Into the Dark (2)

｢How long until the repairs are done?｣

"It·will·take·sev·er·al·hours."

｢Ugh, damn it, that's way too long. Oh, and the camera looks broken too—fix that while you're at it.｣

I answered that I understood and cut the connection.

Let's sort this out again.

I chewed through the engineer's arm, bone crunching between my teeth, as I thought.

Before I take over the ship, what comes first?

The original plan had been to secure the energy needed to maintain control after infiltrating the pirate vessel. I'd assumed that if my energy ran low after the erosion completed, I would quickly lose my grip on the ship.

But the situation's changed a little.

Back when I was dominating the Mega Corp escape shuttle, I had eaten the pirates. Not by tearing into them with my own jaws—I'd grown erosion tentacles inside the ship and let them do the feeding.

The period I could maintain control after eating got longer.

I'd assumed that securing additional energy after dominating a ship would be impossible, but my prediction had been wrong. Even when the erosion tentacles consumed enemies, my stored energy increased.

Eating through the erosion tentacles is identical to me consuming prey through my mouth.

The fact that the Predation Effect had even triggered on one of the pirates made it practically certain. Which meant there was no need to obsess over securing energy for the erosion beforehand.

Still, I can't just erode the ship recklessly.

Once the erosion started, there was no canceling it—for five full hours I would be pinned in place, unable to move. A motionless body couldn't respond flexibly to enemy attacks.

Better to hold off on the erosion and play it safe.

This massive ship, roughly three hundred meters from bow to stern, held eighty-five pirates. The fewer of them there were, the better for me.

First things first—I need to thin them out. Where do I start?

According to Justin, this ship carried a large stockpile of powerful bombs. Bombs used to erase the evidence after raiding other ships, he'd said.

Honestly, I doubt they'd blow themselves up over me alone.

But if they were cornered, who knew what those bastards might do. Or the captain might secretly plant the bombs and slip away alone aboard one of the ship's craft.

First, let's make sure they can't run.

If I wrecked the ship's craft, they wouldn't dare think about using the bombs either. And once I dealt with the bombs as well, the means they had to threaten me would shrink dramatically.

The craft are in the hangar.

Since I'd already burned the Hijacking trait as a material for Nightmare Horizon, I currently had no way to neutralize the surveillance cameras. Unless I somehow re-fused a new Hijacking, sneaking past the pirates' eyes and into the hangar at my size would be no easy feat.

But nothing in this world is truly impossible.

First, I need to build a nest.

I swallowed down the rest of the engineer's corpse and curled my body. A black mucus, similar to what leaked out during ship erosion, began seeping ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the holes all over my frame.

It's only temporary, so there's no need to make it perfect.

It just had to be thorough enough to monitor every enemy within a hundred-meter radius of where I stood. Before I knew it, the half-hardened mucus was sprouting spores and stalks, slowly widening its reach. When the nest's size roughly surpassed the space I occupied, I pressed the tip of an auxiliary organ against it. Much like with the erosion tentacles, I felt my body being drawn into the ship's metal plating.

Confirming that the link with the nest had succeeded, I checked the range the nest could sense.

Good. This will do nicely.

With a small but operable nest built, it was time for the next step. There was a trait I'd acquired from killing pirates on the escape shuttle—one I'd had chances to use several times but never had. Now was the moment to put it to work.

Ever since boarding the pirate ship, my carapace had been dotted with egg sacs—clusters of them hanging everywhere except the holes that produced the erosion tentacles. Those sacs were the nests housing the combat parasites known as the Tooth Fairy Swarm.

The Tooth Fairy Nest was a trait created by fusing Bite Force, a physical trait, with Fur Flea, an infection-based one.

The Fur Flea was an unexpected find—it usually only comes from wild beasts.

It was a trait with a high drop rate when devouring animals whose hides were covered in fur, so I never expected to pick it up here.

Smugglers, maybe?

One of the pirates who'd boarded from the escape shuttle had already been infested with fur fleas. When I swallowed him whole, the fleas clinging to his body were digested along with him, and I gained the new trait.

Fur Flea on its own is a useless ability.

It was a trait with a negative effect, like Dwarfism. Holding it afflicted you with a semi-permanent status condition: chronic itching.

But fused together, it becomes a completely different animal.

Combined with Bite Force, it transformed into a genuinely useful infection trait.

Come on out, my children.

The moment I activated the Tooth Fairy Nest, the sacs along my back burst open and black vermin came spilling out. Each one had a gaping mouth full of oversized teeth where its eyes should be, and aside from being no bigger than a child's palm, they looked exactly like ordinary fleas.

Unlike the original fur fleas, which sucked blood, the Tooth Fairies used those needle-sharp teeth to devour anything and everything. These loyal soldiers didn't care whether it was flesh or metal. They simply gnawed apart whatever I commanded.

Everyone, form ranks.

Dozens of Tooth Fairies submitted to my will and gathered before me. No. 26, who had been slurping down the suit-clad engineer nearby, noticed them and came padding over.

｢Ooh? Who are they?｣

No. 26's body flickered and shimmered with light, fascinated by the Tooth Fairies huddled snugly together.

[Zzz zzzz zzzz (They're the ones I made)]

｢Made them? Are they babies the Big Baby gave birth to?｣

[Zzzzzz zzz zzzz (Sort of, but a little different)]

｢They're not babies?｣

As the tooltip's control radius indicated, the Tooth Fairies were a kind of summon created through me. Consumables—useful for drawing the enemy's attention, or for hiding in unexpected places and launching ambushes.

They served me well in the game, too.

Where the Parasitic Colony had been implemented as a sort of debuff skill, the Tooth Fairies had come packaged as combat summons. No small help for an Amorph who could otherwise only play solo.

Honestly, their raw stats aren't anything special.

These fearsome man-eating fleas moved fast and hit hard, but their limitations were obvious. Being insects, they had next to no defense—one hit from a laser rifle was enough to kill them. Against something as strong as a Hulk Mutant, a single stomp would end them.

Which is exactly why they're only worth their keep if you use them well.

And for the record, I belonged firmly in the camp of players who used them well.

To your positions, all of you.

At my command, the Tooth Fairy Swarm went bounding away, vanishing up the cargo bay stairs. I couldn't see them anymore, but the distinctive signals they emitted kept streaming into my auxiliary organ without pause.

The swarm's destination: the hangar where the ship's craft were stored.

The hangar is near the bow, on the third deck.

The fleas sprang this way and that on powerful hind legs, climbing rapidly to the third deck before slipping into the corridor that led to the hangar.

Pirates up ahead.

Already tracking their movements through the nest, I warned the Tooth Fairies. The man-eating fleas gnawed through a nearby ventilation grate and tucked themselves inside.

<"The motion sensor says there's something here.">

<"There's nothing here, though?">

<"F-fuck, you don't think a ghost hitched a ride onto the ship?">

The pirates wandered the corridor for a long while, clutching a motion detector that kept flashing its warning, before finally moving on elsewhere.

Once I could no longer sense their movements, I gave the order again.

Advance.

The Tooth Fairy Swarm went hopping along the corridor, and before long the entrance to the hangar came into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠view. Standing guard before the door were two hulking figures, larger than ordinary humans.

One was a monster that resembled a gorilla; the other had a head like a rhinoceros. The two creatures looked nothing alike, yet shared exactly one feature—metal plates grafted across their bodies everywhere.

Hulk Mutants, huh?

Their true identity was Hulk Mutants—freakishly transplanted genes clashing disharmoniously, leaving them with grotesque forms. They seemed to find guard duty tedious, yawning hugely as they stood.

The Hulk Mutants are too much for them.

I pulled the Tooth Fairy Swarm back. There was no way these fleas could take on a Hulk Mutant—every time the brute swatted one, another would die.

And even if the Tooth Fairies could manage a kill, I wouldn't allow it.

Those things are precious bundles of Genetic Essence. I'm not wasting them.

I'd deal with the pair myself, later. Instead, I ordered the Tooth Fairy Swarm into the ventilation duct. It was a roundabout route, but the safer path.

The man-eating fleas filed into the vent in a double column. Had anyone but me witnessed it, it would no doubt have seemed a positively transcendent sight.

A ventilation duct.

As I steered the swarm, a memory surfaced—of when I had first become Amorph. Back when my life began in the Cargo Bay of Yu Seong's research vessel, I had prowled the air ducts, hunting while dodging every human eye.

And now here I was, inside a ship far larger than that vessel, hunting dozens of pirates in turn.

We've arrived.

It had taken some time, but the Tooth Fairy Swarm reached the vent opening set into the hangar ceiling unharmed. By some twist of fate, the ceiling duct was the same fan-bladed model as the one in the old research vessel's cargo bay.

All of you—swarm it and chew.

Back then, I had gambled my life trying to avoid a vent's blades. Not anymore. Dozens of Tooth Fairies swarmed the machinery clamped around the vent's edge, gnawing away. Sparks flew, the fan blades slowed, ground down—and finally stopped dead. The fleas cleared the way and dropped into the hangar below.

Within, old-model Star Union fighters slept soundly in their berths.

Destroy them all.

The Tooth Fairies bared their razor teeth and latched onto the undersides of the ship's craft. There were cameras inside, but unless someone was watching with real care, their movements would be nearly impossible to catch. Their bodies were the same pitch black as the floor, and no bigger than a child's palm. Through a camera feed, anyone would mistake them for rats scurrying about.

How much time passed like that?

The heavy hangar doors slid open, and a wave of armed men poured into the bay.

<"Something's wrong inside the hangar!">

<"You morons! The trouble's on the inside—why are you standing around out there?">

<"W-we, we, guarded hard! Re-really hard!">

<"Fucking monkeys—useless bastards, every one of you!">

The pirates had noticed something amiss in the hangar earlier than I'd predicted. They began sweeping the space under their flashlights, hunting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for the man-eating fleas beneath the craft.

<"GYAAAH!">

<"You insane little bug bastards!">

The moment the fleas lunged at the pirates, the men panicked and opened fire. Every time red laser light flashed through the dark hangar, more Tooth Fairies burst apart.

<"AAAAGH! Get them off me!">

<"GRAAAH! My face!">

A handful of survivors clung to the pirates' bodies, tearing at their flesh. Skin peeled away beneath razor-blade teeth, and the pirates' screams filled the bay.

<"S-somebody help!">

<"Fucking maggot spawn! Get them off me, NOW!">

The Tooth Fairies fought harder than I'd expected, but sadly, the pirates suffered no deaths. The Hulk Mutant guards prowled the bay, ripping the fleas off the men with their bare hands.

And so the Tooth Fairy Swarm that had entered the hangar was wiped out in the blink of an eye.

But I didn't mourn them much.

<"Shit—the ship's craft are all wrecked!">

They had more than lived up to my intentions.

Their escape route is sealed.

And though they didn't know it yet, this was far from over. All across my carapace, fresh egg sacs had already swollen and burst, a new Tooth Fairy Swarm swarming out to surround me.

The ship's craft are dealt with.

The next target: the bombs stored in the armory.

Hunting is not merely the act of chasing prey.

What you prepare beforehand, and how much of it—those things matter just as much to a successful hunt.

Knowing your prey in advance. Making sure that prey waits exactly where you want it, in exactly the state you want it.

They know nothing about me. They don't know where I am. They don't know what condition I'm in.

Just three differences, and that alone decides who stands where.

Prey—and predator.

Once every last bomb is cleared away…

This place—the only haven in the barren void of space—

would become the darkness that swallows its foolish prey whole.