Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Specializing in Hatcheries
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"What a noisy person."
Shepin slurped at his shake as he spoke.
Probably because he wielded fire abilities, his body ran hot, so he had a particular fondness for cold foods.
"It's warranted today, though. Thanks to them, we got some delicious grub."
"Well, true... But does she always eat that much?"
Shepin eyed Roze with a look of pure wonder.
Chomp, chomp.
She'd already stacked up ten empty bowls in front of her. "Mmmph!"
"...Take it slow."
Roze lifted her head—apparently realizing they were talking about her—before diving right back into her meal.
It was backlash from skipping proper meals while throwing herself into raids day after day.
"So the stars of the war were here."
"Commander." The support forces commander appeared, a smile lighting up his face.
They half-rose out of politeness, but he waved them back down.
"Ah, stay seated. No need to stand."
With that, the commander pulled up a chair and sat beside them.
He made no effort to hide his good mood.
And he had every reason.
I'd proposed and led the incubator raid operation, but the final call had been his.
That meant a hefty share of the credit came his way too.
Especially since leaving those five incubators intact would have made the war situation far worse by now—a merit that would surely boost his promotion prospects. "What's the next plan?"
"We're diving back into incubator raids starting tomorrow."
Our work here wasn't done yet.
We'd taken out the most dangerous ones, but incubators had spread through natural caves across the planet.
Leave them be, and they'd expand again before we knew it. We had to wipe them out thoroughly.
"I was worried you might head out right away. Glad to hear it."
"Can't leave a job half-done. At least until superhuman reinforcements arrive."
I'd already requested equipment for precision underground mapping.
A type of survey ship used to assess planetary resource development, perfect for planets like Qubillion riddled with hidden subsurface spaces.
"I'll support your operations as best I can."
The commander wrapped things up plainly and took his leave.
That had apparently been his only business.
"How long are you seniors sticking around on this planet?"
"No official orders yet. Might have to wait a bit to find out."
"Then how about hitching a ride on my ship?"
"...Huh?"
Shepin's eyes went wide.
Rodrigo, who'd been listening quietly beside him, looked equally stunned.
"What's that out of the blue?"
"You know I'm prepping to run an independent unit, right?"
"Yeah."
"I want to make it a specialist team for incubator raids."
It was still just a concept, but the words had slipped out unbidden.
Our incubator raid speed on Qubillion had been over twice the average.
Not just Merdi and Roze's abilities, but my knack for intuitively pinpointing cores inside them played a part.
Still, judging by casualties from the five—or really four—incubators, running it with just Roze and me wouldn't cut it.
'Need to round out the roster at minimum.'
Shepin and Rodrigo passed muster on that front.
Their character shone through the raids, and Shepin's fire powers paired nicely with Rodrigo's brute-force physical style.
"Hmm..."
Shepin glanced at Rodrigo.
Rodrigo nodded back.
"We're game, but will the top brass approve?"
"Have to convince them."
It was possible.
Specialist units focused solely on incubators had formed before.
Most just couldn't sustain the high casualties inherent to incubator raids or buckled under unexpected crises.
'Hard to find folks eager to cherry-pick the riskiest jobs.'
Incubator ops had the highest superhuman death rate.
If results looked promising, command would likely greenlight it.
And we'd handed them solid proof this time.
Raiding eight incubators in three days—including five major ones—was a dazzling feat.
"Tell us again later, then."
"Sure."
It wasn't a snap decision to switch postings, yet they agreed readily. Felt good.
But I'd overlooked someone.
"Why didn't you ask me?"
Merdi, who'd been leisurely sipping tea beside Roze, fixed me with narrowed eyes.
"...Well."
"Mm-hmm, gulp! ...Of course we're joining!"
Roze swallowed her food and jumped in.
She promptly snuggled up to Merdi, pressing her again.
"Right, Merdi? Or were you thinking of saying no?"
"...No, not that." Merdi glanced away, clearly daunted by Roze's gaze. "Anyway, I'm all for it!"
Roze shouted with the brightest smile she'd worn in ages.
Merdi signing on clearly thrilled her that much.
'Have to make this work.'
I mentally tallied the cards I held against Darmosa.
The moment I'd committed to sticking with Roze, the future had veered off course entirely.
Expecting the Miracle Generation to handle disasters on their own felt like wishful thinking now.
Better to keep them close and intervene directly.
"But when did you start thinking like that?"
"A while back. Back during my academy days?" The original plan hadn't factored in the Miracle Generation.
I'd aimed to form an independent unit after becoming an official superhuman, gathering up-and-comers with promise.
Roze pouted, clearly miffed.
"You never breathed a word till now..."
"...Didn't see things heading this way."
Nothing ever went according to plan.
Who could've guessed the fearsome Elohim Church would crumble so easily, or that the mutant clans—stubborn survivors even in the original story—would splinter apart?
Things could've gone south plenty if they'd gone wrong.
*
The party wrapped up quickly.
It started almost right after returning from the raid, and with fatigue lingering, plus no desire to mingle and drain my mental energy, I bailed early.
Roze, stuffed to the gills, succumbed to food coma and headed to her cabin for a nap. Merdi, sharing the cabin, followed.
Left alone, I finally had time for postponed business.
-Infiltration [110]
Converts core power into permeating energy that infuses materials. Efficiency and performance rise with energy conductivity. Partially ignores barriers.
The raid's biggest haul was this infiltration trait, no doubt.
I'd hoped for it even against the Dread Knight, but getting it felt even better than expected.
No surprise—it was like awakening a whole new ability.
With countless ability types out there, many useless, gaining something practical for close quarters was a godsend.
'And I've got a material with top-tier energy conductivity.'
Its lone downside? Needing a tool. But that was no issue.
No need for an awkward sword.
Just pluck a nail from my left arm.
The crimson nail hid inside the wrist bone normally, emerging for combat—like another bone entirely.
It served as conduit and converter for crimson blasts, so conductivity was a given.
I applied the trait and drew the nail.
"Hmm..."
No visible change.
But stabbing a test apple exploded it like a bomb.
'Way more useful than I thought...' Needed field testing, but the power exceeded expectations.
I was holding back my crimson blast ace, but as a martial artist basing on melee, it thrilled me.
"...Still, this is a bit much."
I scratched my head and grimaced.
My horn had grown a tad.
Since it affected the power source, I'd applied it via the horn without touching the delicate core weapon nucleus. Unexpected side effect.
'Hair won't hide this anymore.' I checked the mirror, fussing with my hair.
I'd concealed it before with thick locks.
Even exposed, it passed as a small bump.
Now? Undeniably a horn.
Still small and cute—like a baby demon's—but no denying it.
"Sigh..."
How to explain this one?
I pondered a while before giving up.
-Natural Assimilation [60]
Blends you into the surrounding natural environment. Regulates your body temperature and adapts skin color to match.
Camouflage upgraded.
I'd mulled it over when first acquired.
'Not as useful as I'd hoped.'
Stealth traits were nice, but real-life chances to use them were rare.
The bodily toll, though, was heavy.
Humans couldn't replicate it naturally, so the burden was steep.
Compare to infiltration: high info load, yet barely any strain beyond the horn growth.
Still applied it—not for stealth.
For the "regulates your body temperature" part.
Firing crimson blasts overheated my left arm every time.
Minor penalty for converting vast power to destructive energy, but the prolonged recovery left it offline—a real issue.
Even with R3D3's help, it took time. I'd resigned to it.
Then solved it from an unexpected angle.
'Can't abuse this either.'
Human bodies are temperature-sensitive.
Optimal is ~37°C; even 1-2°C deviation sustained brings illness, worse risks death.
Even modern superhumans with superior physiques followed suit.
I was exceptional as a martial artist, but couldn't wield it as freely as a Ghost Spider.
That'd require ditching human flesh for arthropod form—impossible.
So, careful use or self-sabotage. Finally, I fully excised the pointless camouflage trait.
Knew removal was possible, just no chance to test till now.
Took ages despite its measly info load of 6—over ten times application effort.
Made sense; aliens died instantly if traits extracted.
"Urgh..."
Finished, I looked up—morning already.
Pushing further risked another all-nighter, so I hit the sleep pod pronto.
*
We stayed on Qubillion another week.
Ten days total, and we'd cleared most incubators.
The sendoff as we left was massive.
Citizens cooped up in the defensive city hub, reliant on news feeds, flooded the streets, waving at the departing ships.
The sight seared into Roze; she stared blankly out the bridge viewport.
"...Makes my chest tighten."
Same for me.
I'd gotten thanks from dignitaries like congressmen before, but citizens turning out en masse? First time.