Ch.240Glacier Canyon (3)

When I opened my eyes in the nest, the first thing I saw was a pink jellyfish.

It was No. 26, who had grown to a size of 10m. He was sleeping while leaning against me.

Next to No. 26, I could see Adhigh Orr and Sky Mother. Until recently, Sky Mother in her Griffon form had been much larger than Adhigh, but not anymore.

After growing into a White Gallergorn, Adhigh had become similar in size to Sky Mother, and now after gaining the power of Red Gallergorn, his body length had grown even longer. Including his wings, he was much larger than Sky Mother.

‘Seems like he’s calmed down quite a bit.’

I expected him to be with the Blue Gallergorn, so this was unexpected. The comfort from No. 26 and Ham Oort must have helped a lot.

With my eyes open, I looked around to see white and green islands submerged in a black swamp. The White and Green Gallergorn whose injuries hadn’t healed yet were resting here.

Fortunately, most of the wounds on their bodies had healed. However, some still had broken horns, which seemed to take longer to recover.

While checking their bodies, a sudden flash of light appeared from the tunnel connected to the cavern.

‘What’s that?’

It disappeared quickly, but having seen it, I couldn’t just ignore it.

I carefully got up.

Normally, No. 26 would have woken up from my movement, but he must have been quite tired as he didn’t stir at all. I carefully moved out of the swamp, making sure not to wake him.

‘Come to think of it, PS-111 isn’t here.’

I couldn’t see him anywhere in the cavern.

When I went out to the tunnel where the light had flashed, PS-111 was there as expected.

He was synchronizing with a Screamer’s head. When I appeared, he stopped and turned to me.

“You’re awake.”

Just like No. 26 imitates him, PS-111 also follows No. 26’s life patterns. When No. 26 sleeps, he partially powers down his system, and when No. 26 eats, he replenishes his energy.

It was rare for him to act independently except when given orders.

“Is there something else you’re looking for?”

“Yes. There was something I needed to verify in the memory information.”

“Is it about Pyrrha Eleven?”

“No. There were some interesting memory data that I wanted to check.”

As always, his expression was blank, but today he somehow felt different. More emotional, perhaps.

After a brief silence, he continued.

“During the process of being digested by the ‘Ice Horror,’ most of my memory data was lost. I cannot verify what memories my original body had or what thoughts it held.”

“Are you trying to check if the others were similar?”

“Yes.”

His body had been severely damaged by the Ice Horror’s attack for some reason. When No. 26 picked up PS-111, only his head remained.

He managed to survive by putting minimal life support functions into his small head. In the process, the organic part responsible for his body and the AI responsible for behavior control formed a complementary structure.

‘Though it seems the original memories and personality were lost as a result.’

To be precise, it would be more accurate to say the two merged.

After receiving energy from No. 26, his body was restored to a state where both machine and organism achieved perfect balance. In other words, he could be seen as a new being with perfect integration of biological tissue and machinery.

‘His sense of self must be quite different from the original too.’

In a way, the intelligent and mechanical parts of the Screamer that previously constituted him died and disappeared, and what stands before me now might be considered something entirely different.

‘But that’s probably not what he wants.’

“So, did you find what you were looking for?”

He shook his head and said:

“After analyzing the memory data of those individuals, I found 89% similarity. They were pessimistic about survival itself and hoped their life support systems would stop.”

‘That’s inevitable.’

His situation is completely different from regular Screamers.

Cyborgs and intelligent beings forcibly turned into Screamers must endure constant suffering trapped in mechanical devices until pardoned by the Machine Committee. They cannot move their bodies at will, but they feel all pain and sensations fully.

They must charge forward even when hit by shells on the battlefield, and continue fighting even when their bodies are burned by enemy energy bullets.

It’s an environment that even someone with the strongest willpower couldn’t endure. As he said, it would be hard to find anything other than a plea for death.

“After analyzing the data, a new question arose. I cannot determine whether I was such a being or something different.”

Even if newly developed mutant Screamers differ from older models, the basic framework is the same. Before his transformation, he was probably similar to other mutant Screamers.

However, I couldn’t say exactly what I was thinking.

“Well, I think you were different from the others.”

“What is the basis for that judgment?”

“If you really wanted to die, you wouldn’t have modified your body to survive inside the Ice Horror. And even after No. 26 saved you, you’ve had plenty of opportunities to die. Isn’t that difference enough?”

His transformation was likely the result of the AI’s desperate measure to maintain life, but I can’t be 100% certain. After all, among all the units that participated in the mission with him, he was the only one who stubbornly survived.

I added one more thing:

“You are a special individual. That much is certain.”

I meant it sincerely.

Depending on one’s perspective, he could be seen as being at a much freer stage than the others.

He blinked the cameras that replaced his eyes and remained silent. After a brief pause, he said to me:

“I will take that into consideration.”

That ended our conversation. He fiddled with the Screamer’s head for a while before quietly entering hibernation mode.

‘Memories, huh.’

Come to think of it, players who came to this dystopian world are in a similar situation to him. Humans who were living their own lives had only their minds transported to this world.

I too am essentially human, not an AMorph. The burn I suffered as a child, conflicts with my parents, hobbies that started as an escape—though my body is an AMorph, what constitutes “me” is ultimately the memories from my human life.

‘I wonder what will happen to my memories from here when I return?’

If they remain intact, it might be quite difficult to adjust to reality. After all, I would be going from being a creature that ate humans back to being human myself.

‘Not an issue to worry about yet, I suppose.’

After that, I lay down next to him, lost in various thoughts, and eventually fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes to movement around me, it was already morning. The first thing I saw was No. 26.

“Good morning, big baby.”

I stroked him as he greeted me energetically. He emitted light and sent waves, showing his good mood.

“All the babies are awake. Come quickly.”

[Zzzzz Zzzzz (Wait a moment)]

Instead of entering the cavern, I briefly stopped by the cave entrance. After gathering necessary items from near the entrance where there was no mucus, I returned to the cavern.

When I entered the large space covered with swamp, the Gallergorn and the children were waiting for me.

“Great One” “Preparations” “Complete”

I could feel intense anger from the Gallergorn who had recovered from their injuries. Adhigh too was burning with fighting spirit, determined for revenge.

‘Good.’

Four White Gallergorn and nine Green Gallergorn who barely survived defending the nest from the Screamers. Add Ham Oort to that, and we have 14 in total.

There are a few more Green Gallergorn who avoided injury while protecting the nest, but I don’t plan to take them.

‘Pyrrha Eleven is an enemy similar to my type.’

She absorbs organisms to gain energy. Having more numbers isn’t necessarily better. Instead, I plan to take these 14 Gallergorn and the children as an elite force.

‘But before that…’

There’s something I need to do before departing.

What I brought from the nest entrance were the corpses of White Gallergorn. Four bodies obtained from the victory over Odd Grad.

‘Based on Adhigh’s case, White Gallergorn need to eat other White Gallergorn to evolve.’

Since I’m not entirely certain, I plan to experiment here. Whether these corpses can evolve four White Gallergorn.

‘Who should I give them to?’

I definitely plan to give them to Ham Oort and Nel Germa. Both have abundant combat experience and excellent fighting power. If the experiment goes well and both become Black Gallergorn, they’ll be a great help in battle.

‘And Sha Belmarg wouldn’t be bad either.’

That skinny male Gallergorn was the first to rebel against Odd Grad when he lost his ring. He seems intelligent, making him suitable for the experiment.

As I was wondering who to choose for the last one, I selected a relatively large Gallergorn.

‘Ham Oort, Nel Germa, Sha Belmarg, Zerkapchat.’

I presented the four White Gallergorn corpses I had found the day before to them.

Nel Germa, with his loyal nature, unhesitatingly inserted his tentacle bundles into the corpse. After him, Sha Belmarg and Zerkapchat began absorbing the remaining bodily fluids from the corpses.

Ham Oort, who was last, seemed to hesitate for some reason.

[Zzzzz (Drink it)]

Looking at the corpse I offered, he turned his head and glanced at Adhigh once.

“?”

Adhigh, who met his gaze, tilted his head in confusion. Seeing this, Ham Oort seemed to make up his mind and immediately thrust his tentacles into the corpse.

‘I wonder what will happen.’

Ideally, I’d like them all to become Black Gallergorn, but things might not work out so well.

‘I hope at least one becomes a Black Gallergorn.’

Quite some time had passed since they began their experimental meal.

The corpses I was holding shriveled up one by one like dried mummies. Despite having eaten almost everything, there was still no sign of transformation.

‘Could it be a failure… huh?’

Just then, Ham Oort’s horns caught my eye. Black color was spreading across the surface of his horns like spilled ink.

Soon, the black wave instantly devoured his horns and spread to his head and neck. Realizing the change in his body, he spread his wings and wrapped them around himself. From behind the thick wings came the sound of his body rapidly growing.

‘Similar to Adhigh.’

I checked if the others were changing too.

Looking at Nel Germa and Sha Belmarg, I noticed unfamiliar black spots on the back of their necks and parts of their bodies, but there was no sign of them expanding like Ham Oort’s.

‘Is Ham Oort the only one growing?’

Only Ham Oort had started to transform. The other three had completely consumed the White Gallergorn but hadn’t changed.

‘Is it because the corpses were in poor condition? Or is it age-related?’

As far as I know, Ham Oort is the oldest among the surviving Gallergorn. He was originally quite young, but after most died in battles with Odd Grad and the Screamers, he became the eldest.

‘Perhaps both the corpse condition and age played a role.’

Unfortunately, there’s nothing more I can do. All that remains is to wait for Ham Oort to safely complete his growth.

When Adhigh transformed into a White Gallergorn, it took roughly 30 minutes to an hour. Unlike AMorph, it didn’t take that long.

An hour passed like that.

Ham Oort remained motionless with his wings wrapped around him. His pure white wings had disappeared, replaced by smooth, obsidian-like wings covering his body.

At some point, the sounds from his body stopped. His growth was complete.

The new Black Gallergorn spread his curtain-like wings wide. As the new black dragon was born, all the surrounding Gallergorn bowed their heads.

Two additional horns had grown on Ham Oort’s head. Since the existing horns had grown without regenerating, the horns on his head gave a rather unbalanced impression.

The color of his horns and body resembled obsidian with a black luster, and his body had grown larger, giving off a considerable presence.

Though smaller than the aging male Odd Grad, he still seemed to be at least 30 meters long including his tail.

Ham Oort examined his body once, then slightly bowed his head to Adhigh and me.

Looking at him after completing his growth, I thought:

All preparations were complete.