Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Chasing the Beholder
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Dirty CC build.
The fate of a poor ground-pounder, unavoidable.
I could feel Roze's frustration boiling over.
All she needed was a few seconds to pin it down. But she couldn't manage it.
"Captain. Need to swap out the jetpack."
"Tell Robert!"
The fight dragged into a prolonged battle.
The Beholder focused on harassing Roze while trying to flee, and we kept chasing and attacking.
Meanwhile, aliens kept swarming in to protect it.
If the fleet hadn't followed with covering fire, the fight would've been several times harder.
"Huff... huff..." Runshin spat out ragged breaths.
He was already exhausted.
The cost of controlling the massive thrust from his mechanical arms had his muscles trembling and spasming, blood dripping from his grip.
"Don't push yourself."
"Push...? Nonsense! I'll catch that thing myself. Leonard!"
I wanted to applaud that fighting spirit.
But not right now.
I tossed him a syringe pack filled with healing fluid.
"Inject that and fall back for a bit. That's an order."
"...You!"
"Swap your jetpack too."
I heard teeth grinding from behind.
The guy's pride was his whole life.
He wouldn't like my first direct order, but refusal wasn't an option.
"It won't take long. Wait it out!"
Big gap in our lineup.
Runshin's firepower was one of our sure ways to hurt the Beholder.
I eyed the Beholder.
Its body was a shredded mess.
Half its tentacles were severed or burst, most of the spines covering it snapped off.
'Those spines must act as energy reservoirs.'
Through the exchanges so far, I'd started to understand the thing.
It stored absorbed energy in its spines.
Without them, its storage sucked, so it had to dump excess or vent it fast.
'Losing it like this isn't a total loss, but...' Our position was drifting deeper into alien territory.
Things would only get worse.
Already spotting anti-air capable aliens bursting from some hatchery.
More flyers too.
The superhumans were holding them off for now, but who knew for how long.
"Tch...!"
Snipped off two more tentacles.
Swing my arm hard, and the fluid riding my barrier launches right off.
'Keep this up, and I might not lose any more.'
This time, I only lost a tiny bit.
Huge progress from the start.
Getting the knack, and with more practice, zero loss seemed possible.
Kirruk!!
The Beholder lunged tentacles at me.
I fired the jetpack in reverse to evade, but the tips lit up and unleashed a barrage.
I took it on purpose.
Barrier maxed out to tank it, letting the impact shove me back.
Missing me again, the Beholder shrieked and convulsively gathered intense energy.
'Danger!'
I curled up to brace when someone blocked in front.
Long silver hair dazzled my eyes.
'Merdi?'
Before doubt could settle, blinding lightning erupted.
A frontal sheet of it canceled the Beholder's attack.
"If you come here..."
Merdi ignored me and raised her arm.
Kurrung!!
Thunder crashed, intercepting the harassing shot at Roze.
"Nice one, Merdi!"
Thrilled, Roze closed in on the Beholder.
Red aura blooming over her like she meant to vent all her rage.
Overheat mode—burning inner and outer energy to max physical stats short-term.
Kkirrruk!!
Sensing danger, the Beholder reacted violently.
Like a lizard ditching its tail, it tore off and hurled about 10% of its body mass, then blasted away with explosive acceleration.
Right after, Roze-as-red-comet slammed the discarded chunk.
Boom!!
The Beholder flesh contacting Roze powdered instantly.
"It got away again!"
Roze's shout pierced the dust cloud.
Such a wasted chance.
"I show up?"
"...Nah, you did great."
I'd kept the espers positioned far back for a reason.
The Beholder didn't need direct contact to absorb energy.
As seen in the fleet's salvo last time, it could suck up lingering waves in the air if close enough.
Meaning, even using abilities nearby risked losing some.
'Still, better to get the help.' But that method only nabbed a fraction anyway.
"Let's move. We'll lose it at this rate."
I said, eyeing the fleeing Beholder.
Its body had shrunken sharply.
Aftereffect of that self-mutilating burst, probably.
But as I moved to pursue, Merdi's arms wrapped my neck.
"Let's go." I glanced, met her eyes, and said.
"In this state?"
"Used all mine. Hurry."
"...Uh, okay."
Glanced at her limbs, and retinal info on her jetpack popped up.
Charge critically low.
Not a lie.
Still, no need for her to tag along.
'Could resupply from above... no.'
Shoved thoughts aside, fired my jetpack.
Speed built, and the volume pressing my back intensified.
To distract, I focused on the situation.
"Beholder's nearing its limit. A few solid hits and it's done."
"How?"
"Roze takes point as attacker. Rest on support."
Beholder's defense way higher than initial calc.
Tentacles especially—with potent self-regen.
'Would've killed a human ten times over.'
Might have hidden tricks left.
But that flesh-eating speed burst suggested limits hit.
-Beep! Anomalous ground reaction detected.
Then R3D3 issued the alert.
Before it could relay fully, the broad field ahead flipped entirely.
'Trap?'
Bursting from earth: lobster-like aliens.
Thousands at least.
They planted hind legs to anchor, tails rigid skyward.
"Watch out!"
Tails heaved, spewing saliva.
Saliva rocketed like missiles, arcing to our altitude at insane speed, bursting into thick smoke.
Range: several kilometers around.
Every superhuman got engulfed.
Me? Untouched.
"Hmph!"
Zaps tingled through the arms on my neck, then lightning netted out wide.
Saliva caught in it plummeted without exploding.
-Ca... zzzt! Zzzt!...nnot reach!!
Vocals cut, auto-switched comms unstable as hell.
'Signal jam?'
Smoke from the blasts must disrupt signals.
"Crank comm output to max."
-Minimal effect. Beep!
"Beholder?"
-Location pinged ahead. I followed the guide toward the Beholder.
But soon realized it was pointless.
'Fooled.'
At the signal's end: a single long tentacle.
Uprooted intact—Beholder yanked it itself?—writhing mockingly.
"Completely played."
Merdi smirked.
"That how it fools radar?"
Tiny tentacle pinging like the massive main body.
"What now?"
"...What else. Grab what we can."
Unit members arrived soon.
They'd clocked it too—faces grim.
"Roze and Giz?"
"Down there."
"Down?"
As said, Roze was planetside, unleashing violence on the lobsters.
Heard we lost it, came to vent, probably.
Since those were the culprits.
Giz trailed the rampaging Roze at safe distance, assisting.
"Leonard! What're you doing here?"
"You made it?"
Runshin showed, face much improved.
He feigned a scowl.
"Without this body, you lost it quick."
"Yeah. Needed you."
Acting all smug.
Failure's failure, though.
'Search more?'
Tunnel escape likely.
Reactivate horns to sharpen senses, might get a direction.
'Too deep already.'
Alien turf here.
Danger zone prepped for these numbers.
Push further, who knows what's next.
Even these lobsters were valuable assets to waste like this.
Willing sacrifice proved the hive mind valued the Beholder that much.
'Ends here.'
I scanned around.
Unit fatigued.
Espers relatively fine, but limited use vs. Beholder.
"Head back."
"Just like this?"
"Nope. First... clean those up."
Nodded at the ground.
Down there, one pissed-off beast was wrecking the aliens.
*
-Report received. Close call, but failed.
"Sorry we blew the chance. Escaped better than expected."
-A full Grade 8. Impressive damage for that.
Colonel Lungen didn't chew me out.
Comforted me, even.
-You know what those things are, Captain?
"...Ha, yeah."
Who wouldn't.
No known Grade 8 hasn't been a humanity plague.
Beholder alone ate three cruisers in days.
Longer active? Way more headache.
'Red did that too.'
Lungen asked 'cause of Red probably.
Red's assault just over a year ago.
Me and my cohort tasted Grade 8 power there early.
-No major casualties is a win.
Totally agreed.
Pre-op, braced for deaths.
If not the anti-personnel-weak Beholder, definite losses.
"Your prep coming along?"
-Thanks to you, back in rhythm. Sandstorm, we can move.
"Beholder's sidelined awhile. Hurry before recovery."
-No worries.
Holo flickered out.
Stood, grabbed table cup, drank water.
Gazed out window, asked R3D3.
"How much left?"
-Analysis complete in about 2 more hours.
"Sample it, cryo-seal. Don't forget contamination block."
-Yes, Master. Beep! Isolated lab's podium held a 10m+ tentacle.
Sprayed coolant nonstop, still twitching—over twenty fixative needles pinned it.
"Detached tentacle alone, and vitality's insane."
-Single-cell traits. Yet gene info volume enormous.
"Yeah. Like pureed in a blender."
One tentacle's genes: thousand times human.
Mostly junk.
Quick scan? No meaningful output.
'Total trash bin.'
Inefficient lifeform.
Usual aliens: genes tight, essentials only. This opposite.
Show scientists? Massive headache.
Or rage at the torment.
Not unheard of.
Common in non-standard alien strains—this extreme.
"Alert on analysis done. Or vitals fading."
-Beep! Already confirmed ability traces in the tentacle.
Could extract traits.
Else, shipped whole to Salmon Lab. Solo score for me.