Chapter 5: Burning the Way Back

I woke up after a deep sleep, likely thanks to the medic’s special injection.

My backside throbbed a bit, but it was bearable.

Perhaps because of the pain, the reality of being in the  world still felt vivid.

‘I guess I have to keep living in this world.’

Fear and relief coexisted in my heart simultaneously.

“Captain. We’re in the asteroid field!”

Large meteors floated outside the window.

Occasionally, small stones flew into the shield and were bounced back.

Just admiring the scenery was quite entertaining, but…

“Let’s go to the situation room.”

When I stepped outside, the corridor was wide open.

The piles of trash that had been everywhere were completely gone.

In the distance, I could see some guys who looked like soldiers and officers having a scuffle.

“Do we have to throw this away, too?”

“Bring everything, down to the underwear!”

The officers were going through the private rooms, scraping up every last item as if the trash wasn’t enough.

They seemed to be faithfully carrying out my orders to collect junk.

Given the crew’s morale, they wouldn’t normally follow orders so enthusiastically.

“Huh?! Captain! Do we really have to throw away even our underwear?”

The soldier who was arguing with the officer spotted me and asked, skipping the salute.

“Take off what you’re wearing, too. This is a matter of life and death; does underwear even matter?”

“Ah… no, sir.”

I passed by the guy and headed toward the situation room.

I heard the sound of someone being beaten from behind.

“See! I was right! Strip off your shorts, you bastard!”

“Ouch! Don’t hit me where you already hit me!”

A scene where physical abuse was alive and well.

I didn’t bother to stop it.

It’s definitely not because he didn’t salute me.

I’m not that petty of a person.

Pshhh!

The situation room door opened.

“Loyalty!”

Two big guys I hadn’t seen before saluted me.

They looked well-disciplined.

I gave them a satisfied look and acknowledged them appropriately.

“You don’t look like you belong to the situation room?”

“We’re from the combat unit, sir. We were sent for rotational support because there was a vacancy in the situation room.”

I threw myself into the captain’s chair.

The plush texture enveloped me.

This thing was much more comfortable than the bed in my private room.

As I closed my eyes, I heard whispering.

“I heard the captain took down three people by himself.”

“He’s a noble, so shouldn’t he be at least that good?”

“The cook said he wasn’t satisfied even after killing them and hacked them to pieces.”

“I heard he’s been killing people as a hobby since he was a kid. I guess those rumors are true.”

“Let’s be careful.”

 those two were whispering.

Maybe it’s because my hearing developed due to the Force, but I can hear everything.

Pshhhhh!

The situation room door opened and the First Officer entered.

Snap!

She spotted me and immediately saluted.

I raised my hand—no, my wrist—appropriately.

I still wasn’t used to my severed left hand.

Will it really grow back?

Should I attach a hook as a temporary measure until it grows back?

“Did you get some rest?”

“Yes! Rest is also part of the operation, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

The First Officer busily began her work.

A moment later.

The entire situation room staff had returned.

Since it was a matter of survival, everyone worked enthusiastically.

To an outsider, they might even be mistaken for an elite crew.

“Situation report. The distance from the enemy is gradually closing.”

It was only natural since those ships over there were expensive.

We were just a single patrol unit.

There wasn’t a ship in sight that we could beat in a fair one-on-one fight with this outdated vessel.

“We have finished collecting junk from all ships.”

Everyone’s eyes gathered on me.

Their gazes were asking what I was going to do now.

“Good. We’ll be at the target point soon. It’s a perfect place to fight.”

The density of the asteroids was increasing.

The range of maneuverability was also narrowing.

Some asteroids looked several times larger than our ship.

“That spot looks good.”

I set one point as the final destination.

“Moving to the designated point.”

The helmsman steered the ship with a haggard face.

He must have slept after setting it to auto-pilot, but he looked exhausted.

I suspected he might be chicken-hearted.

He didn’t seem very reliable to be left at the controls.

‘I urgently need a helmsman.’

Profiles of A-rank or higher helmsmen flickered through my mind.

But what’s the point if they aren’t here?

There is no position as important as the helmsman on a ship.

It’s not called the secondary lifeline for nothing.

“Captain. Are we really fighting here?”

“Put your worries aside. We’re going to win.”

Actually, I was a little worried.

I was afraid the characteristics of the asteroids might not work the same way they did in the game.

As I was pondering, the First Officer asked.

“I don’t understand why you chose this place as the battlefield.”

I put on a serious face while hiding my anxiety.

“Roughly 8,000 years ago, there was a battle here.”

“Pardon? I know most major battles. But I’ve never heard of a battle taking place here. And 8,000 years ago, wasn’t this area occupied by barbarians?”

“Correct. It was a battle among themselves, so it’s hardly in the records. To put it simply, three factions collided here. The formation was 12 ships, 35 ships, and 42 ships.”

The First Officer had a face that asked, ‘Why the hell is this guy saying this?’

I’m sorry, but I’m just reciting what I saw in the game.

“Who do you think won?”

“I don’t know. If two factions temporarily joined forces, the story might change, but…”

“No factions joined forces. The 12 ships that did nothing ended up being the final victors.”

“Could it be… is the composition of these asteroids Dung?”

“You know about Dung, too.”

Dung is a useless mineral.

The peculiar thing is that when high energy is generated, it randomly transfers the gravity of surrounding materials.

There is no set direction.

There is no set size.

An object the size of a palm could have the weight of an asteroid.

An object the size of a building could become lighter than a feather.

And if they can’t withstand that fluctuating gravity?

“Ah!!! This place will become a sea of fire.”

It’s lucky if it just explodes.

It will collapse chain-reactively at the atomic level, causing nuclear fission.

“You seem to know a lot about Dung?”

“Yes. I wrote a report on Dung during my time at the academy. There was a professor who was researching Dung.”

There were many eccentrics.

To research Dung because there was nothing else to research.

Dung cannot be controlled artificially.

There is no way to store it safely.

It only pollutes its surroundings.

That’s why it’s completely useless.

“Good. I’ll leave the trash dumping to you.”

“Understood! May I have temporary captain’s authority?”

I nodded.

Snap!

The elf sat in the First Officer’s seat.

A request for authority came to me, and I accepted it.

‘Let’s see how she does.’

I watched leisurely.

She began to classify the trash in the hangar one by one, put them into the launcher, and started scattering them while adjusting the force.

She didn’t overlook a single pair of underwear or a single ballpoint pen.

She didn’t just coordinate our ship; she even took authority from the captains of the other ships and gave instructions simultaneously.

‘She’s going this far?’

Is she calculating all of that?

Watching her was almost maddening.

If it were me, I would have just scattered it roughly near where we’d face the enemy.

“Are we throwing away missiles, too?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll have to recalculate the blast radius.”

“I… see.”

When Dung causes a chain explosion, unstable materials are also affected.

The most unstable things on a ship are missiles.

“Just in case, I’ll hide them with other items.”

“Right. They might not notice the trash, but if we throw away missiles, the enemy will think it’s strange.”

Missiles are the only means of attack that can ignore shields.

Besides, unlike lasers or beams that run on reactor energy, they are consumables.

In other words, they are extremely high-value assets.

“I will ask again. Is it really okay to throw them away?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Won’t the family’s support be cut off? Since you are also operating the patrol unit’s expenses only with the funds from the Marshalry…”

As far as I knew, the support funds for the patrol unit were a pittance.

In the first place, patrol units were assigned to nobles to save the Marshalry’s budget.

It was like a tax given in exchange for the privileges the nobles enjoyed.

‘They must have suffered a lot.’

That would be one of the reasons the morale was a mess.

Let alone bonuses, they probably worked hard to shake down passing merchant ships just to cover operating costs.

When few merchant ships passed by, they probably had to starve.

‘I thought it was strange that there was only a bed in the captain’s room.’

The only thing other than the bed was a wall-mounted full-length mirror.

That was likely an option that came with the ship rather than furniture he had bought.

For the record, ship-grade furniture was very expensive.

“We’re going to withdraw after the battle anyway. The patrol unit has no obligation to defend.”

A patrol unit literally just patrols.

If they find a suspicious enemy, reporting it is everything.

They don’t have to engage in combat.

They can even disband themselves after reporting.

Because the patrol unit is the noble’s asset and private army.

“Then… are we returning?”

“Of course.”

We have to go back as soon as possible.

After that, I have to persuade this body’s father to liquidate the family assets and escape the Humildas Marshalry.

Because this neighborhood is scheduled to become a total mess.

‘Which faction should I rely on?’

Thinking about that made my head hurt.

There wasn’t a single guy around that I liked.

“By any chance… do you have any intention of joining the volunteers?”

“Why do you ask?”

“In my humble opinion, the reason the Imperium Marshalry is doing this seems to be to start an all-out war.”

“Probably. Since the thing the Imperium Marshal values most is preliminary reconnaissance.”

“Then an all-out war will break out. Wouldn’t you, Captain, a noble with a long history in Humildas, also participate in the war?”

What kind of logic is that?

 I have absolutely no intention of doing so.

If I fight, I should fight under someone who has a chance of winning.

I’m just going to run away.

The Humildas Marshalry has no future.

Unless I’m the one commanding the entire army.

“What does that have to do with you?”

“I would like to continue serving under you, Captain.”

It’s probably not a green light, surely.

“What’s the reason?”

“I think my promotions will be fast if I follow you, Captain.”

The First Officer was a soldier and a private soldier hired by our family at the same time.

The funny thing was that even if she went to another Marshalry, she could serve while having her current rank recognized.

Because even if the Marshals fought each other to the death, they were all technically part of the same Empire.

“You’re saying you’ll follow me? I think you’ll be promoted to Lieutenant just by winning this battle. If you’re a Lieutenant, you can even aim to be the captain of a corvette.”

“My goal is higher.”

“First… let’s talk again after the battle is over.”

It was about time for the enemies to arrive.

We finished setting the trash trap and took up our formation.

“Captain. The composition analysis is finished.”

“Then that place would be good.”

Not all of these asteroids contained Dung.

Some were just ordinary rocks.

We positioned ourselves between two ordinary asteroids.

They would act as a buffer when the explosion occurred.

“The position seems exquisite, but what if the enemy pushes in slowly to capture us?”

“Don’t worry. That will never happen.”

Just then, the situation soldier reported.

“Captain. The enemy has appeared ahead.”