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

Chapter 240

Chapter 240

Kait, who had dumped the explanation on Asheid, let out a sigh at the overwhelming number of responses.

The numerous responses were coming from the remnants of the planet Tuna had latched onto for feeding. The closest one was Planet Namibif 10. Namibif 7 through Namibif 9 had not been consumed by Tuna due to their orbital periods, so the planets themselves remained intact.

However, unfortunately, Lufate Gainun's signals were also being detected from those planets. What was the cause? Had the Namibif planetary system been contaminated by Lufate Gainun from the start, or was it due to Tuna's recent arrival?

Several extremely strong signals were coming from the remnants of Namibif 10. The difference in signals was so stark that it seemed likely they would transform into comet-mimicking mobile mother bodies.

"That's quite a lot."

'The Captain's hypothesis might be correct.'

"Yeah. From our side, though, I'd prefer if not a single one of them were right."

Kait was only making deductions based on the information he had learned with Emotion, but his accuracy rate was strangely high. Perhaps the intuition he gained when he acquired psychic power was further boosting his accuracy.

If he kept being weirdly right, the Federation might start looking at him funny, which was a scary thought.

Kait moved the Queen Bee closer to Namibif 10 and began using the Psionic Launcher to defeat the small asteroids with signals, focusing on the weaker ones.

"Alright then."

The extremely strong signals were not from what Tuna had left uneaten, but from what Tuna had vomited out. In other words, they were like excrement.

There were also considerable signals from the remnants of Namibif 10. Since merely rubbing against the surface wouldn't transfer leftovers, it was more natural to assume the planet had been contaminated from the beginning.

"Emotion. I want to compare the ones left uneaten by Tuna and the ones she vomited out."

'If their compositions differ, it would be evidence that the Namibif planetary system was originally contaminated by Lufate Gainun. Understood.'

"Then, let's secure the ones with the biggest signals first."

First, he sent the Worker Bees toward the ones Tuna had vomited out. The moment the first Worker Bee touched the rock, something strange happened.

The rock trembled slightly, and something began crawling out from within.

It wasn't a comet-mimicking mobile mother body. It was similar, but different. Most notably, it lacked the part that was supposed to glow.

In other words, it wasn't a comet-mimicking mobile mother body. Or perhaps it was a pre-transformation individual. Kait thought he had guessed wrong, but Emotion raised her voice with slight excitement.

'I knew it...! Captain, bullseye!'

"Emotion? I mean, I agree it looks similar, but—"

'That's right. They were born from Tuna, the Third-Rank Citizen Enec Lagif. If they glowed here, Tuna might come back, right?'

"Hmm?"

'They're supposed to move from here to various places. And during that time, they'll lay as many larvae as needed in the small asteroids, and once they've lightened their load—'

"...I see."

In other words, the comet-mimicking mobile mother bodies glow after finishing their job. To divert attention from the main batch they've already laid. And to draw the space eel's gaze toward the main batch.

Each mobile mother body likely moves to different star systems, lays its main batch, then hibernates inside an asteroid to erase its traces. Such caution.

While talking with Emotion, Kait isolated the crawling creature using a Worker Bee. He backed off a bit to see if there were any reactions from the remaining parts. There were none.

"Doesn't look like anything else is coming out. So, I guess they only crawl out when something makes contact."

'That seems to be the case. Which means, those without responses might have already crawled out.'

"Very possible. This is going to be a huge task."

Just thinking about the workload ahead made him want to quit. Kait had already acquired a wealth of knowledge on how to escape such situations.

"Emotion. Let's manualize everything as much as possible."

'Yes, Captain. I'll make sure nothing is left out.'

Emotion must have sensed it too, and responded with a very serious demeanor.

For now, Kait fired the Psionic Launcher without hesitation at the debris with the large signal. The mobile mother body was blown away before it could crawl out. One sample was enough. Now for the debris of Namibif 10.

Though called debris, it was originally a planet. It was a bit too large for the Queen Bee to handle. As he flew around looking for a suitable fragment with signals, a transmission came from Radia.

When he answered, it was Stomato, looking rather desperate.

'T-Third-Rank Citizen Kait! My apologies for earlier—'

"No worries. Were you able to talk with Representative Asheid?"

'Yes. He said he'd send reinforcements our way. And, um—'

"What is it?"

'After installing the detection mechanism invented by the Corporation, we're getting signals from every planet in Namibif. What does this mean—'

Of course that would be their concern. Just as he was about to explain, Kait suddenly realized something terrifying.

He hesitated for a moment, but once the thought occurred to him, he couldn't ignore it.

"It's possible the individuals were born from within Tuna. But there's also a chance that Lufate Gainun scattered larvae across the planets and asteroids here long ago."

'I-I see...'

"Representative Stomato. I also have something I must ask... and it's something terribly cruel."

'What is it?'

"There's a possibility that Namibif 6's ecosystem has been contaminated by Lufate Gainun. And—"

It was a terrifying question. In the worst case, even some Federation citizens might be affected.

"There's a possibility that the origin of Namibif 6's ecosystem was founded on the existence of Lufate Gainun."

Perhaps this question only arose because Kait himself was an Earthling born from the replacement of primordial life.

***

The reinforcements arrived shortly after. The largest among them was Uvols. Temporarily, two artificial celestial bodies were positioned near Namibif.

He shared all the information they had gathered so far with Representative Yamloson of Uvols. He also sent the mobile mother body sample to Uvols.

'Thank you, Third-Rank Citizen Kait. With all this information and the sample, our research can finally break free from stagnation.'

"No, the impact is wider than I expected."

Kait didn't share his concerns about Namibif 6's ecosystem with anyone outside Radia's staff. Stomato had been shaken too, and he trusted Radia would investigate with resolve.

He could only pray that Lufate Gainun had not influenced anything. That it had fallen into slumber deep underground before the ecosystem of Namibif 6 emerged, and life had simply appeared on the surface afterward. Surely, this was the wish of not just Kait and Emotion, but every intelligent being in Radia.

'Indeed. First, we'll begin the separation of Lufate Gainun from the debris of Namibif 10 and the planets beyond. Leave that to us.'

"Understood. I hope we find individuals unrelated to Tuna."

Otherwise, it would mean that just by passing near a star, the space eel was scattering vast numbers of Lufate Gainun—with significant dispersal power.

'Yes, I agree. We promise to thoroughly analyze the biological information of the Lufate Gainun left in the debris and the mobile mother body sample.'

"That helps a lot."

'What will you do next? If possible, I'd like you to continue the investigation.'

Of course, it came—the heavy expectation.

The baseless belief that if it was Kait, he could stir the situation.

But Kait had never intended to stop here. He already had a vague idea of what to search for next.

"For now, I'll try to trace their origin."

'Origin?'

"Yes. The ones from Tuna have a clear origin. They were vomited out by her."

'That's true.'

"So then, we're left with the question—where did the ones originally in Namibif come from? Well, we can't rule out the possibility that they were vomited out by another space eel."

'...I see. That's fascinating. I'm counting on you.'

Space eels had been observed within Federation territory four times. Around Namibif, only Tuna had been seen. The rest were observed in very distant regions of space.

Considering travel from those places, Emotion concluded that long-distance teleportation must have occurred somewhere.

Perhaps there were Lufate Gainun capable of long-distance teleportation that simply hadn't been discovered yet.

"They might be consuming this galaxy more than we thought."

'Indeed. A terrifying thought.'

After cutting the transmission, Kait muttered to himself. Emotion's response was dull.

For now, time to head to the next site. Kait directed the Queen Bee to their next destination.

The next destination was the region where the Federation had first encountered a space eel.