Ch.169Side Story: Brides of the Space Monster

The day of escape from the T&C Special Trade Center.

After AMorph entered the cocoon, No. 26 and Adhigh were each spending time on their own.

No. 26 was diligently practicing the communication method AMorph had taught her. Using appendages called fingers to convey intentions was a very unfamiliar way of communicating for her.

Her kind communicated using body colors. To begin with, No. 26 was the only one among her kind who possessed appendages that could be called tentacles.

Though she had been using these tentacles more frequently lately, she was still rather clumsy with them.

But No. 26 didn’t give up. She was a much more complex and ambitious woman than AMorph thought.

Compared to when she was trapped in that smelly container in the past, her cognitive domain had expanded immensely. While receiving more attention and affection from AMorph was nice, she wanted something more.

Having evolved beyond her previous state, she had begun to dream of a future—a future where she would lead her kind alongside the big one.

To achieve that goal, she absolutely needed to be able to communicate with the big one.

While No. 26 was working hard for her dream, what was Adhigh doing?

Adhigh was lying at an angle with his wings as a pillow, grooming his scales. He had instantly mastered the communication method AMorph taught.

Being as intelligent as No. 26 and having advantageous physical conditions, this was perhaps only natural.

However, having finished so quickly, he was now grooming his scales to alleviate the boredom of waiting.

“Small adult” “I” “Curious”

“……”

“Small adult” “Small adult” “Small adult” “Small adult” “Small adult” “Small adult” “Small adult” “Small adult”

Adhigh kept sending thought waves.

If it had been an ordinary human, they would have become disoriented from Adhigh’s continuous thought wave attacks, but No. 26 was a Seed Demon, so she wasn’t greatly affected.

Of course, she couldn’t avoid feeling annoyed by his bothersome behavior while she was trying to study.

“What is it?”

“Adult” “Body” “Growth” “Fast” “Fast” “Fast”

“Yes. The big one sometimes grows quickly like that.”

“Amazing” “I” “Adult” “Growth” “Envy”

Saying that, Adhigh looked down at his own body.

Instead of the white scales he desired, beautiful green scales covered his body.

His flawless, smooth, and glossy green scales were like emerald gems. If intelligent beings saw Adhigh’s scales, they would likely marvel at their beauty.

However, to No. 26, body color was merely a means of communication, holding no particular significance.

“I” “Want” “Scales” “White”

“Is it good to become white?”

“Good!” “White” “Strong” “Cool” “Charm” “Overflowing”

Adhigh rose from his spot and stretched his wings and waist. At the same time, he curled his tail upward into a snail shell shape.

This posture was a gesture used among Gallergorn to display sexual appeal, but no one present knew this fact.

“White” “Growth” “Advantage” “One” “More” “Exists”

“What is it?”

“I” “Adult” “Egg” “Possible”

“……”

Unlike Adhigh who was speaking excitedly, No. 26 felt strange upon hearing those words. She thought this little one wouldn’t give up even if told no.

“You should lay eggs after you grow up.”

“Understand” “I” “Growth” “Need” “White” “Cool” “Adult” “I” “Attractive”

For someone claiming to understand, he didn’t seem to at all.

While watching Adhigh contemplating what the most alluring posture might be, No. 26 suddenly wondered:

Did Adhigh actually know how to make babies?

“Little one.”

“?”

“If you were to make a baby, how would you do it?”

Hearing that, Adhigh raised his head high. His attitude seemed to boast that he knew something the small adult didn’t.

Though she found his attitude quite displeasing, No. 26 endured it.

Even to her, the big one was a being quite different from her kind. If the big one’s “baby-making” method differed from what No. 26 thought, it could cause problems when leading her kind in the future.

“I” “Kind” “Talk” “Heard”

“Yes.”

“Male” “Above” “Female” “Below” “Embrace” “Egg” “Form”

“Huh?”

“Female” “Egg” “Lay”

But Adhigh’s explanation was very different from what No. 26 had in mind.

Or more precisely, it was absurd.

“Hugging creates babies?”

“Correct”

“Then I should have a baby by now, why don’t I?”

“?”

“I’ve been sleeping attached to the big one all this time.”

Adhigh had slept with them too, but she deliberately didn’t point that out.

In any case, No. 26’s observation must have been quite sharp, as Adhigh couldn’t properly answer.

“Kind” “Talk” “Truth” “Kind” “Egg” “Lay” “I” “Confirm”

“Then there must be something else?”

“Small adult” “Guess” “I” “Agree” “Cannot”

“Little one doesn’t know either.”

In the end, Adhigh couldn’t provide an answer.

No. 26 vaguely knew that the big one was no ordinary being. She thought he wouldn’t easily make babies, and it seemed her guess was correct.

But perhaps thinking he would lose if it ended like this, Adhigh called to No. 26 again.

“Small adult” “Baby” “Making method” “Know?”

“Me? I don’t really know.”

“Small adult” “Don’t know” “Don’t know” “Don’t know”

Adhigh fluttered his wings gently.

Though the two species had completely different communication methods, having spent a long time together, they could roughly understand what each other’s gestures meant.

That was the gesture Adhigh made when teasing others. No. 26 momentarily felt the urge to hit him but restrained herself.

In situations like this, the female who resorts to violence first loses.

Instead of violence, she decided to bluff.

“Actually, I know very well.”

“Really?”

“Really. I know extremely well.”

“Explain” “Please”

No. 26 wracked the brain hidden inside her body, trying to recall the baby-making she had seen among her kind before.

“First, you inflate your body to make it bigger.”

“Body” “Bigger?”

In truth, No. 26 didn’t know much about baby-making either. Although she had been the leader of her kind, she had never made babies with anyone.

She had only viewed her kind as something to protect, never thinking about engaging in productive activities.

“Yes. And then you hug each other tightly and rub.”

“Embrace” “Rub?”

Adhigh seemed suspicious about what difference there was from what he had said. Being more perceptive than No. 26, he had detected that she was just saying whatever came to mind.

Thinking she needed to say something more, something occurred to No. 26.

“Touch your friend’s tentacles with slender tentacles.”

“Tentacles?”

“Yes. It feels good when touched with tentacles.”

In fact, she had once calmed the big one with slender tentacles when he was going berserk. At that time, she had experienced a mysterious connection to the big one’s mind.

A wondrous yet somehow ticklish, strange sensation. Like the feeling of playing a forbidden prank. No. 26 could never forget it.

Adhigh, who had been listening with a nonchalant attitude, seemed to find her explanation plausible and nodded.

“Kind” “Tentacles” “Affection” “Display”

“Right?”

“Kind” “Night” “Flight” “During” “Tentacles” “Embrace”

Adhigh had seen his kind secretly engaging in affectionate acts with tentacles. And that those acts seemed very pleasurable.

However, that wasn’t the answer Adhigh was looking for.

What Adhigh wanted was not the process but the result. No matter how pleasurable the act, it was useless without eggs.

“Tentacles” “Embrace” “Kind” “Egg” “Fail”

“Really?”

“Tentacles” “Long” “Many” “Cool” “Acknowledge” “Egg” “Relation” “None”

As Adhigh said, having long and numerous tentacles was certainly attractive, but it was a separate issue from making babies.

In the end, the conversation returned to square one.

No. 26 and Adhigh continued their heated debate, racking their brains, but no answer emerged.

“We need a friend who knows how to make babies.”

“Agree”

The conclusion reached after an in-depth discussion between the Seed Demon and the Gallergorn was simple.

They would acquire the necessary information from a third party.

It was the result of applying the hunting rules they had learned while traveling with AMorph.

When facing an unknown enemy, gather information first.

AMorph, who had suddenly become an unknown entity regarding baby-making.

The big one and big adult was sleeping inside the cocoon, unaware of anything.