I Became an Evolving Space Monster
Chapter 425

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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Chapter 425

I immediately sent a signal to the parasite inside Ventress’s head, ordering it to tell me where Prometheus was being stored.

A moment later, Tane respectfully handed a communicator to the Mother of the Sky. She, now in her beastkin form, read Ventress’s message.

｢He says it’s being stored at the harbor.｣

[ZZ (Good.)]

‘I needed to confirm it for myself.’

I lifted the Mother of the Sky and the Shinoni boss onto my back and took off.

｢Tane, could you stay at the hideout? The… teacher should be there.｣

“Yes, divine one. I’ll continue receiving guidance.”

｢Good. I’m proud of you.｣

Leaving the bowing Tane behind, I set course for the harbor.

[ZZZ (Teacher?)]

｢PS-111. It's been educating the Wolf pups using a mini screamer.｣

[ZZZZ (PS-111 is teaching?)]

｢I actually asked it to. It seemed pretty competent after seeing how it trained Number 26.｣

Indeed, PS-111 was a good educator. When it came to teaching Number 26 or even Adhai, it showed unexpected enthusiasm for a machine. Likely, half of Number 26’s knowledge had come from PS-111.

‘Of course, the other half was from me.’

[ZZ ZZZZ ZZ (So that’s why they call it teacher.)]

｢…Its loosened screws worry me a bit, but I trust Tane to filter things properly.｣

At this point, the young Wolves weren’t of much use to me. Still, letting them learn how to wield weapons or operate computers wasn’t a bad idea.

‘Originally, I’d planned to release them once this mission was over.’

Wolves were physically superior to humans in general. If I dropped them off on a safe planet, they’d probably manage just fine.

But the Mother of the Sky seemed to have different intentions. She wanted to take the children to the Gallagon’s nest.

‘That’ll be a tough adjustment for them.’

The nest was a world of ice and cold. And even within its habitable zones, there were already occupants—a tribe of Coldbloods who worshiped Isabel.

Wolves and Coldbloods were from entirely different cultures. These young ones might struggle to get along.

And if the two groups clashed, it would become a headache. The Wolves would turn to the Mother of the Sky, and the Coldbloods would turn to Isabel.

From my point of view, both women were essentially family. Letting external tensions drive a wedge between them wouldn’t be ideal.

‘…Still, maybe I’m overthinking it.’

Surely, the Mother of the Sky had considered that too. She’d know how to handle any issues.

As we chatted about this and that, the harbor soon came into view. Once we reached the surface, I spotted Ventress waiting for us.

｢This way.｣

Clad in powered armor, he guided us through the hail-swept, rain-soaked port. The walk wasn’t long. Before long, he stopped in front of a storage facility.

Hm?

｢Prometheus is in here?｣

Prometheus was about the size of a small warship. But the warehouse in front of us wasn’t even big enough to hold a destroyer.

Inside, we didn’t see Prometheus itself—but we were greeted by neatly arranged components in a wide range of shapes and colors.

｢So they brought it here disassembled?｣

[ZZ (Possibly.)]

Prometheus was capable of completely controlling Faster than light navigation within a set radius.

Not only could it predict enemy jumps with perfect accuracy—it could alter their destinations, flinging them somewhere entirely unintended.

The altered destination was randomized. Depending on luck, the target might even end up inside a star or buried deep within a planet. I’d personally experienced being thrown into a star before—burned alive thanks to that very trick.

That’s why fighting a fleet equipped with Prometheus essentially meant Faster than light travel was off the table.

But it came with a drawback—Prometheus itself couldn’t make Faster than light jumps. Its reactor constantly emitted warp particles that interfered with its own jump drives.

These particles even affected ships that came into contact with it, which meant transporting it by linking with other vessels was extremely difficult.

“That’s why they usually operate it like a space fortress.”

It was often stationed at strategic chokepoints for defense—or hidden in unexpected locations as a trap.

“Now that I think about it, some players in the game tried the same strategy.”

They would collect the required components and assemble them right before an important battle. The problem was, the process took too long, and the risks were too high, so the tactic was quickly abandoned.

“And yet they’re trying something here that even failed in a game?”

The thought lingered, but first, I needed to confirm the facts. The Mother of the Sky and I began inspecting the warehouse interior.

Many of the parts were coated in secretions from a Crystalwing. The components themselves were made from rare minerals like Starpearl.

Materials of this quality were almost exclusively used in constructing superweapons.

｢These look a lot like the components used for Prometheus.｣

Both of us had encountered Prometheus multiple times. We knew what kind of materials went into a superweapon.

The Mother of the Sky picked up a flat, octagonal module—it resembled a component used in engine construction.

[Zz zz zz zz zz zz. (Aside from being much smaller, that is.)]

The other parts were the same. Similar in form, but a fraction of the size—perhaps one-fiftieth of what I remembered.

｢Is there even a reason to miniaturize it? It’s not like shrinking it removes any of the drawbacks.｣

[Zzz zz zz zz zz zz zz. (Maybe it gained some new function we don’t know about.)]

I called over the Shinoni boss under my control.

[Zzzzzz zz zz zz zz zz? (This warp-finder—do you know what it does?)]

“Within its zone of influence, Faster than light travel becomes impossible.”

[Zz zz? (Anything else?)]

“I’ve heard it can also accelerate fleet-wide Faster than light travel, but beyond that, I’m not sure.”

[Zz? Acceleration?]

“Yes. That’s why it allows for maneuver warfare using Faster than light.”

From the way he said it, it sounded like this device allowed synchronized Faster than light jumps for an entire fleet. I glanced at the Mother of the Sky.

[Zz zz zz zz? (That was possible?)]

｢…No way. If that were true, only Star Union cyborgs would dominate the rankings.｣

It seemed like they’d upgraded it well beyond the Prometheus I knew.

｢Then why haven’t they been using something this useful until now?｣

[Zzz zz zz zz zz. (There must be some kind of limitation.)]

Maybe the production cost exceeded that of the original Prometheus. Or maybe it consumed rare materials with each use, making deployment expensive. Otherwise, they would’ve already used it in battle against me.

“We won’t know for sure until it’s assembled.”

In front of me lay an uncountable number of components. Neither I nor the Mother of the Sky had the capability to put them together.

“I need to call PS-111.”

If anyone could finish this, it was that machine—with its level of engineering, it had built Screamers after all.

I used the communicator the Mother of the Sky had brought to contact PS-111.

｢Did you call for me?｣

“We’re at the harbor right now. You should be able to track our location, right?”

I mimicked a human voice as I asked the question. One of the cameras inside the warehouse began glowing red and shifted slightly.

PS-111 was controlling it remotely.

｢Confirmed. You’re in Warehouse 16. You’re contacting me because of the components stored there, correct?｣

“You already knew?”

｢I have been monitoring this warehouse since the materials were first moved here.｣

“Do you know what these are for?”

｢Upon first contact, I ran a scan and conducted a simulated analysis. The results suggest that this device can interfere with the energy signatures involved in Faster than light travel.｣

“That’s right. Think you can assemble it?”

｢Assemble it, you say…｣

It didn’t answer right away. A pause stretched across the line before a voice finally returned through the communicator.

｢The module required to stabilize the reactor is currently missing from the warehouse. Without it, the system cannot be completed.｣

“What happens if we try assembling it without the module?”

｢The reactor will go into meltdown and explode. Based on simulations, the blast would be strong enough to destroy AG-01.｣

A trap, in case something went wrong.

A failsafe—planted so that even if an enemy Ranker tried to steal these parts, they’d be useless. If I hadn’t brought in PS-111, I might’ve walked right into it.

｢…How petty.｣

The Mother of the Sky let out a psychic wave, displeased by the trick.

｢That stabilization module—it must be in the Ranker’s possession, right?｣

“Yeah.”

Most likely hidden somewhere the Ranker considers safe. But since he brought the superweapon intending to use it, the location can’t be too far from here.

I gestured to Ventris and the Shinoni boss to approach.

“PS-111. How many Shinoni-affiliated ships are still in orbit—not landed on the planet?”

｢Five.｣

“Which one’s the most heavily fortified?”

｢A Star Union–grade XAX02-class battleship.｣

“That one—I heard Sutherland gave it to the Shinoni leader personally.”

“Really?”

It’s not on the same level as Zaks Alpha, the executive-class vessel used by the Machine Committee’s top council, but the Beta-class XAX02 is still no joke. A ship of that class isn’t something pirates can casually operate.

“The true commander of that battleship… is the Ranker.”

The Shinoni boss was just a puppet. Most likely, both the Ranker and the critical Prometheus component were aboard that ship.

｢So, what’s the plan?｣

I had intended to wait and draw things out a bit more, but the situation had changed. If I wanted both the upgraded Prometheus and the Ranker, I’d have to act more decisively.

“Which means…”

“I need to do what I do best.”

It was time to hunt.

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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