Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Survival Test
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Survival Test.
- ...Anyway, I need to dig into this one a bit more. But setting that aside. You submitted a report this morning, right?
"A report? You mean the one from Real Time Alien Tactics class?"
-Yeah. What the hell possessed you to write this?
Darmosa was asking about my intentions.
I was surprised that someone of Darmosa's stature had already seen the report.
What in the world was going on?
"I was digging into alien stuff, and it just reminded me of something, so I wrote it down."
"You? ...Well, fine, whatever."
"Um... big bro."
It felt awkward using that title after so long.
Still, I tried it out just in case.
-Got more to say?
"Wanna take a look at that report, by any chance?"
-I'm reading it personally. It seems ridiculous, but you never know."
"Haha, yeah? Well, since you've seen it, give it a thorough review. Feels pretty great having the superhuman unit commander check out my tactical report."
Darmosa stared at me silently for a moment before nodding.
It was his way of saying he'd pay it a little extra attention.
With that, I figured I'd at least hit my minimum goal, and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
-No more chit-chat? I'm hanging up. Drama's about to air. And any idiots trying to stick their spoons in this? I'll cut them all out myself, so don't worry about it.
"Got it. Thanks."
-Yeah.
This must be what it feels like to have a solid backer at work.
The comms ended, and Darmosa's image vanished.
I scratched my head for a second, then got started on compiling the alien intel.
I had backlog work to finish and studying to do—time was short.
*
Sometimes, living in this world brings surprises.
An ordinary person suddenly showing innovative leadership qualities, or a hardcore egoist sacrificing themselves to save others when you'd least expect it.
They reveal sides you couldn't predict from their past actions.
Human behavior is just that unpredictable.
Darmosa, who'd faced every type of person imaginable over more than 130 years of life, felt it again today.
"What the hell is this guy's deal?"
At first, he'd just thought we clicked well.
Similar hobbies and interests, compatible personalities—we even got drunk and started calling each other brothers.
So he'd thought he had the guy figured out.
But over time, his actions kept veering off script.
The revival of autonomous combat machines was one thing.
Those machines had once formed a key part of humanity's forces.
Then neural parasites evolved, turning their guns on us instead, and they vanished from the battlefield.
Darmosa still got headaches thinking about it.
The favorable war situation flipped, casualties skyrocketed.
Quite a few planets got fully contaminated by aliens because they couldn't respond in time.
It took ages of grueling work to stabilize the front lines after that.
"Yeah. Connect me to that guy. You know, the colonel in charge of munitions supply at Alliance HQ."
So when he heard Fontana Unte had brought new tech, he'd practically cheered.
Why?
Green light on his retirement plans.
But what was this?
In the midst of getting precise reports, he learned Fontana Unte was tied to a lab founded under Leonard Monarch's lead, and that Leonard was deeply involved in developing the new autonomous combat machines.
He was floored.
A name he never saw coming jumped out.
To him, Leonard was just an academy cadet with top-notch tactical skills.
Honestly, Darmosa hadn't rated Leonard that highly.
Tactical wins happened now and then, sure.
What made Leonard famous was being a Cradle of Heroes Academy cadet with an impressive major.
Even regular officers could profit off tactical victories.
Compared to the four prodigies tipped as next superhuman unit commanders, he was just a cadet with average talent.
"But..."
And that wasn't even the end of it.
He'd just gotten a call and skimmed some files, which left him even more baffled.
'He never struck me as the type to carve flesh from his own bones for humanity's survival, burning with some grand sense of duty. Why go this far?'
He was certain.
Leonard was the same breed as him.
Prioritizing personal safety, chasing moderate material gains, quietly hoarding honors—the everyman's everyman.
"But looking at these files, you'd think he was a philanthropist."
If he hadn't checked the docs himself, he'd have assumed the handlers screwed him over royally.
At first, he'd even gotten emotional.
How dare they torment a guy bringing such treasure when they should be coddling him.
But after verifying from multiple angles, nope—the supply price was exactly what Leonard had quoted.
"Yeah. You're sure? Got it. Send all those files to me."
He ended the call.
The handler wasn't at fault.
They'd just accepted an offer way below market value.
They'd double-checked for performance issues multiple times, but Leonard insisted on that price, so they signed.
Thanks to it, frontline supplies would arrive twice as fast as expected.
The handler, guaranteed a fast-track promotion next quarter, had been beaming through the call.
And that bizarre report from this morning? Same deal.
Not the meddlesome type at all.
Darmosa recalled Leonard's personality once more.
'Was it all an act in front of me? ...Nah.'
He shook his head.
Weird guy, anyway.
The most incomprehensible person he'd met in his life.
Lost in thought at his desk, Darmosa eventually got back to work.
He reviewed the incoming files, grasped the tangled situations.
In the process, he swept out all the idiots threatening his bright retirement prospects.
Alliance HQ buzzed with sudden demotions, but that wasn't his problem.
'An incomprehensible breed of human.'
What future was Leonard charting?
He wanted to peer inside.
Darmosa grew curious about what else his young friend might reveal.
*
I'd returned from the principal's office.
It was my turn for the interviews covering all cadets.
The principal chatted me up with his usual sly grin, catching up on overdue topics.
He looked thrilled—probably thanks to his stake in Salmon Labs.
Folks were already begging to buy shares at nearly 100 times face value. No wonder he was happy.
Anyway, he thanked me and mentioned they'd captured a new alien.
A Grade 2 threat, and a rare one at that.
"For real? Let's go!"
"Was just about to say that."
Roze, who'd been skipping along lately due to lacking new adaptive traits, let out an excited yell.
I needed her help anyway, so I was grateful she'd come out.
We finished afternoon classes and headed straight to the containment zone.
I greeted the manager—by now we were on pretty good terms—and went inside.
"It's bigger now."
"This one's a bit unusual, so we renovated the interior space a little."
"That guy?"
"Yep."
A bizarre specimen clung to the wall of the containment chamber.
A broad plate with four legs attached.
Legs fully extended, plastered flat against the chamber wall—it reminded me of a starfish.
"Doctor Leeches."
Doctor Leeches latch onto large alien species.
Their main gig: sucking toxins from wounds and spraying nutrients and regens to aid healing.
They can mend pillbug-sized gashes in seconds—top-tier ability.
That's why even a few make tackling big specimens a nightmare; they're priority kills on sight.
"How'd you snag this one? They're super rare."
"Haha, yeah? Heard the principal pulled strings."
But as I said, rare find.
You don't see them until Grade 6 threats or higher, and even then, sparsely.
Against Grade 6+ giants, you usually concentrate firepower.
By the time you check the corpse, the leeches are vaporized in the blasts—no traces left.
"And there's more than one."
"Three in total here. They were juveniles when found, so they captured them intact. Oh, Cadet Leonard—you probably know. These came from the Land Crawlers that showed up on Hurunshaya Planet, discovered during the post-hunt sweep."
"The military didn't fight over them? I hear they're hot commodities for research."
"Only these three here, but they actually nabbed more than that."
"Ah."
My actions rippling out again.
I eyed the Doctor Leeches huddled together, wary of us.
Combat-wise, they're way below other specimens—but not to ignore.
Especially those needles hidden on their undersides: sharp enough to pierce thick, tough hides of giants. Serious threat.
"They're kinda cute."
"That? No way."
Wonder if she'd say that flipped over.
Camouflaged exterior makes them seem tame for aliens, but flip 'em—the underside's pure nightmare fuel.
"Get to work, then. Gonna take more than a day again?"
"Yeah. Probably."
"I'll stick around till it's done. Call if anything comes up."
The manager left.
Roze was already slipping into the containment chamber.
The leeches showed extreme caution, trying to put max distance between them and her.
"Come here."
Kinda felt bad for the aliens.
Sealed space all around—the gap kept shrinking.
Then one started acting up.
Kkieek!!
"Lemon. They're pissed."
It extended a long stinger from its belly, stabbing wildly at the wall it'd been stuck to.
The outer wall was designed tough, accounting for leech abilities—even so, repeated jabs at one spot were denting it bit by bit.
Fine for now, but left alone? It'd breach eventually.
'Even if it did, no escape...'
The zone had triple-quadruple security for containing aliens.
Break through, and it'd just trap itself again.
Still, not ideal for a facility built partly because of me to get trashed.
"Roze, mind calming them down a bit?"
"Got it!"
I stepped into the chamber and asked her.
Thrilled Roze yanked one off the wall in a flash and slammed it to the floor.
The dazed leech tried fleeing; she tapped its legs, knocking it over again.
But soft-bodied like an annelid—couldn't just snap bones to immobilize like before.
"Hmm..."
Roze pondered briefly, then raised her hand blade.
Realizing escape was impossible, the charging leech got each of its four legs stabbed once.
It collapsed in a twitching heap.
"Done!"
Satisfied with her work, she grinned and dusted her hands.
Then kicked it over—and instantly recoiled, face scrunched.
"Gross!"
"Yeah? The inner skin's all suckers—like an octopus or squid."
Leg inners split open to expose the lining when attaching.
Roze backed up further at the sight.
She'd face countless creepy types as a superhuman later, but right now? Perfectly age-appropriate reaction.