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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 405
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In the present day, the galaxy is governed by three major powers: the Megacorps, the Star Union, and the Cult Empire.
Countless sentient beings live under the protection of these powers.
But not everyone welcomes their rule.
Space dogs operating outside the law, the Vortex One cult lurking in the shadows of the Cult Empire—these are people who chose to break away from the existing order. They hide on planets unknown to any registry or roam the stars in ships they’ve turned into mobile homes.
In that sense, the Zer-11 Conflict Zone is a peculiar case. A planet within the system—AG-01—is actively pursuing independence from its parent corporation, Noble Capital T&C.
There were clear reasons why T&C, the Megacorp with the largest number of colonies, had failed to suppress the rebellion quickly. Various factions opposed to T&C were secretly supporting AG-01’s separatist movement. In particular, it was an open secret that the separatists were being armed by the Star Union.
It didn’t take long for the unrest that began on a single planet to engulf the entire star system.
And so ‘the Zer-11 Conflict Zone’ was born.
As time passed, the situation only grew worse. T&C, bogged down by political concerns, left the conflict unresolved.
As a result, Zer-11—and especially AG-01, the centre of the conflict—descended into utter chaos. Separatist terrorists and cartels, acting under the orders of high-tier capitalists, waged war on a near-daily basis. When residents died, criminals took their place.
Today, there are no civilians left on AG-01. Only criminals—or those who think like them—remain.
Jeff, a journalist who arrived on AG-01 two years ago, was one of the latter.
Right now, he sat inside a run-down bar in the middle of the city.
The bar reeked of cheap synthetic alcohol. Mold clung to the walls and ceiling. There was nothing good to be said about the place. Even in this lawless city, it was hard to find an establishment of such poor quality.
Jeff didn’t like the bar either. He had come here every month for two years, and not once had he felt good about it.
The reason he was wasting time in a nearly empty bar was simple—he needed to meet someone without drawing attention.
And now, the man he’d been waiting for had just stepped inside. The newcomer looked like a soaked rag, drenched from head to toe. After scanning the room, he spotted Jeff and approached.
Jeff greeted him with a nod instead of words. The man hesitated before taking a seat across from him.
“Th-the item…?”
Jeff placed a palm-sized case on the table. The man reached for it, but froze when Jeff pulled out a laser pistol as well.
“You first.”
“Ah, y-yes, of course!”
The man fumbled inside his coat and handed Jeff a small data device.
“T-the recent newcomers… they’re acting strange. I’ve seen them at least twenty times this month.”
“Which cartel are they with?”
“Th-that, you can check in the file directly, so please…”
The man was trembling, his eyes fixed on the case.
But Jeff wasn’t ready to give in.
“If you don’t answer properly, I’ll pretend this never happened. I’ll ask again. What cartel?”
“S-Sino—Sinoni! They’re with the Sinoni Cartel!”
“Sinoni?”
Jeff scratched his short beard at the familiar name.
He had heard of the Sino Family—or the Sino Union, as they were now called—active across the galaxy. It was rare for a space dog cartel to form alliances, but the Sino Union was a massive organization made up of six cartels working together.
Sinoni was one of those member cartels.
“You mentioned smugglers coming and going last time. Did they meet with the separatists too?”
“Uh, I-I’m not sure. I don’t think they did, not that time.”
Sinoni had earned notoriety for smuggling dangerous creatures.
But there weren’t any rare species in Zer-11. AG-01 was no exception. There wasn’t much here that could attract Sinoni.
‘A new funding source for the separatists? Those bomb-crazy bastards looked like they were out of credits lately. Or maybe…’
“T-there’s something else,” the man added.
Jeff, deep in thought as he examined the data device, looked up.
“One of the guys I know lives near the waste treatment plant. People call him ‘Loudmouth’ because he talks too much, but sometimes he finds useful stuff…”
“Skip the intro. Get to the point.”
“Y-yes! Two nights ago, at dawn, he saw something above the treatment plant. Said it was a massive dragon with wings flying through the sky before vanishing.”
“A winged dragon? Maybe he mistook a pirate ship?”
“N-no! You know ships can’t fly in that area!”
Jeff narrowed his eyes.
When someone said ‘winged dragon’, one image came to mind. A legendary creature whispered about among sailors—the dragon of the stars, the Gallagon.
Of course, Jeff knew it wasn’t just a legend. If it were imaginary, it wouldn’t be in the Megacorp genetic database.
Still, Gallagons were rare enough to be mythologized. They certainly didn’t inhabit the Zer-11 system.
“He saw a dragon at the waste plant?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“That area’s so foggy you can’t see clearly even in the day. How’d he spot something at dawn?”
“Uh? I-I mean…”
“I came here to buy information. Not to listen to this kind of crap.”
As Jeff moved to reclaim the case and stand up, the man blurted out desperately:
“Th-the shadow! He saw its shadow in the fog!”
“Shadow?”
“It was so big, it covered the entire treatment plant! He filmed it—I've got the footage! It’s in that case!”
The man pointed a trembling finger at the case in Jeff’s hands.
In a city overrun by criminals, faking a photo or video was nothing. But this guy didn’t seem like the type to pull a stunt like that.
A winged dragon, huh…
The sudden appearance of the Sinoni Cartel—and a Gallagon.
It wasn’t the kind of information Jeff had been hoping for. He had come here to investigate the corruption of the separatists, after all.
Still, his years of experience as a journalist told him one thing that man just said shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“I’ll have to check it out.”
“I-I’ve told you everything I know! Please, just…”
It wasn’t the lead he wanted, but it was worth looking into. Jeff opened his case and pulled out a single pill.
“I’ll give you the rest of the ‘Smile’ after I see what’s inside.”
“T-That’s—!”
“Refuse if you want.”
“N-No, I’ll take it!”
Jeff tossed the pill onto the table with a flick. The man scrambled to snatch it up and swallowed it whole.
Moments later, he slumped back in his chair, a grotesquely blissful smile spreading across his face.
“I’ll be in touch.”
Leaving the drugged man to his high, Jeff stood and walked out.
A thick curtain of rain greeted him outside. The skies poured down with such force that “the heavens have collapsed” felt apt. And yet, despite the downpour, people walked about without umbrellas.
On AG-01, it was rare to have a day without rain. Ever since T&C began neglecting the planet, the terraforming machinery had gone haywire, making precipitation completely unpredictable.
That wasn’t all. Waste treatment and sewage facilities had fallen into severe disrepair.
Even now, the streets were saturated with a noxious blend of humidity and stench,
courtesy of the rain mixing with heaps of garbage.
“...Tch.”
Even after two years, Jeff still couldn’t get used to the smell. Clicking his tongue, he pulled out a harshly potent e-cig and took a drag.
‘Not much longer now.’
The reason why a renowned journalist from Daily Mars had tolerated this godforsaken planet for two whole years was the reward. And it was worth every bit of the filth.
This time, it was the prestigious Zhao Family of Prime Capital who commissioned the story. They had promised him: If everything went well, he would be promoted to Chief Correspondent at the Daily Mars Titan Branch.
That dream was almost within reach now.
‘Gotta hang in there till the end.’
After finishing his cigarette, Jeff pulled up the hood of his jacket. Like everyone else, he melted into the rain-drenched streets.
***
“Hey, loudmouth. Heading out again today?”
At the voice behind him, the man called loudmouth didn’t even look back.
“Gotta work if I wanna eat.”
“You’re one tireless bastard, I’ll give you that.”
“Hey, let me come too.”
“Then bring a mask, flashlight, and a bag.”
Two vagrants, deep inside a subterranean wastewater plant, headed toward the passageway that led to the surface.
Once a high-tech facility managed by Noble Capital, it had long since become a den for the homeless. The automated systems still functioned thanks to a surviving computer, but barely so. No one knew when it might shut down. No one cared.
The corridor they walked was no different. Instead of surveillance cameras and security androids, it was strewn with trash and sewage—a ruin in all but name.
“What about that thing you saw the other day? Was it real?”
“Of course. You saw the photo too.”
“Too damn dark to make anything out.”
“Dark, my ass. You could clearly see it.
You know that junkie, right?
He said someone out there wants that photo I took.”
“Someone wants that crap? People really are freaks.”
Still chatting, the two climbed up the corridor to the surface.
Above the abandoned facility, a pool of untreated wastewater had gathered. The non stop rain had swollen it so much, it looked like a reservoir from afar. But the overpowering stench and the layers of gas and toxic fog above it made it obvious this wasn’t a place where clean water lived.
The moment they reached the surface, the two put on masks over their faces
and began prepping for work.
“Lucky us—the rain’s stopped.”
“Good. Let’s get started—”
But just as the second man began to speak, he slipped.
“Ah, fuck!”
“Watch your step, rain or not. Fall into that sludge and you’re fucked.”
“Great. Fantastic start to the day.”
He cursed and checked his shoe with the beam of his flashlight. A strange substance clung to it—pitch black like tar, its texture is somewhere between solid and liquid.
“What the hell is this?”
“I’m going ahead.”
While the man was still inspecting the goo, the loudmouth went off on his own.
His job was to scavenge bodies dumped near the wastewater pool. On AG-01, hundreds died every day—from terrorist attacks, criminal violence, and countless other reasons. Even in this city alone, death was constant.
The bodies dumped here were usually criminals with no next of kin. And sometimes they still carried cheap drugs, or laser pistols. If lucky, he might even strip valuable cybernetic parts from a cyborg corpse.
Wading through the toxic fog, the loudmouth pushed forward with just a mask and flashlight to rely on.
“Ooh, got a body.”
Before long, he spotted a corpse lying on a heap of waste soaked in sewage. He nudged it with his foot, and corpse-maggots scattered like fleas.
“Let’s see... no pistol… Aha! Left some drugs behind. Nice.”
He gave a quiet whoop of joy. Even if it was just cheap junk, this was a good start. He pocketed the drug case and kept scanning the area.
“Fourth one today. I’m on a roll.”
Today was better than most. As the fog grew thicker, his worn-out backpack swelled with loot.
Just as he was savoring the haul, he heard a splash behind him.
Thinking it was the other guy, he turned around—but no one was there.
“Must’ve imagined it…”
Shrugging it off, he tried to refocus on his work.
Then he heard it again.
“...What the hell?”
This time, he was sure.
He quickly shone his flashlight at the surface of the water. But all he saw was an eerie, impenetrable blackness. There was no way to see what lay beneath the filthy sludge.
‘Probably just a corpse maggot.’
He’d been here more than a hundred times. Never once had he seen a creature bigger than a corpse maggot.
But something felt different this time. The splash sounded wrong—as if it had been made by something much bigger. Something massive.
Suddenly, he remembered what he’d seen here two days ago.
A shadow so huge it blanketed the entire polluted lake—and then vanished.
‘Could that dragon be here?’
If the creature behind that shadow was anywhere near him right now, he needed to run—fast.
The loudmouth turned back and retraced his steps in a hurry. Each step came with a revolting squelch, each ripple of water a whisper of something worse.
Nothing had changed—but everything felt different.
Every element around him now pressed down like a weight. The entire place was suffocating.
"Hey!"
At that moment, the loudmouth froze in place. A voice had suddenly called out.
"Where are you?"
It was unmistakably the voice of the vagrant brought in by that thing. The exact location was unclear, but judging by the volume, the speaker was nearby.
He didn’t particularly feel any camaraderie with the vagrant, but in situations like this, having someone familiar nearby was far better. If a monster appeared, at least with two of them, the odds of survival might go up—even if only slightly.
Rather than calling out to the man, the loudmouth began walking toward the direction of the voice. He didn’t want to make noise and risk drawing a monster’s attention.
As he moved cautiously, the sound of water brushed past his ears again. He swung the flashlight around—and nearly screamed.
‘What the... actual hell?!’
A pitch-black figure stood tall over the contaminated water.
"……"
Every hair on his body bristled. His upper and lower teeth began to clatter against each other. His body had momentarily slipped out of his control from the sudden wave of fear.
But after a brief pause, he realized the figure wasn’t a monster.
Judging by the ragged clothes darkened by polluted water and the body swaying slightly with each breath, the figure was another vagrant—just like him. The man was standing with his upper body visible above the surface, back turned toward the loudmouth.
"You crazy bastard! I almost died of shock!"
He swore loudly and stomped toward the vagrant. The figure began to turn at the sound of his voice.
Then, from behind, a familiar voice rang out.
"Where the hell did that bastard Loudmouth go?"
It was the voice of his companion—the one who’d been calling for him earlier.
"Huh?"
That could only mean one thing: the person in front of him wasn’t who he thought it was.
The figure turned all the way around.
The loudmouth’s mouth dropped open.
Just before he could scream, it lunged at him.
***
"Goddamn bastard..."
The man had called out multiple times, but no response came.
Even if the toxic mist covering the area blocked out the light, it didn’t stop the sound. There was no way Loudmouth hadn’t heard him.
That left only one explanation: Loudmouth had abandoned him and returned to the wastewater facility on his own.
"Piece of shit left me behind like it's nothing."
The man didn’t have much experience climbing up onto the wastewater facility at night. If he got lost while wandering around alone, he’d have to wait until morning without help.
To make things worse, raindrops were beginning to fall from the sky again, one by one.
"Shit, shouldn't have come."
Deciding there was no reason to stay any longer, the man turned toward the underground passage.
Which is why he never noticed the disturbance in the water behind him—how the ripples briefly surged… and then fell still.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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