051

Ep. 51

–

Jade left the house and waited for her colleagues in front of the complex.

Just as I was about to finish smoking two cigarettes, a black sedan appeared from afar. As Jade waved her hand with a cigarette in her mouth, a mid-size sedan with an old-fashioned look approached her.

The car stopped and Jade opened the passenger door. Inside, a woman with goat horns on her head and white hair was driving the car.

"They told me to come secretly."

"What if I bring in an official vehicle and arouse suspicion?"

The woman's name is Janet Russell. As can be seen from the horns on the head, the race is a cult.

"Anyway, it has to be this big for all five people to ride."

"…Tsk, that's not wrong. "What about the other guys?"

Jade clicked her tongue and got into the passenger seat. As he got into the car, a man came out of the back seat.

"Dwayne Russell. "I will return after receiving orders."

"It's been a while."

Dwayne Russell, a lanky man with a gloomy look, was playing the role of a sniper among Eugene's subordinates who had infiltrated this place. So he was wearing an advanced reinforced suit with added optical camouflage effect.

Originally, a high-grade reinforced suit was close to a kind of armor suit, but the reinforced suit that Dwayne was wearing was improved at a huge cost, so it was so light that it could not be compared to the original. In return, his defense was greatly reduced to the level of a mid-level reinforced suit, but since Dwayne was in charge of supporting his colleagues from the rear anyway, it was not a big problem.

"What's left is Frost and Hope?"

"Frost is in the red-light district and Hope… she's coming over there."

Hope Russell, a large man with sports hair, was coming this way carrying a cello bag. Hope went to the back of the car and knocked on the trunk.

"open it."

"It's an expensive car."

Jennette grumbled and opened the trunk. Hope put her cello bag in the trunk and sat in the back seat.

"It's been a while, everyone."

"There will be no problem with weapons, right?"

"of course. Actually, I wonder if there's anything I can write about."

"Don't let down your guard. "You never know what contingency may arise."

"yes yes. mom. Dude Dwayne, how are you?"

Hope ignored Jade's advice and spoke to Dwayne next to her.

"Ugh, that guy looks like shit every time I see him."

"Why is this bitch fighting again?"

"…Jenette. "Don't talk nonsense and get going."

"yes."

Russell's children who infiltrated the T&C Special Trade Center always moved as a team. We have carried out more than a dozen operations together, so it would be no exaggeration to say that we are truly a veteran team.

"Jade is right. "A soldier must always be prepared."

Dwayne Russell has the most soldier-like personality among the team. He was responsible for rear support and sniping.

"What kind of weapon is that? If you run out of ammo, it's useless. "Superpowers are better than those things."

Janet Russell is the number one member of the group. Although she is a cult, she also has extremely powerful and rare abilities.

"You stupid bitch. "It takes a stray bullet stuck in your lower body to come to your senses."

Hope Russell is good at using all kinds of weapons, but especially specializes in using heavy weapons. Although he had a violent personality, he was more trustworthy than anyone else in battle.

"…You fight every time you meet."

Jade Russell, leader and sabotage expert. Thanks to receiving the metallic gremlin gene from Sihyeon Eugene, he can destroy almost all types of metal.

Lastly, there is Frost Russell, who is not here but acts as a vanguard among the team members.

As such, their respective roles were subdivided and they worked well together as they had been working together for a long time.

But apart from that, it was difficult to say that they got along well with each other. Only Jade, who played the role of leader, was friendly with everyone, and the rest of the members were awkward.

'Things that are fine during operations always end up like this when not on mission.'

Still, everyone was very strict about public and private matters, so Jade didn't do much to stop them.

The car driving late at night stopped near the border of the entertainment district. As I waited for a while, a cyborg came running from afar.

"I am the last one."

"It's been a while. frost."

"Nice to meet you too, Jade."

Cyborg Frost Russell got into the back seat laughing heartily. As soon as he got on, the expressions of the group sitting behind him turned sour.

"You crazy, who are you here with?"

"uh? Tina?"

"Yeah, you bastard. "The smell of blood is very strong."

"lol."

All of the people in this car were experts in murder, having killed hundreds of people, but among them, Frost had a special sense.

'Even if there is no mission, I kill people regularly.'

Frost is a cyborg that is almost like an android with over 80% of its body modified. He was in charge of close combat on the team and had the most vicious personality among the members of the Russell family.

Among the cyborgs who turned into megacorps, there were often cases like Frost. After my body was turned into a machine against my will, my mind was broken and I ended up seeking only the most extreme stimulation.

For example, torture, murder, acts of violence against others, etc.

In general, since space dogs are closer to their spiritual world, 80% of converted cyborgs chose the path of space pirates. The remaining 20% came to places with good entertainment, such as special trade centers. As you can see, Frost fell into the latter category.

'Still, I'm glad there's no real problem in carrying out the mission.'

Jade wasn't particularly worried because Frost only killed people he could kill when not in operation. Although the smell of blood that does not go away from the body is burdensome.

"Arrived."

The person who woke Jade up from her thoughts was Jeannette. A large pile of containers could be seen beyond the passenger window.

"Get down and get everyone ready."

While the rest of the group was checking their equipment, Jade approached the wire fence surrounding the loading dock. As I stood still, holding on to the fence with my hand, the fences began to tear apart with the sound of a thick rope breaking.

"Is this enough?"

Before I knew it, there was a hole in the fence big enough for three people to fit in at once. Jade climbed over the fence and entered the loading dock. After completing the inspection, other party members followed him into the loading dock.

"Where are you going?"

"This way. Dwayne. "As always, please be on guard at the rear."

"yep."

With the answer, Dwayne's body melted into the shadows in the air.

Except for Dwayne, the rest followed Jade and walked through the container forest. Thanks to the Metallic Gremlin's genes, Jade was able to easily tell which container she was looking for by its metallic smell, even if the containers looked the same.

He guided the group as if walking while looking at a map. Jade quickly arrived in front of the container and placed her hand on the terminal.

Sparks flew from the machine as the mouth in my hand chewed on the terminal. Then, a clanging sound was heard from inside the solid iron door, and the door opened.

"huh?"

Jade, who stepped inside the container, felt strange. It is normal to feel cold air due to the freezer tube that stores the gallagons, but the inside of the container was only warm.

'what?'

Jade, who had an uneasy feeling, hurriedly ran to the freezer and opened the lid.

"…."

"Huh? "Is this right here?"

Jennet, who followed me in, tilted her head. Jade couldn't say anything to her.

There was nothing inside the freezer.

–

"This is a container containing the creature you mentioned."

William, who had been summoned by me twice, still maintained his polite demeanor. It was because the parasites lodged in his brain caused pain every time he thought negatively about me.

Aside from his polite attitude, he seemed to resent me so much that he was frequently taking painkillers.

'It would be easier if I gave up.'

I suddenly wondered what characteristics I would gain from eating William's meat. Of course, there is no guarantee that it will prey on 100% genetic essence, but if it does, what characteristics will come out?

'Isn't this a model of humanity?'

It's no exaggeration to say that he has an indestructible will, as he doesn't stop thinking about attacking me even though it hurts a lot. This is a trait that seems more suited to this role than that of a pirate vice captain.

'I guess I'll have to wait for it to become useless.'

William just kept his head down, whether he knew that I was trying to eat him or not.

'Well, that's okay. 'Where should I check?'

I got his attention and opened the container.

This container is loaded with 30 walking wood.

Walkingwood is a plant-type creature that lives on a jungle planet, similar to Plantrizard.

Walking trees that were about 30cm tall and looked like cute fairies were sleeping inside the frozen capsule. They seemed to have no idea what danger they were in.

'It was also popular in games.'

Just as the bubble amoeba was popular because of its appearance, many people liked Walking Wood because of its small and cute appearance. There were quite a few enthusiasts who only looked for Walking Wood.

I also visited Walkingwood a lot. In my case, I chased after it to gain its characteristics rather than because it was cute.

The characteristic of working wood is 'natural recovery'.

It is a trait that was a fusion material for the 'regenerative power' trait I possess.

When Amorph acquires two or more characteristics with similar effects, the characteristic with the higher effect is applied first. For example, if you have both natural recovery and regenerative power, the regenerative power is applied.

If the regenerative power is not activated due to an attack that nullifies the effect of the characteristic, natural recovery may occur, but such cases are not many.

'That means it's not needed now.'

There is no advantage to getting natural recovery right away. Of course, it can be used as material to utilize the transcendental system, but other than that, it is not particularly helpful.

So I decided to hand it over to No. 26 this time.

'Food with recovery-related properties may help growth.'

If the result of the mutant bubble amoeba's evolution is the Sea Demon, it will evolve by eating creatures that exist in the same planet's habitat. In that case, it is best to feed creatures that live on ocean planets.

There are no marine creatures among the smuggled animals, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up.

I had a different hypothesis.

Wouldn't it be possible to evolve by eating creatures with specific genes or characteristics, like Aimorphs?

So far, No. 26 has not shown any significant changes even if it eats any living creature. That means it is separate from obtaining nutrients.

Looking back, the only times its tentacles increased were when it defeated Sihyeon Eugene and when it ate smuggled animals. Neither of them had much to do with marine life.

Grow by hunting powerful enemies and eating special animals. These are all similar conditions to Amorph.

If you think about it in an Aimorph way, it is highly likely that the way to evolve into a Sea Demon is to grow by acquiring specific characteristics. So I deliberately chose creatures that have self-healing abilities similar to deep sea creatures.

'Let's first check the parts of the food that have characteristics.'

I called number 26.

[Zuzuzu Zuzuzu (Are you hungry? It's food)]

｢Yes!｣

No. 26 must have been hungry and immediately rushed to the frozen capsule. The guy used his tentacles to manipulate the terminal as naturally as I did.

'It looks like you learned it.'

Have you grown and become smarter? He easily opened the frozen capsule without much difficulty.

When the cold air escaped from the capsule and the lid was opened, No. 26 immediately inserted its tentacles and pulled out the Walking Wood.

"Keck!"

Walkingwood, who was dragged out of his sleep, broke his back and died. Number 26 inflated its entire body and swallowed Walkingwood's corpse in one go.

After absorbing the body for about 5 minutes, No. 26 immediately aimed for the next cryocapsule.

'The digestion speed has also become faster.'

I don't know if it's because Walkingwood is small or because he's grown, but his digestive juices seem to be stronger than before. That level is almost comparable to my acid blood.

While I was watching closely, No. 26 caught and ate 10 Walking Wood. The guy's movements were much slower than before, probably because his stomach was full.

｢I'm full.｣

[Zuzuzu zuzuzu (eat just one more)]

｢Yes.｣

I didn't expect No. 26 to eat it all anyway. Because there's a guy waiting behind number 26. Aadhai, sitting on my head, is drooling and waiting for his next turn.

[Zuzuzu Zuzu (Hold on a little bit)]

｢Me｣｢Patience｣｢Patience｣

[Zuzu (Yes)]

I patted him once to show that he was special.

Meanwhile, No. 26 was digesting its 11th walking wood. When the remains of Walking Wood were almost completely gone from within its pink translucent body, No. 26 suddenly began to tremble.

｢!｣

The guy's body began to expand. I was shocked for a moment because I thought something was wrong, but fortunately the guy didn't show any signs of pain.

No. 26's body swelled and its shape was slightly different from before. Before, it felt like a round steamed bun, but now the top part has become much thicker and a bundle of small fins that act as legs have formed at the bottom.

The original number of tentacles increased from 3 to 6, and the size of the body became much larger than before, making it roughly look like 60cm. Originally it was size 26, which was smaller than Aadhai, but now it is the opposite.

'It looks similar to Mr. Demon.'

If you grow its body to about 20m and make its fins much longer and thicker, it will definitely be in a sea demon combat form.

The guy walked awkwardly on his fins, as if he wasn't used to the changes that had occurred in his body. It was very cute to see it walking with fins that were much smaller than its body, but I knew it. Later, those fins transform into weapons so vicious that they can't be compared to saw blade tentacles.

The guy walking around inside the container looked at me and his body lit up as if it was strange.

"The big baby got small."

[Zuzuzu zuzuzu (No, you got bigger)]

"Did I get bigger?"

He didn't seem to understand, perhaps because it was the first time something like this had happened. To the guy who didn't know what I was talking about, I explained my change using an analogy.

[Zuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zu (You grew up just like me)]

｢Me too?｣

[Zu (Yes)]

｢Wow!｣

The guy jumped up in his place as if he was happy that he had grown up. The container shook slightly, as if not only in size but also in weight.

'I'll have to be careful when conducting a surprise attack with him.'

Before, I could carry it on my shoulder or on my head, but now that seems impossible.

After completing the joyous ceremony, No. 26 inserted its tentacles and legs into its body. When I did that, it only grew bigger and looked exactly like the original bubble amoeba.

"I'll protect you, big baby!"

[Zuzuzu (thank you)]

I patted him to show that he worked hard. It's definitely bigger than before, so the feel has changed a lot. It felt like a water balloon before, but now it feels like a pillow filled with soft cotton.

"…The number of monsters has increased."

William, who was watching No. 26 from outside, muttered indifferently.

Adhai must have been stimulated by the change in No. 26, so he poked my head with his hand.

｢Adult｣｢Me｣｢Growth｣｢Intention｣

[Zuzuz zuzu zuzuzuzu (If you eat, you too will grow)]

｢Good News｣

Honestly, I don't know how Gallagon grows. Since it is not an ordinary creature, I think there is a high possibility that it must meet special conditions, but we cannot know right now.

'Because it's Gallagon, there's a high possibility that it's related to creatures with psychic powers.'

After obtaining the type, I will also consider Gallagon's growth.

Gallagon ate up all the remaining walking wood.

After the meal, we left the container.

The moment I sent William away and was about to go back, several scenes quickly passed before my eyes.

｢A reinforced alloy bullet pierced my head.｣

｢I died.｣

'What?'

I quickly turned my head as my predator senses suddenly activated. Just in the nick of time, the bullet tore through the monster's tentacles behind the head.

'Someone is attacking.'

I woke up to a sharp pain. I used the two tentacles extending below the chin to determine where the attack was coming from.

The entire body's senses were concentrated on the auxiliary organ, and the auxiliary organ read the flow of air that the bullet tore through.

I felt something in the distance near the border of the port district. Because the distance was far, the exact location could not be detected.

'sniper!'

I ordered the kids and William to hide behind the container and quickly moved away. As we were out of the enemy's shooting range, no more attacks came.

'Why all of a sudden?'

It can't be the police because William didn't say anything. The reporter who was chasing me died not long ago, so he probably isn't related to her.

'If the bullet is big enough to pierce my head, it's not an ordinary gun.'

There is only one plasma weapon-class sniper rifle that uses reinforced alloy bullets.

Coil gun for sniping.

'There aren't many people in this city who would have a sniper coil gun.'

If there had been one, armed police would have brought it in. If it's during the board meeting, the newly arrived guards may have it, but there are still a few days left until the board meeting.

'A person who is not a police officer but is trying to assassinate me with an expensive weapon.'

When I thought about it like that, there was someone who came to mind.

Arnold Russell, the man who almost killed me on the meteor research vessel.

'…I'm here to take care of Gallagon.'

After all, it was today. Moreover, it seemed like the other person was not alone.

Four unfamiliar beings were entering the detection area of the auxiliary organ.