Chapter 59
After confirming that all vital signs had completely ceased, Kait lifted the concealment he had placed on the Queen Bee.
That said, all he did was remove the psychic membrane that had been covering the Queen Bee.
According to Tuna, space eels that don't expose their eyeballs typically use temperature to sense their surroundings. She didn't know exactly how they perceived temperature, but preventing them from detecting temperature changes was achievable using adaptations of barriers.
Because of that, Tuna also couldn't sense Kait's presence and looked uneasy.
—Ah, Kait. So you were there.
"Good work. Somehow, we managed."
—Yes. ...Even so.
She turned her gaze toward the massive, now completely motionless body of the large eel. There were hardly any visible wounds. Since she had thoroughly stirred up what seemed like its vital point, it didn't seem likely to revive or regenerate. Following Kait's will, the steel plate—the Killer Bee—that had moved at high speed inside the body was expelled.
The steel plate burst out from the side of the large eel with a wet squelch, coated in some kind of glistening liquid. The liquid soon evaporated, but Kait removed the steel plate from his control on a whim. He didn't feel like sending it back into the Queen Bee just yet.
—Kait. You could do the same thing to me too, couldn't you...?
"Well, yeah. But I wouldn't do that unless you turned against the Federation, Tuna."
—O-of course not! I feel eternal and unchanging friendship toward you, Kait!
That's kind of scary.
Space eels, as apex predators in space, had likely never before felt their lives threatened by other species. Because organic lifeforms were so much smaller, they had probably never truly grasped the danger. At most, they might have thought their lives were at risk if they ended up fighting a fleet.
But to be shown that threat firsthand, and by a single being—then it's not so strange to feel fear toward someone like Kait.
"Come to think of it, the folks from Terapolapaneshio could probably do something similar to me. One of the ones you ate the other day was like that, right, Tuna?"
—I feel eternal and undying friendship toward the Federation as well.
Ah, she rephrased it.
Kait wanted apex predators to maintain a healthy wariness of the Federation. Mutual respect only grows between equals, he believed. Since they couldn't produce a creature as large as Tuna, the only way to make her feel they were equals was to present a threat that could reach her life.
He had wanted to find a way to demonstrate that somehow, and it was good that the opportunity arose here. Plus, it wasn't even done by him directly. There'd be no hard feelings.
"Well then—"
—W-what is it!?
Maybe he had frightened her a bit too much. After all, they were different species; it was hard to gauge the right balance.
Feeling a little remorse, Kait pointed at the massive object in front of them.
"So, where do we eat this?"
—Ah.
It was just too big.
Both the Corporation and the Federation were waiting. Eating it here would take far too long.
***
Vovrimos came immediately after being contacted.
When Palnesbrogia saw the massive body of the large eel, they were surprised and said, "You actually beat it?" But honestly, just defeating it wouldn't have been that hard for the Corporation's fleet either.
Watching it firsthand made something clear: space eels, as a species, don't recognize anything other than other space eels as enemies. Their tactics were entirely specialized for fighting their own kind.
Attacks like heat rays, charges, and bites were certainly threats, but once countermeasures were in place, they weren't that scary.
"Even the Federation's fleet could handle it, so you all could too. It was just a bit big, that's all."
'That may be so, but still...'
Still, it was a creature so massive it could be compared to a planet. Even as a corpse, no one in their right mind would want to fight it. Well, the Corporation had tried to protect it, though.
Now then, the next issue was transportation.
Tuna, Kait, and the Corporation all agreed to refrain from eating it here. Tuna, too, prioritized moving to the Central Star Cluster over her appetite. Maybe her ferocity only surfaced when dealing with living members of her own species.
'Transporting both Lady Tuna and this large eel at the same time is simply impossible.'
"That's understandable."
'We've summoned several subordinate fleets operating nearby. Let's have them carry it to the Central Star Cluster.'
"That helps a lot."
The Corporation's fleet was operating nearby. It was a separate organization from the Federation, but Kait was genuinely impressed by the breadth of their operations.
However, each fleet's scale wasn't as large as Vovrimos's. Not only Tuna, but transporting an eel of this size whole was difficult. It made sense that each fleet trained separately for moving such huge objects and couldn't coordinate together.
'So, we'd like to dismantle it. Lady Tuna, may we have your permission?'
—Dismantle it?
'Yes. Dismantling it will make it easier to transport.'
If each fleet carried a different part, the problem would be solved.
When told that was the only option, Tuna had no particular reason to object. She responded with "I don't mind," and thus, the dismantling of the large eel began.
'Once the subordinate fleets arrive, we'll assign the work to them and resume our move to the Central Star Cluster. Is that acceptable?'
—Of course. Though maybe I could just have a little bite in the meantime...
"Tuna?"
—N-no! It's nothing!
She could eat if she wanted, but with Tuna, once she started, she might not stop. Perhaps Kait's warning struck a chord, because she withdrew her suggestion immediately.
Several ships approached the large eel's corpse and began to saw into it with what looked like saw-like tools—when suddenly.
The ships quickly backed away.
'What's going on!?'
'Small biological reactions from inside! They're emerging!'
Palnesbrogia's question and the response. The communication reached Kait as well. Hearing "small biological reactions" sparked something in his mind.
What came to mind was either a parasite or an antibody. Given the size of the creature, it wouldn't be strange for its antibodies to be as big as a human or a ship.
What burst out from inside the large eel was a creature that resembled an insect. Naturally, it was a silicon-based lifeform.
"Whoa. These things actually exist?"
—Eh, what is this? I've never heard of such a thing!?
A parasite. Or something like an antibody.
Well, even if it were a parasite, it wouldn't be that strange.
For fragile lifeforms, the safest place is inside a predator's body. And if that predator is an apex one, then it's the best place to survive. If the apex predator can't directly attack it, that's the ideal condition for survival.
"So, is it a parasite or an antibody, I wonder?"
'If it's an antibody, then it's strange that the Federation has no record of it.'
"Exactly. They supposedly dissected quite a few for research. But there's no record. ...Which means it's probably a parasite, huh?"
As if confirming Kait and Emotion's relaxed conversation, the small creatures all flew toward them—in other words, toward Tuna. They completely ignored the ships trying to dismantle the large eel nearby.
"Ah, I see. Since the space eel didn't eat its own host even though it was nearby, they're aiming to parasitize it directly. Smart, smart."
—W-why are you being so calm about this!? P-please help me!
Tuna was genuinely terrified and shrank back. She couldn't use her heat ray because the Corporation's fleet was in the line of fire. Or maybe she instinctively knew the heat ray wouldn't work on them.
"Palnesbrogia. This is a request from Tuna. We're going to exterminate those parasites."
'U-understood. W-we won't let them touch Lady Tuna, but... could we capture a few live specimens...?'
"If you want Tuna to hate you again, go right ahead."
'All ships, battle stations! The enemy is a bunch of impudent parasites trying to infect Lady Tuna! Commence attack!'
The idea of trying to protect even these things was, in a way, admirable. They were certainly rare, after all.
Kait let out a wry smile as he deployed the Worker Bees around them.
"Come on, Tuna. You're in the way—hide behind me."
—S-so dependable!