270

Episode 270 – Rats (1)

–

Kesha Arma's subway was a facility equipped with new technology by cult standards.

In general, cults prefer mobile facilities that move on the ground or in the air. Before becoming an empire that ruled the universe, they developed a civilization on a desert-type planet. So, I wasn't used to building something under sand.

This aspect remained in the consciousness of the cult even after it became an empire. When maintaining various facilities such as the bio-dome type colony orbital habitat, ground transportation methods such as hover buses and psychic trains were mainly used.

Surprisingly, the change in the consciousness of these cults began when the empire began to fall. As the empire's territory shrank and economic problems became more frequent, the cult's thinking gradually changed.

For example, existing structures need to be used more efficiently.

Kesha Arma's Subway was also a product of this change in consciousness.

The cult's subway, which operates by using low-quality moonsilver in a psychic power engine, was created to quickly transport equipment and mined minerals needed for planet mining. This is because the hover bus alone could not handle even one-third of the materials transported in a day.

Although the fortress changed hands over time, the subway still functioned as the blood vessel of space facilities. Although it has changed from carrying tools to carrying people, what is the meaning of distinguishing between the two in the space age?

The inside of the train was filled with pirates from each section. Since everyone had brought weapons, there wasn't enough room to find an opening like usual.

Of course, just because there was plenty of space did not mean it was comfortable. The smell of sweat, alcohol, and drugs clung to the inside of the car. Naturally, the facial expressions of the pirates, who had to suck the foul-smelling cocktail into their bronchi, were not good.

"Hey, it's taking a long time."

"All those damn mercenaries go by bus or boat."

"Even from above, we don't put weaklings on the bus."

"What are you doing?"

"It's too narrow, so don't fight. "It'll be there in a few minutes anyway."

Even while the pirates were muttering, the train was moving diligently. After a few minutes, they arrive at a military port near an underground storage facility.

That time when everyone arrived at their destination and wanted to take a breath of fresh air.

The entire train, which was moving with psychic power, shook greatly. Because of the recoil, all the pirates who were standing fell forward.

"Uuuuh?"

"Ahh! "Holy shit!"

The interior of the vehicle was completely ruined, including a person with a broken tooth after hitting a standing gun and an Insect Man being crushed by a heavy cyborg. The atmosphere, which was already not good, suddenly turned ugly.

"I think the vehicle has stopped?"

"You haven't arrived yet, right?"

"What happened?"

This subway, created by a cult, travels back and forth on a set track on its own without human control. It doesn't stop like this unless it runs out of fuel or there's a problem with the track.

"Someone please go out and check."

Some of the pirates opened the vehicle's door and stuck their heads out to check. The light from the train softly illuminated the tracks laid in the underground passage.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you going to look crazy like that? "Go out and check."

"…the cub. It's up to you. Sheesh."

As the large cyborg pirate glared and threatened, the human pirate had no choice but to get out of the train. Pirates in a similar position approached him in another compartment.

"Have you found anything?"

"I don't know. "I'm out now too."

"This is the first time a train has broken down."

After coming out for a moment, the human pirate took out an electronic cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. As he sucked down the synthetic drug as hard as he could, the unrefined hallucinogen seeped into his lungs. His entire body trembled from the dizzying pleasure that invaded his brain cells.

"The train seems to be fine. "Is it a track problem?"

"Hey, you're here too, so come quickly and check it out."

"Just smoke this."

He took another sip and tried to join his colleagues. The moment I thought that, I heard a sound from ahead.

'huh?'

His eyes were drawn to the tracks that ran straight ahead of the train.

'…'

He took a cigarette and blinked a few times. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and I could see the surrounding scenery more clearly.

There was a haze there.

At first I thought there was a fire. Because the things swaying in the darkness were pitch black.

However, it didn't take long to realize that it wasn't acting or something, but 'something alive'.

Numerous things were shaking in the abyss reminiscent of the universe.

It was like a snake pit filled with countless poisonous snakes, or like maggots boiling on the skin of a corpse.

Greedy, disorderly chaos. It was so dangerous that he could tell even when he was under the influence of drugs.

The 'seething being' moved. The stem, which was like an aquatic plant swaying in the water, stretched out and snatched one of his companions who was in front of the train.

"what?"

The pirates looked puzzled when they saw their comrades disappearing in an instant. The colleague disappeared into the darkness and a pistol with a flashlight attached fell on the spot.

As the pistol that fell to the floor made a dull noise, the pirates' expressions began to change suddenly. They opened their mouths and prepared to scream.

However, the evil entity lurking in the darkness did not leave them alone. Dozens of stems with three-pronged ends came out and dragged away all of his companions.

It took less than a few seconds for the colleagues who came out of the train to disappear.

"…."

The human pirate's legs were shaking like a new recruit going into battle for the first time. He slowly backed away and got back on the train.

"what? "What happened?"

"You fixed it right? "What was the problem?"

He closed the door without answering. As he closed it, he picked up the electronic cigarette with trembling hands and took another deep drag.

"What's wrong with this weakling?"

"What the fuck?"

Thanks to the drug from the cigarette, the truly human pirate could barely open his mouth.

"…there's a monster outside."

"what?"

"They took all the kids in the other compartment."

When they heard those words, the expressions on the pirates' faces on the train became strange.

"Does this guy seem to have lost his taste?"

"This isn't even an underground storage area, so what kind of monster is this?"

"Anyway, I heard there are no normal people who drink drugs."

The absurd pirates mocked him. At that time, the large cyborg pirate shouted in a loud voice.

"Hey, don't do this, let's just walk. "It's not far from the destination anyway."

After saying that, he held on to the car door with both hands. The human pirate who saw this was horrified and stopped him.

"If you open it, it won't…Kek!"

He kicked the human pirate and threw the car door wide open. As expected, there was nothing outside.

The cyborg pirate, who believed this to be the case, raised the corners of his mouth.

"Look you idiot. There's nothing…"

Before he could finish his sentence, something came out of the darkness and attacked him.

"Keuuk?!"

"Giggigigigi"

The being that attacked the cyborg pirate was a human whose ribs had grown abnormally and looked as if he had a mouth on his chest. He hacked the cyborg's waist with the protruding bone.

The comrades who were staring blankly at that scene only then realized that what the human pirate said was true.

As they was about to raise their weapons, the windows of the car broke and numerous black streams entered the train.

Screaming gunshots, lights inside the car flickering uneasily.

There, the human pirate held his head and prayed for this nightmare to end.

After that, the screams that echoed through the underground passage did not last long. What filled the place was the heavy breathing of a horde of animals.

–

"Yes. It hasn't arrived yet. yes? You want me to enter first? Oh no! "We will enter immediately!"

Mercenaries brought by guests from Megacorp and numerous cartel pirates from Hulk Mutant Kesha Arma were besieging the front of the cellar.

Among them, the pirate who was in charge of communicating with the command center shut down his communicator. He wiped away his cold sweat and delivered orders from above to the representatives of each team.

"The higher ups are telling us to start the operation."

"Our kids haven't arrived yet?"

"I heard that the enemy is powerful. "Isn't it for no reason that we enter separately and get destroyed individually?"

"You said above that the priority is to understand the current condition of the item. I think it would be better to check first…" The

mercenary representatives sighed after hearing those words. I didn't like it, but they had no choice.

If an item to be put up for auction is stolen, who will the 'owners of the product' give a damn? They will definitely hold those who hired them to protect the product responsible.

The owner of the mercenaries here is an agent hired by the upper class of Megacorp. I was afraid of the consequences if I treated them carelessly because they were third capital or mid capital.

"I can't. "It would be better for just a few people to rush in, check the items first, and then get out right away."

"After that, let's join the troops that arrived at the military port station and push forward."

"Uhm, I can't help it. "Let's do that."

The representatives who made the decision returned to their respective teams. Searchers from each team gathered in one place and entered the underground storage room.

"…I think I know why I couldn't contact you."

Every time the search party took a step, the sound of sticky water filled the passage. It's not a leak. The entire passage they were walking through was covered in blood.

The search party's expressions became extremely dark due to the strong smell of blood that paralyzed their noses. It was nonsense to expect things to be normal when the passage was like this.

They went inside, trying to think of an excuse to make to their employer. After passing through the shattered security office, they arrived at the storage area in Area A.

"The item is fine!"

"This way too!"

"You didn't touch this place? "That's a good thing."

Contrary to concerns, the container carrying luxury goods and valuable documents was intact. The scattered mercenaries breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there was no damage to the items their master had brought with them.

"Why is this okay? "Weren't you targeting valuables?"

"Let's check inside first."

"We're moving so everyone gather together!"

The scattered mercenaries gathered together again to move to the next area. Just as they were about to leave, mercenary Wolf raised his hand.

"what's the matter?"

"What do you hear?"

"sound?"

"Someone is coming."

After hearing Rat-Headed Wolff's words, the entire search party took up their weapons. Wolff continued to prick his big ears and then looked in one direction.

"?!"

"What is that?"

What emerged from the darkness was 'something walking on two feet'. It had an abnormally developed right arm and was walking towards the search party wearing tattered reinforced clothing.

"Failed Hulk Mutant?"

"no way. "I've seen defective products, but they didn't look like that."

"…It looks terrible."

No matter how I looked at the approaching being, it didn't look like I could communicate with him. One of the mercenaries shot him with a Gauss rifle.

"Gigigigig."

The guy with half of his head shattered fell backwards. The fallen guy didn't even move.

"Is he the one who made this place a mess?"

"Well, it's too weak to look like that."

"…Everyone be careful for a moment."

"huh?"

As soon as Rat-Headed Wolff's words to be careful were heard, the fallen monster wriggled and got up.

"Giggigigi"

An unpleasant groan and a highly viscous black liquid flowed from the mouth of the guy with the broken head. The mercenaries frowned at that disgusting sight.

"Tsk."

The mercenary with the Gauss rifle took aim again to finish him off.

But soon he had no choice but to change his target. This is because a monster with an equally grotesque form appeared behind the one with the broken head.

"uh?"

The mercenaries' complexions became increasingly hard as they saw the enemy. This was because the monster that appeared in the darkness inside the storage room was not just one.

"Gigigigigi"

"Gigigigigigi"

"Gigigigigi"

"Gigigigigigi" "Gigigigigigi"

"Gigigigigigigi"

A bizarre cry uttered by dozens, if not hundreds, of beings.

It was so huge that it overwhelmed the resistance of the search party members.