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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 487
The Invader was originally a ship ant to journey to Earth. It had been fully prepared for a long voyage.
Because of that, the amount of stored energy on board was imnse enough to reach the destination without a single resupply.
It had been a week since I last used the ‘Horizon of Nightmares’. We arrived at the star system that held the Gallagon’s howorld.
The far edge of space, barely recorded on maps. Nothing there but useless ice and rock. Nothing except for one planet where the seed of life had sprouted.
A frozen star where daylight only cos once every thirty days. Adhai calls it ‘White Stone’.
‘We’ve arrived.’
Through the sensory field that expanded as I connected with the ship, I scanned the surroundings.
White Stone looked just as I rembered. Even the stolen Gigacracker was still orbiting as before.
‘Nothing’s really changed, has it?’
PS-111 had hurriedly ejected and Number 26 toward the sea planet. I never knew what beca of Adhai or the Screar Sisters afterward. That’s why I worried—maybe they were in danger.
‘At least this place seems safe—’
But before I could feel relief, the Gigacracker’s orbit suddenly shifted. It began gathering energy, as though charging up an ion cannon.
‘No way…’
Had the pursuers reclaid the Gigacracker while I was gone? But there were no battle scars nearby, no signs of a fight.
‘Forget it. No ti to think deal with this first.’
The ion cannon had to be stopped before its charge was complete. I reshaped the ship I had infested into a combat-ready form.
｢Big one, what’s wrong?｣
Number 26, who had been asleep above my head, stirred at the vibrations.
｢Is this Little one’s ho?｣
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Sort of, but there’s a problem.)]
｢?｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (An enemy may have appeared.)]
I shaped massive pincers at the bow of the ship and pushed forward, intent on smashing into the Gigacracker before the ion cannon could fire.
The artificial fortress, swollen with energy, lood closer by the second. In just a few monts, my pincers would drive into its hull.
Then, a craft erged from the Gigacracker sowhere between a carrier-borne craft and a small frigate.
‘That type… I know it.’
It was a famous ship, the ‘Wandering Ghost’. The most coveted pirate vessel among Spacedock players.
‘A pirate ship here…? Oh.’
I realized who must be aboard. It had to be the Mother of the Sky the one who had set out to find a way to resist the Storm of Madness. She had returned to White Stone before .
The Wandering Ghost darted through space, but instead of attacking, it circled around . Number 26 imdiately sensed it and bounced with excitent.
｢Middle one!｣
The Mother of the Sky saw , then returned to the Gigacracker. The ion cannon, which had been gathering energy, powered down and went dormant.
｢Not an enemy! What a relief!｣
[ZZZ (Looks that way.)]
The Gallagons’ location had not been exposed after all. A relief but I still couldn’t lower my guard.
‘She didn’t know I had jumped here…’
She only recognized after checking directly. That was strange why hadn’t PS-111 detected it?
‘Sothing must have happened after all.’
PS-111 had severed communication after sending and Number 26 to the sea planet. I had assud that was a mistake, but now… this uneasy feeling was setting in.
I drew near the Gigacracker and released the “Horizon of Nightmares.”
[ZZZZ (Let’s go.)]
｢Yes.｣
After gathering Number 26 and what we needed, I left my ship and flew into the Gigacracker’s cargo hold.
But the cargo hold I rembered once overflowing with ores was now completely emptied.
In its place stood a massive, mutated Mountain Crawler.
｢Wow! It’s Toughie!｣
｢Grooh?｣
｢Hello, Toughie!｣
｢Groooh…｣
Number 26 waved its tentacles happily at the Mountain Crawler it hadn’t seen in so long. The creature answered by blinking its four large eyes.
｢You both made it out safe!｣
｢Hello, Middle one!｣
And then, the Mountain Crawler’s master appeared as well. Entering the cargo bay, the Mother of the Sky rushed to Number 26 and embraced it tightly.
｢I was so worried since I couldn’t reach you, but thank goodness!｣
｢Hehe, that tickles! This is fun!｣
｢Are you hurt anywhere?｣
｢Nope! Nothing hurts!｣
She gently stroked Number 26, checking it all over. Number 26 twitched with joy, clearly pleased by the soft, downy caress of her talons.
At last, her srizing amber eyes turned toward .
｢And you… you’ve changed.｣
[ZZZ (So have you.)]
She seed a little startled at my altered form, brought on by the ‘Gluttonmaw Pouch’.
I felt the sa way. Her appearance was far different from when she had left the Gallagon’s world.
The most striking change was in color. Her crest of feathers once white like an osprey’s now burned crimson, as if masked in red.
Her fiery mane, which had once blazed like fla, had turned black, flowing down past her waist instead of her shoulders.
And the golden shine of her body’s fur had dulled until it was nearly white.
Red crest, black mane, platinum coat the combination made her presence even fiercer than before.
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (You’ve gained the power of the Barong.)]
｢That’s right.｣
The Mother of the Sky had gained the ability to transform into one of four phantom beasts other than a griffon, thanks to her unique trait: the 'The camouflage of the Huntress', Chira, Wendigo, Thunderbird, and now—
The newest addition: the red-maned lion known as Barong, modeled after the holy beast of Indonesian legend.
｢Typical Amorph you even figured this out. I didn’t expect you to know right away.｣
[ZZZ ZZZ (It’s the phantom beast you needed most right now.)]
She was right. Barong was a rare choice in the ga, picked by only a handful of players.
Not because it was weak, or ugly Barong’s power was unique.
Its gift was the stabilization of thought and perception. It negates all effects that tamper with the mind, ntal domination, distortions of awareness, even abilities like ‘Mimicry Organs’ that worked through pheromones.
And in beast form, it could share this stabilizing effect with allies in range. Against foes that assaulted the mind, Barong was the ultimate support.
‘And it looks damned impressive too, like a living lion-mask.’
Yet few players ever chose it, for a single reason. Its full usefulness only appeared much later.
While a player was still growing, they almost never faced enemies who controlled or scrambled the mind. And physically, Barong’s beast form wasn’t all that strong.
So few Wolf players ever picked it.
‘Of course, for the Mother of the Sky, that’s irrelevant.’
Thanks to the Camouflage of the Huntress, she could draw out every advantage while avoiding the drawbacks. Her lack of direct combat buffs didn’t matter at all.
[ZZZ ZZZ (So now the energy field doesn’t affect you?)]
｢That seems right. Maybe I need to stay like this longer to be absolutely sure, but for now—I don’t feel a thing.｣
[ZZZ (Good.)]
｢But tell … the energy field hasn’t grown stronger, has it? From the look of the human you brought, I’m concerned.｣
Her beak tipped toward the human I had dragged along—the lone survivor from the Invader. He had collapsed on the floor, drooling mindlessly.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (The field is unchanged. That condition is from parasites.)]
｢Parasites? He must be soone important then.｣
[ZZZ ZZZZ (That’s Akira Yujin’s butler.)]
｢…I’d heard he went to the rubbish planet, and now you say his butler? What in the world happened there?｣
[ZZZ (Huh?)]
Her eyes widened. Her reaction was strange like she had never been told what occurred on the Garbage Star at all.
｢Middle one.｣
Number 26 tapped her with a feeler.
｢Where’s Little one? And her friends? Where are Small one and the others?｣
Co to think of it, they were nowhere to be found. Not even the MPS units who worked within the Gigacracker.
｢…PS-111, Isabel, Adhai… none of them have returned. No more accurately, they cannot return.｣
[ZZZ (What?)]
Her thought-waves carried unease, heavy with dread like sothing terrible had happened.
She set Number 26 down and walked to the corner of the cargo bay, retrieving sothing.
It was the mini-Screar she had taken with her when she set off to gain Barong’s power. But now the tiny creature, once buzzing with energy, lay utterly motionless, as if dead.
｢Every Screar has stopped functioning. And what’s worse every control device PS-111 ever built has gone silent.｣
Her nervous voice, her words, it all made sense now. Why none of the others had co to help and Number 26.
The beings that knew our location… were gone.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (You an PS-111 is dead? Maybe the link just got severed.)]
｢A month ago, Isabel sent a brief ssage. She said she was heading into Star Union… to save her sister.｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ (So that’s why she wasn’t here.)]
The Mother of the Sky nodded silently.
｢Did… our friend die?｣
Number 26 finally understood. Its body flushed to a pale, washed-out white. I hadn’t seen it suffer like this since the old days, when it was tortured in the research labs.
And I understood it all too well. I felt the sa.
PS-111 and I had survived countless perils side by side. It wasn’t just an ally it was a trusted comrade, a friend.
That such a precious being could die without even knowing… if I said I wasn’t hollowed out, I’d be lying. If I had a human body, I’d already be sobbing aloud.
‘But still…’
It wasn’t the ti to grieve. Not yet.
[ZZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (You said Isabel went to Star Union, right?)]
｢Yes. I think she ans to heal her sister.｣
PS-111’s body was more machine than flesh. It often rebuilt and modified itself.
If the right tools and facilities could be found… perhaps resurrection wasn’t impossible.
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (You think she’s heading for Zak-01?)]
｢Probably. That’s where they manufacture the Supre Council.｣
The Supre Council, the highest-ranking androids that rule all of Star Union. Every one of them is created in the factories of Zak-01. If one reached that factory, perhaps PS-111 could be restored.
But Zak-01 is the capital world of Star Union. Getting onto the planet alone is no easy feat. And infiltrating the Council’s production facilities? Far harder still.
[ZZZ ZZZ (Two alone can’t possibly infiltrate.)]
｢Which ans there must be others already there, clustered in force.｣
A Ranker like Isabel would know this. If she still went, it was grief guiding her hand… clouding her judgnt.
｢Still, the fact she left a ssage ans she hasn’t lost her reason entirely. She must be moving with caution.｣
[ZZZ ZZ (That makes sense.)]
｢Then we have to go before it’s too late. We can’t risk losing Isabel and Adhai too.｣
She was right. If we hesitated, we might lose them both the sa way.
‘Seems our next destination has already chosen itself.’
The kingdom of machines, forged by cyborgs and androids alike: Star Union.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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