Ch.463The Monkfish (1)

In Space Survival, if you had to pick the species that hates Voltex One the most, it would obviously be the Outspacers.

It can’t be helped. After all, they came to this universe because of Voltex One.

The Outspacers arrived here after losing their homeland to the demons of space. Their ending condition is also deeply connected to Voltex One.

It’s unusual to see enemy species moving together like that.

‘Come to think of it, does it look a bit different?’

‘Wings of Heaven’ has many wings as its name suggests. At the center of the wings is a body with numerous eyes.

But that one has a human female face attached to its body instead of multiple eyes.

“AMorph?”

While observing the distant enemy, I detected a familiar wavelength.

“A-Morph, is, that, you?”

“Growth completed?”

“Big baby!”

No. 26 flew toward us carrying the Screamer sisters with its fins.

“Big elder?”

Just then, Adhigh Orr, who had been fighting alone, spotted me. The companions I’d been separated from while asleep had gathered again.

“Wow! Big baby cute!”

“That’s, cu-te?”

“Yes! Cute!”

As soon as No. 26 approached, it caressed my tentacle arms with its own tentacles. It seemed very pleased, its body repeatedly glowing brightly. It clearly liked my new octopus-like appearance.

“Inter-esting. Worth, mimicking.”

PS-111 also showed interest in my greatly changed appearance.

Of course, not all evaluations were positive.

“Can’t, call you, AMorph, any-more.”

“Is this”…”real?”

Isabelle is the only one among the three who knows what AMorph looks like in the game. She shook her head at my drastically changed appearance.

Meanwhile, Adhigh Orr showed an intense reaction. As if unable to believe his eyes, he kept rubbing his amethyst-like eyes with his front paws. He seems quite shocked.

“Big elder”…”strange”…”ugly”

“No. Big baby became cute.”

“Deny”…”Big elder”…”fix”…”when”…”enter?”

As he said, synthesizing unique characteristics changes the body, but it’s impossible to predict what will happen afterward. There’s a possibility that I’ll continue to have an appearance Adhigh Orr dislikes.

‘Of course, he wouldn’t like it if I told him the truth.’

Just as I was about to say I’d try, the surroundings wavered as if covered in heat haze.

I quickly wrapped my tentacles around the kids and pulled back.

Soon after, a crack resembling broken glass appeared in the space where we had been. It was an attack from Wings of Heaven. If caught in that crack, your body would be torn to pieces like those ships.

[Zzzz zzzz zzz(Let’s talk later)]

“Okay!”

“Agree”

Space continued to crumple behind me as I moved with the kids in my arms.

But none of the attacks reached me. I could see exactly when each attack would come.

‘Thanks to the auxiliary organ.’

The auxiliary organ under my jaw has greatly improved in performance through several evolutions. Thanks to it, I can clearly sense Voltex One’s attacks, which should normally be imperceptible.

Even attacks that can slice through battleships in one go are useless if they don’t hit. I easily avoided Voltex One’s attacks.

“Detection ability, excel-lent.”

“Be, care-ful. Enemy, not alone.”

Just as Isabelle finished speaking, the group of Outspacers near Voltex One disappeared. Then they popped out from the heat haze around me.

‘How annoying.’

That’s also a power possessed by Wings of Heaven. Both splitting the battleship and instantly moving the Outspacers are results of a single ability.

‘The ability to connect specific coordinates to an unknown dimension.’

Simply put, it creates small, short-duration wormholes. The reason the Megacorp ships suddenly split apart was because it sent parts of their hulls to another dimension.

‘Even defensive techniques can’t block that.’

Adhigh Orr with his Red Armor avoided it probably because he instinctively knew it couldn’t be blocked.

Anyway, objects sucked in like this can be released again when Wings of Heaven wishes, just as it shot the Outspacers at me.

‘It’s a bit different from how it was used in the game.’

Sentient beings that enter and exit dimensions receive a debuff called “Dimensional Madness.” Those afflicted with this debuff go insane and attack other nearby creatures.

In the game, Wings of Heaven used this to divide players who came to attack it.

However, lower Outspacers without intelligence or androids that only move according to commands don’t suffer from Dimensional Madness. That’s why those Outspacers are chasing me without going mad.

[Zzzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzzzzz(Why are the Outspacers following Voltex One’s orders?)]

“That’s, not Voltex, One.”

Isabelle answered while crushing an approaching Outspacer in her grip.

[Zzzzzz(Not?)]

“Voltex, One genes, applied to que-en.”

‘Queen?’

Isabelle has the perk “All-Seeing Eye” that allows her to read information about others. She must be right. But I have one question.

‘Even so, it shouldn’t be able to use the same abilities.’

AMorphs and Outspacers absorb the genetic essence of other creatures to mimic their characteristics. However, there are limits to this mimicry.

For instance, even if I consume Red Gallergorn multiple times, I won’t become identical to Adhigh Orr. I can’t obtain Dragon Power, which is unique to Red Gallergorn, and techniques like Red Armor would be applied in weakened or modified forms.

The same applies to Voltex One. Even if you acquire the prerequisite trait “Demon Machine,” you can’t use all their abilities in the same way.

Wings of Heaven’s ability is similar. The ability to create wormholes is like its identity. It’s impossible to replicate that ability exactly.

Yet that queen has broken free from such restrictions. She’s wielding Voltex One’s power at will.

What this means is clear.

[Zzzzzzzz(It’s a perk)]

“Right.”

[Zzzz zzzzz zzzz(Is that one Rank 4?)]

“No. Diff-erent ranker.”

Come to think of it, I’ve heard about this before. There’s another Outspacer ranker in the Return Faction besides Rank 4.

It seems they’ve come to raid the secret base instead of Rank 4.

[Zzzz zzzz(Any other enemies?)]

“Ranker, alone. But strong que-en present.”

“Right! Strong bad friend here!”

26 answered my question instead. It pointed its tentacles toward where Wings of Heaven was.

Behind the widely spread black wings, an Outspacer with cyan-yellow skin is visible.

‘Is that it?’

Looking at its appearance, I understand why 26 called it a “friend.” It’s an Outspacer created with Sea Demon’s genetic essence.

“Enemy”…”attack”…”keeps”…”missing”

“I tried to catch it when little baby went boom so it couldn’t escape, but it was all zappy so I couldn’t grab it.”

“Prometheus-like ability confirmed. Can control energy using biowaves. Control level equivalent to mine.”

“Planetary defense fleet, was defeated instantly, because of that.”

Energy manipulation ability, huh.

That cyan-yellow individual also has quite a troublesome ability.

‘It’s a good ability to complement the ranker’s weakness.’

Wings of Heaven’s weakness is its low defense. Its only defensive measure is the tough exoskeleton unique to Voltex One.

So if you can somehow deal damage, it’s possible to defeat it. But now an Outspacer with energy manipulation ability is compensating for this weakness.

‘I need to deal with that one first…’

The problem is that it must know this too. It will do everything to protect itself.

If that happens, the fight will likely drag on unnecessarily.

‘A prolonged battle isn’t good in the current situation.’

This is enemy territory. Right now PS-111 is blocking FTL navigation so reinforcements can’t arrive, but that doesn’t mean we can relax.

‘More Outspacers will come, even if Megacorp doesn’t.’

Using the wormhole creation ability, they can supply an infinite number of lower Outspacers. Since a prolonged battle favors them, we need to end this quickly.

‘Energy-type traits are sealed for now. Should I go for close combat?’

Fighting up close isn’t a great option either. The speed at which Wings of Heaven creates wormholes is related to its perception range. The closer you are to it, the faster wormholes are created.

Even now, the wormholes are forming very quickly. It would be even harder to avoid them up close.

‘If I get caught by mistake, it’s over.’

Without a means to disrupt the ranker’s perception, I can’t approach like this.

‘What should I do?’

While fleeing here and there to avoid the enemy’s offensive and pondering my options, I suddenly remembered it.

The new unique trait I acquired. I hadn’t checked it yet because I was in a hurry to get here.

‘Let’s take a look.’

I activated the translucent text box. When I saw its contents, my eyes widened involuntarily.

‘This is?’

The new unique trait, the complex battle situation, and the difficult enemy.

A way to connect these elements and use them came to mind.

[Zzzz zzzzz zzzzzzzz(I’ve got a good idea)]

“Good id-ea?”

“Please, speak.”

I explained the strategy I just thought of to everyone. All the while, my gaze remained fixed on the text box.

“Gluttonous Maw Pouch: You are a true predator who can eat anything. After greatly inflating your body, you suck in and swallow objects in front of you. Objects that enter the pouch are digested immediately. The size and number of objects you can swallow is proportional to your size.

* Bigger Maw: When using traits that increase physical size, the size increase effect is doubled.

* P.S.: The act of eating is the most basic instinct of all life.”

The eleventh synthesized unique trait, “Gluttonous Maw Pouch.”

This is the key to solving the current predicament.