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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 381
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Frank's entry into the Shinomitsu Cartel was purely coincidental.
Originally, he had been a low-ranking officer in the Marcio Cartel, a massive pirate syndicate that operated a space fortress. His job was to track down and capture debtors who had fled after stealing credits from the cartel. To accomplish this, he would regularly take a pirate ship and leave the fortress on retrieval missions.
The problem arose a few months ago when he returned from one such mission. As usual, he had a captured debtor in tow but the fortress was nowhere to be seen.
Just like one of the ghost stories whispered among the crew, the cartel and its base had vanished overnight.
All that remained was his modified patrol ship and a dozen subordinates.
With most of his resources gone, Frank was left with only two choices:
Either start a new cartel from scratch and continue his piracy, or join an existing one.
Frank was a scoundrel, but he wasn’t an idiot. The only reason he had been so successful in capturing debtors was because of the cartel backing him.
The Marcio Cartel was one of the five largest pirate factions operating in space docks, possessing an extensive intelligence network. Without that network, hunting down fugitives would have been far more difficult.
Thus, he chose the second option.
He reached out to the Shinō Union, a rising pirate federation that had recently gained considerable power. Fortunately, one of its factions, the Shinomitsu Cartel, was recruiting. Frank and his men were accepted without issue.
Having a ship of his own was a major advantage, and as a result, he was immediately promoted to the position of underboss.
From a mere low-ranking officer to the underboss of a renowned cartel when his fortress had vanished, he thought he was ruined, but in hindsight, that had been a turning point.
Now, he commanded hundreds of subordinates and controlled two ships. Not to mention, he had access to all the women he could want.
｢Underboss, are you there?｣
Inside the captain's quarters, Frank ignored the call from his subordinate. He was in the middle of enjoying himself with a cyborg slave and had no intention of being interrupted.
｢Underboss?｣
“Goddamn it.”
But the repeated calls completely ruined the mood. Cursing, he shoved the slave off his lap and answered.
“I told you bastards not to call me when I’m busy!”
｢Sir, this is urgent.｣
Frank's fleet was currently on a scouting mission in an unclaimed star system. They had received intelligence suggesting that a rare lifeform would appear here.
It wasn’t just Frank’s crew other factions within the Shinō Union were also stationed in key locations, waiting for the creature to emerge.
For the pirates, it was a boring mission, but Frank didn’t mind. He had brought entertainment precisely for this reason.
“What the hell could be so urgent in our line of work?”
｢You should see this for yourself.｣
A small holographic map appeared above his desk.
“The hell is this?”
The map was a simulated projection of the star system but there was something unusual on it.
A mass of countless small objects was clustered together, all moving in the same direction. It was clearly not just a field of floating debris.
Frank narrowed his eyes. Could this be the rare lifeform they were after?
And then, a moment later.
“What the fuck?!”
His face went pale as he shot up from his seat, hastily pulling up his pants.
“Wake everyone up! Get the drones ready! NOW!”
Frank knew exactly what those unfamiliar objects on the map were.
Anyone who had ever set foot aboard a spaceship would fear them pirates included.
“Shit! Why the hell is a swarm of 'Metallic Gremlins' here?!”
Tens of thousands of the infamous scavengers were heading straight for Frank’s fleet.
***
It goes without saying, but this world is very different from the game.
There are many traits that seemed insignificant in the game but turned out to be surprisingly effective in reality.
Take the auxiliary organ beneath my jaw, for example.
In the game, it merely functioned as a minimap, providing a slight advantage in visibility. But here, it helps me detect and evade incoming attacks, sense unseen enemies, and serve a variety of other purposes.
Many other traits have also changed from how I remember them in the game.
Perhaps because these differences have generally worked in my favor, I ended up making a critical mistake without realizing it.
While traveling toward the ice planet where Adhai's family resides, I noticed something unusual about my body.
It was hunger. A gnawing emptiness I had never felt before during Faster than Light travel.
I quickly identified the cause it was the garbage-tier trait 'Hunger' that I obtained after hunting the Pyromancer.
While I was on a planet, I had been eating frequently enough that I never had a chance to notice. This was my first time experiencing the downside of the trait.
'At least I'm not actually low on energy.'
The dragon heart within my body was still functioning, pumping energy continuously. The ship also had plenty of stored energy left.
'Is this more of a psychological issue, then?'
The sensation I was experiencing felt similar to the irritability that comes with extreme hunger.
'This is more annoying than I expected.'
In the game, if you had the 'Hunger' trait and ran out of energy, you would lose control of your body. So I assumed that as long as I didn't run out of energy, it wouldn't be a problem.
I hadn’t considered that it would come with this kind of agitation.
'I need to eat something.'
As long as I have the dragon heart, there's little risk of me losing consciousness. But staying in this irritated state for too long isn’t ideal. It’s bad enough that I’m starting to feel a sense of unease like something is stalking me.
I should stop for a bit and take a break.
'Might as well feed the Mountain Crawler while I’m at it.'
There’s a small amount of stored meat on the ship, but I don’t have any dedicated food for the Mountain Crawler. It can survive without consuming minerals for a long time, but that doesn’t mean it enjoys starving.
'I’ll just find it some floating asteroid fragments.'
I decided to scan for nearby pirate or merchant ships.
As soon as I dropped out of Faster than light, the crushing pressure surrounding me immediately eased.
｢Amorph? The engine stopped. What’s going on?｣
"We have not yet reached 'White Stone,' but I detected an interruption in Faster than light travel. Is there an issue?"
[PR/N: They are referring to the Moon as White Stone.]
｢Big One tired? If tired, must sleep. Sleeping makes things better!｣
'"There's no way that creature would be exhausted from this."'
｢Rest?｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Outside｣ ｢Can I go out?｣
Now that the ship had stopped, those who had been spending time on their own started chiming in.
[ZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (I'm taking a short break. You can go outside if you want.)]
｢Me｣ ｢Pretty One｣ ｢Together｣ ｢Flight｣ ｢Training｣ ｢Doing it｣
'"Huh? Wait. Are you telling me to join?"'
｢Pretty One｣ ｢Weak｣ ｢Training｣ ｢More｣ ｢Must do more｣
After informing the others that I was taking a break, I summoned PS-111 and Sechan.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (Are there any pirates operating nearby?)]
"This system has no registered owner. According to a study on Megacorp’s records, only 1.2% of their registered merchant ships have ever passed through this system. The probability of criminal activity is estimated at 82%."
So ships do pass through here, but not frequently.
In fact, if a location is too crowded, that’s bad news even for space docks.
'If the great powers take notice, it’s over.'
I turned my gaze to Sechan.
“There’s no cartel using this place as a base, but I’ve heard that smaller groups raid in this area.”
The man, half of his brain taken over by a parasite, stared blankly at my main body as he answered.
'So pirates do operate here.'
That was perfect.
Right now, I was in the middle of assimilating a ship, gradually taking full control of it. As a result, to detection systems, I appeared as a normal vessel. From the outside, I looked exactly like a Megacorp warship aside from the fact that my hull was pitch black.
To the pirates, I must have looked like a juicy target.
[ZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (Is there anything else I should be wary of?)]
"Analyzing ship data. No threats detected aside from pirates."
[ZZ (I see.)]
In that case, it should be fine to move around a bit.
[ZZZ ZZ ZZ ZZZ (I'm moving. Everyone, return.)]
After recalling those who were outside, I slowly set the ship in motion.
This system felt vastly different from the one housing Asuka-44.
The Dorane system was vibrant, thanks to the presence of the red giant 'Olga'. A blazing crimson star, contrasting against the pitch-black void, its scenery was reminiscent of the space photographs and illustrations I had seen in my human days.
This place, however, was utterly still. No remarkable stars, no breathtaking nebulae, just endless darkness stretching into infinity.
'Then again, most of space is probably like this.'
As I moved, the black ichor covering my ship’s hull detected something. Some form of movement, quite a distance away.
'A pirate ship?'
The movement became increasingly pronounced. Whatever it was, it was flying directly toward me.
'I expected it to take longer...wait…?'
Just as I was about to think it was convenient, something felt off. The approaching vessel’s movements were… different.
I focused my senses on the ship’s outer shell. Like when I linked with my nest, my perception expanded, feeding my brain information beyond what my auxiliary organ alone could detect. The distant presence became clearer.
'Three large objects… and…'
Countless smaller ones, so numerous that even my enhanced senses struggled to count them. Tiny specks of movement swarmed around the larger objects, like grains of sand clinging to a rock.
The larger ones were unmistakably ships. But the real problem was the identity of the smaller objects surrounding them.
'Metallic Gremlins?'
Tens of thousands of silver monstrosities were swarming the ships, attacking them.
At first, I thought the three vessels were rushing toward me to launch a surprise attack. But that wasn’t it.
They weren’t attacking, they were fleeing.
'Why are they here?'
To any spacefaring civilization, a Metallic Gremlin swarm was nothing short of a living catastrophe. Megacorp and the Star Union both kept meticulous records of where these space raiders appeared.
The fact that PS-111 hadn’t found any such records meant one of two things:
Either they had migrated here from another system, or…
No survivors had ever escaped their attacks to report them.
'Either way, this works out just fine.'
I was starving.
Three ships. A horde of Metallic Gremlins.
That should be more than enough to satisfy my hunger.
——————
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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