What Do You Mean I'm The Captain Of A Yandere Mercenary Company? Chapter 826: A Lot Of Pest Control

No other rat-mantis creatures crossed our path on the way to the security room.

Yet, the moment we stepped inside the security room, one of those beasts lay there, methodically ripping apart a crew member it had slain earlier.

Strangely enough, it carved the body with careful precision, just like a chef dividing an ingredient into portions for cooking.

It neatly arranged the severed pieces on the floor next to itself.

The door's hiss as it slid open caught its attention right away, making the creature whirl around while gripping the corpse in its right foreleg.

Seeming insulted by our arrival, it let the body drop and snarled at us before swinging its scythe arm in our direction.

Yumiko blocked the strike instantly, her blades flashing out to sever its limb, as I lined up my shotgun on its head and blasted a slug straight through.

The creature's remains swayed unsteadily for a second before slamming to the ground with a heavy thud.

I swept the rest of the room to confirm no other beast lurked in ambush before I lowered my gun.

Yumiko glanced at the monster's corpse, then turned her eyes to the butchered remains of the unfortunate crewman.

"What was this thing even trying to do?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe arranging some kind of art piece or whatever?"

Stepping past the body, I reached the console and activated it, screens flickering on as they linked up to the ship's cameras after a brief delay.

But the instant those screens came alive... I could only gawk at them in stunned disbelief.

Slowly, I pulled out my Codex and dialed the Captain again.

He answered immediately, as if anticipating the call, his face etched with feigned concern as he stared at me.

"Umm... Is... Is something wrong?" he asked, obviously acting ignorant.

I jabbed a finger at the security terminal. "Didn’t you say there were only five to eight of them?!! Why are there so damn many?!!"

Every screen displaying ship sections revealed multiple creatures prowling the corridors.

From what those feeds showed alone, dozens crawled before the lenses.

I figure at least a hundred infest the ship entirely!

It's a goddamn miracle we weren't overwhelmed the second we boarded.

I glared at him. "Why the hell did you lie about how many there were?!!"

He looked sheepish, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "That... Well... To be honest... The one you found in the generator room... That wasn't the beast that attacked us..."

I scowled. "What do you mean? You saying you're hauling more than one kind of monster?!! How the fuck did they escape then?!"

"I don’t know!"

"Then why the fuck didn’t you tell us the truth?!"

"I... I panicked, ok?! I figured if I admitted there were more, you'd bail and leave us stranded!! Please don’t abandon us!!"

"That’s the dumbest excuse I’ve ever heard... If we’d come here blind based on your bullshit claim of eight max... We’d have been swarmed and slaughtered, leaving you dead too. Did that cross your mind? Huh? Did it?"

His expression screamed he hadn't considered it.

I shouldn't expect smarts from the idiot who let aliens overrun his ship anyway.

He frowned in confusion. "Hold on... What do you mean 'swarmed'?"

I tilted the screens toward him. "Look!!"

Silence hung for a beat before he murmured, barely audible, "Oh... They multiplied..."

I fixed him with a hard stare. "Spit out anything else now while you can."

He wavered, then sighed. "Alright... Listen... The monster that drove us to hole up isn't the one you killed in the generator room... Another beast got loose, worse than these, and it can't be killed..."

"What do you mean it can’t be killed?"

"We fired everything at it when it broke out—bullets bounced off its hide! Even our laser rifles failed! It just advanced like we were nothing!! Then it smashed the containers with those things you killed and set them free! That's how shit hit the fan!"

"So you had a hold crammed with hundreds of these?"

"N... No... We carried six total, one being the broodmother... And she was already pregnant, so... Guess all the eggs hatched while we hid..."

Perfect... Now two creature types to handle.

"Do those two kinds ignore each other?" I asked.

"I... I don’t know... Even after release, they paid no heed to the first type, and it just wandered off instead of clashing, so... Probably not enemies..."

"Killing the broodmother take out the rest loose in the ship?"

"I... Doubt it... They’re not a hive mind..."

Damn... Hard way it is then...

I eyed him sharply. "How much are you paying us?"

His eyes bulged. "You’re... You’re still helping?"

"We’re here already, so why not. How much cash you got?"

He leaned close to his terminal's camera. "I’ll pay!! I’ll pay!! Three hundred thousand Credits saved up! All yours if you save us!"

Decent enough.

"Before we dive in, warning: We’ll use gear we keep secret from outsiders, so..."

"Got it! Lips sealed!"

"No... Meaning I’ll kill your security feeds and cameras—no record of our tech. Cool with that?"

He paused, then nodded slowly. "That’s... fine... No issue..."

"Our fights might wreck your ship too—no compensation claims later, right?"

"No way! Just extract us alive—that’s all!"

"One more: You’re not in neutral space... Told you I’m a merc? Didn’t mention Crusaders Inc. hired me, so you’re in their turf. Expect questions or detainment. Okay?"

"That’s... alright... We’re not opposing them or anything..."

"Heads up—this system just got hit by Insurgents, so brace for scrutiny. Spill any other secrets before we purge your ship of these pests."

He froze for seconds, eyes widening anew. "Wait... Wait!! You’re exterminating them?! Not just rescuing us?!"

"What? Hell no? Clear as day: Contain the broodmother if we can while wiping the spawns. Invincible one gets contained too, or scrapped if needed. Stay put till we’re done."

"Wait!! You can’t kill it!! We tried it all—nothing stuck!! Just grab us!!"

I dismissed him with a wave. "If it goes tits up, sure. For now, cameras off, extermination starts. Hunker down. Understood?"

I cut the line without reply and worked the console to disable all cameras.

I nodded at Yumiko, stowed my shotgun on my back, and released a surge of Psionic energy from within.

Time to crank it up a notch...