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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 354
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Piracy is considered a highly reprehensible crime in Megacorp. This is inevitable, considering that space dogs are notorious for committing crimes like human trafficking, murder, and smuggling as if it were a daily routine. The damage they inflict on Megacorp is anything but insignificant.
As such, piracy is hardly ever forgiven, and cooperating with pirates is an even rarer occurrence. While working under Prime Capital, Jin Chen had seen his colleagues fall from grace, getting caught in dealings with pirates and being reduced to mere ‘employees’ several times.
"Damn it! Everyone, get ready for battle!"
"Captain? This ship only has laser weapons."
"Shit! Are we just going to bend over for those pirates? Whatever happens, we have to fight!"
"Hmm, with our armament, we’ll barely last an hour. If we resist for no reason, things could get even worse..."
Jin Chen suppressed the urge to smack the navigator’s shiny head.
As he said, the ship didn’t have many weapons. The only personal firearms were laser rifles, and the only protective gear available was the mid-tier reinforced suit Jin Chen himself was wearing.
However, fleeing wasn’t an easy option either. If the ship were a new model, it could engage in high-speed travel while securing minerals with a capture crane, but this ship didn’t have that function.
“Goddamn it! Didn’t they say there were no pirates in this system?”
Jin Chen had taken what was supposed to be a safe route, and he never expected this situation to unfold. Regret surged inside him, but it was already too late.
The pirate ship’s emblem was getting closer and closer. He had just gotten a chance to become wealthy, and he couldn’t die here.
"Can we communicate with that ship?"
"Yes, we can."
Jin Chen remembered what his friend, who was well-versed in the black market, had told him. According to him, ordinary minerals were unpopular in the black market, unlike rare ones. They were difficult to transport but didn’t sell for much.
If his friend’s words were true, the pirates wouldn’t recklessly attack this mining ship. Unless they were idiots, they wouldn’t risk taking minerals that weren’t even that valuable.
Although the ship’s armament was poor, the pirates didn’t know that. If luck was on their side, they might be able to get through with minimal damage.
"Communication established."
Just then, a square screen appeared in the center of the star system map hologram. On it was a menacing-looking man with mechanical implants on his face.
｢Ha, you dare send a communication to our Shinoroku Cartel first?｣
"...Are you the boss?"
｢Yes, I’m the boss of the Shinoroku Cartel.｣
Jin Chen gulped at the sight of the intimidating cyborg pirate. The pirate, holding an electronic cigarette filled with synthetic drugs, looked at him and asked.
｢Tch, if you're going to speak, you should at least introduce yourself. What's your name?｣
"Ah, I-I'm Jin Chen. The owner of this ship and..."
｢Enough. If you don't want to die, hand over everything you have.｣
"This is a mining ship. All we have are minerals. There’s nothing the Shinoroku Cartel can take."
｢You damn idiots only learn after spilling blood, huh? Hey, everyone, get ready to dock.｣
Behind the boss, pirates with equally menacing looks moved, brandishing weapons. Seeing this, Jin Chen hastily continued.
"Wait! We have many skilled combatants onboard."
｢So what? Do you think seasoned fighters won’t be cut down at sea?｣
"...We have combatants wearing reinforced suits on standby. Even if we lose, the damage to you won’t be insignificant."
Rather than responding to Jin Chen’s bravado, the pirate leader took a deep drag from his cigarette. He exhaled the smoke before asking.
｢I’ll hear you out. How much are you offering?｣
"I’ll give you 10% of the minerals we have."
｢Guys, the captain wants to fight. Prepare for an attack.｣
"2—no, 30%!"
｢Everyone, stop. Hey, Jin Chen, right? As the ship's owner, you sure are a coward.｣
"...So, how much do you want?"
｢70%. If you give me 70%, I’ll let you go.｣
The pirate’s demand for over half of the cargo almost made Jin Chen curse aloud.
‘That damn pirate really thinks he can take everything!’
However, he could only curse inwardly and remain calm on the outside. In fact, if the pirates demanded all the minerals, he’d have to accept it. Getting away by giving up 70% would be considered a lucky outcome in this situation.
"F-Fine. We’ll hand over the minerals..."
"Captain, a new signal has been detected."
"What?"
｢What’s this?｣
It seemed that not only they but also the pirates had detected something. The pirate leader’s gaze shifted elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Jin Chen checked the newly appeared marker on the star system map.
A square marker was approaching them faster than the pirate ship.
｢This is Shinoroku Cartel's jurisdiction. Who the hell is that?｣
At first, Jin Chen thought it was another pirate ship, but seeing the confused expression on the pirate leader's face, it seemed it wasn’t.
｢Are you trying to trick us?｣
"N-No! We don’t know that ship either!"
｢You bastards! Everyone, get ready for battle...｣
Just as the furious pirate leader was about to launch an attack, the communication abruptly ended. As if that wasn’t enough, suddenly the lights in the operations room flickered, and the hologram began to shake erratically.
"What’s going on?"
"We’re experiencing unexpected signal interference!"
"Why suddenly?"
"We’re not sure ourselves..."
Jin Chen barely held back a sigh at the crew's incompetent responses. His growing frustration was hard to suppress, but he focused on the shaking hologram.
Then, he noticed something strange. The square marker that had been there just moments ago had disappeared from the map.
"Where did the square marker go?"
As soon as he spoke, the lights in the operations room went out. The emergency power system activated, bathing the room in red light.
"What’s going on?"
"W-We’re not sure either."
"Goddamn it! If you don’t know, then find out!"
"Y-Yes!"
When Jin Chen shouted at them, the crew finally started moving.
"Navigator, take over temporarily."
"Huh?"
Ignoring the bewildered looks from around him, Jin Chen left the operations room. The situation was looking grim. He needed to wear his mid-tier reinforced suit in the captain’s quarters to regain his composure.
He quickly returned to the captain’s quarters and donned the suit. The sound of metal scraping against metal as the exoskeleton moved and the electronic hum of the activated pads provided him with some sense of stability.
Just as he was about to grab his laser rifle and leave the captain’s quarters, the ship suddenly rocked violently. It was a shock unlike anything he had experienced since boarding the mining vessel.
But that wasn’t the only issue. Along with the shaking, a loud explosion rang out. The mining ship had definitely collided with something.
"Operations room! Is everything alright there? Operations room!"
He tried to contact the operations room, but the communications were completely down.
‘Did the pirates do this?’
It was clear now the pirates had attacked the mining ship. Jin Chen injected the enhancer embedded in his suit. Although he knew there were side effects to the enhancement fluid, it was better than dying.
With all his preparations complete, Jin Chen headed for the operations room.
The hallway bathed in red emergency lights felt eerily quiet. It seemed like a lie that just a moment ago he had been rushing through these halls with ease.
‘Why is it so quiet?’
If the pirates had boarded the ship, there should have been noise, but the hallway remained silent. Even a hulking mutant couldn’t massacre the entire crew in such a short time.
‘What the hell is going on?’
After the communication with the pirates was cut off, everything seemed to spiral out of his understanding. The sweat trickling down his neck only grew with each step.
The only relief came when he reached the door to the operations room without encountering any more trouble. He saw that the door was firmly shut.
As Jin Chen approached to open the door, a sudden thought struck him.
The ship had just taken a huge hit surely, there should be someone coming and going in the operations room? And the silence was far from normal.
He carefully pressed his ear to the door to listen for any sounds inside.
“!”
The moment he pressed his ear against the door, he was startled.
It wasn’t the cold metal of the alloy walls that caused his shock. It was the sound he heard from within the operations room, something he definitely shouldn’t have been hearing.
A faint sound, unmistakably a scream.
"Shit, shit!"
Something unknown had entered the operations room and was committing horrific acts. Realizing this, Jin Chen immediately turned around and ran toward the opposite side of the operations room.
The heavy thud of his steps echoed down the hallway as he sprinted in the reinforced suit. He heard the door to the operations room open with a hiss as the air rushed out. Something inside had likely heard his footsteps and was now coming after him.
Behind him, he could hear a strange scratching sound, as if sharp objects were scraping against the alloy walls. A sticky, metallic smell filled the air, piercing his nostrils.
‘Oh, no, don’t come after me!’
Instead of using the laser rifle in his hand, he chose to flee. Thanks to the enhancer he had injected, he was able to run at high speed. The eerie metallic noises mixed with his heavy footsteps grew fainter and fainter.
‘I need to get to the escape pod!’
If he could escape in the pod, the chances of being caught by the pirates were high, but he didn’t care. It was far better to be caught by understandable pirates than face the unknown entity.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit...!"
Jin Chen muttered curses mechanically as he kept running toward the escape pod.
Just as the distance between him and the escape pod was narrowing, a group appeared in front of him.
"...Damn."
The face of the person leading the group was familiar. It was the pirate captain he'd been speaking to via video communication earlier. It was clear now the pirates had infiltrated the mining vessel while Jin Chen was in the reinforced suit.
The pirates were holding several of the crew members, speaking to them in hushed tones.
Knowing that he would have to fight if he ran into them, Jin Chen quickly hid behind a wall at the crossroads.
‘Hm?’
As he watched from his hiding spot, something felt off about the situation. Though it was far and dark, the crew members didn’t seem to be particularly scared. In fact, the pirates holding them seemed more frantic.
Then, something strange caught his eye. Behind the group of pirates, he saw a pair of unfamiliar arms. In the red emergency lights, the delicate arms, like those of an embrace, wrapped around one of the pirates, pulling him away quietly into the darkness.
The action was so swift and quiet that the other pirates didn’t notice their comrade’s disappearance.
It was like something from a creepy tale, but seeing it with his own eyes, Jin Chen couldn’t believe it.
When another slender, smooth arm reached out and grabbed another pirate, Jin Chen realized that what he was witnessing wasn’t some myth it was real.
Moreover, he wasn’t the only one who saw one of the pirates vanish into the mysterious hands. The pirates began to notice that their comrades were missing and started to grow more cautious.
When the third victim was taken, the pirates opened fire. The flashing green lights from their weapons illuminated the darkness, allowing Jin Chen to see what was hidden.
A ‘snake’, with dozens of arms, was floating in midair, clinging to the ceiling.
The creature didn’t avoid the attacks aimed at it; instead, it allowed them to hit, all while casually grabbing the pirates and pulling them away. As its many arms pulled the pirates into the shadows, the creature’s head briefly emerged from the darkness.
It was an incredibly beautiful woman’s face. The pirates, struggling in the arms, stopped resisting the moment they saw her face.
But when the woman’s mouth opened, they awoke from their trance. Her snake-like mouth expanded wide, and she swallowed one pirate whole.
"Ugh, Aaaahhh!"
"Shit, shit?! It followed us here!"
"Everyone, run!"
Even pirates who had been through countless battles had never seen such a scene. A snake with the face and arms of a woman devouring its victims alive.
Jin Chen thought about running, but his legs wouldn’t move. The intense fear had frozen his body.
And then, a voice came from behind him.
"I'm glad to see ‘little brother’ adapting better than expected."
Jin Chen’s mining vessel had no women on board.
So, it wasn’t hard to guess who that voice belonged to.
"It's a pity about how picky the feeding process is, though."
The same smell he had encountered in the operations room seemed to hang in the air behind him.
Jin Chen stopped thinking.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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