Ch.114Semi-Adult (2)

“…….”

“Boss?”

The boss of Humanity Cartel, Muriel, had checked all the reported footage.

When she first brought up the hologram, her expression was nonchalant, but it gradually hardened until it became as cold as ice.

“…When was this recorded?”

She always called pirates “brother.”

The fact that she omitted the title meant she was furious beyond words.

Her subordinate swallowed hard before answering.

“It-it’s been a week as of today.”

“A week? Who’s in charge of communications?”

“Ah, that would be me—gack?!”

Mid-sentence, the subordinate clutched his throat as his breath was suddenly cut off. Muriel’s eyes were burning with purple flames.

“You’re only telling me about something this important now?”

“Ugh, gaaack…”

It was Muriel herself who had said not to bother her when she entered the temple, but she didn’t remember that fact now.

In the end, the innocent communications officer died with his neck twisted.

“Clean it up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After ordering another subordinate to remove the body, she brought up the hologram footage again.

‘Why is there an AMorph here… could it be?’

AMorphs don’t live on the PH-101 planet, not just the Saintopia02 continent.

If that creature crossed space to enter this planet, there was only one possible explanation.

‘It’s a player.’

Muriel knew that in this dystopian world, there were quite a few others like her who had crossed over from different worlds. And that most of these players were extremely hostile to each other.

One of the reasons she came to this planet was to catch players, after all.

‘But AMorphs should be extinct, so how is this possible?’

Something incomprehensible was happening in reality, but that wasn’t the important part right now.

If an AMorph player had come here, she needed to prepare countermeasures.

“That skinned corpse…”

As a player who had reached rank 20 in Space Survival, Muriel knew what that corpse signified.

Almost no AMorphs in the game provoke or intimidate others in that way.

Only one does such things.

One of the most notorious players in the world of Space Survival and the only AMorph among the rankers.

“They were definitely rank 5.”

That AMorph ranker quit the game shortly after she became a ranker. Thanks to that, they never met directly, but she knew about them because of their notorious reputation.

‘I don’t know how someone who quit got in here, but…’

Muriel is also a former ranker. Moreover, she has survived in this world for a full three years.

On the other hand, while the opponent was a long-time ranker, they were a player who quit the game midway.

She believed her skills were by no means inferior to that AMorph ranker’s.

“The possibility of me losing to them is slim…”

“Kukukukukukukuk.”

Just then, she heard laughter that disturbed her composure.

She took her eyes off the hologram and looked at the being making the sound.

“Kukuk, *cough*! I knew you were stupid, but to this extent…”

The Sky Mother was mocking Muriel.

Even while undergoing horrific torture with her entrails being pulled out, she couldn’t hold back her laughter as if she’d heard something incredibly funny.

“What’s so amusing?”

“Kuku, *cough*, *spit*, the possibility of losing is slim? Do you know who’s in that footage and still say that?”

“…Isn’t it the rank 5 AMorph ranker?”

“The fact that you know that and still remain so calm is truly remarkable confidence.”

“What?”

“Wherever they go, they prepare for everything. They’ve come here and killed pirates? No matter what you do, you can’t escape their palm.”

“Huh? You’ve gone mad from the torture. That’s nonsense.”

Muriel shook her head in disbelief, but the Sky Mother continued as if explaining a law of nature.

“It doesn’t matter what you think or what plans you make. If you fight, they’ll kill you; if you run, they’ll kill you; if you beg for mercy, they’ll kill you.”

“……”

“Kill me before they arrive. It’s far better to die right here than to face them.”

Until now, the Sky Mother had never asked to be killed no matter what torture she endured. After all, she wanted to survive somehow and take revenge on Muriel.

The fact that such a being was now saying death would be better than meeting that AMorph sent chills down Muriel’s spine.

‘…What the fuck?’

Muriel stared into the Sky Mother’s eyes.

The emotion in those raptor-like eyes was very unfamiliar.

Fear.

The Sky Mother, who never lost her will even while being tortured to the point of wetting herself, was afraid of the AMorph.

Judging that she couldn’t get any more useful information from the Sky Mother, Muriel called her subordinate.

“Contact the cruiser and tell them to raise the defense level to maximum until I arrive. Shoot to kill anyone who approaches except me.”

“Even people coming from the camp?”

“Yes. They can disguise themselves as humans, so tell them not to trust anyone. Don’t even accept communications. And report immediately if anything happens.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The Sky Mother’s words bothered her quite a bit, but she tried to ignore them.

Being afraid in advance when facing a dangerous entity would only put her at a disadvantage.

‘Stay calm. They’re just a Juvenile anyway.’

Being a ranker herself, she had considerable experience fighting AMorphs. AMorphs rapidly grow stronger from the Subadult or Adult stage onwards.

Though the creature in the hologram looked quite different from its appearance in the game, it still appeared to be at the Juvenile stage.

No matter how skilled the opponent was, the possibility of her losing was low, given her numerous subordinates, cruiser, and multiple unique-grade equipment.

‘The exception would be what kind of Perk they received.’

Muriel herself received a new Perk when she fell into this world.

While Perk effects can be very powerful, they’re certainly not some kind of all-purpose tool. Considering the gap between her and that AMorph, it would be impossible for them to defeat her no matter how good a Perk they received.

“We need to return earlier than planned. Everyone pack up.”

“Understood.”

“Kukukuk, such a pointless effort. You’re all already fucked! Kukuk, *cough*!”

Even as the camp personnel bustled about, the Sky Mother’s mocking laughter echoed ominously.

–

‘Only one day left until the boss is scheduled to arrive.’

I checked the time on the small terminal pad I took from the pirates.

Having evolved into a Subadult, I’ve roughly met the conditions needed to face the pirate boss.

If you ask whether a Subadult is that strong, the answer is no. While becoming a Subadult does make you much stronger, I can’t rely solely on this since I don’t know what level the pirate boss is at.

One reason I considered evolution a necessary condition was to improve my specs in preparation for physical combat with the enemy, but there’s another reason as well.

To induce mistakes through misinformation.

‘They’ll think I’m still a Juvenile.’

I don’t know how skilled the pirate boss is at this point. If they’re a high-ranking player, they’ll know how to fight against an AMorph.

Since AMorphs have significant power differences between evolutionary stages, they’ll prepare their response assuming I’m a Juvenile.

“Grrrrrr”

‘If they believe wrong information and prepare accordingly, they’re in for a big surprise.’

Smiling slightly, I brought up a semi-transparent text box.

“Species: Unidentified Agressive Space Morph

Status: Subadult (Transcendence Stage 1)

Objective: Survive (3 successful evolutions).

Traits (Physical 17/Psychic 7/Infection 8/Special Defense 5/Nest 8)

① Physical (Type Applied): Metal Absorption, Perfect Organism (Unique), Pheromone Enhancement, Suspended Animation, Bone Axe, Gliding Membrane, Enhanced Suction Cups, Tenacious Vitality, Webbed Feet, Fins, Enhanced Large Tail, Reaper’s Jaw

-Physical Fusion Traits: Regeneration, Neurotoxin Gland, Mimicry Organ (Unusable), Blood-Sucking Tentacle, Spine-Hair Shooting Tail

② Psychic (Type Applied): Humanity, Insight

-Psychic Fusion Traits: Predator Sense, Monster’s Tentacle, Ghost Claw, Gaze of Terror, Psychic Reflective Armor

③ Infection (Type Applied): Space Bacteria, Enhanced Infection, Auditory Hallucination Bug

-Infection Fusion Traits: Parasitic Colony, Decay Fungus Organ, Tooth Fairy Nest, Gremlin Moss, Acidic Fungal Gland

④ Special Defense: Pain Reduction, Resistance, Disease Immunity, Perfect Immunity

-Special Defense Fusion Traits: Protective Coloration

⑤ Nest (Type Applied): Nightmare Horizon (Unique), Rapid Hardening Agent, Expansion Enhancement, Sticky Trap, Human Sacrifice, Smog Tower, Water Ghost Blister

-Nest Fusion Traits: Symbiotic Spores

Types (4)

Physical Enhancement Type, Psychic Enhancement Type, Infection Enhancement Type, Nest Enhancement Type

Specializable Types (1)

-Special Defense Enhancement Type (5/16)

* Incomplete Traits (3)

Energy Absorption, Dwarfism, Gills

‘That’s a lot.’

The number of new traits I gained after becoming a Subadult was enormous.

‘Especially reinforcements on the utility side.’

Of course, there were also some new changes in physical and psychic traits.

The bone plates on my back disappeared because I used Electronic Disruption as material for the fusion trait “Gremlin Moss.”

And the color of my outer skin, which was originally close to dark brown, is now closer to a dark purple, almost black.

This is due to the effect of “Psychic Reflective Armor,” created by combining the trait I gained from killing the Swamp King with psychic resistance.

Both traits will be used countless times against the enemies I’m about to face.

‘Gremlin Moss is effective when attacking machines, and Psychic Reflective Armor is useful against Cult.’

Besides these, there are many other traits that will continue to be useful in the future.

‘Especially getting Symbiotic Spores was lucky.’

“Symbiotic Spores,” created using traits obtained from the swamp as materials.

Nests with this trait produce spores with very special functions. Spores that can heal targets where I’ve implanted symbiotes.

‘With Symbiotic Spores, I can be of great help to No. 26 and Adhigh Orr.’

I’ve been worried about them getting hurt, but now I can breathe a little easier.

‘I’ll think about that later. Let’s deal with the cruiser first.’

Currently, I’m less than 50m away from the enemies’ cruiser. They must have received strict orders from their boss to guard it, as they’ve laid all sorts of things around the ship.

Various types of mines, dozens of Storm Guns in automatic firing mode, dozens of Heavy Walkers, reconnaissance drones made by Star Union, and even the plasma cannons attached to the cruiser are all activated.

The defense level is truly like an iron fortress.

Even if I were still a Juvenile, it would have been impossible to break through here even with No. 26 and Adhigh Orr. It’s simply impenetrable by land or air.

‘I wonder if they know about the Maginot Line.’

The enemies have built a nearly perfect defense line against enemies approaching by land or air.

But there’s something they’re missing.

Underground.

I’ve been digging a tunnel to get under the cruiser for a while now.

As I evolved into a Subadult, blunt claws grew all over my carapace except for my head. Most are concentrated on my tail, but there are also blunt claws on my wrists, waist, and thorax.

These claws can be used for attacks, but they’re especially effective for digging through soil. Thanks to these claws, I can move very quickly and quietly underground.

‘This should be far enough.’

Having reached under the cruiser, I stopped digging.

This space, slightly wider than my body, will be my new nest.

‘I’ve gained so many new traits, might as well use them.’

When I activated nest building, black mucus poured out from my body. The surrounding soil absorbed the mucus like a sponge absorbing water.

In the past, it would have taken a long time for the mucus to harden and form spores, but now the nest was completed at an incomparably faster rate. All thanks to the enhancement from types and traits.

‘That’s fast. Very good.’

The completed nest began to expand its territory quickly on its own without my command.

The walls of the tunnel I dug quickly hardened due to the mucus, and the surrounding ground felt as alive as my own body.

Spores reflecting my traits bloom like fruits all over the nest, and all kinds of pathogens—toxins, viruses, fungi, mycelia—seep into the soil.

Do those on the cruiser above know?

That a kingdom of plague is being built right beneath their feet.

‘Now, rise quickly.’

The nest extends upward at an incredible speed.

The target is the cruiser guarded by the pirates.

Since the cruiser is also part of the pirate boss’s power, weakening it in advance wouldn’t be a bad idea.

‘If I attack with nest traits, they won’t even notice.’

The enemy the pirates above will face isn’t a single monstrous entity called an AMorph.

This soil, this earth under my control will be their enemy.