Ch.282Aftermath (1)

After the Metallic Gremlin retreated, the shield wall protecting the fortress was deactivated. We returned to the fortress through the military port.

The Sky Mother transformed back from her winged griffon form to her humanoid appearance.

A wing-shaped tattoo was visible on her back, woven with dense muscles. The agate-colored wings are normally stored away like now, but she can generate them when needed.

She asked with the Golden Spear of Shaman resting on her shoulder.

“Where should we go?”

‘Normally we’d go to Command Center 2, but…’

Cynthia had likely already moved to board a transport ship from another command center.

‘She must have gone to Command Center 1.’

She would understand what the oxygen shortage meant. She would have concluded that Command Center 3, which oversees the fortress’s life support systems, had already fallen.

So the only option left was Command Center 1.

‘By now she might be fighting with the kids.’

During the battle, I asked No. 26 to attack Command Center 1 together with Adhigh Orr. If Cynthia had headed there, she would have already encountered them.

‘Together, those two might not win, but they won’t lose either.’

No. 26 and Adhigh Orr are infamous as powerful psychic creatures, Sea Demon and Red Gallergorn. From the Cult’s perspective, they’re the worst possible matchup.

If she had powerful offensive abilities like Jason, it would have been dangerous, but Cynthia doesn’t have that level of offensive capability.

[Let’s go to Command Center 1]

I pulled out the membrane hidden inside the carapace of my wing arm. As it spread wide like a sailing ship’s canvas, objects around us were pushed away.

“Wow, it really is huge.”

She also spread her wings with a small exclamation. Though smaller than when she was a griffon, her wings were still beautiful as she took flight before me.

I flapped my wings and followed her.

My wings, enlarged by the ‘Bone Beast,’ have a wingspan of 100 meters. Each time I flapped them, abandoned buildings crumbled and corpses on the ground were swept up into the air. Among the debris was a hover bus. The remains of the bus, only half intact from whatever it had experienced, flew through the air before crashing onto some building.

Not long after we began flying over the ruined areas, a cylindrical, elongated building came into view. We landed in front of Command Center 1, which was surrounded by a shield wall.

“Looks like they’re already fighting in there.”

As she said, there was a hole in the shield wall that looked like it had been drilled by an enormous drill. From inside, the faint sounds of pirates screaming and gunfire could be heard.

‘First, I need to widen the entrance…’

Just as I grabbed the hole in the shield wall with my wing arm to expand it, the sounds from inside suddenly stopped. Familiar wavelengths and thought waves flowed out, tickling the monster’s tentacles.

“It’s Big Baby’s feeling!”

“Big Elder” “That’s right” “Let’s go out”

“Yes! Let’s go out!”

A moment later, they appeared. No. 26 had enlarged its body, and Adhigh Orr had its head and front legs stained red.

“Big Baby is big!”

“Big Elder” “Transformation?”

[Yes]

They weren’t particularly surprised, having seen Bone Beasts before.

“Does Middle Baby have flappy things too? Do they grow when you mature?”

“Yes. Just as you said, I grew wings as I matured.”

Instead, they were both surprised by the Sky Mother with wings, as they were seeing her like this for the first time.

“Amazing. I want flappy things too!”

“Ugly friend” “Slightly” “Improved”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t include the ‘ugly’ part.”

“Tail” “Thin” “Ugly”

“…You said you’d protect me, but you left and now you talk like that?”

“Already” “Growth” “Almost” “Finished” “Knew” “So” “Left”

“You really don’t hold back at all.”

The Sky Mother’s new appearance seemed quite impressive to them. No. 26 gently touched her wings with the tips of its tentacles, fascinated. Despite his words, Adhigh Orr also seemed to like the wings, prowling around her and nodding his head.

‘I thought she came here?’

Looking inside the command center, there were numerous corpses barely recognizable in their original form. Since Cynthia couldn’t have died already, it seemed she hadn’t arrived here yet.

‘Where did she go? Did she go somewhere else?’

[Did you see any strong enemies while coming here?]

“Strong enemies?”

[Yes. The enemy who was fighting me]

No. 26 had left while fighting alongside me. It should remember Cynthia.

But its answer exceeded my expectations.

“Me and Little Baby punished a bad person together!”

[Huh?]

“Little Baby beat up the bad person who was wearing a hard shell and flapping around!”

“Agree” “Star power” “Used” “Horned dwarf” “Attacked” “But” “Horned dwarf” “Strange power” “Used” “Didn’t die”

“So I went pabak with this! Pabak!”

No. 26 changed the shape of one of its thick tentacles. The tentacle, transformed to be as thin as a needle tied to a thread, stabbed the air, making a sharp sound.

[Did you two kill Cynthia?]

I asked again, unable to believe their answer.

“Yes. We punished her and ate her.”

“Taste” “Stable”

“Right! It was delicious!”

“Wait. You two killed a ranker and ate her?”

It really seemed like they had killed Cynthia. They didn’t just subdue her or stall for time. They clearly killed her and ate her body without leaving anything behind.

‘Come to think of it, the Metallic Gremlin.’

Those creatures that had been charging madly showed strange movements before fleeing. I thought it was because they feared the psychic breath.

But now it seems that wasn’t the reason. When Cynthia died, whatever tool she was using to summon the Metallic Gremlins must have malfunctioned.

‘Well then.’

Even though the Sea Demon and Red Gallergorn combination is extremely effective against the Cult, the opponent was a ranker. They’ve hunted boss-level creatures multiple times in the game, so they naturally know all the strategies.

I expected them to hold Cynthia at bay, not easily defeat her, kill her, and eat her corpse.

‘The two of them took down a ranker.’

As I thought about it, a strange emotion welled up from within my chest.

Was it because I lost the perk due to them eating the ranker? Because I lost a necessary source of information?

No, not at all. This emotion stirring in my chest has nothing to do with negative feelings like anger or regret.

[Both of you did well. Truly excellent]

It was joy.

“Wow! Big Baby praised us!”

“I” “Amazing” “Great Adhigh!”

Sensing my emotion through the monster’s tentacles, they rejoiced. No. 26, forgetting its increased size, jumped up and down in place, while Adhigh Orr climbed onto my back and hopped around.

Honestly, while Cynthia’s perk and information would have been useful, the growth of these two is worth more.

They devised their own strategy and caught Cynthia without my help or command. The significance of this cannot be understated.

I don’t know how many more rankers we’ll have to fight in the future. Even now, two factions—the one Jason belonged to and Cynthia’s “Return Faction”—are hostile to me. I don’t know how many members each faction has, but it’s certainly not a small number.

‘If these guys reach ranker-level skills, future battles will be much easier.’

While such practical thoughts crossed my mind, I also felt something difficult to explain.

When I was very young, I once imitated an actor in front of my parents.

My mother, who was already a famous actress then, was always a strict person, but that day was different.

My mother, who rarely showed emotional fluctuations, smiled at me silently. Not the actress’s smile she wore when meeting reporters or standing on set, but a genuine smile.

‘…I was truly happy then.’

Why am I remembering my mother’s smile now, one I never saw again after that?

Perhaps this emotion I’m feeling is the same one my mother felt when looking at me as a child.

“So there are no more threats?”

The Sky Mother’s thought wave pulled me from my reminiscence.

[Yes. Now that the ranker is dead]

“Judging by the state of the fortress, they’ve already dealt with getting the genetic essences. We just need to catch the remaining pirates.”

[PS-111 has taken control of the life support systems. They won’t last much longer]

“…Don’t tell me you’re doing the same thing here that you did in the game?”

[It’s efficient]

The remaining pirates and survivors in the fortress are essentially living on borrowed time. Those wearing enhanced suits might have oxygen capsules to last a bit longer, but that only extends their lives by a few dozen minutes.

Once they’re all eliminated, there’s no need to stay here any longer.

‘I’ve already met the conditions for adult evolution.’

Thanks to raiding the underground storage, I’ve collected all the material traits needed to synthesize two unique traits. Once these are completed, I can evolve into an adult immediately.

‘Oh, I just remembered I absorbed a trait earlier.’

Thinking about traits reminded me of something I’d forgotten.

While trying to catch the Titan Boss, I got a predation effect from the Warp Boy I ate instead.

I was so distracted by Cynthia that I hadn’t checked it yet. There probably wasn’t much time left before it would be automatically canceled.

I immediately brought up the text box.

“Predation effect activated! Successfully acquired ‘Warp Creature’ genetic essence.”

“Stole the biological trait ‘Warp Creature’ from ‘Warp Boy’.”

“Apply ‘Warp Creature’?”

‘Oh?’

Two unexpected things happening in such a short time.

The ‘Warp Creature’ trait is almost essential for AMorphs. With this trait, the speed of preparing for FTL travel increases dramatically.

‘It’s quite useful for escaping.’

With ‘Enhanced Beast Wings’ that I’ve acquired, I can use FTL travel alone. The reason I don’t use it in combat is because the preparation speed is very slow. I need to stay completely still for more than 5 minutes, making me vulnerable to enemy attacks.

If I get the Warp Creature trait here, I can cut the time to enter FTL travel in half.

‘To get such a good trait here.’

The probability of getting Warp Creature from a Warp Boy is very low, so I didn’t expect much, but this is fortunate.

I happily selected accept.

And then…

“‘Jason (Jason Tunningham)’s perk stored in the token storage organ can be fused with ‘Warp Creature’.”

“This is a target for the trait enhancement system. Would you like to use the system?”

The text box displayed another message that defied my expectations.