Ch.393Variable (1)

Once a barren planet, OW-33 is now a star teeming with life.

It is home to the being who has built the most powerful Outspacer horde in the universe.

From her throne deep within the star, the ‘Empress’ became aware that one of her queens had died.

‘…As expected.’

The death of a queen she had created with considerable effort.

It was regrettable but anticipated. After all, the queen had faced an opponent that even she would find difficult to handle.

‘AMorph.’

In the N-51 system, a Megacorp territory where the queen died, battle rages on. A subjugation force led by Akira Yujin, leader of the Dominants, is fighting against the notorious AMorph ranker.

‘Still, I’m glad the desired outcome was achieved.’

AMorph was so focused on the queen that he failed to notice the trap Akira had prepared.

Akira’s trap is extremely lethal to those who, like her or AMorph, utilize genetic essence.

And the Dominants continue to deploy reinforcements to N-51. Even for him, survival won’t be easy.

‘Our alliance ends here, Akira.’

Most of the troops she supported died in the battle against AMorph. She could deploy more subordinates, but she chose not to.

The cooperation was temporary, solely because of AMorph. She had no intention whatsoever of continuing to work with the Dominants. They, like AMorph, were merely targets to be eliminated.

‘While they’re distracted elsewhere, I’ll lay groundwork in the solar system…’

As she was about to shift her thoughts from AMorph to her next plan, a communication Monolith on the floor interrupted her thinking.

“Message received.”

‘Hmm?’

Mucous membrane flowing from her body detected the activated Monolith.

There was only one being who would contact her now. Her beloved partner and fellow Outspacer from the Returnists.

‘Shouldn’t they be busy with planetary expansion?’

It was unexpected, considering she vividly remembered them sobbing about not being able to contact her for a while. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t happy to receive a message from her lover.

She checked the message displayed on the computer connected to the Monolith.

‘Huh?’

Contrary to her expectations, it wasn’t her lover who had contacted her. She created tentacles on her mucous membrane to type a message.

“Bumho? What brings you here?”

“Message received.”

The Empress was startled by the immediate response.

‘He’s hiding among AMorph’s subjugation force?’

According to the plan, Bumho should be waiting for a “guest” guided by another compatriot.

That guest was a crucial element in the Returnists’ grand scheme. Bumho, who devised the plan, had always emphasized this point.

Yet he had changed the plan himself.

The leader of the Returnists is now in the N-51 system, which has become a battlefield.

–

Highly concentrated energy blasts strike my body.

The armor plates and carapace covering my body crack bit by bit, blood and flesh leaking into space.

Wounds that would normally heal quickly aren’t recovering at all.

“A, Morph! It’s, the ranker’s, perk!”

Amid the energy beams fired from the battleships, Isabelle sent me a thought wave. Her eyes, enhanced by “All-Seeing Eyes of Creation,” glowed brightly.

[Zzz (Perk?)]

“It’s a, perk that, creates ge, nes that conta, minate genetic, essence. Those genes are, preventing recovery.”

AMorphs gain immunity to poisons and viruses when they reach the subadult stage. This immunity allows them to use various bacteria, viruses, and parasites as weapons.

No matter how powerful a toxin enters my stomach, it simply gets digested without causing any harm.

‘But if it’s not poison…’

That’s a different story.

Isabelle told me the problem was caused by “genes” that contaminate genetic essence. They were probably acquired when I devoured the shadow.

‘There was no message when the predation effect triggered.’

Whenever AMorph successfully predates, related information appears in a text box. The only genetic essence I stole from the shadow was “Ultra Control.”

However, just because something doesn’t appear in a text box doesn’t mean the genes from consumed prey completely disappear. Some are stored in mimicry organs, parasite colonies, and face-worm hosts.

I can’t control these organs at will. It’s the same principle as how people can move their limbs freely but not their liver or gallbladder.

‘A trap that inevitably triggers once I eat.’

The shadow’s master targeted me precisely.

‘And there’s a problem with the dragon’s heart too.’

I’ve been feeling a throbbing pain inside my chest. The dragon’s heart must also be affected by the trap.

‘The energy supply is also a mess.’

I estimate the effect has dropped to about one-quarter of normal levels.

While the lack of recovery is problematic, the blocked energy supply is fatal. All my attack abilities and FTL navigation consume massive amounts of energy.

And with the balance maintained by the dragon’s heart disrupted, the penalty from the “Hunger” trait has reactivated. If I use power recklessly, I’ll lose consciousness and fall into madness.

‘I can gain energy by directly eating enemies, but…’

They might have planted traps in the ship’s crew members like they did with the shadows. I can’t risk predation carelessly as I might make a mistake while consuming the ship.

“You, can’t use, recovery, abilities for, an hour, so be careful.”

It’s somewhat fortunate that there’s a time limit, but I can’t be too relieved. It’s essentially the same as having all recovery methods sealed for 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, enemy reinforcements continue to pour in. More ships are bombarding me with firepower than when the battle began.

I’m fine for now since my injuries aren’t severe, but the longer this drags on, the more disadvantaged I become.

At that moment, I detected a strong energy reaction from afar. It was a beam fired from the main cannon of a Jax Alpha-class battleship, much larger and more powerful than regular battleships.

I stopped my thoughts and quickly dodged. The beam, as thick as my body, missed by a hair’s breadth.

Attacks from other ships followed in succession. Green flashes formed a dense net of fire. A mesh of energy closes in, trying to ensnare me.

It would be disastrous to get caught in there now. I accelerated to escape their attack range.

Sky Mother and “Right Head” followed behind me.

“AMorph? Those wounds?”

Sky Mother asked, seeing blood spraying from my cracked carapace.

[Zzz z zzz zzzz (I fell into the ranker’s trap)]

“What?”

[Zzz zzz zz zzz zzzz zzzzzz zzz (No regeneration for 60 minutes. And no energy charging either)]

“……”

While explaining, my body changed. The duration of the Hunting Emblem had ended.

My greatly enlarged body shrank, and my body shape and various body parts returned to normal. When I opened my eyes, Sky Mother was looking at me with concerned eyes.

‘This is dangerous.’

I need to use every means available to change this flow. Otherwise, only defeat and death await.

‘First, let’s gather the kids.’

After I retreated, the enemy attacks subsided. They’re probably reorganizing their formation with the fleet that just entered the system. Taking advantage of this lull, I flew with the others to where No. 26 and Adhigh Orr were fighting.

The patrol ships and carrier-based aircraft that Adhigh and “Left Head” had been facing were long gone. The two were now helping No. 26 fight the Screamers.

There weren’t many psychic-specialized Screamers based on Jason left. When I approached, they gave up the fight and retreated.

“Don’t run away!”

No. 26’s tentacles stretched out like my corrosive tentacles and wrapped around two fleeing Screamers. Then he brought the captured enemies to him and swallowed them into his body.

Seeing this, Adhigh shook the tentacle clusters on his mouth.

“That” “tastes” “bad”

“Grrrr”

“Oh? Big baby is here!”

The creatures who were fighting hard greeted me happily. But their attitude didn’t last long. They noticed my body was covered in wounds.

“Big elder?” “Body” “hurt?”

“Bad guys bullied big baby!”

Adhigh, worried about me, emitted thought waves filled with anxiety and concern. No. 26 also darkened his pink body in anger.

[Zzz zzzz zzz zzzz (I have a favor to ask. Call them)]

First, I asked No. 26 to call the Metallic Gremlins. Now that the Outspacer interfering with FTL navigation is gone, they can jump here anytime.

Metallic Gremlins are a species specialized in fleet battles. They’ll be a great help in fighting the mixed fleet of Megacorp and Star Union.

‘Without the ranker, I would have won easily.’

It’s almost certain that the enemies are under the ranker’s command. A ranker would know how to deal with Metallic Gremlins. They might suffer some damage initially, but they’ll adapt quickly.

However, what I expect from them isn’t just combat support.

‘Just introducing an unknown variable here has value in itself.’

If a group of Metallic Gremlins suddenly appears, the enemy’s attention will naturally be divided. While they draw attention, we need to strike at the enemy’s core and break them.

And even if things go wrong, with Warp Boy present, we can leave this place.

Currently, I need to conserve the energy stored in my body. If a situation arises where we need to escape, Warp Boy’s help will be necessary.

‘It was impossible in the game, but not here.’

With No. 26 who can communicate with them, I should be able to ask them to send us to an adjacent system.

“Yes! I’ll call the sparkly ones.”

No. 26, hearing my request, extended a silver tentacle.

A small light was emitted from the sphere at the end of the tentacle. The wavelength calling the Metallic Gremlins shot toward the edge of the system at an incredibly fast speed.

‘Good. And…’

I opened a translucent text box.

Numerous traits cluttered my vision. I looked at “Mark of the Mighty” and “Plunderer’s Amorphous Polyhedron,” the first ones I had acquired.

‘I didn’t expect to use it here.’

Behind the Plunderer’s Amorphous Polyhedron was the name of an ability I gained from consuming special equipment.

‘Void Dice.’

A power I obtained by consuming equipment that Siheyon Yujin once possessed.

Using this ability allows me to use all traits without restrictions for 3 minutes.

It’s an incredibly powerful ability, but with a cooldown of 66 days, I’ve only used it once so far. If it weren’t for the “Revenant Organ” that activated during my last battle with the Magmasaur, I still wouldn’t be able to use it.

‘The enemies don’t know about this power.’

The enemies think I’ve been greatly weakened. And they’re right.

‘It’s a good time to roll the dice.’

“The sparkly ones are here!”

At that moment, clusters of blue light gathered behind me along with No. 26’s wavelength. It was a signal sent by the notorious silver plunderers who received his message.

The distant enemies also detected the intrusion of strangers and tried to check them. Before the battleships could begin bombardment, I quickly used “Complex Spectral Body.”

A transparent mirror containing various types of light formed in front of me. Shortly after, heat rays fired from the battleships flew toward the circular prism. The huge transparent platter not only didn’t break when hit by the heat rays but reflected all the incoming attacks.

While I bought time this way, the Metallic Gremlin group successfully completed their jump.

“■■■”

“■■?”

“Yes, yes! Let’s destroy the bad guys!”

“Speech” “strange” “cannot” “understand”

The battleships’ attacks stop. They must be confused by the sudden appearance of enemies.

Now it’s our turn to counterattack.