17: Cosmic Monster

"「「「———!?」」」

Zero gravity, vacuum, extreme cold, radiation, and more.

Each of these elements makes survival impossible for humans without proper precautions, which defines the nature of space — an empty, boundless expanse.

Since there is absolutely nothing, even the environmental stability mods used by most people in the empire can only maintain stability for just a few seconds to several seconds; beyond that time, one is left exposed to the overwhelming hostile environment in the raw.

Moreover, as the pirate ship detached from the forward protrusion of the passage, it imparted a slight vector in a direction different from both the pirates' course and the direction the *Tsumebakei* was heading.

It's common in space for something that appears stationary to actually be moving at incredible speed.

In other words, both the artificial humans who were on the passage when it was pulled apart and I ourselves were being swept away toward a rapidly distancing space far from the 'Tsumebakei No.'

At this point, it's safe to say that survival for an ordinary human is impossible.

Even if some method somehow made long-term survival in space possible, without a way to reach a destination, one would inevitably end up in a state where "thus, ○○ ceased to think," leaving salvation entirely up to miraculous chance.

"Well, that's true for ordinary humans, anyway."

After all, having deliberately put myself in such a situation, I naturally have a plan.

First, space itself.

Due to various circumstances, I can survive normally in outer space, so there's no problem there.

And transportation.

Several coordinates are already etched in my mind.

My home planet, the familiar Hilitratsu Gumi star system, and the location where the artificial humans were created—gained from tasting their blood just moments ago.

The coordinates I’m currently recognizing can be considered absolute, though they aren’t usable during combat—still, in a calm environment like this, they can be employed.

"Hahahaha! Too bad for you! You're just artificial humans pretending to be heroes—this is what happens! BAAAAAAAH!!"

"Gotcha."

That's right—something like pulling my body back from the normal space, then using the coordinates obtained when deploying a new body into the normal space to simulate a teleportation, for example.

"Hmm..."

With that, I successfully infiltrated the sky pirate's ship.

Even better, I made it into a central area of the ship—right near the core of the artificial human production facility.

And as for the surroundings... To put it simply, it was utterly nauseating.

When you say "artificial human manufacturing facility," normally it involves non-biological apparatuses like artificial wombs, placenta-like systems, and culture tanks—just like the ones in my homeland.

That's naturally expected, considering cost and stability.

But this ship and the artificial humans it owns belong to space pirates—people who can't rely on legitimate methods and don't even have a shred of ethics to speak of.

"Knew it, but it still makes my stomach turn."

"……"

If that's the case, then it's only natural that living humans would be改造 or used as parts to create artificial humans.

After all, producing living beings is essentially the fundamental function of most life forms.

Even unusable parts can serve as raw materials... incredibly efficient, yet utterly inhumane.

And there are signs of other uses too... truly the absolute worst.

That's why they say it's better to die than face a sky pirate.

"Let's just destroy everything for now."

Unfortunately, there's no way to help someone who's turned out like this.

No matter how advanced science has become—so advanced even a fool could use it—there are still things beyond remedy.

So I extend my staff to its absolute limit and swing it with all my strength, smashing everything in sight without mercy.

"What the— What's happening... ahh!!? Why are you here!? You were definitely...!?"

"Well now, why do you suppose that?"

The voice of what seemed to be the ship's captain, a sky pirate, echoed.

I responded to it while continuing to swing my staff, shattering the manufacturing equipment, the artificial humans on standby, and even the lumps of carbon and other raw materials used to create them.

As for the last one, I'll apply some suitable reagent found here to prevent immediate reuse.

"Kill them all!"

"Detected intruder. Evacuating... "

"Sorry, no saving power."

With the voice of the sky thief, the androids enter the room.

In an instant, they're struck with a staff, punched, kicked, and completely shattered, every last one of them destroyed.

『You messed with my toy... huh?』

『Hey, what’s wrong? You already know I’m stronger than your androids, right?』

『N-No way... impossible. Just a moment ago...』

『Ah, well, there’s one thing I should make clear.』

I continue walking through the sky pirate’s ship.

Kicking through the adjacent wall, crushing the cyborg, snapping the neck of what appeared to be a crew member among the sky pirates, and smashing through walls and pipes built haphazardly—straight toward the man who must be the ship's captain.

"I'm in a terrible mood right now. I've only just let loose a little of the power I normally restrain."

『……!?』

A foul stench began to fill the ship.

A peculiar odor, unique to moderate phenomenon rupture, transformed the already filthy pirate ship—turning its interior into a surreal realm resembling silver sludge mixed with filth.

The floor melted away, the walls decayed, and the mods maintaining the ship’s environment screamed in agony.

“F-fuck… no way… a monster like that…”

“Ah, we’ve arrived.”

In such a situation, I arrived at the bridge of the space pirate's ship.

I immediately killed everyone except the captain, who seemed to be the leader, after being shot at with a blaster that had been illegally modified to increase its output.

After wiping away the blood and flesh fragments clinging to my staff and body, I stood before the captain.

"Why the hell is a monster like a humanoid space beast even here, you damn bastard! Aaaahhhhh!"

"Literal coincidence, as it happens."

The captain, seeing that his blaster was ineffective, swung a sharp blade-like weapon at him.

"——!?!"

But since there was no reason to be hit, he simply dodged, crushing the opponent's wrist with a speed barely triggering the shield's response.

Then, continuing without pause, he crushed the limbs one by one using the same method...

"You've recklessly attacked innocent people for your own selfish reasons, haven't you? Then this is merely karma—what should have happened has finally come to pass. In fact, compared to what you've done, dying like this is so much easier that you should actually be grateful to me."

He crushed the man's neck and killed him.

There's no sign of life aboard the ship; this vessel is now fully under our control.

Since we're leaving the captain's head intact, the follow-up inspection should be much easier.

"Alright, what about the other ship?"

I checked on the *Tsumebakei*, as well as the other pirate vessel—the one used for dragging them out—and what condition they were in.

Treat the way the pirates handled their captives as something far worse than the "Amazawa House: Werewolf Game" written by some unknown author (and definitely not for anyone under 18).

In short, I can't write about specific details carelessly or easily.