Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 292
Only Noblemtl
Episode 292 – Goal (1)
–
Walter, the head of the St. Kay family, a member of Noble Capital, is nicknamed ‘Geezer’.
Current Megacorp CEO Akira Eugene is also treated as an oddball, but the context in which Walter is called an oddball is slightly different.
There are two main reasons why he is treated as a weirdo.
First of all, Walter was a Noble Capital, and he had not undergone any genetic modifications. Even though he had access to superior weapons and precise mechanical devices, his body was pure.
Just as the Eugene family believed in bloodlines, he believed in the purity of the ‘human body’ itself. Although Saint Kay itself is originally somewhat conservative, there are few who avoid body modification as much as Walter.
That’s odd enough, but here’s what makes him even more unusual.
His hobby is hunting monsters, especially very dangerous ones.
Usually, the Noble Capital family enjoys hunting as a sport or entertainment, but they do not hunt monsters like Walter. The death of the family head has a serious negative impact on the family. In fact, the Edgerton family is losing to T&C because they lost their family head.
Walter, who knew that, went around hunting only the most dangerous monsters with his bare body without genetic modification. If he wasn’t a seasoned hunter, he would have died at least dozens of times. Of course, to other Noble Capitals, he was just a crazy, weirdo.
The funny thing is that he had good relationships with other Noble Capitals because he enjoyed hunting.
He enjoys catching monsters, and has no interest in taking their genes. That’s why all the rare and strong creatures he catches are sold to other families.
Walter actually had a similar appearance to a bounty hunter, but paradoxically, thanks to that tendency, he was not subject to the restraints of other heads of families. Except for St. Kay, the other families had no particular reason to dislike him for regularly supplying them with rare creatures.
The second reason he was called an eccentric was that he got along well with other family heads despite his peculiar personality.
The heretic of Noble Capital is now meeting another monster.
The reception room installed on Akira’s flagship, ‘Tenken’.
A middle-aged man with black hair and an old man with white hair are sitting around the table.
Unlike the skinny middle-aged man, the old man’s body was truly massive. He was more than twice as tall as a middle-aged man, and his arms and legs were full of muscle, as thick as the thighs of an adult man.
The owner of a body so well maintained that it was difficult to dare call him an old man, he was the eccentric Walter St. Kay.
“The head of TNC asked me, ‘Why do people still eat meat from live animals when Noble Capital’s genetic engineering technology can create perfect meat?’”
He picked up a piece of steak in front of him with his fork.
“He said that taste is information. When we enjoy meat, we are not simply eating it to satisfy our taste buds, but rather we are eating the ‘information’ contained in the meat itself.”
As he said that, he took a bite of the steak.
“Whether meat comes from a factory an hour ago or is raised on a ranch for a decade, it tastes the same, but we don’t feel it that way. The eating habits, experience, and intangible value attached to ranch-raised meat can never be replicated.”
“Is that what the kid said?”
Walter nodded while chewing meat in response to the middle-aged man’s question.
“Experience determines the essence of things. Isn’t that a typical saying?”
“I see. That’s the kind of thing he likes to talk about. Business-wise, that is.”
Walter snorted lightly at Akira’s cynical reaction and swallowed the piece of meat.
“As I said before, preparations are complete.”
“That’s fast. Very good.”
“‘The ultimate prey.’ I wish I could get the price of 10 gigacrackers.”
Last time at the Dispute Resolution Team building, Walter made a deal with Akira. Since then, Walter has been doing one thing for preparation.
That is, moving 10 Giga Crackers to a specific constellation.
Even though Walter was a quirky and patriarchal man, it was quite burdensome for him to use 10 of the Giga Crackers, which were the family’s lifeline, for personal reasons. If Akira hadn’t invested a huge amount of personal funds to make up for the loss, he would never have done such a thing.
“Why are you telling me to move it there? Does it have something to do with Vortex One?”
“No. That guy is scarier than Vortex One.”
“… Are you serious?”
Walter, who had finished his steak, frowned at the unbelievable story.
Vortex Ones cannot be caught by normal means. They are powerful monsters that require at least two families, Noble Capital and Prime Capital, to devote their power to them. Walter, who had tried hunting Vortex Ones a long time ago and barely escaped, knew this fact well.
A being scarier than those monsters. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of creature it was.
“Yeah, that’s true. The guy I know is the second most dangerous being in the universe.”
The second most dangerous being.
It was a subtle expression, but the modifier made Akira’s words sound more realistic. Walter, who was full of taste, smacked his lips and crossed his arms.
“Hmm.”
“It’ll be more interesting if you look at this.”
As Akira snapped his fingers, a woman dressed in black appeared from somewhere and handed Walter a small chip and a computer pad. Walter inserted the chip into the pad and activated it, and a huge amount of data was output as a hologram.
“There are a lot. There’s no way such a thing would have gone unnoticed until now.”
“You controlled the information in the Megacorp database. The other families and patriarchs don’t know.”
It was said that they had monopolized information, but Walter did not point it out. Other families were doing similar things.
“He will definitely come to that place. He will appear soon, so prepare yourself.”
“What is the basis for your confidence?”
“I know the guy well. Given his current state, he’d definitely try to catch Vortex One.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Since the contract had already been made, it didn’t matter how Akira knew. He didn’t ask any further questions and focused on the data in the hologram.
Just looking at the data, it was something that could be called the ‘second most dangerous entity in the universe’. That means that even if the Gigacracker deployment is complete, it’s not the end. Much more preparation is needed.
Besides, we also have to take into account the possibility that Akira might be wrong.
As a great hunter, he knew all too well that his prey did not always move the way the hunter wanted. This was likely to be the case again, so he had to be prepared for the unexpected.
There was no time to linger here since his business was over. He glanced at the hologram once and closed the pad.
“If you see anything strange or have any questions, please contact me.”
With those words, Walter left the reception room.
Even after the guests left, Akira did not get up from his seat.
‘Morphack. This time, you will never escape.’
He knew that the evolutionary conditions for ascension from adulthood included hunting Vortex Ones.
So this time he decided to set a trap for Aimorph: deploy ten Gigacrackers right near where the Vortex Ones reside.
‘If you put insurance on it…’
I’ve been through a lot of humiliation before when I left my pet Black Gallagon in charge of everything. I don’t plan on making the same mistake again.
“Code Black.”
“Yes, Akira.”
“Tell the butler to follow Walter and provide support.”
“All right.”
Akira thought, sending even the shadow to the butler.
‘Even if Walter can’t kill Morphbak, he could still cause a lot of damage.’
Walter St. Kay is one of the NPCs he trusts, except for his personality of refusing genetic modification.
How could he be that old even though he is 120 years old? The other heads of families don’t have a single wrinkle on their faces even at that age.
Even though Walter is very healthy despite refusing genetic modification, his limitations are clear unless he benefits from the technology. If he hadn’t insisted on human purity, he would have hunted many more powerful enemies.
‘That’s why I sent it too.’
Neither he nor the hunters under his command have undergone genetic modification, meaning that their deaths would not be of any benefit to Aimov.
‘It doesn’t matter even if Walter fails to kill the bastard.’
Considering Walter’s skills and personality, even if he can’t kill the guy, he’ll probably inflict a lot of damage.
The moment the guy becomes weak, Akira plans to descend to that place himself. Since there is a signal chip in the butler’s heart, it is not difficult to fly to where the guy is.
Just like he did in the game, this time he pays him back in kind.
In the ornately decorated living room, Akira laughed silently.
–
“No new energy response from the constellation. No tracers.”
[Zuzuzu (good job)]
“Where do we go now?”
Gigacracker’s situation room.
The PS-111, connected to hundreds and thousands of cables, asked me.
‘Now that I’m an adult, there are a few places I can go… .’
Originally, there was a set place to go. It was the most efficient place to fulfill the evolution conditions.
However, the illusion I saw when evolving prevented me from going there right away.
‘I need more time.’
Anyway, now that I have the Giga Cracker, it won’t be easy for the rankers to threaten me. It might be possible if they set a trap properly and target me as a group.
While I was thinking about it, I saw Adhai lying face down inside the situation room.
The guy was grooming himself, neatly folding his red wings and gently scratching them with his horns. As if he sensed my gaze, he started to shake his tail and groom his wings more diligently.
[Zeuuuuu (Adhai)]
“Big man” “Why?”
When I called, the guy looked at me with his beautiful eyes that resembled amethyst.
[Zuz …
“Nest” “Nest?” “Really?”
The guy didn’t seem to expect what I was saying at all. He was startled and stood up from his seat.
“Really?” “Really?”
[Yeah]
“Me” “Younger compatriots” “I miss you!”
The enemy’s pursuit has also been cut off. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to stop by the planet where the Adhai group has migrated.
‘I’d like to go to the place where my friends from room 26 are, but that would be difficult.’
Planet PH-101, where the guy previously gained the power of the Sea Demon and interacted with several Bubble Amoebas.
It’s a planet designated as a holy place by the cult, so it’s hard to bring Gigacracker there. If you do, the cult will never stay still.
“I want to see the flapping babies too!”
Fortunately, No. 26 didn’t seem to mind seeing the Adhai’s flock. In fact, he seemed delighted at the thought of seeing the little blue gallagons.
Finally, when I looked at my heavenly mother, she answered me with a shrug.
‘It’s decided.’
[Zuuuu zuuuu zuuuu zuuuu zuuuu (To where Adhai’s people are)]
“All right.”
After a short answer, the guy lowered his head. The light went out of his red eyes.
PS-111 was able to move his body freely while piloting a regular ship thanks to several modifications to the mechanical parts. However, it was impossible to pilot a Gigacracker in the same way, which was much larger than a regular ship and had many facilities to manage.
“Then prepare for superluminal travel.”
[Zuzuzuzu (Please)]
The guy’s voice came out from the computer in the situation room, mixed with several other voices. This was a phenomenon that occurred after the ship’s AI was synchronized and used as an auxiliary brain.
[Zuzuzu (just a moment)]
“huh?”
[Z zu zu zu zu (I have something to say)]
I called out to the Heavenly Mother as I pulled the heads I had placed in the situation room back into the hallway. She returned to her griffon form and followed me as I walked over the ruins I had created.
“It’s also a problem if the body is too big.”
[Zuzuzu (yes)]
It’s a good thing Gigacracker is big and strong. With that thought in mind, I carried her to the cargo hold.
“So what do you want to talk about?”
[Zuzuzuz zuuzuzuz zuuzuzuz zuuzuzuz (I think I need to change my immediate goal)]
“Goal? Weren’t you aiming for ascension?”
[Zuzuzu zuuzuzu zuuzuzu zuuzuzu (It used to be like that, but now it’s on hold)]
She tilts her head as if she doesn’t understand what I’m saying.
[Zuzuzu zuuzu zuuzu zuuzu zuuzu (I had a vision even when I became an adult)]
“You mean the past memories you’ve seen before? Did you see them again this time?”
[Zzuzuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzuzu zuzuzuzuzu (This time, it’s not a memory from the past. Another ‘me’ appeared and tried to kill me)]
“what?”
I described to her in detail the vision I had seen.
The pain that feels like fantasy and reality that happens in the space where I actually live.
‘I’ who tells you to choose between killing yourself or being killed by yourself, etc.
She listened to everything from beginning to end with serious eyes and silence. After the story was over, she remained lost in thought for a moment before opening her mouth.
“… How do you plan on checking it? I haven’t gotten to that point yet.”
[Zuzu zuzuzuzuzu zuzuzuzu (to ask other players)]
“Other players? Going out to hunt players?”
[Zuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzuzu (No. Before that, let’s start with this guy first)]
“This guy?”
As I said that, I pulled out the genetic essence that had been stored in my body for the longest time.
The second player I successfully hunted and who had already killed two other rankers.
A cult ranker who was Muriel’s patron and the enemy of the Heavenly Mother.
The being broke the cocoon located on my back and the edge of my legs and fell to the floor.
“■■Ugh, uh, Mr. Aimov. Did you call?”
The human-faced insect reborn with the genes of cult player Jason bowed its head to me.