Freaky Monster - Chapter 400

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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Chapter 400

‘This isn’t the time to be lying around.’

I quickly rose from the wreckage of the ship.

At most, I had five minutes. Within that time, five Gigacrackers would begin their assault.

Right now, I was caught in Akira’s trap, and my regeneration traits were sealed. In this state, even one Gigacracker firing an ion cannon would deal a fatal blow. If five attacked at once, I’d die no doubt about it.

‘Intercepting them isn’t an option either.’

I’d managed to counter an Imperial battleship before, but this situation was vastly different. The Symbol of the Hunt effect would expire in just a few minutes, and I couldn’t use ‘King of Beasts’.

That left me with only one viable choice: escape. Immediately.

‘Wait, before that…’

Unlike me, Akira, whose head had been severed, hadn’t collided with the ship. That meant his body should still be floating nearby.

Using my auxiliary organs, I located his disabled form. He remained at the spot where I’d struck him, completely still.

‘Good. Looks like he’s…?’

Wait, something was off.

When his head had been severed, he’d gone into a frenzy, but now he was perfectly still, like a lifeless corpse.

‘What’s going on?’

He shouldn’t be dead. He had a special organ that sustained life even after decapitation. Isabel had lopped off his head before, and he’d come back shortly afterward.

'I need to get closer and check.'

I immediately canceled Clever Weakling. My body expanded rapidly, reverting to its original form.

Now that I’d grown, Akira’s head along with the inert MPS-05 I’d been holding was smaller than my fingernail. I placed the mini Screamer back into my mouth and gently cradled the head using the small arms on my chest.

With my wings unfurled, I flew toward Akira’s body.

Up close, it was clear something wasn’t right. The severed neck was gaping wide and completely hollow. His internal organs were gone, with only fragments of flesh and bone remaining.

'It wasn’t ‘Abyssal Hue.’'

The Abyssal Hue enhanced psychic breath devours all organic matter indiscriminately. It doesn’t just consume the insides and leave the surface.

'Something from the inside crawled out on its own.'

The torn neck showed signs that something approximately 60 to 70 centimeters in size had exited the body from within. Like a person stepping out of a mascot costume.

'So that’s the life-sustaining ‘special organ’?'

I’d assumed it was like a heart or some kind of organ, but clearly I was mistaken.

'A separate body or perhaps something like a true core.'

What I’d thought was Akira’s body may not have been a body at all—but biological armor. I hadn’t even imagined this kind of special ability.

'If he could use this, why didn’t he ambush me with it?'

Akira had laid every trap imaginable just to catch me. Why throw away such a good opportunity?

'Or maybe… he couldn’t use it.'

Looking back, even when Akira was mistaken for an Amorph or struck by Abyssal Hue, he hadn’t abandoned the false body. If he could’ve, he would’ve escaped using his core and grown a new body.

Which meant his core was weaker on its own.

'Or maybe creating a new body takes time.'

At the very least, it was clear he couldn’t casually separate from the fake body in a battle.

'Since he left the fake body here, his true self must be hiding nearby.'

I discarded the hollowed-out corpse, now being consumed by the ‘Abyssal Hue,’ and scanned the surroundings with my auxiliary organs.

The battlefield, which had moments ago been a frenzy of heat rays, torpedoes, and warships, had grown strangely quiet. Some ships were still locked in battle with the metallic gremlins, but their numbers had dwindled.

Aside from a few ships lingering here, the rest had already fled far off. The Star Union’s warships were nowhere to be seen. Clearly, everyone was retreating to avoid the Gigacrackers’ onslaught.

'He’s not here.'

Even after scouring the area, I sensed no trace of him. I must’ve been thrown back during the collision, and he likely escaped aboard one of the fleeing ships. He was probably hiding among them now.

'Should I pursue him?'

Akira was a CEO of Megacorp. Even if the Megacorp elites were ruthless, firing an ion cannon at the location of their top leader wouldn’t be easy.

'Unless… he was sent by another high-ranker.'

There were other high-rankers within Megacorp besides Akira. At least two likely candidates: the head of the Garmelda family and a researcher from Prime Capital’s Zhao clan.

If they prioritized killing me over Akira’s survival… I’d die chasing him.

'It’s time to pull back.'

I’d already revealed too many of my cards in this battle. If I clashed with them again, the next fight would be far tougher.

But chasing him now, with five Gigacrackers deployed, was just too risky.

｢Big One.｣

That’s when Number 26 approached me.

It gently cradled the injured ‘Right Head’ using one of its fin-legs.

'You did well.'

When Number 26 laid it down, the clone bleeding profusely approached and bowed its head.

｢It looks like it hurts a lot.｣

[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ (It’s okay. I’ll be fine soon.)]

｢Really?｣

[ZZ (Yeah)]

Thanks to ‘Hydra Division,’ the clone had split from me but it was still a part of my body. I gently patted its head and absorbed it back.

｢Aki… was he dead?｣

Isabel poked her head out from within Number 26’s fin, where she’d been hiding alongside the clone.

I shook my head.

[ZZZ ZZZ (He escaped.)]

｢He got away? Don’t tell me… because of that special organ?｣

I had also found the empty husk of Akira, floating in space.

Having seen the hollowed interior, I likely had a rough idea of what had happened.

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Sorry, I’ll explain later. A squad of five Gigacrackers is about to attack.)]

｢What?｣

[ZZ (Number 26)]

Instead of explaining, I called out to Number 26.

[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ (We’re leaving. Call the others.)]

｢Okay!｣

One of its silver tendrils extended from the tangle of tentacles. As it began to emit a glow, the metallic gremlins scattered around the area started gathering.

Among them was a small silver demon with blue markings across its body: a Warpboy. Their help would be essential to get out of here safely.

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Tell them to warp us not to one place, but all to different locations.)]

｢Why? Sparkly ones are weak when they’re alone.｣

I knew that too. The metallic gremlins were strongest when gathered in numbers.

But there was a reason I insisted on splitting them up for the warp.

｢To… avoid being tracked.｣

Isabel immediately picked up my intent and sent a thoughtwave.

All faster-than-light travel leaves residual energy behind. The greater the energy used during the jump, the longer that residue lingers.

And with a device like the Warp-Finder, it’s possible to track where someone jumped to as long as the residual energy hasn’t dissipated. Even if they escaped together, the enemy and their Gigacrackers would simply chase them down.

'There’s no other way to shake them.'

By splitting up into groups around each Warpboy and jumping to different destinations, they would leave multiple energy trails.

And instead of jumping on my own, I planned to piggyback onto one of the Warpboy groups, using their power.

If the enemy had already recorded its energy signature, then jumping solo would make me traceable. By having a Warpboy carry me, the trail would be masked.

If no one knew exactly where I had fled, and multiple trails existed, the enemy would be forced to hesitate. They knew how dangerous I was. Splitting their forces recklessly could lead to getting picked off one by one.

While they stalled in indecision, me and the metallic gremlins would keep warping and fleeing.

[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ (We’re not going to fight this time.)]

｢You’re not fighting the bad guys?｣

[ZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Right. So none of the sparkly ones will get hurt either.)]

If the enemy did choose to split up and pursue, they’d have to fight but I didn’t mention that.

｢Got it! I’ll ask the sparkly ones to take us!｣

[ZZ (Good.)]

Number 26’s silver tentacle began glowing again.

Seeing that, the Warpboys began preparing for faster-than-light travel. As the blue tattoos on their silver skin began to emit a gentle glow, the bodies of the Amorph and the surrounding metallic gremlins were also bathed in blue light.

[ZZ ZZZ (Both of you, come here.)]

Just in case something went wrong during transit, I swallowed Isabel and Number 26.

As the blue light wrapped almost completely around my body, I suddenly sensed a tremendous energy signature from afar.

So distant that even my enhanced auxiliary organs had trouble detecting it but it was rapidly approaching. A beam fired by a Gigacracker.

Just before the scorching heat struck my body, the energy signal vanished in an instant. In its place, a familiar pressure surged around it.

Moments later, the crushing pressure on my entire body also faded. No more titanic teal-colored energy beams, no more shattered metal fragments. Only darkness surrounded them now, just me, the others, and a handful of metallic gremlins.

'We made it.'

Just before I was hit by the beam, they’d successfully escaped via faster-than-light travel.

[ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Can you ask them to warp us again?)]

I asked Number 26 to request another warp from the Warpboy that came with them.

And so, the process repeated several more times. They crossed multiple star systems.

Until the imprint of the Symbol of Hunt faded from my body, no one had pursued them.

'It’s over.'

The large-scale battle that had involved Megacorp, Star Union, the Dominionists, and the Returner Faction had finally reached its end.

***

A room so immaculately white and pristine, it looked as if it had been carved from marble.

At the center of this obsessively clean space stood a cylindrical tank, one side of which was transparent glass. This was a rare facility, installed only on select Megacorp vessels.

And inside it now floated Akira Yujin, the CEO of MegaCorp.

‘(Damn it!)’

[PR/N: Senetences which are in Italic font are in japanese]

Suspended in the liquid filling the tank, Akira barely managed to suppress the fury boiling up inside.

‘(That damned Amorph bastard!)’

The vile 5th Ranker the Amorph. Even back in the game, it had tormented him countless times.

To capture that thing, Akira had pulled every string he could. He’d brought the rival 4th Ranker into his camp, borrowed weapons and troops from other members of the Dominion faction. In a game, with that much preparation, he would have won.

But the outcome was catastrophic.

Most of his forces and weapons were lost. Nearly all of his strategic assets were exposed. The Amorph had escaped intact, while he was wasting time inside this cursed tank.

'Is… is there any discomfort, sir?'

A man's voice reached him through the slowly regenerating ear. Akira turned his newly-formed eye to look outside the tank.

A man stood there, holding a captain’s hat—this ship’s captain. Thanks to the captain’s rapid rescue efforts, Akira had been retrieved and placed into the tank in time.

｢What happened to the target?｣

Akira transmitted his words directly to the captain via the neural chip connected to his head.

The captain glanced at a nearby monitor, hesitated, and replied.

“W-Well, the Gigacracker did fire its ion cannon, so it's probably dead…”

｢Idiot!｣

Furious, Akira slammed his fist against the glass wall of the tank.

He hadn't authorized use of the superweapon for nothing.

With a superweapon in play, it becomes far harder to maneuver troops on the battlefield one misstep and even friendly units could be caught in the blast.

And the Amorph was a master of turning the enemy's strength against them. It could feign death under the guise of being hit by the superweapon, or even hijack the weapon and use it on its foes. In the game, Akira had more than once suffered defeat at the creature’s hands while relying on superweapons.

That’s precisely why he had limited their use for this operation.

“Ahem… search operations are currently underway! P-Please give us just a little more time.

The search teams will surely return with the results you’re looking for!”

｢I don’t care how small the trace is. Bio-matter, metal fragments, anything. If it attempted faster-than-light travel, I want every residue energy signature logged.｣

“Yes, sir!”

At his enraged command, the captain quickly bowed his head.

｢And have you found out who authorized the Gigacracker strike?｣

“T-That’s under investigation as well! It seems someone involved in the operation issued a support request. We expect to identify the person soon.”

Not a single thing the captain said pleased Akira, but he held back his anger.

Under normal circumstances, he would’ve ripped the man apart with his bare hands. But not now.

His current state was too fragile; he required absolute stabilization within the tank’s special regenerative fluid. Leaving the tank to kill the captain would only delay the reconstruction of his body.

｢Dismissed.｣

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Sensing Akira’s growing displeasure, the captain scrambled to exit the room.

Once the space quieted, Akira turned his thoughts to the one who had called in the Gigacracker.

‘I said only AlphaBoy could authorize superweapons.’

And yet someone had defied his orders and secretly requested a rescue from the Gigacracker right at the moment when Akira's defeat seemed imminent.

Had this been any ship other than this one, Akira would’ve been vaporized by that ion cannon blast.

'Don’t tell me… they tried to kill me?'

Did another Ranker seize the chance to make a move while he was weakened? If that’s true, then once he returns… a purge would be necessary. Immediate and thorough.

'They’re no longer of use anyway. If I’m going to capture the Amorph, I’ll need more special privileges. Might as well clean house here…'

Just then, the door slid open. A researcher in a white lab coat stepped toward the tank.

｢No adjustments necessary. Leave.｣

This tank was Akira’s own design. He knew it better than anyone. He didn’t need some outsider fiddling with it.

‘Wait…?’

Despite being dismissed, the researcher didn’t leave. Instead, he stared at the tank with an enigmatic smile.

'Is it because your body’s changed? Or because it’s been a while? Don’t recognize me?'

｢What?｣

He spoke like someone who knew Akira well.

The eerily familiar tone startled Akira more than he expected.

(Ku…Kusotora?)

“Still default to Japanese when you panic, huh? Funny. My Korean’s all rusty, but your memory’s still sharp.”

The researcher’s true identity was someone Akira knew all too well.

Shin Beom-ho, leader of the Returners and currently ranked 7th.

And now, here he stood before Akira, wearing a new face… and a body from a completely different species.

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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