240

Ep. 240

When I opened my eyes in the nest, the first thing I saw was a pink jellyfish.

It was number 26, whose body grew to 10 meters in size. The guy was asleep, leaning against me.

Adhai and the Mother of Heaven were seen next to No. 26. Not long ago, the Mother of Heaven in her griffon form was much larger than Aadhai, but not now.

After growing into White Gallagon, Aadhai became similar to the Mother of Heaven, and now that she has gained the power of Red Gallagon, her body has become longer. If you include the wings, it is much bigger than the Mother of Heaven.

'It seems like you've relaxed a lot.'

I thought I would be with the Blue Gallagons, but it was surprising. I think the comfort from No. 26 and Ham Ort was of great help.

As I look around with my eyes open, I see white and green islands submerged in a black swamp. Among the White Green Gallagons, those whose injuries have not yet healed are resting here.

Fortunately, the scars on my body were almost completely healed. However, there were some that had their horns left broken as it took longer to recover.

As I was checking their bodies, a light suddenly flashed in the passageway connected to the cavity.

'what?'

It went off quickly, but since I've already seen it, I can't just ignore it.

I carefully got up.

If it were his usual number 26, he would have been awakened by my movement now, but he was probably quite tired and didn't move a single thing. I got out of the swamp, being careful not to wake him up.

'Then I see that I don't have PS-111.'

There was no sight of him in the cavity.

When I went out into the brightly lit passageway, there was PS-111, as expected.

It was synchronizing with the Screamer's head. When I appeared, he stopped his actions and looked back at me.

"Are you awake?"

Just as No. 26 follows him, PS-111 also acts in accordance with No. 26's life flow. When No. 26 sleeps, it also saves some power in its system, and when No. 26 eats, it also replenishes energy.

It was rare for him to act independently other than when given orders.

"Is there anything left to find?"

"yes. "I had to check some of the information I remembered."

"Is it about Pyrrha Eleven?"

"no. "That's because it contains some interesting memory information."

As always, he was an expressionless guy, but today he felt different somehow. Would you say it's emotional?

After a moment of silence, the guy spoke again.

"Most of my memory data was lost in the process of being digested by 'Ice Horror.' "I cannot confirm what memories or thoughts the original body had."

"Were you trying to see if the others were similar?"

"yes."

For some reason, this guy's body was severely damaged by the Ice Horror's attack. When No. 26 picked up PS-111, only its head remained.

It survived by incorporating minimal life support functions into its small head. Through a series of processes, a structure was established in which the organic part responsible for the animal's body and the AI responsible for behavioral control complement each other.

'In return, the original's memories and personality seem to have been lost.'

To be precise, it would be correct to say that the two are fused.

After receiving No. 26's energy, his body was restored to a state of complete balance between machine and living being. In other words, it can be seen as a new entity that perfectly combines biological tissue and machinery.

'It will be very different from the original.'

In a way, the sentient and mechanical parts of the Screamer that made up the previous guy have died and disappeared, and the guy in front of me now may be seen as something completely different.

'But that's probably not what he wants.'

"So did you get what you wanted?"

The guy shook his head and said.

"As a result of analyzing the memory data of the relevant entities, there was an 89% similarity. "They were pessimistic about survival and hoped that life support would be shut off."

'It has to be that way.'

The conditions faced by this guy and a regular screamer are completely different.

Cyborgs and sapient beings who are forced to become Screamers must suffer constantly trapped in mechanical devices until they are pardoned by the Machine Council. Although you cannot move your body at will, you can still feel pain and sensation.

Even if you are hit by a flying shell on the battlefield, you must charge, and even if your body is roasted by energy bullets fired by enemies, you must fight without stopping.

It is an environment that even a person with the strongest mental strength cannot survive. As he said, it will be difficult to find anything other than asking him to kill you right away.

"After analyzing the data, new questions arose. "I cannot decide whether I would have been like that or something else."

Even though the newly developed Mutant Screamer is different from the older model, the basic framework is the same. Before he changed like he did now, he must have been similar to other mutant screamers.

However, I couldn't say what I thought.

"Well I guess you were different from the others."

"What is the basis for that judgment?"

"If you really wanted to die, you wouldn't have modified your body to live in the Ice Horror's stomach. And even after No. 26 saved you, there was always a chance for you to die. "Isn't it different enough just to look at that?"

It is highly likely that his changes are the result of the desperate measures taken by the AI to somehow maintain life, but we cannot be 100% certain. Of all the individuals who participated in the mission with him, he was the only one who managed to survive.

I added one thing to him.

"You are a special individual. "That much is certain."

What I say now is sincere.

Depending on where you look, you can see that he is at a much more free level than those guys.

The guy blinked at the camera that replaced his eyes and closed his mouth. The guy who was silent for a moment spoke to me.

"I will take note of it."

After that, there was no further conversation. It played with Screamer's head and quietly went into a dormant state.

'It's a memory.'

If you think about it, players who come to this dystopian world are in a similar situation. Because humans, who had been living on their own, came to this world with only their minds.

I, too, am essentially a human, not an Amorph. Burns suffered as a child, conflicts with parents, hobbies that started out as an escape, etc. Although my body is an Amorph, what constitutes 'me' itself are the memories of my human days.

'Now that I think about it, what will happen to my memories here when I go back?'

If it remains the same, I think it will be quite difficult to adapt to reality. In my case, I was a being that ate people and then returned to being a human.

'Isn't it still something we need to worry about?'

After that, I lay down next to him and thought about various things before I knew it.

It was already morning when I felt movement around me and opened my eyes. As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was number 26.

"Hello, big baby."

I patted the boy who greeted me energetically. The guy glowed and sent waves as if he was in a good mood.

"The babies are all awake. Quickly, for a long time.」

[Zuzuzu zuzuzu (wait a moment)]

Instead of entering the cave, I stopped by the cave entrance for a moment. I returned to the joint after grabbing the necessities near the entrance that wasn't covered in slime.

When I entered the huge space covered with swamps, gallagons and children were waiting for me.

｢Big Adult｣｢Ready｣｢Finished｣

Intense anger was felt from the Gallagons who had recovered from their injuries. Adhai was also burning his fighting spirit and pledging revenge.

'good.'

There were four White Gallagons and nine Green Gallagons that barely survived while protecting their nest from a screamer. And if you add Ham Oort, there are a total of 14.

In addition, there are a few more Green Gallagons that have escaped injury while protecting the nest, but I do not plan on taking them.

'Pyrrha Eleven is a similar type of enemy to me.'

It gains energy by absorbing living things. Taking a large number of people does not necessarily mean it is good. Instead, I plan to take 14 Gallagons and children as a small group.

'Before that…'

There is something to do before leaving.

What I took from the nest entrance was none other than the corpse of White Gallagon. Four corpses obtained from victory in Od Grad.

'If you look at Aadhai's example, in order for a white gallagon to grow, it must eat other white gallagons.'

Since I'm not sure yet, I'm thinking of experimenting here. Will it be possible to evolve four White Gallagons with these corpses?

'Who should I give it to?'

For now, I plan to give Ham Ort and Nell Germa away unconditionally. Both have extensive combat experience and excellent combat skills. If the experiment goes well and both of them become Black Gallagons, it will be a great help in the fight.

'And Char Belmarg isn't bad either.'

That thin male Gallagon was the first to rebel against Odd Grad after he lost his ring. He looks smart, so he's a good candidate for the experiment.

And while I was wondering who should be the Namizer, I chose Gallagon, who is relatively large.

'Ham Ort Nel Germa Shah Belmaag Zerkapcha.'

I held out in front of them the four White Gallagon corpses that had arrived the day before.

Nel Germa, who had a loyal personality, stuck a bundle of tentacles into the corpse without hesitation. Afterwards, Shah Belmag Zerkapcha began to absorb the remaining bodily fluids from the corpse.

The last remaining one, Ham Oort, seemed hesitant for some reason.

[Zuzuz (Drink)]

The guy who was looking at the corpse I held out turned his head and looked at Adhai.

｢?｣

Adhai makes eye contact with the guy and tilts his head. Seeing this, Ham Ort seemed to have made up his mind and immediately stabbed the corpse with his tentacles.

'What will happen?'

It would be nice if they all became Black Gallagon, but things might not work out so well.

'I hope at least one of them becomes Black Gallagon.'

Some time has passed since they started experimenting and eating.

One by one, the corpses I was holding shrunk like dried mummies. Even though I ate almost all of it, there was still no sign of change.

'I'm sure it's a failure… huh?'

At that time, Ham Oort's horn came into view. Black color was spreading across the surface of the horn, as if food had been smeared on it.

Soon, the black wave engulfed the horn in an instant and extended all the way to the head and neck. Realizing the change in its body, it spread its wings and wrapped them around itself. Beyond the thick wings, I could hear the sound of a body growing rapidly.

'It's similar to Aadhai.'

I checked to see if the other guys were changing too.

Looking at Nel Germa and Shah Belmag, they had black spots on the back of their necks and parts of their bodies that I had never seen before, but they showed no signs of expanding like Ham Oort.

'Is Ham Oort the only one who grew up?'

The only one who started to grow was Ham Ort. The other three ate up all of the White Gallagons, but they remained unchanged.

'Is it because the body is in bad condition? Or is it because of age?'

As far as I know, Ort is the oldest surviving Gallagon. He was originally quite young, but in the battle with Od Gradwa and the Screamers, most of them died, making him the oldest.

'Maybe both the body and the age had an effect.'

Unfortunately, there is nothing more I can do. All that's left is to wait until Ham Oort safely completes his growth.

The time it takes for Aadhai to transform into White Gallagon is approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour. Unlike Aimov, it didn't take very long.

An hour passed like that.

Ham Oort wrapped his wings and did not move. The pure white wings had disappeared, and smooth wings resembling obsidian covered its body.

At some point, the sounds coming from his body stopped. The boy's growth has ended.

The new Black Gallagon spread its wings, which resembled a curtain, wide. As the new black dragon was born, all the Gallagons around bowed their heads.

Two new horns grew on Ham Ort's head. Perhaps because the existing horns grew without being regenerated, the horns on the head gave a rather unbalanced impression.

The color of the horns and body resembled obsidian and had a black luster, and the body was larger than before, giving a feeling of considerable majesty.

Although it was small compared to the old male Od Grad, it still seemed to be at least 30 meters long including the tail.

Ham Oort took a quick look at the body and then slightly bowed his head to Adhai and me.

I thought as I looked at the boy who had completed his growth.

All preparations are complete.

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