Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Into the Burrow
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"Should I handle it?"
"Capture them alive if possible."
"Got it!"
Roze leaped lightly into action.
The aliens clinging tightly to the cave walls rose all at once to attack her.
But their assault missed completely, falling flat.
By the time she arrived, Roze was playfully tapping them, and one alien peeled off the wall, tumbling to the floor.
"One's enough, right?"
Before I could answer, she moved again, and her hands took care of the remaining three.
I approached to check them out.
Every one had its head blown clean off in a single strike.
Clean work.
"These are new ones."
"Same here."
I know every type of alien discovered so far.
But these in front of me were unfamiliar.
Their arms and legs were abnormally long, like a frog's, with a slender torso and skin oozing a slimy liquid that made it gleam.
*Thoroughly gross.*
The slime made it unpleasant to get close, but there was no other way.
I approached and attempted a 'connection.'
First, I checked the total data volume.
??[677]
Equivalent to a Grade 1 threat.
On the higher end for Grade 1, but I could analyze something like this in no time now.
I pulled the object data and started the analysis.
*Strikeout, strikeout, strikeout again.*
As expected, extracting useful traits from Grade 1 level wasn't easy.
-Slime Secretion.
Can secrete a special slime through sweat glands. The slime protects the skin and helps regulate temperature. When exposed to air, it emits a foul odor and has adhesive properties. It also breaks down organic matter.
-Long Tongue.
The lower jaw develops, expanding the mouth cavity. The tongue lengthens, with enhanced taste buds and tongue muscles.
-Protruding Eyes.
Eyes bulge outward. Field of view widens, and dynamic vision improves. Tear glands constantly secrete slime to protect the eyes, but this causes slight vision blurriness as a side effect.
All traits required external physical changes to implement.
For the 'Long Tongue' trait, if I could suppress the appearance change, it might be worth taking a part of it.
*No.*
But it wasn't helpful enough to greedily grab right now.
I severed the connection and finished off the alien that was barely breathing.
"Looks like these guys made this cave."
"These things?"
They had some craftsmanship.
With their clawed hands and slime, digging through soil would be a breeze.
Even if the ground was frozen, alien strength would handle it no problem.
"Yeah. But given the cave's size, the hatchery might be bigger than we thought."
Another problem.
The hatchery inside would have undoubtedly produced new variants adapted to the cold.
Regular hatcheries don't mass-produce these irregulars, so another type showing up wouldn't be surprising.
If a mercenary team had found this cave instead of us, they'd be weighing a retreat—the next situation was that uncertain.
"The path splits."
After going a bit farther, we reached a large chamber where the path divided.
Two paths leading deeper in, and nine heading upward.
It seemed like a hub of sorts.
*Can't split up.*
Just the two of us.
And underground, no less.
If we'd brought a search team, maybe, but here we had to stick together even if we took a wrong turn.
Still, we couldn't just leave it.
"R3D3. Deploy a minibot."
-Deploying one minibot.
The head of R3D3, wrapped around my body, opened, and something dropped out.
A small combat machine acting on pre-injected processes depending on the situation, not full AI.
Small size, but decent combat power.
Except for the 30-minute activity limit in battle.
Even so, it could fend off a few of those aliens I'd just named 'burrow frogs.'
"Eliminate all non-friendlies."
-Roger!
"Roze. Which way?"
"You want me to pick? I'm bad at these coin flips..."
She pondered deeply over the two downward paths.
Even after waiting a bit, no sign of her deciding.
-Recommend the right path. Analysis of tunnel composition suggests right path sees over three times more traffic.
"Right it is, then!"
"Sounds good."
We took the right path as R3D3 recommended.
As we entered the tunnel, burrow frog encounters increased, confirming R3D3's guess.
"These seem bigger."
"Size varies by growth stage. They can reproduce on their own, so leaving them would be a real headache."
The burrow's scale was beyond imagination.
I hoped there was only one exit—the one we came in.
If even one escaped, dealing with them would get much harder.
After burrowing nearly 2km deep, we finally found the hatchery.
"We're here..."
"They dug this deep to properly run the hatchery."
Current temperature: around 20°C above freezing.
Even if they could operate in the cold, setting up base would have been burdensome.
"A welcome party?"
Vibrations detected.
From straight ahead.
Soon, burrow frogs filled the tunnel, swarming toward us.
"Wanna bet who kills more? Loser grants the winner one wish!"
"Wait a sec...!"
No way I'd win.
But Roze had already engaged the burrow frogs.
-I'll secure victory for Master. Beep!
Then R3D3 stepped up.
Its four legs around my body extended, pointing forward.
The leg frames deformed, revealing gun barrels.
-Calculation complete. Eliminating enemies.
Light burst forth.
Compressed energy rounds fired in an instant from the four legs hit every burrow frog ahead squarely in the head.
Not stopping there, it picked off more pouring from deeper in the tunnel, dropping them as soon as they showed their heads.
"Ahh! That's cheating."
Roze pouted, left sucking her thumb.
*More useful than I thought.*
It mentioned an upgrade, and it showed.
Firing energy rounds at this output without any overheating signs.
Even more impressive considering R3D3 was classified as small-scale.
"All done?"
"They retreated after advancing a bit."
"Figured they couldn't win against the firepower."
The tunnel was packed with corpses.
If it weren't wider here, we'd have been blocked by the bodies.
-Forfeit the bet and grant the wish.
"This doesn't count!"
-Beep! 27:84. Clear victory for Master.
"You did it. I bet Roze, not you."
-I am Master's accessory. Distinguishing my kills from Master's is meaningless.
"...Let's clear these bodies first. Both of you, cut it out."
We shoved the corpses aside and pressed deeper.
Roze quieted down for a moment, then approached me.
"What's your wish?"
"Call it invalid. I didn't do anything anyway."
"But I said it first."
"...Fine, call it a request then. I'll tell you later. If I can, I will; if not, no."
"Sweet!"
The tunnel widened gradually.
The hatchery interior divided into several chambers.
The first room looked like storage.
Piles of what seemed to be local planetary creatures, probably hunted by burrow frogs.
All destined to be broken down to fuel the hatchery and produce more aliens.
*Looks more established than I thought.*
Already in Phase 2 expansion.
With how many resources the seed carried, it had already begun expanding in this barren environment.
*They really have resources to spare.*
After passing several storage rooms, a larger cavern appeared.
Along with the aliens waiting for us.
"All gathered here, huh."
"Don't let your guard down."
She was talking to me.
Just Grade 1 and 2 threats, no matter the numbers.
Nothing that could threaten Roze.
-Master, orders.
"You stay put."
Time for me to move too.
Aliens appeared from another tunnel behind, blocking the way.
We were surrounded.
Not just burrow frogs—larger ones, presumed Grade 2 threats, dotted among them.
*Take them out methodically.*
I started clearing the ones sealing the rear.
I'd already analyzed the burrow frogs.
Once 'analyzed,' their behavior patterns were fully predictable.
-Poison.
"This much is fine."
The air was thick with poison somehow.
My skin stung faintly.
*That big one's doing?*
They resembled burrow frogs.
Except for the pimple-like tumors covering their backs, making them gross to touch.
If I had to name them, 'poison toads.'
I closed in on the poison toad while handling the burrow frogs.
Prodding it to test, it collapsed quickly.
"What?"
Its combat ability was lower than expected.
Without the poison, it was inferior to burrow frogs.
*Well, most variants are like that.*
The better-known aliens weren't common for a reason.
They were well-designed and efficient.
These days, this type rarely appears.
Ever since full-body armor suits became standard soldier gear, skin or respiratory attacks like poison didn't work well.
Plus, I had strong poison resistance.
*Superior genes.*
A bit of family privilege.
Even notorious biochemical weapons posed no life threat unless inhaled in massive quantities at once.
The rest would be neutralized by the treatment fluid I'd swallowed.
Anyway, the poison toad's pathetic combat power let me clean up fast.
*This side's done too.*
Roze, handling the front, had finished and was watching me.
"Poison okay?"
"Stings a little. Was gonna take some meds."
I stopped her from scratching her itchy forearm.
Her face was slightly flushed from the infiltrated poison.
*She's fine. Still...*
For a martial artist like Roze, her natural recovery would handle it.
Taking an antidote would speed it up.
But there was a better way, so no need.
"Drink this."
"Not bitter, right?"
"Just spring water."
I took the canteen she offered.
She removed her breathing mask, tilted the canteen, and wet her throat.
"Whoa! Tingly."
"Breathing mask back on."
"Yeah."
"Let's wrap this up quick and grab some food."
"Sweet!"
She nodded eagerly.
All obstacles cleared.
To fully eliminate the hatchery, we needed to extract the core.
*Even for early stage, a Phase 2 core is pretty...*
The hatchery core was deeper in.
"Ew, gross."
"This is the hatching chamber. Almost all aliens are born here. Those are alien eggs."
Eggs the height of elementary school kids lined the walls densely.
Immature burrow frogs visible inside the transparent shells.
Deeper in, larger eggs too.
The big ones held poison toads.
The closer to the core, the higher-grade aliens produced.
But proving it was early stage, few large eggs yet.
*Phase 2 should have up to Grade 3.*
Maybe not produced yet.
As expected, the largest egg nearest the core held an alien larva not fully formed.
*What's that?*
I'd hoped for one hatched.
Whether I could connect in that state remained to be tested.
*First...*
I checked comms status.
A hatchery this size was too much for just Roze and me.
Needed demo gear, precise checks on other tunnels to leave no seeds.
The follow-up team was prepped with gear based on our intel.
I sent the entry signal and approached the core.
The core served as the hatchery's brain—control tower—and energy storage tank.
Destroy it, and hatchery functions paralyze temporarily.
But if even one alien survived, it could repair the core, so total elimination required incinerating it with heavy firepower.
"Now we just hold here."
"Remove the core now?"
"Nah, in a bit. Got something to try."
My eyes turned back to the larva.
Grade 3 threat larva.
One reason I'd volunteered for this scout team, wasting time on it, was right there.