–
Today’s universe is governed by gacorps, Star Unions, and Cult Empires.
Nurous intelligent beings spread across various planets lead their lives under the protection of the three great powers.
However, not everyone welcod the rule of the great powers.
Space Dog, who operates outside the bounds of the law, the Vortex One cult, who operates in secret in the shadow of a cult empire, etc. These are all people who have chosen to break away from the existing order. They live in hiding on planets unknown to anyone, or they use ships as their mobile residences to constantly roam the universe.
In that respect, the Jer-11 conflict zone can be said to be a unique type. This is because AG-01, a planet located within the star system, is pursuing a separation movent against its owner, Noble Capital T&C.
There was a reason why T&C, which had the largest number of colonies in gacorp, could not organize them quickly. This is because forces that do not like TNC secretly supported AG-01’s activities. In particular, it was an open secret that the separatists were supplied with weapons from Star Union.
It did not take long for the chaos that started on one planet to engulf the entire star system.
That’s how the ‘Zer-11 conflict zone’ was born.
As ti passed, the problem of the disputed area beca worse rather than being resolved. TNC was also neglecting the disputed area issue due to various political reasons.
As a result, Zer-11, especially AG-01, the center of the conflict, beca a crucible of chaos. Separatist terrorists and cartels instigated by upper capitals waged war every day. When residents died, new criminals took their place.
And today, AG-01 is completely devoid of ordinary people. The only ones left are criminals or those with a criminal mindset.
Jeff, a reporter who ca to AG-01 two years ago, was one of the latter.
Now he is sitting in an old bar in the middle of the city.
It was a store with nothing good to see, including tables with a strong sll of cheap synthetic liquor and mold growing on the walls and ceiling. Even in the city of outlaws, it was difficult to find a store of this low quality.
Jeff also doesn’t like this store. I’ve been visiting this place every month for two years, but I’ve never once felt anything good about it.
The reason why he was killing ti in a store where it was difficult to find even a single custor was simple. This is because you have to et soone while avoiding other people’s gaze.
And the person I was waiting for just entered the store. He was a man whose entire body was drenched, like a rag soaked in water. The man looked around and found Jeff and approached him.
Instead of greeting him, Jeff nodded. The man hesitated and then sat down across from Jeff.
“Um, what is that thing…?”
Jeff took a palm-sized case from his pocket and placed it on the table. The man quickly tried to pick up the case but stopped. This is because Jeff also took out a laser pistol.
“That side first.”
“Oh, yes, that’s right!”
The man took out a small terminal from his pocket and handed it to Jeff.
“Well, the movents of the recently arrived cubs are strange. “We’ve already t 20 tis this month alone.”
“Which cartel do you belong to?”
“Well, you can check the file yourself, so please…”
A man trembling and begging. Even as he spoke, his eyes were only focused on the case.
But Jeff had no intention of granting his request yet.
“If you don’t answer properly, I’ll pretend it never happened. I ask again. “What cartel do you belong to?”
“Shi, Shino, Shinoni! It’s the Sinoni Cartel!”
“Sinoni?”
When a familiar na ca up, Jeff scratched his short-bearded chin.
Recently, I heard that a pirate group called the Shino Family, or the Shino Alliance, is active throughout the universe. Normally, it is rare for the Space Dog Cartel to link up with each other, but the Shino Alliance is a large organization with as many as six cartels united into one.
Shinoni is one of the cartels that joined the Shino Alliance.
“Last ti, I said that a lot of smugglers ca in and out. “Did they also et with the separatists?”
“Uh, well, I’m not sure about that. “I don’t think we t back then.”
Shinoni is a group of pirates who are notorious for smuggling dangerous creatures.
However, there are no particularly rare creatures living in Jer-11. Sa goes for AG-01. He might have changed his business to human trafficking, but there is nothing particularly fun about the Shinoni he knew here.
‘Is this a new funding source for the separatists? It seems like those bomb bastards have run out of credit lately. Or…’
“And that.”
While he was lost in thought, looking at the terminal in his hand, a man’s voice woke him up.
“Well, one of the guys I know lives in a sewage treatnt plant. He’s a friend who talks a lot, so he’s called a talker, but sotis he goes out and picks up useful things…”
“That’s okay. “Get to the point first.”
“Yes, yep. Two days ago, in the early morning, a talker saw sothing above the treatnt plant. It is said that a huge dragon with wings disappeared while flying in the sky.”
“A dragon with wings? “Aren’t you seeing the wrong pirate ship?”
“Oh, no! “You know there are no boats floating around there!”
Jeff narrowed his eyes at the man’s words.
When you think of a winged dragon, one thing cos to mind. Gallagon, the space dragon, a being that only cos down in legend among sailors.
Of course, Jeff knows it’s not a legend. If it were a fantasy entity, it would not have existed in the gacorp genetic database.
As far as he knows, Gallagons do not inhabit the Jer-11 star system.
“You saw a dragon in the sewage treatnt plant?”
“Yes, yes. you’re right.”
“You can’t see anything clearly up there even during the day because of the fog, so how are you supposed to see it at dawn?”
“yes? Uh, well…”
“I ca here to buy information, not to listen to bullshit.”
Seeing him trying to get up and pack his case again, the man hurriedly spoke.
“Uh, shadow! “I saw a shadow reflected in the fog!”
“shadow?”
“The shadow was so large that it obscured the entire sewage treatnt plant! I received the file that was fild and recorded, right? “It’s in there!”
The man shouted, pointing his finger at the case Jeff was holding.
In this city overrun with criminals, manipulating photos like that is not a problem. However, the probability that the man in front of would do such a thing was slim.
‘A dragon with wings.’
The Shinoni Cartel and Gallagon suddenly appear.
It was far from the information Jeff wanted. This is because he ca here to cover the corruption of separatists in the first place.
However, the experience I gained while working as a journalist for a long ti is telling. What that man said should not be taken lightly.
‘I’ll have to check.’
“Well, I told you everything I know. So please…”
It wasn’t the information I wanted, but it was still worth investigating. Jeff opened the case and took out a pill.
“I’ll read the rest of ‘Smile’ after seeing the contents.”
“Well, that is!”
“If you don’t like it, quit.”
“Oh, no!”
Jeff threw the pill on the table and the man swallowed it hungrily.
A mont later, his body collapsed onto the chair. A strangely happy smile appeared on his face.
“Then I’ll contact you later.”
Jeff got up and left the drugged man alone.
As he left the store, heavy rain greeted him. The rain was so great that it could be said that the sky was falling. Despite the pouring rain, people walked around without using umbrellas.
In AG-01, there are only a handful of days a year without rain. This is because after TNC started neglecting the planet, there was a problem with the terraforming machine and the precipitation was completely ssed up.
Is that all? Facilities for treating waste and wastewater were also poorly managed and were extrely underdeveloped. Even now, the streets were full of unpleasant moisture and odor caused by rain and garbage.
“…Tsk.”
Two years had passed and Jeff clicked his tongue at the sll that he still couldn’t get used to. He took out an electronic cigarette that was stronger than the sll and put it in his mouth.
‘It’s not long now.’
The reason why the renowned Daily Mars reporter stayed on this shitty planet for two years was because the reward was that attractive.
This coverage was commissioned by Pri Capital’s Zhao family. The Zhao family said that if things went well, they promised to give him the position of head of the reporting team at the Daily Mars Titan branch.
There isn’t much left until that dream cos true.
‘We must persevere until the end.’
After finishing his cigarette, Jeff put on the hood attached to his clothes. He, like everyone else, blended into the street where it was pouring heavily with rain.
–
“Hey, you talker. Are you going out today too?”
The man who was called a loudmouth answered the voice from behind him without even turning his head.
“If you want to make a living, you have to work.”
“Anyway, you fucking diligent bastard.”
“Hey, let’s go together too.”
“If you’re going to follow , take a mask, a flashlight, and a bag.”
In the sewage treatnt plant located underground, two vagabonds headed toward a passageway leading to the ground.
The high-tech facility once managed by Noble Capital has now beco a den of vagrants. The computer that was still alive was automatically managing it, but that was it. No one knows when it will stop, and no one cares.
The sa goes for the hallway the two walked down. Instead of surveillance caras and security androids, the place was filled with garbage and dirt, so it was safe to say it was a ruin.
“I saw it a few days ago, is that true?”
“of course. “You saw the picture too.”
“It was so fucking dark I couldn’t even see clearly.”
“It’s dark, Niimi. You can see it clearly just by looking at it. You know that weakling? “He said there was soone who wanted a photo I took.”
“Soone asked for a picture of looking like an asshole?”
“okay. “You son of a bitch.”
The two left the hallway and ca up to the ground while chatting.
Contaminated water that had not been properly purified was collected on top of an abandoned sewage treatnt facility.
Due to the continuous rain, the water volu had increased so much that it looked like a reservoir. Of course, you can quickly tell that this is not a reservoir by looking at the trendous stench that can be slled from afar, the gas and toxic fog on the surface of the water.
As soon as the two got on the ground, they imdiately put on masks covering their noses and mouths and prepared for work.
“You’re lucky. “The rain has stopped.”
“Good. Then let’s start right away…”
The tramp who ca up with slipped from his seat while talking.
“Fuck you!”
“Be careful even if it doesn’t rain. “If you make a mistake and fall into that area, you’re screwed.”
“…It sucks from the beginning.”
The man cursed and used the light of the flashlight to check the substance on his shoes. The shoes were covered with a pitch-black substance reminiscent of tar, and an unusual substance that could not be distinguished as liquid or solid.
“what’s this?”
“Then I go first.”
While the man was examining the substance on his shoes, the talker went about his business.
His job is to search for corpses abandoned near the contaminated water pool. In AG-01, hundreds of casualties occur every day for various reasons, such as deaths due to terrorism, victims of cri, etc. Even in cities with wealthy people, people die frequently.
And the bodies dumped here are usually unrelated criminals. If you search the corpses, you can pick up things like cheap drugs or a laser pistol. If you’re lucky, you can rip parts off the cyborg’s corpse.
Amidst a thick toxic fog, the braggart moved forward, relying on his mask and flashlight.
“Oh, we found a body.”
Soon he found a body lying on a pile of garbage filled with sewage. When I hit the corpse with my foot, the corpse catfish that were attached to it ran away.
“Let’s see.” There is no pistol… aha! You bastard, you left the dicine behind. good.”
The loudmouth let out a small cheer. It’s a cheap drug, but it’s not a bad start. He took the case containing the drugs and continued to look around.
“oh! Fourth body. “Are you lucky today?”
Today the profits were better than usual. As the fog thickened, his old backpack gradually swelled.
As I was enjoying my new loot, I heard the sound of waves lapping behind .
I looked back to see if there was a man with , but there was no one there.
“Did I hear it wrong?”
After brushing it off as a minor issue, he tried to focus on his work again. Unless his ears heard the sound of water again.
“what?”
I heard it clearly this ti. The loudmouth hurriedly illuminated the surface of the water with a flashlight. All I could see was eerie black darkness. It was impossible to see what was underneath the dirty sludge.
‘Could it be a corpse catfish?’
Big talkers have been here hundreds of tis. Until now, I have never seen a creature bigger than a corpse catfish.
However, the problem was that the sound of water I heard this ti was sothing different. It was a sound made when sothing much bigger and more massive than a genetically modified catfish or sothing was moving.
Suddenly he rembered what he saw here two days ago.
A shadow so large that it covered the entire polluted lake appeared and disappeared.
‘The dragon is here?’
If the owner of the shadow is nearby, you must run away imdiately.
The brat hurriedly went back the way he ca. A sickening sensation every ti you take a step, a faint sound made by the waves shaking. Nothing had changed, it was the sa, but he was feeling completely different now.
Every elent here was putting pressure on him.
“hey!”
At that mont, the chatter stopped at the sudden sound of a voice.
“Where are you?”
It was clearly the voice of the tramp he had brought with him. I don’t know exactly where it is, but it sounds pretty loud so it’s close by.
There’s no particular sense of camaraderie with outcasts, but in situations like this, it’s much better to have soone you know by your side. And what if, by chance, a monster really appears in front of them? It takes two to increase the survival rate at least a little.
Instead of calling the talking man, I walked in the direction of the voice. This is because I didn’t want to draw the monster’s attention by making a noise.
While I was walking carefully, the sound of water passed by my ears again. He almost scread as he turned on the flashlight.
‘You crazy bitch?!’
This is because a pitch-black figure stood tall above the contaminated water.
“….”
The hair on his entire body stood up all at once, and the teeth above and below clashed with each other. Due to the imnse fear, my body went out of control for a mont.
After a while, he realized that the target was not a monster.
Looking at his clothes that had beco shabby due to the black contaminated water and his body shaking every ti he breathed, the other person was a vagabond just like him. He was standing with his back turned to the talker, with only his upper body exposed.
“You damn bastard! “I thought you were going to freak out!”
The loudmouth walked towards the tramp, swearing harshly. The tramp who heard the sound moves his body and tries to turn around.
At that ti, a familiar voice was heard from behind.
“Where on earth has this brat gone?”
It was the voice of a colleague who had been calling him earlier.
“uh?”
That ans that the person in front of him is not soone he knows.
Seeing the being who had completely turned his body, the talker opened his mouth.
Just before the scream passed through my throat, ‘it’ rushed forward.
–
“Ha, this guy is real.”
The man called several tis, but there was no answer.
Although the toxic fog that spreads here blocks the light, it does not block the sound. There is no way the loudmouth could not have heard his cries.
Then there is only one answer. The loudmouth abandoned him and went back to the sewage treatnt plant first.
“That fucking bastard is going ho alone, damn it.”
n don’t have much experience climbing onto a sewage treatnt plant at night. If they wander around alone and get lost, they have to wait until morning.
Moreover, raindrops started falling from the sky again.
“Fuck, I ca here for no reason.”
The man decided that there was no reason to be here anymore and walked into the underground passage.
That’s why he never noticed that the water behind him stirred and then cald down.
“Watch next episode”
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