Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Mutant Infestation
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'What a mess.'
The inside of Residential District 1 was utter chaos.
The alien raids had already filled the air with ominous vibrations, and now civilians were panicking at the sudden evacuation order.
On top of that, the district they'd arrived at was shrouded in darkness.
Few of the ceiling lights were working properly, and the rest were being destroyed one by one by some unknown attacks.
'They hate the light?'
Darkness was a hindrance to the mission.
No matter how smartly tactical goggles relayed vital info, problems were inevitable.
For regular civilians without them, it was even worse.
Evacuations in these conditions wouldn't be easy.
'Find the source.'
-Understood.
I leaped over the crowds and pushed deeper inside.
A bit further in, I spotted soldiers building barricades and standing guard.
I approached the one who looked like the commander.
'Hello.'
"Ah, Guardian! You're the reinforcement."
"Yes. Good work. Is this the only defensive line?"
"No, there are plenty more. Think one per entry point. We're assigning sectors, pushing forward to secure them, then rescuing civilians."
"What about those things?"
"Those monsters? They're tough as hell. Just like fighting aliens. But these are the only weapons we can use... Damn it!"
The commander vented his frustration.
This was a civilian residential area, after all.
With so many people hunkered down in their homes instead of evacuating, they couldn't launch a full suppression op.
They were deploying combat machines for close-quarters fights, but the creatures' strength and vitality left no room for error.
"How many?"
"No idea. We've taken down a few hundred so far... but they're still crawling out from somewhere. Other superhumans are heading in to find the source right now."
"I'll go in too. Can I tap into tactical comms?"
"Of course."
I linked into the independent channel reserved for frontline commanders.
Upper reports got filtered on the way down—accurate, but a bit slow.
I headed toward the suspicious point uploaded to my retina.
That's when I ran into one of the creatures head-on.
"Ugh, aaahhh!"
A civilian's scream echoed.
It must've agitated the thing—it was smashing through the outer wall and forcing its way in.
These buildings in the underground city used reinforced materials, yet it tore through like Styrofoam.
Just its strength alone marked it as no ordinary beast.
I deliberately made noise as I approached.
At about 20 meters, it whipped its head around to glare at me.
'Good ears.'
It charged right away.
No scanning the surroundings or decision-making—it seemed low on smarts.
After a few exchanges, it rolled hard across the ground, drooling and snarling.
'Tough hide too.'
Pure physical specs put it on par with a Grade 2 hazard alien.
Its skin was incredibly tough and resilient.
But it lacked contamination response and combat experience, so it couldn't fully utilize its abilities—plenty of amateur moves.
A few charging at once? No problem.
That was from my superhuman perspective, though.
For soldiers facing them, standard rifles wouldn't drop one without a dozen shots at least.
"These are test subjects too, right?"
-High probability of mutations using alien cells.
"Yeah. Aggression's off the charts..."
Boom!
Then, from deeper inside, a flash like a stun grenade lit up everything.
It wasn't just light—a strong vibration rippled through the floor.
"That's..."
Looked like an ability manifestation.
Seeing it filled me with dread first.
With civilians not fully evacuated, unleashing that kind of power was bound to cause casualties.
Had they run into something too tough to handle?
-Beep! Highest chance the incident's source is in the direction of that impact.
"Got it. Let's move."
I picked up the pace.
Any creatures in my path got crushed without mercy as I raced toward the ability's origin.
Boom!
The fight ahead was intensifying.
I had to vault two more buildings and reach a sharp spire before I could take in the scene.
'Three superhumans against about twenty test subjects.'
Number of subjects didn't matter.
What counted was three superhumans grouped up.
Yet they were fighting this fiercely? Unbelievable.
I soon learned why.
The subjects battling the superhumans were a different breed from the first ones.
Varied forms, so fast and strong it was hard to believe they were the same type.
Some had freakish regeneration too.
Even sliced in half by superhuman attacks, they fused back like amoebas and charged again.
"Damn it, unless you incinerate them completely, they just keep regenerating!"
One superhuman vented in frustration.
Another, a martial artist type, dodged subjects to reach a breached entrance behind them, but more were still pouring out— no dice.
'Sshould I jump in?'
That level of vitality needed overwhelming firepower for an instant kill, or nonstop pounding till regen gave out.
The firepower option seemed doable with artillery, but this was a residential district.
Pummeling them nonstop? Those superhumans could handle it without me.
"You got spy-bots? Send 'em inside."
-R3 and D3 deploying.
One leg joint detached, splitting into two.
The pieces morphed into mini R3D3s with three legs each.
-Beep!
-Bweep!
They shot web-like threads at the ceiling, zipped up, and stuck.
Crawling along, they slipped into the space exposed by the cave-in.
The subjects ignored the small, stealthy spy-bots.
Soon, feeds from both bots started streaming in.
'Bigger scale than I thought.'
Makes sense—over a thousand subjects found so far.
A lab managing and researching that many wouldn't be small.
The spy-bots delved deeper.
Inside was wrecked.
Smashed by subjects? Nothing intact, bloodstains—human, probably—everywhere.
Ten minutes after infiltration, I had a rough layout.
'Built as one from the start.'
I quickly sent Sia the data and asked her to find connections to the city.
Her voice trembled with shock at what I sent.
-...What is this?
"What else? Secret lab internals."
-Didn't expect it this huge!
"Me neither. But a lab this size can't operate solo. There has to be a passage linking to Yuta. Find it."
-Got it.
I tasked R3 with hunting other passages, sent D3 deeper.
Hidden this well, yet no solid security—no logos or symbols revealing affiliation.
"Layout says left side's senior researchers' quarters? Check there."
-Roger!
"Oh, yeah. That one's intact. Plug in."
A spy-bot leg extended a needle-thin probe.
It jabbed into the device's access port.
Soon, stored data downloaded in a flood.
But all encrypted.
'Try elsewhere?'
I attempted a quick decrypt and gave up.
Beyond R3D3's short-term compute power.
Sent the bot to search another senior researcher's room.
Then something caught my eye.
"Huh? Hold up. Stop."
Trash bin side—a discarded object.
Bot approached: paper.
A single motif etched on it.
Symbolized molecule orbiting an atom.
Easy to overlook.
But it instantly sparked a name in my mind.
'Mutant Medical.'
Knew they were trouble, but not like this.
D3 delicately folded the paper with a leg and stowed it in its body.
As it slipped out the door—
Crack!
Connection severed.
-Beep! Beep! D3 down!
"What happened?"
-Cause unclear from final footage.
"Damn... Would've been perfect with that paper."
-No need to worry. Beep! R3 spotted a researcher-type target.
"Seriously? Which feed?"
Switched to R3's view.
As R3D3 said: a man in researcher garb.
Middle-aged with graying hair—likely senior by attire and age.
'Must capture.'
Sia reported in right then.
-Found it. Two possible spots. Sending now.
"Thanks."
Confirmed spots and moved.
Researcher's path pointed to the lower passage of Sia's two guesses.
'Commercial district?'
Two more levels down.
I stomped hard, accepting some collateral damage.
No time to waste.
People pointed as I blazed past—no glance back.
'There!'
Effort paid off.
In the commercial district, rooftop running and scanning—I spotted the researcher from R3's cam.
Bag in hand, glancing around, hurrying on foot.
I dropped right in front, detaching a leg joint on him instantly.
No time to react—he hit the ground rolling hard.
Bag flew from his grip, smacked the wall.
"Ghk...!"
"Shh!"
Pain hit post-fall; he tried yelling.
I clamped his mouth, grabbed the bag, dragged him to a dim alley.
Fearful eyes scanned me.
I checked surroundings, then asked.
"You're the researcher tied to those test subjects?"
Eyes widened.
Then a resolved expression.
"Ghk...!"
Ready for it, I snapped his neck without hesitation—out cold.
Tough one; eyes rolled back as he passed out.
"Scan."
Beam from R3D3's eye swept him top to bottom.
3D hologram rendered his internals.
As expected: metallic synaptics devices in heart and head.
-Looks like self-termination via overcurrent and toxin release.
"Way to neutralize?"
-Impossible without damage in current setup.
"...Head intact would be ideal. Any options?"
-Beep! One method viable.
"Spill."
-Sync brain nerve signals with mine, disrupt to hijack head chip control. Heart chip uncontrollable—termination code likely triggers.
"...Head fine, but he dies anyway."
-Master's bodily fluid healing, superhuman speed to remove heart chip, my organ replacement functions could revive even if heart stops briefly.
"...Insane plan."
I called it straight.