The Endless Grind
The corpse of the Carapace Lord lay sprawled in the center of the cave.
The heat of the fierce battle had cooled, and a silence descended, leaving only the foul stench of blood, gunpowder, and burning flesh behind.
Thinking the battle was over, I tried to take off my gas mask to wipe my sweat-drenched forehead, but Arva grabbed my hand first.
"You cannot, Commander."
"Huh? The battle's over, isn't it?"
"Even so, we are in the middle of enemy territory. There is a possibility that high concentrations of the Z Virus remain in the air. We are fine, but for a human Commander, even a minor exposure could lead to a fatal infection."
"Right."
Damn, this is why having a human body is so inconvenient.
Not that I have any desire to replace my entire body with cybernetics, though.
Well, maybe it's because my arm was already severed, but the cybernetic prosthetic arm was surprisingly useful and convenient.
With a lingering sense of frustration at the stuffiness, I readjusted my gas mask.
At the same time, a message related to the Money Compass artifact appeared before my eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You have acquired 199000C.
Acquisition History: Carapace Lord Extermination Operation (Direct Combat Participation Reward)
"What?"
199,000 Cash?
Why not just give me 200,000? Was that extra thousand Cash really that precious?!
It was certainly a huge amount. It was enough to buy two Dedicated Weapons for the ECHOs with the additional thousand I mentioned.
But I felt somewhat ambiguous about it.
Honestly, I wasn't expecting a million... but I thought they'd give me at least three hundred thousand.
However, if I added the rewards for dealing with the miscellaneous fodder, it would probably come to around 300,000 anyway.
It can't be helped.
I'll just have to be satisfied with this.
Just then, Karen crept up to me, set down her heavy equipment bag, and spoke.
"Um... C-Commander."
"Yeah?"
"About the Carapace Lord's... corpse. How do you plan to handle it?"
I looked at her with a puzzled expression.
To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought.
What would I even use that filthy futanari monster for? Still, just in case, I had thought about using Pomen's launcher to burn it to a crisp before leaving.
"...Handle it?"
What is there to do with a zombie corpse?
Especially one with a dangling cock... no, it's gone now. Anyway, what would she want to do with a monster in human form?
As I tilted my head, Karen opened her bag and lined up various tools.
Then, taking out a hammer and a chisel, she pointed to the core embedded in the Carapace Lord's chest.
"Um... Commander. That is a high-purity energy core that can be used for the Ark's generators."
"Really?"
That was news to me.
Come to think of it, in the mobile game Echoes of Humanity — ECHO, loot and equipment were automatically acquired after a battle.
Under the name of battle rewards.
Karen spoke again.
"Yes. And if the molecular structure is rearranged and precisely refined in the Ark's workshop, it can be transplanted as an ECHO's Core."
"What?"
That setting sounds familiar.
"Are you talking about something like a Limit Break, or rather, a Core Limiter Release?"
"Pardon? Yes. We would need to measure the energy precisely... but at the Carapace Lord's level, it should be sufficient for use as a Low-grade Core at least, if not a Mid-grade one."
Is that a good thing?
When I made a face showing I didn't quite understand, Arva added an explanation.
"The cores possessed by the members of our Arclight Squad are Basic-grade cores. However, if we can transplant Low-grade cores, our combat power will increase by several dozen percent compared to now."
Yeah, it's a Limit Break.
I understand perfectly now.
"So you're saying we just need to rip out that Carapace Lord's core?"
"Yes. And the carapace as well. If refined well, that could be sufficiently used for weapon modification. It's really, really tough, you see. Or we could even use it to bulletproof the Commander's vehicle."
"Oh..."
The defensive power would be incredible.
Karen Blaze explained while poking and prodding the corpse of the Carapace Lord, who had died vomiting blood.
Seeing her eyes sparkling like a child who had discovered a rare toy, I nodded and said,
"Alright. Proceed immediately."
They say the tiger leaves its skin behind when it dies.
Our futanari monster left behind a core and its carapace.
While Karen used a precision cutter to slice—no, dismantle—the Carapace Lord, we decided to deal with the flesh-tree.
Perhaps because the head, the Carapace Lord, was dead?
The tentacles of the flesh-tree, which had been raging ferociously just a moment ago, now hung limp without any resistance and were easily severed by our attacks.
"Go to a better place."
In the process, I also put an end to the pitiful fate of the mass-produced ECHOs whose bodies had been contaminated.
However, I had to handle the humans myself.
It was because I could see that the ECHOs felt a great burden in cutting the throats of humans.
Bang! Bang-bang!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You have acquired 300C.
Acquisition History: Zombie Breeder Elimination (Combat Participation Reward)
I had no choice but to shoot a woman with empty eyes using the White Tiger, and Cash flowed in as a result.
I felt a bit—no, very—dirty.
"Next time I find this kind of monster, I should prepare a flamethrower. I'll just burn everything from the cave entrance on the way in."
"If you require a heavy weapons ECHO, I recommend producing the Ragnarok model. It is an ECHO model specialized for destruction and battlefield cleanup."
Having heard my monologue, Arva approached and offered her advice.
Her voice was calm and rational, as always.
"Hmm..."
I should probably produce one later when I have some leeway.
Meanwhile, Cordelia looked at the state of the personnel from Ark 69 with curious eyes.
It was a series of events that would have been unimaginable if this were Ark 74.
For instance, the mere act of Arva touching the Commander to stop him from removing his gas mask would have been considered insubordination and a grave matter.
No matter how reasonable the reason or how necessary the action was.
"Karen, do you need help with anything?"
"Yes! Could you hold this part for me?"
Similarly, a production-type ECHO like Karen approaching the Commander first to offer a suggestion was unthinkable.
In Ark 74, every such action was a serious crime that could lead to summary execution on the grounds that it damaged the Commander's authority.
But Ark 69 was different.
Surprisingly, the relationship between the Commander and the ECHOs was completely different from the common sense she knew.
The ECHOs spoke their minds to the human without hesitation, and the Commander listened to and respected those opinions.
It wasn't a simple hierarchical relationship, but the appearance of comrades who trusted each other.
"..."
Cordelia quietly readjusted her grip on her rifle.
The image of the fleet commander of Ark 74, who had been the commanding officer of the Sacred Front squad, and the humans there briefly crossed her mind, but she soon shook her head.
Her home was no longer Ark 74, but Ark 69.
"Cordelia."
"Yes, Commander."
It was just as everything was wrapping up. The Commander called her name.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Are you asking about... Ark 74?"
I asked Cordelia while slinging the White Tiger over my back.
"Yeah. From what I heard when I rescued you, Ark 74 sent you all into the battlefield as bait to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Cordelia answered, tightening her grip on the rifle.
Perhaps she was thinking of her comrades who had died in the mountains…
As a flicker of bitterness passed through her eyes.
"Can you tell me more about that in detail?"
"I understand, Commander."
At my words, Cordelia took a moment to catch her breath and began to describe the final situation of Ark 74.
To summarize, when the five-fold barrier, the final bastion of the Ark, was breached by the Carapace Lord's offensive and zombies began to appear inside the Ark, the fleet commander of Ark 74 eventually requested support from the fleet commander of Ark 86, who was a classmate from the same military academy as he had been.
"The fleet commander of Ark 86?"
"Yes, Lieutenant General Lin Xiaolin."
Lin Xiaolin?
The name sounded familiar.
Is it just because it's a common Chinese name? Hmm...
It would have been better if it were Ahn Yu-X or Ka-X-na.
Anyway, the support request was effectively a merger by absorption, where all remaining forces of Ark 74 moved to Ark 86.
Based on the knowledge I had of this world, that was how it worked.
"Then what happens to Ark 74? Is it abandoned?"
"Since the defensive walls have all collapsed, it is in a state where it can no longer perform the original role of an Ark. Therefore, in most cases, it is used as a temporary outpost for ECHOs conducting external activities."
I nodded.
Even in the story, there was an episode where the protagonist lived in an abandoned Ark with their squad.
"Anything else?"
"...In most cases, groups of Wanderers above a certain size settle there."
They were as great a threat to humans as the monsters were.
Since the leader was in our Ark, it wouldn't happen in the future, but Omega Howl, a nuisance in the game, was such a group of Wanderers.
"Or it becomes a new nest for monsters."
I nodded as I listened to Cordelia's calm voice.
Still, it must have been an Ark created with an enormous amount of resources. Giving it up so quickly felt off somehow.
Conversely, it probably meant the situation of Ark 74 was just that desperate. But does that mean it's okay to throw away the Original ECHO Squad, the strongest force in that situation, as cannon fodder to buy time?
Did they cheat through the military academy or something?
Thinking about it again, it was an incomprehensible decision.
"Then how much time did they need to buy?"
"Five days."
"Five days? How many days has it been since you left Ark 74?"
"Today... is exactly the fifth day."
If so, by now, the survivors of Ark 74 and the reinforcements from Ark 86 should have met and be carrying out a retreat operation.
I began to calculate quickly in my head.
In about two or three days, it wouldn't be a bad idea to drop by Ark 74 with the ECHOs.
There would surely be resources worth taking in an abandoned Ark.
It would be a jackpot if I could obtain even one Original ECHO gene belonging to Ark 74.
With a faint smile on my lips, I began to plan a new looting operation of the former Ark.
Since she said it's used as an outpost for ECHO Squads on external expeditions in such situations, then.
Surely they wouldn't do something as stupid as burning down the entire Ark, like that idiot former fleet commander of Ark 69, right?