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

Chapter 247

Chapter 247

Atop the pedestal of the Queen Bee, Kait glared down at the gathering swarm of Lufate Gainun. The parasites clustered around the jaw of the space eel's corpse looked as if they were either waiting for the right moment to burst out, or preparing to intercept the Queen Bee that had somehow already escaped outside.

From the outer wall of the Queen Bee, countless steel plates peeled off. The Worker Bees scattered around the Queen Bee, ready to fulfill their role as armaments.

"Emotion. Compare their combat strength. How big is the difference between them and the ones up above?"

'In terms of output alone, we have more than double. It makes sense—they're defending what's most important to them.'

"I see. What level of Federation ship would be evenly matched?"

'According to catalog specs, we can easily defeat an average Federation ship. But anything below that would be somewhat at risk.'

So, ships on the same level as the Tortoise would be in danger if they tried to engage. We absolutely can't let them go outside.

He mentally ruled out the option of sweeping them away with the Psionic Launcher. They were easy enough to defeat, but firing it might puncture the space eel's body. And if that happened, elite units could escape and head toward the Federation fleet. In that sense, it had been wise not to create a hole when they blasted the one that had control over the teleportation function.

The space eel's corpse was too large—even the Psionic Launcher didn't have the firepower to wipe it out in one go. It couldn't be helped. First, he'd have the Worker Bees do their part.

"Well then. I don't hold a personal grudge, but I'll be exterminating you. ...This is a fight for survival, after all. I won't show mercy."

The Worker Bees spun as they pierced through the ones about to spill from the space eel's mouth. Their psychic power froze the targets in place, making it like hitting stationary targets. Before long, all the ones gathered near the mouth ceased biological activity.

Since there was still the possibility of them faking death at a high level, they had Emotion check thoroughly even if there were no reactions. For those whose forms remained relatively intact, they made sure to disassemble them down to a safe size.

The space eel's corpse was large and fairly sturdy. But unlike a living Tuna, it lacked its own body heat. Once capable of melting rock, its internal temperature now could barely boil water. Most likely, the fortress-type parasite was supplying heat to maintain that temperature.

Even for a space eel, maintaining body heat in space after death seemed unlikely.

Perhaps the fortress-type was so massive not just to sustain its allies inside, but to supply consistent heat to the parasitized space eel.

"They've got their own problems too. I guess it's not all going their way."

In the past, an environment like this would have been extremely dangerous for Kait. But now, with biological modifications and barriers, it had no effect. As the Worker Bees rampaged freely, Emotion picked up a signal from a parasite burrowed inside the space eel.

Was it trying to hide from Kait and the Queen Bee, preparing for an ambush, or attempting to exit directly from inside? While he hesitated, Emotion, having completed her scan, reported her findings.

'It appears to be a unit tasked with maintaining internal temperature in the space eel. It has no functional limbs. Perhaps it lost them after burrowing in.'

"...So there are units with that kind of role too."

'It doesn't seem to generate heat itself, but it likely has high heat retention. It may be storing heat received from somewhere.'

So it was true. Without hesitation, Kait launched a Worker Bee to finish off the unit likely hiding behind the wall.

There was no particular reaction, but a thermal image shared to Kait's view showed a rapid loss of temperature.

"In other words, if we eliminate these things, the inside of the space eel becomes an uninhabitable environment for Lufate Gainun."

'Yes. I'll inform you as soon as I detect anything.'

"I'm counting on you."

It seemed they still didn't fully understand the situation on the surface. Perhaps they approached because they could see Kait, an organic lifeform, from outside.

'By the way, about why the Queen Bee wasn't attacked earlier—'

"Hm?"

'Similar patterns are appearing across the fleet currently in battle. After initiating an attack, it's different, but for ships not engaged in combat, some are targeted while others are ignored.'

"What about the Tortoise?"

'It's being treated as an enemy as usual. But since it's not at the front lines, at least that's a relief.'

The Queen Bee was ignored, but the Tortoise was attacked. It didn't seem to be about psychic powers. He had no clue why they weren't attacked.

'They're already working to identify the conditions. The leading hypothesis right now is that there's only one organic lifeform inside the ship.'

"Only one organic lifeform...?"

'It's just speculation, but Lufate Gainun may have a way to perceive the presence of organic lifeforms inside the ship.'

"Perceiving life signals, huh. Well, if we can do it, it's not strange that they can too."

'Yes. The command center suspects that Lufate Gainun can't distinguish between ships, rocks, and their allies.'

"I see?"

Now that he thought about it, Tuna had initially mistaken the ship for a hostile silicon-based lifeform. Lufate Gainun, which parasitizes space eels, was also close to silicon-based lifeforms. It wasn't surprising they couldn't tell the difference.

So if there's only one lifeform in the rock, Lufate Gainun mistake it for an ally. But if there are multiple, they recognize it as a ship carrying intelligent beings and attack.

Then what happens if there are none?

"A ship with no organic lifeforms... So, are the ships operated by mechanical intelligence attacked?"

'Yes. Though calling it an attack might be generous—they ram into them pretty hard.'

"I get it now. To them, ships with only mechanical intelligence are just like small asteroids meant for food. Looks like the command center's guess was right."

They perceive the number of lives and adjust their behavior accordingly. If that's how they're programmed, it explains why Kait and the Queen Bee weren't targeted.

The exception is when someone like Kait or the Queen Bee goes outside in the flesh. Even Tuna had noticed. There's no way Lufate Gainun wouldn't.

"Well, no one up top's foolish enough to imitate me, right?"

'Yes. I've told you many times not to act recklessly if that's what you think.'

"You did?"

Maybe she said it once or twice, but he didn't remember her saying it as often as she claimed.

Behind them, there were no signs of living units. Their quality and numbers were increasing, but they were no match for the Queen Bee.

As they steadily crushed the enemy forces inside the space eel, Kait and Emotion pushed the Queen Bee deeper and deeper.

***

Inside the space eel, only one Lufate Gainun signal remained.

Kait arrived at the room with the teleportation function they had destroyed earlier and began a careful inspection of the interior once more.

The remaining signal came from the massive pillar before him. It stood there brazenly—probably because it was the ovipositor of a fortress-type Lufate Gainun.

'It's not a problem for you, Captain, but it's emitting heat that would be lethal to any normal organism.'

"Hahaha. That makes me sound like a monster, Emotion."

'That is exactly what I'm saying.'

Mutual understanding is never easy.

Kait gave a wry smile and shook his head. If even he and Emotion couldn't understand each other, then mutual understanding between organic intelligence and Lufate Gainun was utterly impossible.

Kait recalled the Worker Bees to the ship and formed them into arms as usual. He launched the Psionic Launcher and equipped it.

Complete destruction of the ovipositor. That was the final task assigned to Kait here.