Ch.260Encroach (2)

“A mirror.”

I picked up a bloody shard of mirror. On its cracked surface, I could see the image of a spider-like monster appearing and then becoming blurry.

The ‘Mimicry Organ’ enhanced by ‘Shape Controller’ doesn’t even register properly on cameras. This is because pheromones and psychic power dispersed from microscopic pores on my body disrupt machines. Even when a camera captures me, the image appears blurry as if light is scattered.

And that part can be solved with ‘Gremlin Moss,’ which I can now spray in mist form thanks to the ‘Great Infector.’ Since Gremlin Moss damages machines, it can neutralize cameras too.

‘Using this too often would raise suspicions though.’

That’s something I can manage with proper control. Not a major risk factor.

Of course, mirrors catch me immediately, just like now. There’s no way around that.

‘But how often will I be caught by mirrors anyway?’

What’s more disappointing is that objects can’t be manifested. That’s an inherent limitation of the mimicry organ that can’t be helped.

It was the same at the slave market I visited before coming to Kesha Arma. If nothing else, deceiving about objects wasn’t easy. I’ve been caught pretending to be a pirate because I didn’t have weapons.

This time too, he noticed me because I didn’t have a flashlight. In a dark place, searching for something without any exploration equipment naturally raised suspicion.

‘Well, it’s still much better than the mimicry organ in the game.’

Expecting all weaknesses to disappear would be greedy.

“That was an interesting experiment. I’m glad you turned out to be helpful.”

I licked the blood on the mirror. The insect monster sitting on my wing-arm wriggled.

Six legs with claws, a body mixing mantis and fly features, and two wings on its back. Up to this point, it’s no different from ordinary insect monsters. Except for one thing.

“■ ■■■!”

The adult male head attached in place of the insect’s head makes incomprehensible sounds. That man’s face closely resembles the pirate I just devoured.

Cyborg Gidcue has become a human-faced insect bound to my will.

I had considered not eating him and controlling him as a parasite instead. But he had already requested backup without me telling him to.

‘Then there’s no need to keep him around.’

It’s ironic. His quick action to save his life inversely shortened it.

‘It must be about time for his comrades to arrive.’

I called my minions scattered around the area.

‘Guests are coming. Prepare to welcome them.’

My loyal servants, who consider obeying my will their only happiness, submit to me. They begin hiding in abandoned buildings to ambush.

‘I have five parasites left.’

Those who wish to serve me are coming here.

“You have a job to do.”

As the voice of the Cult member once called Jason emanated from my throat, the human-faced insect bowed its head.

–

“Damn drug addicts, what the hell is this commotion in the middle of the night?”

“The higher-ups want us to handle this as quickly as possible.”

Ten pirates entered the armory district.

Unlike typical outlaws, they were equipped with mid-grade enhancement suits and either Gauss rifles or psychic rifles. Some even carried psychic shields and medical kits used by Cult warrior units.

All equipment left behind when the Cult Empire forces departed. Montana Martio secured all remaining equipment and sold some to purchase enhancement suits and weapons.

Thanks to that, ordinary pirates could use mid-grade enhancement suits typically reserved for Megacorp armed police or junior officers.

“Where did Gidcue contact us from?”

“A bit further ahead.”

“Wasn’t he a cyborg? He should be able to handle drug addicts on his own.”

“Don’t you know what happened to Jonas? He got taken down even wearing an enhancement suit.”

“Tsk. That’s because he was stupid. If it were me, I’d dodge when that bastard lunges like this…”

While chatting and moving forward, the pirate at the front raised his hand. It was a signal that someone was approaching from ahead.

The pirates immediately raised their weapons and surveyed their surroundings. As people whose livelihood depended on looting and crime, they had plenty of combat experience.

Under the shadows cast by abandoned buildings, something was wriggling.

It clearly wasn’t Gidcue. Because that cyborg pirate was one person, not multiple like now.

“It’s them!”

Was the pirate’s shout a signal? Those hiding in the shadows rushed toward the pirates in enhancement suits.

The pirate at the front pulled the trigger of his Gauss rifle. The tungsten bullets, formidable in both price and destructive power, mercilessly penetrated the enemy’s abdomen.

No human could survive with a fist-sized hole in their chest. The pirate thought he had finished off the enemy and tried to help others, but that was a wrong judgment.

The drug addict who had staggered after being hit by tungsten bullets rushed at him again. And with a smiling face, no less.

“Crazy!”

He hurriedly swung the body of his gun and struck the smiling maniac’s face. There was a sound of flesh being crushed, and the man fell backward. He fired repeatedly at the enemy trying to get up again.

The other pirates were in similar situations. They were confused by enemies who kept charging even with limbs blown off.

“Damn! What the hell did they take?!”

“Aim for the head instead of the body!”

The one fortunate thing was that the drug addicts’ physical abilities weren’t impressive. The pirates calmly eliminated them.

“Anyone injured?”

“I’m fine.”

“Wait, what? Why are there only six of us?”

“Huh? Uh, strange? They were just behind us a moment ago.”

Everyone was confused when they realized only six out of ten were visible. They checked the corpses, but their comrades weren’t among them.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll try to contact them.”

Just as one pirate took out his terminal to send a communication.

They witnessed an unbelievable sight.

“What is this?”

“Fog?”

Somehow, thick fog had settled on the street where they stood. Only the upper parts of abandoned buildings protruded from the gray cloud.

“The life support system might be malfunctioning!”

“Damn! Everyone, put oxygen capsules in your mouth!”

The pirates quickly placed oxygen capsules from their enhancement suits into their mouths. The capsules would slowly dissolve and supply oxygen, enough to last until they escaped the area.

“…I don’t think we can handle this on our own.”

“I’ll report to the higher-ups.”

The four missing comrades were already forgotten in their minds. This was a space fortress moving along a planetary orbit. Life support system malfunction was a far more serious issue than bizarre drug addicts or missing comrades.

As the pirate took out his terminal to report upward, he saw something through the hazy fog.

“Huh?”

“What’s that?”

He wasn’t the only one who spotted it.

At first, they thought it was a building of the abandoned factory, but it didn’t take long to realize that assumption was wrong.

Buildings don’t move, but ｢that｣ did.

The spider-like being approached them without making a sound.

–

“Damn it! Why isn’t this working?”

“Try again.”

“Fuck, it’s not working! Why do you keep telling me to try again? You do it!”

“You want to die, you bastard?”

Four pirates separated from their comrades hid inside a nearby abandoned building. They had quickly taken shelter when fog suddenly appeared while they were hunting drug addicts.

Life support system issues were extremely serious. They tried to report urgently using their terminals, but for some reason, the machines were completely unresponsive.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just run out?”

“What? You want to go out into that fog not knowing what’s mixed in it?”

“Both of you, shut up.”

When the pirate with the longest organizational experience warned them in a cold voice, everyone fell silent.

“I heard something, so be quiet.”

“A sound?”

They all remained silent and looked through the broken window.

Through the thick fog that had settled like a gas leak, they heard someone’s voice.

It was their organization member who had called the pirates here. Gidcue was requesting their help.

“That sounds like Gidcue’s voice.”

“What should we do?”

This wasn’t about comradeship making them want to rescue him. It was about understanding the strange phenomenon occurring here. Gidcue, who had requested support, would know best what was happening.

“Let’s get him first, then figure things out.”

“If this shit was going to happen, he should have said something earlier.”

The pirates carefully moved while cursing Gidcue. Following the voice, they arrived at a half-collapsed abandoned building.

“It came from here, but where did he go?”

“Over here!”

As if answering, the cyborg’s shout was heard. The pirates looked around, trying to locate Gidcue.

“Over here!”

“Crazy bastard. You need to say exactly where you are.”

Hearing the voice from above the collapsed stairs, all four went up to the upper floor.

“This way! This way!”

“Look here!”

Gidcue was nowhere to be seen, and only his voice echoed everywhere. Mixed in with the voice was the sound of large insect wings flapping.

Only then did the pirates realize something was wrong.

The owner of that voice wasn’t Gidcue.

“What the fuck is this shit situation!”

“Huh? Hey, why are there only three of us? Where’s the other one?”

“What are you talking about…huh?”

“F-fuck!”

There were definitely four of them when they climbed the stairs, but somehow only three remained.

“What’s wrong with everyone?”

“I’m right here, I said!”

Gidcue’s voice continued to be heard in the abandoned building where no one else should be. And the wing-flapping sound grew louder.

“Stay together!”

Thick fog, unidentified voice, and now a missing comrade. The remaining three barely suppressed the urge to wail and raised their guns.

With their backs against each other, their eyes moved restlessly. Fingers on triggers trembled slightly.

Perhaps sensing their vigilance, the interior of the building fell silent.

“I-is it gone?”

“Get a grip! Idiot!”

“It’s still here.”

Just as the particularly timid one among them gulped, the floor beneath them collapsed.

All three were in such a state of extreme tension that they couldn’t even scream as they fell to the lower floor.

“Everyone be careful…!”

The experienced pirate barely regained his senses and tried to warn the others. Before he could finish, a long black arm shot out from the fog and snatched him.

“H-hieek!”

“Aaaagh!”

The two who witnessed this let out screams close to wailing. One pirate began firing his Gauss rifle wildly into the fog.

Unlike his comrade, the timid pirate chose flight over fight. He ran out of the building in panic, crawling on all fours as he fled down the street.

“Aaaaa…agh?!”

The gunfire from behind suddenly stopped. He knew very well what that meant.

The timid pirate ran down the street with all his might.

He hadn’t been this scared even when facing the vice-boss of the Martio Cartel. That’s because the vice-boss was a being that caused fear within his range of comprehension.

But the entity in that fog was different. It was an indescribable fear, an unholy mud-like terror. All he could do was cry like a child and run away.

As he fled, the fog began to thin. In the distance, he could see the boundary marker between districts. Beyond that would be the entertainment district with high-end facilities. If he could reach there, he could request help from other organization members.

A ray of hope bloomed in his fear-consumed mind. He stepped forward vigorously. That would have been the case if his legs had moved.

“?”

Had his legs frozen from fear? Confused, he tried to move his legs, but they wouldn’t budge.

At the same time, he felt something warm in his ear canal. He tried to touch his ear with his hand, but his arm wouldn’t respond. He tried to scream, but his mouth wouldn’t open.

With his entire body completely paralyzed, he heard the familiar wing-flapping sound. The entity that had been imitating Gidcue’s voice landed in front of him.

Cold sweat poured from his entire body at the sight.

He had just thought that incomprehensible horror was true fear, but that was wrong. This universe overflowed with things he couldn’t even imagine.

For instance, an insect with his comrade’s head.

“Master. This one knows the life support system manager.”

The insect with Gidcue’s head spoke.

Then a gun fell from above his head. The sound of it hitting the ground seemed like thunder in his ears.

That Gauss rifle belonged to his comrade who had been fighting the monster.

And he felt an unpleasant breath on the back of his neck. Despite being paralyzed, his senses remained vivid. He could easily tell that the breath was heavily tinged with the smell of blood.

“You seem useful.”

A male voice so calm it could be described as gentle.

He didn’t know what awaited him next.

But he could easily imagine it would be something too terrible to be described merely as horrific.