Chapter 140: The Tip of the Iceberg (8)
“Commander?”
“I have something to attend to. It’s… important.”
“Ah, yes! Understood.”
The soldier on guard saluted and stepped aside at his words.
With a slightly awkward smile, Richard shuddered and used his authority to open the firmly locked door and entered.
The feelings of Pyles, who stood behind, were complicated and delicate.
In the end, he had infected Richard and turned him into the same state as himself, but somehow Richard understood the situation much more quickly than he did.
‘This isn’t so much surrender as it is…’
That unrestrained demeanor made it seem like he was not being manipulated against his will, but rather actively cooperating with the enemy.
However, it was hard to question that truth. After all, Eve did not allow Richard and Pyles to converse at all as spies.
“This is the warp engine of the Letique. It’s also the latest 9th generation warp engine in the Alliance.”
‘Get closer.’
“Is that really possible? You’re saying that understanding this dream technology of a warp engine is possible just by looking at it?!”
Richard, being controlled by Eve, began to get excited and chatter on.
“What exactly are you? There must be a main body somewhere. The way Janus Inc. completely annihilated the individual units of military nanomachines… ugh.”
Eve had to shut him up to that extent.
Nevertheless, his eyes continued to gleam. Pyles, who was watching, and even Eve were taken aback.
‘He might be useful.’
In any case, Eve used Richard’s authority, which was within the top five ranks of the ship, to look up all records pertaining to the warp engine and even see the actual device.
Although Eve judged that developing this further was impossible, she believed that replicating it or making slight modifications was feasible.
“I have a proposal for you, an unknown alien creature. If you possess intelligence and rational thought, you will surely recognize its value, right?”
‘Don’t be arrogant. You’re just a tool. I will acknowledge your usefulness, but it would be wise for you to remain quietly for the time being.’
Eve, who was already busy with important matters, rejected Richard’s excited proposal.
However, Richard continued to shine his eyes even though Eve had not even listened to his proposal and outright refused.
*
“I’ve gained everything I need, and now I will create our fortress that will operate all around.”
The practical stronghold, REDRIUM.
Here, as soon as Eve acquired the desired information, she went back into massive construction work. The designs were already complete.
Of course, this was an attempt never tried before and, unlike before, it was not made with Eve’s own capabilities.
This was not production in the sense of creating part of the Legion, but rather something more akin to construction.
Eve first moved the massive roots of the sacred tree that she had prepared in advance.
Compared to the surrounding nests, this sacred tree was particularly enormous, with a thickness of several hundred meters, reaching close to kilometers in height.
The sacred tree, which reached a size that could only be attained by moonlight fairies on the ground, had its gigantic body holding the entire land area tightly within its numerous massive roots down to deep foundations.
“Lift it up.”
Eve deployed legionnaires with the ability to dig into the ground to start excavating the earth around the sacred tree and began modifying its interior.
The energy that could have created dozens of shipping vessels was instead used to lift this massive and heavy land. And once in space, propulsion wouldn’t be an issue.
Soon, the vast land beneath Eve, in front of the sacred tree, began to shake whole.
An earthquake occurred as the ground cracked and was slowly being raised up.
It was not the size of a continent that Eve had assured, but it was certainly as large as a small town.
“For now, I’m satisfied with one, but not later.”
Eve murmured blankly as she watched the land beneath her slowly ascend toward the sky.
Even at this moment, modifications were continuously being made within the land covered by the roots of the sacred tree.
Understanding the principles, structures, and conditions of the warp engine that she learned from the Alliance.
Eve applied all of them in a legion-esque manner to this invasion fortress.
The exterior appeared like a flying island, and the thoroughly protected depths were similar to a battleship, rising even higher and soon making contact with the clouds.
When warping from the atmosphere, it had to reach the space zone to prevent damage to the ground.
Before long, dozens of ship bodies that could warp together began to gather around.
Eve tilted her head back to look up. The blue sky was already surpassed.
Now darkness surrounded her, and countless shimmering stars began to emerge. The force of propulsion, which had been climbing at an astonishing speed, began to slow as gravity was lifted.
“Activate the barrier.”
The sacred tree moved its Formancy to wrap the entire fortress in a crimson defense shield. This was to protect against enemy attacks and the cosmic environment from above that covered the nest.
“Now, prepare for warp.”
For the first time in the history of the Legion, a warp was being attempted.
This massive stronghold that could never move through a gate began preparations to warp.
The destination was the homeland of Eve, where Legion Commander Kang Do-yeon and Reina were, and the very same land they had recently reclaimed. The coordinates to be used for the warp were already in the enemy’s observation data.
The plan was to pick up one of the two from there and warp back right into the heart of enemy territory.
“Warp, start.”
Before long, the Legion’s first warp was attempted.
Following Eve’s murmured words, Formancy erupted and burst from within.
The structure resembled the warp engine referenced from the Alliance but was enlarged to dozens of times its size. The energy used would have a significant difference, but the investment was worth it.
“…Success.”
For a moment, the light exploding engulfed the fortress, and soon in the place where the light receded, the fortress floated in the void of space alongside the surrounding ship bodies, accompanied by the unique silence of the cosmos.
However, the planet below underwent a transformation in appearance.
It was no longer the barren reddish-brown ground covered by the Legion’s nest, but rather land still possessing green hues.
It would be the second planet for her to consume.
‘So you succeeded.’
A fleet began to approach the fortress that had appeared with the warp from a distance. Reina, who had given up chasing after Liam’s fleet, was leading the ship bodies here.
“Our information must have reached them already, so we will strike their stronghold immediately.”
“Understood. However, remnants of their forces are still around this planet.”
“That will be for you to handle, Kang Do-yeon. Those defeated forces won’t last long anyway.”
Eve divided her power. Kang Do-yeon nodded at Eve’s finger pointing at him.
“And Reina, you go. You go and inflict as much damage on them as possible.”
And Eve granted Reina the invasion fortress and the ship bodies.
Killing as many humans as possible was a task that she really did not wish to refuse.
“Aren’t you going to take direct action?”
“…The matters on Earth are not finished yet. Therefore, I will focus on the comparatively less critical land for now.”
Eve looked down at the land.
She had conquered space. The enemies didn’t have the strength to open gates. They were literally trapped rats. The likelihood of interference was minimal.
At this moment, for Eve, it was more important to achieve merits on Earth for a promotion than to deal with the scattered remnants.
“Now move.”
Eve floated up with Kang Do-yeon and left the fortress.
Once they were sufficiently far away, the fortress attempted to warp together with the surrounding ship bodies.
In an instant, a bright flash that could eclipse sunlight occurred. After that, nothing remained in that space.
‘The remaining ships, can they be targeted?’
‘…I don’t really know. I’ll have to try.’
‘Based on reviewing all the information from the Alliance and making judgments based on it, their abilities are quite considerable.’
Drifting together in space, Eve relayed the level of Liam’s fleet to Kang Do-yeon, who had been assigned a different mission.
From the start, Liam was an outstanding figure known even in the Alliance as a dangerous personality.
‘So you plan to pull him in?’
‘Well, I’m not sure. Would he refuse to become more perfect? Would he agree? Simply being useful doesn’t mean he can become part of me. He must be able to sincerely pledge loyalty to me and move for us; otherwise, it would be inefficient.’
Eve’s judgment was that strength was needed to respond to the fleet battles that would increase in scale and frequency.
However, if it were the past, she would have rather tried to learn and do everything by herself.
But having continuously felt that effectively operating the subminds was ridiculously effective, Eve was now looking for a more comfortable way.
‘Do you… trust us?’
‘You’re saying something strange. You’re also a part of me.’
Eve scoffed at Kang Do-yeon’s words. However, she did not agree with Eve’s statement.
It was clear that Eve’s stance had changed.
‘But I have no intention of using those who refuse and are of no help. Let’s investigate at least once.’
‘…Alright. I’ll meet him at least once.’
Kang Do-yeon nodded her head. But in truth, she held little expectation.
Unlike Eve, who was aware of her victory and was being nonchalant, from Liam’s perspective, she was just a monster. A monster that kills subordinates and pushes the world into threat.
It was a completely different case from Reina, who was reborn out of hatred for humans, as the biological sister of Shin Woo.
If she were to face him, it didn’t seem that normal communication or persuasion would be possible.
