Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 404



Only Noblemtl

I fell into a deep sleep, as if I had lost my mind, amid the vibrations of the engine that softly echoed along the floor.

The consciousness that had been asleep slowly awakens.

The red light from the ceiling of the storage room, the regular sound of the engine, and the breathing of my two heads. Small and heterogeneous, mixed with the subtle stimuli that had existed before I fell asleep.

What woke me up was the sound of a weighty being stepping on a metal floor.

‘Who is it?’

I opened my eyes to check for intruders.

The first thing that came into view was the MCAE (Multipurpose Construction Auxiliary Equipment), which resembled a construction machine from a classic SF strategy game. Judging from the large chunk of minerals it carried on its thick mechanical arm, it seemed to be transporting the minerals.

In front of him stood two beings wearing full-body spacesuits. They quickly bent down when they saw me open my eyes.

‘They’re Coldbloods.’

It seems they came to deliver food to the Mountain Crawlers. The Coldbloods politely bowed to me and left the storage compartment with MCAE.

‘I woke up.’

I closed my eyes, but I don’t feel like I’m going to fall asleep. My body feels refreshed, so I guess I’ll just get up now.

I activated the semi-transparent textbox while lying down.

This battle has caused many changes to the text box. In addition to handing over the ‘Revenant Organ’ to Heavenly Mother, several characteristics were devoured and fused during the battle.

‘There wasn’t anything that I thought was particularly useful… .’

We also gained a few useful traits, like ‘Hiveformer’.

‘It’s a disturbance. It’s been a while.’

‘Disruption’ is a flesh-related fusion trait that can be created by preying on cyborgs and metallic gremlins.

When this trait is applied, the body will produce stingers that can emit electronic signals that mimic the signals emitted by the ship. One of the heat spikes on my back has been changed to one for the Disruption Stinger trait.

With a jammer, you can spy on the communications of ships in close range and intervene. Sending distorted communications to confuse the enemy camp. That’s the reason jammers exist.

‘It wasn’t a very good trait to begin with.’

In the game, it was implemented as making enemy ships disobey player commands with a certain probability. Since success or failure depended on the probability, it was difficult to use in actual combat. There were many good features such as ‘hijacking’ and ‘radio interference’, but there was no need to use them.

The good news is that there are no penalties for this when you move into reality. You can eavesdrop or disrupt communications with a ship by simply approaching it.

‘I would have put it to good use if I had gotten it earlier.’

There is no particular need at this point.

This is because it is possible to neutralize enemy communications with the ‘Herald of Chaos’ or the ability of No. 26. Also, since the ‘Hijacking’ trait has been acquired during battle, there is less reason to use the Disruption Needle.

‘But I have a friend who can use this more usefully than me.’

PS-111, the hacker among us, I’m going to hand over the distraction needle to him.

I originally thought about hijacking or jamming, but after thinking about it again, I think this would be better.

‘The ability to pilot a machine doesn’t have much merit for the guy.’

The PS-111 can still bypass any security system if it approaches enemy lines.

Rather, it would be more suitable to have the ability to interfere with the enemy’s communication network and disrupt communications. You could use the ‘covert maneuver’ that was given before to sneak onto the ship and operate it so that it cannot communicate with the outside world.

‘I’ll leave the disturbance to him.’

The next useful trait gained after Disruption Needle is the superpower related trait ‘Ultra Control’.

This is a trait that you can normally get by eating the Deer Antlers Cult, but luckily I was able to get it by preying on shadows.

The effect of Ultra Control is mind control. It is a trait that allows you to control a specific target for a limited period of time.

Unlike the Staghorn Cult, which has no time limit for control, there are added restrictions, but it is still a powerful trait. When infiltrating enemy lines, it is very effective when combined with the ‘Mimicry Organ’, ‘Parasite’, and Ultra Control.

‘furthermore….’

Ultra Control is one of the materials that can be fused with a unique trait. I have launched the unique trait synthesis formula of the Transcendence System.

｢’Transcendence’ Material List: Inorganic Digestion, Harvester’s Maw, Bone Beast, Vision of Hell, Ultra Control｣

Although the unlocking itself was done early, it was a synthesis that took a long time to be completed because the required materials were difficult. Now that you have collected all the materials, you can fuse whenever you want.

I would like to merge right away, but I can’t.

‘The harvester’s mouth. This is the problem.’

Unlike other traits, once the Harvester’s Jaw disappears, it is not easy to restore it. This is because this trait can only be made with the ‘Reaper’s Jaw’, which can only be obtained from Amorph sub-adults or special Outspacers.

‘It is nearly impossible to obtain a semi-satellite in its natural state.’

The only possibility is Outspacer, but even this is not easy. I have preyed on many Outspacers so far, but the jaws of the Pure Harvester have not opened.

The 4th place either intentionally created it with that trait removed, or didn’t send me an entity with that trait. The reason is unknown, but it must have done so out of fear of me.

Of course, collecting genetic essence is just as important for Outspacer as it is for Amorph. It is impossible to give up the ability to collect essence efficiently.

There must be an entity dedicated to collecting essence, even if it is not sent to deal with me. You will have to sneak up on it when it is hunting rare creatures to snatch the jaw of the essence harvester.

‘Even so, it will be difficult to obtain it for the time being.’

If you consume the predator’s jaws, you will lose the ability to consume the head of your enemy to obtain genetic essence. If you want to consume the genetic essence of your enemy, you must consume the entire corpse.

‘It’s not a complete loss since you can get a unique trait instead.’

The unique traits obtained through the Transcendence system all have outstanding power. No matter what type of trait you get, the performance itself will be impeccable.

‘This time, I can’t guess even by looking at the ingredients.’

It has a mix of traits that change the structure of the body, traits that strengthen the flesh, and traits that manipulate energy such as psychic powers or heat. Unlike before, I have no idea what kind of concept the result will be.

‘It’s time for a new unique trait, though….’

Arcane Orca’s energy manipulation ability surpasses that of No. 26. And the most powerful weapons I have are all energy-based. They are practically useless against Arcane Orca.

‘You’ll have to see the Black Devourer Cannon and the Complex Spectroscope for yourself.’

Even this may not work properly. If that happens, you will have to rely solely on your physical abilities, and this is where having a new unique trait will be a great help.

However, in this case, you have to give up the chance to obtain the genetic essence, because you have to bring the corpse to Adhai.

‘It would be nice if the Predator’s Maw effect was inherited as the only trait, but that would be difficult.’

I looked at the text box and considered various possibilities for a long time, but I still couldn’t find an answer.

‘There’s still time left to fight the Arcane Orca.’

There was no need to decide early since I didn’t even know where it was yet. After much deliberation, I decided to hold off on making a choice.

After finishing my checkup, I got up. I was about to go to the situation room where the kids were, when the door inside the storage room opened.

“You were awake?”

The identity of the visitor was PS-111, the Heavenly Mother who had returned in the form of a griffon beast, carrying a holographic player on her back.

“Based on the information provided by ‘Middle Baby’, we have completed estimating the target’s radius of action.”

[Zz zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzu (Huh? Already? Didn’t you say it would take a few days?)]

The Heavenly Mother tilted her head at my question.

“Today is the third day since this guy started analyzing.”

[Zuzu (3 days?)]

For a moment, I thought it was a joke, but when I looked into her eyes, I knew it wasn’t. She had slept for not just one day, but three days. The mental fatigue from the large-scale battle must have been greater than I thought.

‘I felt refreshed when I woke up.’

It makes sense, since I slept for three whole days.

[Zuzuzuzuzuzuzuz (don’t wake me up in the middle)]

“It’s okay. I didn’t wake you up because you looked tired.”

“Let me show you the completed action radius simulation.”

PS-111 placed the holographic player he had brought from the situation room on the floor and connected it to the wires he had taken out of his body. Then, a blurry image of a map was output from the player.

“There are a total of 42 locations where the unspecified threat level creature ‘Arcane Orca’ is believed to have appeared. Of these, there are five constellations where the Arcane Orca is expected to appear again within 60 days: ZP-02, OT-20, the Jer-11 conflict zone, U-08, and the Dar-Kissos binary star system.”

‘ZP-02?’

Among the places PS-111 mentioned, ZP-02 is one I also know.

‘This is where Star Union’s massive factories are located.’

About 10% of the Star Union’s warships come from the giant space factories located in the ZP-02 constellation. If the Arcane Orca had appeared there, they would have been defeated long ago.

“I think we should leave this place out. Even if an Arcane Orca appears there, it’ll be hard for us to catch it.”

“Is that so?”

[Zuzuzu zuuzu zuuzu zuuzu zuuzu zuuzu (So do I have to search the remaining 4 places?)]

Surprisingly, there weren’t many candidates to investigate. Of course, there’s no guarantee that we’ll find traces of the Arcane Orca here.

Then PS-111 opened his mouth.

“I recommend two of these, the Jer-11 conflict zone and the U-08.”

[Z zu zu (why?)]

“As ‘Sean Hamilton’ said, there has been an increase in the number of pirates dealing in rare creatures visiting Jer-11 since three months ago.”

“Who is Sechan Hamilton?”

“He is a pirate infected by ‘Aimov’ in Asuka44. Before going to LV-06, I obtained information about the pirates’ movements from him.”

“aha.”

PS-111 looked at me with eyes made of red camera lenses. I felt like I wanted some kind of compliment, so I stroked his head with my fingers.

“thank you.”

[Zzuzuzuzu zuzuzuzu zuzuzuzu zuzuzuzuzu zu zuzuzuzuzu (I understand Zer-11. Then why did you recommend U-08?)]

“That’s what I decided. There’s a planet in U-08 where the Wolf natives live.”

The Heavenly Mother pointed to a spot on the hologram that she knew well, U-08. There was a small planet there, similar in image to the cult’s holy planet that she had visited before.

“I got information about the Arcane Orca from the locals in the game, so I wanted to check it out.”

[Zuzuzu (I see)]

I looked down at the result of the combined efforts of Mutant Screamer and Griffin Wolf. While I was asleep, the plan had made considerable progress.

‘It’s been decided what to do first.’

[Zuz …

The Jer-11 conflict zone, a lawless area where pirates roam free, and U-08, where the Wolf natives live. Those places depicted in the holograms are where we need to go.

‘ah.’

[Zuz …

I brought my snout closer to PS-111, who was disconnecting the wires connecting the holographic player. The auxiliary organ under his jaw gently wrapped around the back of his neck.

[Zuzuzuzuzuzu (I have something to give you)]

“Is this a gift?”

I noticed it right away, probably because I had been transplanted once before. PS-111 stroked my auxiliary organ wrapped around my neck with its hooked claws.

“New gifts are always welcome.”

After a while, the genetic essence that was in my body was transferred to the new owner’s body.

The universe today is controlled by Megacorp, Star Union, and the Cult Empire.

Numerous intelligent beings spread across various planets live under the protection of the three great powers.

But not everyone welcomed the domination of the great powers.

Spacedogs who operate outside the law, Vortex One cults who operate in the shadows of the cult empire, etc. They are all those who have chosen to break away from the established order. They live in hiding on planets unknown to anyone, or use ships as mobile residences and constantly drift through space.

In that respect, the Jer-11 conflict zone is a unique type. This is because the planet AG-01, located within the constellation, is promoting a separatist movement against its owner, Noble Capital TNC.

There was a reason why TNC, which had the most colonies in Megacorp, could not quickly settle this. It was because forces that did not like TNC secretly supported AG-01’s activities. In particular, it was an open secret that the separatists were receiving weapons from the Star Union.

It didn’t take long for the chaos that started on one planet to engulf the entire constellation.

That’s how the ‘Zer-11 conflict zone’ was born.

As time went by, the disputed area issue became more serious rather than being resolved. TNC also neglected the disputed area issue for various political reasons.

This caused Jer-11, especially AG-01, the center of the conflict, to become a crucible of chaos. Separatist terrorists and cartels instigated by the upper capitals waged war almost every day. As the residents died, new criminals came to take their place.

And today, AG-01 is completely free of ordinary people. Those who remain are either criminals or those with a criminal mindset.

Jeff, the reporter who came to AG-01 two years ago, was one of the latter types of people.

Now he is sitting in an old bar in the middle of the city.

It was a store with no good points, with tables heavily permeated with the smell of cheap synthetic liquor and mold growing on the walls and ceiling. Even in the city of outlaws, it was hard to find a store of such low quality.

Jeff doesn’t like this store either. He’s been coming here every month for two years and has never liked it.

The reason he was killing time in a store where it was hard to find a single customer was simple: he needed to meet someone without being noticed by others.

And the person I was waiting for just entered the store. He was a man who was soaking wet like a rag soaked in water. The man looked around and saw Jeff and approached him.

Instead of greeting him, Jeff nodded. The man hesitated and sat down across from Jeff.

“I, uh, thing…?”

Jeff placed a palm-sized case from his pocket on the table. The man quickly reached for the case, but hesitated. Jeff had also pulled out a laser pistol.

“You first.”

“Oh, yes, that, that’s right!”

The man took a small terminal out of his pocket and handed it to Jeff.

“These guys have been acting strangely lately. We’ve already met them twenty times this month.”

“Which cartel are you from?”

“Well, you can check the file yourself, so please… .”

A man trembling and pleading. Even as he spoke, his eyes were fixed solely on the case.

But Jeff had no intention of granting his request yet.

“If you don’t answer properly, I’ll pretend this never happened. I’ll ask again. Which cartel are you from?”