Chapter 40

In the world of Space Survival, there are over a thousand non-playable species, based on what's known.

While there are over a few hundred planets that players can explore, it may seem relatively small compared to other online games, but it can be considered relatively large.

The in-game species have unique behaviors that correspond to their respective habitats. They are designed to reflect the traits of wild animals living in similar ecosystems, giving them a lifelike feel.

For intelligent NPC species, players who enjoy the game can experience a high level of realism based on specific cultural motifs.

However, Space Survival is still a game, so not everything is entirely realistic, and exceptions exist.

For instance, the Gallagon.

Inspired by the dragons of mythology, Gallagon exhibits quite different behaviors in many aspects compared to regular creatures.

Actions like collecting various treasures and artifacts in their nests or using powerful psychic powers to destroy cities near their nests are far from the instincts of ordinary animals.

One of these Gallagon's unique characteristics is their intense affection for their offspring and their kind.

Gallagon prefers to live in groups, much like lions.

A Gallagon group typically includes one male and seven to eight females, with the weakest presence, the Blue Gallagon, receiving protection from the entire group.

In the game, this setting is implemented as the Blue Gallagon's unique ability: summoning its kin.

In the lore, Gallagons are connected through their unique psychic powers, allowing them to call each other even if they are far apart. In the game, this connection is represented as a summoning technique, allowing the Blue Gallagon to summon its group members at will.

As a result, the Blue Gallagon itself is quite weak, but due to its association with other Gallagons, it becomes a challenging prey.

High-level players might find it easy to capture a Blue Gallagon that is hard to find, but the kin summoned by the Blue Gallagon are not considered real creatures but rather summons, so players cannot obtain items or attributes from them.

'To be honest, it's because of that, I tend to catch more of the Green Gallagons or White Gallagons than the Blue Gallagons.'

In Amorph's terms, the summoning trait disappears from the Green Gallagon and above, corresponding to the metamorph category. Of course, that doesn't make them easy opponents by any means, but compared to fighting other Gallagon groups, it's much better.

Anyway, according to the in-game settings, I am currently in a very serious danger. The creature in front of me definitely looks like a Blue Gallagon.

'But it's quite small, isn't it?'

Even though Blue Gallagons are not small, they are more than 2 meters, but this one is barely over 50 cm, a size that could be mistaken for a Fairy Wing if you don't know the Gallagon species.

'I wonder how it got caught?'

If I were ordered to capture a Blue Gallagon and bring it back alive, it would be an impossible task for me.

'…There's something I don't know.'

A Blue Gallagon is not a creature you can easily smuggle, even for a common criminal.

Unless it's a higher cartel of Space Thieves or a power beyond MegaCorp's Prime Capital that helps.

'Someone is trying to destroy the Special Trade Hub.'

For a Gallagon group, it's not difficult to destroy this place, the T&C Special Trade Hub.

If it were a fortress-like space station with multiple fleets stationed, it could be defended, but this place doesn't have particularly strong military power. There is a defense fleet, but it's not capable of stopping the enraged Gallagons.

I called Sanders to understand what's going on.

"…Yes, did you call, sir?"

"Do you know what this creature is?"

"Isn't it a Fairy Wing?"

When I asked in the neighbor's voice, Sanders seemed clueless about what's wrong.

'Gallagons are rare creatures, so he might not know.'

In the game, players who directly encounter each other are a small minority, and lower-tier users often come across screenshots and videos posted in the community.

Most people here probably have no idea about the existence of Gallagons.

"Who's the one who smuggled this creature?"

"Oh, as far as I remember, it was Jade? A person named Jade Russell."

"Russell?"

"Yes, he was imprisoned in the juvenile detention center and escaped not long ago."

Russell.

The last name sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

'Oh, Arnold Russell.'

He was the steward of Si-hyun Yujin and served as the Crisis Management officer on Samuel's research ship.

Si-hyun Yujin, who fought me, possessed the claw trait of White Gallagon due to a gene transplant.

Since she couldn't have raised Gallagons herself, her faction must know the locations of Gallagon habitats and nests.

If that's the case, it wouldn't be too difficult for her subordinates to sneak Gallagons in.

That means a noble capital, the Yujin family, planned to attack the city of the T&C family, which belongs to the same social class.

"I've seen a similar scene somewhere before."

I've encountered similar situations in the game many times. It's the event that MegaCorp players look forward to the most.

'Civil War.'

By the game's design, MegaCorp is governed by seven dominant families. The five families under Noble Capital and the two families under Prime Capital compete to become the sole rulers, sometimes leading to violent conflicts.

"Is there a festival in this city?"

"Yes? Are you talking about the Council…?"

"The Council?"

"Yes, it's scheduled for the Prime Capital directors to gather to decide the next MegaCorp CEO. There are 23 days left until the Council is held, starting from today."

As I listened to Sander, I started to understand. The highest leader of MegaCorp is determined through an election. If the five families under Noble Capital nominate candidates, the directors of the two families under Prime Capital vote for the CEO. In the game, MegaCorp players strive to gain power in their factions to secure the CEO position when their family is nominated.

'Or perhaps they might want to manipulate things to prevent the other candidate from becoming CEO.'

It's one thing to do that in the game, but in reality, it's a different story.

Si-hyun Yujin probably ordered her subordinates to smuggle the Gallagons ahead of the council announcement. Afterward, they planned to kill the Gallagons in line with the council's schedule.

As T&C is currently a competitor to the Yujin family, her actions aren't entirely incomprehensible.

'Anyway, she's already dead.'

There were 23 days left until the council. Jade, who is supposedly missing, is likely hiding somewhere in the city, planning to kill the Blue Gallagon on the day of the council.

His owner is already dead, but the execution of the plan is still uncertain.

'What should I do?'

Releasing the Gallagon now isn't ideal, but eating it isn't a good solution either. Gallagon's traits are highly desirable, but the timing is crucial. If it weren't for the council, I would have eaten it and fled to another planet immediately.

While contemplating, the frozen Blue Gallagon's tail suddenly twitched.

｢Hey, Baby, it's moving.｣

[ZZZ ZZZZZZ Z (I saw it too).]

I hurriedly tried to close the freezer, but the Gallagon opened its eyes.

'Ah.'

The violet, shining eyes scanned the surroundings before coming to a halt on my face. Then, the little creature started trembling.

'Oh no.'

I quickly picked up Number 26 and held it in my hands.

[Fear.]

Despite its young age, the Gallagon's powerful psychic wave passed through my body. Thanks to my psychic resistance, I wasn't harmed by the psychic wave. Number 26, under my protection, also didn't experience any significant shock.

"Uh, uh, ugh…"

Unfortunately, Sander, who had no protector, couldn't withstand the Gallagon's psychic attack. He trembled as if electrocuted and then fell unconscious.

[ZZZ Z(Stay calm.)]

｢Black｣, ｢darkness｣, ｢fear｣, ｢death｣.

[ZZZ ZZZZ (Not harmful.)]

The creature halted its psychic attack at my words. It wasn't a lie. I couldn't kill it right now. If I planned to capture and consume it, I'd need to wait for an opportunity to escape this city first.

｢You｣, ｢adult｣, ｢trust｣, ｢calm｣.

In a way unrelated to my inner thoughts, it seemed like the creature had placed its trust in me. The Gallagon's psychic waves had changed from the electric guitar-like sounds they were a while ago to gentle, calm ripples.

'An adult?'

In the game, Gallagons communicate exclusively through psychic waves, so they convey words or concepts to communicate. Based on the words it used, it seemed to consider me the adult of the group.

'Is it because of this?'

I pondered the 'monster's tentacle' extending from the back of my head. While the location was different, it looked just like the White Gallagon's tentacles in terms of appearance.

'Come to think of it, is it because of the monster's tentacle that we can communicate?'

In the game, Gallagons sometimes speak to players, but the reverse, where players speak and Gallagons understand, isn't possible. It seemed like the tentacle granted me the ability to communicate with it.

'Anyway, this little one seems to think of me as a White Gallagon.'

For now, I decided to take advantage of its misconception. I questioned the creature, which now appeared more stable.

[ZZZ ZZZZZZZZ ZZZ Z (Why did you come here?)]

｢I｣, ｢Mutant｣, ｢Hometown｣, ｢Exile｣.

The creature unexpectedly responded.

'Exiled because of being a mutant?'

As far as I know, among the Gallagons, there are variations, but they are slightly different from mutations that occur among regular organisms.

Variations were Gallagons that excessively consumed psychic powers and transformed into grotesque monsters, leading to their rejection by their own kind. You could think of them as fallen dragons, like those commonly seen in myths and other media.

'But it doesn't seem like a variation.'

If it were a Blue Gallagon, being a child, there would be no reason to excessively consume psychic powers. Given its much smaller size compared to its kin, it seemed like it had been exiled due to a mutation, as it claimed.

'It seems like Si-hyun's subordinate was up to some mischief. If this creature has been exiled from its homeland, their plan is effectively null and void.'

'Wait, does that mean I can eat it without a problem?'

The ability to call its kin was probably still present, but if it didn't come when called, there was no need for me to capture and consume it.

The creature sensed the change in my demeanor and quickly transmitted its psychic thoughts.

｢I｣, ｢Survival｣, ｢You｣, ｢Promise｣, ｢In return｣, ｢Treasure｣

[ZZ ZZZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZZZZ Z ZZ ZZ (If I spare you, you'll give me a treasure as a reward?)]

To Amorph, genetic essence and relic equipment are the most important treasure. When I showed disinterest, it spoke again.

｢I｣, ｢Memory｣, ｢Dragon's Nest｣, ｢You｣, ｢Guidance｣, ｢Possible｣.

In response to that, I lowered the tail that had been poised to strike.

'It claims to know about a dragon's nest?'

I didn't need a treasure, but a dragon's nest was a different matter. Ever since I became a Pre-Saint, it was a must to capture Gallagons. It was both a condition for evolving into a Quasi-Saint and to obtain rare traits. Dragon's nests were the optimal locations for Gallagon gene farming, as they were the habitats of Gallagon communities.

'Information about a dragon's nest is premium knowledge.'

I pondered over the two potential rewards. Now that the risk of summoning kin had dissipated, there wasn't much harm in eating the creature. Given my current situation where I lacked psychic-related traits, consuming it wasn't necessarily a bad idea.

'Of course, there's no guarantee that the predation effect will trigger.'

Conversely, if I didn't eat it and kept it with me, I could gain information about the dragon's nest. I wasn't sure how it knew about the nest, but Gallagons were known not to lie.

'In other words, the creature's words are true.'

The creature seemed to leave the choice to me and waited quietly. It showed no signs of resistance or alternative thoughts.

'Kill it or spare it?'

My tail swayed back and forth, mirroring my conflicting feelings. After several minutes of contemplation, I made a decision.