Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 270
Only Noblemtl
Episode 270 – Rats (1)
–
Kesha Arma’s subway was a fairly new facility by cult standards.
In general, cults prefer mobile structures that move on land or in the air. Before they became a space-lording empire, they developed a civilization on a desert planet. So, they were not used to building something under the sand.
This aspect remained in the cults’ consciousness even after they became an empire. When constructing various facilities such as biodome type colonies and orbital residences, ground-based transportation such as hover buses and psychic trains were mainly used.
The point at which the rituals of these cults began to change was, surprisingly, when the empire began to fall. As the empire’s territory shrank and economic problems became more frequent, the cults’ thinking gradually changed.
For example, existing structures need to be used more efficiently.
Kesha Arma’s subway was also a product of this change in consciousness.
The Cult’s subways, powered by low-quality moonsilver and psychic power engines, were built to quickly transport equipment and mined minerals needed for planetary mining. Hover buses alone could not handle even a third of the materials transported in a day.
As time passed and the fortress changed hands, the subway continued to function as the blood vessel of the space facility. Although it changed from carrying tools to carrying people, what is the point of distinguishing the two in the space age?
The train was filled with pirates from each section. They all brought weapons, so there wasn’t a lot of room to spare like usual.
Of course, just because there was plenty of space didn’t mean it was comfortable. The smell of sweat, alcohol, and drugs clung to the inside of the vehicle. Naturally, the pirates who had to inhale the strong-smelling cocktail through their bronchial tubes didn’t look so good.
“Fuck, this is taking too long.”
“Damn, all those mercenaries take buses or boats.”
“Even above, they don’t let that weakling on the bus.”
“What the heck is this kid?”
“It’s a little cramped, so don’t fight. We’ll be there in a few minutes anyway.”
Even as the pirates grumbled, the train continued to move steadily. In just a few minutes, they arrived at the military port near the underground storage facility.
Just when everyone was thinking about reaching their destination and taking a breath of fresh air.
The entire train, which was moving with psychic power, shook violently. The recoil caused all the standing pirates to fall forward.
“Ugh?”
“Ahhh! What the heck!”
The interior of the vehicle was a complete mess, with a human having his teeth broken by a standing gun, an Insectman crushed by a heavy cyborg, etc. The already unpleasant atmosphere suddenly became ominous.
“It looks like the car has stopped?”
“You haven’t arrived yet?”
“What happened?”
This cult-created subway train travels along its own tracks without human intervention. It doesn’t stop like this unless it runs out of fuel or has a problem with the tracks.
“Someone go out and check.”
A few of the pirates opened the car doors and stuck their heads out to check. The light from the train softly illuminated the tracks in the underground passage.
“Are you okay?”
“You crazy bastard, do you think you can see it like that? Go out and check.”
“… The kid. He’ll do it himself. Tsk.”
The human pirate had no choice but to get out of the train as the large cyborg pirate glared at him and threatened him. In other cars, pirates of similar status approached him.
“Have you found anything?”
“I don’t know. I just got out.”
“This is the first time a train has broken down.”
While he was out for a moment, the human pirate took out an electronic cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. He sucked in the synthetic drug with all his might, and the unrefined hallucinogen seeped into his lungs. The dizzying pleasure that ravaged his brain cells made his whole body tremble.
“The train seems fine. Is there a problem with the tracks?”
“Hey, you’re out too, so come and take a look.”
“Just avoid this.”
He took one more sip and was about to join his companions. The moment he thought that, he heard a sound from up ahead.
‘huh?’
His eyes were drawn to the tracks that stretched out in front of the train.
‘… … .’
He lit a cigarette and blinked a few times. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and the surrounding scenery became clearer.
There was an azalea there.
At first I thought it was a fire, because the things shimmering in the darkness were pitch black.
But it didn’t take long for me to realize that it wasn’t smoke or anything, but something alive.
In the abyss reminiscent of space, countless things were shaking.
It was like a snake pit full of countless poisonous snakes, or like maggots swarming on the skin of a corpse.
A greedy, chaotic chaos. Even the drugged man could tell that it was dangerous.
The ‘boiling being’ moved. The stems that had been swaying in the water like aquatic plants stretched out and snatched one of his colleagues from the front of the train.
“Huh?”
The pirates looked at their companion in bewilderment as he disappeared in an instant. As his companion disappeared into the darkness, a pistol with a flashlight attached fell down in his place.
The pirates’ expressions began to change rapidly as the pistol fell to the ground and made a dull noise. Their mouths opened and they prepared to scream.
But the evil entity lurking in the darkness did not leave them alone. Dozens of three-branched stems shot out and dragged all of his comrades away.
It took only a few seconds for my colleagues who had come out of the train to disappear.
“… … .”
The human pirate’s legs shook violently like a rookie going into battle for the first time. He slowly backed away and boarded the train again.
“What? What happened?”
“Did you fix it? What was the problem?”
He didn’t answer and closed the door. As he did, he picked up his e-cigarette with trembling hands and took another deep drag.
“What’s wrong with this pharmacist?”
“What the hell is this?”
Thanks to the drug from the cigarette, the truly human pirate could barely open his mouth.
“…There’s a monster outside.”
“what?”
“They took all the kids in the other compartments.”
When they heard that, the expressions on the pirates on the train became strange.
“I think this kid has lost his taste.”
“This isn’t even a basement storage room, so what’s the monster doing?”
“Anyway, they say there are no normal people among those who take drugs.”
The pirates taunted him, saying, “What a fool!” Then the large cyborg pirate shouted in a loud voice.
“Hey, let’s not do this and just walk. It’s not that far to our destination anyway.”
As he said that, he grabbed the car door with both hands. The human pirate who saw this was startled and stopped him.
“Don’t open it… Whew!”
He kicked the human pirate away and swung the car door wide open. As expected, there was nothing outside.
The cyborg pirate, who had naturally believed that this would happen, raised the corners of his mouth.
“Look, you idiot. There’s nothing there… .”
Before he could finish his words, something leapt out of the darkness and attacked him.
“Ugh?!”
“That’s so weird”
The being that attacked the cyborg pirate was a human with abnormally grown ribs that made it look like there was a mouth on its chest. He used the protruding bones to violently attack the cyborg’s waist.
The comrades who had been blankly staring at the sight only then realized that what the human pirate had said was true.
As they were about to hastily hand over their weapons, the car’s windows shattered and numerous black streams poured into the train.
Screams, gunshots, lights inside the car flickering anxiously.
There, the human pirate held his head and prayed for this nightmare to end.
After that, the screams echoing through the underground passage did not last long. What filled its place was the heavy breathing of a herd of beasts.
–
“Yes. I haven’t arrived yet. Huh? You want me to go in first? Oh, no! I’ll go in right away!”
Mercenaries brought by guests from Megacorp, Hulk mutants, and pirates from numerous cartels in Kesha Arma surrounded the front of the underground storage.
Among them, the pirate in charge of contacting the command center ended the communication device. Wiping away the cold sweat, he relayed the orders from above to the representatives of each team.
“The order from above is to initiate the operation.”
“Our kids haven’t arrived yet?”
“I heard the enemy is strong. If we go in separately, won’t we end up getting defeated individually?”
“Up, up above, you said that checking the current status of the item is the priority. I think it would be better to check that first… .”
The mercenary representatives sighed when they heard that. They didn’t like it, but they had no choice.
If an item being put up for auction gets stolen, who are the ‘owners’ going to blame? They’ll definitely hold those who hired them to guard the item accountable.
The mercenaries in this position are agents hired by the upper class of Megacorp. They were afraid of the repercussions if they were treated carelessly, even though they were called third capital or mid-capital.
“We can’t do it. It would be better for a small number of people to rush in, check the items, and then get out right away.”
“After that, let’s join up with the troops that arrived at the military port station and push forward.”
“Umm, uh, I guess there’s nothing we can do about it. Let’s do that.”
The representatives who made the decision returned to their respective teams. The searchers selected from each team gathered in one place and entered the underground storage room.
“… I think I know why you couldn’t contact me.”
With each step the search party took, the passage filled with the sound of sticky water. It wasn’t a leak. The entire passage they were walking through was covered in blood.
The expressions of the search party darkened even more as the smell of blood was so strong that it paralyzed their noses. It was nonsense to expect that the passage would be normal in this situation.
They went inside, wondering what to say to their employer. After passing the ruined security office, they arrived at the storage room in Sector A.
“The stuff is fine!”
“This way too!”
“You didn’t touch this place? That’s a relief.”
Contrary to their fears, the containers carrying the luxury goods and valuable documents were intact. The scattered mercenaries sighed in relief upon confirming that the items their master had brought were undamaged.
“Why is this okay? Wasn’t it after valuables?”
“Let’s check the inside first.”
“Everyone gather around, we’re going to move!”
The scattered mercenaries gathered together again to move to the next area. Just as they were about to leave, the Wolf mercenary raised his hand.
“what’s the matter?”
“What do you hear?”
“sound?”
“Someone is coming.”
All of the search party members took up their weapons after hearing the words of Wolf, who had a rat head. Wolf kept twitching his large ears and then turned his gaze to one side.
“?!”
“What is that?”
What emerged from the darkness was something that walked on two legs. Its right arm was abnormally developed, and it was walking towards the search party while wearing a tattered reinforced suit.
“Failed Hulk Mutant?”
“No way. I’ve seen defective products before, but they don’t look like that.”
“… It looks horrible.”
No matter how I looked at the approaching being, it didn’t look like it would be open to conversation. One of the mercenaries shot the thing with a Gauss rifle.
“That’s so funny”
The guy with half his head shattered fell backwards. He didn’t move at all as he fell.
“Is that guy the one who messed up this place?”
“Well, it’s too weak to be seen like that.”
“… Wait a minute, everyone be careful.”
“huh?”
As soon as the rat-headed Wolf’s warning was heard, the fallen monster stirred and got up.
“That’s so funny”
From the mouth of the man with his head smashed, unpleasant groans and thick black liquid flowed out. The mercenaries grimaced at the disgusting sight.
“Tsk.”
The mercenary with the Gauss rifle took aim again to finish the bastard off.
But soon he had no choice but to change his target, because behind the man with the broken head, a monster with an equally grotesque appearance appeared.
“uh?”
The mercenaries’ faces hardened as they saw the enemy. This was because there was more than one monster that emerged from the darkness inside the storage.
“That’s so funny”
“That’s so weird”
“That’s right”
“Gigigigigi”
“Gigigigigigigigigigigi”
The strange cries of dozens, if not hundreds, of beings.
It was so huge that it overwhelmed the resistance of the search party.