038

Ep. 38

–

Sander always thought of himself as a cautious person.

It's funny that someone who commits the serious crime of smuggling would think that, but at least that's what I believed.

After seeing others start out haphazardly and then get caught up and become 'employees' in the entertainment district, he prepared his smuggling very carefully.

They had established a close relationship with the smuggled animal management team in advance, and even the port security team and even the administrative district security team were lined up. Among the criminals within this space city, there probably aren't many who move as cautiously as he does.

Of course, Sander was a realistic person and did not believe that he could commit the perfect crime. He planned to get his hands dirty as soon as he earned enough to move to another planet before the surveillance network reached him.

However, he had no idea that with only a short time left to achieve his goal, an unknown entity would trample on his dream.

'Damn it!'

Sander, who was running away under the protection of his bodyguard, cursed under his breath.

As I turned off the camera, I asked my contacts in the port security team to change the patrol radius, so there were no people or even androids around here.

Of course, there was still a working camera, but I was afraid of what would happen if I ran there. The fact that he secretly broke into a place full of logistics storage containers with several people in the early morning was perfect to arouse suspicion of smuggling.

Sander knows full well that smuggling is a serious crime in Megacorp.

Truly an outsider.

Images of 'employees' suffering in the entertainment district flashed before my eyes.

"I guess I'll have to go to the police station."

"what? "If I go to the police station, I'm done!"

"But we cannot fight the enemy on our own. "It would be better to ask for protection now."

"That…damn it!"

It's just as the bodyguard said. It's better to buy time than to die right away.

It seemed like the time had come to check how effective the credit that Sander had been giving to the district general security team was.

One bodyguard guarded the rear, and the other two moved close to Sander.

When you leave the loading dock, there is a police station not far away. They moved diligently between the huge walls made of containers.

"Aaaahhh!"

"!"

A scream was heard from behind. Sander trembled and looked back, but there was no one there.

All that remains is the laser rifle that the security guard dropped.

"…I will run."

The security guards pulled Sander away with tense faces. They walked quickly, barely lifting Sander's body halfway.

In the distance, you can see a half-open wire mesh gate in the middle of the wire mesh fence surrounding the loading dock.

The three of them strengthened their legs, thinking that all they had to do was get over that point. Sander was also gaining some hope when the security guard next to him stopped in place.

"for a moment!"

"what's the matter?"

"I heard something."

As Sander listened to those words, he definitely heard something.

Should I say that it is similar to the sound a crane makes every time it moves a container, but much smaller? It sounded like something like a hammer hitting a piece of iron periodically.

"The police station is just beyond there. "Run."

"what?"

"Run now!"

At the guard's shout, Sander ran. Behind him, both bodyguards were holding laser rifles and guarding the surroundings.

After a few minutes, I heard the security guards shouting. The sound raised his fear several times more.

My shoes came off because I was running like a crazy person, but Sander didn't feel it. The wire mesh gate was now directly in front. The moment he touched the half-open door, he felt a stinging sensation on his calf.

'uh?'

Suddenly his legs gave out and he fell face down on the wire mesh. He hit him so hard that blood flowed, so of course he should have felt pain, but he couldn't feel any pain.

'what's this?'

Only then did he realize that his body was completely paralyzed. "It" appeared on top of what was lying on the floor like a log.

"Grrrrrrr"

"It's" mouth got closer to his face. Looking at the monster's mouth dripping with saliva, Sander peed without realizing it.

"It" growled briefly and picked up Sander's body.

'Fuck you! 'Where are you taking me!'

The place he took Sander was under the container crane where they first met. He threw the sander on the floor.

'What is it?'

"It" left the sander alone and approached the refrigerated container. It was the container where the outspacer was frozen.

The guy standing in front of the container door put his head close to the terminal.

'What are you doing?'

After doing that for a while, he operated the terminal with the small arm on his chest and easily opened the door. Then it entered the container making a thumping sound.

An hour has passed since he went in. He hadn't come out since he went in to do something.

'Please, someone help me!'

I had to hurry and run away while the guy was preoccupied with something else, but his body was immovable.

He was just lying there giving off a foul smell.

–

'It stinks.'

I brushed off Broker S's shoulder, which was covered in bodily fluids. I only intended to threaten him, but I didn't expect him to be that scared. I even deliberately stabbed him gently because I was afraid that if I stabbed him too hard, he would die of shock.

'Because I can't kill you yet.'

Broker S is an important person. Even if I catch it, I have to catch it at the right time.

'I have to deal with this first rather than the broker.'

Currently I am in the freezer container where the outspacer is stored.

The container was filled with 20 cryogenic freezer tubes.

There is Broker S and there are corpses scattered here and there, so you need to eat the Outspacer quickly.

I operated the terminal in the front freezer. The glass tube opened, allowing cool air to escape from the tube.

What was inside was a creature that looked like a mix between a crayfish and a camel spider.

It was about 80cm in size and resembled a camel spider. All eight legs were as long as the body, and two of them had huge pincers at the end. Looking at its face, its upper jaw was long and pointed, making it look as if it was holding a sickle in its mouth.

'I thought you were a soldier, but you're not.'

The guy in the freezer is a workaholic. Since there was nothing written on the list, I thought he was a soldier, but he wasn't.

'are you okay. 'If you're not the queen, you're there.'

There is no particular problem. The characteristics I want can be obtained by eating any type of Outspacer.

I ripped off the sleeping guy's head and chewed it up.

'It would be great if it wasn't so cold.'

This guy tasted just like steamed snow crab. To be precise, it felt like eating steamed snow crab in the refrigerator without thawing it.

'ah. Should I say it tastes like crab meat?'

Anyway, it was a taste that resonated with me. Because the worker bug was less than 1m in size, it did not take long to eat it all.

'The first one sucks.'

There are 19 remaining. I eagerly ate up the remaining outspacers.

'….'

When there were only three left, even I couldn't help but feel nervous.

'It's not very bright.'

I know that the probability of the predation effect is not high, but if it hasn't appeared by now, I think I should give up and look for another method.

'Should we just keep Broker S alive?'

The author came here for smuggling. Smuggling is a serious crime in Megacorp, so even if I killed all of his bodyguards, he wouldn't be able to go and complain. If you do that, you too will be suspected.

'…No matter what, it's burdensome to leave behind trouble.'

Since it was on a research ship, all human relationships were based on the logic of top-down, so it was easy to predict, but the city is different. I don't know what kind of people the author might be friendly with and have the means to threaten me.

'I'll have to make up my mind.'

In some ways, I may have survived smoothly until now. If it were a game, I would have died countless times, but I got through it easily.

'It is not easy to obtain the genetic essence within 20 animals.'

There were many times in the game where I could not obtain any genetic essence even though I ate over 100 of the same creatures.

In particular, when the predation effect did not work against Gallagon or Vortex One, it was so difficult that I wanted to quit the game.

'I've experienced situations like this many times in games.'

I assumed nothing would come out of the outspacer and picked up one of the remaining three.

I ate them all, but as expected, the predation effect did not appear.

'….'

Now two.

I gave up halfway.

'I guess I'll just give the one left over to No. 26.'

If you ate 18 out of 20 and it didn't come out, it should be considered unlikely. In a state of desperation, I chewed on the leg of one of the two with my teeth.

The crunchy texture and firm flesh inside made my taste buds happy, but my mind was confused.

When you eat all the worker bugs like that.

A miracle happened.

"Predation effect activated! Successfully acquired the 'Parasite' gene essence.｣

｢Takeover 'Parasite' among the biological characteristics of 'Outspacer Worker'.｣

｢Do you want to apply 'Parasite'?｣

｢Grrrrr!｣ 'Enough

!'

When I finally saw what I was hoping for, I cheered in my voice without even realizing it.

helminth.

Outspacers carry various biological pathogens on their bodies as a unique characteristic of their species. Parasites are one such pathogen that can burrow into an opponent's body and control their movements.

'Of course, the outspacer's parasites are at the level of restricting the target's actions.'

Although it is great in terms of setting, Outspacer's parasite is implemented as a kind of debuff in the game.

Enemies affected by the parasite effect suffer a debuff that restricts the use of characteristics or equipment.

In fact, the fact that this alone is a powerful enough trait remains the same, but when Amorph acquires parasites, the story changes.

'If you fuse with a pollutant, you can create a strengthened parasite.'

As written in the settings, you can produce parasites that can control other creatures. Instead, the contamination organ disappears and the characteristics related to the body are changed to completely different characteristics, but currently I have a total of 11 body-related characteristics. Since there are more than 10 types, which is the condition for obtaining a type, the type does not disappear even if the polluting organization is missing.

Moreover, the characteristics obtained by fusing parasites and pollutants are characteristics that serve as the key to unlocking new type conditions.

A physical enhancement type related to physical abilities. A superpower enhancement type related to supernatural abilities. The new type that opens with the characteristics fused there is an infection enhancement type.

The infection enhancement type is a type that affects debuff-related characteristics such as crowd control. Although its intuitive effectiveness is lower than other types, it can be said to be a very useful type for me, who likes surprise-oriented strategies.

Also, in order to evolve into a semi-adult, you need to collect 4 types, so it is important to collect at least one more.

So, I have only one choice.

As soon as I accepted, I felt my body transform.

The lower right arm, which was responsible for the contamination organ, became thick and swelled as if there was something like an egg inside. Inside the arms, newly formed parasites were writhing, waiting for their owner's commands.

｢The 'Parasite' characteristic has been applied.｣

｢Can be combined with the existing 'Contamination Organization'.｣

｢The 'Parasite' and 'Contamination Organization' characteristics are fused. Evolved with the 'Parasite Colony' trait! ｣

｢Parasite Colony: Instead of losing the pollutant effect, you can create enhanced parasites. A total of 5 enhanced parasites can be operated.

*P.S.: I don't understand why you like such disgusting characteristics.｣

｢Currently, there are two types of specialization possible.｣

｢Superpower Enhanced Type (5/6) Infection Enhanced Type (1/4)｣

'Good.'

Now that you have the desired characteristics, it is time to experiment with the effects.

After eating the remaining outspacer, I came out of the container. S, who was crawling on the floor as if the anesthesia had worn off, looked at me and started playing.

"Hi!"

His face, which had changed from white to yellow, was clearly the face of someone in fear.

But it is still too early for him to feel afraid.

Because the real fear starts now.

When I activated the parasitic colony, my lower right arm started to move. He moved as if he was trying to vomit something, and a black worm came out of the hole in his palm.

"What are you trying to do! "Stop that!"

S, who was screaming and crying, started crying when I approached. His once fat face had become half bloated, perhaps due to the mental trauma he had experienced in the past few hours.

My hand came closer to his drawn face.

–

"…Then let's go."

Broker S No Sander bowed his head to me and left.

The parasite transplant was successful. Now Sander is my slave.

'But it's only for 24 hours.'

After 24 hours, the parasites die automatically and the sander also dies. Because parasites are taking over his brain.

He can survive only if I replace the parasite before it dies.

Even Sander knows it. That without me, you too would die.

'He's a smart person, so he won't resist me easily.'

He would probably go to a hospital or something and try to remove it, but the parasite is reading all his thoughts. If he harbors even the slightest profanity, the parasite will punish him by secreting a painful substance into his brain.

'It's going to hurt a lot.'

Sander had already experienced how terrible the pain was. In most cases, they will not resist me.

Moreover, I showed Sander how to dispose of a body in front of him. Since you're a smart person, you probably don't know what I intended.

'Then shall we go back now?'

I went home with my bodyguard who was acting as a leader.

When I arrived home, number 26 had already woken up and was waiting for me.

｢Where have you been?｣

[Zuzuzuzu (I wonder if he's hungry)]

｢Wow!｣

I am a learning Amorph. When I gave him food, he immediately lost his temper.

After handing the food to him, I took out the ankle of the man next door that I had kept in the refrigerator.

The night was coming to an end while we were enjoying our late-night snack.