Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 161



Only Noblemtl

Ep. 160

If Megacorp has the Hulk mutant, Star Union has the Screamer.

The two are quite similar in that they forcibly transform criminals into combat weapons and boast horrifying appearances.

The difference is that while the Hulk mutant is seen more as an ally than an enemy, the Screamer appears primarily as an enemy.

Unlike the Hulk mutants, who are less intelligent but have self-awareness and a certain degree of freedom, the Screamers are mentally sound but physically controlled by machines.

‘It’s literally a prison of machines.’

Although his name is ‘The Screamer’, he cannot even breathe properly unless the life management AI attached to his body permits it.

The same goes for the Screamers who rush at me with loud noises. They shout that they have found the enemy as soon as they see me, but that is just a line that is automatically output according to a specific situation input into the AI.

It swung its forelegs as it got close enough to see the veins standing out on its pale skin. The feet, with their sharp claws like spider legs, flew in to tear at the flesh.

I swung my fighting arm to parry the bastard’s attack, expecting it to bounce off my feet easily like it always did.

but.

With a thud, its claws sank into my forearm.

‘huh?’

It wasn’t deeply embedded, but I was surprised. Since becoming a semi-adult, no one has ever punctured my carapace with a melee attack since Muriel.

That wasn’t the end of it. The bastard’s back was bent grotesquely, and two metal feet on his back were aimed at my eyes.

I quickly turned my head, blocked the claws with my shell, and used the rotational force generated by twisting my body to swing my tail widely.

The thick-skinned tail sweeps across the floor. The pincers at the end of it collide with the creature. The creature, struck by the Swamp King’s hammer, is slammed into the hallway wall.

“Kuuu” “Kuuu”

I swung it as if I was going to shatter it in one blow, but it didn’t die. It seemed fine, except for a few bent metal frames.

‘Why is it so hard?’

I’ve fought Screamers so many times that I know full well how good they are.

However, the defense and attack power of this Screamer in front of me were out of standard.

‘It’s not because it’s weakened by the clever underdog effect…’

It is true that its fighting ability has decreased as its body has shrunk, but even taking that into account, the mechanical beast is unusually strong.

‘It’s been upgraded.’

“Kuuu” “Kuuu”

The screamer, who had opened up the distance, was breathing heavily and was wary of me. After a single exchange of attacks, he realized that I was not an easy opponent, so he moved cautiously.

I also carefully explored the enemy.

‘I wonder what other features might have been added.’

I think it’s unlikely, but he might be hiding a means to threaten my life. So I have to fight with caution.

Then the guy came running again.

This time, instead of running up the hallway, he hopped along the walls and ceiling, digging his six metal legs into the walls and ceiling.

‘I guess it’s just to confuse you.’

I can climb walls too. I also ran towards him, clinging to the walls and ceilings like the guy.

The distance between us quickly closes. Just before we collide, the guy raises his two front paws high.

The target he was aiming for was my neck. A sharp weapon like an ice pick was aimed at my neck.

Instead of blocking the bastard’s attack, I jumped straight down from the ceiling. The bastard’s attack just grazed the back of my head.

A screamer that didn’t give up and tried to pounce on me and take my neck.

Before that, my tail stopped him. I grabbed his legs with the pincers at the end of my tail. Just because he’s shrunk in size doesn’t mean he’s lost all his strength. I put strength into my pincers.

“Risk of damage to legs 1 and 2.”

The creature made a mechanical noise and tried to break free, but it was held tightly, so it was meaningless resistance. The creature’s metal leg broke under the force of the force. The creature’s eyes widened as liquid spurted out from the tube connected to the broken leg.

“Kuuu”

His breathing became ragged. I swung my fighting arm.

Then the bastard gave up his captured legs. My attack ended in vain as the bastard abandoned his legs and retreated.

The one who had retreated a few steps bent his remaining legs and pushed away sharply. The one with the solid metal frame climbed onto my back. In that state, its legs were like a noose, squeezing my neck and back shell.

I thought he was trying to strangle me and kill me, but that wasn’t it.

A long, thin tail similar to a scorpion’s tail protruded from near the buttocks of the thing that had caught me. The only difference from a scorpion was that instead of a stinger, it had a triangular, rotating saw blade embedded in it.

‘Where!’

I slammed the guy’s back into the hallway with all my might, and the weight of my body and the force of my impact made the entire ship shake slightly.

“Shock detected. No recovery.”

The impact crushed half of the bastard’s body. The strength in the legs that were holding me up gave out.

However, in a last-ditch effort, the creature slashed the back of my head with its tail. The collision between the shell and the saw blade sent out a strong spark that lit up the dark hallway.

‘This is real!’

I grabbed the bastard by the tail and swung him against the wall like a baseball bat. Machine parts and life-sustaining fluids poured out of the bastard as his body was half-pinned against the wall.

The mangled thing was flailing its legs in an attempt to somehow harm me. I finished it off by stabbing its body with the six horns on its head.

“Quiet” “Sea, sea, ocean, sea, ocean, gooooooo…” “Keeeek”

The life support AI controlling the thing fell silent after saying that. The tubes attached to its body were all cut off, its legs were all broken, and its tail was torn off entirely and was in my hand.

Soon the bastard spat out the piece of tube he had in his mouth. His eyes had been bloodshot when he had fought me, but he looked much more relaxed as he faced death.

“Thank you, thank you, woah… .”

He looked at me and said something, then lowered his head.

‘phew.’

This is the first time I’ve seen such a strong Screamer. The battle wasn’t long, but I took a lot of damage from it.

‘I knew it would damage the skull.’

Although it’s a minor scratch, it can’t be ignored. If you upgrade it further, you’ll end up with a mass-produced weapon that can inflict fatal damage to even an Aimorph sub-adult.

‘The kids are in danger!’

There are at least three Screamers on this ship. They’re opponents I had a hard time defeating, but the kids will be much harder to deal with.

Besides, unlike me who has strong defense, the defense of No. 26 or Adhai is nothing special. If you get cut by the rotating saw blade on its tail, it’s death.

I hurried over to the Screamer’s body.

The gunshots that had been ringing loudly in the hallway until the fight with the Screamer were no longer audible. That meant the fight was already over. Thinking about that, I felt a strange sense of unease.

As I was running to find the nearest Aadhai, a fork in the road appeared in front of me. If I take the hallway on the right, Aadhai is right there.

I picked up my pace and ran quickly to check the right hallway.

There were many fallen corpses and the Mother of Heaven. Among the fallen corpses, a mangled Screamer was seen.

And one of the fallen creatures had large wings and a long tail.

‘Adhai!’

The moment I saw Adhai lying on the ground, my heart sank. I thought he had been hit while fighting the Screamer, but the guy raised his head.

“It’s tasteless!” “Really!” “It’s tasteless!”

“I told you, it wouldn’t taste good.”

“I” “Friend” “Words” “Distrust” “Mistake”

Adhai scratched the tentacles that replaced his mouth with his forelegs. He was busy shaking off the things stuck on his tentacles when he found me.

“Big man” “Happy”

“Are you here?”

[Zuzu zuzuzu (Is everyone okay?)]

“Why are you so surprised? Oh, is it because of this guy?”

The Heavenly Mother, who was grooming her feathers with her beak, looked at me and answered as if it was nothing.

“You’re much stronger than the Screamer I knew. I guess you fought too.”

[Z (Yeah)]

It looks like the Mother of Heaven has taken over Screamer.

When I looked at the Screamer’s body, I saw that his head was separated from his torso. The Heavenly Mother must have decapitated him with her claws. She aimed precisely for the soft flesh instead of the hard metal part.

[Zuz …

“Huh? You haven’t checked it yet?”

[Zuzu zuzuzu (What are you talking about?)]

She was making an unintelligible sound. She raised her front claws and pointed at the dead Screamer.

The area she was pointing to was the bastard’s neck. When I examined the back of his neck, I saw marks from several failed attempts to cut him.

“These guys’ bodies are not those of normal humans.”

[Z(what?)]

“Too strong for a human.”

She lightly cut the screamer’s skin with her claws. The griffon’s claws were very sharp, so even a light cut would normally cause the flesh to fall off.

But only a slight scratch remained on Screamer’s skin.

Originally, the head and torso of the Screamer were not much different from those of a normal cyborg. This was because the metal skeleton surrounding the creature’s body was solid, and the biological tissue portion had not been modified separately.

That’s why the Screamer’s weak point in the game is its fragile torso. The head is an exception, as it sometimes appears wearing a helmet similar to a gas mask depending on how it has been modified.

‘Come to think of it, the guy who fought me was also strong.’

Earlier, I had the guy on my back and slammed him into a wall. Considering my strength, it should have crushed not only the tube and legs, but also the entire body. However, he didn’t die instantly, but he hit me with his tail and then died.

If so, there is only one answer.

“Genetically enhanced humans, or….”

[Zuzuzuzuzuz (Hulk Mutant)]

She nodded silently.

‘I made Screamer out of Hulk mutants.’

Actually, I said it, but I found it hard to believe it myself.

That’s understandable, since Star Union and Megacorp are at war. It’s unlikely that core technologies like the Hulk mutant production method will leak to Star Union.

And even if you obtain the recipe through intelligence, it is not easy to make it into a Screamer right away.

‘Star Union’s level of genetic engineering technology is not high.’

In all other areas, except for cloning technology, both technology and infrastructure are inferior to Megacorp. Just because you have the technology, it is another matter to produce it.

‘Let’s check and see if No. 26 is safe…’

“What? What are the kids doing without me?”

Then a ray of light came to me. It was number 26.

A thumping sound was heard in the dark hallway, and soon the guy appeared.

My Heavenly Mother and I were shocked when we saw No. 26.

“I brought some food for the baby.”

Thanks to its increased body size, it filled about two-thirds of the passageway and was holding onto two Screamers with its psychic power technique, ‘Binding’.

“Kuuu” “An abnormality has occurred due to an unknown force.” “Kuuu”

“Unable to move due to an unknown force.”

Even the two Screamers were still alive, albeit with metal skeletons and legs twisted like twisted pigeons.

Adhai, who saw that, shot the thought wave.

“Little Adult” “That” “Tasteless”

“really?”

“I” “Tried” “That” “Gift” “Unnecessary”

“Really? Then I guess I should throw it away.”

[Zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzuzu (Wait. You don’t have to do that)]

As soon as Adhai’s thought wave ended, I saw the heads of the two Screamers bend strangely, and I quickly stopped No. 26.

[Z zu zu zu zu zu zu zu (I have to grow up quickly, so I’ll eat well)]

“Is the big baby growing any bigger?”

[Yeah]

“Then eat a lot and grow a lot, big baby!”

[Thank you]

As No. 26 released his bonds, the Screamers fell to the ground. They tried to move to attack No. 26, but every single part of their metal legs were twisted and they couldn’t move.

‘I guess the black silver wasn’t mixed in.’

If it had been a black silver alloy, No. 26 wouldn’t have been able to subdue it so easily. I patted the body of the bigger guy as a compliment.

[Zuzuzu (good job)]

“huh!”

The guy was delighted, his body glowing softly.

After caressing number 26, I stood in front of the disabled Screamer.

‘Let’s check it out right away.’

I have a useful tool for identifying unidentified entities.

One of the characteristics related to superpowers is ‘insight’.

This trait, acquired while hunting a cop named William in the space city in the past, randomly reveals information about enemies.

‘You just need to check the race name.’

As insight dawned, a purple light flashed from my eyes, illuminating the dark hallway.

And a semi-transparent text box appeared in front of me.

｢Name: ■■■■

Race: Hulk Mutant

Status: Strengthened (Screamer Treatment)

Equipment worn: ■■■■ ■■」

The information confirmed by the insight was as we predicted.

Screamer made from a Hulk mutant.

What does this mean?

‘There are those who cooperate with both Star Union and Megacorp.’

The war between the two communities has been going on for hundreds of years. In fact, we have seen the humans of Megacorp showing aversion to machines.

Of course, we know that there are people in the upper echelons of Megacorp who secretly sell employees to Star Union to earn credits.

But leaking the recipe for making an important war weapon is a whole other matter. If you lose the war, then credits won’t be an issue.

‘There can only be one being who would do such a thing.’

There are players who have created new Screamers for both Megacorp and Star Union.

And we can guess who the Star Union players will be.

‘You can’t do this unless you’re on the Machinery Committee or something.’

The highest ranking member of the Machine Committee can only be an android. Players cannot join.

So the opponent is the highest authority in the Star Union who surpasses the Machine Committee.

‘Your Majesty.’

The current leader is a player who has a close relationship with the Megacorp player.