Ch.462Brawl (3)

The fantasy I saw after a long time was quite brief. Of course, that’s just how it felt—in reality, quite a bit of time must have passed.

‘What was that last thing?’

A woman without a face and a child cradled in her arms. Though I’ve never seen either of them before, they somehow feel familiar.

‘And those final words…’

Just before waking from the fantasy, the woman said something. It seemed important, but I can’t remember it. My mind is hazy, like trying to forcibly recall a dream after waking.

The strange thing is that while I can’t remember what was said at all, the emotion I felt upon hearing it remains vivid.

It was a clear sense of intimacy. Even now, after awakening from the cocoon, remnants of those feelings toward them linger.

As if someone had secretly injected emotions into me.

‘Could the Information Unit be behind this?’

It’s possible. Instead of appearing directly, perhaps it was trying to convey something.

‘Though I have no idea what it’s trying to say.’

The fantasies have always been difficult to interpret, but this one was especially confusing.

‘No clues at all. There’s no use overthinking this.’

I’ll have to aim for the next evolution. If I see another fantasy then, I might get new clues.

‘Let’s check my transformed body first.’

Forcibly cutting off thoughts about the fantasy, I examined my newly changed body.

‘My form has changed significantly.’

While the outer skin and carapace remained a pale white color, my body shape had completely transformed. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I’ve become an entirely different species or creature.

My previously snake-like body had shortened in length and widened. Excluding the tail, the trunk’s length is now similar to that of my head.

Unlike the reduced trunk length, the neck area supporting my three heads has grown thicker than before.

“Grrrr?”

“Grrr”

The two heads that just woke up are smacking their lips. Looking under their jaws, I can see large pouches attached.

Similarly, the middle head also has a pouch. This pouch, formed by small carapace pieces haphazardly intertwined, extends from the jaw, through the neck, and all the way to the trunk.

‘Like a pelican.’

While examining the neck pouch, I tried sucking in a bit of air.

The pouch inflated slightly. The carapace pieces clattered against each other, making a rattling sound.

‘Is this an organ for storing food?’

This pouch is connected to the mouth. When I eat something, it flows in here as well.

‘A storage organ, huh.’

Being able to store food and eat it whenever needed is an advantage. Except for the fact that it’s excessively large.

‘And it seems to offer weak defense.’

With the new neck pouch, the carapace that used to protect my chest and abdomen has disappeared.

Even if the pouch is sturdy, it can’t be as hard as thick carapace. I have to assume my defensive capabilities have weakened.

‘Well, there are some improvements too.’

Besides the body shape and added neck pouch, the most significantly changed body part is my arms. The combat arms that had previously atrophied have grown much larger than before.

‘Actually, I’m not sure if “arms” is the right word for these.’

I flexed the arms—no, tentacles—that were sprawled on the floor. Six thick, long tentacles reminiscent of logs slowly moved according to my will.

All the combat arms except for the small pair on my chest have transformed into tentacles. Each ends with four fingers tipped with sharp claws.

I bent one tentacle and wiggled its fingers.

‘It feels similar to the Corrosive Tentacles, yet different.’

Comparing how the two move, these are more comfortable and familiar.

The Corrosive Tentacles feel foreign, like delicately manipulating wing bones. In contrast, these feel closer to arms or legs.

‘I’m glad they’re not difficult to control.’

Just as I was about to feel relieved, the tentacle arm I was testing shot forward, smashing through lab equipment and piercing straight through the wall.

‘…Though I’ll need to get more accustomed to them.’

While not as tricky as the Corrosive Tentacles, these new tentacle arms are still challenging to control. It will take some time to handle them skillfully.

The last major change is my tail. The pincer that was restricted after applying “Twisted Abomination” has returned.

Among the sprawled tentacles on the floor lies my right tail with its massive pincer. Next to it is the left tail with the “Black Devourer Cannon.”

‘The length has increased slightly…’

It only appears larger in contrast to my shortened trunk; it hasn’t actually grown that much. The length is about 15 meters, shorter than both the Corrosive Tentacles and tentacle arms.

‘That covers the major changes.’

Normally, synthesizing unique characteristics causes significant changes, but this time the degree is much more extreme.

With a body shorter than my head length, large neck pouches, six Corrosive Tentacles, six tentacle arms, and two long tails all dangling—it’s quite a sight.

How to describe this appearance? It reminds me of a cephalopod, a creature with multiple legs attached directly below its head.

‘A giant octopus monster tens of meters in size.’

It brings to mind the evil deity from a renowned classic horror novel—a giant with an octopus head and bat wings.

Of course, only my overall body shape resembles an octopus; my head hasn’t changed like that.

The multiple horns, bio-pipes, monster tentacles, and auxiliary organs under the jaw—all remain the same.

‘The body color is different, and I don’t have wings.’

Unlike the pincer tail that returned, the wing arms didn’t come back. Not all previous restrictions have been lifted.

I should check the text box directly to confirm this.

‘Wait.’

As I was about to check the modified text box, something felt off. Like I’d forgotten something important.

‘What was it? Ah.’

I realized why I had this feeling.

‘The parasite signal.’

There was a human I infected to safely enter this planet, Nox, where the secret base is located. When I came down here, I left the infected host in the floating city on the surface.

But the parasite that should be in the host’s head isn’t being detected.

That means the host is dead.

And that’s not the only problem.

I’m not alone in this deep-sea secret base. When I came here, the kids came with me.

I just made a loud noise by breaking the wall with my tentacle arm. At the very least, No. 26 and Adhigh should have come running immediately.

But there’s no sound. As if no one is here.

[Zzzzzz (Kids?)]

“Grrrr”

“Gruk”

The waves created by the monster’s tentacles spread beyond the laboratory. No response came back.

‘No way?’

Everyone knows I become very weak when I enter a cocoon.

If they left me behind despite knowing this, it means they had a compelling reason to do so.

The kids aren’t here, and the infected host who should be on the surface is dead.

What these two facts mean is clear.

‘Someone tried to enter this planet, this secret base.’

They must have detected this and gone to intercept the enemy. A battle must be raging up there right now.

‘This is no time to be idle.’

Very few would come to Nox’s secret base. Perhaps Prime Capital’s Egerton leadership, or rankers from the Dominants.

‘If it’s the former, that’s somewhat better, but if it’s the latter, we’re in danger.’

Rankers are beings capable of creating various variables. I need to get to where the kids are as quickly as possible.

The bio-pipes on my head began emitting an energy field in response to my command.

An invisible energy field spread across the floor, supporting my massive body. The entangled tentacles and laboratory debris floated into the air.

If this weren’t an emergency, I would have left the way I came, but there’s no time.

‘Let’s break through.’

I can guess why the enemies want to come here. They’re trying to recover the genetic samples and research data stored in the base.

While the former have all gone into my stomach, the latter still remain.

‘Better to destroy them than let them fall into enemy hands.’

PS-111 would certainly have backed up the important data.

As I emitted the energy field, I simultaneously prepared a Psychic Breath.

The white tentacles floating in the energy field turned purple. The purple psychic power flowed like a river, gathering under the head carapace.

“Grrrr”

“Grrr”

The heads on the left and right did the same. Three purple suns rose in the middle of the dark laboratory.

The monster’s tentacles, glowing vividly under each head, all pointed their tips upward.

Then they simultaneously released all the power they had been holding.

With a flash of purple light, the gray ceiling disappeared. The concentrated force, the Psychic Breath, turned all obstacles in its path to dust as it advanced.

Soon after, a thunderous roar echoed throughout the base, and the building shook violently. The entire facility was rapidly collapsing due to pressure changes and the influx of seawater. I exited the base through the hole I had created.

Leaving the collapsing secret base behind, I cut through the water using my twelve tentacles and tails like fins.

How long has it been since I left the base? A faint light can be seen filtering down around me. Swimming upward with all my might, I reached the surface much faster than when I descended.

As I poked my head above the water, a dark sky greeted me. I could see flashes of light appearing and disappearing on the black canvas of the sky.

‘They’re still fighting, as I thought.’

I emerged from the sea and shot toward the sky.

The infinite space, as dark as the deep sea, rapidly approached.

Debris from destroyed warships floated in space. Some of them passed by me, plummeting toward the water-filled planet.

‘Did a Megacorp ranker come?’

What timing—arriving just when I infiltrated the base. If the timing had been even slightly off, it could have been dangerous.

‘Where are the kids?’

I looked around.

In the middle of the battlefield where green plasma beams rained down, there was a single entity glowing red. It was Adhigh Orr, clad in “Red Armor.” He was darting between ships, fighting against the enemies.

And not far from him was the Sea Demon, No. 26, transformed into battle mode. He was wrapping his fins around PS-111 and Isabelle while striking approaching ships with his tentacles.

‘Huh? What’s that?’

Mixed among the enemies were vessels that didn’t belong to Megacorp. Monsters with bio-cannons on their backs or with vicious claws and teeth were attacking nearby ships.

Outspacers, Megacorp, and the kids. Three different forces were engaged in a chaotic melee.

‘What’s going on here?’

I can understand Megacorp, but why are Outspacers here?

Their master, the 4th, is extremely cautious. He never launches offensives when situations don’t align with his expectations.

Before coming to Nox, I killed the parasites he had planted in the gateway city of the star system. I expected him to stay away for a while, so this is unexpected.

‘No. Let’s worry about that later.’

Right now, joining up with the kids is the priority.

As I was about to fly toward them, I noticed something strange.

The space where Adhigh was located wavered like a heat haze. Detecting it slightly later than I did, he accelerated like lightning. Immediately after, the space folded completely like crumpled paper.

Adhigh escaped by a hair’s breadth, but the ships pursuing him weren’t so lucky.

A warship with an elongated hull had its middle section completely vanish, breaking it in half, while smaller destroyers had either their front or rear sections cleanly sliced off.

It looked as if invisible scissors had cut away just those parts.

In contrast, all the Outspacers wedged between the fleet were unharmed. Some of them pounced on the surviving ships, while the rest retreated to the rear.

And there, where the monsters had withdrawn, was an anomalous entity.

It possessed countless black wings. Its appearance resembled an angel that might appear in religious scriptures.

Of course, it’s not an angel. If it’s the being I think it is, it’s closer to the opposite.

‘…Why is that here too?’

Its name is “Wings of Heaven’s Punishment.”

It’s one of only two creatures in Space Survival with large-scale teleportation abilities and a Voltex One that controls space.

A powerful demon of space is now moving together with the Outspacer horde.