Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 267
Only Noblemtl
Episode 267 – Harvest (1)
–
“Yes. She hasn’t come yet. Ahem. I’ll get ready. Okay.”
The lights went out on the diamond-shaped monument floating in the air and it slowly fell to the ground. After confirming that it had stopped working, Cynthia disconnected the wires connected to the monument.
“Phew.”
She took a short breath and picked up an apple from the luxurious table.
Apples. A fruit native to Earth, they are now only grown in the bio-dome on Mars. In the distant past, they were a common fruit, but now they are not easily accessible to anyone except the rich.
Cynthia took a bite of the precious fruit without a care. The sweetness that filled her mouth, the sourness that slightly tingled her tongue, and the freshness. If she had never eaten an apple before, she might have been quite impressed.
But what she felt was different.
Cynthia came from a world where red fruits were commonly found in her hands. In that world, in her homeland where she could not return, she enjoyed eating these fruits.
This sweetness I am tasting now is the taste of longing.
‘… not far.’
There are those in this world who share the same experiences as her. It is said that there were dozens of them at one time, but now there are only a few of them left. Accordingly, most of the factions that once existed have disappeared, and now only three factions remain.
She belongs to the ‘ruling faction’ among the factions of foreigners who wish to remain here and rule over the inferior beings. This faction is centered around intelligent beings with advanced civilizations such as Megacorp, Star Union, and Cult.
But Cynthia holds a secret that even her fellow faction members don’t know about.
‘If the person he arranged comes here, this role will also end.’
Since she came to this world, she never once thought about wanting to survive. She would do anything if she could just return home.
Even if it means killing other foreigners, or ‘human’ players, or deceiving them.
Holding the apple, she stepped out onto the ornate terrace, the view of the space fortress spread out beneath her feet.
One side was blindingly bright with artificial light from countless shops, while the other was covered in blackness without a single light. Above her head, a ruined mining planet looked down on the fortress, reflecting its light.
Cynthia felt no emotion at all when she saw the scenery of Kesha Arma, which was more like a wondrous rather than a beautiful sight.
‘A piece of data… .’
The real name of the faction that Cynthia belongs to is the ‘Return Faction’. It is a faction that aims to clear the game and return to their hometown.
She looked out at the city for a moment, then clicked her tongue and went inside.
If she had stayed there a little longer, she would have definitely noticed.
That black smoke was rising from a dark, dark area where there was no light.
–
‘It’s over.’
I picked up the anklet left by an unknown person and put it in my mouth.
‘I didn’t know there was a means of communication that worked on a closed circuit.’
All wireless communication in this underground storage was completely blocked due to the psychic powers installed by No. 26. So I was relieved, but I didn’t know that the pirates had installed a wired communication network to prevent EMP.
‘It would have been annoying if I had contacted the outside world.’
Fortunately, the lines were laid so that only five areas within the underground storage could communicate with each other. It seemed that they did not connect the lines to the outside due to cost issues.
‘They probably didn’t think this place would get robbed either.’
This place is guarded by over a hundred mercenaries, hundreds of androids, and double-shielded doors that are over a meter thick. Unless a war breaks out, no pirate would think that this place can be breached.
‘Unless it’s a monster that’s easily over 20 meters tall.’
Who would have thought that a giant monster would break through the meter-thick doors one by one to raid the vault?
Actually, before I got here, I personally broke down the storage entrance and the shielding doors in Area A. Currently, I have a special ability that allows me to easily break through even very thick doors.
‘Enhanced acid fungal glands.’
The infection series fusion trait I currently own, ‘Acid Fungal Gland’, is the third trait to benefit from the strengthening effect of ‘Great Infection’, following ‘Gremlin Moss’ and ‘Parasitic Colony’.
The buffs of the Great Infector are relatively intuitive, as evidenced by the gremlin moss sprayed in the form of mist, and the parasitic colony that increases the number of parasites to 20. Likewise, the acidic fungal glands have also been transformed into simple strong traits.
‘Because it changed to come out in breath form.’
Originally, it was a form that spit out clumps of fungi from its body in the form of projectiles, but now it has changed to a form that liquefies acidic fungi and shoots them like a water cannon. Naturally, its firepower has also increased to an incomparable degree compared to before.
‘It was a very useful trait when fighting Gorgon Swarm, but I didn’t know it would be used here again.’
However, things did not get better, and some unexpected drawbacks also emerged.
Since it spits out fungal fluid produced by the fungal glands located inside the throat, it can only shoot acidic breath for a few seconds at most. When the fungal fluid runs out, it must rest for a few minutes to recharge.
‘I can write it again now, but….’
Now that you have control of the entire warehouse, there is no need to do that.
I leaned into the guardhouse where the ceiling had blown off, and with my small arms against my chest I manipulated the computer in front of the blood-stained monitor.
‘Open Sesame.’
In the distance, a beast’s roar can be heard. It’s the sound of the barrier doors between the areas and passageways opening.
At that moment, a familiar voice flowed out from the speaker hanging from the broken wall of the guardhouse.
“I see the door is open, so I guess you’ve taken care of everything.”
“Okay. I’ll go to Area B.”
“Yes. We’ve breached the firewall of the underground storage facility, so you can come and check the stored list right away.”
I brought PS-111 because I thought it would be helpful for this kind of thing, and it was definitely the right answer. I told him I understood and moved to Area B.
After passing through a number of large storage areas and narrow passageways that were so narrow that your head would touch the ceiling if you stretched out your legs, you arrived at Area B and saw the guys.
No. 26 and PS-111 were in front of the management computer in front of some container.
“Hello, big baby.”
“Are you here?”
Number 26, who was disassembling the android with his tentacles, waved his tentacles at me and greeted me. Next to him, PS-111 was lying face down, connected to the computer’s port with a cable under his chin.
[Zuzuzu zuuzu zuuzu zuuzu zuuzu (Wasn’t it hard to break through the firewall?)]
“It’s an easy task for me, having hacked even the Pira Eleven ship.”
“That’s right! Friends are awesome!”
When No. 26 praised him, PS-111 raised his clawed leg and made a V-sign. His hands were covered in the blood of a mangled human.
I stuck out my tongue, licked his hand, and asked.
[Zuzuzuzuzuzuzu (show the list)]
“Okay. I’ll bring up the screen.”
The guy with his arms down and an expression of indifference began to manipulate the computer. As the cable under his chin twitched, a list of names appeared on the computer monitor.
I quickly skimmed through the list with the guy’s help.
‘hmm.’
There are two areas, B and C, where the smuggled creatures are stored. The remaining areas are not related to me as they store things like luxury goods, drugs, and confidential documents.
‘It may not be as much as I thought, but it’s enough to collect enough materials to create a unique trait.’
It looks like if I clear everything here, I’ll be able to get enough material properties to make at least one unique property.
If you’re lucky, you might get two unique traits and meet all the evolution requirements.
I opened the only trait synthesis formula I had before coming to the fortress.
「’Transcendence’ Material List: Reinforced Skull, Gallagon Horn, Spike-Filled Tail, Protein Assimilation, Clustered Skin Tissue (Not Acquired)」
「’Transcendence’ Material List: Inorganic Digestion, Harvester’s Maw, Bone Beast, Hell’s Vision (not obtained), Ultra Control (not obtained)」
‘I think the first of these fusions can be obtained here.’
The first fusion formula is not a big problem even if it is made with a unique characteristic, but the problem is the second fusion formula. Since it requires a difficult characteristic as a material, it seems difficult to use it in the transcendence system.
‘That harvester’s mouth is particularly problematic.’
Thanks to the ‘Mouth of the Harvester’, I can obtain genetic essence by eating only the head. In such a situation, if that trait is lost, it becomes considerably difficult to obtain genetic essence.
You might think that you can just get it again, but that’s not easy either. The Harvester’s Jaw material, ‘Reaper’s Jaw’, can only be obtained by eating a semi-adult Amorph or Outspacer.
Other than that, ‘Digestion of Minerals’ and ‘Bone Beast’ are also difficult to obtain materials. Looking at these alone, it seems like they would be an incredibly powerful unique trait when combined, but since they are materials, they cannot be combined carelessly.
‘Well, it’s not something to think about now.’
You don’t have to worry about it anymore because you can just collect the materials and synthesize the unique traits later. I had a similar experience before.
Besides, there are countless containers of genetic essence waiting for me right now. Who knows, if I eat them, a new fusion diet might pop up?
‘Come to think of it, I should pack number 26 too.’
I’ve already checked all the things I’ll eat, so now all that’s left is to feed No. 26. In fact, there were quite a few creatures stored here, but there weren’t many that could strengthen the Sea Demon.
Still, I’m glad to see that there are a few things that seem like they could potentially bring about meaningful change.
‘There are marine life too?’
I don’t know how they caught them, but I saw a lot of deep-sea creatures. Of course, there were no large monsters like Pale Mask, but rare small to medium-sized creatures under 10m were noticeable.
I’ve never fed deep sea creatures to No. 26 before, except for Pale Mask. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a try this time.
‘I should try feeding him this and this too.’
After carefully checking the list more than 10 times, I decided what to eat and what to give to No. 26.
‘Then let’s start from area B… .’
“I believe you haven’t forgotten mine either.”
“That’s right. My friend is hungry too!”
‘ah.’
I was about to get up from my seat, but when I heard those words, I fell back down.
After ten minutes, I had decided on all the creatures I could give to the two guys.
[Zuzu zuzuzuzu zuzu (Then let’s go eat)]
“good!”
“I will save the list you selected in my data.”
[Zuzuzu zuuzuzu zuuzuzu (starting from area B)]
With those words, I began the ritual I always do before harvesting any tasty food.
Now, it’s a natural trait, as if it was there from the beginning.
The trait that made me grow so quickly that it would be impossible in a game.
I’m talking about the ‘symbol of the hunt’.