I Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 188
Ep. 188
‘Ah.’
The moment I put Jason’s head in my mouth, I knew I had made a huge mistake.
The red water of life flowing from my mouth was surprisingly addictive. So much so that I even forgot the pain of having a hole in my neck.
Jason’s blood was similar to maple syrup, but much sweeter. It was clear that his meat was more attractive than I could have imagined.
The problem is that all I have right now is his head. The body below the neck disappeared somewhere along with the blue light.
‘Should I consider myself fortunate that at least my head was saved?’
Thanks to the Essence Harvester’s Jaw effect, you can obtain the opponent’s genetic essence with just your head.
I tightened my jaw and chewed Jason’s head.
Flesh, muscle, blood, bone, brain, and even the only remaining horn. All the elements that made up the head of the cult were absorbed into me.
Then, translucent text boxes appeared one after another before my eyes.
“Predation effect activated! Succeeded in stealing ‘Jason (Jason Turningham)’s’ perks! ｣
｢There are no characteristics that can be combined among the existing characteristics. The certificate will be transferred to the storage facility.”
“Predation effect activated! Succeeded in stealing ‘Jason (Jason Turningham)’s’ privilege! ｣
｢Can be fused with the possessed ‘Space Bacteria’ and ‘Flame of Illusion’. Please select a characteristic. The result of your choice is influenced by the characteristics of the material used.”
“PS: You are at a crossroads of important choices. Please choose carefully. ｣
｢Time remaining until characteristic selection: 24:00:00｣
｢Eligible for use of the characteristic enhancement system. Would you like to use the system? ｣
｢Predation effect activated! Succeeded in stealing ‘Jason (Jason Turningham)’s’ perks! ｣
｢There are no characteristics that can be combined among the existing characteristics. It will be transferred to a certificate storage institution. ｣
‘Why are there so many?’
I thought it would be similar to Muriel, but there were more text boxes printed than I expected.
‘Are these perks obtained by robbing other players?’
It appears that he had a total of three perks. Two of them cannot be used because they do not meet the current conditions, and only one can be used in combination with the characteristics I have.
‘Well, the Marauder’s Irregular Polyhedron also used metal absorption as a material.’
I first checked the perks that can be fused right away.
It is written that one of the infection-related traits, Space Bacteria, and the superpower-related traits, Hallucination Flame, can be used to fuse perks.
The two traits have completely different personalities. Depending on which of these is used, completely different results will appear.
In addition, for unknown reasons, they gave us 24 hours to choose.
‘This is my first time like this.’
Although it was an unusual situation, it was not pleasant. Because there is no way to give benefits like this without any reason.
‘It’s a crossroads to make an important choice….’
There are still 24 hours left, so there is no need to choose right away.
There is something to do first.
All the good energy I gained from eating Jason’s head was used to heal the wound on my neck. As the internal penetrating wound healed somewhat, the gushing blood stopped.
Now that the fatal wound has recovered, the Revenant Agency has completed its mission and returned to its dormant state. This tiny organ attached to the heart will go into a long sleep for the next six months.
Therefore, it may be difficult to use the Revenant Agency when fighting Black Gallagon.
‘If we get attacked in this state, we have no chance of winning.’
In addition to the rampage I caused underground, the Thunder God has also been activated, so I don’t know when the Gallagons will fly in.
Not only me but everyone here is not in a normal condition. No. 26 suffered serious injuries on his body, and Aadhai had both his legs and wings broken. It’s hard to find intact parts of the PS-111.
Fortunately, the Mother of Heaven is in good condition, with only her beak broken.
She approached me.
“We have to get out of here quickly.”
She also knew that this situation was not good at all.
[Zuzuzu Zuzu (Let’s go to the mountain)]
｢…The Gallagons went there, will it be okay?｣
As she said, the mountain is not safe, but there is nothing we can do. The underground space below where we stand has completely collapsed.
Even if you are lucky enough to find a place that hasn’t collapsed, there is a high chance that you will be caught by the Gallagons that come here.
‘Not only that, but feeding is also a problem.’
The last card I pulled out to kill Jason was a collaboration between ‘Clever Underdog’ and ‘Image of the Hunt’. This decision was made because I thought it would be useful for killing enemies, but there were other reasons as well.
The clever weakling is a special status specialized for agility and infiltration. It also has the effect of efficiently distributing the energy consumed. Therefore, the side effects of hunting can be minimized.
It is unlikely that they will reveal this to their children, as has happened in the past.
‘I’m more worried about the kids than myself right now.’
There are only two ways to heal seriously injured guys. Feeding the kids food or attaching ‘symbiotic spores’ after I build the nest.
‘Either way, the need for large amounts of food is the same.’
And there is no food around here. This is because as the underground collapsed, the prey was also buried in the ice.
[Zuzuzu Zuzu Zuzuzu Zuzu (There is no other way now)]
“Okay.”
Nodding, the Mother of Heaven transformed into a griffon and carried the broken PS-111 on her back.
“excuse me. “Middle baby.”
“…Can I call you Heavenly Mother?”
“This is an unauthorized command.”
｢….｣
Meanwhile, I carefully picked up number 26. The guy who suffered major injuries had his body reduced to a small size, perhaps to minimize energy leakage.
[Zuzuzuzu(Are you okay?)]
“I’m okay! “A big baby doesn’t hurt?”
When I looked at its white body, I could feel that it was in severe pain. Still, I had a strange feeling seeing this guy worry about me first.
[Zuzuzu zuzuzu (I’ll be gone in no time)]
｢Amazing!｣
[Zuzuz zuzuzu (Please be patient)]
I placed No. 26 on my head, being careful not to hurt it, and checked Aadhai’s condition.
The guy was in very bad condition. Broken front leg bones and wings were a problem, but hypothermia was the biggest problem.
I picked up the shaking guy in my fighting arms and hugged him close to my chest. The purpose was to raise the animal’s temperature a little with the fur covering its body.
“Warmth”
I looked at the Mother of Heaven as I felt the boy in my arms rubbing his head. After finishing preparations, she faced me and nodded.
We ran toward the direction where the pitch-black mountain ridge line was located.
I am the mother of heaven, who has the body shape of a centaur and moves her four legs diligently, or who jumps vigorously with a body resembling a lion.
The footprints we left behind were quickly blurred by the pouring white ice flowers.
While running, I heard the sound of an animal growling in the black sky. It was a signal that a snow storm was approaching.
The snowfall became heavier and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply. If there was any delay here, Adhai and the Mother of Heaven, who are weak against the cold, would freeze to death.
Heavenly Mother, who knew that fact, was doing her best to run.
After running for about 10 minutes, we reached the end of the mountain range. It was a different place from the place where I fought the Screamer yesterday, but the scenery I saw was similar.
These trees are thin at the base, but their branches extend like spiderwebs as they go upward. They evolved in this way to survive the frequent strong winds and snowstorms.
Thanks to the trees as a barrier, it was less cold in the forest than elsewhere.
Of course, this does not mean that you are warm, just that you have avoided a situation where you will freeze to death immediately.
I put down No. 26 and Aadhai and started digging around on the ground. They dug out the soil, made a large hole, and covered it with nearby tree branches.
[Zuzuzu zuzuzuzu zuzuzu zuzu (It’ll be better if you get in here)] I
feel like starting a fire, but if the smoke escapes, the Gallagons will get caught. It’s a pity, but this is the best.
“Everyone, stay together. Then it will be less cold.」
｢Yes.｣
｢Cold｣｢Cold｣｢Cold!｣
｢The heat dissipation function is currently inactive. It can be activated if you provide additional energy.”
Four types of creatures fought together to survive. This bought me more time.
‘Now all that’s left is the energy needed for recovery.’
It’s just as PS-111 said. We need energy. If No. 26 recovers, he can inflate his body and protect the children from the cold.
‘And you can give PS-111 psychic powers.’
For my recovery, I need something to eat right away to fill my stomach. I left the children with Heavenly Mother and went into the forest.
There are only a few minutes left until the symbol of the hunt ends. This is to prepare for possible side effects.
‘I have to find something.’
Any living thing that can be converted into energy will do. If you don’t put it in your mouth right away, you don’t know what will happen.
The auxiliary organ, which took the shape of a bone knife, moved with all its might to find a living creature.
An auxiliary organ was searching the surroundings diligently. Some movement was detected not far away.
The sound of footsteps made by many people.
I ran in the direction of the sound.
The people who made the sound were there after passing through countless trees.
‘…this.’
Unfortunately they were far from what I had hoped.
“Confirmation of hostile creatures. 30% consistent with set goals. “Main controller ‘Pira Eleven’ command delay.”
“Send the information to the PS-250 intermediate terminal. Transmission complete.”
The owners of the footsteps were three new screamers. Behind them lay a green-scaled beast.
The creature was so large that it easily exceeded 10 meters in length, including its tail, and had wings as large as its body. It was the Green Gallagon.
The body was full of bite wounds, but there was no smell of blood at all. It was clear that someone had sucked every drop of blood from the body.
‘I don’t know what happened, but…’
I need Gallagon’s corpse to replenish my energy right now.
“Confirmation that no intermediate terminal has decision-making authority. “Independent judgment is required.”
“Energy replenishment complete. “Gallagon’s biological properties have been applied.”
“Start of target suppression.”
With those words, the screamers rushed towards me at incredible speed. It looked similar to when Aadhai used super acceleration.
The Screamer attacked through the air and swung its spider-like metal legs towards me.
Transformed into a ‘clever weakling’, I hit the ground with all four legs and dodged to the side.
I swung my tail towards the tail of the guy who just barely passed by. The claw at the end of the tail hit the guy on the back of the head.
“Quick!”
Screamer, who made a strange groan, fell to the floor. Meanwhile, another screamer approached right in front of me.
Two front paws with three sharp claws flew towards my head. I grabbed his legs with my fighting arms.
The Screamer’s body, caught by its front legs, twisted strangely, and its back legs aimed for my side. It was a possible attack method because it had a total of 8 legs.
‘Then I’ll do the same here.’
In the mode of hunting, I have more arms and legs than they do. I crossed and swung the arm with the bone scythe on my back.
Following an eerie sound, the body that was trying to stab me lost strength. I threw the cleanly decapitated body of Screamer into the air.
Screamer, who was climbing up a tree and looking for an opportunity to attack, quickly jumps down when he sees his comrade flying towards him.
I rushed towards the spot where he would land. It tried to avoid my attack by twisting its body in the air.
‘Where!’
The beasts on my head’s carapace opened their mouths like a chorus and poured out powerful sound waves at the creature. The body of the guy who was hit directly by the intangible wave that caused paralysis became stiff.
And the six horns on its head pierced the Screamer’s body.
“Cattle incineration pro…”
He grabbed the guy’s head with his fighting arm before he blew himself up. I applied force in that state and pulled it out with great force.
“So, so, so….”
The guy who had his entire spine pulled out could not hold out for long and his functions stopped. After discarding the disgusting Screamer’s head on the floor, I used my hands to tear off the rest of the horns.
As soon as the battle with Screamer ended, all the strength drained from my body.
The symbolic effect of hunting has ended.
Where my strength was gone, an intense hunger, as if I had not starved for several days, came in and filled the empty space. The thick shells that covered the body in layers crumbled like sand castles.
The bone sickle arm on his back shrunk until it separated and fell to the ground. The arms, armed with strong muscles and carapace, looked like those of a newly excavated mummy.
Other than the shell being peeled off, there was little change in body size.
No matter how big the weakling grows, he cannot exceed 5 meters. Even if you use the symbol of hunting, only the appearance changes and the length itself does not increase.
The moment the symbol of the hunt ended and the transformation of the body was completely completed, someone’s voice was heard.
“Hostile creature. “Combat situation information being transmitted to PS-250 intermediate terminal.”
It was the screamer who got hit in the back of the head by my tail. The guy with two-thirds of his head crushed was still alive.
‘Because self-destruction is annoying.’
Even under the pressure of extreme hunger and lethargy, I moved forward to deal with it.
That’s when I was about to get close to the guy and finish him off.
｢Big adult!｣
‘Aadhai?’
Suddenly, Aadhai’s thought wave was heard. I turned my head and saw him flying between the trees.
The thing was barely flying, flapping its weak wings.
｢Big deal!｣｢My kind｣｢Me｣｢Discovery!｣
‘What?’
As soon as I understood what the thought wave he shot meant, I felt something above my head.
‘The sound of wings flapping?’
As soon as I realized that, I quickly backed away. Immediately after I retreated, a huge white beast landed on the Screamer.
It had crushed the Screamer neatly into powder and looked down at me with eyes resembling amethyst.
‘…crazy.’
Numerous horns on the head, huge wings, a body resembling a reptile, and a bundle of tentacles instead of a mouth.
Gallagon, known as the dragon of space, is known to be the second most powerful after Black Gallagon.
At this moment, White Gallagon, whom I had hoped I would never encounter, was in front of me.