The ant nest could transform into a ship.
Despite that, it was slow — dreadfully, dreadfully slow.
There was a way to go faster, though. One could connect it to other ships and tow it along. Doing so upgraded the speed to merely dreadfully slow.
As it happened, we had a first-class navigator on board, so we were currently moving at that dreadfully slow pace.
“I’m taking over the shift.”
The ships had to take turns towing the nest to prevent the engines of the lead ships from burning out.
“I’ll go take a look around the nest.”
I decided to scout the nest while my ship was on its break. Thanks to the Crowbar, my stamina was overflowing.
“Move them carefully! Reinforce that area more!”
The soldiers were moving busily. The maintenance crews from each ship, in particular, were getting no rest, as they had to repair the damaged facilities within the nest.
You might ask why we were bothering to repair a nest we were going to dismantle anyway. Well, the environment was crucial for maintaining the freshness of the eggs.
Moreover, because the eggs were expensive, managing them was a delicate task. Normally, they required the care of a Queen, but she was dead.
“My egg!!”
The mercenaries were swarming around, infusing their assigned eggs with Force. If an assigned egg was damaged, their calculated bonus would be docked. Consequently, they treated the eggs as if they were their own offspring.
“Young Master!!”
While I was looking around, the Captain of Ship Seven stopped me.
“What is it?”
“We found a strange egg while organizing them.”
“An egg is an egg. Is there anything special about it?”
I followed the Supply Chief of Ship Seven. The moment I saw the egg in question, my eyes sparkled.
“It’s a miracle it survived.”
Buried within a heap of eggs was a peculiar one. It was one and a half times larger than the others. I recognized what it was immediately.
“It’s a princess.”
Usually, such eggs were crushed as soon as they were laid. There could only be one Queen in a nest.
However, seeing how it had been hidden among the other eggs, it seemed an elite ant had stashed it away.
If a princess successfully hatched, two options would arise. She could either lead a rebellion against the Queen, or an elite would take the princess and become independent. Occasionally, a Queen would even peacefully allow a faction to split off.
But…
“This one is a vegan.”
The egg was green. In most cases, these didn’t survive because the offspring of a Vegan Queen were weak. Even the elites wouldn’t follow them.
‘Ah! Is that why they kept it alive?’
In a situation like this, the story changed. They were isolated after an expedition to an alien galaxy. A regular Queen needed to eat living humans. Could they manage that while living in hiding?
It seemed the elites had plotted a rebellion by raising a cost-effective Vegan Queen.
They were wiped out by me before they could even try, though. Knowing this made me feel a tiny bit bad for them. Just a tiny bit — specifically, the size of a chick’s tear.
“Hehehe.”
A laugh leaked out of me despite myself. I had truly found a masterpiece.
*Step—!*
The Supply Chief of Ship Seven took a step back.
“I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have troubled you to come all this way for something like this.”
“No. This was an excellent report.”
I meant it. If I had been any later, this egg would have died. Since it was a princess, it needed much more meticulous care.
‘I’ve gained a wallet that gives out pocket money.’
Would eggs laid by a Vegan Queen be valuable? Actually, they were even more expensive. Their survival rate was high, and they were easy to manage. Since they were easy to store, they didn’t even require a nest this large.
“I’ll take this one.”
Management being “easy” only applied to the eggs laid by a Vegan Queen. This egg was a princess herself.
“I’ll have to brood it myself.”
High-purity Force was required for a successful hatching. My Force manipulation skills were bottom-tier, but I was still a noble. My Force purity, at least, was high.
***
The voyage was smooth. We didn’t encounter a single common pirate. Then again, anyone who saw this massive nest would have run away immediately.
“Chickie, it’s time for your meal.”
I periodically infused the egg with Force. It was difficult because my manipulation skills were so poor.
‘Luckily, it’s eating well.’
Unlike the foul-tempered Ant race, perhaps a kind soul would be born? I was already looking forward to it.
“Captain. The ships are starting to feel the strain.”
“Since we’ve made it this far, there’s no need for us to keep towing it. We’ll head to the Lucifell Star Cluster Center with only four ships accompanying us.”
A fleet of five ships was the standard for interstellar travel. It was a hassle to run into pirates while traveling alone.
“Our ship has detached from the nest.”
“Ship Eleven, Ship Twenty-Seven, Ship Fifty-Two, and Ship Eighty. Join our formation.”
“Entering planetary orbit.”
“Activating warp drive.”
I left the ant nest in the care of the Captain of Ship Two and headed straight for the Lucifell Star Cluster.
“Captain. We’re receiving a transmission from the cluster center.”
[Halt! Identify yourselves.]
The voice was urgent. They had likely received a report by now that a nest was approaching. We must have looked like the vanguard.
“It’s me.”
[Who is… *gasp*?!]
I simply sent over the identification code. Since it was issued by the Marshal’s Office, it was a trustworthy code.
“Shall we proceed directly to the planetary space station?”
[Welcome to Lucifell, Young Master!]
The planetary space station sent over a guidance signal. This was often done for first-time visitors who might not know the space lanes.
“Engage acceleration drive. Navigate according to the guidance.”
We didn’t actually need guidance since we had a first-class navigator. However…
“The guided path is quite complex,” So-jin said, narrowing her eyes.
This meant that space mines had been laid along the normal acceleration drive paths.
After traveling for quite some time, we arrived at the star cluster’s center planet.
[We… we apologize, but please approach Fortress Two.]
It was a natural precaution. There was a chance we had been brainwashed by the Queen.
“Understood.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
They seemed worried that I might try to dock at the station without permission. My reputation as the greatest wastrel of Sector Sixteen preceded me. I probably would have been worried too if I were the control officer.
*Clunk!*
A shuttle flew toward the flagship. It carried doctors who specialized in dealing with things like infections and brainwashing.
“Then… please excuse us for a moment.”
The men peeled back my eyelids to look.
“Say ‘ah.’ Good.”
They examined my tongue.
“This might tickle a bit.”
They even checked inside my ears. This process was carried out for every single person in the situation room.
[You may enter the port.]
***
I disembarked from the ship at a leisurely pace. A group of people was waiting to greet me at the station’s pier. A significant portion of them were humans or human hybrids.
“Welcome back.”
A man who looked to be in his early thirties spoke with dignity. Seeing the butler beside him, I assumed he was my father.
“Yes…”
I cautiously observed him. I was fairly sure he was my father, but it would be awkward if he wasn’t.
“Sit. I heard you injured your leg. That’s why I brought a wheelchair.”
“I can walk.”
“You’ve become much calmer. I expected you to be boasting about your achievements.”
Saying so, my father led the way. I waved away the wheelchair and followed him.
“Have you eaten?”
“The Young Master last ate 6 hours ago, sir,” Servant Zero-Seven answered in my stead.
“That’s perfect. Let’s have a meal together for the first time in a while. The local specialty is whale, and it’s quite good.”
The whale he mentioned was a creature that drifted through space. Although they were as large as ships, the amount of edible meat was less than 10 kilograms. I was secretly looking forward to it.
“Yes, sir.”
We headed to a luxury restaurant on the space station. There were over 100 tables, but they had all been cleared for the two of us. Below, a blue planet was visible. Over ninety percent of the planet was ocean.
“It is an honor to serve the Governor and the Young Master. The appetizer is a mermaid egg stew with an exquisite flavor.”
The chef served us personally. My father and I ate the food in silence.
‘Oh, wow!’
The taste was magnificent. The savory flavor wrapped around my tongue and seemed to connect my mouth and nose as one. My appetite exploded. It was enough to make me suspect that the steak I had been praising on the ship was actually garbage.
“You seem to like it.”
“Yes. It’s delicious.”
“Your attitude really has changed beyond recognition. Well, I suppose it’s about time you matured.”
My father looked at me kindly. My chest felt strangely tight. Suddenly, I missed my parents. It had been quite a while since both of them passed away. That was why I had no lingering attachments to my original world.
“Where did you put the ring?” he asked, looking at my partially regenerated left hand.
“It’s here.”
I pulled out the necklace and showed him.
“I’m glad you didn’t put it on your right hand. As I’ve told you before, several of our ancestors passed away after putting it on their right hand.”
There were always people who insisted on doing exactly what they were told not to do. There was a reason a specific hand was designated for it.
“What were the effects of the heirloom again?”
“It sharpens your hearing and purifies your Force.”
It really was nothing special. Then again, if it had a more powerful ability, it would have been treated as a holy relic rather than just a treasure. Still, a treasure that purified Force was highly valued.
“That’s why the heirs of our family tend to wander during their youth.”
I see. I had wondered why he was so strangely lenient. It seemed being a wastrel was a family trait.
“Though you were particularly extreme.”
Well, if everyone had caused as much trouble as this body had, the family would have been ruined long ago.
“I suffered a lot in my youth as well. It’s a torment to hear others’ words even when you don’t want to.”
I had wondered why I could hear the words of people far away so well. It wasn’t because of my Force. My abilities had blossomed because of the treasure.
“Even so, I couldn’t not pass it down. It’s the secret to our family’s success in investment.”
The secret to why the Park family could thrive was having a high-performance eavesdropping device.
“Do you lose the ability once you pass down the heirloom?”
“I suppose you’re asking because of my position as the cluster Governor?”
Since he wasn’t utilizing this great ability.
“Yes. It is a bit strange.”
“I was preoccupied. I was busy cleaning up the messes you made, and several problems cropped up at our business sites. And I thought you had caused another accident, so I didn’t suspect anything.”
“Ah…”
Even monkeys fall from trees sometimes, I suppose.
“Does the heirloom have anything to do with my poor Force manipulation skills?”
“When you gain one thing, you must give up another.”
There was a reason my Force manipulation was bottom-tier.
‘This is a problem…’
As a stranger in this body, the only thing I knew how to do was fight. To utilize that, I had to go to the battlefield. The issue was that enemies sometimes warped into the situation room. Beyond that, I might need to farm divine items or get caught in an unintended melee.
Of course, I had my Passive. But it wasn’t good to rely on it unconditionally. This universe held many dangers.
‘I need at least enough strength to protect myself…’
Since my constitution had been changed by the treasure, it wouldn’t be easy to improve.
‘Ah!’
Suddenly, a certain person came to mind. The greatest swordsmanship teacher in this world.
‘Taiji Sansu.’
He should be able to do it. He could turn even a total dunce into a functional person. However, he was like the wind. Finding him wouldn’t be easy.
“Governor. Here is the main course. It is a steak made from the local specialty, space whale meat.”
While the conversation paused, the food arrived.
“I’ll cut it for you.”
My father took the plate and sliced the meat himself. Thinking of my parents, I felt like I might cry.
“If I had happened to die in the Pepe Star System, what were your plans?”
“What else could I do? I would have liquidated our assets and returned to our home world.”
So that was it. That was why I had never heard of the Park family despite their considerable influence in Sector Sixteen. If I hadn’t possessed this body, he would have 100% died. Our lineage would have been severed.
By the way, once you leave your home world and become a multi-planetary race, there are cases where it becomes difficult to leave descendants. Usually, this is temporary and can be overcome with effort. There was a definitive solution, though: living on the home world.
“However, we would have had to pay an enormous amount of money.”
“Where was our clan’s home world? A family like ours has to pay money to go there instead of receiving support?”
“Not even knowing such basic things… You really need to study the family history. Our home world is planet Moonlove Heaven.”
The name was bizarre. I wondered if it was a planet with many moons.
“It was completely ruined and has now become a place where it’s difficult for life to survive. To settle there, one must pay a massive development fund.”
That made sense. It couldn’t be used as a colony, and the planet survived solely on those who returned to their home world for retirement.
“That ring is also the last treasure from our home world. Now, eat.”
My father pushed the plate toward me. Expecting a lot, I put it straight into my mouth.
*Whoosh—!*
The moment I chewed the meat, a massive wave seemed to crash inside my mouth. The taste was so shocking that I almost had a nosebleed. Strength surged through my entire body.
“Hahaha. You seem to like it. The taste of a space whale that hasn’t traveled through a wormhole is exquisite.”
*Trickle—!*
Champagne was poured into a glass. The bubbles sparkled like starlight.
“It’s from the Maki Blue family, which you like. I went to great lengths to get it.”
“Thank you.”
I rinsed my mouth with the champagne. Despite being alcohol, its refreshing quality made me feel as if my entire body was being purified. I trembled slightly.
“You really seem to like it. Hehehe.”
My father laughed contentedly.
“It makes me truly happy to see you’ve matured. Tomorrow, leave for the Poena Marshal’s Office. It’s dangerous here.”
“If I’m going, we should go together.”
At my words, my father looked slightly touched.
“To think you’d worry about me. I can die without regrets now. But there’s no way Marshal Imperium will leave this place alone.”
“He will.”
My father looked at me with a questioning expression.
“What Marshal Imperium truly wants isn’t revenge; it’s money.”
“I suppose you could look at it that way. Even so, it’s only a matter of time.”
After he dealt with the Humildas Marshal’s Office, he would eventually swallow this place up. Geographically, this place was closer to the Imperium Marshal’s Office than to Humildas.
“We just have to sell it to someone else for a high price before that.”
“What?!”
“Aren’t we a family of merchants? We aren’t abandoning the place and running away. We’re handing it over to someone else, so no one can criticize us.”
“And who would buy this place?!”
There was one. A total sucker.