novelraw Chapter 164
Chapter 164
Chapter 164
That was some quick surrender. A bit taken aback by how swiftly Dan and the others chose to retreat, Kait turned his gaze behind him.
Divin's ship, which had been behind him, also seemed to have escaped as soon as teleportation became possible. Now, only Kait and Queen Bee remained in this area. The residual shockwaves from the scattered blast lightly disturbed the space, but those would soon dissipate.
Overall, things had unfolded exactly as Kait had hoped. The only unexpected part was that he had to step outside Queen Bee to block the blast.
It had been an extremely high-energy blast. Even if it had hit directly, it wouldn't have broken Queen Bee's barrier, but the shockwaves alone could have sunk Divin's ship, which was sheltered behind it. As a result, Kait stepped outside Queen Bee to intercept the blast directly, allowing Divin's ship to escape safely.
"Well then, Emotion. Can you track them?"
'Of course, Captain. Which one should we pursue first?'
Worker Bees have been launched into both ships. No matter how far they flee, we can trace their signals.
In particular, the Worker Bees we launched were all sourced from Divin's destroyed ship. Since both ships originated from Divin, it's unlikely we'll be able to tell them apart.
Without even thinking, Kait responded to Emotion's question.
"Of course, we go after Divin."
'Is that really okay? Personally, I'd love to punish those so-called Earthlings who attacked you, Captain.'
"We mustn't forget our original goal. Our mission was to find Divin's stronghold, remember? Besides, as long as they don't give up on revenge against Divin, we'll inevitably cross paths again."
In fact, it would be more troublesome if they reached Divin's stronghold before Kait and the others did.
This was just Kait's personal impression, but the Kissinger's performance wasn't overwhelmingly superior. Even if they charged into the stronghold driven by revenge, they'd likely be crushed by sheer numbers.
Their trump card was probably that blast. It had immense destructive power. But even that alone wasn't enough to take on the entire enemy force.
It didn't look like something that could be fired repeatedly either. Their only viable strategy would be to attack small fleets and reduce their numbers. They surely didn't want to let Divin escape—not just out of revenge, but to avoid revealing their own identities.
'I see. So we're leaving them be?'
"Once we've finished our preparations, we might have to go looking for them."
Hopefully, until then, they'll refrain from doing anything reckless.
***
They had truly encountered something incomprehensible.
The Moonbase, expanded for modifying Vengeance and Kissinger, had become Dan and the others' base of operations. Though they initially had no intention of returning, the convenience of the facility won out, and they came back.
After incorporating Divin's technology, the environment had become advanced enough that survival was no longer an issue. The former despair was gone, and with the power of Vengeance and Kissinger, they would one day defeat Divin. The members of the Lunar Development Agency had come to believe that wholeheartedly.
But—
"Hey, Captain. What the hell were we fighting?"
"I don't know. I really don't."
The group returned to the briefing room, exhausted and nearly collapsing, but for now, they took their seats. They began to discuss the earlier mission, slowly reviewing what had gone wrong.
It was something so terrifying that even nightmares seemed preferable. They had thought it was just a small ship, only to encounter a final weapon. That kind of fear.
"Dr. Wu, do you have any idea?"
"I don't. What I do know is... he was holding back against us."
"Holding back!? That was holding back!?"
"Yes. After all, no one died."
Dan lost his momentum at the obvious, yet undeniable, statement.
But that only deepened the despair. They already felt they couldn't win, and now they had to wonder how much more they'd need to modify Kissinger to stand a chance. The same went for Vengeance. That blast, which could destroy an entire planet, hadn't worked. Even if it hadn't been at full power like when it destroyed Earth.
"What the hell are we supposed to do against a monster like that?"
"Huh? Why are you assuming we have to fight that ship?"
Dan looked up at Dr. Wu's words. He understood she was the greatest genius here, but he couldn't make sense of what she had just said.
Apparently, Dr. Wu hadn't realized her question wasn't shared by the others, and looked surprised by their stares.
"Oh? So you all think the same?"
"Then why do you say we don't need to fight it, Doctor?"
"Because Vengeance sees it as an enemy."
Several people gasped at those words. But Dan still didn't understand.
"Have you forgotten? Vengeance's database is from Divin. So if Vengeance sees it as an enemy to flee from, that means he's an enemy of Divin."
"B-But he protected Divin, didn't he?"
"Yes. We'll have to get Vengeance to spill everything it knows later. It's still not being entirely honest."
"Yeah, that'll be necessary. Either way, we're still just speculating..."
"That's true. Still, I'd love to have a proper conversation with him. We might learn things we don't know."
Dr. Wu's words carried weight. In any case, both Vengeance and Kissinger needed repairs. They wouldn't be able to move for a while. Giolgu seemed to agree, so Dan decided to back down for now.
But he couldn't leave things as they were. Avenging his comrades on Earth and protecting Vengeance's allies—both were his responsibilities.
***
"So, we've located Divin's gathering point. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be their main base, but it should still be useful information."
'More than just useful. This is extremely important intel. Thank you, Kait, Third-Rank Citizen Enec Lagif.'
Kait had found what appeared to be a Divin factory. After observing it from within the range of his cloaking, he concluded it wasn't the main base because the Royal ship wasn't present.
For now, he secured the coordinates and video data, then teleported to an unrelated sector. He had just reported to the Central Star Cluster.
'So, did you make contact with the faction that was attacking them?'
"Yes. They claimed to be Earthlings."
'What!?'
"They said their planet had been destroyed. One of them gave a name that wasn't listed in the Federation's registry."
Upon hearing Kait's report, Terapolapaneshio on the other end of the transmission made a gesture as if folding their arms with tentacles. Always so theatrical.
In fact, the language they used was also Earth's. Though there were slight differences in pronunciation, it was no more than a dialectal variation—something that still felt bizarre in hindsight.
Judging by the Space jellyfish's expression, they seemed to have some idea. And it was clear they were hesitating. Were they unsure whether to say it?
"Could it be... you have some idea?"
'You could say that... but this isn't something to discuss over comms. I'm sorry, but could you return to the Central Star Cluster?'
"Not something to discuss over comms? Understood."
It might be a bit overly cautious, but Terapolapaneshio never made poor judgments in situations like this. Kait focused his mind on teleporting back to the Central Star Cluster.