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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 401
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Inside a tank filled with a specially treated chemical solution, Akira glared at an old nemesis he hadn’t seen in a long time.
It had been decades since he last encountered Beom-Ho.
But the man before him looked nothing like the one he remembered. It wasn’t just aging, he was a completely different species now. Once a young Cult male, Beom-Ho had become a middle-aged researcher.
Still, Akira accepted the change quickly. Considering Beom-Ho's unique traits, it wasn’t exactly surprising.
｢Why are you here? Don’t tell me—you’re after the Amorph too?｣
From what Akira knew, Beom-Ho had once been one of the top-ranked players most obsessed with hunting the Amorph in the game. Many in the community saw them as destined rivals.
If Beom-Ho had cooperated with Akira in this operation, they might have succeeded in killing the Amorph.
But Beom-Ho’s answer was not what Akira expected.
“The Empress thought the same thing but she’s wrong. I didn’t come here for the Amorph. I came to stop you two from fighting.”
｢What?｣
“To be precise, that thing isn’t supposed to die just yet.”
That statement stirred a memory in Akira.
A plan Beom-Ho had told him about before their falling out.
｢Fool. That plan is impossible.｣
“There’s no such thing as impossible when you have human will.”
｢Coming from you, that’s absurd.｣
“I just saved your life and this is the thanks I get? If Gigacracker hadn’t shown up, you’d be dead by now.”
Akira clenched his newly regenerating teeth.
The one who summoned Gigacracker wasn’t some traitor, it was Beom-Ho.
Of course, that didn’t mean there wasn’t still a traitor inside the Dominion faction. Akira had no idea when Beom-Ho infiltrated Megacorp, but someone must have helped him.
And to uncover the truth, Akira had to capture the human outside the tank.
｢Is that all you came to say?｣
Even in his current weakened state, Akira still had a trump card he could use. It had strict conditions, so he hadn’t employed it during his fight with the Amorph but that wasn’t a concern now. With this ability, capturing Beom-Ho was possible.
As he made up his mind and began drawing in power, the liquid inside the tank started to ripple.
｢You’ve disrupted my plan. You’ll pay for that.｣
“Oh, disrupted? Please. You’ve never beaten that thing even in the game.”
｢...｣
Akira froze. Beom-Ho remained so relaxed.
Having once fought alongside him, Akira knew exactly how dangerous Beom-Ho was. And Beom-Ho knew just how much of a menace Akira could be.
For him to act so casually it had to mean he was confident.
｢Do you think I can’t kill you?｣
“Well, you probably could tear me to pieces in your current state.”
｢Then why are you provoking me?｣
Standing before the trembling tank, Beom-Ho raised his hand and placed it on the glass.
“That’s always been your problem. You know why you can’t beat that thing?”
｢What?｣
“You’ve got a lot going for you. But your imagination? Absolutely stunted.”
As soon as he said that, Beom-Ho’s eyes began to glow violet. The purple light gathered in his pupils, then began to flow down his face as if it had a will of its own, slowly traveling toward his shoulders.
Akira’s eyes widened; he knew exactly what that meant.
[PR/N: Sentences which are in italic font are in Japanese.]
(Even a player can use it? Damn tiger! You tricked me!)
“To be fair, I didn’t lie. I just never told you.”
Akira watched in panic as the light traveled down Beom-Ho’s arm and began to seep into the glass.
Reacting quickly, Akira activated his ability not on Beom-Ho, but on himself.
The fluid that had been gently rippling around his body suddenly froze as though flash-frozen.
Monitors connected to the tank and lights around the room flickers erratically.
But the violet light moved just a fraction faster. Before the solution could solidify entirely, it touched Akira’s body.
And a glowing violet thread connected him and Beom-Ho.
“Environmental shift and stasis field? Haven’t seen that in a while.”
Beom-Ho pulled his hand away, eyeing the tank, now cracked and damaged from the solidified fluid.
“It’ll take time for everything to settle, but this much was expected. I’ve made all the preparations.”
Now that the ability had taken hold, Akira’s flesh was essentially in Beom-Ho’s hands. He watched the fading thread with a faint smile.
“Relax. I’ll leave when the time comes.”
The thread vanished completely and Beom-Ho’s body collapsed onto the white floor like a puppet with cut strings.
A few minutes later, he stirred again.
“Ugh… my head…”
He groaned, rubbing his temples. He seemed far more sluggish than he had before passing out.
Slowly getting to his feet, he turned to look at the tank in front of him.
“Why am I here…? Huh? Wh-What the—?”
His dazed expression turned ghost-white in an instant. He lunged for the monitor.
“Wh-Why is it like this?! Who the hell did this?! Dammit!”
Seeing that the monitor had gone completely dead, he bolted from the room.
Silence returned to the white chamber.
Within the broken tank, a faint violet light flickered one last time then vanished.
***
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (No enemies chasing us, right?)]
｢Yeah. The bad metal thing isn’t following.｣
Number 26 waved its silver tendrils as it responded to my question.
I confirmed one last time, just in case something decided to follow us late. Fortunately, it seemed the enemy had no plans to pursue and hadn’t sent a tracking unit.
‘It’s been about an hour... Time to move.’
The effects of the contaminated genes I absorbed from Akira’s subordinate had already worn off. Thanks to that, my recovery traits had returned to normal.
‘And I’m worried about Adhai, too.’
The symbiotic spores I planted in her were still alive, which meant she had survived. But the distance was too great to get a clear sense of her current condition.
‘Wait, before I go…’
There was something I needed to check.
I looked down at the head of Akira, which I held in one of the smaller arms on my chest.
Just an hour ago it had been intact, but now its condition had clearly deteriorated. The once-solid carapace that had grown like mine was now visibly brittle.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ (You said there were no contaminated genes, right?)]
｢Yeah. From what I could see, that’s right.｣
Isabel, whom I had asked to check, had used the All-Seeing Eye of Ten Thousand Forms multiple times. She said she couldn’t find any trace of contaminated genes.
The rapid decomposition was likely due to one of Akira’s biological perks, something inherent to the fake body itself.
‘Looks like I really should eat it before it gets any worse.’
Originally, I was going to wait until I could use the Symbol of Hunt. But the head’s condition was deteriorating quickly. I had to consume it before it degraded any further.
‘There’s no guarantee I’ll even get a gene essence out of this.’
This head wasn’t Akira’s true body, just a portion of a fake shell. It was possible that no predation effect would trigger.
‘It’d be a shame if I got nothing from it.’
Hoping I’d at least gain something, I tossed Akira’s head into my mouth.
As my teeth crunched through the tough carapace, a sharp, candy-like snap rang out. The contents inside flowed over my tongue and down my throat, filling my mouth with a rich and intense flavor like melting chocolate, caramel, and butter on a hot frying pan.
‘Mmm. Tastes surprisingly—’
I was just about to savor the spreading sweetness and flavor when a translucent text box suddenly appeared before me.
｢Predation effect activated! Acquired gene essence: Hiveformer.｣
｢Stolen biological trait Hiveformer from Akira Yujin.｣
｢Apply Hiveformer?｣
When I read the text box, I nearly shouted aloud.
‘Wait Hiveformer!?’
Hiveformer was a nest-related general trait, incredibly useful for species capable of building nests. For Outspacers, who rely heavily on nesting, it was practically considered essential.
But acquiring this trait was notoriously difficult, since the species that carry it are extremely rare.
‘I thought I’d only see this during the solar system campaign…’
I never imagined I’d get it here, from Akira’s head of all things.
｢Big One is smiling! Must be delicious!｣
｢Feels like it's more than just taste.｣
Beside me, Number 26 and Isabel chatted while looking at me. I must’ve been grinning without realizing it.
I forced myself to calm down and examined the text box again.
‘Only one predation effect triggered, but even that result is more than worth it.’
Hiveformer alone was an excellent trait but even more importantly, it was one of the materials required to craft a Unique Trait.
｢Transcendence Recipe Materials:
Demon Machine
Tyrantroid
Destruction Beast Carapace
Aether Core (Not Obtained)
Hiveformer (Not Obtained)｣
This Unique Trait required traits obtainable only from Apex creatures. Now, only two components remain.
With Hiveformer in hand, all that remained was the ‘Aether Core’.
‘All right. Let’s apply it first.’
I accepted the prompt.
The special gene essence spread through my entire body. Cracks ran along my carapace, which protected my organs, bones, muscles, and flesh.
Soon, through the ruptured shell and torn scales, internal muscle fibers began to push outward. What first looked like hair grew and intertwined, lengthening steadily. This happened across my body, arms, legs, torso everywhere except the head, neck, and wings.
It was like all the muscles from below a human’s shoulders had burst through the skin. Yet, there was no pain.
The externalized muscle fibers thickened and lengthened until they resembled tendrils. Just like Number 26 during the battle against the fleet, large and small tendrils began sprouting all over my body.
‘Not bad.’
I’d seen the Hiveformer form of the Amorph in games before, but seeing it in reality for the first time it looked just like the plant monsters from old kaiju movies, with my enormous body now covered in bundles of tendrils resembling plant stalks.
｢Wow!｣
As I examined my newly altered body, a short, intense pulse came from beside me. It was a signal fired by Number 26, impressed by my completed transformation.
｢Beautiful! Beautiful!｣
It buzzed around me excitedly, flooding the air with admiring pulses. It clearly liked my tendril-covered look.
｢Big One is beautiful!｣
[ZZZ (Thanks)]
｢That’s... beautiful? Is it just me, or is that weird.｣
Glad to see it wasn’t just me who liked it. Number 26 flicked one of my tendrils with its pink fin.
｢Big One is different, but also like me! That’s why I like you!｣
[ZZZ (Really?)]
｢Yeah! Soft and pretty!｣
It wasn’t wrong. The tendrils sprouting from my body differed in both purpose and appearance from the Sea Demon’s.
Unlike Number 26’s tendrils, which had saw-blade edges inside, mine had none. Instead, finely fractured carapace coated the surface, making them look like snake bodies or plant stems.
Also, my tendrils couldn’t express complex emotions like Number 26’s could. These were just mutated muscle fibers, and couldn’t be controlled precisely like other limbs.
‘But they serve a different purpose anyway.’
The tendrils generated by Hiveformer had capabilities far beyond expectations. Even if they weren’t suited for attack, that didn’t matter.
In any case, the transformation was now complete. I unfolded my wings again.
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (Shall we head back?)]
｢Yes!｣
｢When Seo-ah sees you, she’s gonna faint.｣
Adhai, the Mother of the Sky, and PS-111 they’re all waiting for me.
It’s time to return to the Dragon’s Nest.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 401
