Ch.414Welcome (1)

The spoils from the port command center were quite decent.

While the material rewards weren’t much to speak of, I obtained one interesting piece of information instead.

When my avatar attacked the pirates, they used binding rounds.

This weapon, made by the Star Union, is effective against medium to large-sized creatures. It’s clearly excellent at containment, considering it managed to hold my avatar in place. That’s why it’s frequently used by players who enjoy hunting.

‘Though they’re somewhat difficult to obtain.’

According to the lore, binding rounds are classified weapons created by the Star Union for anti-Hulk Mutant purposes, so their distribution is restricted. The official setting states that players from other factions need authorization from the Machine Committee to purchase and use them.

And manufacturing them requires expensive shape-memory particle factories and advanced nanotechnology. Unless you’re a cyborg player who has reached a certain level, they’re not easy to make.

For ordinary pirates to use such high-end consumables? Impossible without support from a ranker.

‘And they brought quite a quantity too.’

They had stashed away as much as five containers’ worth.

Even in the game, there are only a few situations that require this many binding rounds.

Wars between players, or…

‘When hunting high-tier Apex creatures.’

Apex creatures can’t be taken down simply by pouring high firepower on them. They’re not only powerful in combat but also possess various special abilities, requiring multiple preparations. This is especially true for upper-tier Apex beings like Voltex One.

And large quantities of binding rounds are very basic preparations for hunting upper Apex creatures or raid bosses.

‘But there are no Apex creatures here.’

The same goes for other planets in Zer-11. Even if powerful creatures had inhabited this place contrary to what I knew, they probably wouldn’t be here now. The Megacorps would have cleared them all out during the terraforming process.

‘Except for just one.’

A noble being that never settles on any planet or star system, endlessly wandering.

One of the highest-tier Apex creatures, the Arcane Orca.

‘PS-111 said it. That this place is likely included in the Arcane Orca’s activity zone.’

This place doesn’t have precious resources, nor is it home to rare creatures. From a pirate’s perspective, there’s no particular reason to come here.

But if the Arcane Orca is here, that changes everything.

‘They have the same objective as me.’

PS-111 and the Sky Mother together narrowed down the candidates to two locations. PS-111 and I came to Zer-11, while the Sky Mother went to investigate another star system.

Just like in the game, finding the Arcane Orca requires considerable time. Honestly, I thought AG-01 would be a bust too.

But I never expected to find traces of the cosmic wanderer so quickly.

‘Of course, there are still problems remaining.’

I looked down at Ventris hanging on the wall. Parasitized by the parasite, he was staring into empty space with hollow eyes.

‘The key is knowing exactly when the Arcane Orca will come here.’

Even Sinoni’s vice-captain didn’t know about that part. His orders were simply to stabilize AG-01 until the other pirates arrived.

‘He said his comrades would arrive in about two weeks, right?’

According to Ventris, Sinoni’s boss is currently carrying out a mission elsewhere. When that’s done, he’ll come to AG-01 along with cartels sharing the name “Sino.”

Even without knowing the exact date, it’s certain that the pirates will arrive before the Arcane Orca. They need to come early to prepare for the hunt.

This means the Arcane Orca will arrive here at least two weeks later.

And since their target is the same as mine, conflict is inevitable.

‘A ranker targeting a top-tier Apex won’t be an easy opponent.’

Judging from the Sino group cartels I’ve encountered so far, I suspect their leader is a ranker. After all, items like plasma rifles or binding rounds aren’t easily obtainable unless you’re a ranker.

‘I’m not sure which faction they belong to though.’

Either way, both the Dominants and the Returnists are hostile to me. It doesn’t matter which one they’re affiliated with.

What’s more important is the power they possess.

Someone hunting a creature as powerful as Voltex One can’t possibly be weak. They’re likely at my level, or perhaps even stronger.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll give up. My characteristics and Adhigh Orr’s life are at stake.

‘He doesn’t have much time left.’

Even at this moment, Adhigh is trapped inside the red crystal, rapidly consuming energy. If I don’t bring him the Arcane Orca’s body soon, his life will be in danger.

To get what I want, I need to kill my competitors.

‘They don’t know I’m here yet.’

If I use Vice-Captain Ventris well, I can continue to hide my existence. Not only that, but I can also provide false information to the enemy to induce certain behaviors.

While they focus on the Arcane Orca without knowing anything, I’ll set up a situation favorable to me. No matter how strong they are, anyone can be shaken when hit with an unexpected attack.

‘Then I should prepare right away.’

I contacted PS-111 and shared what I’d learned from Ventris along with my thoughts.

“AG-01 is within the activity zone of the dangerous creature ‘Arcane Orca,’ estimated to be observable in at least two weeks. The pirate coalition ‘Sino,’ which is tracking this creature, is also scheduled to visit in two weeks. Is this correct?”

“Yes. So tell the Sky Mother to come here too.”

“Understood. However, I will continue cross-referencing stellar activity data from Zer-11 in preparation for contingencies.”

“Yeah. Please do. Oh, and I might not be able to respond to communications for a few days starting today.”

“Why is that?”

There’s something I postponed because of the pirates targeting the research complex.

Predation for unique characteristic synthesis materials.

I plan to create a unique characteristic here that uses trash characteristics as ingredients.

“Are you preparing for bodily growth?”

“That’s right. So if anything happens, consult with the Sky Mother. She’ll know what to do.”

“Confirmed. I hope your growth completes safely.”

After ending the communication with PS-111, I used the hiveformer to activate a hologram device. A list of genetic samples that MPS-03 had brought earlier appeared in midair.

From the numerous samples, I need to acquire a total of 4 characteristics. They’re not particularly difficult to obtain, just that their performance is so poor they’re often overlooked.

Except for just one.

‘Let’s get Reclusive Tendency first.’

This characteristic can only be obtained from three types of creatures. One of them is an Apex creature, so it won’t be here. Instead, I need to check if samples of the other two creatures are available.

‘I wonder how many Scrap Crabs and Mushroom Slugs there are.’

The hiveformer operated the device to search for creatures with these characteristics. Shortly after, detailed information about the samples was projected as a hologram.

‘Let’s see.’

I first checked the genetic samples of the Scrap Crab.

‘Since Scrap Crabs are common in Megacorp territories, there should be quite a few samples.’

The Scrap Crab is a large crustacean creature about 2m in size. It looks like a mix between a hermit crab and a coconut crab, but its habits are closer to a hermit crab.

Instead of snail shells, they use building materials or spaceship alloys as homes. Except when moving to a new home or eating, they spend all their time inside their homes. However, they tend to move frequently because they’ll gnaw on their own homes when there’s no food nearby.

‘Because of this habit, they’re often raised to process metal waste.’

According to the lore, the Cult Empire and Megacorps operate waste disposal facilities utilizing the Scrap Crab’s habits. This was possible because of their gentle nature, which prevents them from attacking humans. They were also popular as display pets among players, along with Bubble Amoebas.

‘What? Currently stored samples: 4, the rest discarded?’

However, there were fewer genetic samples of Scrap Crabs than I expected. It seems the research facility managers secretly sold them off.

‘If Scrap Crabs are this scarce, Mushroom Slugs might not be available at all.’

Mushroom Slugs are harder to find than Scrap Crabs due to their unique habitat and habits.

‘They mainly inhabit decaying swamps.’

The Mushroom Slug’s primary food is rotten bones in contaminated soil and meat filled with bacteria. That’s why they prefer environments like swamps teeming with all kinds of bacteria or graves full of decaying corpses.

Naturally, such places are not easy to access. Since you need to be thoroughly equipped with gas masks to enter, it’s difficult to encounter creatures living there.

Moreover, once a Mushroom Slug burrows into the ground, it’s hard to find. The protrusions on its back look like mushrooms, so at a glance, they appear to be just a colony of poisonous mushrooms. To catch one, you have to dig through contaminated soil piece by piece.

And there was only 1 sample of the Mushroom Slug.

‘In total, I can try 5 times.’

While the opportunities aren’t many, it’s worth attempting with this number.

‘Good. Next…’

‘Dwarfism,’ ‘Sensory Atrophy,’ and ‘Slow Life’ are possessed by many types of creatures. They’re not as difficult to obtain as Reclusive Tendency.

Before long, I checked all the necessary samples. I ordered the hiveformers in the complex to gather the genetic samples.

The total number of samples collected was 32. After transforming into the ‘Icon of the Hunt,’ I first put the Scrap Crab and Mushroom Slug samples into my mouth.

Samples smaller than my fingernail passed straight through my throat. The refined essence was instantly digested, and three text boxes appeared in succession.

‘Three?’

Whether due to poor sample storage, only 3 out of 5 predation attempts were successful.

Fortunately, the last of the three was Reclusive Tendency.

‘Good.’

When predation is successful with samples in the Icon of the Hunt state, you obtain an incomplete characteristic. In this state, you can’t gain any characteristic effects, and they can only be used as materials for unique characteristics.

Anyway, I’ve overcome a major hurdle. I devoured all the rest as well.

A parade of text boxes announcing successful predation followed. Some were quite interesting, but that’s not what I need to focus on right now.

“‘Transcendence’ Material List: Dwarfism, Hunger, Sensory Atrophy, Slow Life, Reclusive Tendency”

“Would you like to use the Transcendence System?”

What’s important is that I’ve acquired all the characteristics I wanted.

‘What kind of new unique characteristic will emerge?’

And what kind of vision will I see inside the cocoon this time?

‘I’ll find out soon.’

With such curiosity in my heart, I accepted the text box’s request.