013

'The person on the phone seems to be from the Eugene family.'

As far as I know, the crisis management team leader was not from the Eugene family.

His name is Arnold Russell. The surname Russell is an ordinary surname that does not belong to either Noble Capital or Prime Capital.

'It must be a pseudonym.'

Or it could be a minion of the person on the other end of the phone.

Just looking at the content of the phone call, it seems like they want Kisaragi dead.

'Is it an internal dispute?'

Even in the game, Noble Capital were cold-blooded people with no family or friends when it came to power and money. Since the Eugene family was also a noble capital, there were many possibilities for the family to kill and kill each other.

Since this place is in the middle of space, it is perfect for eliminating Yujin Kisaragi.

'But I just happened to kill him.'

Inferring from the conversation, there are two main goals. Killing Kisaragi and luring the ship with C-08.

I don't know why, but thanks to me, his goal almost succeeded.

'Well, it doesn't matter to me whether the Eugene family fights or not.'

The important thing is what to do with author Arnold Russell.

Livestock are beings raised to serve as food. Unnecessarily smart food must be excluded.

It doesn't matter what plans he has or what he is thinking.

'He made me wary.'

That fact alone was reason enough for him to die.

Since it has evolved into a body, fighting soldiers itself is not a big problem. If you attack him by surprise, you can easily subdue that muscle mass.

'But I don't have a good chance.'

Arnold was a man I had recorded in the kill log since he was a hatchling, but he was surprisingly thorough. I always stayed in places where there were a lot of people and avoided places with few people as much as possible.

'Should I kill him in his room like the material management team leader?'

I tried to take advantage of the time to sleep, but that wasn't easy either.

A man with a good body was so scared that he even slept wearing reinforced clothing. Unlike the soldiers, they were in mid-level reinforced clothing, so it was difficult to kill them at once even in a surprise attack.

If the surprise attack fails, it becomes very annoying. It was obvious that I would contact the ship AI using the optional communicator.

'In the end, there is only one thing that can be done.'

If there are no weaknesses, just observe him until they are discovered.

What is needed to catch strong prey is time.

I looked at him one last time and walked towards the nest.

It is true that it was a difficult opponent, but Arnold chose the wrong opponent to fight.

I have never let go of the prey I was aiming for.

–

This is a world where more humans come out of incubators than inside their mothers' wombs.

Nothing could be more ridiculous than finding God in a place like that, but somehow I felt like God might really exist.

Otherwise, there would be no way such a favorable situation could have been created for me.

"Security team leader! How on earth do you get things done! "Didn't you say you could find it?"

"I'm sorry…"

Yooseong is screaming from below. Through a gap in the wire mesh, you can see the back of the head of the security team, who is lowering his head, not sure what to do.

I was currently eavesdropping on their conversation above the conference room.

"How many times has he said he's sorry! "I'm planning to make contact with the pirates in two days, but nothing has been resolved!"

"That's because even if we increase the number of cameras and security guards, nothing gets caught…"

"Damn it! Sailing team leader! How many people are missing on the ship now?"

"…8 people, including the former material management team leader."

"After the death of the research team leader, seven people went missing. Why can't they be caught? Are you really in the same league as that bastard?!"

"Oh no!"

The mysterious killer currently roaming the ship is said to be the material management team leader.

This was because he had been acting suspiciously before his disappearance and his container was found.

A smuggler who infiltrated the ship while hiding his identity. Moreover, he disappeared after a mysterious murder.

Since he was acting suspiciously, everyone thought he was the criminal.

'Unfortunately, the culprit is here.'

Yoosung, unaware that the real culprit was above his head, sighed and sat down on a chair.

"Let me ask you one question. Isn't the material management team leader a person? "Shouldn't we search all the places people might go?"

"First of all, there are not enough cameras, and although we have installed them in important places, they are all being avoided like ghosts."

"Phew, then what about the body? "It's not like the body is walking around, so it must have been left somewhere, so why can't we find it?"

"Places where bodies can be disposed of are also being monitored every hour. "I don't know how they did it, but I can't find it."

The security team leader, who was receiving a lot of attention from everyone present, took out a towel and wiped his forehead. He looked even more miserable because of his thinning hair, but there was no one to help him.

"Technical team leader. How could a tracker not work?"

"It's too much for my skills. Even if we make it, we cannot guarantee completeness."

"Damn it, you start by killing anyone who can track you down. "He's definitely not an ordinary human."

A lazy smuggler suddenly becomes a professional assassin. If my body weren't Amorph, I would burst into laughter.

At that time, Arnold, the crisis management team leader, raised his hand.

"Captain. "I think what the security team leader said is true."

"What is it all of a sudden?"

"I checked all the possible hiding places on board the camera and the security team leader did everything he could."

"I couldn't catch the culprit, but now I'm defending myself…"

"I mean!"

Arnold raised his voice loudly, as if trying to suppress Yooseong's anger.

"I mean that in human terms. "No human being can hide that much."

"what? Crisis management team leader. "Do you think we've gathered here to stop that strange rumor?"

'huh?'

I'm having fun watching it, but the atmosphere becomes strange.

Arnold seemed to have made up his mind to speak out. Even when the captain scolded him, he paid no heed and continued talking.

"Something we don't know about may be attacking us."

"Look. Crisis management team leader. The ship AI isn't that stupid. It's not the latest model, but it's an AI that was once used as a battleship. "If there were animals roaming around on board, we would have caught them a long time ago."

"I also have a military background, so I know AI performance well. Sailing team leader. But everyone knows. The container of the material management team leader. "All the freezer tubes there were empty."

"Hmm. "That's true."

"Then where did all the guys there go?"

Several of the team leaders nodded at his words. Yoosung must have thought it was persuasive, so he immediately sat down.

'this.'

The stream of people's consciousness is flowing in a strange place.

What I was most wary of. Suspicion about extraterrestrial life began to sprout in people's minds.

"okay. Let's say there's a strange space monster running around. So where would you like to wander? "There are cameras installed in the middle of the hallway, but you can't even see the guy's nose."

"There are places we haven't been able to visit."

As he said that, he pointed upward with his finger. When I saw people's eyes turning this way, I quickly retreated to the side of the wire fence.

"Vent?"

"Ventilation shafts are located throughout the ship. "I don't know how big it is, but around 1m would be enough to move around."

What he said was correct.

It appears that Arnold was not the only one who underestimated his enemies. I may have taken him lightly too.

'Miss strategy.'

I planned to take my time and attack slowly, but Arnold is showing better insight than expected. I should have taken the risk and dealt with it sooner.

"1m? Aren't you too small to kill someone?"

"Captain. Metallic Gremlins only grow to a maximum of 80cm, but they can destroy battleships. Size doesn't matter."

"Big."

It feels like an auxiliary organ. Everyone here is persuaded by Arnold's words. The cold sweat caused by anxiety gradually decreased, and the irregular pulse sound became stable.

"There is a problem. If a strange creature really kills a person, what happens to the body of the research team leader? "If he ate the corpse, one way or another, we would be finished."

"The problem will be resolved if we capture him alive and hand him over to Noble Capital. "If it turns out that he ate the research team leader, we will move on from that as well."

There were questions everywhere, but Arnold was unstoppable. He answered every question quickly as if he had prepared in advance.

The barrage of questions stopped and the last shooting star remained.

"Crisis management team leader."

"yes. "Captain."

"How many soldiers will you need?"

"I will select 6 agile soldiers from the 8th squad and search the ventilation shaft."

"I grant permission. I hope it brings good results."

"thank you."

After the meeting ended, I returned to the nest.

'…I lasted a long time.'

Even if you try hard, it was something you were bound to encounter at some point. There was no way to escape them from the ventilation shaft unless they abandoned the nest.

'Even if I leave the nest, I have nowhere to go.'

Given Arnold's personality, it is obvious that there will be some kind of security device near the vent. Then, the ventilation passage is virtually sealed.

There are surveillance cameras in the hallways and the ventilation shafts are unusable. We are not in full-scale war right now, but it is only a matter of time.

Now the time has come for me to make an important choice.

'Will you run away or fight?'

The nest, which had dried up after becoming an egg, was overflowing with life as if spring had arrived. As I was lying there, I stretched out my small hand and stroked the spores.

Feeling the pulse of the spores, I made up my mind.

'Fight.'

This ship is theirs, but the ventilation shaft here is different.

This is my territory and where my home is. Compared to those who are targeting this place after just looking at the blueprint and map, the amount of information they have is different.

'The conditions are also favorable to me.'

It is not just a place of battle. The situation surrounding the ship itself is turning against them.

The rendezvous with the pirates was two days later.

With the body gone, it was hard to believe that Yoosung would give credit. The pirates don't do anything for you, but you're paying them a lot of money.

Even if there are no complaints on this side, there is no way to know what will happen on the other side. He knows that the Space Dogs, who are nothing short of an icon of betrayal, will not let the ship go.

The person who ordered the meeting was Yoo Seong, but isn't he still preparing for battle, longing for his subordinates?

Anyway, if they want to fight pirates, they need to preserve as many troops as possible. You can't deploy a lot of soldiers just to catch me.

Moreover, Arnold said he would capture me alive.

'Capturing Aimorph alive?'

Amorph is a being that never stops until it destroys its enemies. A hostile alien creature that bites off its opponent's neck even if its limbs are cut off and only the head remains. That's me. Arnold seems to think of me as a wild animal running around on some random planet, but that's not even possible.

It goes without saying how foolish it would be to capture an unknown enemy in unfavorable terrain with only a small number of soldiers.

'I'll teach you how scary it is to fight an Amorph in space or on a ship.'

I will use every means I have to show them.

What does hell look like in space?