Chapter 57
When it comes to a battle between planet-sized creatures, even Kait couldn't decide whether to intervene or just watch.
The space eels were staring at each other with their mouths wide open. It was probably intimidation, but Tuna, who was supposed to be smaller, showed no sign of fleeing. This was clearly different from territorial disputes in the natural world.
Speaking of which, during the conference at Radia, the topic of discussion was how to distinguish them by appearance, and it seems there's more individual variation than expected.
First, the larger eel (tentative name) had six parts to its mouth instead of four. That alone was a major difference, but on closer inspection, its body had a faint reddish tint. Not bright red, but when placed side by side, the difference was clear. Both were primarily gray, but Tuna looked whiter and stood out more in space.
Then, Emotion said something strange.
'Captain. How about we just observe for now?'
"What do you mean?"
'Considering the size difference, it's unlikely Mr. Tuna can win. Once the battle is over, perhaps we can establish friendly relations with the survivor instead.'
"Well, that's certainly convenient for us."
Emotion's suggestion was efficient if you looked at it objectively. Space eels simply couldn't tolerate the existence of other space eels. If it was just about forming a relationship, there was no need to fixate on Tuna.
However, Kait had no intention of choosing that path. As Tuna had mentioned, not all space eels were friendly toward organic life.
"Well, I guess that's not going to work."
'Not going to work?'
"Don't you see that wreckage over there?"
Kait based his reasoning on the condition of the pirate fleet that had been annihilated earlier.
Unlike the Corporation fleet destroyed by Tuna, there were no signs of melting. And all the wreckage was scattered around the large eel's face.
It's possible the heat ray ability varies between individuals. Maybe the large eel simply couldn't use it. But what Kait was concerned about was something else.
'Was it eaten?'
"Yeah. There are pretty obvious signs of predation. Whether or not it's a creature that feeds on organic life, it's definitely more voracious than Mr. Tuna."
Moreover, if the communication logs were to be believed, it had been chasing fleeing pirates—despite the presence of a nearby star system. It could be that the large eel was targeting ships over planets.
'I see. So, Captain, you intend to assist Mr. Tuna then?'
"That depends on Tuna. If he doesn't want interference, we'll have to help without being noticed."
Kait glanced over at Tuna. No good—he was entirely consumed by murderous intent.
Kait let out a small sigh and stepped outside the Queen Bee. He lightly accelerated a Worker Bee and struck Tuna's temple.
—Ow! K-Kait?
Maybe it helped that his gaze shifted—Tuna's attention turned toward him.
"Calm down, will you?"
—S-Sorry. But just looking at that face makes my emotions go wildly destructive... guhraaagh!
"No need to keep doing that."
One more hit. This time with a bit more force.
—Ouch! K-Kait. I'd appreciate it if you could be a bit gentler.
"There's a saying among organic lifeforms. If you lose your cool in front of the enemy, you die."
—T-There's a saying like that? Understood. I'll try to calm down.
Probably impossible. With a bit of resignation, Kait posed a question to Tuna.
If they didn't confirm it now, they'd probably lose sight of each other once the battle started.
"So, what do you want to do? Should I help?"
***
The large eel was just massive. According to Tuna, who responded while overwhelmed with emotion, body size doesn't necessarily correlate with strength. Some individuals, like Tuna, increase their internal density, so being larger didn't guarantee the big eel was more developed.
Indeed, Tuna had consumed all the remains the Federation had stored, but his size hadn't visibly increased. It must've been used to increase internal density.
"It's strange how you can decide your own growth like that."
'True. By the way...'
"What is it?"
'Even if that large eel is more developed than Mr. Tuna, that wouldn't be strange, right?'
"Yeah. If it's both big and dense, I doubt Mr. Tuna stands a chance."
Since Tuna initially said he wanted to try on his own, Kait decided to stay put and observe.
The battle began without any real signal. Both opened their mouths to the limit and fired heat rays at each other. Apparently, the large eel could use heat rays too. Maybe it didn't burn the pirate fleet because it didn't want to reduce the edible parts.
With a threefold size difference in height, the large eel's heat ray was also bigger. A beam large enough to engulf Tuna clashed with Tuna's own.
"Barrier, barrier... there we go."
Calmly, Kait deployed a barrier around the Queen Bee using Worker Bees. Immediately after, a heavy pressure hit. The heat rays interfered and dispersed, and the shockwave reached the Queen Bee.
It looked like the heat ray hadn't hit Tuna's body. The scale was large, but the power seemed about the same.
The heat rays stopped almost simultaneously. Neither seemed to think that single blast would end it, so it was likely just a greeting shot.
The side of Tuna's body opened like gills. A charge propelled by air burst.
Naturally, a straight charge would get him swallowed whole. The threefold height difference was no joke.
Tuna swam through space in a serpentine motion. Apparently, he also saw straight charging as dangerous. He aimed for the side, zigzagging as he rammed into the large eel's flank.
"Nice! ...Oh—"
'This is...'
The body slam hit the large eel dead-on. Since Tuna's body didn't shift, the impact must have fully transferred.
The problem was that the large eel didn't budge. It wasn't that it couldn't react—it simply didn't dodge.
But Tuna didn't give up. Seeing no reaction, he wrapped himself around the large eel's torso. He probably intended to squeeze it. If Tuna's internal density was higher, it should be painful for the large eel—but...
The large eel didn't seem to care. It shifted slightly and raised its head to bite into Tuna's body.
Completely focused on attacking, Tuna couldn't react at all. The part that got bitten was yanked and peeled off with ease.
—This is bad.
Bitten on the side, Tuna finally seemed to regain his senses. Looking over, he spoke nonchalantly.
—Its density is about the same as mine. I might not stand a chance.
"Told you so."
He struggled to escape, but the bitten part didn't move at all. Tuna's only saving grace was that their internal densities seemed evenly matched, so he wasn't at risk of being bitten in half right away.
Tuna tried biting the large eel's head, but it seemed completely ineffective. It was like a child fighting an adult. Thinking that, Kait also sprang into action.
As Tuna and the large eel grappled, Kait approached and had the Worker Bees gather the scattered pirate ship debris.
He used psychic power to compress the collected wreckage into a single mass and mounted it on the Queen Bee's bow.
"Not very flashy, but—Wreckage Ram Attack!"
It would've been safer to throw it, but with the two so close, he might've hit Tuna.
Muttering about how it was all just ramming, he slammed it into the large eel's mouth area with force.
"Come on, Mr. Tuna. Let's get you back on your feet!"
—Eek! Thank you, Kait.
As the grip loosened, Tuna hurriedly escaped from the large eel. His sudden timidity was likely due to the unexpected strength of the opponent—or relief at surviving.
—Even though my body slam didn't work, why did yours, Kait?
That wasn't it. He was just stunned by the power of Kait's charge.
"You seem relaxed. Should I stop helping?"
—No, no, I can't do this alone. Please help!
And now it was clear he wasn't picky about methods either.
Watching the large eel now clearly wary of them, Kait turned the Queen Bee around.
"Understood. Then let's go with a joint offensive."