Ch.322The Water Fortress (4)

“You’re leaving this place?”

In the reception room of a Cult-style mansion.

Siheyon Yujin nodded at Kixos’s question.

“Yes. Thanks to you, I’ve secured enough equipment and slaves. Since you’ve invested in me, I should show you results accordingly.”

“The Emperor of Megacorp won’t be an easy opponent. Will you have enough?”

“Currently, Megacorp is facing the end of a war. The entire society is in chaos as the long-maintained wartime system is being dismantled. Now is the perfect opportunity to kill the CEO.”

“Hmm.”

Siheyon’s words were true.

As the leader of the Innovatives who emphasized interaction with other species, Kixos had many connections in Megacorp. Thanks to this, he knew that Megacorp’s power had weakened considerably.

“I heard that one of the seven nobles supporting Megacorp collapsed, causing an economic downturn. The Emperor and nobles are quite troubled by it.”

“That’s correct.”

“So now is the opportunity.”

With those words, Kixos fell silent and calculated in his head.

It didn’t take long to conclude that letting her leave would be more beneficial.

“Siheyon of House Yugin. May Providence fulfill your wishes.”

“Thank you.”

After paying her respects, Siheyon left the reception room.

Walking down the corridor, she soon leaned against the wall as if collapsing.

Recently, she’d been unable to sleep due to nightmares and headaches.

She had checked if it was a side effect of genetic modification, but nothing showed up. The research team leader said it seemed to be a mental issue.

As he suggested, even medication didn’t make the nightmares and headaches go away. She could only sleep inside a bio capsule, but even that time was getting shorter.

“…Hah.”

Resting her head against the cool wall made her headache subside slightly. After sighing softly, she started walking again. As she left the corridor and walked through the gallery, a familiar figure approached from the opposite direction.

“Siheyon Yujin? Why are you here?”

“Hello, Alshas.”

The other person was a Cult woman with shining silver hair, Alshas.

“I came to say goodbye to Kixos before leaving Beryan02.”

“I see. So you’re finally leaving.”

“I received great help thanks to your introduction to Kixos. I’ll visit you separately later to express my gratitude.”

Alshas’s presence at Kixos’s mansion meant she also had an appointment. After exchanging brief greetings, Siheyon tried to leave.

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

Stopping Siheyon from leaving, Alshas took out a small data chip from her pocket.

“Take this.”

“What is it?”

“I heard from my senior that you’ve been searching for mysterious artifacts. This is a map I acquired some time ago.”

Siheyon’s heart pounded at the word “map.”

“Did you say a map?”

“Actually, it’s embarrassing to even call it a map. It’s incomplete.”

“Incomplete…”

“I have an acquaintance in the Prophet Association and asked about it. It seems to be a map to an altar hiding a mysterious weapon, but they couldn’t confirm more details.”

In reality, the chances of Alshas’s data chip corresponding with the map Bumho left behind were extremely low. Without someone’s deliberate intention, such a fortunate coincidence wouldn’t happen.

But her intuition reacted differently. She had a strong conviction that this data chip might be the key to restoring the broken map.

Suppressing her emotions with reason, Siheyon asked Alshas:

“Why are you giving me a map that leads to a hidden weapon?”

“Honestly, while I find it interesting, I’m the captain of an Imperial Mothership. I can’t move freely based on uncertain information. But unlike me, you don’t have such restrictions, do you?”

“That’s true.”

“Like the elder, I’ve also invested in you. Your success benefits me as well. So please take it.”

Siheyon met Alshas’s gaze. The female Cult sincerely wanted her to have this map. No other emotions were detectable.

“You are an important element in the grand plan. You don’t need to worry about anything.”

“…Thank you.”

In the end, Siheyon decided to accept the data chip.

–

When an AMorph reaches the subadult stage, it becomes immune to most poisons thanks to the “Perfect Immunity” perk obtained at that stage.

Despite drinking an enormous amount of alcohol, my body showed no changes whatsoever.

‘I didn’t feel intoxicated at all while drinking.’

Actually, even without the Perfect Immunity trait, an AMorph’s body wouldn’t get drunk. With superior overall metabolism, it would quickly break down something like alcohol.

This was similar for the others too. No. 26 and PS-111 showed no change even after emptying dozens of wooden barrels.

Of course, not everyone was completely immune to alcohol. In Adhigh’s case, it was visible that his mood improved the more he drank.

‘He showed a similar reaction when eating the cocoon of the Hellside Hornet.’

Other Gallergorn who drank the liquid from the cocoon also seemed happier than usual. It was similar to wild animals enjoying fermented fruits.

However, Adhigh didn’t seem to know he had a body that could get drunk. After getting completely intoxicated, he ran around the room wildly before falling asleep in my arms.

‘And now he’s sleeping in the mansion owner’s room.’

“Adhigh is still sleeping, I see.”

Said the Sky Mother with a towel draped over her shoulder, looking toward the room.

She must have bathed right after waking up, as water droplets clung to her fur. Her wet fur stuck close to her body, revealing her figure.

‘Not much has changed even after reaching the Incarnate stage.’

On her naked back was a carnelian-colored wing tattoo. When not in battle, wings can be cumbersome to move around with, so they’re often converted into tattoos for storage. She probably changed them to tattoos deliberately since wet wings are troublesome to dry.

Anyway, apart from the wing tattoo, she didn’t look much different from before.

“So when are you planning to meet the slave who’s presumably that child?”

The beautiful griffin Volf asked while drying her fur with a towel. I took my eyes off her body and shared my thoughts.

“If possible, I’d like to check from a distance today.”

“Today? Isn’t that too soon?”

“There’s a possibility the person might not be Rank 22. I’ll just confirm without meeting directly.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

“Once I finish organizing everything about Robets, I’ll move immediately. I’ll also check the large warehouse on the way.”

“I hope we won’t need to use the warehouse.”

There were two reasons why we rented a large warehouse before searching for Robets.

Nominally, we entered the fortress to sell rare creatures. Renting a warehouse under Charas’s name ensures there are no paperwork issues.

The second reason was to prepare for a prolonged search for Rank 22. When the duration of “Clever Weakling” ends, I’ll return to being a massive monster 60 meters long. I needed a safe place to hide in my original form, so I rented a large warehouse in advance.

‘Simply put, it’s insurance.’

It would be great if we could finish before needing the warehouse, but that’s not how the world works. Since there’s no guarantee things will go as planned, we need to prepare in advance.

“Unless something special happens, I plan to move as discussed. Let me know if you have any concerns.”

“Concerns?”

She slightly frowned and pointed at my chest.

“That body.”

“Huh?”

“You currently look like a Cult wearing a bathrobe.”

Her words reminded me.

The last person I devoured, Robets, was almost naked. The “Mimicry Organ” makes others perceive me as the “intelligent being I’ve devoured” through pheromones.

While this trait is excellent for disguise and infiltration, it has critical drawbacks. It doesn’t work on machines or creatures that can’t detect pheromones, and I can’t voluntarily change how others see me.

‘I don’t mind the other issues, but not being able to change my appearance is annoying.’

Fortunately, the “Face Bug Host” trait somewhat offsets this disadvantage. With Face Bug Host, I can store genetic information of up to five people in my body. The Mimicry Organ analyzes the genetic information of devoured intelligent beings and implements it through pheromones. If needed, I can pull out information stored in the Face Bug Host.

Only Jason is fixed as an important information source, while the other four have changed frequently. I put on the “skin” of Charas, whom I used to infiltrate this fortress.

“Is this better?”

“…That’s truly creepy every time I see it. It’s even scarier because your voice changes completely too.”

She stuck out her tongue as she looked at me, now perfectly perceived as the knowledge manager Charas.

‘Now for the outfit.’

After changing my appearance, I used a terminal pad to contact Robets’s secretary.

“Master?”

“Something urgent came up. So I won’t be able to go to the store for a while.”

“What? But, yesterday you said…”

“Yesterday?”

“You said someone suspicious might break into the store, so you told us to strengthen security.”

“I’ve resolved that issue, so there’s no need to worry. Remove all security. Oh, and take money from the ledger to pay those who stood guard yesterday.”

“Understood!”

“Good work.”

I ended the call using Robets’s voice. The Sky Mother, who had been watching, shook her head in disbelief.

“Isn’t your acting too natural?”

“It’s not like this is my first time.”

“This isn’t a skill you get from practice. Is it because of your bloodline…?”

Leaving her muttering to herself, I started cleaning up to ensure Robets’s death wouldn’t be discovered. I deleted all camera footage from the monitoring room and evacuation room, and submitted a cancellation request to nullify the report to the fortress’s warrior unit.

No one in the Water Fortress would know that a slave trader had disappeared.

After finishing all preparations, I left the mansion with MPS-05 and the Sky Mother.

No. 26 and PS-111 agreed to guard the mansion. With No. 26 who could mimic voices like me, and PS-111 who had knowledge of Cult society, they would handle any problems well.

“Let’s visit the large warehouse first.”

We used Charas’s airship that the Sky Mother had brought to fly to where the warehouse was located.

In the daytime sun, the fortress was bustling with crowds. The waterfall that had looked like flowing wine now emitted its true blue color. Colorful hover buses stirred the water surface as they moved around the waterways connected to the waterfall.

Past the brilliantly shining buildings reflecting the sun, a massive pyramid-shaped structure came into view. As we got closer, I could see that each block composing the pyramid was a warehouse.

“There are so many.”

“No one would find us even if they searched.”

The warehouse we had contracted in advance was at the bottom of the pyramid, probably due to its size.

Using Charas’s terminal pad to enter, I found it spacious enough to fit Robets’s entire mansion.

‘The warehouse is taken care of. Next…’

I entered a new destination using the small arm on my chest.

“The hotel with the Coldblood slave is in the northern district?”

“Going directly to the hotel is too risky. It’s better to wait at the slave quarters instead.”

After completing the input, the airship headed in the opposite direction from the center.

The warehouse pyramid is where guests and merchants store their goods. It’s not far from the street where luxury hotels are located.

As soon as we left the vast warehouse pyramid, buildings very different from those in the central area came into view.

A wide lake that appeared to be a water source. Various geometric-shaped buildings floated above it. These were expensive buildings incorporating magnetic levitation technology typically used for large vessels rather than hovers. The hotels floating above the lake resembled lotus flowers blooming on water.

‘This looks similar to what I saw in the game.’

On older Cult planets like the capital in the game setting, you can see floating facilities. This is because Cult culture prefers living above ground rather than underground, and the entire species can handle psychic power, resulting in many buildings floating above ground like this.

‘Of course, player reviews weren’t great.’

If the levitation device breaks, the building is finished. Unless playing a concept character, hardly any players lived in such buildings.

Anyway, our destination isn’t these fancy hotels. The airship quietly crossed the lake.

According to Robets, the hotel where the Coldblood slave works operates quarters exclusively for slaves. And those quarters are not far from the hotel.

The airship was heading toward a place with beautiful but somewhat old-looking buildings. That area contained facilities for slaves working in hotels.

After landing at an airfield near the district, the Sky Mother and I headed toward the quarters Robets had told us about.

“They seem to live better than in Megacorp’s Mid-Capital.”

“They’re slaves working in luxury hotels, so they’re treated differently.”

As this was the city where wealth was most concentrated in Beryan02, even the Cult’s slaves had quite a high standard of living.

The expressions of slaves walking the streets couldn’t be described as good even as a courtesy, but their appearance was too neat to be considered slaves. The buildings also seemed well-maintained except for being old.

‘Plus, there are watchtowers.’

While the district itself was filled mostly with low-rise buildings, tall watchtowers like those in the central area were scattered throughout. Their main purpose would be to monitor slaves, but they would also serve to maintain security. If a fight broke out in the district, they would respond immediately.

‘If we need to fight, we should avoid the watchtowers…’

“!”

While thinking about how to fight while avoiding the watchtowers, the Sky Mother suddenly nudged me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Found it.”

“What? Where?”

She pointed to a fruit stand. A familiar figure was standing in front of the store.

It was a Coldblood, a species that looked like an even mixture of reptile, human, and beetle-like insect characteristics. He looked very similar to the photo I had seen in Robets’s file.

“That’s the child.”

“Are you sure?”

When I asked, she nodded. Her amber eyes were firmly fixed on the small Coldblood.

‘What should we do?’

Today’s original plan was to confirm whether the slave sold by Robets was really Rank 22 by checking their face. Judging by the Sky Mother’s reaction, we could consider the objective achieved.

“There’s no rush, let’s observe a bit more.”

Just to be safe, we decided to continue watching the Coldblood suspected to be Rank 22. The Sky Mother and I followed him while maintaining our distance.

He bought some fruit and then moved elsewhere. After purchasing a few more items from the next store, he just browsed the displayed products.

‘I heard he was small, but he’s really tiny.’

Whether born with a dwarfism trait like Adhigh, he had an unusually small stature. He was so small that he looked more like a child in disguise than a Coldblood.

‘Huh?’

After following him for a few minutes, something seemed off. He was no longer buying anything and kept moving somewhere. At first, he at least pretended to be browsing, but now he wasn’t even doing that.

‘He’s not going to his quarters either.’

Just as I thought things were going wrong, he entered a deserted alley.

‘Could it be?’

“…I think that child noticed we’re following him.”

I didn’t expect to be caught while maintaining hundreds of meters of distance.

Even while following him, I continuously checked for any detection techniques being used in the surroundings with my auxiliary organs. He definitely didn’t discover us through psychic techniques.

‘Did he bring detection equipment?’

“Change of plans. We need to talk today.”

Whatever means he used, since he had already recognized our presence, we couldn’t just turn back. We needed to confront him here.

Understanding my meaning, the Sky Mother also tensed her body.

We followed him into the alley where he had disappeared.

As expected, the small Coldblood was waiting for us, standing between old buildings.

“Sister Seoa.”

The Coldblood recited my companion’s real name. His reptilian eyes lingered briefly on the Sky Mother before turning to me beside her.

“…Morph scum. So it was your doing.”

This time was completely different from when he called his old comrade’s name. Dark light filled the eyes of Rank 22 as he spat out the derogatory term for me.

“Huh? Wait! Isabelle!”

“……”

The Sky Mother tried to stop him in surprise, but it was useless. Rank 22, or rather Isabelle as she was called, had already drawn what appeared to be a weapon.

‘Oh no.’

Judging by the atmosphere, this wouldn’t be easily resolved.

As if no further dialogue was necessary, Isabelle charged at me.