Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 238
Only Noblemtl
Ep. 237
Combat in Space Survival is usually quite noisy.
In the sky, energy cannons rain down from ships hundreds of meters in size, and on land, soldiers in powered suits and various monsters clash with each other.
Some players sit on their flagships and control them, while others run around the battlefield. Regardless of which group a player belongs to, war is like a flashy and noisy festival.
Rather, it would be fair to say that Aimov, who encourages surprise attacks and stealthy movements until the mid-to-late stages, is unique.
By the way, I forgot one. Actually, there is another being that fights quietly like Aimov.
That’s right, Screamer.
Controlled by machines, they speak only what is necessary and make little other sounds. There is no sound at all, such as the screams of wounded soldiers or the cries of soldiers who want to go home, which are common noises on the battlefield.
Maybe that’s why.
The place where we were fighting, a swamp lake inside a cliff, was surprisingly quiet. Dozens of Screamers moved to attack me, but there was no sound. Except for the sound of the water sloshing.
The erosion tentacles that had been sleeping inside the thick carapace woke up all at once.
The target was the Screamers in the rear. Their six tentacles, spread wide, swam across the swamp like snakes hunting for prey, catching them.
The Screamers who were relatively close to me each took out their weapons.
Their appearances were full of personality, as if they had undergone another modification while I hadn’t seen them before. They had multiple legs, they were fat with sagging flesh, they had multiple eyes, etc.
When PS-111 met me, there were a total of five species of creatures that had fused with him. And in the process of restoring his body, he used materials such as Blood River and Gallagon’s Claw Sword.
The Screamers who came to the Dragon’s Nest were the same. They were strengthened by adding the remains of dead Screamers to their bodies.
‘It looks much more unstable than the PS-111 though.’
They were a mess, even worse than the PS-111, which was a reconstructed version of a shattered whole body, with more applied genes. They didn’t look that good in terms of design or efficiency. The energy consumption rate was too high, and since each one had different specifications, it didn’t look easy to maintain.
I guess I should just look at it as a short-term battle, with everything invested in killing me.
‘Even so, you can’t beat me.’
Even now, my friends are individually defeating the Screamers in various parts of the nest. They hide behind walls made of slime and attack with a surprise attack at the right time, or they are distracted by the fog created by the Smog Tower and get attacked from the rear, etc.
Then, when the enemies die, the black mucus absorbs their corpses and provides me with nutrients. This is thanks to the nest-related trait, ‘Human Sacrifice’.
‘And there’s also Blood River.’
A Screamer rushes towards me. He jumps on my back and starts attacking me.
It had been given the genes of a Hellside Hornet, and three or four of its legs had scythe-shaped claws. Every time its claws flashed, a large gash appeared on its belly, and its eroding tentacles left long, narrow wounds.
While he was attacking, other Screamers rushed in. At other times, I would have dodged, but now there was no need to do so.
I pulled out my combat arm that was lying on the swamp floor and caught the screamer flying towards me.
As the ‘Hand of the Predatory Leech’ effect was activated, the flesh on the creature’s body shrank. In an instant, the Screamer transformed into a high-calorie energy source. All that remained was a solid metal skeleton that made up the creature’s body.
When one dies, another one comes to life. The life force I gained from the Screamer spread to every corner of my body. My broken carapace and bleeding wounds returned to normal condition, as if I had never been hurt before.
The Screamer that was attacking by climbing onto my body stops. It must be because something happened that even the AI controlling its body cannot understand.
I stretched out my coiled tail. A large tail that was more than 20 meters long when combined with my snake-like lower body swam up through the water.
The Screamer, squeaking on the back of the ship, sees its tail and tries to run away. I have no intention of leaving the one I have attacked and tried to escape to alone.
I struck the thing hard with the pincers at the end of its tail. It collided with the hardest part of my body, along with its skull, completely destroying its metal skeleton.
It didn’t end there, but it swung its tail from side to side vigorously. The Screamers who had been approaching me retreated quickly, but not all of them did so.
Some were hit by the tail and flew away, crashing into the common ceiling or walls, and some were caught in my pincers. I could have cut them in two by applying force to the pincers, but I didn’t.
I opened my mouth wide and pulled my tail inside my body. The ones caught in the pincers realized what I was going to do and started to buckle, but their resistance was futile.
They swung their legs to avoid being eaten by me. Three synthetic claws sank into my snout, and flames from their bodies burned the roof of my mouth.
The pain was temporary. Every time I got hurt, the nest healed my body.
Having neutralized their resistance, I closed their wide-open jaws like a snake’s mouth in one go. The upper bodies and heads of the creatures that had protruded from the pincers were crushed and flowed into my throat.
‘It’s not tasty.’
It tasted like I had eaten peppermint candy, orange juice, and rice cake at the same time. Maybe it was because I had only eaten delicious food like Gallagon recently, but the threshold was even stronger.
I swallowed it without putting it in my mouth, and lost my head and upper body, throwing the hanging remains into the swamp. The retreating Screamers poured all kinds of bullets at me.
From the Star Union’s conventional weapons like cluster bombs and high-velocity impact bombs to energy weapons like energy bombs that concentrate psychic power, some of the weapons they have have hurt me and caused me pain.
But that was it.
Even if they destroy my body, I won’t die. If I want to attack Aimov, who has finished preparing everything on the nest, I need a stronger weapon.
As I took the enemy’s attack, I prepared my next weapon.
The tentacles that had been hanging down from his neck begin to wiggle and raise their heads. Thanks to the heart he acquired from the black dragon, his psychic powers are quickly recharged.
The monster’s tentacles, instantly filled with energy, begin to breathe fire.
The dragon’s breath engulfs everything. The metallic skeletons that reflect the light and shine with a purple glow, and the rough breathing coming from the mouth buried in the flesh.
The thieves who broke into the dragon’s cave try to run away after seeing their comrades burning to death.
Behind them as they left the den, I spread my wings wide. Like the Slavic god of the night spreading his cloak, my wings filled the swampy lake.
No one can leave here without my permission.
No one.
–
PS-005, who was left outside the nest, knew that the situation was turning against him.
All contact was lost from the four groups of 98 Screamers who had entered the cave located on the opposite cliff. It could have been due to a simple communication failure, but the AI embedded in his head did not think so.
Because of the messages left by the Screamers before the communication ended. It is not common for the environment, enemies, and all elements to be unpredictable.
It was not hard to guess what would happen to those who fell into the trap. Most of them would probably have a hard time coming back.
The 209 units that were deployed to attack Gallagon’s nest suffered damage that was close to total annihilation. Now, all that remains are yourself and another PS model next to you.
Even in situations where he would have run away long ago if it weren’t for the machine, he waited for Pira Eleven’s orders.
And soon the long-awaited answer came back.
“Prepare to retreat.”
“check.”
Information obtained before communication with the advancing unit was lost was relayed.
Although we lost 200 entities, it wasn’t all a loss. We had acquired some information about Special Objective A, so we could just formulate a new strategy based on that.
After disconnecting from Pira Eleven, they left the cliff.
A group of half-mechanical, half-biological beings with several metal legs traversed the forest. It had been some time since they left the cliff, but the forest interior was still dark.
Of course, this level of darkness was nothing to them, who could switch to various fields of vision. Switching to infrared vision, they moved their legs, which had been sticking out haphazardly, busily.
While running towards the Ice Canyon where Pira Eleven was, PS-005 heard a sound.
The sound of frozen earth cracking slightly. That’s the sound the native creatures on this planet make when they move.
The two screamers stopped running and looked around cautiously. It was only natural.
There are no wild animals in this forest. Before attacking the Gallagon’s nest, they had wiped out all the creatures living in the forest.
In other words, those footsteps were made by a being that was not in this forest.
PS-005 released a small drone for detection while maintaining the perimeter. The exploration drone began to move through the trees and begin its exploration.
As I was checking to see if there was any object moving in sync with the drone, the drone’s field of view shook violently.
As PS-005, whose synchronization was forcibly deactivated, took out the bio-weapons implanted in his body, the Screamer beside him also prepared for battle.
They went to the place where the drone was destroyed. Not far away, they found the broken drone.
Oddly enough, the drone’s remains were not on the icy dirt floor, but on top of a tree.
The vision detection camera was pierced by a metal spear that flew in from somewhere.
PS-005 replayed the last thing he saw in his head before his vision was cut off.
Before the drone with the thermal detection system stopped, a ray of light flew in. He checked where the spear had come from and stopped playing the recording. PS-005’s gaze turned to the ray of light, or rather, to the location where the golden metal spear had come from.
“Confirmation required.”
“I will check.”
The screamer next to him crawled to where the spear had come from.
Meanwhile, PS-005 has switched to a detection system capable of detecting physical projectiles in advance.
Since I came here, I have never seen any creatures using such primitive weapons. With its extremely unpredictable climate, this planet is not a place for civilization to grow.
I don’t know who it is, but he’ll just capture it anyway. Even if he doesn’t want to say it, his genes will know the answer.
He switched on his detection system within seconds and looked ahead.
A Screamer is seen going ahead to investigate the traces of the being that threw the window.
No, to be exact, a Screamer with a separated body and head.
And in front of them was a huge wild animal walking on four legs.
The head had a pointed horn based on the base of a bird of prey living on Earth, and the body resembled a large feline beast. The body was covered in dark golden fur with black wavy patterns.
The creature crushed its comrade’s head with its large forepaw. Its amber eyes, shining clearly even in the dark forest, glared at PS-005.
A being never seen anywhere on this planet. PS-005 knows who that creature is.
“77% match with Special Objective C.”
Special Objective C is also a target for killing, although not as much as Special Objective A, which is the top priority.
Instead of fighting the guy, PS-005 chose to retreat. There was no guarantee that he could kill the guy alone, and above all, reporting this fact to Pyrrha Eleven was a priority.
PS-005 quickly retreated from the spot and reactivated his communication with Pira Eleven. Moving his multiple legs busily, he prepared to transmit the information he had just seen to the Supreme Commander.
Could that be the reason?
He neglected to switch his detection system to a mode that would detect physical projectiles. He only realized his mistake when he saw a purple heat ray flying through the trees on the other side, but by then it was too late.
–
“I thought it was strange that the nest suddenly disappeared, and it was as expected.”
The Heavenly Mother did not return to the dragon’s nest with Nel Germa. Since Ham Ort’s wounds had not yet fully healed, she stayed with him in the nest that Aimoff had created.
After resting for another day, Ham Ort’s body was almost completely recovered. He planned to head to the dragon’s nest after two more days, but the nest suddenly stopped expanding and began to wither.
She knows what it means for Aimov’s nest to decline.
She had fought Aimorph many times, so she knew that there was a limit to how many nests she could place. If she exceeded the limit for how many nests she could maintain, the first one she placed would be automatically dismantled.
When she saw that the black swamp in the small cave had dried up, she realized that Aimov had set up a new nest. And that it was related to the crisis that Aimov and his party were in.
Morphbak acts as if he was born amorph, not human. It’s impossible for such a guy to build a nest without thinking.
And around here, there is only one place where Aimorph can nest to its limit.
“The Daughter of the Meteorite” “Are You Safe?”
“I think he’ll be okay. Morphbak… If he’s a black kin, he’ll definitely protect him.”
“I will believe it”
She knows how powerful Aimov is in the nest, because she’s been in a similar situation in the game where her clan was destroyed.
‘It looks like a remnant, considering it’s moving in the opposite direction of the dragon’s nest.’
The Heavenly Mother, who had returned to her griffon state, approached Screamer, who had lost half of his body.
It turned out that Ham Ort’s wings hadn’t fully healed, so he flew slowly on purpose. Thanks to that, he was able to spot the Screamers moving under the trees while flying to the nest.
She stomped on the head of the writhing creature, which was in a completely mangled state, with her forepaw.
When you think of PS-111, Screamers are dangerous even if they only have their heads left. They can either escape alive, or activate the incineration system to damage her.
“These guys, you have to break their heads. Otherwise, they’ll blow themselves up, so be careful.”
“Confirmed”
The Heavenly Mother, who had warned Ham Ort, retrieved the priest’s golden spear stuck in the tree. Holding the spear in her beak, she climbed onto Ham Ort.
“I know how you feel, but there might be some who run away like this. Just go a little slower.”
“I get it”
Even as she soared through the branches of the tree above the Ham Ort, her amber eyes remained fixed on the forest.