Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 158



Only Noblemtl

Ep. 157

–

“Ship number 98 collision successful.”

“Tch, it must be really strong. I can see it didn’t explode right away.”

“The estimated durability is almost the same as X10 class.”

“It’s at the level of a medium-sized destroyer. I don’t know where on earth such a monster came from….”

Nemean Fleet Acting Commander Sanadaev was watching the battle situation through an external camera.

As per his orders, ship number 98 successfully rammed the unidentified bioship.

“Where is that bastard Mackay?”

“A signal chip has been detected inside the bioship.”

“I want to capture you and torture you, but I have no choice because I have orders.”

The Mechanical Committee said that the bioship was extremely dangerous and that we should not approach it. Sanadaev also tried to subdue it with a long-range attack because of that warning, but it was not easy.

At first, I thought that only four ships would be enough, so I sent them out, but they quickly sank them all. I don’t know who the pilot was, but he was operating the huge frigate as if he were a carrier-based aircraft. I’ve fought many enemies so far, but it’s rare to see someone who can dodge torpedoes so well.

He quickly killed the cyborgs that had been chasing him, and then moved around as if trying to provoke him. And he did so within sight of the flagship.

So he sent ten ships at him. Sure enough, ten ships were too much for him, as they couldn’t hold out for long.

‘If you had run away, you could have lived longer. You fool.’

In his field of vision he saw a broken figure at the upper right end.

The front of the 98th ship has been cut off so much that it is impossible to see, so it will be difficult for it to move now. If it were a real ship, its lifespan would have ended due to the current attack, and if it were a living creature, it would have suffered fatal damage beyond recovery.

Whatever it is, now all that’s left for him is death.

“Just in case, let’s dispose of it with a torpedo and the rest of the traces….”

“Psychic cannon activity detected on Imperial Carrier.”

“Damn it! Ships 1 to 12, take a detour, ships 70 to 80, defend with APD.”

“check.”

“Take care of Ship 98 and leave a record. I’ll report to the Mechanical Committee, so record it in as much detail as possible.”

“Order issued.”

I wanted to see that damn bioship explode, but right now we’re in combat.

Sanadaev continued conducting with regret.

–

“20% damage to the front of the ship.”

“Crazy! 20% damage? If you retreat, fire torpedoes immediately.”

“Not possible due to severe damage to the cannon.”

Captain Keynes Q of ship number 98 checked the condition of the hull.

A 3D model of the ship appeared above his eyes, connected to the ship’s computer. As 98 had said, many of the forward-facing guns were damaged.

All of the damage was caused by the collision earlier.

“I clearly received APD assistance, so why is this happening?”

“The ship in question has no shields, so the APD effect is halved. The durability of the outer wall is estimated to be the same as that of an X10-class ship.”

“Tsk, what the heck. Contact the other ships and tell them to shoot us immediately if we get lost.”

“check.”

“Activate the undamaged front rockets and the side rockets. Then, if they fall, immediately send the drone and the technical team.”

“Order confirmed. Front thrusters, side thrusters, left and right thrusters activated.”

At Keynes Q’s command, No. 98 immediately activated the rocket. As the hull moved, the gravity inside the ship was concentrated, causing the internal facilities to vibrate slightly.

A few minutes after the collision, I was trying to get away quickly when I suddenly felt a vibration louder than before.

“Impact occurred from outside the hull.”

“What the… all of a sudden….”

“Emergency report! High energy flow ahead! Presumed reactor overload!”

“What? What the heck! Double the power of the side rockets!”

As soon as those words were spoken, a pressure stronger than before came crashing down on Keynes Q. Metal cracking noises could be heard from the inner walls of the ship, and in some areas, objects were sticking to the ceiling or floating in the air as if gravity was abnormal.

“Once you get out, immediately step back!”

“check.”

Along with the 98th ship, the other ships also distanced themselves from the bioship. The camera mounted on the outside of the ship showed the bioship. The black outer wall cracked like an egg, and purple light poured out from within.

“I got a great idea! The remaining drones should push that ship and throw it towards the cult!”

Another cyborg with communications link to Keynes Q launched drones. A construction drone in charge of repairs quickly flew in and pushed the bioship away.

The cultists also began to retreat, perhaps noticing that there was something odd about the bioship that resembled their own ship.

“Slow down!”

Then, there was a flash of intense purple light. Two nearby cult ships were caught in the explosion, causing a chain reaction of explosions.

“That’s it. Number 98, did you record them all?”

“Recording completed.”

“Record the internal damage as well and pass it on to the acting fleet commander on the flagship side.”

“It is recommended that you retreat to the rear to preserve evidence.”

“Hmm, it’s a bit weird to just leave it out so blatantly. What about the side rockets?”

“Right propeller damage 30%. Left propeller damage 70%.”

“Tch, that won’t work. Let’s just get out of here for now.”

“check.”

Keynes Q’s mission ends here. Ship 98 retreats to the rear, escorted by other cyborg ships.

–

‘Oh my, that was close.’

The other ship came crashing deeper than I expected, causing my reactor to almost explode. It’s not a problem when I’m in control, but it’s different when I release Nightmare Horizon.

After the erosion, the ship was in such a mess that it could not be recovered. I thought there was nothing to worry about since the nuclear reactor was also destroyed and inoperable.

But I was mistaken.

The front of the other ship collided with the reactor, which almost killed all of us. Number 26, who is the most skilled at controlling psychic powers among us, somehow survived the explosion, but Adhai and Sky Mother were definitely killed instantly.

‘I was in danger too.’

Currently, I am in a special state where I can transform into ‘Smart Weakling’ through ‘Organic Evolution’. If I were in a normal state, I would have survived without fatal injuries thanks to my thick armor, but not now.

As the size decreased, the defensive power also decreased accordingly.

‘Is this a phone call?’

Although I almost died, the explosion of that reactor diverted the attention of the enemies.

‘We have successfully entered.’

As I was thinking about where we could hide, Adhai nudged me with the tip of his wing.

“Big man” “Is that right?” “Confirm” “Needed”

[Huh?]

The guy kept tilting his head, wondering if my change was too awkward.

Adhai’s reaction isn’t particularly strange. I also find my own changes awkward.

The change that happened to me was not something that could be described as a mutation or transformation. It was literally closer to an ‘evolution’.

First of all, my overall size was reduced to about 5m including the tail. The tail was about 2m long and the body was about 3m long.

As the tail was shortened, the body shape also changed, and the arms located near the armpits and pelvis among the fighting arms were lowered and began to function as legs.

To put it simply, you could say that it has a body type similar to a centaur from Greek mythology.

With four of his combat arms gone, you’d think his combat power would drop drastically, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. The small arms on his chest had grown to be as big as his combat arms.

‘The shape is a little different, though.’

The small arm on the chest, or rather the part that was now a long arm, was impressive with its prominently developed muscles and its outer skin like a fighting arm.

It seemed weak to be used for defensive purposes like other arms, but it seemed like it could easily crush a human skull.

Aside from the changes in body shape and arms, there were no major changes in other parts, such as the six horns, the huge head shell, and the pincers at the end of the tail.

The only thing that has changed is that as the body has shrunk, the proportion of faces that are characteristic of the human-faced beast has increased?

‘No. There are other huge changes besides that.’

What I mean by evolution is not because of the change in body shape.

Right, hair.

My body is covered in long, thin hairs. Except for my head shell, my entire body is covered in dark purple hairs. If you look at my body from a distance, it looks like I’m wearing fur.

‘Eimov is furry.’

In fact, there were some characteristics that allowed hair to grow in the game, but there was no characteristic that changed it to the extent of covering the entire body like now.

I wasn’t the only one who found this change unfamiliar.

“The big baby has become strange.”

“Me” “Little Adult” “Agree”

Even 26, who always said nice things to me, said that I was strange. This was the first time that 26, who had watched my evolution without fail, had said that I was strange.

As I remained silent, number 26 quickly added a word.

“But I like it because he’s a big kid!”

“Horn” “Cool” “Stem” “Strange”

It seems that my appearance is out of the scope of the two alien creatures.

Finally, I looked at the remaining Heavenly Mother and she awkwardly shook her head with her eyes.

“It looks like a wendigo with no hair on its head.”

[Zuz …

“… It feels like the Wendigo has eight legs.”

Among the phantom beasts that Wolf can transform into, there is also a Wendigo. It has very strong powers, but I remember that its appearance was not very well-received.

‘Hmm. I guess it’s not bad.’

Despite the many negative reviews, there is one good thing: this hair is not ordinary hair.

When transformed into a clever underdog, it is said that the use of some characteristics is restricted, but new perks are gained.

As the saying goes, this hair was a new body part that had a powerful special effect.

｢Undercovered Fur:｣ A perk provided by the ‘Clever Underdog’ trait. The subtle waves created by the swaying fur provide the user with a stealth effect that allows them to avoid detection equipment, traits, and skills.

*P.S. Please note that some electronic devices are not affected by this effect.」

｢Sealed traits due to ‘clever weakling’ status: Bone axe, gliding membrane, reinforced large tail, erosion tentacles｣

‘indeed.’

If the King of Monsters is a special state of organic evolution, then the clever weakling is closer to a survival mode. I don’t know how effective the fur of an alien creature is, but considering the King of Monsters, I expect the stealth effect to be considerable.

‘The only downside is that some of your physical abilities are sealed.’

In particular, it is regrettable that the erosion tentacles, which were a side effect of Nightmare Horizon and one of my main weapons, have disappeared. The areas where the erosion tentacles protrude are replaced by faces that are characteristic of the human-faced beast.

‘It’s a shame that the combat power is reduced.’

It’s actually an appropriate trait in a situation where you’re sneaking onto a ship.

‘Let’s think about this later.’

We are now inside the cyborg ship. The front of the ship was damaged when the cult frigate was rammed, and we took advantage of that gap to get in.

‘Drones will be coming soon to repair the damaged area.’

Until then, you must hide in a safe place.

I placed the auxiliary engine against the inner wall of the ship, just like I did in the old hatchling days.

The heavy sound of the reactor turning, the footsteps of androids and cyborgs rushing about the ship, drones flying around with loud alarms, and even the smell of rusted iron, synthetic oil, and sweaty flesh.

A feeling of being connected to a living, breathing ship. Even cyborgs who link directly to the ship can’t feel it as deeply as I can.

‘It was often used on research ships to track enemy movements.’

The performance of today’s auxiliary organs is incomparably superior to that of that time.

A cyborg ship with a much larger and more complex structure than a research vessel. I read the structure of half of the ship in an instant.

[Zuzu (this side)]

I found a safe place and moved with everyone. There were drones and androids along the way, but we didn’t get caught.

Having thus avoided all threats, we arrived at the safest place on the ship.

“Garbage dump?”

[Z (Yeah)]

“… It’s definitely safe.”

There are no surveillance cameras inside the dump, except for one near the entrance.

The entrance to the treatment plant was right in front of us, but I stopped the group.

[Zuzu zuzuzu zuzu (wait a minute)]

“You want to try that fur experiment?”

It’s quick to understand since I’m a fellow ranker. Before going in, I’m thinking of doing an experiment with that camera.

‘Is this a square?’

I moved so close to the wall that I was barely out of the camera’s field of view. Then I extended my tail just enough to be visible in the camera’s field of view.

‘They said that the fur of an unknown creature would render detection equipment ineffective.’

Cyborg’s cameras support a variety of detection systems, and even in normal mode, they provide much higher image quality than Megacorp’s surveillance cameras.

So if someone over there, whether an android or a cyborg, sees this, they’ll definitely send out a surveillance drone.

‘If not….’

I extended my tail a few more times to get it on camera, but no drones came here as time passed.

‘It works.’

I waited for over 10 more minutes, but there was no response. I climbed up the wall and adjusted the camera angle.

‘I think this will suffice.’

If you stick to the edge of the wall and move, you won’t be captured by the camera. For the ambiguous part, you can hide behind a large object like a crane that moves trash before entering the treatment plant entrance and move.

After disabling the camera, I finally touched the terminal next to the entrance to the treatment plant to find out when the garbage was being disposed of periodically.

I checked and there was still a long way to go until the next scheduled processing date. After finishing all the reviews, I called the kids.

[Zzuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu (go around to the back of the crane and go in)]

“What is a crane?”

“Just go over there.”

That way we were able to jump onto the garbage dump safely.

“Wow! There are so many toys!”

“Amazing”

“Don’t go near the press. It’s dangerous.”

Number 26 and Adhai seemed to like the inside of the garbage dump. Heavenly Mother followed the children around, warning them not to do anything dangerous.

There is a very famous SF movie that was in the museum long before I was born. In that movie, there is a scene where the main characters fall into an enemy trap and get trapped in a garbage dump.

‘Did the robot save you there?’

In the movie, it was a place where the main characters got into trouble, but not here. This messy place will be our escape.