Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!-Chapter 130: Seconds from Death

Based on Eva's words, we were already within the very center of the core. But just like she said, there's no sign of the egg anywhere nearby.

"Shit... Did it drift away?!"

The egg was supposed to be dead center… There could be some margin of error, sure, but even then, it should've landed somewhere within a 10-meter radius around the core. And yet, not even a hint of it now that we've reached the spot—it was baffling.

{I activated a bioscan, five seconds before results are out!}

Eva added, placing a hand against her helmet's temple while glancing around sharply.

I didn't waste time either. Once I released Cassandra—and as soon as my vision began to return—I turned to scan in the opposite direction, triggering a bioscan of my own. With this, all "living" entities within range should pop up.

That's what it should do, but…

"Damn! No hits on my side!"

{Same here! Are you absolutely sure about its location?!}

Neither of us had a trace of the egg.

Where the hell did it go?! Don't tell me it sprouted wings and flew off?! freewёbnoνel.com

I tilted my head upward, inspecting Glop-kun's state… And of course, it had already regenerated from the damage we inflicted. The entire amorphous mass was now crawling outward again, trying to engulf everything in its path.

At this rate, we'd be completely surrounded within minutes!

We'd already combed the vicinity with bioscans, covering a solid 100-meter radius from the center. And even with that, we still couldn't detect the egg. At this point, I was starting to believe it really grew wings and flew away—especially if I consider the identity of the creature inside.

"Wait…"

Then a thought clicked into place.

I looked upward again—at our relentless, sole aggressor. Glop-kun.

"No way… right?"

The theory forming in my mind was absurd. But no matter how ridiculous it sounded, I had to test it. When options run dry, all that remains is deduction—eliminate the impossible until only the truth remains.

I adjusted the bioscan's parameters, narrowing it to a small cone focused directly on Glop-kun's form. Just enough to sweep over its body without interference. I launched the scan.

"Shit!" I hissed under my breath.

And honestly, how could I not? What came back from the scan left me frozen.

Buried deep within Glop-kun's corrosive, gelatinous body… a single, small biological signature. Roughly fist-sized—exactly what we were hunting for.

The "egg."

{What's wrong?! Did that terminator or whatever already reach us?!}

Eva called out, instantly grabbing her side-arm in alarm.

"Worse," I muttered, raising one hand and pointing skyward. "The egg's up there. Right inside that thing."

{...You're kidding, right?}

{No way…}

It wasn't surprising, honestly, that the egg could survive inside Glop-kun's corrosive fluid—it was designed to withstand worse. But this was not good news. Our options for retrieving it were now extremely limited.

"First, we need to clear the slime around it, grab the egg, and escape... Sounds simple enough, but it's practically fucking impossible!" I growled, grinding my teeth.

It was like trying to extract the yolk from an egg without breaking the white—with your bare hands, no tools.

"Wait...!" And suddenly, an idea hit me like a bolt of lightning. "Right, separating the yolk and the white!"

If the direct approach won't work, then we'll just have to go unconventional.

I spun toward Cassandra and called out with urgent excitement, "Cassandra! Keep the key ready! I need your help!"

{Y-Yes! I'm already holding it!} she replied instantly, clutching the key tightly. {What do I need to do?}

I gave a firm nod, encouraged by her quick response.

"Simple! Open a portal about twice the size of my fist—right there!" I pointed straight at Glop-kun's center.

{...! Alright!}

Thankfully, she understood my intention right away.

While Cassandra began preparing to open the portal, Eva and I didn't sit still. We both drew our side-arms without hesitation and began firing. Every shot chipped away at the blob's surface, distracting it, thinning the layer around the egg.

Eva mirrored my actions, sending blasts into the thing nonstop.

Accuracy wasn't a big concern—anything we hit was good enough. The issue was the heat. Our side-arms rapidly overheated, already blistering hot after just a handful of shots.

{I-I'm opening it!} Cassandra shouted, her voice ringing like a countdown.

Light gathered around her hand, shifting into a swirling rainbow hue as a glowing purple rift materialized ahead—inside Glop-kun's body, right beside the egg.

Thanks to the portal's suction property, parts of Glop-kun's goo began to flow into it. The egg, like a drifting leaf, slowly bobbed toward the rift's surface.

"Hold…!"

I called out, eyes locked on the scene. The egg inched closer—50 centimeters… then ten… then zero.

"Now! Close it!"

Right on cue, Cassandra twisted the key. The rift blinked out of existence, sealing shut in an instant. The area ahead dimmed, and Glop-kun's surface quivered violently in response—clearly confused and enraged.

{Hey, it looks pissed! It's expanding even faster now—way too fast!}

Eva noticed it right away and yelled, alarmed. And Cassandra didn't waste a second—right after closing the first rift, she spun the key again and opened another, this one right beside us.

{Get in, quick!} As soon as the rift stabilized, she signaled.

The first to jump in was me, since I was closest. After a fleeting wave of discomfort, I found myself floating inside a familiar space—one with a massive, jagged tear within my line of sight.

Without a doubt, this was World-One.

Next, Eva tumbled out of the rift, landing hard and rolling in an attempt to reorient herself. It was strange to see her so off-balance...

{Shit! This is bad...!}

Her panicked voice hit my ears like a warning siren.

{Casey, she's in danger!}

"...!"

I didn't know what danger she meant, but instinct overtook hesitation. My body moved before I could question it. I rushed toward the rift and shoved my arm into it—deep, open-palmed, desperate to catch hold of something, anything.

"Cassandra...!" I yelled, fear twisting in my chest.

Just as I considered throwing myself back through the rift, I felt a sudden tug. A firm grip closed around my hand—tight, trembling, familiar.

Without thinking, I yanked hard—pulling with everything I had. Cassandra's body flew through the rift, colliding into Eva, who managed to catch her.

As I exhaled in shaky relief—

*WIGGLE!*

A translucent tentacle slithered out from within the rift. It writhed erratically, groping through the air until it brushed against my right arm.

"...!"

And in that instant, I understood what had happened.

The moment it made contact, my arm began dissolving—liquefying into goo, bubbling away at the touch. Pain? I didn't even get the chance to feel it. My suit's isolators surged into action, automatically sealing off the entire limb from the shoulder down.

"Ugh...!"

It wasn't exactly painful, but it sure as hell was unbearable.

Worse still, what I had to do next was far more agonizing—mentally and physically. With a curse on my tongue, I activated the suit's plasma cutter with my left hand... and sliced my own arm off.

It was a contingency protocol—an emergency failsafe.

If I'd hesitated, the goo would've spread past the shoulder and eaten into my torso.

I watched in grim silence as the severed arm disappeared into the closing rift.

My eyes then flicked toward Eva and Cassandra. The latter had her right arm still stretched outward, hand trembling, her fingers turning as she spun the key counterclockwise.

She closed the rift just in time—but any praise died in my throat.

My gaze dropped to Eva. She must've done the same emergency cut I did, because her left arm was missing too. But that wasn't the worst of it.

"C-Cassandra!"

Our little Queen… Her condition was catastrophic. She had lost her left arm, a chunk of her side, and everything from the knees down. Worse, the corrosive spread hadn't stopped. It was crawling steadily upward.

"Quick! Return to the Falcon!" I shouted toward Eva, eyes wide with urgency.

{Fuck! I know!}

She didn't argue. Firing up her thrusters at maximum output, she took off like a bullet—though, burdened with another person, her speed fell short of mine.

I caught up and reached out quickly, whispering an apology.

"Cassandra, I'm sorry about this!"

With gritted teeth, I used my plasma cutter again, removing the spreading corruption from her limbs. I severed what was left of her thighs and everything from her left shoulder down... The sight was nauseating, but necessary. And even then, she wasn't safe.

The wound on her side couldn't be cut away. It had no boundaries to sever.

Which meant the corrosion from that area was nearly impossible to stop.

"Make it in time…!"

I grabbed her from the other side, sandwiching her between Eva and myself, and cranked my thrusters past their safe limit. The two of us pushing forward together made for slightly faster movement, even with three bodies in tow.

Each second dragged like an eternity. The hundred-meter distance to the Range Falcon felt like a thousand.

I stared helplessly at Cassandra's side as the goo chewed through flesh and armor alike… creeping ever closer to her heart. If it reached that point—

We finally reached the ship. But even then, we couldn't afford to slow down.

"Percy! Emergency protocol! Get the medical pod ready—NOW!"

I barked into the comms, not willing to risk even a split-second delay. "And prepare an Acid Neutralizer Spray along the hallway!"

Without pausing, we shot through the corridor at breakneck speed. It was reckless. Normally, it would be seen as idiotic to fly inside a spacecraft like this—but right now, etiquette was the last thing on our minds. Cassandra's life was ticking away by the second.

As we flew, some liquid began spraying out from the sprinklers of the hallway. Thanks to it, the goo's corrosion speed slowed down, and stopped it completely from reaching me or Eva due to close contact.

We slammed into the medical bay. Thankfully, the pod was already online, open, filled with green liquid and prepped for entry.

Eva and I didn't need to exchange words. Moving in perfect sync, she braced Cassandra upright while I activated my cutter and tore through her suit.

It was messy. Brutal, even. I inflicted several new wounds in the process—but it had to be done. Every second mattered. This was a race against time.

With the damaged suit removed, we hoisted her naked, mangled body into the medical pod.

We held our breath as we turned to the monitor, watching for signs of life.

For a moment—an agonizing moment—the screen flatlined. My breath caught. I thought… we were too late.

*BEEP...!* *BEEP...!* *BEEP...!*

Then, slowly, rhythm returned. A pulse. Weak, but present.

She was alive. We made it—just barely.