Ch.39Parasite (2)

–

Earth Security Headquarters.

The highest security organization within the T&C Special Trade Center, overseeing not only the police stations and security teams in each district, but also the crisis management team stationed in the administrative district.

Usually not a busy place, but it was extremely hectic, perhaps because the board meeting was approaching.

“What happened to the Star Union terrorists? When will the interrogation report be submitted?”

“Which bastard processed Egerton’s fleet deployment request! You submit a report like this?”

“All entertainment district security team members assemble in meeting room 5!”

Papers were flying everywhere and uniformed security team members were busily running around.

Amid the commotion, the only quiet place was meeting room 4.

The detective team under the Port District Security was planning to round up all the criminals they had been tracking before the board meeting commenced. This was because Total Administrator Lila Chamberlain had issued strict orders to the Earth Security Headquarters to eliminate all risk factors.

“What’s the status on the one called Broker S?”

“He stopped smuggling after the board meeting announcement, but suddenly there’s been a surge in activity this month. We’ve confirmed six smuggling operations over the past week. Essentially, he’s smuggling almost daily.”

“He suddenly became active at this point? Strange.”

Detective Team Leader William tilted his head at his team member’s briefing.

Broker S was someone the detective team had been trying to catch for the past six months. They already had evidence, but the suspect had bribed so many officials that interference kept coming from all directions, ultimately causing the arrest to fail.

After the failure, they had only been monitoring him, but with the board meeting approaching, an opportunity to formally arrest him had arisen. Even corrupt officials couldn’t defy direct orders from Noble Capital, the ruler of the space city.

“Any changes in his smuggling methods?”

“That’s also unusual. He mainly handled interplanetary smuggling relays, but all six recent incidents targeted individuals within the city.”

“Could it be because surveillance is tight these days?”

“No. Transactions within the city aren’t particularly profitable. Broker S is cautious. Would someone who extracts maximum profit from minimal transactions do something like this?”

William felt uneasy despite having caught an opportunity to make an arrest, especially with the suspect acting so carelessly.

“The trading partner must be specific then? Who is it?”

“It’s a new face, someone he hasn’t dealt with before.”

“A new face?”

“We discovered him three days ago. A man wearing pajamas, quite a ghostly character. He never gets caught on camera.”

“I don’t know if he’s from Space Dog, but he seems professionally trained. We’ve tried to follow him several times but always lost him.”

William sighed, as if dealing with Broker S wasn’t headache enough, now a formidable new criminal had appeared.

Considering S’s past deals, it wasn’t particularly strange that Space Dog would be interested in him. With S’s skills, he could practically make money multiply.

But William didn’t jump to conclusions.

‘Why at this particular time? This isn’t like S.’

There must be a reason why the cautious S was acting so recklessly. After organizing his thoughts, William gave instructions to his team members.

“Those who followed the pajama guy, create a composite sketch and request analysis from the surveillance team. Contact the port district to find out when he entered. Keep a close eye on Broker S’s movements too. Space Dog might try to contact him separately, just in case.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Dismissed.”

After the meeting ended and all team members left, William remained seated. After pondering with one arm propped up, he picked up his communicator.

‘I hate using a friend, but…’

A former colleague from the same unit who now worked as a security guard after retirement. William knew who his friend was currently protecting.

‘He’s guarding Broker S.’

William left him a message.

–

’10:55. Almost time for him to arrive.’

I’m waiting for Sander with No. 26.

We’re near the boundary between the commercial district and the port district. Unlike the entertainment district, stores here close at 9 PM, so there are hardly any people around.

‘It’s also close to the secret passage.’

There are cameras here too, but it’s much easier to move around compared to the loading dock where cameras are everywhere.

‘Well, that’s not the only reason I moved.’

I changed locations because of the watchers.

Three days ago, I met Sander near the loading dock crane, disguised as the man next door. That day ended without any problems, but I detected watchers observing us from a distance.

Sander is subjugated to me, so resistance is impossible. The watchers are likely police who have been following Sander. If they catch us, it would be troublesome for me too, so I changed the location and time.

Meeting at 11 PM near the boundary between the commercial district and the port district.

Sander expressed dissatisfaction about the location change, but it was meaningless resistance. The only thing he can do is obey me.

‘Here he comes.’

Speak of the devil—a black-painted refrigerated truck was heading toward the meeting spot.

The truck stopped, and Sander got out, wiping sweat from his forehead.

It’s been a week since he started offering me confiscated creatures.

His face had changed beyond recognition. He looked so emaciated that you’d believe he had lost about two-thirds of his body weight.

The cause of Sander’s condition is the parasite attached to his brain.

When implanting parasites in other organisms as a parasitic colony, I can specify the level of restriction on the host. Level 1 is the weakest restriction, and level 5 is the strongest.

The parasite in Sander is level 4. A level where the parasite immediately restricts the host if they show any signs of resistance.

Because of that command, he would be tormented by the parasite when eating, sleeping, or working.

Obey me. Do not defy my will.

‘In the game, you get messages when infected with parasites too.’

I learned this from videos uploaded by players who fell victim to my parasites. When infected, messages appear whenever certain actions are taken. That would be fine, but health decreases by a certain amount each time a message appears. That’s why players often just commit suicide if they can’t resolve the parasite effect with other equipment or traits. Suicide removes the parasite effect.

‘This is reality, so suicide isn’t an option.’

There’s no way out except enduring the pain.

I emerged from an alley near the meeting spot and revealed myself to Sander.

Though he had seen me several times already, Sander still swallowed hard, apparently not used to my appearance.

But soon he knelt before me and bowed his head.

“…I’ve brought the items you requested, so please…”

I may be frightening, but the parasite in his head must be even more terrifying. After 24 hours, he will perish along with the parasite.

‘Though there’s still some time left.’

I brought my arm close to his head and activated the parasitic colony.

“Urghh…”

Sander’s eyes rolled back and his mouth gaped open. Then, the parasite crawled out through his nostrils. Once outside, it convulsed violently and died.

‘Good job.’

A new parasite emerged from the hole in my palm to replace the dead one. It entered Sander’s body in the same way as the previous one.

“Kuh, kuhak!”

After a moment, Sander regained consciousness and coughed hard. He shuddered as he saw the parasite sprawled on his knees and brushed it off in disgust.

As I stared at him shivering, he cleared his throat once and handed me some documents.

“…Ahem, here’s the list of organisms.”

I took the papers with my combat arm to examine the list in detail.

“……”

Sander flinched, apparently frightened by the invisible arm taking the papers.

[Zz zz zzzz zz zzz (Am I that scary?)]

“Big one is cute.”

[Zzzz (Thank you)]

“Mm-hmm.”

I stroked No. 26 on my shoulder with gratitude and flipped through the papers.

‘Today it’s Plant Lizards and Fairy Wings.’

Plant Lizards resemble stegosauruses but are actually classified as plant-type organisms, not dinosaurs. They also possess Robust Vitality as their inherent trait, which was the second trait I acquired.

‘Five Plant Lizards. Not many.’

Plant Lizards are large creatures, so it wouldn’t be easy to transport many in a truck. That truck probably has a limit of about eight.

‘Next is one Fairy Wing.’

Fairy Wings are carnivorous birds about the size of a human palm, with no eyes and blue crow-like appearance with hooked teeth. They’re nicknamed “flying piranhas.”

‘Huh? A mutant?’

A mutant Fairy Wing? That’s a creature I’ve never seen in the game.

It piqued my interest, but unfortunately, being a mutant, there was only one. If there were multiple, it might have been worth trying for genetic essence, but one would be difficult.

After checking all the documents, I pointed at the truck with my fingertip, and he hurriedly took out a terminal.

“I’ll, I’ll open it for you.”

As he operated the wireless terminal connected to the truck, the cargo compartment opened with a mechanical sound.

“It’s cold.”

[Zzzzzz (Do you want to stay here?)]

“No. It reminds me of home.”

Well, Sea Demons live in the deep sea, so this level of cold might be nothing to them. Sander stepped back, trembling either because of the cooler in the cargo compartment or because he was afraid of me.

“I’ll, I’ll wait here then.”

Ignoring him, I entered the truck’s cargo compartment.

Inside cages made of alloy were five Plant Lizards lying sedated. I lightly bent the iron bars and stepped into the cage.

“Ah, I can… I guess I don’t need to open the cage for you.”

Sander started to say something to me but closed his mouth after seeing my superhuman strength.

‘Should I kill and eat them first?’

I killed the Plant Lizards one by one by breaking their necks.

During the process, one that wasn’t fully sedated attacked me with its tail, which had sharp spines, but it was no match for my outer skin. Its head was crushed by my combat arm, killing it.

After ending their lives, I tasted the meat of these giant plant-type creatures.

‘…Tastes healthy.’

By setting, AMorphs are omnivores, but it seems they’re closer to carnivores. The Plant Lizard meat tasted like green juice, which honestly wasn’t to my taste.

“Is it tasty?”

[Zz (No)]

“Big one needs to grow more, so eat it all.”

No. 26 is right. I need to evolve further, so I should eat everything without leaving anything.

I forced myself to eat it all, but the predation effect didn’t activate from them.

‘Tsk. Disappointing, but I’ll have to try again next time.’

According to the list left by Cyborg Ras last time, there were 30 Plant Lizards in total. With 25 remaining, something should trigger eventually.

‘I’ll cleanse my palate with the mutant Fairy Wing.’

Hoping it would taste like chicken since it’s a bird, I opened the freezer.

The moment I checked inside the freezer, I froze.

“What’s wrong?”

‘……’

No. 26 asked what was wrong from beside me, but I couldn’t answer.

Blue skin with a reptilian body.

Small wings on its back and horns on its head.

A bundle of long tentacles instead of a mouth.

‘This is a Gallergorn?’

What was in the freezer wasn’t a Fairy Wing.

It was a hatchling of the space dragon called Gallergorn, a Blue Gallergorn.