Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Ep. 67
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I woke up to the sensation of rippling waves churning around my body.
'How long was I asleep?'
Judging by the light filtering through the tiny gaps in the manhole cover above, it was daytime. Focusing on my auxiliary organs, I could hear people moving around on the surface.
'Lucky for me Aimorphs don't have noses.'
Among the crew here, nothing had a proper nose—a small mercy. Gallerons had tentacles in place of a nose and mouth, and Specimen 026 didn't even have a head worth mentioning.
My own auxiliary organ beneath my jaw served as my sensory organ in its stead.
The olfactory data it picked up was... analytical, like breaking down scents into their individual chemical components.
For example, it could tell me the ammonia ratio in the sewage flowing through here or the proportion of nitrates present.
'...Let's not dwell on the gross details.'
I shook my head to clear away the unwelcome thoughts and rose to my feet.
Nearby, Specimen 026 and Adhai were sleeping. Adhai had its head resting atop 026, while 026 emitted a faint glow in a deep slumber.
'It did come from the water.'
It probably felt right at home in what looked like filthy sludge to me.
I wandered down the passageway without waking them.
'This sewer pipe's gotta be about 6 meters in diameter.'
There was plenty of headroom even when I stood upright. I doubted my hunting stance would let my head brush the ceiling.
'Oh yeah, I applied a trait right before passing out. Time to check it.'
I'd been too exhausted to look properly and just crashed. Now I activated the text box.
👽 Species:Unidentified Hostile Extraterrestrial Lifeform
📊 Status:Subadult (Transcendence Stage 1)
🎯 Objective:Survive (2 Evolutions Successful)
Possessed Traits
🔧 Type:Physical Enhancement Type, Psychic Enhancement Type
*New unviewed message has arrived. View it?
'Huh?'
While checking the text box, I noticed a newly changed trait.
'Bloodsucking Tentacle? So that's what I got.'
In my half-asleep daze, I'd only confirmed it wasn't some debuff and moved on. Better result than expected.
Bloodsucking wasn't a rare trait in games. Plenty of real animals sucked bodily fluids from others, after all.
'And its effect scales with size.'
Adhai, at about 50cm, could drain a full-grown man's blood in ten minutes flat.
Even with its small suckers. My larger adsorption organs would make it even faster.
I tried extending a bloodsucking tentacle from my arm. A red tendril shot out from the palm hole of my upper combat arm.
Previously covered in neat rows of serrated edges, now it had octopus-like suckers lining the inner surface instead.
Peering inside a sucker, I saw lamprey-like spines protruding sharply.
'These suckers could help me stick to walls.'
In games, I'd used bloodsucking tentacles less for sucking blood and more for utility.
Siphoning up every drop from corpses to erase traces, or climbing buildings with the suckers.
'High utility anyway, so good outcome. And...'
A new message for once. I checked it.
The new message detailed a fresh transcendence trait.
'Made from four traits, huh.'
Perfect Organism was a unique trait forged from three physical ones via the transcendence system. This one mixed two physical and two psychic traits, unlike before.
'No Hallucination around here.'
Hallucination only came from Red Mist gene essence. Red Mists lived solely on ancient ruin planets and jungle worlds—none here.
'Even if there was, couldn't make it yet.'
Needed two psychic traits first, or it'd wreck my types. I'd tuck this transcendence info away for now.
'Time to scout the area.'
Check for safer spots or nearby threats.
As I cleaved through the current, my auxiliary organ picked something up. Something stirred in the murky black water.
I lashed out a bloodsucking tentacle, snagged it, and yanked it out. A long, pale body thrashed in my grasp.
'Corpse eel.'
Corpse eels were janitors, devouring all the debris flushed into sewers.
Mega Corp sewers weren't just sludge. Sadistic facilities catering to citizens' cruel urges often dumped 'employed' remains and byproducts down here on the sly.
Too bulky for the treatment plant, so these creepy things broke them down smaller.
'The kind that pops up as nightmare fuel on community boards.'
Disgustingly grotesque—enough to make a civilian hurl.
Still, no way I'd waste the gene essence. I chomped down hard on the corpse eel.
Taste was mediocre. Dry and crumbly texture, with a sour tang leaking from the flesh. No surprise for something that festered in sewers eating corpses.
'Gonna have to treat it as nutrition.'
Not thrilled about a steady diet of these, but better than starving. Might snag new gene essence eventually.
'Corpse eels carry infection traits. Worth farming.'
I tossed the rest in my mouth and kept moving.
"Nothing found in the subway?"
"Ahem, yes, Your Highness!"
"Vice Captain. Is that true?"
"The squad reports only discovering a secret passage presumed used by the monster."
"Th-that...!"
Two days had passed since the hospital massacre.
With the board meeting tomorrow, progress was zilch.
Laila had just left to greet a new VIP, sparing Denver's report session from her wrath.
Thus, the Earth Chief Security Director avoided the humiliation of being dragged out by guards mid-briefing.
Recent bombshells—smuggling busts, missing criminals, dead cops—he'd buried them all. No way he'd let Laila hear before the board; she'd crucify him.
If Denver hadn't dug them up, those files would've moldered in security cabinets forever.
As the city's overseer, Laila was livid an outsider exposed her dirt.
She declared she'd purge every security bureaucrat upon return and stormed out.
Denver tsked at the sweating Chief dabbing his brow with a handkerchief.
"Earth Chief Security Director."
"Yes!"
"If you value your position, focus on the job. Your employer's merciful, but not infinitely patient."
"Y-yes, sir."
"If you fancy serving in the entertainment district, I won't stop you."
"N-no, absolutely not!"
Having warned the Chief, Denver stroked his chin.
'The monster's intelligent. It knew we were searching.'
Using secret passages to evade humans. No mere beast.
"Hmm. Suppose it's a beast with a human mind? How would it act?"
"You mean the Hulk mutants?"
"No. They're idiots. Smarter than that. Crisis Management Team Leader, any thoughts?"
Denver questioned the burly, stern-faced Asian man at the meeting. The Crisis Management Team Leader pondered briefly before replying.
"Even if it escaped the station, it couldn't have gone far. Per the Silver Lion Knights' intel, it's no small fry."
"Exactly."
"Why not remap the station area against its path? Check for hides?"
"Solid idea. Map first. Security Chief, if you please."
"Yes, sir!"
The Chief hurriedly tapped his terminal pad, projecting the city map on the conference wall.
Denver scrutinized it, then tilted his head.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"Those lines by the tracks—what are they?"
"Oh, just sewer passages. Nothing to worry about."
"Sewers?"
Denver called on Crisis Management again.
"You led squads on searches yourself. Any sewers near the station?"
"Sewers are underground, so hard for me to... ah."
"What?"
"Come to think of it, some station manholes were square-shaped."
"Manholes?"
"I-I can answer that."
"Speak."
"Manholes linked to sewers are square. Probably what you saw."
"Confirms what the Chief said."
"Hmph."
Denver's eyes gleamed at their words.
"Vice Captain, ask the squad. Any square manholes near the fire station?"
"Right away, Your Highness."
"You think it hid in the sewers?"
"If close to the station, high chance."
"But sewers are way more labyrinthine than subways. Another incident before we find it."
"I-I agree!"
Crisis Management stated calmly, Chief chiming in desperately.
'What now?'
Denver couldn't care less about civilian deaths. Capturing the monster outweighed thousands lost.
But voicing that would tank his wholesome image.
"How about this?"
"What?"
"Instead of hunting blind, lure it out."
"Bait op? How?"
"It eats people, right? Feed it."
"Using entertainment district stock."
"Precisely. Rig traps in the sewers, lure and kill."
The monster matched human intellect, sure.
But it wasn't human.
Intelligence didn't mean city blueprints. As a non-resident, it'd hardly suspect food entering sewers.
Might blink at first, but steady supply would allay doubts.
Crisis Management nodded—viable strat.
"HR Management might need convincing, but 200's doable."
"More the better."
"I-I'll handle that!"
"Good fire. Security Chief."
Sacrificing 200 innocents as monster chow was insane—yet no one batted an eye.
To Mega Corp, the 'employed' weren't human. Mere administrative resources, expendable livestock.
Nailing the monster with 200? Win-win. Denver gets prize, chiefs erase security threat.
"Perfect. Just need Vice Captain's confirmation, then we roll."
"Understood."
"Chief, nail this op and I'll put in a good word with the Overseer."
"R-really? I'll give it everything!"
"Your Highness, not much of an 'operation,' but since we're deploying troops, a name would help. Yours to pick."
"I can name it?"
"No soldier disrespects you, Highness. An honor."
Denver pondered. Laila had once asked him about that invisible evil spirit.
Recalling, he spoke.
"How about 'Evil Spirit Hunt'?"
"Evil Spirit Hunt. Perfect. We'll exorcise that unseen demon!"
"Bold! Hahaha."
Everything per plan. Denver laughed genuinely, joy swelling.
'It's mine!'
Family's long-cherished goal within reach. He clenched his fist unseen, vowing never to let the prize slip.