I Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 129
Ep. 129
–
Life is unknown.
This is the motto of Ren An, the research team leader at the PH-101 research base.
He was a third capital from Ganymede, but he is a man of great standing who became a prime capital thanks to meeting his wife.
Even if the wife is a collateral branch of the Zhao family, it is Prime Capital anyway. Thanks to marrying such a woman, he was able to occupy one of the lowest positions in the Zhao family. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to serve as the head of the research team at such a large research base.
Looking at that, I really couldn’t understand life.
He was on a roll until he got to PH-101, but ever since he was shipwrecked in the deep sea, he has been heading towards the abyss.
But after capturing Mutant Demon, his mood skyrocketed. Although many of the team members died during the capture, it was not a problem to worry about.
The dead are all middle or low capital. Caught Mr. Demon using common, cheap human resources? It was a profitable business no matter who looked at it.
I was thinking that a few hours ago.
Now, let alone a rosy future, it was unclear whether or not we would be able to survive until the morning sun rose.
“What the hell is going on? “It wasn’t an earthquake?”
Area A where the first situation room is located.
Aside from Ren’an, the team members who woke up and came here were busily assessing the situation.
“According to the central computer’s report, it was caused by an external shock!”
“Could it be Mr. Demon? “He probably can’t afford that, right?”
“Or maybe just the Dread Hydra or Pale Mask.”
“That can’t be possible. “This is not the territory of two creatures.”
Dread Hydra is a very large sea anemone that can reach 50 meters in length, and Pale Mask is a large predator that eats Dread Hydra. Although both are weaker than the Sea Demon, they are formidably ferocious deep-sea creatures.
The habitat of the two creatures is a trench beneath the underwater canyon next to the base. Since this research base was set up outside their territory, it is unlikely that one of them attacked it.
“Currently, the EF area is completely flooded, and water continues to flow into the CD area!”
“Flooding is a problem, but water pressure is the biggest problem.”
“I agree. “There is a lot of strain on the device that regulates the internal environment, so you never know when it might malfunction.”
The PH-101 research base is located in the deep sea tens of kilometers below. It is designed to withstand even the harshest environments, so it can easily withstand the enormous water pressure of the deep sea.
But the people inside are a different story. If the device that stabilizes the air pressure inside fails, everyone here will die.
‘Tsk. ‘I guess I’ll have to throw it away.’
Runan, who had been silently listening to the opinions of his teammates, finally spoke.
“To stabilize the pressure, the EF section must be separated from the ring. “They will be separated by force order and the CD area will be decided based on the situation.”
“Team leader T?!”
The expressions of the team members darkened after hearing the command.
Areas F and G are where the sleeping quarters are located. Due to the incident occurring at night, the number of people remaining in Area F easily exceeds several dozen.
Despite that situation, the team leader chose to abandon all the personnel in Area F.
“What are you doing? “Can’t you hear me?”
“no!”
When the team members hesitated over the fact that they would have to abandon all of their colleagues who might still be alive and awaiting rescue, Runan urged them.
As the team members tried to move under Runan’s orders, the base shook violently. Everyone in the first situation room was shocked by the sudden shock.
“What is this?! “Is this another attack?”
“no! “What’s happening now is a shock from within!”
“Is it because of the water pressure?”
“Stop talking nonsense and check the situation quickly!”
“yes!”
Following Run An’s order, the team members quickly sat down in front of the computers in the situation room and began assessing the situation.
After a moment, the face of one of them distorted.
“Uh, team leader?”
“Something?”
“I think I’ve found the cause.”
After seeing his report with a white face, Runan approached and checked the monitor. Soon, he too had the same face as his teammates.
“An unknown creature has broken through the outer wall of Area E and is currently moving to Area G?”
There are a total of 8 zones in the smoke base, from Zone A to Zone H. Since it is composed of a circular ring, the area next to GH area is Area A.
It was a big deal for an unidentified monster to invade the first situation room, but the real problem was different.
Area H is where the biological laboratory is located. In other words, the Sea Demon they captured with great difficulty is trapped there.
“Separate Area G immediately…!” The moment he
hurriedly
shouted, a shock that had never been felt before hit the situation room.
–
‘It looks like you don’t know about my intrusion yet.’
Immediately after entering, they went around pulling out people’s hair, but no special measures were taken other than the area being sealed off.
Thanks to their late response, I was able to go find No. 26 comfortably.
Every time I crawled, the water that rose to half the height of the hallway shook violently. As the area was closed, the inflow of sea water stopped, so the entire corridor did not become submerged.
Because of this, I had to crawl in an uncomfortable position through narrow hallways. This is because as soon as I lifted my waist up just a little, the top of my head touched the ceiling.
‘If the hallway ceiling had been lower, I wouldn’t have been able to take the food.’
Currently, my six eroding tentacles were wrapping around the corpses like a snake hunting its prey.
It looked like it was made of woven gulbi, so it wasn’t very nice to look at, and it was uncomfortable to move around, but it couldn’t be helped.
Even when we first met on Yoosung’s research ship, the researchers did not provide No. 26 with a proper meal. It literally provides just enough nutrition to keep you from dying.
‘He must be very hungry too.’
Even if I’m a little uncomfortable, number 26 is much better than starving.
‘Are we here?’
As I passed through the hallway marked H, there was a thick metal shielded door blocking my path. I had already broken one of the shield doors in front of me, but this one seemed thicker than that.
Since it is a place to study dangerous marine creatures such as sea demons, the security level seems to be higher than other places.
‘Well, it’s no use.’
I held the assist organ under my chin close to the shield door. It’s a double door configuration with another shield door on the inside, but it doesn’t matter.
A piece of metal like this cannot break my will.
[Zuzuzuzu (I’ll get it out to you right away)]
“Yes!”
After reassuring No. 26, I took a step back.
Acidic fungi are half effective in water, so they must be destroyed using primitive methods.
After keeping a reasonable distance from the door, I lowered my head so that my horn could stab the door, and then rushed forward.
The six combat arms attached to my upper body pushed my body forward, pounding the floor and walls of the hallway. The tail submerged in water and the claws on the lower body moved furiously, pushing back the current so that I could move forward quickly.
I also broke through the outer wall of the research base, which was originally designed to withstand the deep sea.
The thick screened door shattered upon impact with my horn. As if that wasn’t enough, the shield door behind it was thrown away like a piece of paper by my rush.
Sea water in the hallway behind me poured into the broken door.
‘hmm?’
“Gurruk?”
“It’s the enemy. “Gruk.”
When I broke through the shield door and came in, there were no humans, but instead other beings were waiting for me. Fishmen in overalls looked at me.
‘Fishrian?’
I saw humans and Fishrians trading in a floating house on the sea, but I had no idea they were also at the research base.
Seeing that he was wearing work clothes, it seemed like he was in charge of security and security work here.
“Gurgling. “That guy made a mess of the human nest.”
“Gruk. “You look strong, so I offer you up as a sacrifice!”
“Jemuul!”
They made strange noises and sharpened their claws. The eyes that sparkled in the dark disappeared into the water.
If they were humans, they would have run away right away, but as expected from fanatics, they were unstoppable.
‘I didn’t expect to meet you here.’
In the game, Fishrian mainly appears as subordinates of powerful marine creatures. In line with the setting of serving the predators of the deep sea, it takes on the role of combat assistant against fearsome predators such as the Sea Demon Pale Mask.
To be honest, for players who fight against semi-boss creatures like the Sea Demon, Fishrian is nothing more than an annoying fly, but even so, they cannot be ignored.
‘Male Fishrians have poisonous nails and thorns.’
Those colorful thorns on their backs and heads, resembling a snail’s sting, are not decoration. In reality, just as the venom of animals living in the sea is usually strong, the venom of the Fishrian is also very strong.
In addition, Fishrian can control the power of the poison, so it can be seen as a higher compatibility with the neurotoxin I have.
The unfortunate thing for them is that I have the characteristic of being ‘completely immune’. Perfect Immunity, one of the semi-adult perks, is a characteristic that grants near-perfect immunity to poisons and diseases. Unless you are a player who specializes in using poison, there are not many beings that can harm you with poison.
‘And…’
“Guk!”
The guys who were diving approached me in an instant and jumped out of the water. Their fingernails scratched my skin.
“Guruk?!”
“It’s solid!”
Since the nails don’t get stuck in the first place, it’s useless even if it’s poisonous. Perhaps the enemy used the poison glands on the thorns to poison the water.
I stretched out my fighting arms and grabbed the Fishrians’ waists. Their eyes were shaking without hesitation, as if they had not expected this to happen. When I put pressure on my hands, their backs broke with a loud sound.
“monster! “It’s a monster!”
“Gruk! “Sacrifice is difficult!”
The guys who were not caught by me tried to run away, as if they had finally realized the situation. I threw away the already lifeless corpse of the Fishrian and ran after them.
Having added the Fishrians to the list of prey entangled in the eroding tentacles, I looked at the remaining corpses.
‘It’s a bit awkward to carry around, but should I just taste it?’
I bit off the head of the Fishrian corpse in one bite. The fish’s unique fishy smell, the stinging and intense taste of the poison remaining in the venom gland, and the unique flavored texture tickled my mouth pleasantly.
‘It’s delicious.’
It doesn’t taste as heavenly as the genetically modified human Swamp King, but it has a very unique flavor.
There was almost no fat, so it was light without feeling greasy, and perhaps because of the strong muscles, the chewiness was quite good. In addition, the poison flowing from the venom gland between the brain and spine gave a thrilling pleasure, like eating sashimi with wasabi.
‘I’ll have to take these to No. 26.’
I discarded some of the human corpses that were wrapped around the corrosive tendrils and filled them with Fishrian. Sea Demon No. 26 will have stronger poison resistance than me, so he will be able to enjoy Fishlian meat with pleasure.
‘When giving it to Aadhai, you should avoid the poison gland area.’
With that in mind, I entered the area and found a prison that looked solid.
And I saw a happy face inside.
「…Big baby?」
[Zuzuzuzu (It’s been a long time)]
「Big baby!」
No. 26 jumped up and showed joy when he saw me.
The size of the guy I saw after a long time was much smaller than before. The size that used to be about 5m is now only about 2m to 3m. The pink body, reminiscent of a cat’s paw, was lifeless and dull.
‘It’s probably because I’m under a lot of stress.’
It felt so obvious that he had gone through quite a bit of hardship that I even flinched without realizing it.
Contrary to what I thought, No. 26 must have been really excited to see me, as its body glowed and sent out waves of light.
“The big baby has grown a lot! It’s much bigger than me!”
[Zuzuzuzuzu (That’s because you eat well)]
“I’m glad you ate well! Good job big baby!」
[Zuzuzu(I’ll take you out right away)]
「Yes!」
[Zuzuzuzu Zuzuzuzuzu Zuzu Zuzu(I brought something delicious, so eat it when it comes out)] ‘
Wow !’
I looked.
‘indeed. ‘It’s a Star Union mountain special prison.’
I wondered why No. 26 looked so lethargic, but I immediately understood.
The prison bars were pitch black because they were made entirely of pure black silver. There were several special sprinkler-shaped devices installed between the bars and on the floor and ceiling.
That device, like the Blood River, is a device that absorbs the energy of other living things. The absorbed energy is used to power the device itself, so no matter how powerful a creature it is, it can be trapped for a long time.
‘I can’t use gremlin moss because there is water nearby.’
I walked over to the computer next to the prison that was running the prison. I touched the computer with my small arm near my chest, but it didn’t work properly, probably because of the water that had entered the entire area.
‘I’ll just have to open it with my bare hands.’
The management computer will be damaged and the energy absorption device will be disabled over time, but I have no intention of waiting until then.
I held on tightly to the prison bars with all six fighting arms.
The moment I caught it, all the energy drained out of my body, but I didn’t care. Because the energy that goes into bending the iron bars is greater than the energy that escapes.
The iron bars I was holding on to were bent like taffy sticks and then torn apart with a short bursting sound. After repeating it a few times, I was able to break down the bars enough to reveal No. 26.
We also destroyed all the energy absorbing devices around the broken iron bars so that he could get out safely.
[Zuzu zuzuzu (You can come out now)]
「Wow! Big baby, strong!”
Number 26, who was finally free, jumped up and hugged me. When I left the space city, his body was about the same size as mine, but now he is much smaller.
‘It reminds me of the old days.’
As I hugged the smaller guy, an old memory suddenly came back to me.
When we first met in Yoosung’s spaceship and when we had just arrived in Space City. At the time, I was carrying it on my head.
‘I won’t be able to wear it on my head anymore.’
Until you acquire the ‘Giant Creature’ trait, riding it on your back will be the only way to do it.
[Zuzuzuz (You had a hard time)]
「I’m okay. “What about the older one?”
[Zuzuzu (as you can see)]
I patted No. 26 a few times and released the hug. I handed the food I had prepared in advance to the guy who still seemed to be in a good mood.
“thank you! It’s really good!”
No. 26 must have been hungry and immediately pulled out tentacles from its body and swallowed its prey. I continued to pet him to show that he had worked hard.
‘The rescue was successful. Next…’
No. 26 quickly ate all the food I brought. I don’t think this will fully satisfy his hunger.
“Big baby! “I have something to tell you!”
Number 26, who had finished eating as I expected, called me.
[Zuzuzu(Are you still hungry?)]
「Yes. But there’s something more important than that.”
[Zu (Huh?)]
“Creatures with appendages here. Very mean.」
[Zuzuzu zuzu zuzuzuzu (When you say appendages, do you mean humans?)]
「Yes! “Humans are bad!”
No. 26’s body swells greatly and the light blinks frantically. This is my first time seeing him this angry.
[Zuzuzu zuzu zuzuzuzu zuzuzuzu (Don’t worry, I’m going to scold the humans)]
「Yes! Let’s scold them!」
[Zu (Okay)]
Number 26, waving its fins and tentacles menacingly.
After seeing that cute appearance, I made up my mind again.
I will make those who made No. 26 angry pay a bloody price.
‘I was originally planning on doing that, but…’
I don’t think I should simply kill him.
All personnel at this deep-sea research base will die while struggling in pain and despair.