Chương 16: The Rotten Truth of the Head Inspection

The battle appeared to be decided. Thanks to USHIWAKA's staggering "no-kill" maneuvers, the main Taira fleet had been rendered entirely combat-ineffective. Vessels with shattered weaponry and snapped masts drifted among the swells like discarded autumn leaves. A Genji victory. The gears of history clicked into place with a definitive snap. But that fleeting moment of relief was our fatal error.

"I won't let you flee...! If I am to fall, you are coming with me to hell!!!" A demon erupted from the ocean waves. It was Taira no Noritsune, the Governor of Noto—the fiercest warrior of the Taira clan. Covered in blood and bristling with arrows like a porcupine, he locked his grip around USHIWAKA's ankle with terrifying strength. [Warning. Chassis mass increasing. Spatial orientation compromised.] USHIWAKA wavered, his stabilizers whining. [Release your grip. Your muscular output cannot fracture this carbon armor.]"I don't need to break it! I only need to be an anchor!" Noritsune laughed maniacally, spitting up mouthfuls of crimson.

"We Taira are doomed to sink into the deep! If so, let the hero of the Genji accompany us to the Dragon Palace! Consider it a companion for the journey into the afterlife!" Noritsune wrapped his arms around USHIWAKA's waist, tightening them like an industrialized vice. This was the legendary final act immortalized in history—"Noto-dono's Last Stand."

The monstrous strength that folklore claimed could tuck two armored warriors under each arm and leap into the deep was now focused entirely on pinning down a single pillar: USHIWAKA. [Gennai, redline the gravity output! Break his grip!] [No can do, USHIWAKA! Any higher and your reactor core is gonna melt down! Shut down your thrusters right now!] [Negative! If I drop from here, Noritsune dies as well!] I couldn't believe my ears.

The once cold, unfeeling USHIWAKA was showing concern for the life of an enemy actively trying to murder him?

"You absolute idiot! Worry about yourself!" I screamed, but I was already too late. Psssshhhhhh...! Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! An ominous plume of white steam erupted from the thruster pack on USHIWAKA's back. The system had hit its absolute limit. Locked in a desperate embrace, the two figures plummeted toward the ocean surface, dragged down by unrelenting gravity.

"Ah..." It was like watching Icarus, flying too close to the sun until his wings burned to ash. The black hero and the crimson demon. They punctured the surface, sending up a massive plume of white spray before vanishing into the churning whirlpools of Dan-no-ura.

"USHIWAKA!!!" I lunged over the gunwale, staring intensely at the roiling water. Bubbles gurgled up to the surface. Had he sunk? Short-circuited, buried forever as scrap metal at the bottom of the sea? [... Not yet. I still have a signature.] Gennai's tense voice cracked over the link. [But this is bad. The cooling system is completely totaled. He's sucking in seawater, and the internal core temperature is redlining!] A few agonizing seconds passed. The ocean surface swelled. Gasp!

A figure broke the water—not Noritsune, but USHIWAKA. He hooked a single gauntlet over the ship's hull, trying desperately to haul himself up. The sight of him was devastating. His prideful black armor was warped and buckled, his visor shattered. One eye was completely gone, leaving an exposed optical sensor blinking with an eerie, unstable red light.

"USHIWAKA! Take my hand!" I panicked, reaching down to grab his wrist. The instant our skins met, a sharp sizzle echoed, and an excruciating pain shot through my palm.

"Ah—f*ck?!" It was blistering hot. A thermal output high enough to scorch human skin to carbon in an instant. [Do not touch me... Kataru.] USHIWAKA's voice was heavily choked by data corruption and static. [Internal... meltdown... initiated. Dangerous... Stay back...]"Shut up and get up here!" As I tried to forcibly pull him onto the deck, I noticed something deeply wrong. A thick, blue-green fluid was oozing out from the ruptures in his wrist joints. It wasn't seawater. It wasn't standard motor oil either.

It was a viscous, gelatinous substance emitting a pungent, choking chemical stench.

"What... what is this...?" The moment the fluid dripped onto the wooden deck planks, the timber began to hiss and dissolve into foam. [Bio-coolant... leakage,] USHIWAKA reported, each word sounding like an agonizing strain on his processors. [A specialized... organic solution... circulating inside my chassis. Upon contact with oxygen... it rapidly oxidizes... corroding and dissolving... organic matter...] My breath caught in my throat.

Deep within my mind, a fragmented puzzle piece of history clicked perfectly into place. —The head inspection of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. In 1189 AD, following his ritual suicide at the Battle of Koromogawa, Yoshitsune's severed head was preserved in sake and delivered to Yoritomo in Kamakura. However, historical records state that by the time it arrived, the head was so severely decomposed that it was impossible to verify if it truly belonged to him.

Even for mid-summer, why did it rot so rapidly despite being submerged in alcohol? It had been an enduring mystery for centuries. But what if that "body" was never human to begin with? What if it was an android, melting from the inside out due to a catastrophic coolant leak?

"No way... you..." I stammered, my voice trembling.

"The 'decomposed head' in the history books... it was because of this coolant leak?!" [... History? I do not know...] USHIWAKA shook his head weakly. [But... my chassis... can no longer hold. At this rate... I will contaminate the surrounding area. Kataru... return me to the sea.]