Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Ep. 8
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The ship's conference room.
This was where the ship's top brass—team leaders and above—gathered whenever something major came up.
Life aboard the ship was usually quiet and uneventful. So when something "major" happened, it inevitably meant a serious problem had arisen.
Everyone present knew that all too well, but none of them had imagined a nuclear bomb going off.
"...What do you plan to do?"
The question came from the medical team leader, who was responsible for the crew's health. His gaze drifted toward an empty chair.
Any other seat might have been fine, but that one absolutely could not be vacant.
Its owner was the research team leader.
"Hoo, fuck. I don't know."
"......"
Yuseong Samuel spat out the curse, but no one in the room called him on it.
They were all feeling the exact same way.
Yuseong rubbed his dry face.
He had no clue how to handle this.
He wanted to shoot up some drugs and forget it all, but he was the captain of this ship.
Everyone was waiting for his word, so he had to say something.
"Ahem. Have you determined the cause of death?"
"Visually, it looks like her throat was slashed—almost like with a small saw. We'll need a detailed examination to confirm that part."
"Detailed examination... You mean an autopsy?"
The medical team leader nodded at Yuseong's question.
Even though he'd uttered the word "autopsy," both he and Yuseong knew it was impossible.
'Autopsying a Noble Capital member.'
No matter the family, Noble Capitals hated anyone touching their corpses. They'd treat others' bodies like toys to mess with, but their own were sacred.
If even a hint of a scalpel mark showed up, the Noble Capitals wouldn't let the medical team leader who performed it live.
"Security team leader. How far along is the suspect search?"
"We've checked all the surveillance cameras onboard, but nothing unusual. The prime suspect, the guard, is under interrogation now."
"Does he seem like the culprit?"
"Based on the info so far, probably not."
"...Report back as soon as you have search results."
The ship's most important figure was dead, and the killer was still unknown.
Yuseong barely suppressed the urge to abandon ship and run.
He knew what had happened to the researcher who ignored Kisaragi Yujin's orders.
That researcher had their brain extracted alive and turned into a specimen.
A promising talent reduced overnight to a brain floating in a tank.
That was the fate for those who disobeyed. Just imagining the punishment for someone involved in a Noble Capital's death was terrifying.
"You all know what happened in the lab."
"......"
"...Ugh."
"If you don't want to end up with just your brain getting electrocuted, we need some kind of plan."
The words "brain" and "electrocution" made everyone flinch.
To avoid that nightmare future, they racked their brains furiously.
"How about we say it was an accident during the experiment?"
"Think before you speak, navigation team leader. There were multiple researchers—how do we get their stories straight?"
"Hah. Look at this punk's attitude. No wonder you're still Middle Capital."
"What did you say?"
"Then how about food poisoning...?"
"That'd come back on us! Die alone if you wanna die, technical team leader!"
"What? You lot who can't do anything but eat— which Capital are you from again?"
With anxiety filling their heads, the meeting devolved into chaos. The room turned into a shouting match in seconds, collars grabbed and insults flying.
Then someone slammed the table hard.
"Quiet!"
It was the crisis management team leader, who commanded the soldiers.
"Infighting will only complicate things."
He calmed the room instantly, paused briefly, then spoke.
"Captain. We're currently near planet C-08."
"And what of it?"
"C-08 is Space Dogs territory."
Yuseong twitched an eyebrow, grasping what the crisis management team leader was getting at.
"You want to say those bastards caused this mess?"
"Yes. We were too busy with the raid to notice."
Yuseong stroked his chin.
Space Dogs were spacefaring raiders, one of Mega Corp's main enemies.
Veteran warships led by seasoned soldiers still took damage fighting them.
If even a warship suffered losses, a mere research vessel like this one was doomed to heavy casualties.
In that chaos, an "unfortunate accident" could easily happen.
'Reporting a Space Dogs raid could cover up the research team leader's death.'
Of course, Yuseong—as the one responsible for the crew—wouldn't escape blame entirely, but considering the Space Dogs' danger, it'd likely end in a fine.
The Noble Capitals would direct their revenge at the Space Dogs, not him.
"Not a bad plan, but there's a problem. Our armaments can't handle Space Dogs."
"Don't worry about that. I have some old friends I'll contact."
The room's atmosphere shifted oddly at his words.
Almost no high-ranking Mega Corp officers were clean. Most had side funds for bribing the top brass.
Even so, no one had pegged the upright-seeming crisis management team leader for having pirate connections.
'Didn't think this guy was lining up with pirates.'
Like the others, Yuseong disliked Space Dogs. But they had no choice.
"How much will it cost?"
"At least 1 million credits."
"......"
Yuseong wanted to curse at the sum—half the ship's worth—but held back. It wasn't unreasonable.
Noble Capitals were tough even for Space Dogs to touch. They had to take risks too, so this price was fair.
'Damn it. Burning precious credits on this.'
He knew it made sense, but unexpected expenses sucked. No better options right now. All he could do was agree.
"Ugh, we'll prepare it."
"Thank you, Captain."
"Just make sure the job's done right."
"No problem."
In the end, they left it to the crisis management team leader.
As Yuseong moved to end the meeting, the medical team leader raised a hand.
"What about the body?"
"Store it until the Space Dogs arrive, then hand it over. Make sure no one else touches it."
"Understood."
With no more topics, the meeting ended.
Yuseong left the room, desperately hoping they'd never have to gather here again.
'So this is Juvenile form.'
Seeing and feeling in real life what I'd only glimpsed in the game was a whole different sensation.
I looked down at my feet—no, my hands.
As a Hatchling, all four pairs of legs had handled crawling on the ground.
But now, things were different.
Excluding the rearmost pair, the rest had evolved into arm-like forms.
First, the four combat arms.
One pair jutting from my sides, another from near my shoulders.
They resembled human arms with muscles layered over the bones. The hands at the ends mimicked eagle talons—two pairs of fingers, top and bottom, tipped with sharp claws that could easily shred human flesh.
'Combat arms.'
Swords and shields for attacking enemies or defending the body.
Of course, they could still do what legs did before. Sucker-like pads between the fingers let me climb walls or cling to ceilings.
A change truly worthy of "enhancement" or "evolution."
'Let's see.'
I flexed the four arms experimentally.
The upper pair felt natural, like moving shoulders.
The lower ones were alien.
In human terms, like the pull in your lats during a pull-up—but with some complex organ performing functions there.
'A fresh sensation.'
The awkwardness faded quickly; it was my body, after all. A few moves, and I got the hang of it.
'Combat arms are good. Next, these guys.'
The dainty arms near my chest.
Shorter than my Hatchling legs, length-wise.
Unlike the combat hands, these had primate-like thumbs.
'For delicate work.'
As the thumb suggested, these handled fine tasks—like operating computers, terminals, weapons, or tools.
But the changes weren't just arms.
My lizard-like crawling body had shifted to bipedal form. Matching that, the skin covering my back and belly evolved into armored exoskeleton plates.
My chest and lower waist now sported primate-style pelvis and plantigrade legs.
Thicker and denser with muscle than the arms. The original fourth legs, adapted for bipedalism.
My tail had thickened like a dinosaur's, likely for balance.
The stinger at its end had grown too—now dagger-sized.
'I've bulked up.'
Standing, I was just shy of 1 meter tall. Including the tail, nearly 2 meters long. A massive growth spurt.
'Juvenile now, so time to change strategy.'
Before, avoiding detection was key to survival.
Now, hunting and survival weighed about equal.
'Survival's mostly sorted. Time for the next step.'
I planned to steal all the gene essences onboard, but I needed a plan beyond that. Goals for the future.
I pulled up the text box, and new text had appeared next to the goal.
'Evolution 1 success means reaching Juvenile, right?'
Aimorph had six stages, requiring five evolutions total.
Hatchling, Juvenile, Subadult, Near-Adult, Adult, and finally Ascension.
Reaching Ascension cleared Space Survival. In other words, seeing the Aimorph ending.
'The problem is how insanely hard it is to get there.'
Very few players had seen the species ending. The in-game clear list had me included—about 20 people total.
I was the only one who'd reached Ascension as an Aimorph.
'Ascension, huh.'
In the game, an Aimorph's Ascension revealed the secrets of their race's birth. Where they came from, their true nature—all the hidden lore resolved.
'Reality's probably similar.'
Succeeding might explain how I became an Aimorph, why I was in the Space Survival world.
'But getting there...'
I checked the new "Type" entry.
Reaching Juvenile brought a major turning point: choosing a 'Type.'
Type was like a job class for other races. The difference? Jobs unlocked related abilities; for Aimorph, you met conditions to unlock a Type, then gained synergy with related traits.
For example, stacking physical enhancement traits unlocked Physical Enhancement Type, powering up all melee traits.
'With my traits, probably Physical Enhancement Type?'
It was my favorite. Especially with Chitinous Exoskeleton boosted—it turned you into a living tank. Charging enemies alone could mince them into pulp.
'Still, gotta check what's available. View.'
As expected, Physical Enhancement was nearly met. Thanks to Reinforced Exoskeleton and Acidic Blood from evolving, I had six physical traits.
'But what's this?'
The number next to Psionic Enhancement was weird.
'1 from Predator Sense, probably. But 0.5? I don't have half a trait.'
To get gene essence, you had to eat nearly the whole body. The 0.5 likely meant leftovers or failed acquisition.
I recalled what I'd eaten.
Spider, cockroach, cat. None had psionics.
'I ate them all completely... Ah.'
It hit me.
Kisaragi Yujin.
She was the only body I'd left unfinished.
'Her intuition was sharp—must've been psychic power.'
In the game, rare Mega Corp humans had latent psychic traits.
She probably didn't know she had it.
'Gotta eat every last bit for psychic power.'
Physical was preference; psionics made a huge difference.
'Find the body.'
I checked air currents with my jaw auxiliary organs.
Considering temperature, humidity, and the dried nest, I'd pupated for about a day.
Rigor mortis would be setting in; had to eat before decay. More damage meant less complete essence.
'Body first.'
Fix the nest later; secure traits now. I left the cooling room.
'Bathroom first.'
Traces of where Kisaragi went would linger there. Follow them.
En route to the bathroom, I dropped to the corridor midway. Some areas couldn't fit my larger body.
'Quiet at night. No one's around.'
My tentacle-like auxiliaries weren't just longer—they were more precise, same range.
No humans within 50 meters. Only sleepy murmurs from deep-slumbering sleepers in cabins.
Auxiliaries sensed guards at the bathroom fork ahead, yawning vibrations reaching me. Overnight soldiers were exhausted.
'Not now.'
Their poor condition helped me, but numbers didn't.
I'd tracked the body's path anyway. Banquet later; I veered off.
Following traces down corridors. No cameras except key areas, so doable.
Vent shafts widened ahead. I climbed the ceiling.
Even changing paths, my senses didn't lose the corpse scent.
Mid-crawl, meaty aroma wafted from below.
The morgue, where the dead rested eternally. Right beneath my feet.