Two-Person Galactic Journey: Earth Was Destroyed While Imprisoned in Space Prison Chapter 230

Chapter 230

Regarding Kait's departure from the pursuit fleet, it seems the other fleets didn't take it negatively. Kait isn't particularly afraid of bad reputations, but he does hope to maintain good relations with his fellow Federation mbers if possible.

When they returned to the space where they had clashed with Lufate Gainun, a large artificial celestial body was just in the process of sucking up the wreckage. That must be Uvols.

"Excuse . This is the vessel Queen Bee. Is the person in charge available?"

'This is artificial celestial body Uvols. Vessel na confird. The person in charge is... C-Captain Third-Rank Citizen (Enec Lagif) Kait!? P-Please wait a mont!'

Upon sending the transmission, the staff who responded hurriedly connected the internal line.

Kait was starting to get used to this kind of response. For now, he decided to wait for the next person to appear.

The next person to appear was an intelligent being whose appearance Kait was sowhat familiar with.

'Captain Third-Rank Citizen Kait, it's an honor to et you. I am Yamloson, the person in charge of Uvols. My citizenship is Fourth-Rank. What brings you here?'

"Nice to et you, Fourth-Rank Citizen Yamloson (Darda Elra). I heard you are researching the remains of Lufate Gainun, so I was hoping you could share so information."

'Oh? The research is progressing very slowly... are you sure you're still interested?'

"Yes. I believe there's no point in pursuing an enemy we don't understand."

'I see, so it's not just idle curiosity. Very well, let offer my assistance. I'll open the port section—co on in.'

Just as he said, a part of Uvols opened. It was on the opposite side from where the wreckage was being drawn in. Kait directed Queen Bee toward the port section.

Even so, Yamloson seed to exude a sowhat disheveled air. Hoping that wouldn't lead to any negative consequences, Kait proceeded to dock with Uvols.

***

"Well, this place sure has a mad vibe to it."

"Yeah. Co to think of it, this is our first ti on a research-specialized artificial celestial body."

Kait and Emotion disembarked from Queen Bee at the port section. They waited for a while, but since no guide ca, they decided to proceed further in on their own.

A short distance from the port, they saw part of Lufate Gainun floating inside a tube. There were countless such tubes, and several Federation citizens, who appeared to be staff, were gathered around so of them. The contents of the preserved tubes didn't seem to be the remains of the larvae the fleet had just thoroughly destroyed. The coloration was clearly different.

"...This is..."

"You noticed, didn't you? Fifth-Rank Citizen Emotion (Alto Romia)."

"Yes, Representative Yamloson."

"Apologies for the late welco. Let introduce myself again. I'm Yamloson, representative of Uvols. Pleased to et you."

He lightly grasped the slender tentacle that was offered.

After Kait let go, Yamloson shook hands with Emotion as well, then led the two of them further inside. It seed he had co out to greet them personally.

As they walked, Kait confird the earlier exchange.

"What did you an by 'you noticed,' Emotion?"

"Yes, Captain. The specins being studied here are not the larvae eliminated in space. These are likely individuals that fell to a planet and parasitized local organisms afterward."

"What—"

"Correct, Fifth-Rank Citizen Emotion. These monsters once fell onto planets not managed by the Federation and completely destroyed nearly half of their ecosystems. These are samples of those entities. For us researchers, they are extrely valuable samples, but at the sa ti, they continue to betray our expectations in frustrating ways."

Yamloson, perhaps from exhaustion, let his tentacles droop as he continued deeper inside.

Every ti they passed a nearby tube, he would share remarks that were part explanation, part self-deprecation—it was hard to tell.

"Of course, all of these are dead. Researching a living Lufate Gainun is taboo. But it's safe to say we've already extracted all the information we can from the corpses."

"I see?"

"There aren't many cases of exterminating a Lufate Gainun that arrives with a mobile mother body. That's why we have high hopes for these samples. Not just us, but the council bigwigs too."

Apparently, Lufate Gainun isn't a creature that appears frequently—even at the scale of the Federation. Even if one were to conduct various studies with limited evidence, sudden breakthroughs wouldn't be expected. Despite the Federation having the highest research capabilities in the galaxy, they've been assigned to this unproductive research. The dissatisfaction Yamloson occasionally expressed likely stemd from that.

In any case, hopefully this extermination would lead to so progress in the research.

"Originally, this research was considered a kind of hobby project."

"A hobby?"

"Yeah. These creatures tend to have a one-track survival strategy. Once an efficient extermination thod was discovered, research on Lufate Gainun was dismissed as a hobby for a niche group."

"Huh. That's... sothing."

Since an efficient extermination thod had been found, so argued that researching the biology of hostile organisms was unnecessary. In a way, that was a valid stance. There were already plenty of other research subjects. Even if a fundantal solution couldn't be found, stepping back after identifying a workable alternative wasn't entirely unreasonable.

That was probably why Yamloson was initially suspicious of them.

"Well, even so, the Federation Congress still deed this research necessary. So I'd really like to produce so solid results."

"We'll help out while we're here."

"Yes. Feel free to use us as needed."

"Is that so? Thanks."

Yamloson swayed his body, which was about twice the size of other spherical intelligences.

At so point, the tubes had vanished, and only a vast empty room remained. Wondering why this space was left open, they looked around without restraint.

"We need to place the sample specins here. Did a bit of cleaning. Once sorting is done, the samples useful for research will be arranged here."

"I see?"

"Sorting should be starting soon. It's a bit of a walk, but shall we go?"

"Absolutely."

They headed toward the section where Lufate Gainun's larvae were stored.

The tubes still weren't visible, but so equipnt had been brought in instead. Probably computers for research.

Before they knew it, they had exited the hall and entered a corridor. Led by Yamloson, they continued down the now narrower path.

"Here we are."

"So this is..."

"Captain. Be careful when breathing. The vaporized bodily fluids are releasing toxins."

The depths of Uvols, which had swallowed a massive amount of remains. The open area had been sealed off and converted into an environnt where people could operate without suits. The loud hum of the ventilation system was probably to prevent the vaporized acidic fluids from harming the staff.

Currently, many staff mbers were sorting the remains by size while inspecting the damage. Since the extermination had been thorough, there were likely no surviving larvae—but even so, it was still a dangerous task.

As Kait watched the staff working diligently, he suddenly thought he recognized a familiar profile and walked over. The staff mber, absorbed in the task and unaware of Kait's presence, happened to turn their face toward him. Their eyes t.

Their eyes widened in surprise, and Kait was just as shocked. But the other person spoke first.

"Huh? Captain... Captain Kait?"

"You're... Doctor Saito, aren't you? What are you doing in a place like this?"

There stood the long-unseen figure of Gorou Saitou.