Ch.350Secret (3)

“So that’s the ability you gained from capturing Alshas.”

[Zu (Yes)]

“Grrrr”

The Sky Mother looked at the ‘Left Head’ with its new body with a strange gaze. When I answered her question, sounds came simultaneously from both my mouth and the ‘Left Head’s’ mouth.

“It seems your bodies are synchronized? Does it feel like an artificial auxiliary body?”

[Zu zu-zu zu-zu zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu (That expensive thing, I’ve never used it so I don’t know)]

“It seems it can move independently when not under your control.”

Apart from feeling disgusted by the saliva, she seemed interested in my use of ‘Hydra Division.’

‘I’ve pretty much got the hang of moving it.’

It’s like the sensation of controlling the nest when linked and commanding parasites, combined into one feeling.

If I had to compare it to human senses, it’s similar to moving your body right before waking from a dream. Your body is asleep, but in the dream you’re getting up for school, going to the bathroom, eating breakfast—that kind of feeling.

I tried moving the ‘Left Head’s’ wing-arms and my main body’s tail simultaneously. It was awkward at first, but I adapted quickly.

‘If I’d been in this situation as a human, I think I would have gone insane.’

It would probably get more complicated with two replicas, but I’ll have to experiment with that later. There’s a limit to the energy stored in my body.

‘But how do I use traits with the replica?’

The replica can use traits from four categories: physical, special defense, internal organs, and environmental adaptation. Traits like regeneration will activate automatically so I don’t need to worry about them, but I’m not sure how more complex traits like mimicry organs will work.

‘This is perfect timing. Let’s experiment.’

AMorphs aren’t affected by pheromones from disruption effects, so I can’t confirm what I look like. I can only tell what I’ve transformed into by mimicking voices, a secondary effect of the mimicry organ.

However, the Sky Mother is affected by the pheromones released by the mimicry organ.

[Zu-zu-zu (Just a moment)]

I asked her to wait a moment while I concentrated on having the ‘Left Head’ use its mimicry organ. I could feel tiny holes all over the replica’s body squirming.

And my main body’s auxiliary organs detected the familiar pheromone echo. In that state, I opened the replica’s mouth.

“How is it?”

“How is it?”

“……”

The same voice flowed from both my main body and the ‘Left Head.’ It was Alshas’s voice, the being I had most recently consumed.

“How do I look?”

“How do I look?”

“…It’s creepy, could just one of you speak?”

Seeing her fur stand on end again, she really must hate it.

Instead of speaking, I sent waves using the monster tentacles attached to my main body.

[Zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu (I still can’t control it well. How do I look right now?)]

“You both look like Alshas.”

[Zu (Really?)]

Her amber eyes were directed well below my head. That’s because the mimicry organ disrupts her senses, making her perceive me as human.

“Half successful.”

“What remains is…”

“Becoming a different form.”

“Using genetic essence, that is.”

“…If you want to experiment, I’d appreciate if you did it with the others, not me.”

There were a few more things I wanted to check, but since she disliked it so much, I’d have to do it later.

I kept the ‘Left Head’ mimicking while deactivating the mimicry organ on my main body.

[Zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu (I still have things to check, so I’ll ask you later)]

“Phew….”

She sighed and shook her head at my wave patterns.

“By the way, does the separated part not hurt? The neck area is empty.”

[Zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu (It’s fine. The awkwardness I felt after dividing quickly disappeared)]

“I see.”

As she stared at the cleanly separated neck area, she suddenly snapped her fingers as if remembering something.

“Now I remember why I came here. I have something to tell you.”

[Zu-zu (What is it?)]

“PS-111 says Isabelle’s calibration will take about 30 hours.”

30 hours. That’s longer than I expected.

While there’s nothing urgent that needs to be resolved, I’m not happy about Isabelle being incapacitated for so long. Someone else will have to stay by her side to protect her.

Reading my thoughts, the Sky Mother continued.

“He says it’s because the Gigacracker’s equipment makes fine-tuning difficult.”

[Zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu-zu-zu (That means better equipment would finish it faster, right?)]

“Yes. Probably.”

There’s Screamer production equipment on the ice planet. If we go there, we could enhance PS-111’s work efficiency.

‘And we could solve the Coldblood problem while we’re at it.’

[Zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu (I have something to discuss too)]

“Hmm?”

I explained the idea I had thought of earlier. Going to the ice planet and having the Coldblood slaves live with Gallergorn.

“That would be impossible in a game, but it seems possible here.”

[Zu-zu-zu (Right?)]

“What we need to consider here isn’t Gallergorn but the environment. We confirmed oxygen exists when we went last time. Bacterial infection is a concern, but Coldbloods have resistance to various viruses…”

She rubbed the tip of her beak with her finger, considering whether the ice planet was suitable for Coldbloods.

“The problem is temperature. Coldbloods are vulnerable to cold. They won’t be able to withstand the underground chill.”

[Zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu-zu (The area near the nest should be warm thanks to the sulfur river, right?)]

“If they were healthy, they could endure it, but they’re all in poor physical condition now. It will be difficult for them to survive until they recover their strength.”

[Zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu (That problem could be solved by giving them power suits)]

“Power suits? Ah, you mean the power suits on the Gigacracker.”

The Gigacracker has power suits specialized for activity in space. If they wear those, they can avoid temperature problems and bacterial infections.

‘Of course, they can’t wear them forever, so they’ll need to recover as quickly as possible.’

From there, it’s up to them. My role ends with relocating the Coldbloods to a safe place.

“I’ll talk to them about it.”

[Zu-zu zu-zu-zu-zu-zu zu-zu-zu (I’ll go see PS-111)]

After sending the Sky Mother away, I pointed the top of the ‘Left Head’ toward my main body.

‘While I’m practicing, I might as well go with this.’

To check what happens when the replica moves away, I should visit PS-111 with the ‘Left Head.’

While my main body rested in the hangar, I crawled along the corridor connected to the ‘Left Head.’ Even as the distance increased, the strange sensation didn’t change much.

As I slowly crawled toward the manufacturing plant, I tried a few experiments. What happens if I cut off the sensation with the main body while connected to the replica? Can I reconnect without physical contact in that state?

For the first case, as soon as I released the connection, my consciousness returned to the main body. It was impossible to focus my consciousness solely on the ‘Left Head’ instead of the main body. This seemed to be because even if it had its own independent consciousness, it was still just a part of my body.

From that state, as soon as I wanted to control the ‘Left Head’ again, the sensation reconnected. With a tingling feeling like blood flowing back into a limb after being cut off, my senses were shared with the ‘Left Head’ again.

‘Plus, there’s an unexpected advantage.’

The interesting thing is that even when my consciousness was separated, the ‘Left Head’ tried to voluntarily carry out what I had intended to do. During the brief time when consciousness was cut off, it continued crawling along the corridor toward the manufacturing plant.

‘Maybe these two heads are smarter than I thought.’

Although they show behavior close to instinct, they are beings born from me. There’s a high possibility they’ll mimic my combat style and strategies even when not under my control. Even in situations where I can’t pay attention, I can inject commands in advance to make them fight strategically.

‘I’ll need more experiments to be sure.’

There’s much more to check—how far the main body can be from the replica while maintaining the connection, how to use complex traits like the mimicry organ or the human-faced parasite host, and so on.

While conducting these simple experiments during movement, I reached the manufacturing plant.

Inside, PS-111 was touching the lying Isabelle with his long, hook-like claws.

The claws that threatened to dismember enemies during battle had now become delicate surgical tools. His sharp fingers moved elegantly like a pianist’s, manipulating various mechanical devices. Around him, MPS series units were busily moving their short metal legs to help their creator.

Absorbed in his work, he sensed my arrival and raised his head. The red camera lens that replaced his visual organs turned toward me.

“82% similarity to Sub-controller ‘AMorph.’ Who are you?”

“It’s AMorph. I consumed Alshas and gained a new power.”

“New power?”

He tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

“It’s similar to how you synchronize with and control MPS.”

“Creating a terminal similar to the original in such a short time is very interesting. If you would permit me to take a skin sample, it would greatly advance MPS design.”

It’s an interesting proposal, but there are more pressing matters right now.

“I have something to ask first.”

“What is it?”

“The Sky Mother says calibration will take 30 hours. Couldn’t we reduce that time by using the equipment on the Screamer support ship?”

PS-111 nodded.

“With the Screamer support ship’s equipment, calibration could be completed in less than 10 hours.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I will temporarily suspend calibration and prepare the Gigacracker for operation.”

“Thank you.”

“Please check on ‘little sister’s’ condition in the meantime.”

True to his half-mechanical nature, he acts quickly once a decision is made. He left the manufacturing plant with the mini Screamers to prepare the ship for departure.

‘Now I should experiment with the human-faced parasite…’

“AMorph.”

Just as I was thinking about experimenting, a voice came from below.

Isabelle, with wires and cables connected to her head, was looking up at me with open eyes.

‘She’s awake?’

I thought she would naturally be in sleep mode while PS-111 was calibrating her, but apparently not.

Thanks to the direct transplant of Coldblood eyes, her eyes shone with an ocean-blue color. By coincidence, they were the opposite of her twin sister’s bright red mechanical eyes.

She looked at me with those blue eyes and spoke.

“That body, you ate Alshas.”

“Yes.”

Judging by her reaction, though her body had changed, she hadn’t lost the ability to read information about others. I told PS-111 that the eyes needed to be transplanted in case the ability was connected to them, and fortunately I was right.

“This is the perk I received when coming to this world, ‘All-Seeing Eyes of Heaven.’ As the name suggests, I can only use it if I have eyes.”

“So it was a perk after all.”

“It’s ridiculous to say this now, but I thought you would definitely try to take it from me, even if it meant killing me.”

To be honest, a small part of me still wants to. A perk that reads information about others is that attractive. I just made a different choice because I judged that keeping her alive would be more beneficial to me.

Of course, there’s no need to say that out loud.

“Your sister asked me to. To save you. I was just granting her request.”

“I knew it, but you really are different.”

She muttered to herself, seemingly impressed by how differently I act in the game versus in this world.

‘It seems she can communicate without major issues.’

Although part of her long body was disassembled and her head was covered in wires, her mind seemed intact.

With time to spare before reaching the ice planet, it might be good to ask her some questions I’ve been wondering about.

“With your ability to read information, you must know more than most?”

“Yes. I’ll answer what I can.”

To Isabelle, who nodded readily, I asked directly.

“All the players I’ve met so far, including myself. We all saw strange visions as we got closer to the ending. Do you know what this means?”

The secret of the visions that I’ve been wondering about without any proper clues. None of the rankers I’ve met so far have given a clear answer about the visions.

Perhaps that’s why she didn’t answer my question immediately. She just silently stared at me with her sapphire-like eyes.

After a moment, her small mouth opened and her answer to my question flowed out.

‘What?’

And her answer was something I never expected.