I Became an Evolving Space Monster
Chapter 403

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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Chapter 403

Apex creatures are organisms that rank among the highest tiers in the Space Survival ecosystem. While this varies case by case, they typically possess exceptional combat power.

Even among apex creatures, there exists a hierarchy. Those at the very top wield power so terrifying that it could be said they transcend the laws of nature.

Examples include the Red Gallagon, the only creature in the game capable of using Dragon Power, and the Vortex One, which possesses the ability to defy the laws of physics and alter reality itself. They are so powerful that it takes the cooperation of multiple players just to challenge them.

Likewise, the Arcane Orca is a creature of immense strength. Like its close relatives—the Sky Whale and the Star Shark—it possesses specialized abilities in energy manipulation.

But it would be a grave mistake to compare it to the Sky Whale. The Arcane Orca is a monster on par with the Vortex One. It’s even stronger than the incomplete version of the Ring of Agony we fought before.

｢Arcane Orca… this won’t be easy.｣

The Mother of the Sky sent out a wave of thought tinged with concern.

She had clearly heard of the Arcane Orca’s infamy, hence her reaction.

‘Naturally.’

One of the biggest problems with hunting an Arcane Orca is finding it in the first place.

Because it feeds on stellar energy, it rarely approaches planets. It doesn’t settle down in a single star system either, instead roaming endlessly in search of new prey. In essence, the entire universe is its hunting ground.

‘Which makes finding it extremely difficult.’

Even if we do manage to locate it, hunting it is a whole different issue. It’s more than twice as strong as the incomplete Vortex One I fought here.

‘We’ll deal with the fighting part later. Right now, time is the bigger concern.’

We don’t know how long Adhai will remain in this state. It would be fortunate if she returns to normal on her own, but we can’t count on that.

More urgently, she’s absorbing all nearby energy. This is the Gallagon nest—a sanctuary for many young Gallagons and unhatched eggs that rely on the energy seeping from the land and minerals to survive.

‘If the hunt takes too long, they’ll all starve to death.’

I turned to look at Ham Ort. The black Gallagon who brought food for her daughter was still staring at the crimson crystal.

[ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ (How are the hatchlings? Are they starving or anything?)]

｢New nest｣ ｢Food｣ ｢Plentiful｣ ｢Everyone｣ ｢Full｣

[ZZ? (Really?)]

｢But｣ ｢Great Adhai｣ ｢More｣ ｢Eats｣ ｢Food｣ ｢Star’s power｣ ｢Depleting｣ ｢Dangerous｣

[ZZZ ZZ ZZ (How long can they hold out?)]

｢Fire star｣ ｢Twice｣ ｢Until seen｣

On this planet, day comes only once every 30 days. So if they can last until the fire star—that is, the local sun—is seen twice, we have roughly 60 days of leeway.

‘That’s cutting it close.’

Just identifying the star system where the Arcane Orca might be will consume a significant amount of time. Even if I start preparing right now, the schedule is tight. If anything unpredictable happens, it’ll become even tighter.

‘Wait.’

Thinking of variables reminded me of something.

Not long ago, Number 26 consumed a massive amount of psychic power. That energy is still stored within its body. I called out to the darkly glowing, mournful creature.

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (Can you take care of the young Gallagons here?)]

｢Little flappers? Okay.｣

[ZZ ZZZ ZZZ Z (With you here, they can hold out longer)]

｢Thank you.｣

If Number 26 provides energy to the Gallagon brood, we’ll be able to buy ourselves more time.

Next, I asked Isabel to stay behind as well. With the All Seeing Eye she’d be able to detect if anything happened to Adhai or the blue Gallagons right away.

“Got it. If something comes up, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks.”

With that, I had done everything I could here.

There’s no time to waste. I need to begin preparing to hunt the Arcane Orca immediately.

“Let’s return to the Gigacracker.”

Just before leaving the chamber, I looked once more at Adhai, asleep inside the crimson crystal.

She hadn’t moved a single time since the beginning.

As I stared at her, still and unmoving, I made a vow:

No matter what, I will get Adhai back.

‘Just hold on a little longer.’

With that thought, I left the nest along with the others.

After returning to the Gigacracker, PS-111 immediately headed to the operations room. It wanted to check if the ship's database held any information about the Arcane Orca.

Meanwhile, I planned to speak with the Mother of the Sky to discuss where the creature might be.

“We both probably know a fair amount about the Arcane Orca already.”

｢Yes. I’ve hunted it a few times for its components.｣

The Arcane Orca's body is used to create powerful equipment and superweapons. Because of that, mega-clans often organized search parties to track it down.

From what I remember, after her clan disbanded, she worked as a mercenary for other clans’ hunting teams. She must have picked up valuable information and experience along the way.

“Honestly speaking, my tracking methods aren’t suited to this situation.”

I had tracked and killed an Arcane Orca before too, but not with any great efficiency.

My usual approach was one of two: either monitor stellar conditions directly, or secretly tail a clan already tracking the beast.

In our current situation, the first option would take too long, and the second is unreliable—there’s no guarantee any teams are even hunting it right now.

Which is why I need her help this time.

｢True. If we go with your approach, we’d waste too much time on prep work.｣

She understood what I was getting at and nodded in agreement.

｢There is some lesser-known intel I’ve come across.｣

She scratched her beak with the claw on the tip of her wing before continuing.

｢Normally, people track the Arcane Orca by the traces it leaves on stars, right?｣

“Yeah. It’s standard to detect the electromagnetic waves left behind after it absorbs stellar energy.”

｢But there was one player on the team I worked with who tried something different. Instead of studying the star, he focused on the planets affected by it.｣

“The planets?”

｢Primitive civilizations or colonial NPCs on those planets sometimes leave records of anomalies caused by the star.｣

Investigating planetary NPCs… That’s new to me.

｢In primitive cultures, the information would be passed down as myths. In colonies, you’d find it in observation logs.｣

“Myths and observation logs, huh.”

I’d heard that traders sometimes collect those logs, since abnormal stellar activity can damage merchant vessels.

｢The team I was with gathered every myth and observation log from planets where the Arcane Orca might appear. Then they filtered the data to predict its movement path.｣

“Is that even possible?”

｢It worked.｣

“Then how come no one else knows about it?”

｢The clan that first tried it collapsed not long after from internal conflict. Most of its members quit the game. I haven’t seen anyone attempt that method since.｣

I’m not sure whether to feel disappointed that such valuable info never spread—or relieved.

“In that case, we should start by checking the routes you know from in-game.”

｢Leave that to me and PS-111. With that thing’s capabilities, we’ll have results in a few days.｣

“I’ll count on you.”

｢But don’t get your hopes up too much. If what I remember doesn’t match up, we’ll need more time for the investigation.｣

“If we need to investigate a planet, I’ll go.”

｢It’d be better if I did th—oh.｣

Her amber eyes locked onto my mass of tendrils. She must’ve been too distracted by Adhai earlier to notice, but now she’d realized how I’d changed.

｢Where did you get the Hiveformer?｣

“During the fight with Akira.”

｢…Even in-game, seeing those damn tentacles always made my heart drop. And now I see them here too.｣

“You’ve seen them before?”

｢Don’t you remember? When we built an outpost on a planet to hunt the Arcane Orca, you showed up and wrecked everything.｣

“Oh.”

Now that she mentioned it, I did recall that.

I’d once shadowed a hunting squad to a planet and launched a terrorist attack when they landed. She must’ve been part of that team.

｢The first time I saw a human get assimilated by a Hiveformer… I nearly developed a trauma.｣

“They do transform in pretty strange ways.”

｢Honestly, this is even worse than when you used to skin people and hang them up.｣

She shuddered at the memory. Her feathers stood on end. She clearly didn’t enjoy recalling that scene.

‘I don’t think it’s that bad.’

I’ll admit it’s a bit grotesque, but I didn’t think it would bother her this much.

“When we investigate planets, I’ll go alone.”

She narrowed her eyes at me, then let out a soft sigh.

｢…Guess I’ll just have to work hard so you don’t end up having to.｣

With that faintly resentful thoughtwave from her, our discussion about the Arcane Orca came to an end.

Mother of the Sky left for the operations room where PS-111 was waiting, and I was left alone in the storage bay.

Originally, I planned to inspect the textbox. Aside from the Hiveformer, I’d gained quite a few things from the recent battles.

But maybe because it was my first real break since the intense fight, exhaustion hit me like a wave. Before I knew it, I had collapsed onto the hard metal floor and rested my head.

‘It’s not urgent. I’ll check after a nap.’

With the low hum of the engine vibrations resonating through the floor, I slipped into sleep as if my consciousness had been switched off.

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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