Ch.44Apartment (3)

‘I’ve never seen this kind of power armor before.’

I looked down at the limp corpse of police officer No. 112.

‘Seems like an upgraded power armor.’

The defense had increased significantly compared to before. If I hadn’t been in my enhanced physical state, I would have found it quite challenging. Even when I tore through the chest with my claws, I was surprised by how sturdy it was.

Additionally, the helmet had a gas mask covering the entire face and a psychic shield to defend against psychic powers—all elements not found in mid-tier power armor.

‘It’s basically mid-tier power armor with some high-tier options added.’

High-tier power armor boasts vastly superior specs compared to mid-tier, and the price reflects that. It costs roughly half as much as plasma equipment, which makes it quite expensive.

‘Looks like they’re developing a budget high-tier power armor.’

In the game, Megacorp players have plenty of credits and don’t need to worry about mercenaries’ lives, but this is reality. Equipment protecting living soldiers would naturally evolve alongside new weapon development.

Of course, being a budget version, the shield on this armor would be significantly inferior to proper high-tier armor, but it still seems capable of barely blocking standard Gauss weapon rounds.

For non-wealthy civilians, laser weapons are the upper limit of accessible weaponry, so even this level of shielding is quite useful.

In that respect, the enemies certainly came well-prepared.

If they were facing “normal humans,” they would have won easily.

‘If they were facing normal humans, that is.’

Since they were originally chasing Sander before coming after me, they don’t know my true identity. They probably think I’m a Space Dog spy or smuggler.

Before the enemies entered the apartment, Sander, who had been captured, sent me a thought wave. He said he was being punished for trying to reveal information about me to the police.

‘Using Sander is out of the question now anyway.’

I’ll need to either find another broker or take advantage of the chaotic situation to quietly raid the port district.

Before leaving this apartment, if I implant a parasite in one of the police officers, finding a broker shouldn’t be too difficult.

‘By the way, the kids are fighting better than I expected.’

The first successful hunt against the enemies who entered the apartment wasn’t mine but theirs.

Before the police entered the apartment, I taught No. 26 and Adhigh Orr about the weaknesses of androids and humans—the location of android power sources, their lack of autonomous thinking ability, and how humans have vulnerable heads.

Thanks to that, Adhigh took down one android on the first floor, and No. 26 eliminated one police officer on the third floor from the second floor.

‘Adhigh was clinging to the ceiling.’

He hung from the ceiling and waited until only one android remained.

Currently, androids are programmed to expect human enemies. Unless it’s a special species like a Volf or Insectman, hanging from the ceiling is impossible.

So the android never thought to look up, and was helplessly vulnerable to Adhigh’s psychic attack, Psychic Impact.

While Psychic Impact ranks among the lowest psychic attack techniques, it can still cause effective damage to enemies without psychic resistance.

If aimed precisely, it can even destroy an android’s power source.

‘If the android had a shield, it would have failed.’

If the android had even minimal protection against psychic attacks, Adhigh’s attack would have failed. Psychic Impact can be easily blocked even by low psychic resistance.

‘He knew that and targeted the android instead of the police officer.’

Anti-psychic androids do exist, but none came to this apartment. Since only the police officers with power armor and shields had psychic defense capabilities, he deliberately targeted the android.

For a young Blue Gallergorn, he’s showing impressive skill.

After successfully destroying the android, he escaped through the window and joined No. 26 on the third floor.

‘No. 26 did well too.’

Whether due to growth or something else, his psychic power abilities have become much stronger than before. Now he can even cast “Binding,” one of the techniques possessed by Sea Demons, without difficulty.

Binding is a powerful technique in the mid-tier of psychic power abilities. It uses psychic power to constrict and squeeze the target, and as the caster grows stronger, the number of targets and effectiveness increase.

No. 26 had hunted with me several times before, so he knew exactly which parts of humans were vulnerable.

Hiding in the third-floor corridor, he demonstrated the technique of applying a double binding to an enemy searching the second floor. Thanks to this, the unfortunate police officer experienced the sensation of his body and head moving independently.

‘Still far from perfect, but…’

In the game, Sea Demons were powerful enough to simultaneously bind dozens of players and suffocate them. No. 26 hasn’t reached that level yet.

Still, before he could barely immobilize Siheyon Yujin, so this represents remarkable growth. He’ll likely become even stronger in the future.

‘The kids did well, now it’s my turn.’

I’ve laid enough groundwork.

I can feel the vibrations of them coming up the stairs.

I called to them using the voice of the dead police officer, No. 112.

“Aaagh!”

“!”

Outside, the enemies tensed up.

I counted five humans and two machines. I went out through the window with the corpse tucked under my arm and crawled along the outer wall to the neighboring unit.

Meanwhile, two androids led the way, breaking down the door of the unit I had just been hiding in.

“Beginning search.”

Leaving behind the android’s rigid voice, I crossed through the neighboring unit and emerged into the corridor.

I could see the police officer at the very back just about to enter the unit. I stabbed his neck with the poisonous stinger on my tail.

I quietly caught him as he collapsed without even making a sound, then crawled up the wall to the floor above.

Opening the window of an empty unit upstairs, I threw both the police officer and the corpse inside.

“……”

Through the police officer’s mask, I could see eyes filled with terror. Only after being captured by me did he seem to fully realize “what” he was dealing with.

He probably thought they should have brought the military instead of armed police.

As always, regret comes too late.

He seemed desperate to alert his comrades about me, but that was impossible. The neurotoxin circulating through his bloodstream was constricting his entire body like a python squeezing its prey.

I grabbed his head with my combat arm. Sensing what I was about to do, he gave me a pitiful look.

‘Sorry, but I can’t grant that wish.’

As I applied pressure, my hook-like claws sliced through his head. While the police officer’s head was being split like a watermelon in a cutting machine, a delayed reaction came from downstairs.

“This is No. 106. No. 110, respond!”

It’s natural they’d be alarmed when their comrade who was just behind them disappeared. I crushed No. 110’s communication device.

‘Need to shake them up more.’

Confusion and fear paralyze reason.

They still seem level-headed, so I need to apply more pressure. I turned on No. 112’s communicator again.

“Aaagh! It’s torturing me!”

“Damn it! No. 112!”

“This is M01. Everyone stay calm.”

“Fuck! No. 110 who was right behind me just disappeared!”

“Aaaagh! Please help! I’m on the fifth floor!”

After shouting that, I turned off the communicator. I could hear them becoming agitated and arguing downstairs.

The android insisting they stay calm, the police officers protesting that two comrades had disappeared—how could they stay calm?

The enemies were sinking into a quagmire.

While they were floundering, I left the unit and used my tail to destroy the lights in the corridor one by one. Only when they heard glass breaking outside their doors did the residents on the fifth floor peek out.

“Which bastard is making such a—urk!”

“Kyaaaah!”

They screamed when they saw me shrouded in darkness.

When I growled once, they turned pale and ran out of their homes. They fled toward the stairs, and I let them go.

I followed behind them like a sheepdog herding its flock.

Meanwhile, the police and androids were coming up from the lower floor.

“Unarmed targets. Hold fire.”

“Damn! Civilians! Everyone be careful!”

While the confused police hesitated, I extended my upper arm toward them. Saw-toothed tentacles shot out from my palm and wrapped around the head of an android beyond the civilians. The sharp saw teeth on the tentacle’s surface firmly embedded in the android’s small, hard head.

“Enemy attack detected.”

The android, feeling no pain, aimed its Gauss rifle at me from its third arm, but it was already too late. As I pulled my arm back like reeling in a line, the android’s head was ripped clean off.

“Under attack. Engage.”

“Shit! What is that thing!”

The android at the rear recognized my attack faster than the police officers and sounded the alarm. Belatedly, the police aimed their Gauss rifles in my direction.

Tungsten bullets mercilessly rained down on where I had been standing. A civilian who was fleeing late was hit by stray bullets and disintegrated like ink spreading in water.

The civilian shield served its purpose well, now it was time to retreat.

‘Oh no.’

I quickly pulled back, but perhaps because my body had grown larger, I couldn’t completely avoid getting hit and took a few rounds in my tail.

Thanks to my physical enhancement type and various traits, there was no significant damage. However, the enemies would now have a sense of my defense capabilities.

An ordinary human might not notice whether I took meaningful damage during combat, but androids are different. Unless their power source is removed and they stop functioning, they record every detail of combat with enemies.

They will certainly switch to special armor-piercing rounds.

Armor-piercing rounds can wound even my outer skin. The android will likely instruct them to target my arms or tail where the skin is relatively thinner.

I have the regeneration trait, so I can recover even if my limbs are severed, but the process is slow. For an AMorph whose body itself is a weapon, damage to the arms, which serve as primary weapons, is not a welcome development.

Therefore, avoiding armor-piercing rounds is the best strategy.

‘This is why androids are such a pain.’

While their autonomous thinking ability is inferior, their information gathering capability is superior to humans. Even Megacorp players often use androids for reconnaissance or support roles.

‘They gave me quite a hard time when fighting Megacorps.’

If you don’t wipe them out in one go, they transmit all your traits, patterns, and weaknesses to the player, which is quite troublesome.

‘I need to wipe them all out here.’

The android that was just destroyed wasn’t taken down by gunfire but by a special attack. The fact that I’m not human has already been stored in the android’s recording device.

I need to destroy the recording devices of all the androids here before leaving, even if the police don’t know.

Hiding inside a unit, I sent a wave to No. 26.

[Zzzz zzzzzz (Come up and help me)]

“Yes. Little baby. Big baby is calling.”

While I was calling them, the enemies entered the corridor. Perhaps because they now knew they weren’t dealing with a normal human, their movements were much more cautious than before.

I shouted loudly in No. 112’s voice.

“Over here!”

Hearing my voice, they stopped in their tracks. Then they repositioned themselves to enter the unit.

Despite movements that should have made noise—footsteps, weapons and equipment bumping together—they moved so nimbly and quietly that you couldn’t hear them unless you were very close. They were clearly well-trained.

‘Perhaps it was unfortunate for them that I was their opponent.’

Against a different enemy, they would have subdued them easily. Or rather, if I weren’t an AMorph, I wouldn’t have won so easily.

Without an AMorph’s enhanced senses, I wouldn’t have been able to read their movements so easily.

I stood by the doorway and aimed my spine launcher.

‘About here?’

After adjusting to hit a target about 20cm above my head, I waited briefly.

When the android approached to break down the door, I fired the spine. With a dull sound like plucking a cello string, the spine pierced through the door.

“E-e-e-enemy f-f-f-fire…”

“Th-the enemy is firing!”

Through the small hole, I could see the android with a small hole in its head collapsing.

I put strength into my legs and rammed the door. The hinges tore like tissue paper, and the door along with the android standing in front of it shattered from my charge.

The police officers, finally seeing me up close, held their breath. After crushing the recording device among the android’s remains with my foot, I extended my saw-toothed tentacle and wrapped it around one officer’s leg.

“Argh!”

As the saw teeth swept across, white bone was exposed. As one officer fell, the other three aimed their Gauss rifles at me.

However, I wasn’t the only monster they had to deal with.

Adhigh Orr, flying while holding No. 26, pounced on the police officers.

Adhigh’s tentacles enveloped an officer’s head. The translucent tentacles broke through the glass of the mask and burrowed inside.

“Guh, urk! Agagagak…”

The officer made bizarre sounds while trembling violently. The suction cups at the ends of the tentacles attached to his face and began sucking blood.

The tentacles made gulping sounds as they drew in the red liquid, clearly visible. The officer, losing a massive amount of blood in an instant, went into shock and collapsed on the spot.

“Ugh, uwaaa…kuh!”

“Urk!”

The other officers were horrified and tried to aim their guns at Adhigh, but froze in that position. Purple energy from No. 26’s body was wrapping around them.

I grabbed each of their heads with one hand and tore them off. Blood gushing from their throats floated in the air as if in zero gravity due to No. 26’s psychic power.

Adhigh, who had turned one officer into a mummy, flicked his tentacles and swallowed the blood floating in the air.

[Zzzzzz (Well done)]

“Yes!”

“Easy”

While the scene would make most people retch in horror, I was proud of how well they had supported me. I wanted to give them time to enjoy their spoils, but there were still enemies left.

‘This is the first time I’ve fought while entrusting my back to someone else.’

I never had this experience when playing as an AMorph. Since I had no friends either in the game or in reality, fighting like this was a fresh experience.

If I use them strategically in future hunts, they could be of considerable help.

‘Now all that’s left is the android downstairs.’

Once we take care of them, there will be no obstacles to our escape.

The time to enjoy the spoils will come after the hunt is complete.