Chapter 267
Chapter 267
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 267
Chapter Title: Harvest (1)
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"Yes. She hasn't arrived yet. Ahem. We'll be preparing. Understood."
The rhombus-shaped stele floating in the air flickered out and slowly descended to the floor. Confirming it had powered down, Cynthia disconnected the cables linked to it.
"Phew."
Letting out a short sigh, she picked up an apple from the ornate table.
An apple. This fruit, native to Earth, was now only cultivated in the bio-domes on Mars. Once commonplace in the distant past, it had become a luxury few but the wealthy could afford.
Cynthia bit into the precious fruit without a second thought. The sweetness flooding her mouth, the slight tartness and freshness tingling her tongue—it might have moved someone who'd never tasted one before.
But her emotions were different.
Cynthia came from a world where red fruits like this were commonplace. Back in that world, her lost homeland she could never return to, she'd enjoyed them often.
The sweetness she tasted now was the flavor of longing.
'...It's not far off.'
In this world, there were others who'd shared her experience. Once numbering in the dozens, the foreigners were now few and far between. Accordingly, most of the factions had dissolved, leaving only three.
She belonged to the "Dominion Faction" among the foreigners' groups—the one that remained here to rule over the inferior beings. It was backed mainly by intelligent species from advanced civilizations like Mega Corp, Star Union, and Cult.
But Cynthia harbored a secret even her faction comrades didn't know.
'Once the one he arranged arrives here, my role ends.'
Since coming to this world, she'd never once wished to stay. She'd do anything to return home.
Even if it meant killing other foreigners—Human players—or deceiving them.
Apple in hand, she stepped out onto the lavishly decorated terrace. The full panorama of the space fortress sprawled beneath her feet.
One side dazzled the eyes with artificial lights from countless shops; the other was pitch-black, devoid of any glow. Above her head, the fallen mining planet reflected light, gazing down on the fortress.
The sight of Kessha Arma was more awe-inspiring than beautiful, yet it stirred no emotion in Cynthia.
'Data scraps...'
The true name of the faction Cynthia belonged to was the "Returnees Faction." Their goal: clear the game and return home.
After gazing at the city for a moment, she clicked her tongue and retreated inside.
Had she lingered even a bit longer, she surely would have noticed.
The black smoke rising from the pitch-dark sector without a single light.
-
'It's over.'
I scooped up an unknown someone's severed ankle and tossed it into my mouth.
'Didn't expect them to have a wired comms system for closed-circuit ops.'
Thanks to No. 26's psychic power blanketing the underground vault, all wireless comms were completely jammed. I'd let my guard down, but the pirates had laid down a shielded wired network against EMPs.
'Would've been a hassle if they'd contacted the outside.'
Fortunately, it only linked the vault's five sectors internally. Probably skipped external lines to cut costs.
'They never imagined this place getting raided.'
With over a hundred mercenaries, hundreds of androids, and meter-thick double-sealed doors, no pirate would think it'd be breached—short of outright war.
'Unless a monster over 20 meters showed up.'
Who could've pictured a massive beast smashing through those meter-thick doors one by one to loot the vault?
In truth, I'd personally wrecked the entrance and Sector A's barriers on my way in. With my current traits, even the thickest doors were no match.
'Enhanced Acidic Mycelium Gland.'
Among my infection-type fusion traits, the "Acidic Mycelium Gland" was the third to receive enhancement from the "Great Infector," following Gremlin Moss and Parasitic Brood.
As seen with the mist-spraying Gremlin Moss and the boosted Parasitic Brood parasite count to twenty, the Great Infector's buffs were straightforward. The Acidic Mycelium Gland had transformed similarly into a brutally simple powerhouse.
'It sprays in breath form now.'
Originally firing fungal blobs as projectiles from my body, it now liquefied the acid fungus into a high-pressure water-cannon blast. Firepower had skyrocketed accordingly.
'It was a star against the Gorgon Swarm, and now here too—didn't see that coming.'
But it wasn't all upsides; a new drawback emerged unexpectedly.
The internal mycelium gland spat out the produced fluid, limiting the acid breath to just a few seconds. Once depleted, it needed minutes to recharge.
'Ready to fire again now, but...'
With the vault fully secured, no need.
I leaned into the guard room with its ceiling blown off. Using a small arm from my chest, I manipulated the blood-smeared computer in front of the monitor.
'Open sesame.'
A distant beastly growl echoed—the sound of bulkheads between sectors and passages sliding open.
Then, from a speaker dangling on the shattered guard room wall, a familiar voice crackled.
"Seeing the doors open, I take it you've handled everyone?"
"Yeah. Heading to Sector B."
"Understood. I've breached the vault's firewall, so you can check the inventory list right away when you arrive."
Brought PS-111 along thinking it'd help with stuff like this, and it was spot-on. I replied affirmatively and moved to Sector B.
Navigating cramped passages—barely enough to stretch my legs without hitting the ceiling—past the massive vault, I arrived to see them.
No. 26 and PS-111 were at a management console before a container.
｢Big guy, hi.｣
"You've arrived?"
No. 26, tentacles dismantling an android, waved them in greeting. Beside it, PS-111 lay slumped, jaw-cable plugged into the console port.
"Child's play for someone who hacked the Pyre Eleven's ship."
｢Right! Friend's amazing!｣
Praised by No. 26, PS-111 raised a hook-clawed leg in a V-sign. Blood from a butchered human stained its hand.
I extended my tongue to lick it clean, then asked.
"Right away. Displaying on screen."
Expression unchanged, it lowered its arm and worked the console. The cable twitched, and a list of countless names scrolled across the monitor.
With its help, I quickly scanned the inventory.
'Hm.'
Contraband creatures were in Sectors B and C. The rest held luxuries, drugs, classified docs—nothing for me.
'Not overflowing, but enough traits to craft a Unique one.'
Raiding it all should net materials for at least one Unique trait.
With luck, two—fulfilling all evolution conditions.
I pulled up the Unique trait synthesis recipes I'd opened before arriving at the fortress.
'The first recipe looks doable here.'
The first fusion could become a Unique without issue, but the second demanded rare traits, making it risky for the Transcendence system.
'Especially that Harvester's Maw.'
Thanks to Harvester's Maw, I could extract gene essence from heads alone. Losing it would complicate essence farming.
Reacquiring it? Tough—the material "Essence Harvester's Jaw" only dropped from Near-Adult Aimorphs or Outspacers.
Inorganic Digestion and Bone Beast were equally elusive. The result promised godlike power, but the costs were prohibitive.
'Not worth stressing now.'
Just stockpile materials and synthesize later. I'd done it before.
Besides, countless containers brimmed with gene essence waiting for me. Who knew what new fusions might pop up while devouring them?
'Oh, right—gotta sort for No. 26 too.'
I'd picked mine; now food for No. 26. Plenty of specimens, but few suited for Seed Demon upgrades.
Still, a few promising ones—small mercies.
'Deep-sea critters too?'
No clue how they caught them, but abyssal dwellers were listed. No giants like Pale Mask, but mid-to-small rare ones under 10m.
I'd never fed No. 26 deep-sea fare beyond Pale Mask. Worth a shot now.
'This, this, and that one too.'
After double-checking the list a dozen times, I'd assigned everything: mine to devour, No. 26's share.
'Start with Sector B, then...'
"You didn't forget mine, I trust."
｢Yeah! Friend's hungry too!｣
'Ah.'
I'd started to rise but flopped back down.
Ten minutes later, I'd sorted shares for both.
｢Yay!｣
"I'll save the selected list to my data."
With that, before harvesting the feast, I began the ritual I always performed.
The trait that now felt innate.
The one that propelled my growth beyond game limits.
The Manifestation of the Hunt.