Side Story Chapter 38 - Welcome To Earth (3)

“A-Aaaahh.”

The commander stepped backward in pallor. He felt as if he were stuck in a neverending nightmare, the fear taking control of his body. He could feel his wet pants as he stepped back.

“S-Stay away.” He shouted, “STAY AWAY!!”

“Why are you telling me to stay away? It’s only making me want to get closer.”

“Eek!”

“Hahahaha!” Oh Kang-Woo burst into laughter as he looked down at the terrified commander. He grabbed a collapsed chair in the mess of a control room and leisurely sat down. “To be honest, you were just a terrible match for us.”

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue as the commander trembled pitifully. There was no better way to express it.

‘In terms of firepower, they might be superior.’

Their technology was so advanced that comparing it to Earth’s primitive technology was a joke. Purely in terms of physical destructive capabilities, their weapons surpassed Kim Si-Hun or Balrog.

“But the weapons you’re so proud of don’t work on us.”

Their weapons were not imbued with Divinity. No matter how strong their attacks were, their power would be drastically reduced after colliding with the Deific Essence barrier. The enemy was so outmatched that it was almost unfair. Their defeat was decided from the moment they failed to penetrate the Deific Essence barrier.

“I mean, the result wouldn’t have changed even without the Deific Essence barrier.”

Kang-Woo cackled. The situation was different from when the Parasites invaded Earth. This planet was now full of individuals so powerful that calling them

monsters

would be an understatement.

‘Not only that, but these guys are far below the Parasites.’

The Galactic Federation was objectively far weaker than the Parasites. However advanced their technology was, they were still no more than humans.

‘How the hell did they conquer countless planets?’

Kang-Woo tilted his head in confusion, wondering if the forces of the outer worlds weren’t as strong as he once expected.

“No... that’s not it,” Kang-Woo muttered as he shook his head.

‘Earth’s full power is heavily focused on me, Si-Hun, and Balrog.’

Han Seol-Ah recently joined the list as well. In any case, Players wouldn’t have had a chance against the Galactic Federation if the four of them were not here. Even a High Ranker with the ability to fly would have no chance against a giant battleship.

‘Earth’s power balance is an absolute mess.’

The difference in power between Kang-Woo and the high-ranking Players was like the difference between Son Goku and Mr. Satan. Kang-Woo had become so powerful to the point that his past self in the Nine Hells felt like a joke. Hence, it was difficult to judge the strength of the Galactic Federation by his standards.

“Well, I don’t give a shit about how many planets you conquered.” There was something more important to find out. “Do you know Akart?”

“Akart...?”

The commander shook his head in confusion. He did not seem to be lying.

‘So Akart wasn’t the one who brought them here?’

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and raised his arm. If they didn’t know anything about Akart then there was no reason to keep them alive.

“If you don’t know, then you might as well d—”

Bweeeeeeeeeeee!!

Just then, an earsplitting noise shook the control room.

“The hell...?”

Kang-Woo frowned. Warning alarms have been ringing since earlier, but this sounded different; it was more like a sonic weapon meant to burst one’s eardrums than an alarm.

‘What could it be for it to be louder than the alarm for the engine getting destroyed?’

Kang-Woo chuckled nonsensically. He took a step back and looked around with great interest.

“Ah...”

“...”

“C-Commander...”

The expressions of the soldiers of the Galactic Federation in the control room turned pale. They were trembling in fear, more terrified than when a third of the battleship was destroyed and the engine was torn apart.

“Could it be...”

The commander’s expression was just as pale. He stared at his subordinates as he shook his head as if he didn’t want to believe it. One of the subordinates staggered as he raised himself to check the holographic monitor that was still somehow functional.

“Lactheon Alpha has... broken out.”

“Wha...”

The commander fell to the ground as if he had given up on life. Lactheon Alpha was the name of the android that would have been deployed for the project in which the Galactic Federation had invested all of its resources. However, Lactheon Alpha possessed a critical flaw and the federation ended up needing to create a beta version to be deployed.

Lactheon Alpha’s critical flaw was that it had developed a personality.

Boom—!

“Kurgh!”

The door to the control room burst open by an explosion. A white-haired young man strutted into the control room as he strangled a Galactic Federation soldier.

“Kurgh! Guh! S-Spare m...”

“...”

Crunch!

The white-haired man broke the soldier’s neck without hesitation and turned to look with uninterested eyes at the terrified commander who had wet his pants. The white-haired young man walked toward the commander.

“S-Stop! Wait, Lactheon Alpha!”

“...”

“If you kill me, the project will— Kurgh!”

The young man known as Lactheon Alpha trampled on the collapsed commander’s chest.

“Where is the code?” asked Lactheon Alpha in a low tone.

His voice sounded robotic as if he lacked emotions. The commander looked around as he bit his lip.

He pointed at Kang-Woo and shouted, “I will give you the code if you kill that intruder!”

“Intruder...?”

Only then did Lactheon Alpha turn to look at Kang-Woo, who had been watching the situation unfold with great interest. Kang-Woo chuckled.

“What kind of development is this?”

Considering the white-haired young man attacked the members of the Galactic Federation as soon as he suddenly entered the control room, they did not seem to be allies.

Lactheon Alpha, whose foot was on the commander’s chest, slowly turned to Kang-Woo. “Who are you?”

“I should be asking you that question. Who are you?”

“...”

“Wh-What are you doing?! I told you to kill that intruder if you want to know where the project code is!” shouted the commander like a madman.

Lactheon Alpha looked down at the commander and then took his foot off him to face Kang-Woo.

“Lactheon Alpha, Form Two,” he muttered as he bowed.

Clank, clank, clank!

The sound of cogs interlocking rang from Lactheon Alpha’s body. His back opened and a white suit wrapped around him. Unlike Balrog’s Overlord Armor, this suit was made purely with the power of science.

“Whoa, what the fuck? Are you Iron Man?”

Kang-Woo expressed amazement as he stared at Lactheon Alpha in the white suit. He had no idea what the relationship between the commander and Lactheon Alpha was or what the project code was, but he knew one thing.

“That’s so fucking cool. Can I have one too?”

Lactheon Alpha did not answer.

Vwoooooooo!

The back of the suit opened to reveal powerful jet engines. Lactheon Alpha shot forward along with a deafening sound.

“Please, just one. I won’t ask for two.”

“...”

“Can it be in black?”

“...”

“I guess not. Sadge.”

“You... talk a lot.”

“It’s the only thing I can be proud of.”

“I have no grudge against you, but I will have you die,” said Lactheon Alpha as he raised his right arm.

Ker-thunk!

A sharp blade shot out from the back of his hand to split Kang-Woo apart.

Clang—!

“...!”

The sound of hitting metal echoed throughout the control room. Lactheon Alpha quickly jumped back once he realized his attack failed. He looked back and forth at his blade and Kang-Woo incomprehensibly.

“What... is that?” he asked.

“It’s called Divinity,” Kang-Woo answered.

“Divinity...?”

Lactheon Alpha frowned. He did not know what Divinity was but he did not have much time; he needed to end this battle as soon as possible and get his hands on the project code.

“Haaap!!”

Lactheon Alpha spread out his arms.

Clank, clank, clank!

A dozen gun barrels sprouted from the suit like a hedgehog’s quills along with the sound of cogs interlocking.

Rumble—!!

Mini-missiles fired from the barrels and flew toward Kang-Woo.

“I want it more and more,” Kang-Woo remarked as he whistled and leisurely raised his hand.

He could just stand still and let his Deific Essence barrier do the work but it did not feel good to get bombarded like a training dummy.

‘I might as well warm up a little.’

Kang-Woo smiled. He had no interest in the elite soldiers of the Galactic Federation wearing powered suits or their highly advanced technological weapons that made Earth’s technology pale in comparison, but the android Lactheon Alpha piqued his interest for some reason.

“Authority of Blades.”

A black blade shot out the back of Kang-Woo’s hand like Lactheon Alpha’s blade. He lightly stepped forward and swung the blade.

Slash—!!

The Authority of Blades awakened a new ability because the demonic energy of the Abyss became available after the Demonic Sea fused with Kang-Woo’s body. Space itself was split along the path of the swing and from it sprouted branches of blades. It was as if a thick net was formed in midair.

“Black Net,” Kang-Woo muttered the activation word.

A net of blades appeared and slashed every mini-missile flying at Kang-Woo.

“Urgh!”

Lactheon Alpha gritted his teeth and fired missiles endlessly from a distance. Bullets, missiles, lasers, and plasma cannons shook the entire control room. However, none of them could penetrate the net of blades.

“Ahh,” Lactheon Alpha expressed as he chuckled bitterly. He looked down at himself with trembling eyes. “Fuuu.”

There was no way to break through that net of blade with normal means. If that was the case, all that was left were abnormal means.

“I’m sorry, captain...”

Lactheon Alpha looked sorrowfully into the air as if thinking of someone— the

God of Machines

, whom he could never see again... who would never return.

“Haaa,” Lactheon Alpha sighed.

He raised his right hand and slowly placed it over his heart. He opened the suit and removed the safety systems.

Crackle!

Blue sparks flew from Lactheon Alpha’s chest.

He said piously as if praying to a god, “Overheat.”

Tssssssssssssss!!

The white suit glowed red as immense amounts of steam poured out of it.