Chapter 332 - Psychological Warfare

Sophie's footsteps slowed down as she approached the metalloid door that blocked the entrance to the holding room. 

This was going to be the most crucial step of her plan to finally leave this planet and travel safely to the frontier region.

She had left Lily behind in the officer's cabin after the pair had finished a long overdue shower. 

It had been a relief to finally scrub off the many layers of filth and grime that had been covering her bodysuit for hours.

The greenish liquid used in the shower was so effective at dissolving muck that Sophie had even managed to get all those chunks of flesh out of her hair.

Lily did not want to leave her side, but Sophie had to reluctantly persuade her not to leave the cabin until she returned.

She did not want Lily to see what would happen to the crewmembers inside the holding room. 

There was only one way to control the survivors and that was to plant a seed of terror in their hearts.

To become a monster so horrifying that the thought of rebellion would never cross their minds. 

Fear is perhaps the most effective motivator at least in the short term. 

Sophie's golden eyes darkened as an intense feeling of self-loathing and shame rose up in her chest.

Would she even need to pretend? Or was she just going to reveal her true nature?

The answer to those questions was something that Sophie hoped she would never find out. 

After letting out a heavy sigh, Sophie touched the outer surface of the door and prepared to break it open.

Wait… was there something she had forgotten?

Sophie paused her movements as a sudden realisation crossed her mind. She had to return to the base camp of the Hyperion Knights and deal with the captain!

The mutiny and her subsequent bloodthirsty rampage had made Sophie temporarily forget about the hunter goddess' mission.

She still needed to kill Captain Dawn.

"Fuck…" Sophie muttered in frustration. 

This was seemingly yet another obstacle placed in her journey to reach home. 

The goddess' warning prevented Sophie from just leaving the planet as she didn't want to risk whatever the divine entity meant by the punishment being 'a life for a life.'

But this could also be an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

This spaceship model did have mounted plasma cannons and high-class orbital weapons capable of firing off intense beams of heat that could melt mountains.

Sophie was not confident that she could beat the captain in a fair fight, but she didn't need to. 

There was nothing stopping her from just blowing him up into tiny pieces! 

Captain Dawn had not crossed the threshold to become a void stage cultivator which meant that he was unable to cross spatial distances instantly.

In fact, only a god stage cultivator would be able to take a hit from an orbital cannon and emerge unscathed.

Now in addition to flying the spacecraft, Sophie needed to convince one of the crewmembers to operate the ship's weapon systems.

"You can do this… just remember your training…. take a deep breath," Sophie whispered softly to herself.

"You have all the power."

"They are already afraid of you."

She took a few deep breaths and then gently exhaled until her mood settled down. It was time to show off her acting skills.

Sophie bent down and ripped off another finger from the alien corpse laying just outside the door.

She pressed the slightly decaying appendage against the scanner which took a few seconds to read the fingerprint.

Eventually there was a bleeping noise and the metalloid door suddenly swung open. An intense smell of rotting flesh and piss filled Sophie's nostrils.

The loud argumentative voices inside the room were instantly silenced as the survivors trembled in terror at the familiar silhouette.

"Die… die… DIE MONSTER!" a desperate scream came from the back of the room.

Bang!

Sophie tilted her head sideways as a plasma shot narrowly passed her right cheek by only a few centimeters.

Sophie darkly chuckled as she brushed a strand of her hair from her face with casual movements.

"Does anyone else want a turn?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three other survivors reached for their guns and fired off rounds at Sophie's body, but the hybrid girl dodged them with ease.

It was almost like bullying children.

Sophie's original plan was to toy with them some more but the uncontrollable surge of bloodlust gradually increasing with every second that she remained in combat forced her to end things quickly.

Cloud Treading Dragon!

Sophie's figure blurred and then vanished from the entrance to the room. 

The room filled with the sounds of painful grunts and moans as each survivor with a plasma rifle in their hands found themselves thrown against the nearest wall.

Sophie had taken care not to kill them but maybe it was her tense mood, but she may have used a bit too much force.

"The next person who tries to kill me will be executed immediately," Sophie growled as the colour of one of her eyes turned scarlet.

She didn't even bother to pick up the plasma rifles that lay on the ground. A casual disregard for the weapons would prove to be a more effective deterrent than simply destroying them.

It showed that she had enough confidence in her skills that she didn't even mind if they carried arms.

Psychological warfare was an art. 

To break the mind required layers of subliminal messaging that the affected target would never even realise.

Sophie did not expect to command complete loyalty from the survivors as she would need to deprogram years of indoctrination.

It would be good enough just to prevent betrayal. Sophie's eyes stared at every single crewmember in turn and saw the emotions hidden in their gazes.

Fear, anger, sadness…

Not good enough. The only emotion in their eyes should be a mixture of fear and submission. 

Sophie extended her bladed appendages outwards with the pointed barbs clearly on display. She grinned and her sharpened fangs gleamed under the light inside the room.

An intense pressure filled the room which forced the survivors to their knees. Sophie unleashed her killing intent and to the terrified aliens….

They saw a bearer of death. 

A being that would never be satisfied until it left piles of corpses in its wake. Rivers of blood that would flow whenever it hunted.

A creature who would kill not out of rage, not out of passion but rather an endless hunger. A hunger that could never be sated.

And then the survivors came to the terrifying realisation… 

It was impossible to reason with a beast.