I Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 60
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Chapter 60
As the sound of footsteps above my head gradually diminished.
‘It’s time to move.’
I pressed the terminal on the reinforced suit I was holding. The energy to activate the enhancement suit was almost depleted, but since I wouldn’t be the one wearing it, it didn’t matter.
‘I only need to activate the stealth function, the rest will be handled by my outer shell.’
‘It’s working.’
As I manipulated the terminal on my right wrist, the enhancement suit glowed faintly and soon disappeared before my eyes. It worked well’ now it was my turn.
I activated the metal absorption feature and bit into the enhancement suit. The tough synthetic fibers were torn apart by my teeth, and the metal fragments mixed in between were absorbed into my body. Then, the special effect was triggered, and my body began to blur.
｢Adult?｣
As my figure completely disappeared, Adhai looked around with a puzzled expression.
｢What’s wrong, little one?｣
｢Adult｣ ｢Vanished.｣
｢There, He’s over there.｣
｢I｣ ｢feel｣ ｢But｣ ｢Not visible｣
Number 26 couldn’t detect changes in my body visually, probably because it didn’t rely on sight for perception. On the other hand, Adhai, who perceived the surroundings with its eyes and tentacles, seemed perplexed that it could feel my presence but not see me.
[ZZ ZZZ (I’m here.)]
｢Adult.｣｢Not visible｣.
[ZZ ZZZZZ (I’m hiding.)]
｢Adult｣ ｢Hiding｣｢Perfectly｣
Adhai nodded, as if it was admiring my hiding skills
‘The effect seems to have been validated.’
Feeling relieved, I was about to leave the nest, but number 26, who could now see me, followed.
[ZZZ ZZZZZ(This time, no.)]
｢Why?｣
[ZZZZ ZZZ(This time,I must go alone.)]
｢Can’t I help?｣
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (No, This is something I have to do alone)]
｢Yeah…｣
Being refused by me, the little one sulked and shrunk down. Adhai, who followed, also noticed and huddled together with it.
While I could conceal myself, they couldn’t. Seeing a giant jellyfish and a lizard with flying tentacles, people definitely wouldn’t think positively about them.
I tried to leave them behind but felt their eyes on my back.
‘…Maybe I should do it this way?’
In case something went wrong and a big battle erupted within the hospital, I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of new enemies visiting the hospital. Given that the Council move is imminent if something goes wrong, it’s not entirely a bad strategy to keep them nearby just in case.
Having made up my mind, I called them.
[ZZZ ZZZZ(Follow me)]
With them in tow, I headed towards the hole connecting to the subway tracks.
On the way, I explained the plan to them.
[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ(But you can’t come with me)]
｢Yeah.｣
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (Instead, wait for me where I told you)]
｢Like we did before?｣
[ZZ (Yeah.)]
｢I got it.｣
I took out a communication device from the bag I had kept while devouring the reporter and showed it to Number 26. I planned to use the communication device that the sniper had.
After entering the reporter’s contact information into the sniper’s communication device,I handed the reporter’s communication device to Number 26.
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZ (If this vibrates, it’s the signal)]
｢Yeah.｣
Number 26 extended its tentacles and firmly held the communication device.
After handing over the communication device, I explained to Number 26 where I would be and how they could find me. Perhaps due to its increased intelligence, the little one quickly understood my explanation.
As the explanation was coming to an end, we arrived at the hole leading to the tracks. I told the kids to wait here and approached the hole.
‘My body has grown, so I need to widen it a bit more.’
Perhaps because my strength had increased significantly, breaking the walls around the hole was very easy.
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ(I’ll be back)]
｢Be careful.｣
Leaving the worried kids behind, I crawled into the tracks.
Avoiding passing trains, I ran along the tracks towards the direction of the hospital. The wide passage, enough for two subway trains to pass simultaneously, was filled with the sound of moving trains and my footsteps.
‘The noise is louder, maybe because I’ve gained weight.’
Once I entered the hospital, I would need to stick close to the walls and ceilings. Leaving marks on the walls might raise suspicion among the androids, but it was better than getting caught due to noise.
Even though the body had enhanced, the distance to the hospital that would have taken five minutes by teleportation took less than three minutes by running.
Although it was getting late at night, there were still quite a few people on the platform. I carefully adhered to the wall and waited.
After a while, a train arrived, and the platform filled with people getting off and on the train. The commotion created by the crowd was short-lived.
After the train left, there were almost no people left on the platform. I cautiously crawled along the wall and exited the platform.
Seeing the few remaining people on the platform, I created some traces for the tourists passing by and chattering about it. Fortunately, due to the advanced optical camouflage effect, no one noticed my presence.
After leaving the station, I ran towards the hospital.
Although there were still people on the streets, no one noticed my existence. Some people heard my footsteps and turned their heads, but that was all.
Arriving easily at the front of the hospital, I chose to head to the back entrance instead of the main entrance. After confirming that no one was visible from the back entrance, I quickly entered and went straight up the emergency stairs.
‘I initially considered using the windows.’
However, I couldn’t enter through the windows because my body had grown too large. Crawling along the wall, I was trying to climb from the second floor to the third, but the door to the stairs opened.
“Noise detected.”
An android appeared. The moment it closed the door, my tail pierced through the android’s head like lightning.
With my increased size, the tail had grown to almost the size of a blade attached to a pole. It was more appropriate to call it a poisonous sword than a poisonous sting. The android’s head was instantly crushed in place.
‘It won’t be captured on the camera anyway.’
Before it could switch to infrared detection, there was no chance of me getting caught. Just in case, I destroyed the memory storage device inside the android’s body too.
After pushing the android’s remains into a corner of the stairs, I cautiously used my auxiliary organs to sense the situation outside. Another android had entered a nearby room as soon as the one before closed the door.
While ensuring that no one was around, I opened the door and stepped into the corridor.
‘William is… this way.’
Following the guidance of my auxiliary organs, I moved towards the end of the left corridor, leading to the intensive care unit.
Just as I was about to open the door to a patient’s room, my auxiliary organs detected something strange.
‘What’s this?’
There’s something below.
A very powerful energy mass. It was a high-density energy conglomerate that could not be compared to androids—four of them were moving up from the first-floor lobby.
‘If it’s stronger than an android…’
There was only one possibility.
‘Superior Reinforced Suits!’
Being able to detect it from such a distance meant that it was undoubtedly a reinforced suit with high output and high firepower.
‘Why is an advanced reinforced suit that you can only see on the front lines here?’
Enemies are coming up the stairs on the opposite side. They might come this way, so I quickly hid in the nearby operating room.
“I sense that the door has opened….”
Only a cleaning android remained in the operating room. Before it could finish speaking, I hit him on the head using my combat arm.
After removing the android, I quietly held my breath. Beyond the corridor, I could hear the mechanical sound generated by the thick and sturdy armorsuit.
“It seems to be here.”
“I don’t know why the Vice Commander ordered us to guard this person.”
“The Vice Commander gave strict orders. He said to pay special attention.”
“We are the Vice Commander’s sword. We follow orders when they are given.”
The tone sounded like it belonged in a historical drama, but due to the distortion caused by the mechanical sound, it sounded strangely intriguing. It felt like characters from a classic sci-fi game, space knights of some intergalactic empire.
‘A space knight.’
Two forces come to mind.
First and foremost is Garmelda.
Noble Capital, responsible for reinforced suits and android development within the MegaCorp, is a significant player. Since reinforced suits are crucial to MegaCorp gameplay, many MegaCorp users choose this faction.
‘It can’t be Garmelda. They wouldn’t communicate like that.’
As far as I knew, within the MegaCorp, Eden was the only family with a feudalistic political structure on Mars. The head of the family was referred to as a lord, and elders or leaders were called lords. It had a unique culture where people addressed each other as lords.
‘Is Eden family supporting them with reinforced suits?’
The Eden family was originally specialized in fleet battles in space, not particularly strong in ground battles. The MegaCorp families responsible for ground battles were the Yujin family and the Garmelda family, not them.
‘The situation keeps evolving, like the armed police before. Enemies are evolving too.’
Unthinkable incidents kept occurring as if it were a game. The major families in MegaCorp had a tense relationship, and such cooperation among them was almost nonexistent unless it involved players.
Is this difference due to the fact that this is reality, or did a new system update, similar to the transcendence system, occur?
‘It’s a problem I can’t solve right now.’
I again focused on the conversation coming from the adjacent room.
“The android mentioned that it would take about three hours for this person to wake up.”
“Did the Vice Commander say anything else?”
”He said that when this person wakes up, bring the physical examination data and the doctor’s diagnosis together.”
“Do they suspect mental issues? Although this person was mentally challenged, I was really surprised when they suddenly shot themselves with a gun.”
Listening to the conversation, it seemed like they planned to take William with them once he woke up.
‘I need to handle this situation here.’
I pressed the auxiliary organ under my chin against the wall. This was to understand the positions of the enemies and how they were moving, in the intensive care unit which was next to the operating room.
‘Four enemies. Two near the door, one next to William, and one getting closer to this side.’
While keeping the auxiliary organ pressed against the wall, I prepared my tail for a surprise attack in case If an enemy came close, I planned to pierce them with my tail against the wall.
At that moment, I heard the enemies talking.
”Even though we’re guarding, let’s activate the surveillance system.”
‘I’ll do the same.’
”Huh?”
”Hmm?”
Following that, a regular warning tone flowed from their thick armor.
‘Oh no.’
I quickly detached myself from the wall. Almost simultaneously, the wall was shattered, and bullet-like fists appeared from the other side.
Beyond the dust, four silver-armored knights pointed guns that resembled handgun-type missile launchers at me.
‘Plasma Bolter!’
That’s dangerous.
I urgently smashed the wall and leaped into the corridor. A green light flashed behind me, and the operating room turned into actual powder.
The Plasma Bolter is a kind of transitional weapon that came before the development of the Plasma Pistol.
It looks like a pistol-type missile launcher based on a concrete nail gun, but instead of conventional ammunition, condensed plasma energy is fired from the barrel.
While the destructive power of plasma weapons is excellent, they are extremely heavy due to a failure in lightweighting.
Nevertheless, apart from its weight, it had no particular disadvantages, making it suitable as a general-purpose weapon for combat units wearing superior reinforcement suits.
Thanks to the strength enhancement function in the superior reinforcement suit, it can easily handle the weight and recoil of the bolter.
Although the Plasma Pistol was developed later, the Bolter could still maintain an active position.
“An unidentified alien life form.”
“I’ll handle the patient as his escort.”
“I’ll be counting on you.”
“Let’s go then.”
Three enemies in superior reinforcement suits were approaching. Seeing them heading straight toward my hiding spot, it seemed like my bio-signals were detected by their surveillance system.
‘This renders my camouflage useless.’
With a superior reinforcement suit and a plasma bolter, they are not easy opponents at all.
In the last encounter, I did fight a sniper wearing a superior reinforcement suit, but the circumstances then and now are different.
‘With high-output and high-armor upgrades, their defense must be extremely high.’
Their armor was likely comparable to the outer hull of a battleship. Although my claws were enhanced with type effects of ‘Perfect organism’, breaking through a superior reinforcement suit in one go seemed impractical.
The Spine Projectile Organ, with excellent penetration effects, is a weapon that can directly deal effective damage to the enemy.
‘Should I use the monster’s tentacles?’
I hesitated for a moment, then immediately shook my head. Using it without acquiring the Transcendent ability would be risky, if I were counterattacked, it would be irreversible.
‘…Should I use that ability?’
While sensing the movements of the enemies, I opened up the text box.
[*‘Symbol of the Hunt’: While active, the chance of predation effects significantly increases. All effects of possessed traits are enhanced. Resistance to all types of attacks is granted. Duration is 10 minutes.]
Symbol of Hunt, usable once a day. Due to restrictions, I haven’t used this skill yet.
The Symbol of the Hunt, usable once a day. I hadn’t used it yet due to restrictions. Originally I planned to use it for mass hunting of genetic essences on Commercial district, but circumstances have changed because of William.
‘No, let’s think positively.’
Since it was a technique that needed testing sooner or later, it was a good opportunity. With a suitable demonstration target ready, I activated the Symbol of the Hunt.
The moment it activated, my vision was engulfed in darkness.
‘What’s happening?’
The outer covering over my head rapidly grew, covering everything except my mouth and auxiliary organ. Vision disappeared, but the precision of the sensory input from the auxiliary organ increased to the extreme.
Thanks to that, I could accurately perceive the changes in my body.
‘Right now, my body is evolving.’
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