Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: qiqi iykow gkk-60i
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Ep. 60
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The footsteps overhead faded away.
‘Time to move.’
I pressed the terminal on the powered suit I was holding. The suit’s power energy for activating its functions was nearly depleted, but it didn’t matter since I had no intention of wearing it.
As long as the cloaking function kicked in, my exoskeleton would handle everything else.
‘It’s working.’
I manipulated the terminal on my right wrist, and the powered suit gave off a faint glow before vanishing right before my eyes. Perfect. Now it was my turn.
I activated my metal absorption trait and chomped down on the powered suit. The tough synthetic fibers shredded apart under my teeth, and the metal fragments embedded within were sucked into my body.
Then the trait effect triggered, and my body began to blur.
｢Adult?｣
Once my form had completely disappeared, Adhai looked around, searching for me.
｢Little baby, what’s wrong?｣
｢Adult｣｢Gone｣
｢Right here?｣
｢Feel｣｢Can’t see｣
No. 26 didn’t sense its surroundings visually, so it hadn’t noticed my change. Adhai, on the other hand, relied on its eyes and tentacles—it could sense me with its tentacles but couldn’t see me, which clearly baffled it.
[Zuzuzuzu (I’m right here)]
｢Adult｣｢Can’t see｣
[Zuzuzuzu (I’m hidden)]
｢Adult｣｢Hiding｣｢Perfect｣
Adhai bobbed its head in admiration.
‘Looks like the effect checks out.’
Relieved, I started to head out of the nest, but No. 26—who could still see me—followed along.
[Zuzuzuzu zuzuzu (Not this time)]
｢Why?｣
[Zuzuzuzu zuzuzuzu zuzu (I have to go alone)]
｢Can’t I help?｣
[Zuzuzuzu zu zuzuzuzu (This is something I need to do by myself)]
｢Okay…｣
I refused firmly, and it deflated, looking glum. Adhai, trailing behind, picked up on the mood and huddled up too.
I could cloak myself, but they couldn’t. No one would take kindly to a waist-high giant jellyfish or a flying tentacled lizard.
As I tried to slip away without them, I felt their gazes boring into my back.
‘…What if I do this instead?’
If things went south, a major fight could erupt inside the hospital. The board meeting was coming up soon, so the chance of new enemies showing up couldn’t be ruled out entirely.
‘Running into the Jade team was unexpected too.’
Having them wait nearby as backup wasn’t a bad plan.
Decision made, I called them over.
[Zuzuzuzu (Follow me)]
I led them toward the hole connecting to the subway tracks.
On the way, I explained the plan.
[Zuzu zuzuzuzuz zuzu (I can’t take you with me)]
｢Okay.｣
[Zuzuzu zuzuzuzuz zuzuzuzu zuzu (Wait at the spot I tell you)]
｢Like before?｣
[Zu (Yeah)]
｢Got it.｣
I pulled the communicator out of the bag I’d saved from devouring the Herijer and showed it to No. 26.
I planned to give them the Herijer’s communicator and use the sniper’s myself.
After entering the Herijer’s contact into the sniper’s device, I handed the Herijer’s communicator to No. 26.
[Zuzuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu (When this rings, that’s your signal)]
｢Okay.｣
No. 26 extended a tentacle and gripped it tightly.
After handing it over, I explained where I’d be and how they could find me. Its intelligence had improved, so it grasped everything right away.
By the time I finished, we’d reached the hole leading to the tracks. I told them to wait here, then approached the opening.
‘Grown too big—gotta widen it.’
My power had surged, making it a breeze to smash the walls around the hole.
[Zuzuzuzu (Be back soon)]
｢Be careful.｣
Leaving their worried voices behind, I crawled out onto the tracks.
I dodged the occasional passing subway while racing along the tracks toward the station nearest the hospital. The tunnel—wide enough for two trains side by side—echoed with the rumble of subways and my own footsteps.
‘Weight’s up, so I’m louder than before.’
Once inside the hospital, I’d have to stick to the walls or ceiling. Wall marks might draw android suspicion, but it beat getting busted by noise right away.
My enhanced body covered what used to take five minutes in under three.
Night had deepened, but the platform still had plenty of people. I hugged the track wall and waited.
A train soon pulled in, flooding the platform with people getting off and on. The bustle didn’t last.
After it departed, hardly anyone was left. I carefully crawled up the wall and onto the platform.
Most shops inside the station were closed or shuttering up.
Still some people around, so I crept along the ceiling.
“Huh? What’s this dust on my shoulder?”
“What’s that up on the ceiling? Looks like a crack?”
A few tourists midway noticed the traces I’d left. Good thing my advanced optical camouflage kept me hidden from view.
Out of the station, I bolted toward the hospital.
Some folks lingered on the streets, but no one clocked me. A few tilted their heads at my footsteps, but that was it.
I reached the hospital without issue and headed for the back entrance instead of the main lobby. Confirming no one around, I dashed inside and up the emergency stairs.
‘Was thinking of using a window.’
Too bulky now. As I scaled the wall past the second floor toward the third, the stair door swung open.
“Noise detected.”
An android emerged. The instant it shut the door, my tail speared its head like a thunderbolt.
To match my larger size, the stinger had grown into something like a longsword blade affixed to a spear. More paralysis blade than needle now. The android’s head exploded on impact.
‘No camera pickup.’
No chance for it to switch to thermal vision. Just to be safe, I wrecked its internal memory storage too.
I shoved the wreckage into a stairwell corner, then scanned outside with my auxiliary organ before opening the door. One android passed down the hall and into another room.
Clear. I slipped into the corridor.
‘William’s… this way.’
Following my auxiliary organ’s guidance, I headed to the ICU at the end of the left hallway.
Right as I went to open the door, my auxiliary organ picked up something odd.
‘What’s that?’
Something from downstairs.
A massive energy clump. Four ultra-high-density energy clusters—leagues beyond any android—were passing through the first-floor lobby and heading up.
‘Energy stronger than an android…’
Only one possibility.
‘Advanced powered suit!’
Detectable from this distance? This was peak output, peak firepower—a frontline beast.
‘Why’s frontline-grade gear here?’
The enemies were climbing the opposite stairwell. They might head my way, so I ducked into the nearby operating room.
“Door opening det—”
Just a cleaning android left inside. I smashed its head with my combat arm before it could finish.
Android down, I held my breath. From down the hall came the heavy mechanical whir of thick, sturdy armor suits.
“Must be around here.”
“No idea who this guy is to have the vice-captain order us to escort him.”
“Strict orders from His Highness. Said to give special care.”
“We are His Highness’s blades. We follow commands.”
The speech felt straight out of a historical drama, warped by the mechanical distortion into something bizarre—like elite shock troopers from a classic space empire SF game.
‘Space knights, huh.’
Two factions sprang to mind.
First up: Carmelda.
Among Mega Corp forces, Noble Capital handled powered suits and androids. With gene enhancements, they were a key play for Mega Corp users—one of the most popular picks.
‘Not Carmelda. They don’t talk like that.’
From what I knew, the only Mega Corp group with a feudal political structure was Mars’s noble Ezerton. Prime Capital specialized in ship development. Unlike other houses, their patriarch was a monarch, and elders or vassals were called lords—a unique culture.
‘Ezerton, reinforced with powered suits?’
Ezerton normally specialized in space fleet battles, not ground ops where they were mediocre. Mega Corp ground warfare belonged to the Yujin Family and Carmelda—not them.
‘The police armament last time too. The enemy’s evolving.’
Game-breaking stuff kept happening. Upper Mega Corp houses had rotten relations; NPCs almost never cooperated like this.
Was it because this was reality? Or had the system updated with something new, like my transcendence system?
‘No answers right now.’
I refocused on the voices from the next room.
“Android said it’ll take about three hours to wake.”
“Vice-captain say anything else?”
“Said to bring physical exam data and doctor’s notes once he wakes.”
“Mental issue, huh. He was pathologically gaunt, but shooting himself? Caught me off guard too.”
Sounded like they planned to take William once he woke.
‘Gotta clean house here.’
I pressed the auxiliary organ under my jaw flat against the wall to map the enemies in the ICU next door.
‘Four total. Two at the door, one by William. And one’s closing in this way.’
With the organ still pressed, I tensed my tail for a surprise strike. When the enemy got close, I’d impale it through the wall.
Then their voices rang out.
“Escort duty’s escort duty. Activating surveillance systems.”
“Same here.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
A steady warning beep emanated from their thick armor.
‘Shit.’
I yanked myself off the wall. An instant later, it crumbled as a fist like a cannon shell burst through.
Through the dust, four silver-armored knights leveled what looked like pistol-type grenade launchers at me.
‘Plasma Bolters!’
Those were bad news.
I smashed through the wall into the corridor. A green flash erupted behind me, and the operating room didn’t just get wrecked—it turned to dust.
Plasma Bolter
Transitional weapon predating the Plasma Pistol. Fires condensed plasma energy instead of conventional rounds. Immense destructive power, but extremely heavy due to failed lightweighting.
The Plasma Bolter was a transitional weapon from before the Plasma Pistol—built on a pistol-grenade launcher base with concrete nailgun vibes, firing condensed plasma energy instead of bullets.
Plasma weaponry meant top-tier destruction, but it failed at lightweighting, making it insanely heavy.
That aside, it had no real flaws, so combat units in advanced powered suits adopted it as a standard weapon.
Advanced suits had strength augmentation to handle the bolter’s weight and recoil with ease.
Even after the Plasma Pistol came out, the bolter held its ground in active service.
“Unknown aberrant lifeform.”
“I’ve got VIP escort.”
“Count on you.”
“Let’s move.”
Three silver advanced-suit enemies advanced this way. Straight toward my hiding spot—their surveillance must have picked up my biosignals.
‘Cloaking’s worthless now.’
Advanced powered suits with Plasma Bolters. No pushover.
I’d fought a sniper in an advanced suit before, but circumstances were different now.
‘High-output, high-armor upgrades mean insane defense.’
Probably on par with a warship’s hull. My claws were boosted by type advantages and perfect organic effects, but shredding an advanced suit in one go? Unlikely.
My spine-launch organ—with its piercing power—was the only weapon that could land a solid hit right away.
‘Use the monster’s tentacle?’
Tempting for a second, but I shook it off. Without psionic enhancement type, forcing it could lead to a fatal counter.
‘…Time for that ability.’
While tracking their movements, I pulled up the text box.
The Manifestation of the Hunt—usable once per day. I’d held off on it due to restrictions.
Originally planned for a big gene essence haul. Sneak-eating Cults and tourists in the commercial district. But William threw everything off.
‘Nah. Silver lining.’
It needed a test run anyway, and here was the perfect chance—with opponents nicely teed up. I activated the Manifestation of the Hunt.
The moment it kicked in, my vision drowned in darkness.
‘What the—?’
The exoskeleton covering my head surged, rapidly encasing everything but my mouth and auxiliary organ. Sight gone—instead, my auxiliary senses sharpened to the absolute limit.
That let me precisely track the changes in my body.
Right now, my flesh was evolving.
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