Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship! Chapter 65: Warp Nexus Fragment

It’s not like I suddenly beca fearless of monsters or aliens. It’s just that I trust the Range Falcon’s sensors more than my instincts. As such, with the negative scan results, I could explore outside the ship without worry.

After exiting the loading bay, I turned 180 degrees and headed forward. The thrusters on the back of my suit burned a bright green as they pushed ahead.

Before long, I ca to a stop, scanning my surroundings.

Only one of the many statues of forgotten gods held my interest—the Forgotten God of Space, Arivar.

"But which one was he again...?"

I tried recalling but couldn’t quite figure it out. After all, statues—especially in basic postures—practically looked the sa to . Art was never my strong suit.

By process of elimination, I narrowed the choices down to three statues.

One had slightly cracked features, depicting a man with long wavy hair holding a book in his hand.

Another had shorter hair, was missing an arm and a leg, and clutched a cane.

And the last one—

"...It’s the last one, right?" I muttered, staring at the headless statue.

As I moved toward it, I scrutinized its details closely. As I did, pieces of mory clicked into place, and I finally recognized the statue.

Without hesitation, I flew closer to the statue’s chest and planted a hand over it.

*THUMP!*

A strange pulse reverberated beneath my palm, like the steady beating of a heart.

Of course, that was impossible. An inorganic object couldn’t have a heart, so this was sothing else—the very thing I was searching for.

To extract the object, you simply need to recite a verse, a prayer of sorts, for the Forgotten God, but... "Uhh... How did the prayer go again?"

Normally, you’d have to search for the prayer among the countless reliefs carved into the pillars, walls, and floors of the temple. It was the equivalent of reading a novel with 500,000 words—in an unknown language, to boot.

Of course, soone in the ga had already deciphered it through quests, but translating a dead language from scratch—and pronouncing it correctly—was a feat that only madn would attempt.

And naturally, I was one of those madn.

"Right, it goes—Vash’kell druunakai, zeth’ra volun threx. Ozmith quor’na vik sha-un!"

It was spoken in the forgotten god language and roughly translated to:

"By the echo of the void, I call upon the lost one. Grant the relic of your forgotten will!"

As soon as I finished reciting the words, the statue began to glow. It wasn’t blinding but rather gentle, making instinctively squint.

Within that glow, sothing erged from the statue’s chest, pushing my hand away.

A fist-sized tetrahedron slowly drifted outward.

Its edges were rough, as if it had once been part of a larger whole but had been violently snapped from it. The cut portions were jagged and uneven, while the remaining three faces were as smooth as polished tal.

As the light dimd, the details beca clearer. Despite its pristine surface, intricate reliefs were carved into it, with a faint purple glow running along the engravings—almost as if the object was alive.

"This is it...!" I exhaled, excitent surging through . "I got the Warp Nexus Fragnt!"

While I basked in my achievent, a boorish voice yanked back to reality.

{Alright, enough of that. Get your ass back here if you’re done!}

Eva’s irritated voice crackled through the comms.

Well, I did say I’d be quick... but I had gotten delayed due to my hazy mory.

"Roger that. I’m heading back," I muttered, carefully securing the Nexus in my suit’s carrier compartnt. With it locked in place, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing it mid-flight.

I powered my thrusters, preparing to head back—

But then, an unnerving chill crept down my spine.

I froze.

Quickly, I turned around, scanning the surroundings—

Nothing...?

There were no creatures. No movent. Only the silent watching statues.

I furrowed my brows, cautiously backing away toward the ship while keeping my gaze locked on the statues—

{What the hell are you doing? There’s nothing there! Just hurry up!} Eva urged again.

She sounded unnerved, as if afraid due to my actions. Still, I kept my guard up, but nothing else happened.

Eventually, I reached the Range Falcon and stepped inside. The cargo bay shutters sealed shut behind .

"...Was it just my imagination?" I muttered, still unsettled.

Regardless, I confird that the Nexus was safe with , and a triumphant smile spread across my lips. Why? Because this Warp Nexus Fragnt was another End-Ga tier artifact!

Though...

It’s useless in its current state.

The Warp Nexus had been shattered into three fragnts, and this was just one of them. To activate its abilities, I needed to find the other two pieces—and I already knew their locations.

The problem?

If the Temple of the Forgotten Gods had been displaced into this parallel world, then chances were...

The other two fragnts weren’t where they were supposed to be.

"Finding them will be a complete hit-or-miss..." I sighed, rubbing my temples.

Still, securing one fragnt was a huge win.

As long as I had this, no one else could assemble the Nexus without going through .

I leaned back against the wall, exhaling in relief.

"Now we just need to return to World-Zero and..."

I paused.

"...What should we do after that?"

---

Hours had passed since then. However, my mind still lingered on the last question I had.

What should we do after returning to the main universe?

After all, we had basically picked a fight with the entire yers Royalty—and by association, an entire Star System. It wouldn’t be surprising if they had already branded us as rebels and placed bounties on our heads.

Still, staying in World-One forever was never an option.

From the complete lack of civilization along the way, we could conclude that this parallel universe was one where space travel hadn’t developed yet. There wasn’t a single ship in sight—only mysterious alien lifeforms that made our skin crawl, threatening to erode our sanity.

I turned toward Cassandra, who was now awake. Her expression was unreadable, her gaze distant and serious.

To my other side, there was Eva—wearing a sleazy grin as she reviewed the alien corpses we had harvested, estimating their worth like a rchant counting gold.

’Am I the only one overthinking things…?’ I sighed.

Regardless of whether we would live as fugitives or fight back against the yers Royal Family, one thing was clear—we needed to grow stronger. And for that, we needed artifacts.

Not just any artifacts—End-Ga tier ones.

Minutes later, I finally made up my mind.

I pulled out the Warp Nexus Fragnt and held it up.

"As soon as we return to the main universe," I declared, "we’ll be looking for the rest of this fragnt!"

"Huh?" Eva muttered, blinking in confusion. "Weren’t we heading back to Calut to lay low?"

Even Cassandra raised her concern, her brows knitting into a cute frown.

"I think it would be dangerous for us to roam around randomly right now," she said, her voice steady. "Father doesn’t back down once he sets his mind on sothing. I doubt he’ll stop chasing us."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"We can’t lay low in a single place—we’d get caught in a jiffy. Sorry, but we can’t dock at any stations either."

The Range Falcon was too distinctive to go unnoticed. If we stopped anywhere for too long, the enemy would track us down within minutes.

"And we can’t just keep running, either," I continued. "We’d end up burning through resources without any way to replenish them."

We were already trapped, backed into a corner. Like prisoners lined up on the chopping block, just waiting for the executioner to drop the blade.

But—if we could complete the Warp Nexus and rge the fragnts, then all of those worries would beco aningless.

After all, the Nexus had a broken ability—it could warp to any location we had previously visited.

In ga terms, it was the Fast Travel feature.

If we had that, then unless King yers stationed fleets at hundreds of thousands of spaceports across the entire universe, we wouldn’t need to fear pursuit—we could escape at any ti.

The problem?

The two remaining fragnts were far apart. Gathering both would take at least 50 galactic days of continuous travel.

And our resources—especially water—would never last that long.

The electrolyzing of hydrogen fuel while in World-One had already drained a significant portion of our supplies.

At this rate… we’re stuck.

But then—

Eva’s offhanded remark sparked an idea in my mind.

"You’re an Astoria, right?" she had said. "Your family is loaded—it wouldn’t lose to the yers in terms of scale. Why don’t we rely on them for protection?"

"...Ah."

For a brief mont, I sat there stunned.

I completely forgot about that.

I may be using my real na, Arthur Grail, but my body—the one I inhabited—belonged to Gerard Astoria.

That ant I was an Astoria—the only heir to the Astoria Family!

And to make things even more convenient…

One of the two remaining Warp Nexus Fragnts was located near an Astoria-controlled galaxy—the one where the main family resides!

"That’s a great idea!" I exclaid. "This… would definitely work!"

A surge of hope rushed through .

We weren’t out of the ga yet.

We still had a chance!