that could cause conflict with the Crolrs.”

“I think so too.”

“Ha. . . Those savage b*stards. . .”

The hologram translator started working again, and the Aooas, who were well aware of human facial expressions, waited for the answer gloomily.

“I’m very sorry to have to say this. We, of course, want to help the Aooas, but I don’t know if the UNF will grant permission, as it’s a serious matter to help one race.”

「That’s alright. I understand that it’s not an easy decision.」

“We will certainly relay Your Majesty’s request today to the UNF. However. . . I can’t say that we will get a positive result. I’m really sorry.”

「No. I’m grateful that you listened to my story seriously. We will accept whatever answer comes back from the human galaxy.」

Both parties know it without having to say it.

The reality that this request cannot be granted due to the diplomatic relations with the Crolr race.

That’s why they each must be thinking.

If only they were just a little bit stronger.

If only their weapons, their civilization, their race were just a little bit stronger.

Resisting great injustice was realistically very difficult.

“Travel safely, Your Majesty.”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t help you more concretely.”

“Please go in.”

「Thank you for listening seriously to our difficult dilemma. Humans are always good friends.」

After the Aooas left, only deep sighs and apologetic feelings lingered in the embassy for a while. 

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

November 24th. The habitable zone of a red dwarf star in the Milky Way.

A colony of the 4th planet.

An evolution chamber where various organic tissues are intricately combined to form complex organs in a polished dark space.

Kreion, Anima, Gnox, and a few Hydras are currently in the evolution chamber.

“It’s definitely dangerous for me to go out with my own body.”

“Yeah. If something happens to you, the whole race is in danger.”

Gnox and Anima are having a conversation while Gnox connects a heterogeneous computer component to a black, puddle-like organ.

“That’s why you’re very valuable. If I die, even if it’s a one in a million chance, you will have to lead our race.”

“I used to be able to rule up to 5,000 without any problem.”

“If you can control an untrained and unevolved legion like that, it seems you were born with superior genes to me.”

“That’s just in terms of legion control. I’m still far behind you in other areas.”

“Are you talking about species enhancement or combat?”

“Yeah. Stuff like that. I still have a lot to grow.”

“The ruler entrusts the insufficient parts to the head. If I don’t have to fight myself and strengthen the species directly in the future, then legion control is the most important thing, right? Isn’t that right, Gnox?”

Clack, clack, clack.

Gnox is organizing data by typing at an incredible speed on a physical keyboard.

“Gnox?”

“Huh? What?”

“. . .What are you typing so fervently?”

Then, Gnox projected a hologram from a strange machine component with an unknown principle.

“I was organizing the necessary information for the evolution chamber. I can’t remember everything like Kreion-nim.”

「collective consciousness chimeraz distinction definition」

━「Hounz」

「*assault-type *small *ground force」

「Genetic Ancestor: Pitbull Terrier」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Cust」

「*raid-type *small *ground force」

「Genetic Ancestor: Locust」

「Hazard Level: Legion-class」

━「Fly」

「*observation-type *ultra-small *aircraft」

「Genetic Ancestor: Diptera」

「Hazard Level: Zion-class」

━「Skeletunnel」

「*exoskeleton tunnel *structure」

「Genetic Ancestor: None」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Puker」

「*ground defense *structure」

「Genetic Ancestor: Cephalotus」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Xenotera」

「*nutritional metabolism substance *fluid」

「Genetic Ancestor: Aspergillus niger」

「Hazard Level: Zion-class」

━「Kabana」

「*assault-type *large *ground force」

「Genetic Ancestor: None」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Tritula」

「*long-range *medium *ground force」

「Genetic Ancestor: None」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Hydra」

「*worker *ground force」

「Genetic Ancestor: None」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Gloworm」

「*bio-light」

「Genetic Ancestor: Polyphagia」

「Hazard Level: Zion-class」

━「Cresecter」

「*lightly armed *medium *aircraft」

「Genetic Ancestor: None」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Elite」

「*lightly armed *small *ground force」

「Genetic Ancestor: Human」

「Hazard Level: Necro-class」

━「Mind Repeater」

「*wave *amplification structure」

「Genetic Ancestor: None」

「Hazard Level: Zion-class」

━「Lemegeton」

「*heavily armed *large *aircraft」

「Genetic Ancestor: None」

「Hazard Level: Legion-class」

“What was the basis for classifying the Lemegeton as Legion-class? The other children too.”

“There was a function program that does the appraisal. If you input very detailed information about a creature, it comprehensively calculates the hazard level.”

The items retrieved from the Darwin Foundation were encrypted. It was convenient in terms of information and technology after Gnox effortlessly cracked it.

“Hmm. . .And you were talking about that thing before.”

“Evolution?”

“Yes. Methods like transferring Kreion-nim’s consciousness to a huge brain, creating another brain outside, or creating an avatar of Kreion-nim.”

“Yeah. What do you think, considering the level of our species’ genetic engineering?”

Kreion expected Gnox to quickly find the answer that he could not find.

“All three are impossible for now.”

Contrary to his expectations, it was an unexpected conclusion.

“Why?”

“First of all, transferring Kreion-nim’s consciousness to a huge brain is possible. That’s because we have the original to imitate the brain structure.”

Previously, Kreion’s brain had 108 billion neurons, and now the number of neurons has nearly doubled. This means that the surface area of the brain has expanded that much.

To put it simply, Kreion’s brain has become extremely wrinkled. So much so that it’s difficult to find a smooth surface.

“To improve Kreion-nim’s brain performance and expand its capacity right now, it will naturally become huge, but the problem is that Kreion-nim’s consciousness cannot be completely transferred to that huge brain.”

“It’s because the structure is different.”

“Yes. There will definitely be information loss in the process of transferring consciousness, and if even a single piece of information is lost, it will no longer be Kreion-nim.”

“. . .I see. I was avoiding the method of transferring me to a huge brain anyway. It might have strengthened my abilities right away, but it wouldn’t have been good in the long run.”

If you become a giant brain, you will have a body that cannot move to avoid threats.

If the ruler of the species cannot move from its place, it becomes extremely vulnerable to sudden focused attacks from the outside.

“For similar reasons, creating another brain outside is impossible. The brain is not like a computer server simply made of 0s and 1s, so there will be information loss again with our current abilities. It can’t be used unless copying and backing up is 100% perfect.”

“What about the last method?”

“It is possible to create an avatar. It’s not impossible because it mimics even the body that the brain is packaged in, as it really is. . .There’s one thing I need to check.”

If there are two, three, or multiple Kreions, it wouldn’t matter if any Kreion died.

However, the next question Gnox returned with overturned that very assumption.

“What if the Kreion-nim in front of me right now is an avatar, and the real Kreion-nim is somewhere else?”

“If I’m not the real ruler, but an avatar?”

“Yes.”

That was the problem.

“. . .I’ll kill the real one and become the ruler myself.”

“Yes. That’s why an avatar is no good either. You never know when that self will suddenly take your legion away and turn against you.”

To put it in a nutshell, it is a lack of ability. It means that the chimeraz race cannot implement such a thing right now. Neither Gnox nor Kreion nor any of the heads can implement such a thing yet.

Thinking like that, a means of rapidly strengthening the species naturally comes to mind.

It is to leave this star system and absorb what is needed.

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵.’

Aooa fleet, the pursuit fleet of the Darwin Foundation.

There was no further contact after that. It was strange that the New Ark forces, who managed dimensional passageways all over the world, were this late.

‘𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘺 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵. . . 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴.’

Kreion organized his thoughts up to that point.

“Gnox. How much longer do we have to wait for our race’s flagship to be completed?”

“The last time you gave me feedback, I’m making it with Nazar. It’s hidden in the dark nebula, so it’ll be faster to ask Nazar, right?”

He sends out a wave immediately. He crosses the Mind Repeater in orbit and crosses another Mind Repeater orbiting along the red dwarf star.

He borrows the eyes of a Cresecter along the way.

Nazar’s group is mining resources in the dark nebula with great momentum. And something, an elongated creature that could never be called round, was nestled in the darkness.

‘𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳.’

━𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱?’

━𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝟒 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝟗 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝟔-𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐂𝐲𝐬𝐭(𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐂𝐲𝐬𝐭) 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.

The flagship, which was planned to be the size of a satellite, had its plan drastically revised to a hull width of about 4km after repeated feedback.

The reason was simple.

It was to produce more of that creature that would become the flagship someday, just like the Lemegeton. It was inefficient to just make one and be done with it.

And of course, it would be powerful if it was big, but the chimeraz cannot afford such a luxury yet. That’s why it was redesigned as a creature that can be operated in large numbers.

‘𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦?’

━𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬.

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴?’

━𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.

“Anima.”

“Huh?”

Kreion asks Anima, who is watching the screen next to Gnox.

“I heard that you consulted with the heads and decided on a suitable name for the flagship creature. Now that I hear it will be completed in ten days, I need to know the name now.”

“Euryale. It means ‘one who flies far.’ Nazar really liked it too.”

Kreion, who had finished his work in the underground evolution chamber, walks toward the ramp leading to the middle layer. While doing so, he begins to fill Euryale’s empty brain with instincts and information.

Anima followed him.

“Hey, Kreion. If nothing happens until Euryale is finally completed. . .”

“Let’s go.”

Her white face and red eyes clearly show changes in expression.

It is a very complicated expression. For now, it seems that worry is at the forefront.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten your advice. I realized, albeit belatedly, that my old self was wrong.”

She responds faintly with a small smile.

“I hope it works out well. No matter how they react.”

“I’ve planned the strategy well, so it’ll work out somehow. Trust me.”

Then, she suddenly held out her little finger.

Kreion paused for a moment, pondering the meaning of the gesture.

“Promise.”

“. . .”

Kreion felt something fill his heart as he hooked his finger around her slender finger. It was an unfamiliar feeling.

Suddenly realizing it,

There was a being in front of him who smiled at him.

“The things you’ve gained, the things you’ve realized. The things you’ve felt. Don’t lose them.”

“I promise.”

This is a promise with her, who showed him the new direction of the species, and also a pledge to himself.

‘𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.’

There are ten days left until Euryale is completed.

If the forces of New Ark do not come even after ten days have passed and all of our preparations are completed, what we will do is decided.

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

“. . .But Anima.”

“Huh?”

“I’d like to make one more promise to each other.”

“What is it?”

I thought about this hundreds of times before I could say it. But I have to say what I have to say.

“Not to betray each other.”

How will Anima react? Of course, will she deny that such a thing will happen?

“Make sense.”

“. . .?”

“We were born as ruler entities. Not just as test subjects, but as rulers from the beginning. But you and I. . .We’re the only mates that exist in this universe.”

It took Kreion a long time to understand her claim biologically.

“Can that be a factor that makes betrayal impossible?”

“Uh. . .? Maybe. . .Since we’re living beings anyway?”

“Is that so? I don’t know.”

“. . .I don’t know either. Anyway, I was just saying that we should get along well.”

“Got it. Let’s do that.”

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