Chapter 81 Fortune Cookie (21)

Medium-scale mining base Heaven, near the refinery.

【Cease all acts of pillaging immediately. This is a strict warning. Cease all acts of pillaging immediately.】

Countless security robots were scattered around the area. Not a single one was intact, each spilling metal fragments like blood while repeating the same message.

Their suppression wave emitters had long ceased functioning. Metal hands, unable to grasp anything, twitched and contorted bizarrely due to malfunctioning motors.

【You are currently in serious breach of contract. Disarm and surrender immediately—】

CRACK!

A metal boot stomped on the head of a broken security robot. The helmet-enhanced strength of the suit smashed the head in an instant. The unstable, flickering gleam in its optics faded to nothing. Its voice no longer rang out.

At that moment, even Saturn—its gigantic ring dominating one corner of the night sky—was hidden behind the clouds, letting darkness creep upward.

"Fire a flare."

A man exhaled a cloud of white breath as he gave the order. One of his heavily armed men loaded a flare round into his gun and aimed it skyward.

The shot rang out. The flare exploded high above, instantly driving back the encroaching darkness. The slimy darkness seemed to recoil and flee in a shiver.

And as his integrated helmet broke apart, the man's identity was revealed.

A man with a long scar crossing his eyes—Cystus.

Dressed in military-grade armor unavailable through normal channels, he surveyed his surroundings. Perhaps because violent conflict had raged here just minutes ago, the air was heavy with the stench of antifreeze and bitter rusted metal from all directions.

Scattered among the ruined robots were the bodies of humans—flesh and bone—as well as mutant lifeforms with blue crystal embedded in organic tissue, all abandoned and lifeless. Each of their suits bore the pureblood supremacist insignia without exception.

Some of them died while still human, while the rest died after transforming into monsters by their own will. They gave their lives for the new era.

Cystus asked in a calm tone.

"How many are dead?"

"Twenty, not counting those who have been blessed."

"They are heroes who sacrificed for the new era. Though they lost their senses and abandoned their bodies, that doesn't mean they truly died. Recover them properly and preserve them. So they can be reborn as beings of purity."

"Understood. I'll begin immediately."

The pureblood supremacists immediately resumed their work. They split up, starting to recover the bodies of their fallen comrades and slain monsters.

Cystus observed this from a short distance away. He was not looking at the broken security robots. His gaze saw through the current scene to the refinery beyond.

This was where the mined blue crystal ore was gathered and refined before being shipped to society. Having just destroyed the largest robot manufacturing facility, their next step was to breach the refinery's thick bulkheads.

The pureblood supremacists cared neither about the surviving unbelievers inside nor the blue crystal ore. What they wanted was the rare metal produced in trace amounts as a byproduct of blue crystal refinement.

Their public objective was to recover a special metal required for 'miraculous transformation'.

But that was only the surface reason. The true purpose lay elsewhere.

Cystus manipulated the PDA attached to his forearm. Reports submitted by his subordinates quickly filled the holographic display.

Reading over the most recent reports, Cystus frowned. The scar on his face twisted, producing a very menacing aura.

He summoned the person who had submitted the report.

"Explain. What do you mean the third bud failed to bloom?"

"... The entity expected to bloom in the residential area—kugh...!"

Swallowing nervously, the pureblood supremacist's face was tense. While reporting, his neck was suddenly grabbed by Cystus. The artificial muscles in the suit tightened, exerting superhuman strength.

Lifted by his throat, the man gasped and struggled for breath, but couldn't break Cystus's grip.

"It's not an 'entity', it's a 'bud'. Was it not blessed? Or did it refuse the blessing?"

"S-sorry...! Cystus, sir...! P-please have mercy..."

"There won't be a next time. Continue your report."

"Cough, cough...!"

Having briefly crossed the river of death, the man returned, feeling Cystus's cold, inhuman gaze looking down on him. The pressure struck fear into him. Even the surrounding abnormal environment made his breathing faster and more erratic.

He opened his mouth desperately.

"T-this time, unlike the second bud, it seems it went completely silent. Observations confirmed that the bud's core lost its light."

"Lost its light?"

"Yes... It appeared to have absorbed the Source and crumbled into dust."

"That's impossible. That's not something you can break just because you want to. There must have been another factor. Heaven't you identified it yet?"

"We confirmed that the survivor group you mentioned previously went to the central tower in the residential area, but how they silenced the bud... And the explosion they caused severely damaged a large portion of the Blessing's influence. It'll take time to recover."

"Annoying."

A bud that should never have withered before bearing fruit had withered due to unexpected factors. The report filled Cystus with strong displeasure.

His nerves were already frayed—progress here was much slower than on any other moon. The second bud had retreated into its nest in fear, and the third bud had dried up after its Source was stolen. Cystus ground his teeth.

'The only hope left is the first bud.'

It would take more time for the next bud to appear. The first bud had to bloom and buy that time. But that, too, depended entirely on the bud's will—a matter beyond his control.

'What are you hiding?'

The foolish Earth government didn't know a thing; they only knew how to accept the offered blue crystal. Only the pioneering exploration team, who discovered the blue crystal, knew the truth about the Holy Tree and related information.

In order to prolong their lives, they injected nano-robots into their bodies and willingly abandoned their humanity. Some even accepted the Blessing, seeking to become the Holy Tree itself. Those at the top of the pyramid wielded the pureblood supremacist organization as their pawn.

They discovered that there were traces of the Holy Tree on Titan and halted terraforming here—not only to prevent more people from gathering, but, more importantly, to prevent the Holy Tree or its fragments from activating at the wrong time.

After a long wait, the moment of reaping a hundred years of effort had finally come. The first step of the grand plan had been taken. But at mining tunnel 1, all they found of the first root was its track—itself nowhere to be found.

They had succeeded in controlling all other ice moons, except Titan. The reason: the appearance of a traitor they thought would never exist.

'Why did you hide it, Lobelia? The time of rebirth is almost here—what are you after?'

The price of betrayal is steep.

That the first root was missing from its place, and that there was some dangerous presence able to wither a bud—Cystus linked those two pieces of information and reorganized his priorities.

'Whatever it is, if anything interferes with the grand plan, only death awaits.'

He designated Lobelia, a root-ranked executive assigned here, as a traitor. Now that the mark was set, things would return to the proper course.

'We must focus more on the underground. We cannot fall further behind. The work must be finished before the war spreads here.'

Cystus shook free of his thoughts and stared blankly at the impurity still awaiting orders in front of him. Even if the man tried to act calm, Cystus could see right through him—he was trembling with fear.

When Cystus thanked him for his hard work and said he could leave, the man's relief was obvious as he hastily departed.

Watching the retreating figure, Cystus called another pureblood supremacist over and quietly gave his next command in a cold, indifferent tone as though tossing trash by the roadside.

"Dispose of him. He's an impurity."

"Yes, sir."

Three pureblood supremacists left briefly on Cystus's order.

It wasn't long before two gunshots sounded, followed by a desperate scream. After one last gunshot, everything fell silent.

***

"Kyle."

"No."

"... I haven't even said anything yet."

I pouted at Kyle, who refused outright without even looking at me. Since it was lunchtime, I'd wanted to eat with him and ask a few things. But Kyle, already having a fit before we even started, made me feel a bit disappointed.

"You were going to ask about equipment, weren't you? Am I wrong?"

"You're right."

I had come to feel the need for better equipment even more this time. The plasma cutter was certainly a great tool and had decent offensive power, but there were clear limits to its use. Above all, the tool itself couldn't withstand its own output.

Probably because my strength increased, the durability of the staff felt even weaker than before. There was a lot to improve.

"That's not the answer I was hoping for—hey, whatever, fine. Let's hear it. And that stuff you brought—is it for me?"

"Of course."

After glancing at Nadia, who was helping Carry with some chores, I dumped the things I'd just bought from the Level 2 Store onto the work table.

There was bread with an even sweeter flavor, chocolate studded with unknown nuts, a refreshing water pack for quenching thirst, and if you didn't like bread, there was even a rice-based shelf-stable fried rice.

It was quite the treat.

Reaching Level 2 in the store meant a wider selection. Just getting away from dry bread and emergency food sticks noticeably lifted everyone's spirits.

"Want some jelly, too?"

When Nadia offered something she'd snuck from Licorice's room, Kyle snatched it up. Shoving the sweets into his mouth, he gave me a look as if to say he'd listen while he ate. The bribe seemed effective.

"Could you make equipment in the way I want? I have some ideas."

"Let's hear them. Listening to the user is basic stuff, after all."

"How about something like a splitter? You fire—Bang!—and a gravity field sphere gets anchored to the ground, then a vortex forms that sucks in nearby ghouls and grinds them up like a blender."

"That does sound good. It'd definitely be useful. But... how do you make it, exactly?"

Kyle looked doubtful. I wondered why he was asking me that.

"That's for you to figure out! I'm just providing ideas here."

"Aha? So you have no blueprint or materials in mind?"

"I have faith in you, Kyle. Oh, what about this? Something simple—a harpoon gun. The harpoon would have a flexible wire or chain, so you could shoot it into the ceiling or wall for dynamic movement or dodging in emergencies."

"I guess I'd have to make that from scratch too?"

"Exactly!"

I grinned wide, finally feeling like the conversation was flowing. No wonder they called him Myosotis—he really was elite in many ways.

"Hm."

Kyle thought for a moment, then grinned widely, just like me.

"Okay, fine. All right. Just kill me now. Please make it quick and painless..."

Acting as if he'd given up, Kyle opened his arms wide in mock defeat, and looked enlightened, like he could finally rest.

"Oh, hey. Kyle, don't be like that. The way you act makes me feel like I'm the bad guy here."

"I don't even care about work-life balance. If I have to pull an all-nighter, I'll do it with the mindset that I can sleep when I'm dead, and if things get physically tough, I'll get through it by sheer force of will. But I can't take on impossible requests."

"Hm, is it that bad?"

"..."

Kyle seemed about to say something else but gave up mid-sentence. Instead, he silently stared at the stacks of projects surrounding him.

Then I met his gaze—and was instantly kicked out.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=I'm going to take a wild swing, but I'm guessing Hyun-woo is the first root, he is Celestia's brother and that his genetic makeup changed as well.

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