Chapter 260
Chapter 260
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 260
Chapter Title: The Mirror
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‘A mirror.’
I picked up a bloodstained shard of mirror. On the heavily cracked surface, the form of a spider-like monster appeared before blurring out.
The ‘Mimicry Organ,’ enhanced by ‘Form Dominator,’ didn’t even register properly on cameras. Pheromones and psychic power sprayed together from the microscopic pores spread across my entire body disrupted even the most advanced machinery’s sensors.
Thanks to that, even if a camera captured me, the photo would come out foggy, as if the light had reflected wrong. Of course, that could be resolved with the ‘Gremlin Moss’ that ‘Great Infectoid’ allowed me to disperse in mist form. Gremlin Moss wrecked machines, so it could neutralize cameras easily enough.
‘Of course, using it too often would raise suspicions.’
That was something I could manage carefully, so it wasn’t a major risk. The real problem was mirrors. There was no way to do anything about my reflection.
‘Still, how often does anyone get caught by a mirror?’
The Mimicry Organ gave people an uncanny feeling. Mimicking a human—who was less than a tenth my size—with a body over 20 meters long was bound to feel off.
But the cyborg I’d just devoured, Gid-Q, hadn’t sensed anything wrong with my appearance. The dual action of pheromones and psychic power had perfectly recreated the ‘green-haired pirate’ from his memories.
‘Too bad it doesn’t replicate objects.’
The Mimicry Organ’s performance had improved, but its fundamental limitations remained.
Even at the slave market before arriving at Kessha Arma, fooling objects had been tricky. I’d been wandering around disguised as a pirate with the Mimicry Organ when I got caught because I had no weapons.
This time, he’d spotted me because I didn’t have a flashlight. Searching for objects in the dark without scanning gear? Of course he’d get suspicious.
So, the enhanced Mimicry Organ had two weaknesses: cameras saw it as fog, and it couldn’t perfectly fool people’s clothing or gear.
Even so, it was far better than the in-game version. Wanting more would just be greed.
“Still, that was a fun experiment. And it’s good that you turned out useful.”
I licked the blood off the mirror. The insect monster perched on my wing-arm twitched in response.
Six legs tipped with claws, a body blending mantis and fly, and two wings on its back. Nothing special for an insect monster so far. Except for one thing.
“■ ■■■!”
The adult male head in place of the insect’s emitted an unintelligible sound. The face looked very much like the pirate I’d just eaten.
The cyborg Gid-Q had become a man-faced worm bound to my will.
I’d considered parasitizing him instead of eating him outright. But he’d called for backup on his own without me ordering it.
‘No need to keep him around then.’
Ironic. He’d acted fast to save his life, but it had shortened it instead.
‘His comrades should be arriving soon.’
I summoned the minions circling and hovering around the area.
‘Guests are coming. Prepare to greet them.’
They obeyed instantly—loyal servants for whom following my commands was their only joy. They began hiding in the abandoned buildings for a surprise attack.
‘Five parasites left.’
More eager to serve me were on their way.
“You have work to do.”
A voice from my neck—once belonging to a Cult called Jason—made the man-faced worm bow its head.
“Goddamn junkies, what the hell is this in the middle of the night?”
“They said from up top to handle it quick.”
Ten pirates entered the jo-byeong-chang district.
Uncharacteristically for outlaws, they were geared in mid-grade exosuits, armed with Gauss rifles or psychic rifles. Some even carried psychic shields and medical kits used by Cult warrior squads.
The reason these pirates had such good equipment was that the Marcio Cartel had acquired weapons left behind when the Cult Empire’s forces departed. Montana Marcio had sold the looted gear for credits and bought exosuits in bulk.
That’s how regular pirates ended up with mid-grade exosuits—gear typically reserved for Mega Corp armed police or low-rank officers.
“Where’s the spot Gid-Q contacted from?”
“Little further.”
“Wasn’t he a cyborg? He should handle junkies alone.”
“You forget about Jonas? Got taken down even in an exosuit.”
“Tch. That’s ‘cause he was dumb. If it were me, when that bastard charged, I’d dodge like this…”
As they chatted while moving, the lead pirate raised his hand—a signal someone was approaching from ahead.
The pirates instantly raised their weapons, scanning the surroundings. Plunder and crime were their trade, so while other things varied, their combat experience was plentiful.
In seconds, the seasoned soldiers eyed the front. Something lurked in the shadows cast by the abandoned buildings.
It definitely wasn’t Gid-Q. The cyborg pirate had been alone, not a group like this.
“It’s them!”
Was the pirate’s shout the signal? Figures from the shadows charged the exosuited pirates.
The lead pirate pulled the trigger on his Gauss rifle. Tungsten rounds—devastating in cost and power—ripped mercilessly through the enemy’s gut.
No human survives a fist-sized hole in the chest. Thinking he’d finished it, the pirate turned to help others—but that was a mistake.
The junkie, staggered by the tungsten round, charged again—still grinning.
“Crazy bastard!”
He swung the rifle stock hard into the laughing maniac’s face. Flesh crunched, and it fell back. He unloaded on the rising foe.
The other pirates faced similar chaos. Enemies kept coming even with limbs blown off.
“What the fuck! What did they eat?!”
“Aim for the head!”
The silver lining: the junkies’ physical abilities were nothing special. The pirates calmly picked them off.
“Any wounded?”
“I’m good.”
“Wait, what? Why only six?”
“Huh? Where’d the others go? They were right behind…”
Ten had entered, but only six visible. Panic set in. Had they accidentally shot comrades? They checked bodies—nope, no allies.
“How the hell…?”
“I’ll radio in.”
As one pirate pulled out his comms device—
They witnessed something unbelievable.
“What’s this?”
“Fog?”
Thick mist had rolled into their area. Gray clouds with only the tops of abandoned buildings poking through.
“Life support might be busted!”
“Shit! Oxygen capsules, now!”
They quickly shoved the exosuit’s built-in oxygen capsules in their mouths. The capsules dissolved slowly, providing air to last until they escaped the zone.
“…We can’t handle this on our own.”
“Report to command.”
The four missing comrades were already forgotten. This was a space fortress orbiting the planet. Weird junkies or missing men paled next to life support failure.
The pirate with the comms was about to report when something appeared through the fog.
“Huh?”
“What’s that?”
Not just him—others saw it too.
At first, they thought it was an abandoned factory building. But it didn’t take long to realize they were wrong.
Buildings didn’t move. That did.
The spider-like entity approached them silently.
“Damn it! Why won’t it work?”
“Try again.”
“Fuck, why keep saying retry if it’s busted! You do it!”
“You wanna die, asshole?”
The four pirates separated from the group hid in a nearby ruin. Fog had suddenly blanketed them mid-junkie hunt, forcing a retreat.
Life support issues were deadly serious. They’d tried reporting via comms, but the device was totally dead.
“Wouldn’t it be faster to just run out?”
“What? Who knows what’s in that fog?”
“Both of you shut up.”
The most experienced one warned coldly, silencing them.
“I heard something. Quiet.”
“Sound?”
“Junkies?”
They peered silently through the broken window. Fog thick as gas leak. From it came voices, just as he said.
The organization member who’d called them—Gid-Q—was requesting help.
“Sounds like Gid-Q?”
“What now?”
Not out of camaraderie, but to grasp the weirdness here. Gid-Q, who’d called for backup, would know best.
“Grab that bastard first, then figure it out.”
“Fuck, if it’s this bad, he should’ve said sooner.”
They crept toward the voice, cursing Gid-Q. It led to a half-collapsed ruin.
“Heard it from here—where’d he go?”
“This way!”
The cyborg’s shout answered. They scanned around.
“Here!”
“Crazy fuck. Say exactly where.”
Voice from the collapsed stairs—they all headed up.
“This way! Here!”
“Look here!”
No sign of Gid-Q, just his voice echoing everywhere. Mixed in: loud wing flaps from some huge bug.
Then it hit them—something was very wrong.
That voice wasn’t Gid-Q.
“W-We gotta get out! Now!”
“What the fuck is this shit?!”
“Huh? Hey, why only three? Where’s the fourth?”
“What’re you… Huh?”
“F-Fuck!”
Four when they climbed. Now three.
“What’s with you guys?”
“I’m right here.”
Gid-Q’s voice persisted in the empty ruin. Wing flaps grew louder between words.
“Stick together!”
Thick fog, unknown voices, missing comrades. The three gripped guns, barely holding back screams.
Eyes darted ceaselessly, backs together. Fingers on triggers trembled faintly.
As if sensing their vigilance, the building fell silent.
“D-Did it go?”
“Snap out of it, idiot!”
“It’s still here.”
The timider one swallowed hard—then the floor collapsed beneath them.
Hyper tense, they fell without screaming.
“Everyone, careful—!”
The veteran barely recovered, shouting a warning. Before he finished, a long black arm shot from the fog and snatched him.
“H-Hiiiik!”
“Aaaagh!”
The other two saw it all, shrieking like children. One pirate hosed the fog with his Gauss rifle.
Unlike his comrade, the timid one fled instead of fighting. Panicking, he crawled on all fours out of the building and down the street.
“Uwaaa… Agh?!”
Gunfire behind him cut off abruptly. He knew exactly what that meant.
The timid pirate ran for his life.
Even facing Marcio Cartel’s underboss hadn’t scared him this much. That fear was comprehensible.
But whatever was in the fog? Indescribable terror. Profane, muddy horror. Faced with the unknowable, all he could do was wail and flee like a child.
The fog began thinning as he ran. A boundary sign between districts appeared ahead. Past it: entertainment zone with high-end clubs. He could call for help there.
A spark of hope amid dread. He stepped forward vigorously. If only his legs had obeyed.
“?”
Legs frozen from fear? Panicking, he tried moving them—no dice.
Hot sensation in his ear. Tried touching it—arms unresponsive. Tried screaming—mouth wouldn’t open.
Fully paralyzed, familiar wing flaps reached his ears. The thing mimicking Gid-Q landed before him.
Cold sweat poured from him at the sight.
He’d thought the unknowable horror was true fear. Wrong. The universe brimmed with things beyond his imagination.
Like a bug with his comrade’s head, for instance.
“Master. This one knows the life support manager.”
The bug with Gid-Q’s head spoke.
A rifle dropped above his head. The thud echoed like thunder.
That Gauss rifle—his fighting comrade’s.
Foul breath on his neck. Paralyzed, his senses were acute. Blood stench thick in it.
“You seem useful.”
A calm, almost gentle male voice.
But the timid pirate couldn’t relax.
He didn’t know what horrors awaited.
His meager imagination could picture it all too well.