Ch.38Parasite (1)

Sander had always considered himself a cautious person.

It might seem funny that someone committing a serious crime like smuggling would think that way, but at least he believed it himself.

After seeing others get caught due to poor planning and become “employees” in the entertainment district, he prepared his smuggling operations very carefully.

He had established connections with the Smuggled Animal Management Team in advance and even maintained ties with the Port Security Team and even the Administrative District’s security team. There weren’t many criminals in this space city who moved as cautiously as he did.

Of course, being a realistic person, Sander didn’t believe he could commit the perfect crime. He planned to wash his hands of it as soon as he earned enough to relocate to another planet before surveillance caught up with him.

But he never expected that an unidentified entity would crush his dreams when he was so close to achieving his goal.

‘Damn it!’

Sander cursed inwardly as he fled under the protection of his bodyguards.

Since he had turned off the cameras and asked his contacts in the Port Security Team to change their patrol radius, there wasn’t even an android in the vicinity, let alone people.

Of course, there were still some working cameras, but he was afraid of the consequences of running toward them. The fact that he had secretly infiltrated an area full of cargo storage containers with several people at dawn was already suspicious enough to raise concerns about smuggling.

Sander knew well that smuggling was a serious crime in Megacorp territory.

He was truly cornered.

The images of suffering “employees” in the entertainment district flashed before his eyes.

“I think we should go to the police station.”

“What? If I go to the police station, I’m finished!”

“But we can’t handle the enemy on our own. It would be better to request protection now.”

“T-that… damn it!”

The bodyguard was right. It was better to buy time than to die immediately.

It seemed the time had come to see how effective the credits Sander had been slipping to the Earth Security Team would be.

One bodyguard kept watch from behind while the other two stayed close to Sander as they moved. There was a police station not far from the loading dock exit. They moved quickly between the massive walls formed by containers.

“Aaaaargh!”

“!”

A scream came from behind. Sander flinched and turned around, but there was no one there.

Only the laser rifle dropped by the bodyguard remained.

“…We need to run.”

The bodyguards grabbed Sander with tense expressions. Almost half-carrying him, they quickened their pace.

In the distance, they could see a half-open wire mesh door in the middle of the fence surrounding the loading dock.

Thinking they just needed to get past there, the three put strength into their legs. Just as Sander was beginning to feel hopeful, the bodyguard beside him stopped in his tracks.

“Wait!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I heard something.”

At those words, Sander also listened carefully and indeed heard something.

It was similar to the sound of a crane moving containers, but much smaller? It sounded like a hammer periodically striking metal.

“The police station is just past there. Run.”

“What?”

“Run now!”

At the bodyguard’s shout, Sander ran. Behind him, both bodyguards kept watch with their laser rifles.

Within minutes, the death cries of the bodyguards could be heard. The sound multiplied his fear several times over.

Running like a madman, Sander didn’t even notice when his shoes came off. The wire mesh door was right in front of him. The moment he touched the half-open door, he felt a stinging sensation in his calf.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly his legs gave way, and he smashed his face into the fence. Despite hitting it hard enough to draw blood, he couldn’t feel any pain.

‘What’s happening?’

Only then did he realize his body was completely paralyzed. As he lay on the ground like a log, “it” revealed itself.

“Grrrrrr”

“It’s” mouth came close to his face. Seeing the monster’s mouth dripping with saliva, Sander involuntarily wet himself.

“It” growled briefly and picked up Sander’s body.

‘F-fuck! Where are you taking me?’

The creature took Sander to where they had first met, under the container crane. It threw Sander down on the ground.

‘W-what?’

“It” left Sander and approached a refrigerated container. It was the container where the Outspacer was kept in cold storage.

Standing in front of the container door, the creature brought its head close to the terminal.

‘What is it doing?’

After staying like that for a moment, it used the small arms on its chest to operate the terminal and easily opened the door. Then, with thumping sounds, it entered the container.

An hour passed since it had gone inside. Whatever it was doing, it hadn’t come out since entering.

‘Please, someone help me!’

He needed to escape quickly while the creature was distracted with something else, but his body remained motionless.

He just lay there, emitting a foul odor.

–

‘It stinks.’

I shook my shoulder where broker S’s bodily fluids had stained it. I only meant to threaten him, but I didn’t expect him to be that scared. I had even stabbed him gently to avoid causing death by shock.

‘I can’t kill him yet.’

Broker S is an important figure. Even if I were to eat him, I should do so at the appropriate time.

‘I need to deal with this before the broker.’

Currently, I’m inside the refrigerated container where the Outspacer is stored.

The container is packed with twenty cryogenic tubes.

With broker S outside and corpses scattered around, I need to quickly devour the Outspacer.

I operated the terminal on the front cryogenic tube. Cool air escaped as the glass tube opened.

Inside was a creature that looked like a mix between a lobster and a camel spider.

About 80cm in size with a body resembling a camel spider, it had eight legs as long as its body, with giant pincers at the ends of two of them. Looking at its face, the upper jaw protruded long and sharp, making it look like it was holding a sickle in its mouth.

‘I thought it was a soldier, but it’s not.’

The creature in the cryogenic tube is a worker. There was nothing written on the list, so I naturally assumed it was a soldier, but it wasn’t.

‘It’s fine. As long as it’s not a queen, they’re all the same.’

It’s not really a problem. The traits I want can be acquired by eating any type of Outspacer.

I tore off the sleeping creature’s head and chewed it.

‘This would be so much better if it wasn’t cold.’

It tasted like steamed king crab, just as it looked. More precisely, it was like eating frozen steamed crab without thawing it.

‘Ah, maybe it tastes like imitation crab meat?’

Anyway, it was a familiar taste. Since the worker was less than 1m in size, it didn’t take long to eat it all.

‘First one’s a bust.’

There were 19 left. I diligently devoured the remaining Outspacers.

‘…’

When only 3 remained, even I couldn’t help feeling anxious.

‘It’s not triggering at all.’

I know the probability of predation effect isn’t high, but if it hasn’t appeared after eating so many, I might need to consider other methods.

‘Should I just let broker S live?’

He came here for smuggling. Since smuggling is a serious crime in Megacorp territory, he can’t complain anywhere even if I killed all his bodyguards. If he did, he would be suspected too.

‘…But leaving a potential problem behind is concerning.’

On the research ship, all human relationships were under a command hierarchy, making them easy to predict, but the city is different. I don’t know what kind of people he’s friendly with or what means he might have to threaten me.

‘I need to prepare myself.’

In some ways, my survival so far might have been too smooth. If this were a game, I would have died countless times in situations I’ve managed to overcome.

‘Getting genetic essence within 20 creatures isn’t easy either.’

In the game, there were many times when I ate over 100 of the same creature without obtaining any genetic essence.

Especially when predation effects didn’t trigger against Gallergorn or Voltex One, it was so frustrating I wanted to quit the game.

‘But I’ve experienced situations like this many times in the game.’

Assuming I wouldn’t get anything from the Outspacers, I picked up one of the remaining three.

After eating it completely, the predation effect still didn’t appear.

‘…’

Now only two left.

I was half ready to give up.

‘Maybe I should just give the last one to No. 26.’

If it hasn’t appeared after eating 18 out of 20, there’s probably no chance. In a state of resignation, I bit into the leg of one of the two remaining creatures.

The crunchy texture and the firm flesh inside pleased my taste buds, but my heart remained heavy.

After I finished eating the worker, a miracle happened.

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

“Stole ‘Parasite’ from ‘Outspacer Worker’ biological traits.”

“Apply ‘Parasite’?”

“Grrrrrr!”

‘It worked!’

When what I wanted finally appeared, I couldn’t help but let out a cheer.

Parasite.

Outspacers carry various biological pathogens as a species-specific trait. Parasite is one of those pathogens that can burrow into an opponent’s body and control their movements.

‘Of course, the Outspacer’s parasite only restricts the target’s actions.’

While impressive in concept, in the game, the Outspacer’s parasite was implemented as a debuff skill.

Enemies affected by the parasite effect suffer debuffs like restricted trait use or equipment use.

This alone is a powerful trait, but when an AMorph acquires parasite, it’s a different story.

‘If I combine it with the contamination organ, I can create enhanced parasites.’

As written in the settings, I can produce parasites that can control other organisms. In exchange, the contamination organ disappears, and the physical trait completely changes.

I currently have 11 physical traits. Since the type acquisition condition is 10 or more, losing the contamination organ won’t remove the type.

Moreover, the trait obtained by fusing parasite and contamination organ is a key trait for unlocking new type conditions.

Physical Enhancement Type related to physical abilities, Psychic Enhancement Type related to supernatural abilities, and the new type that opens with the fused trait is Infection Enhancement Type.

Infection Enhancement Type affects debuff-related traits such as crowd control.

While its intuitive effects may be inferior to other types, it’s very useful for someone like me who prefers ambush strategies.

Also, to evolve into a subadult, I need to collect 4 types, so collecting as many as possible is important.

Therefore, my choice is clear.

As soon as I accepted, I felt my body mutating.

My lower right arm, which housed the contamination organ, thickened and swelled as if filled with something like eggs. Inside the arm, newly created parasites wriggled, waiting for their master’s command.

“‘Parasite’ trait has been applied.”

“Can be fused with the existing ‘Contamination Organ’.”

“‘Parasite’ and ‘Contamination Organ’ traits fused. Evolved into ‘Parasitic Colony’ trait!”

“Parasitic Colony: The contamination organ effect is lost, but you can create enhanced parasites. You can operate up to 5 enhanced parasites.

*P.S.: I can’t understand why you like such disgusting traits.”

“Currently 2 types can be specialized.”

“Psychic Enhancement Type (5/6), Infection Enhancement Type (1/4)”

‘Good.’

Now that I’ve acquired the desired trait, it’s time to test its effect.

After devouring the last Outspacer, I came out of the container. S, who had been crawling on the floor as the anesthetic wore off, convulsed when he saw me.

“Eek!”

His face, white to the point of turning yellow, was clearly the face of someone gripped by terror.

But it’s too early for him to feel fear.

The real terror begins now.

As I activated the parasitic colony, my lower right arm wobbled. Moving as if trying to vomit something, a black threadworm shot out from the hole in my palm.

“W-what are you trying to do! S-stop it!”

S, who had been screaming mixed with crying, started to weep as I approached. His once plump face had become half its size, perhaps due to the psychological shock he had experienced in the past few hours.

My hand moved closer to his gaunt face.

–

“…Then I’ll be going.”

Broker S, or rather Sander, bowed to me and left.

The parasite implantation was successful. Now Sander is my slave.

‘Though limited to 24 hours.’

After 24 hours, the parasite will automatically die, and so will Sander. This is because the parasite has taken over his brain.

I need to replace it before the parasite dies for him to survive.

Sander knows this fact too. That he will die without me.

‘Being a smart person, he won’t easily resist me.’

He might try to go to a hospital to have it removed, but the parasite reads all his thoughts. If he harbors even slightly disloyal thoughts, the parasite will secrete pain-inducing substances into his brain as punishment.

‘It will be extremely painful.’

Sander has already experienced how terrible that pain can be. He won’t resist me easily.

Moreover, I showed him how I dispose of corpses right in front of him. Being smart, he probably understands my intentions.

‘Now, let’s head back.’

I took the bodyguard who had been the leader and returned home.

When I arrived home, No. 26, who had already woken up, was waiting for me.

“Where did you go?”

[Zzzzzz (I was worried you’d be hungry)]

“Wow!”

I am an AMorph that learns. When I offered food, it immediately forgave me.

After giving it food, I took out the ankle of the man next door that I had kept in the refrigerator.

As we enjoyed our late-night snack, the night drew to a close.