Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: Taking the Warship
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"Captain? Gaaah!"
"Damn it, everyone fall back!"
"Hiiik!"
The cyborgs gathered in the command center screamed and freaked out the moment they spotted me upon hearing the captain's order. Unlike some cyborgs, they hadn't upgraded their eyes, so they recognized me right away.
Sometimes it's better not to know.
The cyborgs who saw me reacted in all sorts of ways.
"P-Please spare me, spare me, spare… Gurk!"
The ones who lost the will to fight right away. They dropped to their knees, begging until their hands wore raw, only for me to rip their heads off.
"Fuck! You traitor to the Star Union! I'll execute you my… Aaaargh!"
The ones venting their rage at the traitorous captain. They charged at him, only to get sliced in half by the bone blades on my back, separating their upper and lower bodies.
And finally.
"Everyone, get behind cover!"
"We have to take it down!"
A small minority didn't lose their nerve and came at me. They hid behind computers and machinery in the command center, attacking from there.
Pulse gun rounds loaded with depleted uranium rained down on my body.
Each time, the scales—formerly my inner fur lining—rippled like waves, absorbing the bullets' impact.
Every inch of my exoskeleton was now covered in tiny scales. Thanks to the new trait 'Composite Scales' I'd gained from devouring the Screamer.
The true value of this trait lay in hardening vulnerable spots on my body. When physical impact hit, I could rearrange the scales in that area to massively boost defense temporarily.
With this, I can protect my monster tentacles and auxiliary organs.
In Hunter's Manifestation right now, my auxiliaries were armored anyway, but not in my normal state.
I pushed through the bullet storm, closing in on the cyborgs.
"F-Fuck! The attacks aren't working… Argh!"
"Fall back! Everyone, fall baaack!"
Even the brave ones pouring fire at me got shredded by the four bone blades under my jaw as I approached.
Realizing bullets were useless, the cyborgs tried to flee while their comrades died. My tail lashed out at those who turned their backs.
"Aak!"
A nearby cyborg got smashed by my tail and slammed into the wall. At least he died painlessly—small mercy.
"L-Let me goooo!"
The one caught in my tail's pincer flailed wildly but screamed as it clamped down.
It had crushed the Screamer's sturdy metal skeleton. No way a cyborg could withstand it.
Coughing up fluids mixed with innards, he went limp as a corpse. I tossed him aside carelessly and pursued the fleeing ones.
"W-Wait, waitwaitwait, aaagh!"
"Hiiik, s-stop… Kkh! Kek!"
Before Hunter's Manifestation ended, I'd cleared out most of the cyborgs inside the hull. Except a few.
I need to implant parasites in them.
The 'Parasitic Swarm' maxed at 10 with the type bonus. One was in Heaven's Mother, so I left 9 survivors.
"Ugh, uuurgh… I-I'll serve the new master."
In the blood-soaked command center, the cyborgs now dominated by parasites knelt before me.
Two reasons for sparing them.
This ship still had tons of androids and drones. Better to neutralize them through these guys than waste energy on gene-essence-free scrap. Me and the kids could smash them, but why bother?
And as insurance if the Star Union pursues.
To fool pursuers, I needed the captain and key officers alive. They might check biosignals from their end.
Prep for taking the ship is done.
Much stronger now, conquering the warship didn't take long. Aside from the unexpected Screamer threat, it went smoothly.
Come to think of it, the Screamer gave more gains than trouble.
Clues on Star Union players aside, I scored new gene essences.
In-game, Screamers counted as machines, no essence. But these modified ones, based on Hulk mutants, yielded several types.
Getting Coldblood traits here was lucky.
Coldbloods mixed reptilian-human base with beetle insect traits. NPC-looking but playable race.
Despite scary looks, high IQ and tragic lore made them cult favorites.
Lore-wise, they vied for cosmic hegemony with the Cult long ago but collapsed. Contracted Vortex One for power, but pawned their entire fate.
Now just Vortex cultists or slaves sold off.
Coldblood players aimed to free and save their kin.
Someone in community called it 'Dino Exodus'.
Anyway, lore scattered them galaxy-wide. Thought I'd only encounter late-game.
Manpower convoy had tons—wonder why.
All my new organ traits came from Coldbloods.
Dunno if their genes key to Screamer dev, or that convoy packed with them.
Either way, profit for me.
Composite Scales for weak spots, 'Revenant Organ' as trump card—unexpected gifts.
Though a bit disappointing too.
Ate a few extra traits from the Screamer, but rest duplicated my existing ones.
Hulk mutants usually mixed varied genes, but these were identical clones.
Standardized for Screamer production maybe.
Same genes meant same look and taste.
...Thinking back, kinda nauseating.
Hulk mutant used in Screamer was revolting. Made me want to scrape my mouth with claws, jaws agape.
From experience, multi-gene combos tasted better. Like Sihyun Yujin, Ezerton knights.
Formula broke this time.
Like toothpaste glop then orange juice, plus salt.
Understood why Adhai scratched tentacles. Not something to crave.
At least calorie-dense.
Taste sucked, but Hulk-level energy. Still felt stuffed.
This satiety means post-Manifestation… Ah, ending now.
Speak of the devil.
Smoke rose from my body as it reverted. Hunter's Manifestation over.
From 8m including tail, back to 5m. Fur shortened to fit, back blades shrank rapidly.
Blades flaked off like dead skin, crumbling. Same for jaw auxiliary armor.
Changes done, I hurriedly stuffed command center cyborg corpses into my maw. To slake the usual post-form hunger.
Something off though.
Not that hungry?
Hunger hit harder than usual, but not mindlessly. A few bodies should fix it.
Shrewd Prey's doing?
Sure enough, three cyborgs later, side effects gone. Survival-specialized state maybe slashes energy use drastically.
Thought power drop sucked…
No looking back mid-Manifestation was merit enough. Synced great with high-energy-dump traits too.
Like God's Lash.
'God's Lash' from devouring Cult orbital 'Thunder God'—my strongest ranged attack.
No 14-day cooldown like original, but power at 2/3 max, huge energy cost.
In Shrewd Prey? Could spam freer.
Not full barrage, but rain in my drought.
Sucks can't yet in normal state.
No regrets. Get later.
Hunger sated, I rose. Heaven's Mother entered with kids, right on cue.
｢You went wild. Side effects okay?｣
｢An unexpected boon.｣
She'd hidden with kids in case I rampaged.
I briefed her on Shrewd Prey. She nodded, impressed.
｢Solid trait. Applications are broad.｣
｢Fixes infiltration weaknesses big time.｣
｢Perfect for backstabbing players. They won't know.｣
Spot on. No in-game Aimorph size-shifter I knew. If I don't, others probably don't.
Enemies had fleets, orbitals—too strong to brute. Stealth, deception it was.
Mid-chat, No.26 and Adhai approached.
｢Big baby. More food?｣
｢I'm full. You two eat.｣
No.26 extended tentacles to corpses. Adhai followed, then paused, eyeing me, drawing near.
｢What's up?｣
｢Big｣ ｢adult｣ ｢different｣
｢Changed from before?｣
｢Before｣ ｢ugly｣ ｢now｣ ｢attractive｣ ｢unfathomable｣
Adhai wagged tail, blasting thought waves. Eyes on my inner fur—now scales.
｢Now｣ ｢good｣
The scales, huh.
Adhai called me cool before, but my look far from Galleron ideal. Gliding membrane no real wings, armor/exo not their scales.
New scales hit his tastes spot-on.
Satisfied nod, then to No.26.
Heaven's Mother quipped at the sight.
｢Stars in his eyes.｣
Her crescent grin embarrassed me.
｢Cut the nonsense. You eating?｣
｢Cyborgs no good for me, as you know. Better kids eat.｣
Like me, she needed strong foes for growth. Stalled till Dragon's Nest.
Troublemakers cleared anyway.
Shrewd Prey review done—time for next phase.
Nodded to feasting kids, left command center.
Time to fully devour ship 98.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"That Cult bastard! We've mountains to prep for the greater cause, yet we're treasure hunting on his word?!"
Steward Minseok Yujin disliked his master's nonchalance.
Post-Akira Yujin assassination fail, Sihyun Yujin's actions baffled him.
Should be rushing to recruit Earth elders, build anti-Akira faction—not drifting space carefree.
Akira rarely went out. CEO duties aside, Earth-bound.
They'd staked all on T&C trade hub sabotage 'cause rare outing.
"Civil war timing eased plotting! Why nix it?!"
"Can't kill Akira with our power. I said that."
Sihyun brushed it off. Same answer every protest.
Impossible to kill Akira.
She'd infiltrated Yujin flagship herself for it. Minseok bought that—Code Blue dagger proof.
Aftermath? Problematic.
"Still claiming Akira beat Shadow? Impossible!"
Minseok knew Shadow's power as her confidant. And prime Sihyun's strength.
Couldn't buy her beaten, barely escaped.
"Unbelievable. Must be something you hide."
Sihyun's eyes narrowed at persistent doubt.
"I'm your master. Not forgotten?"
"……."
Minseok shut up. Sihyun shot up.
He flinched but held gaze.
"Last question. Answer carefully."
"……."
His hand twitched toward pants pocket, stopped. Sihyun caught it.
"Minseok Yujin. Whom do you serve?"
"…The rightful Yujin heir, Sihyun Yujin."
Rightful heir Sihyun Yujin. Seemed loyal, but she caught deliberate ambiguity.
She was Sihyun Yujin, yet not.
Minseok meant original, not this 'clone'.
She read it, didn't call out. Couldn't, really.
"Go. I have work."
"…Yes."
Judged day wrong, no more protests. Half-assed bow, heading out.
Hand on doorknob, muttered.
"…And keeping rival close. What thinking. Tsk."
Alone post-Minseok, Sihyun slumped in chair. Muttered to air.
"Ugly display."
Corner metal suit stirred. Grotesque mix of powered armor, walker—2.5m tall, space-black.
Full-body seal like Ezerton silver knight suits. Android-like, spoke mechanical voice.
｢No. Quite informative. Learned much unknown.｣
"Bad taste. Layla Chemberlin."
Black suit: ex-T&C hub overseer Layla Chemberlin.
"Room to data-mine? Suit comfy, huh."
｢Yup. No sleep, food—bliss.｣
Casual tone, robotic voice. Vocal cords wrecked; machine-only speech.
Irreparable virus even gene-fix couldn't heal. Suit her lifeline.
Sihyun supplied it—held her life.
"My bad."
Sihyun bowed instead. Layla intrigued.
｢You're interesting.｣
"How?"
｢Shadow procedure turns all mad. Bloodthirsty killers, war maniacs, OCD nuts. You're no exception.｣
"Thanks."
｢But you? Less Noble Capital than Akira. Butler attitude, mine too.｣
"Pragmatic. Want it? Take any means. Noble Capital way, no?"
｢Hmm, we'll see.｣
Layla skeptical, but Sihyun meant it. Her heart grew unspeakable goal—hers alone, not Sihyun's or Minseok's.
No need air it. Changed topic.
"Anyway, reason you came?"
｢Ah, forgot.｣
Layla unpacked backpack-mounted device: half-wrecked white drone, nonfunctional.
｢Found scouting outside. Pulled from asteroid cloud pre-smash.｣
"Star Union drone. Why here?"
Saw tiny '98' etched on surface—eerie hunch.
Strong feeling vital intel inside.
"Others?"
｢Asteroid cloud trashed 'em all.｣
"Check data damage."
｢Okay?｣
"Might be key info."
Plugged cable from desk to drone.
Shattered holograms erupted over desk.
"!"
｢Th-This?｣
Confirming contents, both recoiled in shock.