Chapter 317
Chapter 317
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 317
Chapter Title: Relic (4)
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"Cleared."
As the guard's transmission ended, the massive metal door slid open. The ship passed through the terminal without any interference.
To enter the 'Water Fortress'—a colossal structure formed from bio-dome architecture—one had to pass through multiple gates. The dome's outer walls were layered like those of a space fortress or orbital habitat. But its scale was incomparably vast. The distance between gates alone stretched several kilometers.
And just now, we'd cleared the final gate on the outer wall.
"Phew. Glad it went off without a hitch."
"You did great."
The Sky Mother, seated in the cockpit, let out a sigh of relief. She'd handled most of it herself, aside from the moments when I had to step in, so it must have taken a toll.
"Their guard was down because you 'died'."
"That's a strangely worded compliment."
"Really? Seemed like perfect timing for a well-executed death."
As she joked, the enemies surely believed I was dead. I'd orchestrated it that way.
'I hadn't originally planned on it.'
Two key factors had allowed me to stage the scene of an Aimorph perishing under the Neurogod's assault. Without them, I'd still be locked in combat with the foes.
'Especially that trait. Never imagined I'd acquire something like it at this juncture...'
｢Done?｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Can I come out?｣
A telepathic wave tickled my monster's tentacles from the rear. It was Adhai, cooped up in its iron-barred cage.
For it, staying still for so long seemed more unbearable than the confinement itself. At first, it had busily groomed its wings and tail scales with its mouth tentacles, but now it was just sprawled out limply.
No. 26 had been relatively well-behaved, but its color was off. Dark pink meant it wasn't feeling great. Like Adhai, it was suffering from intense boredom.
[Zuzuzu zuzu zuzuzuzu (Just a bit longer, please)]
｢Already｣ ｢waited｣ ｢a lot｣
｢Bored. Friend just sleeps. Nothing to study.｣
No. 26 prodded the dormant PS-111's body with a tentacle. In truth, PS-111 had been hooked up via cable to assist with navigation since earlier, but No. 26 had no way of knowing that.
[Zuzuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzuzu (Be good, and I'll get you a present later)]
｢Present?｣ ｢What kind?｣
｢What present?｣
[Zuzuzuzu zuzuzu zuzu zuz (Something you'll like)]
The Water Fortress dwarfed the combined size of Luminary Avenue and Glory Avenue by dozens of times. Naturally, it handled far more creatures within the city. While hunting for the No. 22 ranker, treating them to rare specimens wouldn't be a bad idea.
But they seemed to want something other than food. Adhai, lifting its long neck slightly, pointed at me with a forelimb.
｢Present｣ ｢Like big grown-up｣ ｢One?｣
｢I want shiny-sparky too!｣
[Zu (Huh?)]
｢Big grown-up｣ ｢Body｣ ｢Changed｣ ｢Feels｣ ｢Weird｣
｢Yeah. Shiny sparky moving stuff is cool.｣
"What are they talking about?"
Only the Sky Mother couldn't understand their chatter. Unaffected by my mimicry organ like the others, she hadn't noticed the changes to my body.
I was currently transformed into the 'Clever Weakling' form.
The centaur-like build, fur covering my entire body, and the side heads fused to my torso like armor—everything matched my previous transformations.
But two things had changed.
First, glancing at my arms: only the small pair near my chest remained functional. The 'Parasitic Swarm' trait had gone dormant, causing this.
More crucially, there was the alteration to the carapace shielding my chest.
Looking at my thoracic carapace now, it gleamed with silvery wave patterns. The silver markings on the otherwise pitch-black shell evoked the Milky Way. This intricate design spanned my entire chest and extended to the small arms there.
Fur hid it at the moment, but the pattern originated from deep within the carapace. Precisely, it linked to my heart—the Aimorph heart, not the 'Dragon Heart'.
The reason for this sudden change? The 'Predator's Amorphous Polyhedron'.
During my clash with Sihyun Yujin, I'd devoured a crystal-like component from her gear. As a result, my existing 'Leech Hand of Predation' trait was overwritten by a new equipment-derived one.
The 'Void Die' trait.
Unlike prior traits from the Predator's Amorphous Polyhedron, the Void Die was entirely different in nature.
'God's Switch', manifesting the Neurogod's power; the Leech Hand of Predation, stealing enemies' life force on contact. Both were combat powerhouses.
The Void Die, however, had no direct combat application. Alone, it was utterly useless.
'It caught me off guard at first.'
Sihyun's weapon could shatter gene essence. I'd assumed the part would have a similar effect. It didn't.
Or rather, it was far better.
This trait ranked among the most potent I'd ever acquired.
'On activation, it resets the cooldowns of all possessed traits to zero.'
When the Void Die triggered, the silver patterns spread across my body. Once they fully permeated, every trait's cooldown vanished.
Thanks to it, I reset the still-unusable 'Revenant Organ' and the minutes remaining on Organic Evolution—everything refreshed.
'And that's not all.'
The real marvel was its secondary effect.
With the silver patterns active, all trait cooldowns and limitations ceased. In other words, while the Void Die was engaged, I could spam any trait at will.
I'd confirmed this via the text box with my own eyes. The duration was brief—barely over three minutes—but during that window, every constraint field read blank.
That let me layer 'Emblem of the Hunt' and 'Variable Bio-Weapon' for peak defense. I weathered the Neurogod's strike, then bolted via Superluminal Navigation.
'Cooldown reset traits are incredibly rare...'
One Vortex Origin had something similar, but acquiring it was a nightmare given the matchup. I remembered struggling for it back in the game days.
Barring that, the Revenant Organ—with its laundry list of restrictions—was the only other cooldown remover.
Of course, the Void Die wasn't flawless; it had one drawback.
｢Predator's Amorphous Polyhedron (Void Die) (66)｣
That number in the translucent text box: the Void Die's cooldown. Sixty-six days until reuse.
'The "die" name suggests randomness.'
One more use would confirm it, but it was impossible now. Guessing from the number, erratic cooldowns were likely the downside.
'Even with the cooldown variability...'
The effect was so overwhelming it hardly mattered. With this, my strategic options had exploded.
'Where the hell did Sihyun get a weapon like that?'
Both her weapon and the component that birthed the Void Die were absent from the game.
This was reality, so unseen elements were possible. I'd encountered plenty of game-nonexistent stuff already, so nothing odd there.
Even so, her gear was absurdly potent. Like something a player cooked up.
'Is she tied to a ranker?'
First suspect: the No. 3 ranker, her nemesis. But no.
He was arrogant in the game too. I'd exploited his personality multiple times in fights.
A personality like that handing a threat like this to an enemy? Absurd.
'Not this planet's rankers either.'
She'd pursued me solo, so unlikely ties to No. 22 or the local Cult ranker. Otherwise, they'd have ganged up sooner.
'I'll dig into Sihyun after finding No. 22.'
By now, she'd likely been hauled before the Cult to report my "death".
She was a gene-mod human viewing from outside the Neurogod's impact zone, but still close enough to witness my disappearance.
From her vantage, I'd twisted under the Neurogod's attack before winking out of existence.
The Cult and rankers would swallow her false intel whole. She was the last to see me before the strike.
Even if they suspected and scoured the site, no traces remained. Superluminal Navigation's energy signature would've been buried under the Neurogod's barrage.
'Who'd guess I took a Neurogod hit and hyperspaced out?'
Even the Sky Mother, who'd been with me, hadn't anticipated it. Low odds of enemy rankers checking for that.
'And even if they did now, too late.'
My ship was already inside the Water Fortress. Scrambling outside wouldn't find me.
｢Big baby, I want shiny-sparky too.｣
｢Me｣ ｢too｣
Lost in thought, I sensed their waves.
Sorry, guys, but the Predator's Amorphous Polyhedron was non-transferable.
'Finding another like it would be tough anyway.'
[Zu zuzu zuzuzu zu zuzuzuzu zu zuzuzu (Can't give this, but I'll find something better)]
｢Really?｣
｢Promise?｣ ｢Promise!｣
[Zu (Yeah)]
They perked up at my firm reply. Adhai wagged its tail, and No. 26 brightened to vivid pink.
'Sigh. Gonna be busy now?'
I'd planned rare critters for snacks. But their reaction meant upgrading to better gifts.
Then, the dim forward viewport blazed with light.
Darkness parted, revealing towering ivory buildings first. Soaring so high their rooftops vanished from view, they loomed over us.
Beyond the skyscraper forest, an enormous waterfall cascaded. A majestic azure torrent poured from atop a gigantic structure.
No natural fall—this was an artificial marvel, engineered by Cult architects atop a massive framework, much like the bio-dome.
｢Water floating around. So cool!｣
｢Tiny people｣ ｢Lots｣
Aerial canals webbed around the falls. Hoverboats zipped endlessly along them, ferrying Cults from the ivory towers.
Dirt roads laced between canals and buildings, lined with neatly planted grand trees. Cults in light garb strolled amid them.
The Water Fortress in person blended ancient ruins with futuristic cityscape in a unique vibe.
"Way more impressive than in the game."
[Zuzuzu (Yeah)]
A blue waterfall city rising from a crimson sand desert.
At last, we'd breached the Water Fortress.