Two-Person Galactic Journey: Earth Was Destroyed While Imprisoned in Space Prison

Chapter 167

Chapter 167

Kait teleported near the location of Kissinger, using the reactions of the Worker Bees he had fired earlier.

He left a bit of distance because teleporting directly into a building or facility might cause destruction.

Looking around at the surroundings, he murmured without thinking at the visible stars.

"...They look similar."

'Yes. The characteristics of the planets and the stellar luminosity are nearly identical to those of the solar system we lived in.'

"Did they remake an entire solar system?"

'Just to be sure, I checked. In other Earths within the Federation, the planets differ from ours even when the names are the same. But here...'

On other Earths, Mars and Jupiter had the same names but differed in size and planetary characteristics. However, according to Emotion's findings, this solar system was almost identical to the one Kait had lived in. The only difference was the absence of Earth.

"Their base is... on the Moon, after all."

They had called themselves the Lunar Development Agency. Since they were on the Moon, they likely avoided being caught in Earth's destruction. And the Moon Kait looked down upon did indeed resemble the one he remembered.

'I'm surprised. The crater positions are different, but in terms of material and size, this Moon is the same as ours. How is this possible?'

"Did Divin acquire the technology to remake entire star systems?"

'I don't know. But the similarity is close enough that it's hard to believe otherwise.'

Emotion looked troubled. Honestly, the resemblance was eerie. Kait hadn't verified it before, but could the Federation even copy an entire star system? No, if they could, that topic would have come up during the Ragav star system incident. So perhaps this was a unique technology of Divin. He didn't know.

Kait spotted one area on the Moon with an unusually high concentration of artificial structures. Most likely, they were there.

"Found it. That crater."

'It appears so. Shall we approach?'

"That's fine too, but they might counterattack. I'll just teleport directly."

'It's not... dangerous. They haven't undergone body modification, after all.'

Permission came from Emotion. Kait himself wasn't very aware of it, but apparently, when not aboard Queen Bee, his psychic power output dropped.

From her tone, it seemed she didn't intend to accompany him.

'Captain. While you're speaking with those Earthlings, I'd like to investigate this solar system a bit.'

"Sure. Can I count on you?"

'Understood. Then please be careful not to overdo it.'

"What do you mean by that?"

The moment she realized there was no danger, Emotion's comments turned toward concern about Kait overdoing things. He wished she'd trust him a little—he knew how to hold back.

***

"K-Kait Crouch!? How did you get here?"

"You called it Kissinger, right? That steel plate I fired into it—you didn't dispose of it, did you? I call them Worker Bees, and I can more or less track where they are."

He borrowed an empty chair and sat down. The gazes directed at him were filled with confusion, bewilderment, and curiosity. At least there was no hostility, which was a relief.

That said, at least two people were clearly hiding their thoughts. An older man—probably the eldest here—and one of the female staff. Kait couldn't read minds in detail like Terapolapaneshio, but he could sense emotional flows. The fact that even that was being blocked suggested either caution toward him or some other method.

That aside. The pilot of Kissinger—Dan, was it? The emotions coming from him weren't particularly negative, which was honestly surprising.

"So, about the negotiations?"

"A ceasefire negotiation with you all, and a request for cooperation. We've obtained crucial information that brings us closer to Divin's headquarters. The Federation and I could go after Divin on our own, but since I've heard a bit about your situation, I thought I'd invite you to join us."

"Information on the headquarters? How did you get something like that?"

"The ship you tried to sink the other day—I fired some Worker Bees into that too. I got the materials from Divin's ship, so they haven't been detected yet."

Suspicious looks. They didn't voice their doubts directly, but their expressions made it clear they didn't believe him. It was the same method he used to locate them, but it wasn't easy to trust.

The man whose mind he couldn't read tilted his head slightly and asked.

"Sounds like a deal that benefits us far more than you."

"Well, I have my reasons too. I'd like to exchange information about your current situation. Especially about your ship. That's... what you call a Royal ship, right?"

"So it seems."

"Then it must be storing quite a bit of information—about them."

"Unfortunately, it's heavily protected. We can get it to obey some commands, but it stubbornly refuses to reveal anything about Divin."

The other woman whose mind he couldn't read said this while staring at him. It felt a bit uncomfortable, like he was being scrutinized. Her eyes seemed to ask, 'Can you do it?'

It was true—Kait lacked the expertise. But he had a strong ally.

"Well, we have a staff member who's good at that sort of thing."

***

Apparently, this base was called Moonbase.

When Kait sent the signal, Queen Bee soon arrived overhead. Emotion, having finished her investigation while Dan and the others spoke, landed smoothly and disembarked.

Some of the onlookers let out gasps of admiration at her appearance.

"Whoa, she's gorgeous..."

"Captain, sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's fine. I wasn't waiting. Emotion, let me introduce you. These are members of the Lunar Development Agency's second team. According to Divin, they're residents of something called 9th-Terra."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Emotion, Fifth-Class Citizen—Alto Romia. I'm working with Captain Kait. A pleasure."

"Nice to meet you, Emotion. So, I heard you could extract information from Divin's ship?"

The woman who introduced herself as Wu Wei Hua got straight to the point with Emotion, skipping formalities.

Apparently, she was the technical chief of Moonbase. If she had extracted data from the AI on Divin's ship, she had to be quite the prodigy. Maybe her slightly combative tone was understandable.

"Yes. Since Divin was exiled from the Federation, their technology has lagged behind. With the Federation's current tech, analysis and data extraction should be easy."

"O-oh? Then let's see what you've got."

Everyone's eyes turned toward Vengeance, parked on the opposite side of the dock.

Just as someone was about to say "Open it up," Emotion projected virtual monitors around them. Lately, not just Terapolapaneshio but Emotion too seemed to be getting into Earth-style showmanship.

"Beginning analysis. Ship name: Vengeance. Its previous name, before authority was transferred to you all, was Algalatotep. It belonged to Divin's second prince, Laplanzarue Edikiniel. And the current authority holder is Wu Wei Hua, correct? To have analyzed their technology this thoroughly in such a short time—you truly have an impressive intellect."

"!?"

The mechanics stirred. Some even muttered, "So that's what the ship was called," indicating this was new information for them.

"Hmm. As expected, it's outdated. Once we're done extracting the data, how about a few upgrades?"

"O-outdated?"

"Yes. In exchange for the data, I'll provide some technology. Before entering full-scale war with Divin, you should upgrade both Vengeance and Kissinger."

"R-right. That would be helpful."

Dr. Wu's face stiffened.

Kait didn't mind at all, but Emotion's blunt remarks seemed to rub some people the wrong way. He thought she'd improved a bit, but apparently not enough.

If this continued, Dr. Wu might explode. Before that happened, Kait decided to change the subject.

"By the way, was Earth's debris pulled into another planet's gravity? I didn't see it when we arrived in this system earlier."

"...There was no debris left. I saw it vanish completely, obliterated by a blast that exceeded Vengeance's output limit."

It was Dan who answered. As the pilot of Kissinger, he had originally operated construction machines. He claimed to have witnessed the moment Divin's former ship, the predecessor to Vengeance, fired on Earth.

But Kait tilted his head at the explanation. He couldn't help it.

"Vanished? Without a trace?"

"Yeah."

"...What do you think, Emotion?"

"That's strange."

Emotion paused and agreed with Kait's doubt.

Of course. After all—

"A weapon capable of completely erasing a planet's mass? And not even a ship like Di-Kigaia Zarmos?"

"Even a Federation battleship or a Corporation flagship couldn't completely erase a planet. For a ship inferior to those, such output should be impossible."

"But we saw it happen!"

Dan shouted. No, considering the Moon and the solar system were here, and Earth had vanished without a trace, he probably wasn't lying.

Something felt off. Emotion was shaking her head too, so Kait made a mental note to investigate the matter further once this conversation ended.

Specifically, with the Space jellyfish.