[Location: Low Earth Orbit]
[Status: Zero Gravity. Zero Oxygen. 100% Panic.]
Space is quiet.
Until a dragon screams in your mind.
"RETURN TO THE PEN, LIVESTOCK."
The Void Leviathan blocked the stars. It was 5 kilometers long. Its scales were made of black nebulae. Its eyes were burning suns.
[Boss: The Void Leviathan]
[Level: 80]
[HP: 5,000,000]
[Passive: Vacuum Aura (Drains oxygen from nearby ships).]
The HMS Profit Margin shook. The metal groaned under the psychic pressure.
"Hull integrity dropping!" Sparky yelled, his metal hands flying over the console. "The oxygen scrubbers are failing! We have 2 minutes of air!"
"Calm down," I ordered.
I stood at the Weapons Console.
I looked at the radar. The Leviathan opened its mouth. A beam of pure, concentrated Gamma Radiation began to charge.
"It's firing!" Sylvia screamed. "Shields won't hold!"
"Sparky," I said calmly. "Cut the engines."
"What?! We'll be a sitting duck!"
"Do it."
Sparky cut the power. The ship went dead.
Momentum carried us forward.
The Leviathan fired.
BZZZZZT.
A beam of violet light the width of a city erased the space where we would have been if the engines were running.
It missed by inches.
The heat blistered the paint off the hull.
"Now," I gritted my teeth. "Power to the Railgun."
I patted the breech. Inside sat the One Million Gold Bullet.
[Item: Plot Armor Piercing Round.]
[Effect: Ignores Invulnerability Frames. Disables Health Gating. Prevents Regeneration.]
"This bullet costs more than your life," I whispered to the Leviathan. "Don't blink."
I looked through the scope.
The Leviathan was charging a second shot. Its mouth was wide open, exposing the glowing core in its throat.
[Target Locked.]
[Hit Chance: 100%.]
"Invoice sent."
I pulled the trigger.
BOOM.
The recoil pushed the massive ship backward in the vacuum.
The bullet flew. It didn't travel in a straight line. It warped space, bypassing the Leviathan's Void Shields.
It hit the Core.
CRACK.
No sound. Just light.
The Leviathan's head jerked back. The glowing core shattered.
[Critical Hit!]
[Damage: 999,999.]
[Effect: 'Immortality' Disabled.]
The dragon writhed in silence, clawing at its own throat. It wasn't dead. It was pissed.
"It's still moving!" Ahri yelled. "It's regenerating!"
"No," I said. "The bullet stopped the regen. But it has 5 million HP. I only took off 20%."
I walked to the airlock.
"Where are you going?" Seraphina gasped. "It's space! You'll explode!"
I activated my Void Ring.
A purple bubble formed around my body.
[Skill: Void Walk (Space Variant).]
(The Void is your home. Vacuum does not harm you.)
"I'm going to finish the job," I said.
I opened the airlock.
WHOOSH.
I was sucked out into the cold dark.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[External View: Space]
I floated.
It was peaceful. No screaming nobles. No whining goblins. Just me and a giant space worm.
The Leviathan saw me. A tiny speck.
"YOU..."
It lashed out with a tail the size of a skyscraper.
I didn't dodge.
I pointed my Left Hand at the beast.
The Ring of the Void Monarch began to vibrate. It recognized the energy signature.
This Dragon wasn't flesh. It was made of Void Energy.
It was food.
"GLUTTONY: MAX OUTPUT."
The ring turned into a black hole.
The Leviathan's tail hit the event horizon of my hand.
It didn't crush me.
It was Spaghettified.
The massive limb twisted, stretched, and was sucked into the ring.
"WHAT?!" The Leviathan recoiled. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
"I'm the Apex Predator," I transmitted telepathically.
I flew forward. Propelled by mana jets.
I landed on the Leviathan's face.
I stabbed the Soul-Eater's Fang into its eye.
SHUNK.
[Soul-Eater Active.]
The dagger drank deep. But this soul was too big. The dagger trembled, threatening to shatter.
"Fuse!" I commanded.
I used [System Override].
[Target: Void Leviathan Soul.]
[Target: HMS Profit Margin (Ship Core).]
[Action: Bind.]
I channeled the dragon's soul into the ship.
"NO! I WILL NOT BE A BATTERY!"
"Yes," I said, twisting the blade. "You will."
[System Notification]
[Boss Slain.]
[Level Up: 30 -> 35.] (Massive EXP jump).
[Level Up: 35 -> 38.]
The Leviathan's body dissolved into stardust. Its massive, screaming soul was pulled by gravity chains into the ship's reactor.
On the bridge, the lights turned from Red to Cosmic Purple.
Sparky screamed. "Power levels! They're over 9000%! The ship... it's evolving!"
The Profit Margin grew. Bone plates expanded. Wings of light formed.
[Ship Upgrade Complete.]
[Class: Star-Dreadnought.]
[New Feature: Orbital Bombardment.]
I floated in space, surrounded by loot.
[Item: Void Scale (Mythic) x50.]
[Item: Leviathan Eye (Legendary).]
I collected it all.
Then, I looked down.
Earth.
From here, it looked fragile. A blue marble.
But with my new Void Eyes, I saw the truth.
A grid covered the planet. Green lines of code.
And attached to the planet, like leeches, were massive, invisible tubes sucking mana out into deep space.
[The Harvesting System.]
"So that's how it works," I whispered.
"We aren't a game. We're a gas station."
I looked at the Orbital Satellites floating nearby. Ancient tech left by the Architects.
"Sparky," I radioed.
"B-Boss? You're alive?"
"I'm fine. Listen carefully."
"I'm going to hack the Satellite Network."
"I want you to link the Ship's targeting computer to every satellite in orbit."
"Why?"
I looked down at the continents below. The Northern Empire. The Kingdom of Oaklan. The Church of Light.
"Because I want Map Hacks."
[Hacking Initiated...]
[Success.]
A holographic map appeared in my HUD.
I could see everything.
I could see the Pope eating soup.
I could see Lord Azure crying in his ruined castle.
I could see the "New Hero" Kenji stuck in a pit.
And I could see the Third Wave preparing to spawn.
"Global Vision unlocked," I grinned.
I kicked off the wreckage of a satellite and flew back to the ship.
"Open the bay doors, Sparky."
"We're going home."
"And by home..."
I checked the map.
"I mean the Capital of Oaklan."
"It's time to cash in my 50% ownership stake."
[Quest Complete: The Space Walk.]
[Loot: Star-Dreadnought, Global Surveillance, Level 38.]
[Next Arc: The Return of the Kingpin.]
[Current Status:]
Location: Descending from Orbit.
Power: Absolute.
Goal: Consolidation.