🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 03
The enemy ships swayed like waves on the sea.
In such a place, even maintaining formation was not easy.
It made sense.
It was because of the dark energy spread throughout space.
To ordinary eyes, it couldn’t be seen, felt, or even meaningfully interfered with.
But it was different for ships made of dark matter for interstellar travel.
Dark matter was heavily influenced by dark energy.
That was why space was called a sea.
A sea overflowing with dark energy.
Even my eyes could faintly perceive its flow.
Not because I was special.
It was the minimum requirement to serve as a crew member.
“Captain! We are within effective firing range!”
“Continue forward without rash action. Do not fire until I give the order.”
My heart was pounding.
My mind was still hazy, but I welcomed a dream like this anytime.
In this moment, I felt like a special person.
Rumble.
The ship suddenly shook.
Nothing unusual.
This region simply had strong waves.
“Ugh!”
Still, everyone flinched.
They were that tense.
It was impressive they hadn’t accidentally fired their weapons.
Tap tap tap.
I quickly checked the situation through the external cameras.
It felt like rolling my eyes around.
The ship’s main system synced with my mind and fed me information about the surroundings.
It felt as if the ship was my body.
And a slightly foreign thought process flowed into my mind.
It came from the helmsman, who was also connected to the ship’s system.
A sense of intention related to movement—like “go there,” “adjust speed like this.”
It wasn’t quite another consciousness, more like instinct.
Similar to how you don’t consciously move your limbs when walking.
The helmsman and my mind were linked.
“Captain! Target point reached!”
The vice-captain’s voice trembled.
It was time to decide.
“All fleets. Full assault!”
I gripped the armrest tightly and gave the order.
“Transmit to all fleets. Commence attack. Deploy all weapons.”
Whoooosh.
A hot sensation spread through my body.
My head briefly spun.
The will of all weapon crews poured into the system.
Boom boom boom.
Missiles were launched first in a massive volley.
Then beams and lasers followed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions bloomed everywhere like fireworks.
Even though we only had five ships, we were inside the enemy formation, so even random fire hit enemy vessels.
The startled enemy ships began to jolt and scatter.
Their formation collapsed.
‘Now.’
I saw an opening.
“Deactivate all weapons!”
I cut power to the weapon systems.
The energy saved was redirected.
“Maximum shields. Maximum engine output. Break out of the enemy formation immediately.”
“Orders acknowledged.”
The ship accelerated, and my body was thrown backward.
“Gah!”
The Picol standing awkwardly beside me fell over.
Even with gravity rebalancers, the sudden acceleration momentarily overwhelmed them.
“What are you doing? Why are you standing there?”
“Haha! I still saved the honey water!”
Even while falling, he had protected the cup.
I had completely forgotten about it.
My mouth watered again.
“Give it here.”
I took the cup.
At that moment—
“We are being scanned!”
As expected, those guys were preparing a warp.
“Enemy marines are preparing short-range warp onto our ship!”
“Ignore them and maintain full speed! Helmsmen, do not release the controls even if you die.”
At the same time—
A translucent cube of light appeared in the situation room, drifting strangely through space.
It stopped in an empty area to avoid overlapping objects.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
Light erupted as enemies teleported in.
Only three of them.
The Lang race.
Thud thud.
Knocking sounded from outside the room.
They had warped into the corridor too.
There was more empty space there, making it easier.
“Young master! Stay behind me! I will protect you!”
The Picol clenched his fists.
Not very reassuring.
“Alright.”
I leaned back on the chair, resting my chin on my hand.
It was just a dream anyway.
Bang bang bang.
The vice-captain stood and fired at the enemies.
Ping. Click click.
The bullets were blocked by shields.
Firearms were not very effective in close combat.
“Everyone except the helmsman, attack!”
The crew drew melee weapons and charged.
“We outnumber them!”
The first dwarf—Ensign Doby—rushed in.
But—
Slash.
His body was cut cleanly in half.
The crew froze.
Slash.
Another crew member’s head was severed in return.
Fear spread.
The vice-captain shouted.
“Hold them off and we win! Keep attacking!”
She was right.
Warped troops could not stay long.
Their wrist devices would auto-return if they drifted too far from their mothership.
The distance was increasing.
They needed to neutralize the engine or bridge quickly.
Now it was a race against time.
Kekekekek.
The Lang warriors laughed.
“Kill the captain first.”
Their eyes turned toward me.
The Picol stood in front of me.
“You bastards! Do you know who this is?!”
“Dead meat is just meat. Grrr.”
The largest one charged.
The Picol tried to block—
Slash.
Both arms were severed.
At that moment—
Swoosh.
The ship suddenly tilted violently again.
Not from the helmsman.
From the waves.
The acceleration made the waves even stronger.
“W-what?!”
The attacker lost balance.
Thud.
The vice-captain seized the opening and stabbed her dagger into his neck.
“Don’t underestimate us! This is our territory!”
The ship sped up even more, shaking violently.
“Waaah!”
The crew regained confidence and charged.
The remaining two enemies panicked.
“S-stop this!”
But—
Sway.
The ship tilted again.
They lost balance.
Thud thud thud.
Weapons pierced their bodies repeatedly.
“Stop!!”
The vice-captain shouted.
The crew finally regained composure.
Blood covered everyone.
“Secure the entry!”
Knocking continued at the door.
But weaker than before.
On the camera feed, the remaining enemies in the corridor were stumbling, unable to adapt.
They were dancing uncontrollably, unable to stand.
They couldn’t handle the sea-like environment.
“Captain, should we open the door and wipe them out?”
“No.”
There were too many.
No benefit in killing them.
We just needed to stall.
“How are the other ships?”
“Same situation as us.”
As expected.
This environment heavily favored defense.
The enemies were struggling to fight in close quarters.
“Are you okay?”
I looked at the Picol on the floor, rolling around.
He had lost both arms.
“It’s nothing.”
He smiled.
Right. Picols had strong regeneration.
Losing limbs didn’t matter.
That’s why he confidently blocked the enemy earlier.
Flash. Flash.
After a while, the remaining enemies in the corridor disappeared in light.
The distance to enemy ships had increased.
“Enemy contact lost! Mission success!”
Cheers erupted.
The vice-captain looked at me.
“I didn’t think that would actually work.”
I didn’t show that it was partly a gamble.
“This much is nothing.”
I calmly drank the honey water.
It tasted incredible.
“Three ships destroyed. Two disabled.”
At the report, the supreme commander Sagita looked stunned.
“Well now.”
He hadn’t expected them to break through.
He had anticipated some resistance.
Honestly, it didn’t matter.
Their fleet had overwhelming numbers.
He had even welcomed it.
He thought elite marines would handle it once scanning succeeded.
But—
“Eighty-two personnel have not returned!”
The losses were significant in a very short time.
“Pursue them immediately! If we catch them, I’ll boil them alive.”
Sagita gritted his teeth.
It wasn’t that he was angry at being tricked.
It was humiliation.
“Commander, continuing pursuit may disrupt the operation. We should abandon this route and withdraw.”
“Abandon it? Because of them? Impossible! Pursue them!”
Sagita’s fleet began the chase.
