I Was Thawed Out 1,000 Years in the Future. Men Were Extinct. ~Apparently, I’m Being Forced into Breeding Sex by Lewd Beautiful Girls in Skin-Tight Suits to Preserve the Human Race~ - 24

Chapter 24: Planet Tiria Spaceport

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All those countless points of light were the glow of stars floating in space. Humanity, a thousand years in the future, had not seized every star visible from here—far from it. Space was simply that vast and endless.

The frontier resource-development planet Tiria was the seventh planet of the Roroal Star system, which revolved around one of those innumerable stars. Originally a desolate, lifeless rocky planet, it was rich in rare metal resources deep within its interior. It seemed that about a hundred years had passed since human pioneer ships had successfully settled there, and a massive ring-shaped station had been assembled in planetary orbit.

“Touya-san, docking will be complete shortly.”

“When we saw it from far away, it looked like a speck, but up close it’s huge.”

The space station floating in Tiria’s orbit also served as a pier for mooring spacecraft traveling through space. We’d first been able to spot it with the naked eye about two days ago. From there, the closer we drew, the larger its silhouette became, until eventually its full form could no longer fit within the windows of the Migdal.

The Migdal matched its speed to the slowly rotating ring. As the relative velocity between us dropped to zero, mooring hooks shot out one after another from the station and began securing us. Even the Migdal, apparently a fairly large vessel, looked no bigger than a pinky fingernail compared to the station. This was probably what people called a megastructure.

Around the station, numerous ships were moored just like the Migdal. Most were similar in size, but nearly their entire internal volume consisted of cargo holds, freighters. They were the space truckers hauling Tiria’s mineral resources, which hadn’t been fully mined even after a century, to all corners of the Galactic Unified Empire.

“Touya-dono. From here, this ship will shift into a resupply posture. The rear support divisions will be busy, but we have nothing to ask of you. As planned, please enjoy sightseeing on the planet’s surface together with Alisa and the others.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Sail-san.”

After thanking Captain Sail, who had personally escorted us all the way to the entrance lane connecting to the station, it was finally time for my first excursion outside the ship.

“Alpha Squad, I’m counting on you to take care of Touya-dono.”

“Roger!”

Surrounding me were Alisa and the Alpha Squad, clad in heavily reinforced armaments. Apparently, the Beta Squad and Gamma Squad were also handling reconnaissance and backup. It was a perfect security setup, all to protect me, the last-ditch key to humanity’s survival. Since wanting to go sightseeing in Tiria was entirely my selfish request, I couldn’t help feeling bad about it.

“Touya-san, the airlock has disengaged! Let’s go!”

As I felt a bit guilty, Alisa tugged my hand with a lively tone. Since they’d gone to all this trouble for me, I ought to enjoy myself properly. We headed toward the station through a passageway connected to the Migdal by multiple locks. Inside the ship, artificial gravity generators were at work, but the passageway itself was a zero-gravity space typical of outer space. Startled as my body suddenly floated, I hurriedly grabbed a handrail, earning fond smiles from Alisa and the others.

“It can’t be helped. This is my first time in zero gravity.”

“Ufufu. It’s okay. Let’s take it slow.”

As expected of the Alpha Squad, they moved forward with ease, showing no trouble at all. Mimi and Lili even had the leisure to kick each other’s backsides. After making our way along for a while, we finally entered the donut-shaped station.

“Whoa—!”

“From here on, the direction of gravity will change, so please be careful.”

Pulled by Alisa, I crawled out onto the donut’s floor. The torus rotated, generating outward centrifugal force along its outer rim, which functioned as artificial gravity. Apparently, producing artificial gravity throughout a station of this scale would be prohibitively expensive in terms of energy, hence this design.

“The Migdal was already spacious beyond what you’d expect from a ship, but this is basically a city.”

“Even so, it’s considered on the smaller side among stations.”

What spread out before us was a curved city. Inside the enormous ring lay a vast, air-filled space. Sleek, sharply designed skyscrapers lined the area, glittering brilliantly. What surprised me most was the abundance of greenery inside a structure floating in space. It almost felt like being on the surface of a planet, like the Earth I remembered. Just as that thought crossed my mind, I looked up and saw a sky that was actually a gigantic display.

Looking closer, none of the plants seemed familiar. They were probably species that didn’t exist on Earth, or ones that had undergone significant evolution over a thousand years.

“Touya-san, please don’t stray too far.”

“Ah, yeah. I’ll be careful.”

Everyone walking around was, as expected, female. All of them wore skin-tight skinsuits, but the designs showed quite a bit of variety. The crew of the Migdal had a military nature, so their standard suits were simple dark navy, but out here, people clearly had room to enjoy fashion. That said, perhaps because most visitors to this frontier resource planet were transport workers, many of the women were taller than me and solidly built. They’d likely undergone enhancement surgeries as well. It was common to see them casually carrying heavy cargo with ease.

“If they found out I’m a man…”

“You would almost certainly be attacked, so please be careful.”

When I muttered that under my breath, Alisa pressed the point with a serious expression. At the moment, I was hiding my body with a long coat prepared by the procurement division, with the hood pulled low. It was an undeniably suspicious getup. Even so, I honestly doubted it was enough to fully conceal me. But in this era, women hadn’t seen an actual man for generations. Even if something that supposedly didn’t exist was walking right in front of them, unless I was blatantly exposing myself, they wouldn’t assume it was a man.

With the long coat in place, the thought briefly crossed my mind to test that theory by exposing myself right in the middle of the street, but given the very real threat to my life, I restrained myself.

“And, well, your voice probably won’t give you away, but please don’t speak too loudly.”

“Got it. Sorry for the trouble.”

I had gone through a voice change, after all. There were probably women with low voices too, but raising my voice unnecessarily would attract attention, so it was best avoided.

“Still… this is kind of unexpected.”

I looked around and voiced the sense of incongruity I felt.

“I feel like I might blend in more easily than I thought. There seem to be a lot of boyish people.”

Short hair, sturdy builds. Of course, most women walked around with enormous breasts bouncing and thick hips swaying, but there were also many who deliberately cultivated a boyish vibe. Judging by the soft cleft visible if you really looked, they were certainly women.

“There are a lot of people with those preferences. And since there are no real men, that probably plays a part.”

“I see.”

In this era, being lesbian wasn’t unusual. If anything, it was normal when only women existed. Apparently, there were even female couples who formed households together. When humanity first suffered Demonia’s invasion and male numbers began plummeting, the Empire issued a semen contribution decree, collecting and storing seed for future generations. Now, with no clear prospect of replenishment, that stock was being carefully rationed to barely sustain humanity’s lifeline.

“Alisa, your parents…?”

“The state is my parent. More precisely, parental authority belongs to the planetary administrative government of my homeworld.”

For several generations now, childrearing and childbirth via the womb had become obsolete due to concerns of stability and efficiency. At the moment when an egg from a woman designated as a mother was fertilized with state-distributed sperm, it was implanted into an artificial womb. There, under comprehensive mechanical management, the child was grown, born, educated, and raised to adulthood. A mother could probably be found if one searched, but the father might be an anonymous man who’d provided semen hundreds of years ago.

“However, with artificial insemination and external gestation, only girls are born.”

“Really?”

“It’s said the problem lies in genetic contamination of the sperm. Sexual contact with Demonia seems to genetically damage male semen…”

“So Demonia is involved there too…”

In the early days of conflict between humanity and Demonia, many men were deployed as combat forces. Those captured were violated by Demonia and suffered reproductive abnormalities. Even if they later had children with human women, all offspring would be female, a curse-like phenomenon. Worse still, that genetic damage was inherited by those daughters. Even if they later bore children with men, the children would again be female.

Modern medical technology couldn’t resolve this. In contrast, the genes I carried were called pure human genes, untainted by that corruption. Everything above was secondhand information from Captain Sail. I’d wondered whether having children with modern women would still leave Demonia’s curse intact, but apparently the curse only overpowered humanity because genetic resilience had weakened over a thousand years. Pure human genes supposedly possessed enough strength to break the curse. I guess they weren’t called “thousand-year aged” for nothing.

“Demonia is a terrifying species. You probably won’t ever encounter them, Touya-san, but if you ever do, please be careful.”

“I know.”

Demonia was an all-female species, but their physical capabilities far surpassed even enhancement-modified modern human women. If that was the case, I wouldn’t stand a chance in a million. Still, it was unlikely that Demonia would just casually show up in humanity’s controlled territory.

“More importantly, Touya-san! Look over there!”

Alisa pointed ahead. At the center of the station, piercing straight through the donut’s hollow and extending toward the planet below, was a single cable. It was a tough structure woven from carbon nanotubes, a tether connecting the station to the planet: Tiria’s orbital elevator.

“Once we board that and ride for about an hour, we’ll finally be on the surface.”

After so long away from the ground, Alisa and the others were clearly excited. She took my hand, and together we stepped into the shaft, an enormous structure that looked less like an elevator and more like a colossal skyscraper.

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