Ch.54Harbor District (4)

“Cough!”

The sniper who fell from the container coughed up blood. Though his heart was pierced and his body slammed to the ground, his face showed confusion rather than pain.

He couldn’t understand what had happened to him. He had no idea where the attack came from or who had shot him.

The sniper who had been bothering me died without ever solving that mystery.

“What just happened?”

“…Dwayne’s link has been disconnected.”

After confirming the sniper was dead, I approached Jade.

Currently, Jade could barely move his eyes due to my neurotoxin. Because of this, he had no choice but to watch his comrade die right before him.

How would he process the fact that his comrade died because of him?

Would it be more painful than having broken limbs? Would he burn with vengeance for his comrade? Or would he resign himself to the fact that he would soon follow?

‘Though you’re still far from death.’

His suffering wasn’t over yet. I planned to hunt down all the comrades he brought before killing him.

I grabbed Jade’s body and turned his line of sight in another direction, then went over to the sniper’s corpse.

The sniper’s armor, which had been transparent until it was hit by my bone spike, had returned to its normal state.

‘High-grade reinforced suit?’

Though mid-grade and high-grade reinforced suits might not sound that different, there’s actually a considerable gap between them.

For example, while mid-grade reinforced suits have an appearance closer to clothing, high-grade ones are more like armor suits.

The equipment the sniper was wearing also had the form of a high-tech armor.

‘Looks like he sacrificed defense to add multiple options.’

I’d like to examine it more, but we’re in combat right now. I stopped focusing on the reinforced suit and grabbed the corpse.

‘The right hand should do.’

I grabbed the corpse’s right hand with my combat arm and pulled hard. Perhaps due to the AMorph’s transcendent strength, not just the hand but the wrist came off too.

With one hand holding the bleeding wrist, I picked up the sniper’s coil gun that had fallen beside the body.

‘The fingerprint scanner… ah, here it is.’

The sniper’s coil gun doesn’t have a separate trigger. Instead, there’s a fingerprint scanner on the right side, allowing only registered users to operate it.

‘The design is supposedly for security purposes.’

I pressed the sniper’s finger against the sensor on the coil gun. After a moment, an electronic sound was heard and the coil gun lit up.

‘Let’s check the ammunition first.’

When I touched the terminal attached to the coil gun with my finger, a list of ammunition appeared on the screen. Only the AP round item was glowing yellow.

‘Good.’

AP rounds are special ammunition created by Megacorp and Star Union in anticipation of anti-psychic warfare. When hit by these rounds, one cannot use psychic power for a certain period of time. This is because they contain a special substance that blocks psychic power.

Even if the shot misses, when the bullet is destroyed, it scatters the special substance in all directions, making it difficult to use psychic power within that range.

‘No. 26 and Adhigh must have had a hard time.’

With the coil gun in hand, I focused on the sensation in my back. The back plate split open, and huge insect-like wings extended outward. With powerful wing beats, my body shot upward.

‘The second target is the Cult.’

From the sky, I aimed the coil gun at where the enemies were in the distance.

I could see the Cult wearing a tiara behind the enemies.

I pressed the coil gun’s sensor firmly with the sniper’s finger.

Perhaps due to her psychic power, she seemed to sense something ominous and turned her head toward where I was flying.

Having spotted me, she opened her mouth to shout something. At the same time, the coil gun fired.

–

Lately, she had been recalling her past memories frequently.

In truth, they weren’t memories she particularly wanted to recall. Not because they were bad memories.

Every time she remembered her childhood, she also recalled the deaths of her family.

In that place filled with disgusting smells, she had to watch her beloved family members die.

Those memories, the death throes of her family, stabbed her like knives.

The pain had seemed eternal, but at some point, she began to feel it less.

She still had nightmares occasionally, but it was better than before.

She knew what was healing her wounds.

A new family.

The family she couldn’t protect in the past was now comforting her pain.

Of course, she knew that the children by her side now were different creatures from those who had died.

But for some reason, she had recently begun to develop desires.

The desire to become stronger to protect her family.

In fact, higher-order thinking like “desire” or “longing” was unfamiliar even to her.

Of course, she had always had the consciousness to protect her group, but that emotion was closer to instinct. Like eating when hungry or sleeping when tired.

While needs can be satisfied, desires cannot. That which cannot be satisfied leads to something better.

She could feel that she was changing due to something unknown. It was change, or rather, something beyond that.

Obsession, anxiety, affection, longing to protect her new family at all costs.

In other words, she was transcending the limits of her species through “emotions.”

She both feared and actively embraced this amazing transformation.

Because she instinctively felt that it made her stronger.

“We’ve caught all those fucking Mountain Rollers!”

“Let’s finish them quickly and go rescue Jade!”

“Grooooowl”

The young beast howled before her.

There were those attacking this poor young one.

Though they looked completely different, they all had a common smell.

The same smell as those who had mercilessly killed her kind made her even more uncomfortable.

Painful memories stirred within her, and anger stimulated her power.

“Alright! I’ll deliver the final blow… ugh?!”

“Frost!”

For the second time since the battle began, her power successfully grabbed one of those smelly things.

Throughout the fight, her power hadn’t been working properly. This was because a wavelength similar to the one she used to communicate with the child she cherished was interfering with her.

The fact that these bad guys were using a means that had given her good memories also upset her.

All six of her tentacles targeted the smelly thing. Six purple stems grabbed the opponent’s limbs and began pulling hard.

“Kuhek!”

“Shit! Janet, you bitch! What are you doing?! The tin can’s about to die!”

“Damn it! Wait!”

While holding onto the smelly thing, she called for the small child. The small child was much less capable than the big child, but he was a good child who worked hard to grow.

“Adult” “Support”

The small child didn’t disappoint her expectations. He spewed purple power similar to hers from his mouth.

The purple power flew toward the smelly thing and cut off one of its limbs.

“Aaaaargh!”

The smelly thing with its limb cut off sprayed a liquid with a foul odor. It smelled similar yet different from the meat she had eaten many times. She definitely didn’t want to eat prey that smelled so disgusting.

“Frost!”

“Grrrrrr”

“Damn Mountain shit! Janet!”

When the smelly thing was attacked, the bad guys became agitated. Meanwhile, the young beast that was still alive bit into the smelly thing with all its might.

“…We’re all going to die at this rate. Hope, survival takes priority over the mission.”

“What?”

“I don’t care if the Gallergorn dies or not, let’s take these bastards out first.”

“Wait! I’m heading to the captain, so stay calm…”

“Dwayne! My arm just got cut off! Forget about being calm, do something!”

The bad guys were muttering something. As before, such muttering wasn’t a good sign.

“Ah, fuck it, I don’t know anymore.”

“…I’ll check on the captain and then support you right away.”

The one with little hair on its head took out something like a blunt stick. Though she had never seen it before, she instinctively knew that object was dangerous.

She tried to respond, but the guys were one step ahead. The one with little hair put the blunt stick into a thick cylinder and attacked her.

The stick that shot out from the end of the cylinder rushed toward her at high speed.

She spread her purple stems like a net to defend, but it was useless against what the guy had shot. The purple stems disappeared like smoke, and the stick tore through her tentacles.

“Adult!”

She almost fainted from the extreme pain, but barely held onto consciousness after hearing the small child’s cry.

She tried to emit purple stems again, but was it because she couldn’t concentrate due to the pain? The mysterious power she possessed didn’t obey its master.

She remembered.

What had happened when the purple power didn’t help her in a moment of crisis.

She couldn’t lose her family again.

The nightmare she wanted to forget was approaching reality. That fact pressed down on her like pressure.

“Wait? It’s trying to do something!”

She was rising to another level due to that emotion called “desperation.” Desperation spread throughout her body, and changes began to occur little by little in her tentacles and outer skin.

But the bad ones didn’t leave her alone to change.

“Frost!”

“You monster!”

The smelly thing, which had somehow knocked down the young beast, ran to her and kicked her with its limb. Dizzying pain struck her, and the changes occurring in her body stopped.

“Damn monster, I’ll skin you alive.”

“Hope! Now! Capture the Gallergorn!”

“Got it!”

The smelly thing growled and took out a pointed stick. While the smelly thing approached her, the hairless one targeted the small child.

She urgently sent wavelengths to the small child to run away. The small child seemed reluctant to flee alone and didn’t move.

“Run away!”

“I” “Adult” “No” “Escape” “Refuse”

“Quickly!”

Only when she sent wavelengths with all her might, as if shouting, did the small child move. Unlike her, the small child could fly even on the ground, so he could escape without difficulty.

But the bad guys trampled on her expectations.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

The one with little hair shot something like a net and entangled the small child. The small child tried to shoot purple power, but it was useless. This was because the strange wavelength coming from the net was suppressing the small child’s power.

“I’ll cut off those damn tentacles first.”

She thought.

She had failed again. She and the small child would die here.

The difference from before was that the big child had safely escaped from here.

The big child who was more amazing than her, much stronger than her, and cooler than her.

The big child would surely survive well even if she died.

Thinking that, she felt an inexplicable regret.

She had hoped to be by the big child’s side as he grew up splendidly.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t happen.

The smelly thing came right up to her and raised the pointed stick high.

“Die… huh? What?”

“Dwayne? Dwayne’s link has been cut off!”

Just as death was about to come, a miracle happened.

“What?”

“Could it be… huh? Kyak!”

“Janet?!”

“Tin can! The link has been disconnected!”

The bad guys were muttering to each other, but the atmosphere was different from before. They seemed urgent, as if something had gone wrong.

“Check on Janet… tin can! Dodge!”

“Huh?”

And then “it” fell from the sky.

“It” crushed the smelly thing and then stood up.

That monster with eight limbs and a long tail was a being she knew well.

The wonderful child who had grown so splendidly from being as small as her.

The big child she cherished most in the world.

[Zzzzz Zzzzz (Am I late?)]

The one she called “big baby” spoke to her.

The wavelength the big baby sent seemed somewhat embarrassed and also shy.

If she had known what emotions were.

She would have immediately recognized the nature of this feeling rising inside her.

It was “exhilaration.”