Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Ep. 144
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"Captain, the Cosmic Bolt is fully charged."
"……."
"Captain?"
The situation room of the Arbiter of Damus 08.
The crew had reported that all preparations were complete, but the captain issued no orders.
That was because all contact with the warrior unit he'd sent down had been completely cut off.
What the hell happened? Why aren't they responding! Race!
Race was one of his favorite warriors. The chance of him ignoring the captain's orders without reason was next to zero.
Moreover, none of the other warriors who'd gone down with him could be reached either.
That meant something serious had gone wrong down there.
...What do I do?
He had two options. Fire the Cosmic Bolt as planned, or send down a new search party.
But the captain knew all too well that the latter was practically impossible.
In the Cult Empire, contamination was no exaggeration to call the single greatest threat to national security. They were here carrying out purification duties to prevent it—could he afford to waste time rescuing subordinates? Especially slaves sent personally by the captain himself to retrieve more slaves?
This fleet wasn't just the Empire Mothership. The mothership squadrons dispatched to protect it wouldn't sit idly by.
The moment he delayed, he'd be relieved of command, and another captain would take over and fire the Cosmic Bolt.
"Captain? Please give the order."
"...Fire in 10 minutes."
"Understood."
In the end, the captain chose to fire the Cosmic Bolt. It was a mere 10 minutes, but he hoped his men could return safely in that time.
"How's it looking?"
The Mother of the Sky asked me gravely, her eyes serious.
"The launch time has already passed."
What? Then why?
"No idea."
The Mother of the Sky knew well about my Human-Faced Beast trait, so she'd deliberately left one Cult corpse intact. I took it from her and used the trait to read the memories of Hamin, the Cult who'd come here.
There were plenty of gaps in the memories, but I confirmed the key facts.
This planet had been designated a contaminated world and issued a purification order.
And the Cosmic Bolt was scheduled to fire just five minutes ago. Those were the two big ones.
Why it hadn't launched yet was a mystery to both Hamin and me.
It was a stroke of pure luck that the launch had been delayed, but we couldn't relax yet.
...Tch, it won't be long now.
The Mother of the Sky scowled and clicked her tongue.
She was right. Cult purification orders weren't canceled lightly. Even if the Empire Mothership's captain lost his nerve and refused to carry them out, a replacement would step up and do it anyway.
At most an hour, but likely just minutes before the Cosmic Bolt rained down on this continent.
Too late to run.
The Cosmic Bolt was a condensed energy projectile made by mixing dark matter and psychic power. Its momentary firepower rivaled the sun, vaporizing the atmosphere and oceans across the entire planet on impact.
Hiding underground wouldn't help either; its effects penetrated dozens of kilometers into the crust. It was nearly impossible to evade. I might scrape by somehow, but No. 26, Adhai, and the Mother of the Sky wouldn't survive.
Spaceship's out too.
The human research base was far from here. Even with my enhanced body, reaching it in minutes to an hour was impossible.
And even if luck was on our side and the Bolt fired hours later, leaving the planet in a ship would just get us intercepted by the mothership's escort fleet.
So we stop it here.
If evasion was off the table, we'd have to defend against the Empire Mothership's attack somehow.
The first thing that came to mind was the trait I'd made from the Raider's Irregular Polyhedron.
It devoured gear and converted it into traits.
I'd used it to consume Muriel's unique-grade equipment and gain destructive power.
By devouring the Cult's orbital strike weapon, the Thunder God.
No. That trait alone can't match the Cosmic Bolt.
The new trait I'd gained from it was slightly underpowered compared to the original Thunder God. When I'd eaten the Plasma Launcher, my output exceeded the source, but not this time.
Even the original Thunder God fell far short of the Cosmic Bolt's power. Hitting back with a downgraded version wouldn't mean much—just buying a few minutes at best.
But it's still the strongest weapon I have.
So I had to find a way to boost its output somehow.
If I could use Hunting Emblem, I'd skyrocket the power, but...
Hunting Emblem's cooldown was normally 24 hours.
Breaking through Transcendence Stage 2 had reset it to normal, but for some reason, it was still ticking.
Damn it! It's counting the one I used during evolution!
With 18 hours left on Hunting Emblem, it was clear. Nightmare Horizon showed 7 days remaining too.
The restrictions were lifted, splitting them into separate cooldowns, but neither was available now.
It pissed me off to no end, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Shit!
My ace, Hunting Emblem, was out.
...New messages. Haven't checked them yet.
Wracking my brain for options, I grabbed at any straw and pulled up the new message windows.
Huh?
I'd thought the Transcendence Stage 2 rewards ended at unlocking the new type and lifting restrictions on my traits.
Wrong.
Perks need related traits, so they bundled it in.
I scrolled through the descriptions like I was mesmerized.
This...?
I'd been cursing the game devs moments ago, but now I couldn't bring myself to.
Organic Evolution. This could work.
I didn't know exactly how it transformed me, but one thing looked useful for our predicament.
The Beast King special state.
It said it grew and reinforced the body.
This could boost my output.
Getting a card like Hunting Emblem right when I couldn't use it? Worth celebrating.
But uncertainties remained.
The key is how much it reinforces.
With those cooldowns and limits, it reminded me of Hunting Emblem or Nightmare Horizon. The effect had to be potent.
But gambling's no good.
Screw up, and we all die here. To block that Cosmic Bolt, I needed every ounce of power I could muster.
Output, output... how to increase output...
No clue how much time until launch. Using the trait would take time too. Couldn't ponder forever.
...One more minute.
I racked my brain desperately for anything else.
Baby hurt lots?
Pain.
Toy? Wanna play?
Okay.
I spotted No. 26 and Adhai. No. 26 had grabbed the loot bag and was pulling out items one by one in front of Adhai.
The Cosmic Bolt's pitch-black light felt like it could crash down any second. At that firepower, they'd burn up painlessly.
A minute passed watching them. No new ideas.
Have to go with what I've—wait. Hold on.
Seeing the bag No. 26 held sparked a crucial realization.
It was the bag with gear and items from killing Muriel. The priestess's golden spear, Blood River, and so on.
Including the potion she'd used. I hurried over to No. 26.
Hm? What?
[Zz zzuzuzu zuzzu (Lend me the bag a sec?)]
Big baby need toy too?
[Z (Yeah)]
I took the bag and pulled out a small kit. Inside was a glowing purple ampule.
Perfect! Still one left!
This was Psionium.
A potion that temporarily raised the drinker's stage by one. Drinking it would make me an Adult right away.
Adulthood brought two massive perks.
First, power surging to levels that could challenge the Cosmic Bolt.
Second, three heads.
The extra heads aren't ideal, but...
Normally, more heads boosted Jaw of the Essence Harvester's utility for collecting enemy heads.
In reality over game, Erosion Tendrils diminished that value.
But right now, extra heads were crucial.
The trait from devouring Thunder God was called God's Lash.
It fired energy beams condensing Thunder God's lightning.
From the mouth, like the Plasma Launcher plasma beams. Only from mouths—no Erosion Tendrils or other parts.
So as an Adult with three heads...
I could unleash Thunder God-level energy beams from all three simultaneously.
Adult form, Beast King state, and the Thunder God trait.
With those three...!
I could block the Cult's absolute planetary purification weapon—the Cosmic Bolt.