021

Infiltrating a battleship was not very difficult.

Although it had its own security system, its level was poor. It's embarrassing to compare it to a research ship.

'Because he's a pirate.'

Since they only plundered, they probably didn't even think that others would plunder them.

An auxiliary organ under the jaw began to track the flow of vibrations. The core of the metal battleship was not far away.

After confirming the location of the reactor, I ran down the hallway.

The hallways of the battleship were so dirty that it was hard to believe that it was a military ship.

The walls had different colors here and there, as if they had been torn off and pasted on from another ship's exterior walls, and boxes containing loot were piled haphazardly in the hallway.

As I was running through a hallway that was almost like a trash can, I felt the enemy's movement.

There are two people on the other side. There is one human and one Insect Man.

'Let's handle it here and let's go.'

I crouched behind boxes stacked nearby. As the footsteps got closer and the human tried to pass me, my tail aimed right at his neck.

"Oops!"

"!"

A fountain of blood spurted from the decapitated corpse. Insect Man, who lost his comrade in an instant, opened his mouth wide at the sight.

If it were an ordinary person, I would have been mesmerized, but the opponent was, of course, a pirate. Even in the midst of panic, the guy pulled out the communicator.

When I opened my palm, a saw blade tentacle came out and wrapped around the guy's wrist. The sharp saw blades on the tentacles mercilessly tore off his flesh.

"Kyaaaaaaa!"

The guy's forearm looked like it had been ground in a grinder. The communicator he was holding failed to fulfill its function and fell to the floor.

When I retrieved the tentacles, which were covered in Insect Man's characteristic green blood, what was attached to the surface was absorbed into my body. Then, a taste different from that of humans struck my mind.

'It tastes like green grapes.'

Human blood has a pungent taste, but Insect Man's tasted like refreshing fruit. It would have been nice to savor the flavor a little more, but unfortunately, the situation was not so leisurely.

I put all my strength into hitting him. Although it was a short charge, the destructive power that could not be ignored was produced, perhaps due to the increased weight due to the body strengthening type effect. The guy who hit me ended up in the hallway.

"Keck!"

A short scream and the sound of bones breaking were heard from the guy.

If he were a human, he would have already died of shock, but this guy is an Insect Man with a persistent vitality. The thing was still alive and struggling to escape.

I pinned his arms with my lower arms and held his chin, which was split in two, with my upper arms.

"Kyaaagh! "I'm going to buy it… keke."

I'm tired of hearing so many wills asking for my life.

I applied strength to the hand holding the chin and pulled it off. The guy died with his head split open.

I left the human corpse alone and hastily ate the Insect Man's corpse.

'As expected, NPC races are not counted.'

In the game, the Insect Man was an alien race that was classified as sapient but was not playable. As a result, it was not counted separately in the conditions for evolving into a subadult.

'Just eat this and let's go quickly.'

If it were any other time, I would have enjoyed it leisurely, but there is still a lot of work to do. I quickly chewed his meat and swallowed it.

After licking up all the blood that had spilled on the floor, the human corpse was packed into a box.

"Patrol team, what's going on? "Why is there no answer?"

"It's nothing."

"Then answer quickly, bastard. "I got lost."

"I'm sorry."

I answered roughly through the communicator that Insect Man dropped before his death. Thanks to the mimicking nature, they had no idea that the owner of the communicator had already entered my stomach.

After a short battle, we set off towards the reactor again. There were no new enemies encountered along the way.

It would have been nice if the security of the nuclear reactor had been this lax, but my wish did not come true. There were android guards guarding the area around the reactor.

These guys who don't spend a single penny on security suddenly have an expensive Android. It seems that the items obtained through looting were placed here.

'Android is a bit tricky.'

Destroying it itself is not difficult, but what happens afterward is the problem. This is because the moment I attack, it will send a signal to the battleship's central AI. Unless you are planning an all-out war, you should refrain from attacking Android.

'How should I hit it?'

The auxiliary organ under the chin wriggled and searched for weak defenses.

Unlike humans, androids are machines, so there were no gaps. The android's heat tracking device prevented it from moving around on the ceiling or wall like it did on the research vessel.

'There is no need to fight directly.'

I turned around and headed upstairs to the reactor. After passing through rusty iron stairs and a messy hallway, we arrived at someone's bedroom.

There was a musty and foul smell in the bedroom. The mat used as a bed had turned yellow, and empty liquor bottles were rolling around on the floor.

I lifted the mat with four hands and removed it. The insects hiding below were startled and ran away.

'It was around here, right?'

I stood where the mat was and pulled out the spores with my lower hand.

The slime flowing from the acid spores began to dissolve the floor. Acrid smoke rose and a hole was instantly created in the dirty iron plate.

The upper part of the reactor was visible below the hole.

If it had been a human, it would have discovered the upper layer of the reactor melting, but the opponent was an android. Because it is a robot that operates according to a set program, it is vulnerable to unexpected situations.

'The engine is cleared with this.'

I poured spores over the reactor.

–

It has already been 10 years since Elchen Dvara started piracy.

The Hulk Mutant is a pirate. No one expected Elchen to be active for this long.

The original Hulk mutant has a short lifespan. They are genetically modified to die early, so they die within two years.

What about pirates? The survival period of a Space Dog recruit does not exceed one month. Even among veterans, there are not many who have been active for more than a year.

If he hadn't been a Hulk mutant improved by Edgerton, he would have died soon after.

Even if he survived, he wouldn't have been active for this long if he wasn't smart.

Elchen overcame both adverse conditions. He has now become a person heard among the space dogs.

Elchen, who had experienced all kinds of hardships and hardships, was quite shocked by the sight that was happening in front of her eyes.

｢Request support! It's the bridge situation room! He's breaking down the door to break in!"

"Damn it!" They say they don't have enough people to send!"

"I hate poetry!" "I don't want to die!"

"Captain? Where did the team leader go!?"

"The team leader died earlier! Come to your senses!"

"Hee hee. We're all dead. Hee hee."

"Anyone with any ammo left!"

"He's breaking down the door! Everyone prepare for battle!"

"Damn it!" It's a smoke bomb!」

｢He came inside…Aaaah!｣

｢Aaaah!｣

｢Help…Ah!｣

With the scream, the video recorded on the situation room computer ended. The hologram went off, but no one in the room opened their mouth.

'What's going on?'

When I got on board, I thought it was strange. Aside from the fact that there were strange plants everywhere, there were no people.

Even if everyone died in an attack, traces would still be left on the walls and floor. Blood stains or shell casings.

But none of that existed on this ship. There was no trace of anyone, as if this research vessel had been a ghost ship from the beginning.

Elchen decided that it was necessary to find out more about the attacker.

So he ordered his subordinate. He told me to search the recorded video and find out what happened.

The result was this video I just saw.

The people who were protesting in the situation room against something unidentified looked extremely miserable, even to him, a cruel pirate.

There had been several battles before they came here, so there were very few of them who were still intact. Some people were missing one of their limbs, and some people were just fine but lost their minds.

The video ended with the door to the situation room being breached. It was easy to imagine what happened to them.

"hey. "Play it closer to the front."

The subordinate played back the video recorded earlier.

"This is the situation room. B3. "Please join us as soon as maintenance is completed."

"The route is complicated. "Everyone, move carefully."

In the screen, a soldier with short hair and a muscular body was giving orders through a communication unit. Next to the soldier stood many people wearing luxurious clothes.

The video played was a recording of the process of first encountering and searching for an unidentified monster.

'The soldier will be the one in charge of the defense of this ship. I guess that weak-looking guy behind there is Samuel Samuel.'

It started off smoothly, but it didn't take long for the atmosphere to change drastically. Soldiers' screams were heard over the communicator, and the leaders in the situation room began to become agitated.

'The troops sent were annihilated.'

That's what I thought, but the situation wasn't over yet. Elchen was truly surprised by what happened next.

This is because while the leaders were fighting, an unidentified monster suddenly appeared.

'You're hitting your head here?'

I don't know where it came from, but it started killing people like a fish out of water.

The white temple floating on the black sea of stars was stained with blood.

The person who managed to stop the guy was the soldier who was commanding the soldiers. He took out a plasma pistol from his pocket and attacked the monster.

The monster seemed to know that the soldier's weapon was a threat, so it held back unlike before. The guy hid, created a smoke screen with a fire extinguisher, and then attacked the soldier.

'As expected, he is an intelligent guy.'

It is also a high-risk creature with very high intelligence.

Elchen, who encountered a variety of creatures while undergoing genetic modification treatment, had an intuition that the monster was the first creature discovered in this universe. Because if Megacorp had known that such a dangerous creature existed, they would have caught it and extracted its genes a long time ago.

Anyway, the fight between the monster and the soldier ended with the monster winning. It was the monster's luck rather than the soldier's fault. The soldier's misfire caused great damage to the soldier, which directly led to his defeat.

The guy retreated immediately after killing the soldier, as if he knew that reinforcements would come.

"…Damn it."

When Elchen decided to take on this job, what he was most worried about was how to deal with retaliation from Noble Capital, especially the Eugene family.

But after watching the video, it seems like we should be more worried about finding the body safely on this ship than that.

"Hey garlic."

"Yes?"

Elchen called Garlic in the situation room.

Garlic was keeping his eyes on the hologram, wondering what he was thinking. Only after Elchen called her did she come to her senses and return to her usual timid self.

"The last time we lost contact was yesterday?"

"Yeah yep. The original plan was to meet yesterday. But the boat didn't come, so we searched for it for a day."

While on the way, we have already obtained the details of the research vessel's personnel. There are 222 people on board the research vessel, including 96 soldiers. If you tell Elchen to annihilate them, they can be annihilated within half a day.

'The problem is that we don't know his identity.'

After watching the video, he quickly figured out what the monster's strengths were. He is the type of person who makes up for his lack of military power with intelligence and various abilities. Attacking him without any information is no different from telling your subordinates to commit suicide.

Of course, Elchen was a person who did not care whether his subordinates died or not, but he did not enjoy wasting manpower. Even if your subordinates die, you have to get as much information out of him as possible before dying.

"Still, I'm glad."

"yes?"

"Because he won't know we're here."

Since they were all experts at piracy, they invaded the research vessel as quietly as possible. Unless he had installed cameras throughout the ship, it was nearly impossible to detect their movements.

"First, find the guy and punish him. The body is found later."

As Elchen was about to give orders to his subordinates, one of his subordinates outside ran towards him. He was holding a communication device and his face was pale, as if he was so surprised.

"You two bosses! "We're in big trouble!"

"what?"

"The battleship's engines are broken!"

"what!"

Elchen shouted at those words.

What does it mean that a healthy engine suddenly breaks down? He couldn't understand.

The subordinate was dying to explain something bad to the angry boss, but he had no choice. Because if you hide it and get caught later, it won't end up with your head broken.

The subordinate closed his eyes tightly and finished the story.

"I checked from over there and found that the engine was completely melted and recovery was impossible!"

"Fuck you! Give it to me!"

I took the communication device from Elchen's subordinate.

After hearing the full story of the situation from over there, Elchen crushed the communication device in his hand.

"You Nimiral horo bastard!"

Not being able to relieve his anger with just that, he grabbed the alloy chair fixed to the situation room and tore it apart like tearing a piece of paper. Seeing that, his subordinates quickly lowered their heads.

"Fuck garlic!"

"yes!"

"Can you roll this boat?"

"I need to check…"

"Fuck you."

"Oh no. You can roll!"

"You you and you. Garlic helps. The rest of us are going to catch that fucking monster. Follow me."

"yes!"

Elchen led his men and left the situation room.

He promised. If they catch him, they will never end by just skinning his head.

–

'Oh. I'm angry. Are you mad.'

Back at the nest, I was aware of their movements. The leader, whose heart activity doubled faster, walked around the ship with rough steps. His subordinates also followed him eagerly to help him.

'Let's wait until they disperse.'

Research ships have more complex areas and facilities than battleships. Besides, the enemies have just arrived here. In order to search an unfamiliar place efficiently, there is no choice but to divide the number of people.

They don't know, but there are still survivors on this ship. About 20 people, including the captain and several leaders, are hiding here and there.

It goes without saying, but it was not left to show mercy.

'Megacorp absolutely hates pirates.'

Some may surrender, but most will attack the pirates. When they fight among themselves, I just pick up the fruits that fall and eat them.

'But that person got caught.'

The human remaining in the situation room. A being disguised as ordinary was moving around the situation room and continuing to work on something.

There are only three people with that being. Now was the right time to attack, but I had an uneasy feeling.

Aimov's unique sense was warning me. That being is a dangerous being, so we must do everything possible.

'Is the author by any chance the owner that Arnold spoke of?'

Sihyeon Eugene.

He was the one who said that Arnold was similar to me. What did he see that made him say he was similar to me?

'He probably looks like a genetically modified human.'

Megacorps are a species that is extremely materialistic and values competition as the highest value, and they have a very strong obsession with extending life. In particular, Noble Capital, which is at the top of the pyramid, does not hesitate to do anything, no matter how terrible, if it can survive for a long time.

It is thanks to this social atmosphere that Megacorp's genetic improvement technology has developed. The Hulk Mutant is just a by-product of that.

'Even for Megacorp players, the final content is genetic modification.'

In the game, there were quite a few users who modified their appearance to ridiculous levels, even though they only looked like humans. There were all kinds of people, such as using relics that only cults could use through modification of superpowers, or flying around in outer space alone without a spaceship.

If so, it is quite possible that the Eugene family's seed was also modified to a level that exceeded human limits.

'Kisaragi was nothing special, but what about that person?'

As expected, if it is a human whose genes have been modified, it would be a daunting challenge for me now. Just as the enemy does not know my abilities, I also cannot know what abilities the enemy may have. If they have modified it to the level of the players, it will not be easy to win even if it evolves to a sub-adult form.

'He's a genetically modified human. It's been a while since I fought.'

I said it would be difficult to win, but I didn't say I would lose.

I am the one who has eaten up the rankers among the Megacorp players. Seeing a powerful enemy not only brings a sense of crisis but also excitement.

'For now, that being presumed to be Sihyeon Eugene is put on hold. 'Let's take care of the pirates first.'

If you fight for no reason and support comes, it will be a pain in the ass. I looked at the pirates again.

Just then, they are approaching the captain's cabin where the survivors are hiding.