Ch.274The Great Chaos (2)

“Second Command Center complete lockdown. Activating shields.”

“All VIPs in the banquet hall have been evacuated to the underground bunker. Upper level VIP evacuation in progress.”

In the central control room, dozens of androids with cables plugged into the backs of their heads were controlling the Second Command Center.

“Anti-aircraft shock cannons and defensive railguns activated and loaded.”

“Determined that psychic power attacks are ineffective against the enemy. Replacing ammunition.”

“Switching to large-caliber high-velocity impact rounds and scatter missile warheads.”

“Changing armaments on patrol corvettes under command to the same specifications.”

The androids were responding to the crisis with remarkable speed. Though the fortress cannons had been neutralized, they immediately deployed prepared alternative measures.

Montana Martio, the master of the fortress, watched anxiously from behind.

‘Damn it! I was planning to leave this place once this business venture succeeded.’

Recently, there had been unsettling rumors about Outspacer activities and the sudden disappearance of major cartels. In this situation, the management rights to Kesha Arma that he’d obtained through lobbying were extremely unstable.

That’s why he had planned to purchase a small planet in Megacorp territory. Operating a business in legal territory would make it easier to receive Megacorp protection. Naturally, safety would be guaranteed as well.

But now that plan was completely ruined.

Outside, an unidentified entity was infecting his organization members, turning them into grotesque monsters. Whether it was an Outspacer monster or some experimental subject brought by a deranged Megacorp client, he couldn’t tell.

Whatever it was, the thing had caused him considerable losses, and now his life was in danger.

‘…Should I prepare to escape?’

On Kesha Arma, which orbited the planet, there was one more way to leave besides the military port. A means that could only transport them to the planet floating right above their heads.

Montana contemplated this last resort as he stared at the monitors in the control room.

On the screens, his subordinates were running around busily.

–

Three cylindrical pillars visible from any sector inside the fortress.

One of the three command centers supporting Kesha Arma was waiting for us, fully armed.

‘That barrier wall is tough.’

If the command center falls, the fortress is finished. Naturally, the wall protecting it had to be strong.

Made with a black silver base that reduces the power of psychic attacks, mixed with various high-strength metals, it would be quite difficult to breach. I could pierce it by combining psychic breath and acidic breath, but it would take considerable time.

‘There’s no need for that.’

As I always say, frontal assault doesn’t suit AMorph.

Deceiving the enemy and ambushing from unexpected places. That’s how AMorph fights.

I ordered the mutant and madman legion beneath my feet to advance. The hybrid army of physically mutated and mentally contaminated beings charged toward the steel fortress.

The distance between them and the fortress wasn’t far. So far, there had been no significant interference.

But Kesha Arma’s defensive facilities weren’t limited to fortress cannons.

Flashes of light emerged from between the thick barrier walls surrounding the cylindrical command center. Intense explosions swept through the mutant horde.

‘Those seem to be shock cannons…’

Mutants hit directly were completely disintegrated, while those merely grazed lost limbs. But such attacks couldn’t stop the mutants.

“Kikikiki”

“Grrreeee”

Mutants that lost legs used protruding tentacles as substitutes, while those with severed waists jumped using abnormally developed arms.

Meanwhile, light flashed again from the command center. A massive electromagnetic force cut through the air. A red line appeared in the middle of the densely packed mutant legion.

A projectile traveling at supersonic speed had pierced through mutants and mercenaries, turning them into chunks of meat.

‘So that’s the expensive railcannon they acquired.’

Railcannons are weapons primarily used in Megacorp space fortresses. They’re effective against enemies with resistance to energy attacks, like me. Once you enter Megacorp territory, especially the Solar System, you’ll see them frustratingly often.

According to Kadun, the Martio Cartel installed one railcannon in each command center. Even purchasing three small models with reduced power cost an astronomical amount.

‘Well, railcannons are expensive. Maintenance costs are high too.’

The Martio Cartel had made far more preparations than ordinary pirates.

Unfortunately for them, they were facing me.

‘The railcannon has entered cooldown.’

Shock cannons positioned between the command center’s barrier walls continuously spewed fire. The mutant and madman legion I created continued advancing even as they died from the shells.

The mutants I created alone numbered over a thousand. Additionally, residents driven mad by the “Herald of Chaos” were joining continuously.

The legion of madness, growing as quickly as they died, eventually reached the barrier wall of the command center. But they couldn’t break through. Neither the mutants’ sharp claws nor the weapons wielded by mercenaries and pirates could even scratch the barrier wall.

The command center began firing claymore-like missiles at the approaching enemies. Whenever a missile filled with scatter bombs the size of human heads exploded in mid-air, the mutants and mercenaries below were turned to shreds.

“AAAAARGH! FUUUUCK!”

“I’ll kill you! You bastards! GRAAAAH!”

The mercenaries and pirates consumed by madness screamed horrifically. Though their minds were corrupted, their sense of pain remained, making their condition truly miserable.

I thought the enemy might hesitate against mercenaries and pirates, but I was wrong. The enemy was responding much more resolutely than I expected.

The command center relentlessly fired scatter bombs above what were once their comrades. With each red flame scorching the barrier wall, dozens died.

‘It’s problematic if they die too soon.’

For the madness bomb to be effective, they need to enter the command center before dying.

‘Time to begin.’

While the command center was distracted with other enemies, I landed on the ground. I folded my large membrane and stored it in the empty carapace of my wing-arms, then lowered my head to bring my snout close to the ground.

‘It should be around here.’

Feeling the ground with my auxiliary organs, I stopped in front of a building with a collapsed wall. The fortress differs significantly from the game version, so I couldn’t be certain, but this should be the right place.

I struck the wall with my wing-arms, completely demolishing the building. Then I opened my mouth wide over the debris.

The fungal gland deep in my throat activated, spewing a large amount of acidic liquid. The green fluid devoured not only the ruins but also dug into the ground below.

The enemy still didn’t understand what I was doing. Though some blind impact shells flew in my direction.

I wasn’t worried. No. 26 was with me.

“I’ll clear them for you.”

The creature perched on my head demolished other buildings and levitated the debris. Incoming shells collided with the rotating obstacles in mid-air and exploded.

‘Clever one.’

Having traveled together for so long, we understand each other perfectly.

Protected by No. 26, I continued my excavation work. After emptying all the liquid stored in my fungal gland, I used the barrel on my back to throw spores containing explosive fluid inside.

‘This isn’t the end.’

Unlike the underground storage, I needed to dig even deeper here.

The monster’s tentacles hanging like a mane across my rear head carapace and neck swayed according to my will. The high-concentration psychic power created by the tentacles condensed in front of my snout, taking form.

A purple sphere like a blazing sun turned into a great flame and poured into the hole I had dug. Under that tremendous firepower, the floor made of solid metal began to crack.

Not only that, but the area around me shook violently as if in an earthquake. Intact buildings collapsed, and psychic flames erupted like lava from the cracked ground.

‘Good.’

The intense psychic flames that could burn even apex creatures gradually subsided.

Thick smoke rose from the black pit. My auxiliary organs detected a familiar scent among the acrid smoke produced by chemical reactions.

The smell of humans gripped by fear. It was a signal that the pit was close to my intended target.

‘This is the weakness of the command center’s barrier wall.’

The barrier wall protects the entire cylindrical command center protruding above ground. This means it cannot protect facilities embedded deep underground, such as bunkers.

If the enemy’s wall is solid, you simply go around it.

‘In the game, some would line even the underground with the same material as the barrier wall…’

But pirates who struggle to afford even one railcannon would find that difficult.

Even if the enemy did so, there would still be ways to break through. I’m just not doing it now because there’s no need.

I reactivated the Herald of Chaos, which had been canceled when I used my psychic breath. Mutants within a 500-meter radius responded to the psychic wavelength. Some who had been mindlessly pounding on the command center’s barrier wall were drawn by my guidance and jumped into the pit.

I also plunged into the abyss with No. 26.

Those in the bunker below, believing it to be the safest place.

Great chaos would soon befall these foolish ones.