Chapter 15
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Counter Cognitive Hazards with Physical Disasters (2)
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– BOOM!KABOOM!!!
The destructive power of the new gear was tremendous.
Every time the plasma blaster fired a beam, chunks of the facility itself crumbled away and collapsed.
It was truly devastating firepower.
Compared to this weapon, the guns I'd used before were nothing more than toys.
Chiltoom technology wasn't limited to guns alone.
This battle suit boasted incredible defensive capabilities as well.
I was now immune to their pathetic tentacle attacks.
Of course, it didn't block everything.
Mental attacks like their starlight beams still got through.
Well, closing my eyes handled that just fine.
"UWHAHAHA!!! That's right!!! Come at me harder!!! I'll burn you all to ash!!!"
I unleashed the full might of my new equipment.
I blasted away with the plasma blaster, shredding them down to the atomic level.
And purely for the joy of their screams, I swung my fists to rip apart and crush the star flowers.
I whooped at the top of my lungs, bounding around like an excited kid.
"KHAHAHA!!! Come here!!! Let's play!!!"
"Gyaaaah! Get away, you psycho!!!"
The plasma whipped up into a storm.
Anything it touched disintegrated and melted.
They were crushed beyond all recognition of their original forms.
The scene was straight out of hell.
No—this place was hell.
And I was hell's demon and judge.
I had a duty to deliver the flames of hell to these bastards.
"Come on! The first one here gets extra crispy!!"
"D-Do you have medium?"
"Our menu only serves well-done!!!"
"GRAAAAAH!!! That's not well-done, that's charred!!!"
The plasma blaster packed shotgun-level impact.
At the same time, it could torch enemies like a flamethrower.
Of course, the plasma blaster wasn't invincible.
Its bulkier size created blind spots.
Every now and then, the star flowers exploited those gaps with their cute yet ferocious assaults.
But each time, I grinned with delight and grabbed them barehanded.
"Wh-What?!"
"KHAHAHA! What a perfect stance! You wanted close-quarters that badly, huh? Why didn't you just say so sooner?!"
Then I yanked it hard.
Thanks to the Chiltoom battle suit, I could exert tremendous strength.
The thing got ripped right out of the ground, still alive.
"Gyaaaaah!!! Please...! Please spare me...!"
Even torn from its body, it was still kicking.
Its disgusting moldy flesh twitched from the peripheral nerves' agony.
It begged me to just kill it.
How could I refuse such a plea?
I clenched my fist and started pulverizing it.
"GRAAAAAH!!! Administrator!!! Hurry and stop him!!!"
– Thud!Thud!Thud!
The mold flower’s screams echoed out.
And the administrator—the infected Chiltoom—began to move.
They shambled toward me slowly, like zombies.
'About twenty in total.'
A hefty number.
Before, I'd have bolted by now.
Not anymore.
With this battle suit and gun, there was no need to fear them.
"Ever heard that one?"
"What?!"
"They say courage is proportional to your ammo count."
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"Means my courage is fully loaded right now."
I leveled the barrel as I finished speaking.
Target: infected Chiltoom.
– FWOOOM!
The plasma blaster unleashed its light.
The high-energy plasma beam whipped up a storm as it slammed home.
The Chiltoom zombie took it straight on.
They had bodies close to invincible, sure.
But this weapon was their own invention.
The struck zombie shattered into pieces.
"Bring more! I'll rip 'em all apart!!!"
I opened fire with the plasma blaster.
Thunderous roars boomed with every shot.
Immense blast pressure ravaged the area.
– Whooooosh!
The high-energy plasma storm gradually died down.
When the shockwaves and floating debris finally settled...
The battlefield fell eerily silent in an instant.
"Wh-What?!"
"What happened?!"
"Who won!?"
The star flowers held their breath, peering into the dust cloud.
They probably hoped that relentless bastard had finally met his match.
That even he couldn't handle that many Chiltoom.
But.
– Thud!Thud!
"GRAAAAAAAH!!!"
"No way no way no way no way no way no way...."
"Please stop please stop please stop please stop please stop please stop please stop please stop"
As I slowly emerged from the cloud...
The mold flowers couldn't tear their eyes away.
Horror and terror.
Those were the emotions etched on their faces.
"You lot get extra crispy."
I like it well-done.
Title: Got Stronger and Came Back
Author: Auto-Nickname 1582
Quick situation update.
Finally met the Chiltoom survivors.
Just like that one galaxy predicted, they asked me for help.
Accepted the offer, and they hooked me up with Chiltoom battle gear and a weapon.
Weapon's a plasma blaster—insanely powerful.
One shot and Chiltoom zombies just explode.
Having too much fun, so I'm farming nearby mold colonies with it.
Whoa, that clip is straight-up brutal lololol
This guy's looking more dangerous than the anomalies. Major upvote lololol
Major upvote lolololol
Confident I'd piss myself if I met newb in a dream
Wait, is this guy actually under mental corruption?
Feels like the mental corruption is making it worse. If I just sit still, those thoughts keep bubbling up. Smashing stuff makes it better, at least.
So what's next? Ancients give you any missions?
Headed to the bridge for now. They said something about blowing the ship.
Keep an eye out for useful data on the way. Might find something good.
I took note of that last comment.
The powerful gear was great, but it wasn't enough on its own.
According to radar scans, the closer I got to the core facility, the bigger and more numerous the colonies became.
The number of Chiltoom rose sharply too.
Small groups like now? Easy pickings.
But hordes of hundreds of Chiltoom zombies? No confidence there.
Not enough ammo for that anyway.
To reach that place, I needed something new.
Info, weapons—whatever.
Solid idea. I'll poke around on the way.
I posted my reply and got moving right away.
No time to waste.
The mental erosion was intensifying.
I needed to find a way to resolve this fast.
Or at least something to slow the corrosion.
[Suhariltoom] Human! There's something you need to help with.
A message popped up on my helmet's interface then.
It was that alien from earlier.
"Something I need to help with?"
"Yes. Nearby your current position is the archaeological records archive. It was inaccessible before due to the colony there, but you've cleared it, so now you can get in."
Suhariltoom sent location data right after.
It was close, alright.
About five minutes' walk.
"Could you search that place for archaeological records on Mriya? There should be useful info."
I'd been thinking the same thing, so I agreed.
"This the spot?"
The location led to a massive room.
Cylindrical structure, like a library, with a ceiling stretching endlessly high.
I fiddled with the console as Suhariltoom instructed.
Something clanked and descended.
A small robot—the archive's librarian, basically.
Input the desired data, and it hummed to life, fetching the database and ejecting a storage device.
I activated it immediately.
Access restricted to authorized personnel only.
[Verifying access rights]
[Access granted]
The Truth of the Roomtoom Empire
[Author]: Exploration Captain Philoomtoom
※ Unauthorized removal or dissemination of this research log is strictly prohibited by Chief Researcher Ehilaatoom.
As previously explained, it's established fact that the Roomtoom built a mighty civilization in the past.
However, the exact reason for its sudden collapse remains unclear.
Our excavation team has pinpointed the cause after extensive research—and it's tied to the cognitive hazard we're facing now.
First off, what we called the Roomtoom Temple? Not a temple.
The truth: it was an isolation facility.
They poured all their resources into building what they called the 'Ldahar Isolation Chamber' to destroy their own civilization.
The chamber was built to isolate one entity: the anomalous being designated Mriya—82137.
Documents state Mriya appeared abruptly early in Roomtoom civilization-building.
It quickly became their sole god, dominating the entire species, then began meddling in their progress.
Under Mriya's influence, Roomtoom rocketed to a civilization level beyond their brainpower.
Seemed like divine blessing at first glance—but sadly, Mriya wasn't handing out blessings.
Truth is, Mriya's a parasite that feeds on civilizations.
When Roomtoom invented warp drives, Mriya showed its claws.
It infected their minds, turning them into mycelium bodies, blanketing the planet in colonies.
The Roomtoom, realizing the truth, began dismantling their own civilization to halt the spread.
They even engineered genes to devolve their brains and force-injected the whole species—since low-intelligence life resists Mriya's infection.
By dumbing themselves down, the Roomtoom survived Mriya!
Ehilaatoom! This is why Mriya's so lethal to us Chiltoom.
Its power scales with host intelligence. At our level, if it reaches the homeworld, it'll gain godlike strength.
Imagine our mighty fleet infected, waging extermination wars across the galaxy!
We can't let that happen.
The ship must be scuttled—and warn the others!
[Record End]
Now that I knew the full truth...
Unlike the Chiltoom, I understood why I'd resisted erosion this long.
'Humans have way lower intelligence than Chiltoom, so the corrosion's been slower.'
In short, it grows stronger with higher intelligence.
Lower intelligence weakens or nullifies it.
Thinking back, I'd felt this firsthand.
Deep thinking ramped up the erosion.
But mindless rampages through colonies slowed it—or even improved things.
'What if I exploit that?'
I finally had a solution to the corrosion.
And it was ridiculously simple.
'Rip out my brain and rampage like a lunatic.'
Madness.
Only madness is the answer.