Chapter 164


    [Trantor  Jjescus]


    [Proofreader  Demon Gods Disciple]


    Capital of the StarUnion, Starks-01.


    In a ce characterized by densely packed factories, vast smog, and incessant acidic rain, there exists a peculiar structure. White and ck spires intertwined with numerous pipes, batteries, and machines of all sizes adorned the exterior, forming an imposing pyramid of spikes when gathered together. This eerie and awe-inspiring structure is known as Prime Head, where the highest echelons of the StarUnions power apparatus, the Machine Assembly, reside.


    At the summit of the tallest spire, Prime Head, lies the office of the Grandmaster, the progenitor overseer of all cyborgs. Though typically a space of solemnity and austerity, today was different. Within the tightly sealed office, multiple voices could be heard speaking in session.


    Youve suffered considerable losses, but ultimately failed.


    Thats correct.


    A Caucasian man with one eye reced by machinery conversed in front of four diamond obelisks. Adorned with a meticulously groomed moustache alongside a robust muscr physique, he was none other than the Patriarch of the StarUnion, Jubaka.


    So far, the known enhancements involve bodily modifications. And


    It seems the ability to integrate with ships is also present.


    Its fortunate we could confirm that this time. Jubaka, youve done a great job.


    Akira. How did youe across this information?


    Jubaka had to suffer significant losses, all due to the ranked 5 Amorph and his friends. The Nemea Fleet was almost decimated, and the Arrow and Redtail Fleets that supported him suffered considerable damage too.


    And thats not all.


    Due to his meddling,StarUnions rtions with the Cult deteriorated significantly. It was only natural, considering his reckless invasion of Cult territory and the destruction of Imperial battleships. This incident often brought up talks of war between the StarUnion and the Cult.


    To avoid a fruitless war, Jubaka had to send envoys to the Cult Council to apologize. Noble Capital Megacorp and Clo Garmelda exerted pressure on the Cult Reformists to support Jubaka.


    Thanks to them, an all-out war between the Cult and the StarUnion was averted.


    However, this incident greatly tarnished the StarUnions utmost dignity. Due to just one Amorph, Jubaka, who had been thoroughly humiliated, couldnt contain his irritation.


    In response to his enraged words, Akira replied nonchntly, Did you really think it would be that easy to capture him? You still dont know him well. Be thankful the entire fleet wasnt annihted.


    Tch.


    Akira, could the enhancement of bodily modifications possibly be obtained from Muriel?


    Well, Im not sure. We should be cautious about that aspect. Its likely he possesses between two to three enhancements.


    Whats the point of investigating his enhancements now when all traces of him have vanished?


    Wasnt his biometric sample recorded in Starlink? We could track him based on that.


    It seems the datas been tampered with. Scanners cant confirm anything anymore. It was fine until we chased after ship 98.


    Upon hearing rumors of suspicious organisms discovered by the StarUnion supply line, Jubaka immediately took action.


    Syncing the Amorph sample registered in Starlink, the proprietary information processing system of the StarUnion, with a bioscanner, and additionally, with the Warp Finder, a superluminal navigation tracking system.


    Thanks to utilizing all avable means at the Patriarchs disposal, tracking the Amorph wasnt difficult. In fact, until the discovery of ship 98, the main concern was distance and time, as locating the entity itself was rather straightforward.


    The issuey in the trap it posed.


    Its likely due to the impure mixture rted to the Nests characteristics. It possesses the ability to randomly alter the Nestsposition, making tracking impossible.


    Damn it! You shouldve mentioned that earlier!


    Heh heh heh, dont be angry. Didnt we learn something new because of it? We discovered that its possible to create an environment identical to the Nest within a bioship.


    Then its reasonable to assume it can utilize other abilities.


    When Jubaka discovered the entity, he ryed the information to the other members. At that time, Akira merelyughed and said nothing.


    But now, judging from his tone, it seemed he had anticipated this oue. He likely used Jubaka as bait to verify his conjecture.


    Its not a situation to remain calm about, Akira. Weve lost track of it. It means the next encounter with it could be even more perilous.


    Indeed, the entity that departed from the 98th fleet seemed to vanishpletely, like a ghost. Despite meticulously scouring neutral territories, no trace rted to the entity remained.


    Is it difficult to locate it with the Warp Finder?


    Thest known location of ship 98 was within neutral territories. With ships zipping in and out at the speed of light, finding it there is impossible.


    Of course, it would be difficult if it doesnt know the model of the ship it boarded.


    Based on the currently avable information, the Amorph contaminated the ship and seems to possess dominating abilities. It might be able to modify ships, but it was still traceable with the Warp Finder, except for changes in the ships type as Akira mentioned.


    We tried to find any attacked ships, but there was no information rted to the entity.


    Could it be that the ranked 5 made a deal and purchased a ship? Whether its for the essence collection or bringing alongrades


    Nonsense! To call such a personality arade? Hah, absurd.


    Hehehehe, its been a while since Shinshia cracked an amusing joke.


    All present had fought the rank 5 Amorph at least once. They were well acquainted with his dread, but there were discrepancies in the information they possessed. For instance, while Shinshia had only fought the ranked 5 twice, Jubaka had faced him about eight times. And Akira, with a higher rank than both, had faced him many more times.


    As a result, Shinshia had rtively limited knowledge about Fifth.


    Heh, if its him, he might userades as bait or dominate them like parasites.


    If the Amorph is with him, thats entirely usible.


    In that case, he could control cyborgs as parasites to purchase a ship.


    Of course, weve considered and are investigating that as well. The problem is it takes a lot of time.


    Currently, high-performance androids are thoroughly investigating all trade records within neutral territories. It might take a month to find out, but in the meantime, Fifth might switch ships again.


    At that moment, Akira spoke up.


    Hmm, perhaps theres no need to chase after it relentlessly, is there?


    What do you mean?


    If we know where itll go, cant we prepare in advance?


    Because you dont know, thats why youre talking nonsense, Akira.


    Heh, no need to be so impatient. Listen. Just like in a game, he dislikes wasting time. If hes be a Larva, hell want to evolve into an Adult as quickly as possible.


    I see.


    The fastest way for him to fulfill his evolution conditions is to capture whats called an Apex, a special organism. Then hell aim for ces where many Apexes reside.


    Are you referring to the Gagons Nest?


    Akira didnt respond to Shinshias question. Instead, a space map appeared from his obelisk, showing various projected routes from where the entity had moved.


    These are spective routes and calctions based on the direction and path the entity took. It indicates that it continued in a certain direction until it abruptly changed course when it entered neutral territories.


    And what does that mean?


    If it wasnt being pursued, it would have continued in this direction.


    Damn it! Get to the point. What are you trying to say?


    If it continues in this direction, itll lead to the Gagons Nest.


    What?


    A red marker appeared near the outer edges of the space map.


    Its where the Yujin family stores Gagon genes and where my old subordinate resides.


    But how does he know to go there when its not even marked on the map?


    I dont know either. But if its him, hell definitely target this.


    Jubaka eyed the red marker. Since it wasnt a recorded, no information appeared at that location.


    If hes heading here


    Contact the old subordinate. A Larva like Amorph stands no chance against them.


    And who exactly are you so sure of?


    Hehe, would it help if I said an aged ck Gagon?


    !


    Upon hearing that, Jubaka was taken aback.


    ck Gagon is the second-highest stage in the Gagon growth hierarchy. Beyond that are the Red Gagons, but theyre so rare that theyre hardly ever seen.


    In other words, ck Gagon is arguably the most formidable among wild Gagons.


    If its a ck Gagon, then Amorph, no matter how powerful it has gotten, wont stand a chance against it. Not only is the ck Gagon powerful itself, but it also has its entire Nest to contend with.


    Akira, may I inform Jason of the coordinates of that location? He expressed a strong desire to rectify this situation.


    Hehehe, then the certainty of his death will be even more assured. Go ahead.


    And now, even Cult yer Jason was involved.


    Jasons ranking is 10th. Though lower in rank than Akira or Jubaka, hes a skilled yer in his own right.


    With the ck Gagon and a 10th-ranked yer involved, the fate of the Amorph and his party was practically sealed.


    With a few more adjustments, the meeting concluded. Confirming that the obelisks were deactivated, Jubaka picked up the activatedmunication device.


    Youve heard everything up to now, right?


    That damn inspiration. Always using others.


    After learning about Akiras spy, Clo made various excuses to avoid participating in the obelisk meeting. Instead, she relied on Jubakas assistance to eavesdrop on the meeting.


    Clo, I have a favor to ask.


    Hmm?


    Im thinking of sending Pirah 11s Screamer Unit.


    What?


    Well justify it as a clinical experiment to assess operational capabilities.


    Just a moment! Jubaka, theyre still prototypes. Theyre in an iplete state, so who knows what errors might ur.


    Anyway, dont you need Amorph genes toplete your n? Its not a bad condition, is it?


    It would certainly be helpful, but


    Moreover, if that is where Gagon genes are collected, its even better. If the Gagons identally die while fighting Amorph, it could also deal a blow to Akira.


    Hmm, that does sound appealing?


    Send the newly updated Hulk Mutants. Convert them into Screamers and send them immediately.


    Jubaka had never let anyone who had attacked him go unpunished. Whether in the real world or in this dystopian world, he had no intention of forgiving Akira or his associates who had properly crossed him.


    Repay them all.


    Jubakas mechanical eyes flickered menacingly as he spoke to Clo.


    ***


    [ZZZ (There?)]


    Blue Star Ring Confirmed Nest Affirmative.


    Understanding Adhais telepathicmunication from outside the spacecraft, I was on the verge of cheering.


    Its been a long time.


    Thanks to traveling non-stop for a month and ten days on a cramped ship, we finally arrived at the where the Gagons Nest was located.


    Before usy a sky-blue reminiscent of the ocean. The had rings like Saturn, formed by rocky debris orbiting the due to its gravity.


    Seeing the beautiful sky-blue and the pale rings orbiting it felt like admiring a well-decorated aqua marine ornament.


    Id like to explore more, but


    Both mypanions and I were starving. We ran out of provisions two days ago. Since we hadnt seen any other ships or creatures for a long time, finding new food was impossible. In that situation, we had no choice but to continue onward.


    If Adhai had made even a small mistake in the coordinates, we could have been in big trouble.


    If he had miscalcted the coordinates, we might have wandered and starved to death in this remote ce.


    Damn Amorph.


    I almost experienced a death that I had never encountered even in the game.


    Lets go down and replenish our supplies first.


    I prepared to enter the nameless blue. After bringing Adhai inside from outside, I increased the speed of our movement.


    As the distance to the decreased, the appearance of the rings became clearer. From ordinary rocks and ice fragments to unidentified metal chunks and fragments of spacecraft from unknown origins, numerous objects were flying together in the same direction.


    If it were a creature with intact skin, it would have been torn to shreds upon entering those rings, but I am not an ordinary creature. I effortlessly caught the fragments pouring over the outer wall, a mix of metallic and biological tissues. Passing through the rings without much difficulty, I quickly approached thes atmosphere.


    Unlike Earth and the Moon, which have various colors such as blue seas, brownnd, and white clouds, this was uniformly colored.


    Sky-blue and white. That was all this had.


    An ice.


    Even in the game, regions where Gagons inhabit are extreme, much like the before me. Constant volcanic activity creating a hellishndscape, or subzero temperatures plunging into an icy hell. Extreme environmental conditions were one of the factors that made it difficult to deal with Gagons.


    It doesnt concern me, but Im not sure about the others.


    ording to Adhai, except for the Gagons Nest, the temperatures in the other areas of the were very low. Normally, she said she should have frozen to death not long after being abandoned by her kind.


    Except for Number 26, which inhabited the deep sea, the journey ahead would be quite difficult for the others.


    As I pondered these thoughts, my body was swiftly passing through the atmosphere. After pushing through the dense clouds, what came into my view was an endless expanse of ice.


    [Trantor  Jjescus]


    [Proofreader  Demon Gods Disciple]


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