Chapter 35

'Let's handle this before we go out.'

While Number 26 was feasting on the man's brain, there were things to be done. I cut off the man's ankles and put them in the refrigerator.

'Once Ras's role is finished, I'll assume this person's form.'

The mimicry organ is a characteristic that allows me to consume flesh, analyze genes, and mimic. I don't need to eat all of the meat, like when activating the predation effect.

'I don't need to store all of it, so I'll just keep a part.'

Putting it in the refrigerator might slow down the decay process a bit. Even so, it would be unrealistic for it to last more than two days.

After disposing of the body, I took out the communication device.

'Next…'

I contemplated who to call. Looking at my contacts, Ras's human relationships were extremely limited. Besides the team leader, there didn't seem to be anyone who might know a broker.

'The team leader would be a burden.'

Just like on the research vessel, being the head of a government office in a space city would classify one as at least a mid-capitalist. Even if we were being conservative, he would be a mid-capitalist, and if he belonged to a higher stratum, he might be a third capitalist—a figure entirely different from someone like Ras, who could easily be replaced.

'If that person disappears, they'll know right away.'

The current situation is different from when I killed Keisaragi Yujin. She is a high-ranking Noble Capital, far above the people on the research vessel. MegaCorp is a competitive society, but at the same time, it's a rigid, pyramid-shaped society where social mobility is stagnant—a contradictory organization.

The higher up in the Capital hierarchy, the more ruthless they tend to be in keeping those below from moving up. Noble Capital, positioned at the very top of the MegaCorp pyramid, is even more extreme in this regard.

As a result, everyone feared retaliation from Noble Capital, and they could only passively respond to her sudden death. Their timid response ultimately brought great misfortune upon them.

'It's ironic. The death of the person in the highest position is hidden, while the death of the lower-ranking person is revealed.'

Furthermore, the Smuggling Animal Surveillance Team seemed quite busy. Amidst this, if the person in charge were to disappear, it would create chaos. I needed to choose someone else.

'This person doesn't seem right, neither does this one… Hmm?'

While checking the messages on the communication device, there was one contact that appeared particularly frequently. The messages were simple, just asking if they were going to the office after work today, but this contact had exchanged the most messages with Ras.

'Well, this person should do.'

The person's name is Lloyd. He was a friend who shared a secret hobby with Ras. When you mentioned the office in the Special Trade Hub, it was famous even in online communities. It was a place that vividly showcased a dark, dystopian worldview, and it was often mentioned in the news due to its controversial ethics.

Anyway, people who enjoy such morally questionable entertainment might know about the broker.

'Lloyd and Ras seem pretty close…', I thought as I used my small arms to send a message to Lloyd.

[Hey, let's catch up sometime.]

[You quit your job? You crazy bastard, you're going all out. What happened?]

[I got tired of the endless workload. I'm looking for work elsewhere.]

[Work here is a bit crappy. Where are you going?]

[I've only learned this, so what else can I do? I'll find something similar.]

[Similar work?]

[Yeah, like smuggling.]

It felt like I had brought up the topic abruptly, but there was no other way. I didn't know how Ras usually expressed his intentions, and the longer the conversation, the more room there was for misunderstandings.

'I better keep it short and to the point.'

As soon as I sent the message, there was no immediate response from the other end. After a few minutes, the communication device beeped again.

[You said you weren't going to do anything dangerous before, didn't you?]

It seemed that Lloyd had talked to Ras about smuggling once before, and Ras had probably declined at that time.

[I thought about it again, and there's really no other way to make money.]

[You're hopeless. Now you want to do what everyone else does?]

[Well, I have to give it a try now.]

[Alright. I'll send you the information via email.]

[Why not meet up today and talk about it?]

[Meet up?]

[Yeah, there's a bar I know in the Harbor District.]

[You're not that type, are you? You buying drinks?]

[I just retired, and I can afford a drink with my colleagues, can't I?]

[You retired and grew some balls, huh? Okay. What time do you want to meet?]

Honestly, I was a bit impulsive, but Lloyd didn't seem to have any suspicions, so it went well.

'Things are going smoothly.'

I sent him a message with the location and time. The location was an alley near the border of the Harbor District, as close as possible to the manhole connected to the underground secret passage.

We decided on the evening for the meeting. In this city, whether it's day or night, there are always people around, but the presence or absence of bright lights makes a world of difference. To move discreetly in the darkness and keep a low profile, it was natural to meet at night.

'I should catch them after they've finished work.'

I sent the message, and a reply came quickly. Since he had retired, he mentioned that he might get bored if he went to the office alone.

'No need to be bored.'

After all, he would probably end up on the same path as Ras.

'I got confirmation.'

There was still plenty of time until evening. Taking genetic essence from this apartment was risky, so I had to spend time here.

｢I'm full.｣

Looking at Number 26, it seemed like it had eaten to the point of bursting. It waddled over to the soft bed and fell asleep.

'It's still young, so it should sleep a lot.'

After covering him with a blanket, I opened my laptop again. Before meeting Lloyd, I needed to go over the list and gather information.

Carefully examining the list, I checked off multiple seized specimens of the same type of organism.

'Since the predatory effect activates by probability, having more of the same species is better.'

As I checked, there were truly all sorts of organisms. They were all creatures I had seen at least once in the game, but some of them made me suspicious of whether they were really trying to smuggle them.

'There's even a Mountain Crawler. How did they manage to capture one? And… Oh?'

As I marveled at the skills of the smugglers while looking at the list, I noticed an unusual name.

'They captured an Outspacer?'

Hastily, I checked the entry next to the name, and the transport section was left blank. That meant the Outspacer was still here.

'There are 20 of them.'

It would have been great if there was a queen among them, but since it wasn't specified, it seemed like there were only workers. Even so, it was a significant harvest for me.

'Outspacer genes can be useful.'

The Outspacers, as the name suggests, are extraterrestrial species from beyond the stars. They gather genes to enhance themselves and exhibit many similarities to the Amorphs, such as genetically strengthening and antagonizing different species.

The key differences are that, unlike the Amorphs, players control them in colony units rather than individual entities, and among Outspacers of the same species, cooperation and communication are possible.

In simple terms, if Amorphs are inspired by X-Files, Outspacers are inspired by classic game Zerg. I had played Outspacer for quite a long time, given my fascination with extraterrestrial creatures.

'In essence, they're an upgraded version of Amorphs.'

When a player chooses Outspacer, their main goal is to become the colony queen of that species and grow the colony. Absorbing genes from other creatures reflects in the offspring produced by the queen.

The Outspacers operated with a typical monarch-type mechanism where the workers became stronger, gathering more powerful genes, and growing the colony. Compared to the Amorphs, another monarch-type species with a brutal hierarchy, the Outspacers were regarded as a challenging and high-potential species within the community.

What set them apart was the ability for players to develop entirely different forms of colonies based on their choices. In terms of performance, they quickly became powerful after surviving the initially high difficulty, making them popular among players who valued performance over concept.

'Still, I prefer Amorphs.'

If you played as Amorphs, it was a good idea to acquire Outspacer genes whenever the opportunity arose. This was because they had many useful traits, and some were even related to acquiring new types.

'Let's start with these guys.'

Although there were only 20 of them, since I would be devouring them as live specimens rather than samples, I could expect the predation effect to work in my favor.

Besides, I checked one or two other useful prey items. Unfortunately, due to the nature of smuggling, there weren't many cases where more than 10 of the same species were brought in.

'I might not get many traits even if I devour them all.'

This aspect probably depended on luck.

As I selected the things to consume, the room gradually became shrouded in darkness.

The time for hunting prey was drawing near. I woke up Number 26 and together we left the apartment.

***

A somber darkness had descended over the entire city. Streetlights illuminated the dark residential area brightly.

'Last time, there were people around, so I had to break the streetlights, but…'

Late at night, there were patrols of police officers around the residential area. Before, I had to break the streetlights to avoid their gaze, but if I kept doing that, it would surely raise suspicion. Today, I should try to avoid them rather than destroying the streetlights.

I moved between the closely spaced apartment buildings, leaping over them through the rooftops and outer walls. While the gaps between the apartments were significant, thanks to the enhanced agility trait, it wasn't a major issue to leap long distances. When landing, I spread the wings on my back to make as little noise as possible.

'It's fortunate that there are fewer people because it's work time.'

Moving quickly, I soon approached the manhole cover. It was right in front of me, but I didn't rush to it. Instead, I concealed myself.

｢Why are you acting this way, little one?｣

[ZZZ (Enemy)]

｢Enemy?｣

There was an android patrolling around the manhole.

'A combat android.'

Unlike the android I saw on the pirate ship last time, this one had three arms. In addition to two arms resembling those of a human, there was an additional combat-oriented right arm equipped with a Gauss rifle near its waist.

'That's strange. An android using a Gauss rifle?'

The Gauss rifle is a high-powered weapon that falls below plasma weapons in terms of firepower, making it highly efficient against heavily armored foes. To put it in perspective, it's like a less expensive but less destructive version of a plasma weapon.

However, just like plasma weapons, Gauss rifles are costly equipment for regular soldiers or androids to use. The cost of a single rifle is higher than lower-tier powered armor, and, most importantly, the ammunition is exceptionally expensive.

'It uses tungsten ammunition, so it's bound to be expensive.'

Anyway, the level of armament I was aware of for androids was by no means as high as this. Even if this city is wealthy, it's not so affluent as to equip a single android with a Gauss rifle that consumes high-cost tungsten ammunition like water unless it's an extraordinarily special situation.

'Could there be some kind of event or festival?'

T&C Special Trade Center was a place where various in-game events were held. Given that it was a city frequented by tourists, it wouldn't be unusual for an unknown festival to be taking place.

If a festival was happening, it would naturally mean a higher level of alert and security, with a significant influx of visitors. The reason for the androids being heavily armed might be related to the festival.

'I guess I should consider myself lucky and unlucky at the same time.'

I made it in safely, but of all times, it had to be when a festival was scheduled.

While lost in thought, the heavily armed android loitering around the manhole disappeared somewhere. After waiting for a moment and confirming that no one else was approaching, I approached the manhole.

I lifted the incredibly heavy piece of metal effortlessly with my human strength and sent Number 26 in first. After a final look around, I entered the manhole as well.

As I touched the manhole cover, a pitch-black darkness, like a black hole with not a speck of light, enveloped us.

｢Baby, where are we going?｣

[ZZ ZZZZZZ ZZZZ (We'll go the way we came)]

The little GUY and I had no trouble seeing in the dark. It sensed air currents, vibrations, and other such things with its entire body, and I had an auxiliary system.

I could see it. A small tunnel, about 5 meters high, stretched all the way to the other side of the ground.

Inside the tunnel, there was discarded trash from past laborers, cigarette butts thrown by someone from above the manhole cover, and more scattered on the floor.

From the tunnel walls, dust periodically fell due to vibrations caused by passing subway trains.

I walked toward our destination with Number 26.

'Let's lay down spores on the way.'

Originally, I planned to lay down spores after establishing a nest, but things were different when there was a festival in the city. Setting up surveillance in advance would make it easier to deal with unexpected situations.

When I activated the contamination organ on the lower right arm of my combat arm, a viscous brown mucus mixed with spores oozed out. The spores I had released slowly spread through the tunnel, as if reassuring me that they wouldn't worry about leaving my body.

Since the contamination organ also had the enhancement effect, in about two days, the spores would grow as effectively as if I had built the nest myself.

"That should do for surveillance."

By the time most of the spores were laid down on the path connecting the residential and harbor zones, I arrived at my destination. I carefully opened the manhole cover and checked outside.

'Nobody here either.'

This area was the border between zones, and it seemed people didn't frequent it. If you wanted to go to another zone, you would take the subway rather than walk.

[ZZ ZZZZ (Wait here)]

｢Why? I want to go with you.｣

[ZZ ZZZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (They'll get scared of you)]

I recalled that Ras had been scared of Number 26, and he crouched down gloomily. It was a sad truth that people were afraid of Number 26.

I hid Number 26 under the manhole and went to the meeting place. They hadn't arrived yet. I activated the mimicry organ and crouched in a dark alley.

'They're coming.'

About ten minutes had passed since I started waiting. Someone was walking toward me from a distance.