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

Chapter 121

The moment they chose not to flee at the outset, the defeat of the contaminated core was sealed.

While the salvo of Psionic Launchers sinking most of the core ships played a role, the biggest factor was that Emotion memorized every ship.

"Emotion"

'Yes, I've secured everything. It doesn't matter where they flee now.'

Emotion memorized all the enemy ships captured here. From now on, no matter where they teleport, as long as it's within Federation territory, they'll be immediately found. And that information can be shared.

A fatal beat of hesitation. Blocking the incoming small ships with a barrier, Kait began preparing the second volley.

As the barrier was lifted, Kait had already prepared his next tactic. He detached the Queen Bee's arms from the main body, dividing them into two functions: one to control the Worker Bees to intercept the small ships, and the other to operate the Psionic Launchers. The Worker Bees flying around the area continued to shoot down the incoming small ships one after another.

For the second volley, he didn't aim precisely. Instead, he moved the barrel itself while firing to widen the bombardment range. The light, whipping like a lash, traced strange geometric patterns as it destroyed the contaminated fleet.

Confirming that there were no more moving ships nearby, Kait ceased his attack. The destructive intent released from the Psionic Launchers soon dissipated and vanished.

"Any ships manage to escape?"

'Yes. Three attempted to flee.'

"You've confirmed where they went, right?"

'Of course.'

"Okay. Then let's assign two locations to the pursuit team. We'll take care of one ourselves."

'Is that alright?'

Kait understood what Emotion meant. They didn't know which of the three escape routes was the 'correct' one. But after living this long out in space, Kait had come to realize that he had a knack for luck. In moments like this, the one he picked usually turned out to be right.

Still, if he said something like that, Emotion would just get exasperated. It was better to give a neutral answer here.

"Well, resolving the situation takes priority over our preferences. And if we didn't pick the right one, we just end it quickly and go help the others."

'You're optimistic, Captain.'

"Because I don't see any chance of losing."

'Understood. So, where to?'

"That's obvious."

Kait returned to the Queen Bee and smiled. He wasn't the star of this operation. Precisely because of that, his instincts told him she should be the one to choose when it really mattered.

"Wherever Emotion decides."

***

The machine intelligence known as the contaminated core felt a moment of relief, having escaped immediate danger through teleportation.

A mysterious ship that appeared suddenly. A creature that looked unmistakably organic had exited the ship, and in the moment they doubted the enemy's sanity, they were caught off guard. The absurdly powerful optical weapons, the seemingly autonomous physical weapons, and the impenetrable defenses that didn't take a scratch even from suicide ramming attacks. Could such an overwhelmingly capable ship really exist in the universe?

"That wasn't an organic being... right?"

Someone, please say it wasn't.

The contaminated core tried to calm itself by reviewing the previous situation log. It still looked undeniably organic. But maybe it was a trick—making it look like an organic being had exited the ship to confuse their judgment. That explanation made sense. In fact, they had clearly reacted too slowly.

No organic being would willingly expose themselves to outer space. Concluding that it had fallen for the enemy's ploy, the contaminated core began to consider its next move.

"All that preparation wasted. I was trying to reduce the number of pursuers."

More time was needed to complete the contaminated core's plan. To fully prepare, it had laid traps to thin out the pursuers. But that scheme had been thoroughly ruined by that strange ship.

No, actually...

"Was that ship even a pursuer...?"

Challenging that many enemies alone seemed like reckless bravado. But judging by the outcome, it wasn't. In fact, it may have been an appropriate or even excessive force.

While reflecting on its own carelessness, the contaminated core still wanted more information about the enemy ship. If it was a pursuer, then it had been outmaneuvered. But even with such power, could a single ship really lie in wait? After all, it had managed to escape. Judging by organizational norms, that deployment seemed far too unnatural.

"Could it have been an autonomous weapon left on the battlefield?"

That thought strangely made perfect sense.

The battlefield where the contaminated core had detected and sent its divided counterparts. Among the wreckage of ships and still-active teleporters, perhaps a powerful autonomous weapon had remained, having lost its target and shut down.

If that theory was correct, it explained why it was there alone. The asteroid belt was far from the battlefield, but not too far to detect. When the contaminated fleet arrived at the battlefield, it reactivated, and then mistook the small asteroids for enemies and approached.

"Not all discoveries are good ones... I've learned that now."

In that case, it was time to regroup. While their numbers had dwindled, some of its kind had likely escaped as well. This wasn't a restart from zero. It wasn't something to be too disheartened about. Repeating that to itself, the contaminated core headed for the rendezvous point designated for unexpected situations. There, its counterparts were independently preparing to oppose civilization.

"Well then, let's resume from here."

'Oh? As expected of the Captain. Your luck is truly impressive.'

"!?"

Just as it felt relief, a sudden transmission came through. A strong sense of danger surged, and it accelerated to gain distance.

It hid behind cover and scanned the surroundings. No responses.

Maybe a transmission got crossed, or it accidentally received something. That seemed the most likely explanation, but unease began to grow. Could it be that it had fallen into a fatal situation?

Suddenly, the space warped. A section of the scenery twisted, and when it returned to normal, something clearly artificial had appeared.

"Impossible!"

It was a ship. A rounded form. Covered in countless parts haphazardly attached to its surface. It wasn't a large ship—probably classified as a small vessel. But the issue wasn't its appearance.

It was the ship believed to be an autonomous weapon that had just annihilated its kind. The enemy that should have escaped via teleportation had somehow appeared right in front of them.

'Ah, an artificial celestial body whose development plan was scrapped during construction. So you're trying to reuse something that was abandoned without being dismantled. If this weren't a combat situation, I'd be praising and offering to help.'

Far larger than the ship wreckage, the remains of an artificial celestial body.

This was the contaminated core's discovered base, and also its trump card for a final battle against another civilization.

This is the worst. The artificial celestial body is far from complete. Even using its installed weapons, victory is unlikely.

'Leaving things like this unattended just because resources are unlimited—that's one of the Federation's few flaws. I'll be sure to note it as an issue in the report.'

The next voice was different. Could it be that it wasn't an autonomous weapon?

Then why had an organic being come outside? It didn't make sense. It couldn't understand.

And just as expected, an organic being emerged from the ship. Could it really be organic? What kind of madness was driving it to do this?

"I don't understand. I don't understand! What are you!?"

The words it spat out were the final question squeezed from the contaminated core, which had lost all composure.

Almost simultaneously, pure white light was observed in every direction—front, back, left, right, up, down. The contaminated core wasn't even given time to decide on defense or evasion. The artificial celestial body, the ship, and everything bathed in light vanished in the next moment.

Without ever receiving an answer to its final question. And the one who unleashed the light never realized it had been asked.