Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 268
Only Noblemtl
Episode 268 – Harvest (2)
–
Kesha Arma’s first command center.
This is where the city’s ruler, Montana Marcio, resides. Despite its cylindrical, rustic exterior, the interior is very ornate.
Deep within the steel fortress, adorned with the dual elements of ornate decorations and strict security, lies a massive bathhouse.
Montana Marcio was starting his morning in the marble-paved bathroom, surrounded by dozens of maids serving him as he soaked in the hot water.
Montana’s concubines are all genetically modified to suit their master’s tastes, just like living dolls. If they are not taken care of even for a day, they will suffer extreme pain. That is why they desperately try to act cute so that their husbands do not ignore them.
The spontaneous love and devotion of beautiful females – that’s what makes Montana the most enjoyable.
While he was leisurely receiving service and thinking about who to spend the morning with, an android outside the bathroom approached him.
“What is it?”
“Master, this is an urgent report.”
“Urgent report?”
“Guests staying at the 2nd headquarters have contacted the mercenaries guarding the goods, but they have not been able to answer.”
“I left the management of the auction items to the dock manager. Go ask Kadun.”
“I haven’t been able to contact you since yesterday.”
“You can’t contact me?”
There has never been a time when Kadun didn’t contact him. When he’s not working, the deputy chief is always engrossed in training in the training room of the 3rd Command. Even if he can’t contact him through the communicator, he can just go and see him in person.
But what does it mean when an android comes to him and says this? It means that something is wrong with Kadoon.
‘Wait a minute. That’s not important right now.’
Before bringing up Kadoon, the android mentioned an important matter. Montana pushed away the concubines serving him and asked the android.
“You said the mercenary guarding the goods couldn’t be contacted?”
“yes.”
“Have you tried contacting the security guards at the storage facility?” “They’re all unresponsive.”
“… … .”
When Montana heard those words, he felt himself awaken from his slumber.
He got up from his seat in a hurry. The concubines, who had been watching their master’s expression, quickly brought towels and gowns.
“Contact the military port immediately and have them check the underground storage facility to make sure there are no problems.”
“All right.”
“And if anything goes wrong, be prepared to move immediately.”
“I will pass this on to each command.”
The concubines’ soft hands dug into every corner of his body, but Montana had no time to feel the pleasure.
Until yesterday, there were no problems. The items to be auctioned were transported safely, and the customers were satisfied with the service he provided.
But as the night passes and morning comes, things suddenly take a strange turn.
As if the peace until yesterday was a lie.
‘… No, it’s probably nothing.’
The Marcio Cartel is a powerful force that few dare challenge even within Spacedog. In the first place, there are only a few cartels that manage space fortresses and operate hundreds of ships like them.
Not only that. Montana is protected by the Noble Capital of Megacorp and the nobles of the Cult Empire. In fact, he is no different from a warlord recognized by the great powers.
It is impossible for someone to commit terrorism in the fortress he rules over.
‘Maybe it’s a problem with the communications equipment.’
After trying so hard to reassure himself, he left the bathroom.
–
‘Is this the end?’
I set the empty refrigerated container down on the floor. Inside the large underground structure, broken containers were strewn about.
All of them are the remains of No. 26 and PS-111 after they ate the contents.
‘Since there are many preserved creatures, I have acquired quite a few characteristics.’
Even after the symbol of hunting ended, he acquired many characteristics from eating dozens or hundreds of creatures.
‘Thanks to that, I was able to open two more synthetic formulas.’
One was the only trait that required many physical traits, while the other required nest-related traits and superpower-related traits. Right now, I can only make the former, and the latter is impossible to synthesize because I haven’t collected all the materials.
‘Because I have to catch Red Mist.’
Redmist is the top predator living on a jungle-type planet. It is an Apex creature that is as difficult as an Ice Horror. If you go hunting it with a lot of determination, you will be defeated in return.
‘I’ll save this for later.’
Once you have acquired multiple traits, you can now create two unique traits.
I’ve put together a list of ready-to-make fusion recipes here.
「’Transcendence’ Material List: Reinforced Skull, Gallagon Horn, Spike-Filled Tail, Protein Assimilation, Clustered Skin Tissue」
「’Transcendence’ Material List (NEW!): Reinforced Large Tail, Bioelectric Discharge Tube, Explosive Fluid Launcher, Destruction Sound Wave, Spore Cannon」
‘I don’t know what the former will be, but I have a feeling I know what the latter will be.’
All of the traits created through the Transcendence system are ones that did not exist in the game before. That’s why I often find myself wondering when I get a new unique trait or a sign of a strong enemy.
However, when I looked at the newly unlocked fusion formula in the underground storage, I somehow expected the result. Looking at the materials, it was clear that the only characteristic related to a long-range attack method was this.
In fact, a new organ was added to my body. Two long barrels like biological cannons were added to the carapace covering my back, reflecting the characteristics of the ‘Explosive Fluid Launcher’ and ‘Spore Cannon’.
If you stretch your neck down and lower your head, you will feel your back being pulled, and the barrel will pop out and aim forward. If you continue to apply force, spores filled with dangerous substances will be fired.
‘It goes well with acidic fungi.’
In the game, I often used a combo of throwing fungi and spraying explosive fluid on top of them. It is similar to shooting white phosphorus bullets and is effective against both machines and normal creatures.
Moreover, now that the acid fungus has changed into a breath form, it will show much more powerful performance.
Besides that, the ‘Destruction Sound Wave’ trait is also quite useful.
Unlike the paralyzing sound waves of the Inmyeon-chung, this is an offensive skill that destroys the opponent purely with sound waves. It has the weakness of low destructive power and difficult usage conditions, but it can be said to be a general-purpose attack skill that is equally effective against various types of enemies.
‘That’s fine for now. If I just complete these, I can evolve into an adult right away, but what should I do?’
The only condition left until adulthood is to obtain two more unique characteristics. If you utilize the system at this point, you can evolve right away.
‘The problem is time… .’
The communicator that the mercenaries dropped while they were tearing open the container rang several times. It was a confirmation call from the customers who had entrusted them with the task of guarding the goods. The owners of the communicator have all gone into the stomach of No. 26 and I, so they will come to check it out themselves.
In other words, there is not much time left until an all-out war with the pirates of the fortress begins.
Up until now, whenever I’ve used the Transcendence system to create unique traits, my body has always been in a cocoon. This is very likely to happen again, so I think I’ll have to put off getting unique traits.
‘Let’s open the loot box later.’
After checking the text box, I turned my gaze to No. 26 and PS-111. No. 26, who read my gaze, jumped up and came over.
“Big baby! Look!”
As the creature focused, the pink light covering its body grew even stronger. The tentacles emerging from its pink body began to writhe and slowly change shape.
After a while, one of the tentacles mutated into a shape completely different from the one before. All the tentacles that he had before had sharp serrated blades on their inner surfaces.
On the other hand, the tentacle that the guy had mutated now had six appendages at the end, and a mouth-like organ. Its appearance was very similar to the erosion tentacle I had.
“I’m just like the big kid! Right? Right?”
[Zuzuzu (yeah)]
I answered calmly, but in fact, my true feelings were not like that. Even though I had already seen it once before, I was still surprised when I saw it again.
‘Body mutation.’
The food in the vault promoted significant growth in No. 26.
First of all, the body size has actually increased by leaps and bounds. The maximum body size that can be grown has been increased to 25 meters.
Its skin has also become considerably thicker, and its fins and tentacles have become stronger than before. It is currently in a small state, but when it grows to its maximum size, it has the appearance of a quasi-raid level boss.
‘Ugh. Personally, I didn’t think it was that bad.’
But No. 26 was dissatisfied. To borrow his expression, he said there was nothing ‘as sparkly as a little baby’.
I consoled him that it was enough, but he seemed quite disappointed. He crouched down next to the container while I ate other food, looking depressed.
‘I’ve never been that depressed before.’
If I had to point out something, it was similar to when I was first in the test tube of the research vessel. I couldn’t imagine him showing off his new ability in front of me like he does now.
Seeing him looking depressed made me feel bad too. So after much thought, I gave him the food I was originally going to eat.
The name of the food given to number 26 is Faceless.
It is a carnivorous snail with hundreds of teeth, and is a rare creature with a special trait called the ‘mimic organ’. As the name of its special trait suggests, it can disguise its body as an object. It usually disguises itself as a terrain feature such as a tree or rock, and when its prey approaches, it transforms into its original body and attacks it.
Before coming to this fortress, I was able to feast on Faceless captured by pirates on a slave market planet, which allowed me to complete the ‘Herald of Chaos’ trait.
Since the Mimic Organ itself is a useful trait, I was thinking that it would be nice to obtain it at least once in the future.
‘Ugh. I liked it because it was on the storage list.’
Originally, I was going to eat Faceless right away, regardless of No. 26’s sadness. If only it hadn’t been for a sudden thought.
‘The Sea Demon had a stomach-related trait.’
Sea Demon has the ability to change its skin into something like coral. It is so subtle that it cannot be seen with the naked eye, and can only be seen using special detection equipment. It is often used during battle, making it one of the elements that makes it difficult to attack.
Anyway, after thinking about it, I gave Faceless to No. 26 as a consolation and experiment. I expected that, unlike in the game, he would gain new abilities.
And my prediction was right. No, I got much stronger power than I expected.
As you can see, the guy was able to freely change the appearance of one of his tentacles. Not only was the size changed, but even the internal structure could be changed. It was a change that could truly be called a ‘mutation’.
‘I can only change one tentacle for now…’
If the hundreds of tentacles he possesses could each transform into different weapons or body organs, his fighting power would increase dramatically.
‘If No. 26 gets stronger, it’s a win-win for me.’
I patted the guy to show that he did a good job. Then he bounced around in place and his body sparkled. He seemed quite happy to have gained a new ability after such a long time.
“I hope so.”
PS-111 approached No. 26, who was delighted.
[Zuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzu (Your change isn’t bad either)]
“It’s a valid point, but it didn’t live up to expectations.”
As before, PS-111 showed surprisingly poor performance in applying the characteristics of living organisms.
‘To be exact, the results of the application are hit or miss.’
When absorbing genetic samples or preying on equipment, meaningful results were obtained. On the other hand, when eating living creatures, the body structure did not change completely as intended. It was either defective somewhere or changed in a form that fell far short of PS-111’s expectations.
‘This time, at least it was successful.’
One positive change that has occurred to PS-111’s body is that all of its leg carapace have neurotoxin-filled spines. If it wants to, it can fire these poisonous spines. It can be considered a useful organ when subduing enemies while they are still alive.
‘But it still seems unsatisfactory.’
Since I had handed Faceless over to No. 26, I had nothing else to give him. PS-111 knew that too, so he didn’t ask me for any other food.
‘Still, I have achieved the evolution conditions, and the growth of No. 26 and Heavenly Mother is encouraging.’
I don’t think I’ve ever had such a big achievement since I caught the Gorgon Swarm. It was worth coming to Kesha Arma on purpose.
‘By the way, Heavenly Mother is taking longer than I thought.’
After the ascension to divinity stage was over, I decided to come here with Adhai. Several hours had already passed, and judging by the fact that he hadn’t come yet, it seemed to take longer than I thought.
‘Let’s wait one more hour and go… okay?’
As I was thinking that, my auxiliary organs detected a change in the air. Somewhere far from Sector C where we were, near the entrance to the underground storage room, there was someone loitering around.
Before entering the entrance, all the guards and mercenaries were killed. So the owner of those footsteps is an outsider.
‘I got caught.’
It was obvious that they had gone to check on the mercenaries and guards since they couldn’t contact them. Soon, the sound of small footsteps increased to tens and hundreds.
[Zuzu zuzuzuzu (Are you all full?)]
“Yeah. I’m full.”
“My body’s energy is supercharged.”
[Zuuuuu (good job)]
The boat is full.
Now is the time for some moderate exercise.
–
“No biological activity detected in the surroundings.”
“It’s okay to rush in.”
“…Okay. Let’s go in.”
The pirates entered the underground vault, led by androids equipped with thick armor and heavy frontal shields. Dozens of pirates were also heavily armed, but their faces were clearly tense.
“Hey, is it true that the boss got screwed?”
“Hey, don’t say that shit.”
“I came here because they said the Marcio Cartel was good, but what the hell is this?”
“My brother went to the hospital and I can’t contact him. Could this be related?”
“Am I God? Do I know everything?”
“Everyone, keep your mouths shut and stay alert.”
Despite the newly appointed officers’ orders, the pirates’ morale did not improve at all. Their mood worsened even more as soon as they entered the passage leading to Area A.
“Fuck… .”
“… This is really fucked up.”
A double-shielded door, 1m thick, was damaged beyond recognition as it greeted outsiders. The shape of the shielded door was like a torn wad of paper.
Even the common thugs of Kesha Arma would never have imagined that the door to the underground vault would be like that.
The bigger problem is that there is a high possibility that the entity that created the shielding door in that form is inside the storage facility.
The desire to escape rose in the hearts of all the pirates in this place, including the executives, but no one ran away. If there was any sign of running away from this place, the androids would immediately turn it into a beehive.
The pirates gulped and passed through the broken shield door into the passage leading to the A-Sector security room.
“Vibration coming from the front.”
“It is assumed to be enemy movement.”
“Prepare to respond. Prepare to respond.”
As they approached the guardhouse, the androids in the lead simultaneously sounded an alarm.
The blinking lights, the metal passageways with signs of destruction here and there, and even the loud mechanical sounds – all of these elements added to the pirates’ sense of unease.
The pirates gripped their weapons tightly with trembling hands. Their arms were equipped with expensive psychic shields from the famous Cult, but it was of little comfort.
When the pirates and androids were ready for battle.
There was a thumping sound from across the hallway.
At first it was just a slight vibration felt at the tip of my toes. It grew bigger and bigger, and now it was shaking the entire passageway, and even the hairs exposed to the outside were vibrating.
But the tense moment didn’t last long, because the entity causing this vibration soon appeared before them.
“Hee, heeeeek!”
“Hey, it’s a monster!”
“Commence shooting!” It wasn’t clear who gave the order, but it didn’t matter. The pirates were so scared that they would have opened fire on their own even without the order.
“Grrrrrrr”
The passageway, so wide that it would take five or six grown men to stretch out to reach the ceiling, was jam-packed with monsters. The terrifying beings ran forward, heedless of the barrage of gunfire.
And then a thick snake sprouted from the bastard’s back and burrowed between the androids in the lead. Then it shook violently and struck the androids.
The android’s shield was durable enough to withstand plasma bullets, but it was difficult to see much effect if the main body was directly hit. The expensive robots were slammed into the wall with their strong shields.
“Run, run! You have to run away!”
“Don’t run away, you little shits!”
The executives tried to stop the pirates from leaving by using harsh words, but it was no use.
The pirates turn their backs and start to run away.
The monster, which had been fighting the androids using tentacles protruding from its back, opened its mouth wide at the fleeing pirates.
“No, he’s trying to do something!”
“Everyone be careful…!”
The pirates with good sense shouted when they saw the sight.
Before their cries could end, something incredibly powerful burst from the monster’s mouth.
「■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!」
The sound waves that turned the android in front of the monster into a lump of scrap metal spread through the walls of the passage.
The pirates who were running away and the pirates who were standing in front of the monster were swept away by the overwhelming sound and instantly turned to blood.
“what’s the matter?”
“I can’t hear anything!”
The pirates who had been lucky enough to escape the range of the sound wave stumbled and muttered. They had completely lost their hearing and blood was gushing from their eyes, nose, and mouth, not to mention their ears.
The pirates lost their major sense organs in an instant. Fortunately for them, the suffering did not last long.
“Run, run away… .”
“Heeeeeeek?!”
The pirate staggering in front of me suddenly turned into blood. Blood and flesh splattered onto my comrades standing behind me.
The monster, which had trampled the pirate with its thick feet so thick that the word “ferocious” came out naturally, stuck its snout out towards him.
The monster’s mouth opens wide.
The bloodied pirate screamed, but there was no sound.
And his eyes could no longer see anything.