novelraw Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Chapter 192
A tingling, strange sensation ran down the back of his neck.
He was probably sensing danger. Viper wasn't as skilled in psychic power as Kait, but he understood that this wasn't a good sign.
And Viper's finely honed intuition told him that beyond this danger lay a major discovery. Something that, if not for him, would be a great achievement for Doctor Saito and the others.
As he approached the door, that hunch turned into certainty. Beyond the door awaited a great discovery—and great danger.
"There's definitely danger. I'll go in first and secure the area. Once I give the signal, can you follow me in?"
"......Don't underestimate me, Viper."
Doctor Saito responded to Viper's words, sounding somewhat irritated.
"I've done my fair share of fieldwork. Dangerous creatures and environments aren't new to me. You focus on eliminating the threat instead of worrying about us."
"Got it, boss."
When he looked at the staff, none of them seemed to disagree with Doctor Saito. As expected from elite members of the investigation team—they had nerves of steel.
Viper readied the Psionic Launcher for immediate use, then slowly opened the door with his left hand.
It was dark. And vast. The shoulder-mounted light couldn't illuminate the far end.
Then, something passed through the illuminated area.
Something was there. In this place that was supposed to be dead, something was moving around.
"It's there... Is it not very aggressive?"
"Seems that way. Maybe it's the pirates' security system."
"We can provide light, Doctor."
"Please do."
One of the staff pulled out a sphere about the size of a baseball. After switching it on, they tossed it into the air.
The sphere vanished into the darkness, and shortly after, a soft light began to shine from above.
The sphere hovered in midair, glowing as it spun. The light covered the entire room, and Viper realized what kind of facility this was.
"This is..."
"I recognize it. It's a resurrection device. Pretty old model, though."
Eight resurrection devices were installed on the wall. Seven of them were damaged. The way they were broken suggested something had burst out from inside.
There weren't seven things crawling around on the ground. Just one. Should he call it a creature or an entity? Either way, it was alone.
'Gii'
"Well, now. Looks like something out of classic sci-fi."
It stood about two heads taller than Viper. His first impression was of a smooth-skinned centaur. If you ignored the arthropod-like legs, the low center of gravity, and the fact that it had eight legs on each side, you might just be able to argue it was a centaur after a closer look.
"The Captain would probably love this."
"Would he?"
"That guy's really into classic sci-fi."
After all, he even knew about Galactic Viper. Viper had half-seriously believed that only he and Liz knew about sci-fi comics from the Common Era.
Either way, this creature looked like it came straight out of edgy classic sci-fi. He didn't know why it hadn't attacked them right away, but it certainly didn't seem friendly.
"Alright. I'll handle that thing. You guys focus on gathering as much data as possible."
"Got it. Be careful."
"Of course."
He stepped toward the creature. It seemed to be wary of him, slowly backing away. On the other hand, it didn't seem to consider Doctor Saito and the others a threat—its body was oriented more toward the machines they were working on than toward Viper.
"I'm not letting you go... Whoa!"
As the creature tried to pounce, Viper fired a weakened shot from the Psionic Launcher at its side. The light wave, calibrated to avoid damaging the machinery, lightly scorched its face. Screeching, it slid across the floor.
Perhaps as a warning, the staff also fired their handheld weapons, but they couldn't even scratch its surface.
"I see. So it doesn't like the Psionic Launcher."
He had a hunch about why it hadn't attacked first. Somehow, it could probably sense opponents who could use psychic power—its natural enemy.
"The Captain really would've loved this."
He deeply regretted that the Captain wasn't here. He would have been ecstatic.
That said, if Kait had been here, he probably would've chosen to flee immediately.
Aiming at the creature's upper body as it flailed to get up, Viper slowly closed the distance. Despite having so many legs, it seemed to struggle with getting up, as if it had never fallen before. That was useful information. He approached to within striking distance and observed it closely.
Its form was so alien that he couldn't identify any vital points. Even with its head scorched, it was still writhing energetically. Maybe it was some kind of insect.
"Doctor. Can you extract any data?"
"Yeah, but I need a bit more time. How about you?"
"I can't find its weak spot, so it might take a while. And there's too much machinery around for a clean shot."
If he increased the output too much, he might damage the equipment. Until Doctor Saito and the others finished their work, defeating the creature would be difficult.
He could see the wound on its head slowly healing with a nasty squelching sound. It had high regenerative capabilities too.
Finally, it seemed to get a grip on the ground and slowly rose.
Viper stood protectively in front of the doctors, but the creature showed no interest in them. Without hesitation, it turned its back and tried to flee.
"Oh no you don't."
It could run if it wanted, but Liz was outside. So were the other members of the investigation team. Viper wasn't soft enough to let a creature that had shown hostility go free.
He fired the Psionic Launcher at the creature's back—stronger than before.
'Gii!'
Sizzle—the creature's back burned, but it didn't stop. It ran in the opposite direction from the one Viper and the others had entered. He didn't know if there was a door that way, but there had to be a spaceship dock at least.
Next, he aimed for its legs. Targeting all the legs on its right side, he fired. The shot followed the exact trajectory he envisioned, burning away only the legs without damaging the machinery.
"Phew. Guess all that practice paid off."
The Psionic Launcher fired just as he imagined. The more precise the image, the more accurately it performed.
With one side of its legs burned away, the creature could no longer get up. As it writhed and tried to flee, Viper pointed his gun at its back.
"Alright, data analysis complete. We're good now, Viper."
"Got it. Bad luck for you."
Without ever looking back, the creature tried to flee until the end. Viper fired a full-power shot into its body.
***
"It seems that creature was created to counter Terapolapaneshio."
"Oh?"
After destroying the last remaining resurrection device, the group returned to the Tortoise.
While checking the analyzed data, Doctor Saito shared what he had learned.
"Still, it seemed pretty weak against psychic power."
"Yeah. That was apparently the issue. But as a biological weapon, it was complete. The researchers in the pirate group were planning to fix that flaw with the last device."
I see. So the seven broken resurrection devices were failed prototypes.
But if that's the case, where did the pirates go in the middle of their research? Were they taken out during development?
That question, too, was answered by Doctor Saito. He continued calmly, without any particular emotion.
"They got eaten. Every last one of them."
"What?"
"A biological weapon immune to everything except psychic power. They probably failed to control it. The researcher's diary said, 'If anyone reads this, I hope at least one of you survives and brings Terapolapaneshio.' Selfish to the end."
Shutting off the terminal, Doctor Saito gave a wry smile.
"Anyway, I'll submit this data and report to the council. Terapolapaneshio should be able to handle it, right?"
He concluded, saying he doubted anyone else would be conducting such tasteless research on that planet.
Smiling bitterly at the unexpectedly harsh comment, Viper suddenly had a disturbing thought. He grimaced and decided to bring it up.
"Hey, about that resurrection device that wasn't broken. Was the biological weapon inside it complete?"
"Hard to say. I doubt they had enough time. Why?"
"Well, they were trying to make a creature resistant to psychic power, right? What if it could withstand a shot from the Psionic Launcher?"
"Hmm..."
That was truly an unpleasant thought.
Doctor Saito nodded, saying he couldn't rule out the possibility, and promised to add that note to the terminal.
***
In the end, the investigation of the abandoned planet Aguaries concluded with a strange outcome.
Other than Doctor Saito and Viper's team, no one made any special discoveries, and the investigation team began their return journey.
Apparently, the pirate group that had made Aguaries their base had also been pursued by the Federation. Once the council learned what had happened, they gave high praise to Viper and Doctor Saito. Doctor Saito was even set to receive a citizenship promotion. A well-deserved honor.
Viper and Liz didn't get a promotion, but with the extra funds from the bonus, they were able to upgrade the Tortoise, which made them happiest of all.