Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

EP.79 Region Pioneering

The diameter of the cosmic space controlled by the Galactic Union is about 20 billion light-years.

Given that the currently observable universe has a diameter of 100 billion light-years, it’s quite small for an organization claiming to be the largest in the universe.

But that’s about to change.

“The Galactic Union has now completed all internal pioneering. There are no longer any ‘unexplored territories’ within our management area.”

Jupiter, an elder of the Meias tribe, announced publicly on the Union-wide channel.

All unexplored territories within the Union had been pioneered, resulting in the entire cosmic space spanning 20 billion light-years.

Coming under their complete management.

In the process, numerous tribe were discovered and protected, a total of 8 intelligent life form tribe were added to the Galactic Union, and.

Countless planets, stars, and celestial bodies became resources for the Union.

This was achieved in just 30 years since Yujin took power, and merely 20 years since the Elf tribe joined the Galactic Union.

“That’s incredible.”

“As expected of Lord Yujin.”

“I heard the Elves’ contributions were also tremendous.”

“They say the Elves did almost everything, don’t they?”

“Beautiful and capable. That’s awesome.”

Thanks to the tremendous achievements of Yujin and the Elves, those belonging to the Galactic Union had made unbelievable progress and were living lives of unprecedented abundance.

Well, of course.

Not only had they discovered and developed an enormous amount of resources and energy in a short period, but a tribe showing remarkable technological advancement had also been added, sharing their technology.

While people were talking about how amazing it all was.

Jupiter made an astounding declaration.

“From now on, the Galactic Union will turn its eyes outward.”

“Huh?”

“Outward?”

People showed various reactions to those words.

Those who understood what it meant and were surprised.

Those who didn’t know what it meant and tilted their heads in confusion.

Those who didn’t understand but were happy because it seemed good.

And those who, beyond understanding, were simultaneously worried and excited about what was to come.

To all of them, Jupiter drove the point home once more.

“The Galactic Union’s management area is currently about 20 billion light-years. That’s quite old now. Now that we’ve completely mastered the interior, how about we expand that territory?”

“…!!”

“My, my goodness. You mean to pioneer even further from here?”

At Jupiter’s statement, everyone in the Union was surprised.

The Union’s current territory has existed for nearly 100 years.

This is the first territorial expansion since the Lubaran tribe expanded it to 20 billion light-years.

In fact, even the Lubaran tribe could have expanded their territory further after mastering the interior, but they didn’t expand beyond that to keep other tribe in check.

Of course, no one knew these inside details, and they were just bubbling with hope that they could now advance far beyond the era of the Lubaran tribe.

“Wow, that’s insane. Does that mean we can visit places that have only been observed?”

“I’m curious. Even the largest black hole in the universe is tens of billions of light-years away, right?”

“Hey, we can’t even leave our own galaxy because we’re broke, what are you talking about?”

“But with technological advancements, the cost of intergalactic travel has decreased tremendously.”

People with expectations.

“But we don’t know what’s out there…”

“That’s what I’m saying. What if there are things like the Capteri tribe outside our territory?”

“They might invade us.”

“There might be all sorts of alien things out there too.”

And people with concerns.

The opinions were split roughly half and half.

But even those who were worried didn’t fundamentally oppose the territorial expansion.

They were just worried about what might happen when they expanded and said they should prepare in advance.

Almost everyone seemed to agree with the territorial expansion.

#

“Public opinion is extremely favorable for now.”

“I see.”

Yujin nodded while looking at the article posted on the Union’s network.

Public opinion is important.

Although individual citizens may have little power on their own, when they unite their intentions, it can rival the power of most elders.

That’s why even the most powerful and mighty beings always had to be mindful of public opinion.

‘Well, the main body probably wouldn’t care about such things.’

Of course, for an overwhelmingly powerful being that could be called omnipotent, such things would be meaningless.

Anyway, public opinion is good.

All preparations are complete.

The future contract with the Elves has also been updated to match the risks of pioneering completely unknown territories.

Their technology had also advanced tremendously.

“Our first target is here.”

The Galactic Union Elders’ Council, where elders of all tribe gathered, though there were a few empty seats.

Yujin stood in the center and displayed holographic documents and maps that the Lubaran clan chiefs had possessed.

Woong─

Inside the hologram, a map of the observable universe was spread out.

In the vast cosmic space, the area managed by the Galactic Union was marked in red.

But next to it, there was a space uniquely marked in blue.

A space with a diameter of about 3 billion light-years… similar in size to the sectors of the universe typically divided from A to X.

There were two of these attached on both sides.

“This is the ‘Sector YZ Project’ that the Lubaran tribe had been planning to secretly send personnel to pioneer and make 100% their own territory.”

“…!!”

“YZ, you say?”

At those words, the elders were startled and began to murmur.

A sector that the Lubaran tribe had secretly planned to pioneer on their own.

It was the first time they had heard of this.

“The Lubaran tribe were conducting various activities under the surface besides illegal experiments. This project was one of them. They were probably after the energy and resources that would come from it.”

The Galactic Union’s management area only has sectors from A to X.

Sectors Y and Z, which shouldn’t exist.

It was a sneaky plan to secretly pioneer these for themselves and use them exclusively.

“Those Lubaran bastards…”

“If we had left them alone, they would have developed further on their own with this.”

The elders cursed the Lubaran tribe.

Yujin smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

This was also why he had deliberately kept this project hidden until now.

Just as the anger over the Lubaran tribe’ illegal laboratories was beginning to subside, it was a strategy to remind them once again of the Lubaran tribe’ trashy actions while simultaneously increasing trust and loyalty towards himself for not hiding this project and revealing it for joint development, unlike the Lubaran tribe.

“Anyway, since there’s already a pioneering plan set up by the Lubaran tribe, we don’t need to worry about planning separately. So we’re going to start with the pioneering of these ‘Sector Y’ and ‘Sector Z’ first.”

And for the rest, it was concluded that they would hold meetings as they proceed with the pioneering of Sectors Y and Z.

“I agree. If there’s already a plan, there’s no reason to object.”

“Looking at the data, it seems the Lubaran tribe had already done all the preliminary investigations.”

“So we just need to go there and comfortably reap the benefits?”

Naturally, the pioneering of Sectors Y and Z was decided by unanimous agreement of all the elders.

#

[ Oh… this is getting interesting. ]

Pioneering unknown parts of the universe.

This is exactly the kind of story that fits a sci-fi space opera.

[ Hehe, now the Elves will take the lead. Their abilities will become even more crucial in these uncharted territories. ]

Idra is right.

As already revealed during the internal pioneering, the Elves’ ability to ‘grow plants anywhere there’s land’ was an absurdly overpowered skill.

They can complete terraforming, which usually takes hundreds of years and astronomical costs, in just a few years.

Moreover, it requires almost no money or manpower.

If only there were more Elves, they probably would have finished the internal pioneering in 10 years instead of 20, and would have started exploring outside the sectors long ago.

Ah… what a shame.

I should have created about 300 million Elves instead of just 30 million.

It’s too late to regret it now, I suppose.

Well, it’s only delayed by 10 years anyway.

From now on, with the increased number of active Elves and greatly advanced technology, we should see faster pioneering.

[ Ah, I’m so proud. I can’t wait to see when these children will have the entire universe in their hands. ]

[ ….. ]

Hmm, I feel the same way.

But how should I put it…

Isn’t it too easy?

The internal consolidation and pioneering went too smoothly.

Without any twists and turns.

The only thing that could be called a twist was the encounter with the Elves, and even that ended comfortably with forming an alliance.

Even those who were initially against it are now happy because the Elves are doing so well.

Hmm… this isn’t very interesting.

I wonder if we should create some kind of trial that would shake things up in the story.

It doesn’t have to be as extreme as the god-level giant monster that almost led to extinction before, but wouldn’t it be more interesting to create a crisis situation at least on the level of the Kapterians?

No, the Kapterians would be too weak for their current abilities.

Hmm… then should we create something like enhanced Kapterians?

We could scatter them in Sector Y or Z to create a sense of trial.

That would be fun.

Let’s do it right away.