——————
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
——————
Chapter 406
About 80% of the humans living on AG-01 are homeless.
Most of them hide out in abandoned facilities or scrape by on the streets.
In that sense, Jeff could be considered fairly lucky.
Thanks to the stipend from Dailymass and the credits he's made through drug deals here, he actually owns a place. His home is in an old apartment complex on the outskirts of the former commercial district of AG-01.
The room was bleak and undecorated. A small holographic projector was displaying a mix of photos and video records.
Jeff examined the holographic data closely.
“An alliance between the Sinoni and the separatists?”
The video showed clean-cut men shaking hands with scruffy figures armed to the teeth. The well-dressed ones belonged to the Sinoni Cartel, part of the Shinogroup.
Up until now, the separatists' biggest backer had been the Star Union—those tin-can cyborgs who loathed the megacorps and secretly supplied weapons to the rebels. Without that support, the T&C fleets still stationed in the system would have wiped the separatists out long ago.
‘I figured they’d look for a new sponsor, but the Shinogroup?’
Recently, the megacorps and Star Union had been working through peace talks. Naturally, the flow of weapons from the cyborgs had slowed to a trickle.
That left the separatists struggling. But now, it looked like they’d found a new partner.
‘If it were any other pirate outfit, I’d brush it off…’
But this was different. This was the Sinoni Cartel—part of the Shinogroup.
As far as Jeff knew, the Shinogroup had only been around for less than a year. And yet, in that short time, they’d become one of the top two Space Dock cartels.
Despite their meteoric rise, almost nothing was known about them—who founded them, where their base was. Even members of the cartel often only knew about their own unit, nothing more.
Still, anyone who kept tabs on pirate activity suspected the Shinogroup was getting help from somewhere.
And now Jeff had uncovered a possible connection between the Shinogroup and the separatist forces on Zer-11? That kind of scoop would etch his name into the records of every megacorp media outlet forever.
Just imagining it made him giddy—but he couldn’t get ahead of himself yet.
Jeff turned away from the hologram and looked out the window. The roar of rain hammering the thick glass helped ground his thoughts.
The real question is: what bait did those terrorists use?
He mulled it over, listening to the rain.
To write a solid article, causality had to be clear. He wasn’t some idiot reporter tossing around garbage; he needed facts or his work would end up in the tabloids.
‘What did the separatists promise the Sinoni Cartel? That was the question.’
All they really have to offer… is people.
On AG-01, the easiest resource to find was humans. They're everywhere.
But if you wanted to kidnap people, there were better places to do it—native Wolf villages in cult-controlled territory, Megacorp colonies, you name it. No need to come here specifically.
‘So maybe it’s not people…’
Jeff tapped at his terminal, flipping through the footage.
The next file was a photograph.
A large shadow loomed through dense mist in the image. A vagrant living in the wastewater plant had taken the shot.
“Could be related to this creature.”
Jeff had gotten the photo from one of his druggie informants yesterday. When he first received it, the image was a mess, but after running it through multiple enhancement filters, this was the best he could get.
He squinted at the photo.
“No way that’s a Gallagon.”
Jeff had never seen a Gallagon in person, but he’d heard enough sightings to know what one generally looked like. And the creature in the photo looked nothing like one.
“And this part… is that the head?”
Using his terminal linked to the hologram, Jeff zoomed in on a section of the image.
Above what looked like wings, there were three long, branching shadows. If that was the head, then this thing had three heads.
Definitely not a normal life form.
“Three heads? Unless it’s a Hulk Mutant or something… Wait.”
That moment, the puzzle pieces in Jeff’s mind snapped into place.
‘This place was originally meant to develop Hulk Mutants.’
To most people, Zer-11 was known as a human resource production hub. But Jeff knew its hidden truth.
AG-01 and the other two colonies on Zer-11 were all bio-weapon test sites. T&C had set them up to secretly develop Hulk Mutants behind the Yujin Family’s back.
But the secret project had been aborted when the separatist movement suddenly broke out.
Thanks to a bribe to a soldier from the security team, Jeff had gotten access to the research logs left behind after the project was shut down. The researchers had taken their critical data and fled, leaving behind the experimental subjects and samples.
‘The security team is still managing the site, but they’re barely hanging on.’
T&C wasn't giving them proper support, so they were even hiring pirates as mercenaries. It wouldn't be surprising if a Hulk Mutant or two had slipped out unnoticed.
The separatists definitely offered a Hulk Mutant to lure in the Sinoni Cartel.
Maybe they even planned to hit the lab together and loot it. T&C’s defense forces were guarding the site, but with the Shinogroup’s strength, that wouldn’t be hard to overcome.
Once the lab fell, the Sinoni Cartel would take the mutants, and the separatists would claim the genetic samples.
“Guess I need to meet the guy who took this photo.”
Jeff sent a message through his terminal to the junkie who’d delivered the image. He was planning to meet the vagrant who took the shot in person.
He’d promised more drugs to lure him out. The guy only got a single dose yesterday—he’d be desperate by now. A reply was sure to come soon.
After finishing the call, it looked out the window. Steam from the unrelenting rain had wrapped itself around the entire apartment building.
It wouldn’t be seeing this view much longer. Not that it felt any sadness about that.
With that thought, it glanced back down at the terminal.
“What the hell?”
The reply from that junkie—it should have come by now. But there was still nothing.
‘Did he get his fix somewhere else? Why isn’t he answering?’
It waited another thirty minutes, but no response came.
“…That goddamn roach.”
It was just about to place the final piece of the puzzle—and the junkie had decided to flake out now? Jeff was irritated.
Muttering a curse, it started putting on clothes. If the junkie wasn’t going to respond, it would have to check the wastewater treatment plant in person.
Grabbing the terminal and a laser pistol, it stepped out of the apartment.
The moment it emerged, a torrential downpour slammed into it. Jeff pulled his hood up and stepped into the flooded streets.
The sound of raindrops hammering his hood and the splashes underfoot filled his ears. Familiar sounds from countless walks—but today, something about them felt off.
Before long, he realized what it was.
‘Where is everyone?’
The street, usually packed to the brim, was completely deserted. It wasn’t just quiet—it was empty. No people. None at all.
Even inside the stores, there were no signs of life. The lights were on, but he sensed no one.
“…….”
He’d lived here for two years and never seen it like this. Cautiously, Jeff drew the pistol from his hip and stepped into a nearby shop.
A long-forgotten song played through dusty speakers. The place looked used—just recently so—but there were no customers, no staff.
“W-What the hell is this?”
On the floor was a suspicious black liquid. Jeff recoiled.
At first, he thought it was backed-up sewage—but it wasn’t. It had the texture of tar, more like something from a chemical plant than water. And the stench—it was suffocating. Every breath felt like glass shards grinding through his nose and throat.
Recognizing the danger of the liquid coating the store, he bolted back outside.
‘What the hell is going on?’
If all the shops were in this condition, something serious was happening. This wasn’t something a local gang or security team could fix. It was cartel-level. Maybe even T&C.
Just as he stepped outside, that thought froze in his mind.
The street that had been empty just moments ago—was now filled with hundreds of black silhouettes, cloaked in steam and rain.
They stood still, unmoving in the deluge, as if they had risen from the ground itself.
Jeff felt suffocated by the eerie atmosphere. He couldn’t even lift a finger.
The figures began to approach, gliding across the water without making a sound. And even though the steam blurred his vision, Jeff knew—they were looking at him.
Their gaze was overwhelming. Dreadful. Paralyzing.
“D-Dammit!”
Finally breaking free from the paralysis, Jeff fired his laser pistol toward one of the silhouettes. The red bolt flashed and struck one of them square in the head.
There was a burst, like a water-filled sack exploding—its head popped.
A normal human would’ve dropped. But this thing didn’t even flinch.
From the torn neck, something like writhing earthworms surged out, twisting together into a head-like form again.
The beings lurking in the mist weren’t human.
‘I need to run!’
With that grim realization, Jeff forced strength into his trembling legs and started to flee.
He sprinted for his apartment with everything he had. No footsteps followed—but he didn’t stop.
Because he felt it—sticky, chilling gazes clinging to the back of his neck.
They hadn’t given up.
He finally reached the apartment and dashed up the stairs. As he panted, an all-too-familiar stench hit his nose—the same reek from that store.
Half-crawling up the last flight, he burst into his unit and slammed the door shut.
The moment the lock clicked into place, a powerful impact shook the door. It felt like two or three grown men had thrown themselves against it.
The door rattled again. And again. Then, silence.
Even though the knocking had stopped, Jeff didn’t feel safe. He couldn’t see them, couldn’t hear them—but he could feel them.
There was something standing just beyond the door.
‘I… I need help. Now!’
Trying to calm himself, Jeff pulled out the terminal. Time to call in the favor he'd secured.
‘I can’t die here!’
He’d rotted in this place for two years, chasing credits and a reputation. If he died now, it would all be for nothing.
But once again—his plans fell apart.
He tried activating the terminal’s communications, but nothing happened.
“What the hell now…”
Just as he was about to curse at the machine, Jeff felt something else.
Not another strike against the door—this was a faint vibration, coming from the floor beneath his feet.
“…….”
Another vibration followed. This one was deeper, more resonant.
Jeff slowly turned his head.
Raindrops clung to the glass of his window. Another tremor. The drops began to slide down all at once.
Through the trails of water, he could see the same scene as before.
Except for one thing.
A shadow loomed behind the white veil of rain and steam. With every tremor that shook the apartment, a massive black shape squirmed in the distance.
And in that moment, Jeff understood why the vagrant had called it a dragon.
He hadn’t meant a literal creature. He hadn’t been describing anything specific.
He’d meant something beyond comprehension.
The being outside wasn’t a Gallagon. It wasn’t a Hulk mutant.
As Jeff saw the ‘dragon’s’ hand reaching for him, he covered his eyes with both hands.
——————
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
——————
