Chapter 46 - Pursuit of the Biological Spaceship and Response After Engagement
~Off the coast of the fourth planet of the Gialpha Star System in the Gialpha Galaxy (Gialpha Galaxy Empire, Capital Planet)~
Sangou was still staying on the sea of the capital planet as ever.
The biological spaceship was quietly waiting for its captain, Shin, to return from his son Nobunaga, the emperor of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire.
What Shin was told by Rouj about the response to beings that seemed to be biological spaceships other than Sangou would become a nearly certain decision for future action.
Unfortunately, it is impossible for the conventional forces of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire to fight and win against a biological spaceship.
To tell the truth, Sangou already knew it through eavesdropping via a subsidiary device attached to the captain's clothes.
Even so, Sangou must first finish the prior meeting with the captain.
Because it can only move in the sense of 'moving' against that after that.
On the other hand, Shin, who went to Nobunaga's place, was able to confirm detailed information.
There were two important pieces of information obtained there.
One was that no full-scale invasion force had been confirmed, and only engagements with what seemed to be biological spaceships had occurred in skirmishes, with the opponent ultimately fleeing.
The other was that no mineral space beasts, which should have been there, were confirmed at all.
The biological spaceship that should have fled before had come to the Gialpha Galaxy Empire again.
It is appropriate to think that 'there is a corresponding reason' behind it.
Then, what could that reason be?
At this time, Shin squeezed his brain, which lacked capacity, to think.
"From the opponent's perspective, as long as Sangou exists here, they shouldn't know if they can win. Rather, if it comes to battle, considering past examples, they would likely feel the probability of losing is high. Thinking that, coming here itself is strange."
Shin, who sorted out the premise conditions, advanced his thoughts further.
"Still, is there some reason they absolutely had to come to the Gialpha Galaxy? Or has the situation changed on the biological spaceship side so that they think 'we lost last time, but we can win next time'? Probably it's one of those, huh."
That was all that came to Shin's mind.
"Even if I'm cautious, in the current situation, it wouldn't be 'too much' to be cautious."
Thinking so, he thought about going to the site and dealing with it, and he is tightening his resolve seriously.
Thus, Shin, who had obtained the necessary information, headed to his reliable partner's location via teleport magic.
This would be the beginning of the consultation time for Sangou and Shin.
"Captain. Regarding the data on the biological spaceship that the Ladaburg territory's army, sent via the Imperial Military, engaged with. Considering the encounter location and battle situation, this is strange."
"Huh? What part is 'strange'?"
Neither Shin nor the Imperial Military, who provided the information, had any part that they felt was 'strange' in what Sangou said.
Therefore, that became Shin's honest question, which he directed to Sangou.
Sangou only had to answer that question.
"The performance of biological spaceships far surpasses that of Gialpha Galaxy's space vessels. If they were going to run away after a skirmish, they should have fled at the detection stage. But in reality, they encountered, entered combat, and even received attacks before fleeing. That is what is strange."
"I see."
"They probably came for some other purpose, were focusing on something else, and didn't notice the approach of Gialpha Galaxy's vessels. As a result, they happened to be found and battle occurred. And as for that purpose, they were probably searching for something small. And judging from the heading direction, it is highly likely they were 'searching for a space janitor'."
Shin and the others will never know the truth, but in fact, the biological spaceship that came to the Gialpha Galaxy was searching for small space beasts and, due to their size, did not pay attention to vessels that were not that.
Also, against an opponent other than Sangou, they were confident they could get away unscathed even if attacked.
Incidentally, 'they also knew that Sangou was not there'.
Well, setting aside such circumstances, the conversation between Shin and Sangou still continues.
"Huh? Why would they do that?"
"Sangou speculates that they came to capture them as materials for mass production of similar ships."
After this conversation, it was decided to go to the sector where the skirmish occurred and conduct an investigation, and Sangou quietly lifted off from the water and launched.
Without knowing that three biological spaceships still exist in the area closer to the outer edge of the Gialpha Galaxy from the sector they headed to.
That aside.
Also something Shin and Sangou do not know, the mineral lifeforms that hold hegemony over the Umyu Galaxy aim to eradicate the current organic life of the Gialpha Galaxy.
And they recognize that 'the greatest obstacle to that purpose currently is the existence of Sangou'.
Actually, the greatest obstacle should be Shin, the strongest hero, but they have not yet recognized the existence of 'Shin'.
Therefore, the strongest hero, Shin's partner, is not recognized as a target of threat by the mineral lifeforms.
However, Shin usually acts together with Sangou.
Thus, one cannot say it is completely wrong.
The mineral lifeforms' plan against Sangou.
It was decided to 'mass-produce copies of the second unit and pseudo-third units, and gain victory through numerical superiority'.
But they can no longer increase numbers by duplication from the original second unit.
So when it became 'what should we do?', a sudden idea was born — was that a fortunate thing?
"If we fuse the original space beasts, can we increase production further?"
The mineral lifeforms reached such a conclusion.
Through such a process, now that long time has passed since the First Intergalactic War, recovery of numbers had progressed considerably among the mineral lifeforms.
Capture and fusion of the original space beasts also went smoothly, and they had prepared a system of thirty copies of the second unit, fifteen pseudo-third units, and five pseudo-fourth units for mass production of biological spaceships.
However, unfortunately, the mineral lifeforms did not possess the 'truly necessary technology' for creating these biological spaceships.
Therefore, a method was adopted: 'forcefully fuse space beasts to the original prototype by mineral lifeform intervention, copy functions, and separate them'.
It was fine that they managed to increase biological spaceships that way, but good things wouldn't be born from such a method.
As a result, the newly created biological spaceships were unable to inherit all the performance compared to the old ones in the data.
Compared to the original prototype's performance, about 90%.
In other words, what was completed became 'copy products degraded by about 10%'.
Also, within the Umyu Galaxy, the space beasts to be fused could no longer be found.
So they moved to the stage of seeking them in the Gialpha Galaxy.
Incidentally, a 'search and capture plan' that also served as 'reconnaissance of the Gialpha Galaxy's situation' was put into motion.
Due to the 'skirmish' that arose from this flow of events, the mineral lifeforms recognized that 'their activities with biological spaceships in the Gialpha Galaxy had been leaked'.
They immediately shifted to a wartime footing.
To put it plainly, 'they attempted to start the Second Intergalactic War'.
The three pseudo ships, sensing Sangou's approach, changed from waiting in the surrounding space due to the shift to wartime footing to 'fleeing'.
The actions of the three pseudo ships switched to a flight toward the Umyu Galaxy at full speed.
"Captain. I've detected three pseudo ships. However, they have already entered withdrawal actions. I am pursuing them now, but what should we do from here?"
"Keep a loose distance. If tailing is possible, that's the best. I want to tail them and locate the enemy's base. If not, aim to sink them. If that also isn't possible, pursue as far as possible and finally let them go. Something like that. But can Sangou tail them now?"
"Yes. I'll try. If it's not deception navigation, all three pseudo ships are heading toward the Umyu Galaxy. I'll put in a contact to Nobunaga-kun and Rouj-san via the Duke of Ladaburg."
In this situation, it is unknown how long and how far the pursuit will go.
Therefore, the contact made by Sangou would be essential.
Because in a continuous pursuit situation, it is impossible for Shin to return via teleport once to report the situation and then continue the pursuit.
However, it is Shin's usual operation as a 'ponkotsu' (clumsy) hero that such things slip his mind entirely.
Shin is grateful for Sangou's backup, which comes from their unspoken understanding.
Especially because contact to the wife is essential when considering what comes after!
The biggest difference between Sangou and the fleeing pseudo ships.
That is their method of energy acquisition.
As long as Captain Shin is aboard, Sangou has no worries about energy supply.
But the pseudo side is not like that.
And the Sangou pseudo biological spaceships, even if their appearance is identical, naturally do not have the performance to reach the Umyu Galaxy without supply.
The fleeing three pseudo ships know that Sangou is pursuing them.
Also, each of those three ships naturally has an individual mineral lifeform fused within.
Mineral lifeforms share recognition through their species traits.
Therefore, the individuals waiting in the Umyu Galaxy naturally come to know it as well.
Thus, not much time was needed for the Umyu Galaxy side to share the judgment that 'this is a perfect situation for a trap'.
And so, thirty copies of the second unit and twelve pseudo-third units set out to create an encirclement.
Incidentally, the five pseudo-fourth units were left behind to watch the house due to their low combat power.
The pseudo-fourth units left behind have proper firepower, but as mothership types incapable of high mobility, their use is limited.
That cannot be helped.
However, this being left behind might become a fine play for the future mineral lifeforms, though.
While refueling along the way, the three pseudo ships continue to flee, acting as if they are trying to shake off the pursuing Sangou.
Their immediate destination is an asteroid belt unnaturally spread out in outer space.
It was something created by the mineral lifeforms.
The multiple biological spaceships lying in ambush there lowered their biological activity to the limit to make detection difficult.
Well, making such efforts pointless might be the characteristic of Hero Shin.
"Sangou. This, there's an ambush."
"Yes. It's faint and hard to distinguish, but there are reactions of 30 or more."
"That's quite a lot."
"Indeed. They've gathered such a number. It is truly 'astonishing'. Could it be that the engineers from the Deltania Star System or the development team came to this universe with their equipment?"
Sangou's detection ability has increased.
Therefore, the enemy's intended 'trap' cannot be called a 'success'.
But even if they couldn't surprise, they succeeded in a semi-encirclement.
In this case, it can be said that 'it is not a complete failure as a plan'.
Well, that evaluation is limited to the deployment before the attack.
"Enemy encirclement formation confirmed. They are already in battle posture. Concentrated fire is coming."
"Ah— Sangou. You don't need to dodge. If they can penetrate the shield magic I'm deploying, I'll praise the opponent then."
What came out of Shin's mouth at this time was so-called 'name-play' (playing around/underestimating).
At worst, even if they were hit and part of Sangou's hull was destroyed, Shin could fix it with Perfect Heal.
If the attack is based on the civilization that created Sangou, its power can be predicted, and moreover, he knows that even Sangou's best attack cannot penetrate his full-power shield magic.
Shin instantly considered these things and, from a hero's perspective who also serves as captain, adopted a strategy to actively break the opponent's heart, thinking 'such attacks won't work on Sangou'.
This strategy devised by the hero succeeds in surprising the mineral lifeforms at least.
Receiving the full-power energy convergence cannons of forty-two ships and three ships head-on, the result was no damage.
That attack, which due to the synergistic effect of concentrated fire should have possessed enough firepower to easily blow away even a star.
But before Shin's full-power shield magic, well.
Such a thing is 'powerless' in a word.
Sangou's figure, remaining unharmed, was the proof of that.
"Captain. The cannon fire's power is lower than expected."
"Huh. Is that so? (Then my full-power shield might have been over-defense?)"
At Sangou's remark, Shin was reflecting on over-insuring.
However, even when reflecting, Shin is the type to repeat the same thing about this kind of thing.
"Since there is no reason to 'intentionally lower output', they are degraded copies that look the part. Fufufu."
"(There are landmines buried in places like that, huh.)"
Shin feels terror at Sangou's 'fufufu'.
Well, even Shin doesn't feel good about degraded copies that look the same.
That point is easy even for Shin to understand.
That aside, since Sangou received the attack and endured it, counterattack becomes the next stage.
For the opponent as well, if their initial move of concentrated full-power energy convergence cannons is easily blocked, they effectively lose options in offense, and 'rapid withdrawal' emerges as an option.
However, it could also be said that 'their plan, which assumed a hit-and-run and was not predicated on retreat from the start, exposed the limits of their strategy'.
Shin, who created a giant sphere of light centered on Sangou, left defense to Kichou and jumped out into space.
The hero's usual tactics are carried out, and once again, cruel tactics are unfolded in space.
The 45 ships, having belatedly decided to flee due to the failure of their attack.
All the biological spaceships in this sector other than Sangou were sunk without any means of resistance before the hero Shin's extremely brutal tactics.
Not a single one of them managed to escape.
Well, Shin is not so powerless or tactless as to let them escape many times.
"Well, now that we've come this far. It's impossible that the Umyu Galaxy isn't their home base."
"It is appropriate to think so."
"For now, I want to be able to go directly to the Umyu Galaxy via teleport. Sangou, I leave it to you."
"Yes. I will head there while preparing for attacks."
Shin's and Sangou's views coincided, and Sangou shifted to full-speed navigation toward the Umyu Galaxy.
On the other hand, the mineral lifeforms were panicking.
Despite sharing recognition, the method of the crucial sinking was unknown.
Additionally, the biological spaceships that were supposed to be mass-produced as trump cards were annihilated except for the mothership that didn't participate in the operation.
Moreover, after that annihilation, the mineral lifeforms had no means to know Sangou's precise movements.
Even so, they could predict that it would probably come toward the Umyu Galaxy.
Because the mithril that Shin gave Sangou for analysis is inside Sangou's ship, and the mineral lifeforms that can sense it occasionally get a rough idea of its position and movement.
Incidentally, the reason it is 'occasionally' and not 'constantly' is that when Sangou enters jump navigation, they lose track of it.
If they are attacked by such an opponent, the current mineral lifeforms have no military force, tactics, or strategy to counter it.
Even the time to be at a loss is extremely limited and little remains.
Just one ship.
A mere single biological spaceship coming alone causes this situation.
For them, it is nothing less than a nightmare.
"Captain. We have arrived at the outer edge of the Umyu Galaxy. There are five reactions considered to be 'biological spaceships'. Also, based on the size of the reactions, they are assumed to be 'mothership types planned as Prototype No. 4'."
"I see. And are they strong?"
Shin's criterion for judging enemies is strength, so he is interested in combat ability.
That became his straightforward question to Sangou.
However, Sangou, who can grasp his intent, speaks accordingly.
"If they have performance as per the prototype plan, they have the ability to continuously deploy a defense field that can easily withstand Sangou's energy convergence cannon for over three hours. Firepower is slightly inferior to Futagou, I think."
"Hooh."
"However, their mobility is low. Considering overall capability, it is hard to think they are 'strong'."
Even if they possess high firepower and heavy defense, that alone doesn't determine overall combat capability evaluation.
"Hmm. I've roughly confirmed the star system positions with Map Magic. But mineral space beasts can't be distinguished with Search Magic. I haven't been home for a long time either, so how about we return via teleport magic for today and restart this matter another day?"
"Yes. Then let's do that (the Captain is just afraid of Rouj-san, after all)."
Sangou is convinced of the unspoken part.
Therefore, it did not insist on dealing with the reactions that seemed like No. 4 type 'immediately'.
At this time, when the return was decided, Sangou was working on something else.
Sangou, who is creating a report on biological spaceships for the Gialpha Galaxy Empire without even being told by Shin, is indeed the best partner for a hero who has some ponkotsu aspects.
Thus, Sangou enters Shin's shadow and returns to the capital planet of the Gialpha Galaxy in a matter of seconds.
However, Sangou assumed that battle with the five ships presumed to be No. 4 types would be unavoidable.
At that time, how many mineral space beasts, which would likely come out together, will there be?
Considering an estimated eighty million appeared in the previous invasion operation, Sangou is determined to fight at least three times that number, and at most ten times that amount.
Assuming combat in a sector where the enemy has the home ground advantage, Sangou had also begun considering tactics on the premise that the captain and Kichou would cooperate in battle.
Shin, returning to the capital planet, first put Sangou out of the shadow and had it land on the sea.
Next, he had the contents of the report handed over to him inside Sangou's ship streamed in via sensory wave.
Originally, he should have read it and understood the contents, but skipping that by requesting it is a trivial matter.
He first finished those necessary tasks, then asked Sangou to wait on the sea and pre-transmit the report data.
After such preparations, Shin himself headed to Rouj's place via teleport.
Of course, Rouj and the others were relieved to see Shin's safe return, and after roughly confirming the situation, they sent him to Emperor Nobunaga's place.
"Father. It is impossible to dispatch the Imperial Military to the Umyu Galaxy. (How many supplies and how much time would it take just to get there? Do you understand that? The Imperial Military doesn't even have such capability in the first place.)"
Nobunaga had already put the report data sent by Sangou into his head before meeting Shin.
The young man, Shin's son, despite being the supreme authority of a giant galactic empire, bitterly felt that there was little he or his nation could do against an existence seemingly planning to invade from another galaxy.
Fundamentally, aside from 'Father and Sangou' — a military force that cannot be reproduced in his own country — an expedition to the neighboring galaxy that serves as the enemy's base is not realistic, so this is nothing short of 'what can one say'.
"Ah— Is that so."
"Also, even if we send a large army, it could lead to a separate war with any intelligent lifeforms that might be there."
"Since we haven't confirmed that there are no other intelligent lifeforms, that's true too. And the Imperial Military can't go on an expedition to a place like that, huh."
"That is correct."
Until meeting Nobunaga, Shin vaguely had a joint operation with the Imperial Military in mind, but he now belatedly understood that was impossible.
If so, he has no choice but to handle it with himself, Sangou, and Kichou — the three of them.
However, there is also the option of using Shadow Magic and Teleport Magic to transport the Imperial Military.
But Shin has not the slightest intention to tolerate the risk of revealing to the Imperial Military soldiers that he has such ability.
"By the way, what do we do about handling the fact that this time we chased off three biological spaceships and sank a total of forty-five? Should we handle it the same way as when we covered up the previous results? According to the battle record data, it shouldn't look like Sangou sank them."
"I saw that. The video of enemies successively exploding and sinking while Sangou just takes attacks and endures. Father did that, right? How can such a thing be possible?"
In fact, Nobunaga has almost no experience of having ridden Sangou.
Therefore, he only knows his biological father Shin's combat ability from hearsay.
He grew up only hearing from Rouj that 'your father is strong'.
Of course, he has experienced playing physical games together, so he knows that the physical ability of his human father is abnormally excellent, easily surpassing even beastmen, who should be superior in that area racially.
However, in space, 'physical ability' is basically irrelevant.
That should be the case, and what directly connects to combat ability should be the ability to handle weapons used in space, the speed of situation judgment, and reaction speed toward enemies.
From Nobunaga, who is not free from such common sense, the question that popped out of his mouth is a natural doubt to hold.
"Your father is strong because he's a hero! He can do many things. If you look at Teleport Magic and such, you'll get a vague idea, right? Even if I show or explain, I'm in a category that you can't understand. Actually, even if you watch that video, you can't tell what I'm doing, can you? Rather, if it weren't explained, you wouldn't even recognize that 'Father did that'."
"I see? So there's no choice but to accept it as 'that's just how it is'."
"Well, that's it. No one can imitate Father, Sangou, and Kichou— wait. There's one more, Mecha-Miyu. I have to put her in the special category too. Anyway, aside from that, what should we do? At least I think we can count it as 'having merit in driving them off'."
"As a Defense Gold Medal. And some gold coins. Since you haven't rejoined the military register, promotion is impossible. Also, since formally paying a bounty for sinking forty-five ships is impossible, could you let me, your son, handle it by indulging me here?"
"I'd like to say 'it won't do for free!', but since this is a family matter, I suppose it can't be helped."
Shin also has pride as a father, and when his son honestly explains the situation and then makes a request, he is weak to it.
"(It's probably best for both of us to settle this with a medal.)"
Thus, the matter of compensation was concluded.
"Now, about the future. For now, reconnaissance of the Umyu Galaxy. Engage and destroy if we encounter biological spaceships. Also engage and destroy if we encounter mineral space beasts. If we encounter intelligent lifeforms, is it fine to take a friendly approach, trying to negotiate as much as possible? Ah, the success reward for that part can be some gold medal."
"The total annuity from medals is already incredible, yet you still want more. But well, since I can't pay proper compensation anyway, I'll indulge you if you're fine with that. Oh, of course, I'll swallow your proposal for the future as is. Nothing to add. I'll personally issue a certificate of full authority to that effect."
Laura and Pianka were actually present at this discussion.
But they said nothing, only listened quietly.
That is because if they unwisely spoke up, the discussion might shift from being between parent and child to being between the Emperor and a Marquis.
They wanted to avoid a situation that would be a 'stirring up a hornet's nest' for the Gialpha Galaxy Empire, such as giving proper evaluation and paying proper compensation.
It was Laura's judgment that 'Pianka also needs experience in this kind of discussion'.
Incidentally, that Pianka has been having Sangou stream Silk's educational program from before into her via sensory wave.
That knowledge is superficial and not accompanied by practice.
But it is far better than nothing, and Laura's empress education was progressing at a pace much faster than those around expected.
"(My daughter Pianka is such a capable child. Could my eye for people have been lacking?)"
It was a trivial matter that Laura, who was not informed of Sangou's ability and was in the teaching position, thought so and became depressed.
And it is not at all Shin's or Sangou's fault.
With such various things and such, the discussion between Nobunaga and Shin came to an end.
The conclusion reached was 'remove future trouble', and the selection and execution of specific measures were left to Shin's judgment, including Sangou.
Since he cannot rely on Shin and Sangou forever, Nobunaga, who must bear responsibility for ruling the empire, had no choice but to face reality as far as it would go.
Shin returned to the Asada Marquis's residence and prepared to head to the Umyu Galaxy again.
That said, there was no particular material that needed to be prepared.
Casually, Sangou, floating on the sea surface, was also procuring raw materials for water and food there.
What Hero Shin needs is mainly dealing with people.
Since he is going to the battlefield, there is a possibility that the schedule for returning home becomes unstable.
Therefore, care for his wife, mistresses, and children was essential.
Shin, who spent six days somehow on that part including fooling around, and refreshed both body and mind.
Incidentally, the trouble caused by Mecha-Miyu somehow mixed in there was the usual trivial matter.
However, the useless goddess only causes trouble at times when Shin has the leeway to respond, which is mysterious.
Shin returned to Sangou and finished a small meeting.
From that flow of events, the hero finally teleports to the Umyu Galaxy together with Sangou and Kichou.
The stage moves to the neighboring galaxy, the battlefield.
Well, while Shin and the others were spending such time, the mineral lifeforms in the Umyu Galaxy, in a state of maximum crisis, were certainly not wasting time uselessly.
When Shin teleported, what awaited him was something unexpected.
"Master. A great danger is approaching that couldn't be greater."
"Kichou? This! There are reactions of Reigou and Hatsugou, one each? That's impossible. Such a thing shouldn't exist."
From Kichou's and Sangou's statements, Shin tightens his resolve in the face of a critical situation.
Thus, Hero Shin began investigation at Nobunaga's request, and as a result, discovered three biological spaceships in a position slightly away from the Ladaburg territory of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire, succeeded in tailing them as they shifted to withdrawal actions.
Of course, not only that, but he also succeeded in sinking all forty-two biological spaceships that were lying in ambush and the three ships that had joined the ambush force from retreat and turned to attack.
Assuming the enemy's base was the Umyu Galaxy, a brief investigation revealed five reactions of biological spaceships presumed to be pseudo-fourth units.
It would be troublesome if they were left alone, increased in numbers of biological spaceships, and invaded the Gialpha Galaxy Empire again.
Thus, the state where reporting to Nobunaga and discussion of countermeasures were essential was established.
For Shin, who had no choice but to be entrusted with responding to the enemy in the Umyu Galaxy, an unexpected situation awaited him at the site.
What kind of crisis did Kichou sense?
What kind of existence are Reigou and Hatsugou, which Sangou wants to dismiss as 'impossible', and how will they relate to Shin and the others?
No one knows the future.
The hero-sama, who was full of intention to spend time on family service before going out to battle and fooling around with his wife and mistresses, could only feel exhausted when the usual 'Shin, help me~' from Mecha-Miyu occurred.
However, when he thought about it carefully, such contact from Mecha-Miyu only happens when Shin has the leeway to respond.
He realized that belatedly and muttered a denial of his own power of fate: 'Does it become like that only when I can go help? But it can't be intentional. Then, is this the effect of the Goddess's power of fate?'