Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 422



Only Noblemtl

A door that opens automatically with your voice.

The true ‘owners’ of the Sino Group are calling him.

‘…Fuck.’

He regretted his past choice to follow them, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was curse inwardly.

In an instant, Sutherland, covered in blood, staggered inside.

Common, the leader of the Shinoroku Cartel, hasn’t been able to sleep properly for several months.

Cyborgs have insomnia. It was a lame joke, but it was true.

It all started the day his ship was replaced by a Megacorp mining vessel.

A few months ago, while I was on my usual route, I happened to spot a mining ship passing by.

He was happy to earn some credits, but soon after, a monster appeared and ruined everything. The monster destroyed the pirate ship, planted something in the heads of the survivors, including him, and left.

At the time, I thought I was lucky to be alive, but I was wrong. The ‘something’ that had entered my head began to cause me periodic pain. The pain came without warning, making it impossible to live a normal life.

Moreover, when I tried to get rid of ‘something’ or tell someone about it, I was met with even greater pain. It was as if I was being told not to even dream.

After the day he encountered the monster, Common’s life quickly became a ruin. He was forced to live in a prison that had formed inside his body.

He was able to survive because he was a cyborg, but the others were not. The rest of them went mad and jumped out into space, ending their lives.

Is it because every day feels like hell? I wasn’t particularly happy even though I received the summons from the head of the Shino Group.

So far, the operations planned by the General himself have always brought great benefits. This time, it would be the same, but Common could not be happy. Credits do not heal pain.

Of course, it would be nonsense to disobey the commander’s call. As soon as they received the call, the Shinoroku Cartel moved immediately.

And today marks a week since Common joined the Sino Group fleet.

“Boss, I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

“… … .”

“boss?”

Common, who had his eyes closed, came to his senses when he heard a voice calling him.

“They said there are 10 minutes left until we reach our destination.”

“destination?”

Common opened his eyes and looked around. He saw a row of pirates wearing armor sitting inside a large transport ship.

Only then did he realize what he had been doing.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh, uh. I need to think about something.”

“yes?”

“Okay, I understand. Everyone, get ready to move as soon as we land.”

“yep.”

A few minutes ago, the head of the Shinoichi Cartel gave him an order: to go and fix the terraforming facility that was managing the atmospheric conditions on AG-01.

So, I was traveling on a transport ship with my subordinates when I suddenly fell asleep.

‘I took a nap?’

He had never slept well before coming here, because of that damned intruder inside his head.

But after landing on this planet, the headache completely disappeared.

It’s not that ‘something’ died or escaped. For some reason, it stopped working after landing on AG-01. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have fallen into such a deep sleep.

‘Fuck, I don’t care about reasons.’

Now is the time, while ‘something’ is quietly sitting there. As soon as this is over, we have to get rid of that bastard.

I heard that this planet used to be a Hulk mutant experiment site. If so, there must be high-performance surgical equipment. Ask the Shinoni chief who came here first and you’ll get the answer you want.

“What should I do?”

‘huh?’

The voice of his subordinate mixed with mechanical sounds woke him up again.

‘uh?’

When he came to his senses, there were pirates wearing helmets in front of him. The space he was standing in was not a transport ship either.

A lot of water on the floor, a space so dark that the only light comes from the headlights mounted on the pirates’ helmets, and the sound of the fierce wind outside.

They were inside a damaged terraforming facility.

‘When did you get here…?’

As I asked myself, the events that had happened just a moment ago slowly came back to me.

The transport ship safely landed in front of the terraforming facility despite the harsh weather. As soon as they disembarked, Shinoroku’s members hurriedly ran inside the facility.

Along the way, one of the subordinates was unfortunately struck by lightning and died, but the rest entered the first floor of the facility safely.

These are all strong memories that are not easily forgotten. They are not even from a long time ago, but from something that just happened.

It’s absolutely not normal to forget that.

“Where should I start the repair?”

“… … .”

“boss?”

“Are you okay?”

But that doesn’t mean I can give up here.

If we went back like this, not only would we not be able to remove the existence inside his head, but we would also be reprimanded by the head of Shinoichi. If he were to tell the head of the Shino Group about this, things would get even worse. If we were unlucky, the Shinoroku Cartel might be expelled from the group.

‘That is absolutely not allowed!’

In order to extract ‘something’, repairs must be completed unconditionally.

“…You guys, go downstairs and check if the reactor and equipment are in good condition.”

“yep!”

“The rest go to the situation room upstairs.”

The pirates who received the order moved quickly. The lights attached to their helmets quickly disappeared. They ran up the stairs with the remaining subordinates, including Common.

The stairs were so dark that I couldn’t see even an inch ahead of me. Even with the headlights on, everything looked black, making it difficult to tell what the stairs were.

Perhaps it was because of the sound of the wind coming from outside the building that the atmosphere was extremely gloomy.

Even a vicious criminal without a conscience can still feel fear. This damp space stimulated the primal fear of living creatures. The backs of the pirates climbing the stairs were instantly covered in cold sweat.

‘…Fuck.’

Common was equally anxious, especially because of the memory loss he had suffered repeatedly.

The stairs that seemed to have no end in sight, and the pitch-black darkness beyond them seemed as if it would swallow up his memories.

“boss.”

“!”

He was startled by the voice of his subordinate inside the helmet.

“Boss, it looks like a bomb went off.”

“… I see.”

I thought maybe I had lost consciousness again, but thankfully this time I hadn’t.

Looking in the direction the subordinate pointed, part of the stairs leading up to the upper floor and the outer wall of the building had collapsed. Judging from the traces, it seemed as if they had been forcibly torn away by some strong force.

“Hey. What’s on this floor?”

“Uh, here and up and down, there’s only a break room for the managers.”

I heard that the reason there was a problem here was because of a surprise attack by the separatists. If you are going to bomb, it would be more reasonable to target the floors where important facilities are located or the terraforming facilities directly. There is no reason to target a place like this.

‘It probably has nothing to do with us.’

It was his job to make this facility function normally. Just as he was about to hand it over, someone whispered in Common’s ear.

‘Come here’.

‘!’

Startled, he looked back.

“Who was that just now?”

“Why are you like that?”

“Who is talking to you?”

“yes?”

“We didn’t say anything?”

In the middle of the stairs, there were only the men he had brought with him. Even when he checked below, he couldn’t find the owner of the voice.

“What is this…?”

‘This way’

The voice was heard again. Common turned his head sharply and looked upward.

“Over there! There’s someone up there!”

“yes?”

“boss?”

“You stupid kids! Get up there quickly!”

The pirates followed the order, though they were bewildered. With their enhanced physical abilities, they jumped over the collapsed stairs and went upstairs. Corman also followed his men into the upper corridor.

“Why are you suddenly like that?”

“There are intruders other than us.”

Everyone became tense at the word intruder.

This building has been empty ever since the separatist attacks. Only one person could sneak into this dangerous place.

“… Didn’t those damn kids all die?”

“You damn Shinoni. You’re making us clean up after ourselves?”

The pirates searched the rooms connected to the corridor, spitting out curses.

The building is filled with facilities and machines for climate and environmental control. The space available for private use by facility managers is extremely limited. There are only a few rest areas.

But there was absolutely no trace of the intruder.

“There isn’t one here?”

“No, there’s still one place left.”

“yes?”

Common pointed to the end of the hallway, where a large, tightly shut elevator door stood.

“It might be hiding in there.”

“No matter what, it’s a bit… over there.”

“Or else it’ll die.”

“no.”

The pirates immediately walked towards the elevator at the sight of their leader aiming his plasma rifle at them.

“Open.”

The personnel carrying the plasma cutters stepped forward and began to open the closed elevator doors. The green light briefly illuminated the dark hallway, but the thick metal doors opened noisily.

The pirate in the lead checked the inside of the empty elevator shaft.

“I can’t see anything?”

“Did you check it properly?”

“Yes. Even if I look at it again, it’s still the same… Huh? I see something!”

The subordinate who was looking down the elevator shaft bent down as if he had discovered something.

“What is that…?”

Then suddenly something large popped out from inside.

It was a pathologically white hand. It was larger than the elevator, and it grabbed the pirate and disappeared down the elevator shaft.

“Huh?”

“What was that just now?”

The other pirates who had been blankly watching slowly began to realize the reality. The fact that a non-human entity had snatched away their comrades.

“Hey, it’s a monster!”

“Fuck! I can’t contact you!”

“Boss! What should I do!?”