Ch.73Drive (3)

–

The operation camp set up in the commercial district.

It was a temporary facility installed for joint operations between the knights and the defense forces.

There, Danver Egerton was observing the crisis management team leader’s operational command.

Despite Prime Capital’s presence, the atmosphere in the camp wasn’t bad.

Danver was both the head of House Egerton of Prime Capital and a hero who had participated in several wars. Knowing the nature of soldiers, he avoided actions that would irritate the defense forces.

The defense forces also expressed their gratitude for his consideration and treated him favorably.

However, the warm atmosphere didn’t last long. It was because of the new visitor Lila Chamberlain brought.

“Haha, it’s been a while, Sir Danver.”

“Ahem, Wei Zhao.”

The newcomer to the camp was an Asian man with blue-dyed hair.

His name was Wei Zhao.

He was the head of House Zhao of Prime Capital, which competed with House Egerton for control of Mars.

Danver frowned as he watched Wei casually take out a cigar after entering.

“…What brings you here?”

Although Danver typically maintained a friendly attitude toward everyone, he couldn’t do so with people from House Zhao.

The two houses had been fighting to become the sole ruler of Mars for hundreds of years. They had experienced bloodshed due to family conflicts more than once.

Even now, invisible power struggles between the two houses were in full swing on Mars, where their main houses were located.

So it was natural that the two weren’t on good terms.

Wei responded with a relaxed smile to Danver’s hostility.

“Well, I heard there was something interesting going on. As a journalist, I need to cover new incidents, don’t I?”

Danver looked at Lila’s face, who had come with Wei.

Her expression was ice-cold. It was obvious that Wei had forced his request despite her unwillingness.

‘Of all times…’

House Zhao owned Daily Mass, the largest media company within Megacorp.

News of the accident at the T&C Special Trade Center before the board meeting would have already been delivered.

“Everything is under control, Wei. I don’t think there’s anything here to attract your attention.”

“Haha. Don’t be like that. I’m here for the vote too. I can’t miss a good opportunity to judge whether the voting subject is legitimate or not.”

“……”

Wei Zhao supports Akira Yujin’s re-election.

As far as Danver knew, House Zhao was divided between those who supported Akira Yujin and those who didn’t.

So currently, from Wei’s perspective, revealing how incompetent Sadam Chamberlain, Akira’s competitor, was would be most important.

That way, he could unify the opinion within his house.

‘…I hope Vickers handles this well.’

With the head of the most influential tabloid in Megacorp present, if things went wrong here?

Sadam and Danver’s plan would completely fall apart, and they would have to wait for the next board meeting.

In Lila’s case, she might even have to step down from her position as general manager to take responsibility.

“Anyway, this is my problem, so don’t worry about it, Sir Danver. Hmm? Hey, what’s that camera?”

After silencing Danver, Wei asked the crisis management team leader with a cigar in his mouth.

“It’s the personal camera of each squad leader participating in the operation. It allows us to easily monitor the operation’s progress from here…”

While the crisis management team leader was answering, the entire camp shook violently.

“An, an earthquake?!”

“Everyone, be careful!”

The earthquake, which shook everything inside—computers, equipment, and people—ended quickly.

But everyone present had bewildered expressions.

An earthquake in an artificial structure floating in space.

The first person to come to her senses was Lila, the ruler of the city.

“Contact the dome management team leader immediately and check if it’s due to a meteorite collision.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The secretary rushed out of the camp.

Wei, who had lost face by falling alone, stood up with a stiff expression.

“…I heard T&C was renowned for colonial development. Does this happen often?”

“No. This is the first time.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

“What did you just say?”

“Lila, Wei, both of you calm down. This vibration seems to have come from below. Hey, crisis management team leader. Can you check with the units that went down?”

At Danver’s request, the crisis management team leader nodded to the communications soldier. The soldier hurriedly sent a communication to the underground.

“This is operation headquarters. Is everything okay down there?”

“Defense Force Team 1. *static* We’re safe. *static* The deputy commander and the knights are also fine, *static*.”

“*static* Defense *static* Force Team 2. The sewer collapsed, *static* some bruises *static* occurred. Currently treating the injured.”

“Defense Force Team 3. The camp surroundings and *static* ground collapse phenomenon has *static* underground personnel *static* communication is cut off.”

“The communication status is unstable. Send additional support to Team 2, and tell Team 3 to try to make contact again.”

“Yes. This is operation headquarters…”

While the communications soldier was relaying the crisis management team leader’s instructions, Danver was quite flustered inside, though he didn’t show it outwardly.

‘Team 3 went underground, that would be Tennessee.’

Currently, Danver’s knights are participating in the defense force’s operation as support troops.

They were divided into three teams to match the defense force’s team-based structure, supporting each defense force team’s operations.

All three teams set up joint camps with the defense force on the ground, and among them, Vickers and Jacob of Teams 1 and 2 were commanding their members from the ground.

Only Tennessee, burning with revenge, went underground directly. He even volunteered to manage the bait.

Danver left the camp, saying he had something to do.

After confirming that no one was paying attention to him, he sent a communication to Vickers.

“*static* Your Excellency? What’s the matter?”

“Check on Tennessee. Something’s wrong.”

“Currently, the *static* communication status is unstable. *static* I’ll go check in person.”

Even then, Danver wasn’t too worried.

The sewer collapse due to the earthquake was unexpected, but he still believed everything was under control.

–

The city’s veins, forged with advanced refining technology.

Metal passages that never deteriorate despite all kinds of pollutants flowing in.

That impressive sewer was now severed.

‘This is stronger than I expected?’

The Psychic Breath mercilessly destroyed everything in its path.

The interior of the passage was naturally devastated, and it even penetrated through the walls filled with metal and concrete.

I had expected it to be stronger due to the type effect, but not to this extent.

‘It seems like not only the passage but also the surrounding ground has collapsed.’

With the Psychic Breath forcibly emptying the underground, the ground above couldn’t hold.

As the ground sank and the buildings above collapsed together, a chain reaction occurred, making the scale of destruction much larger.

Probably about one-fifth of the commercial district where I am has been turned into ruins.

‘I hope the kids are okay?’

I sent a wave to No. 26.

[Zzzzz zzzzz (Are you okay?)]

“Big one, there was a boom just now! Are you hurt?”

[Zzz zzzzz zzz (I’m fine. You?)]

“Little one warned me about the boom, so I avoided it.”

That’s a relief.

Though it’s a mutant, it’s still a Blue Gallergorn.

Gallergorn are sensitive to the flow of psychic power.

It must have sensed the flow of psychic power and told them to hide in a safe place.

[Zzzzz zzzzz (Stay hidden for now)]

“Okay.”

After confirming the kids were safe, I got up.

The place where I was had changed from a narrow passage to a wide cavity.

Thanks to the collapsed ground, light leaked in from above in spots.

‘This is going to get complicated.’

If the enemy realizes I’m a monster capable of collapsing the entire city, they might come at me recklessly.

‘The possibility is low, but they might resort to fleet bombardment.’

If deploying troops to the sewer doesn’t work, there’s no other option left.

Honestly, it would be like burning down the house to kill a bedbug, but you never know.

Humans aren’t always that rational.

‘Let’s secure the remaining genetic essence first.’

There’s no point in worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. It’s much more beneficial to deal with what needs to be done right now.

There are 2 knights left among those who chased me. They’re not far away.

I left the passage that had turned into a cavity.

‘With the sewer collapsed, they must be in chaos too. It shouldn’t be too difficult to ambush them, but what comes after is the problem.’

As I was thinking while walking, I felt the flow of water coming from the opposite passage.

The knights I was looking for were coming this way.

‘I’ll deal with them first.’

It’s hard to hide here because there’s not enough water.

The purple heat ray evaporated the sewage, and holes formed in the walls everywhere, lowering the water level itself.

‘No. I don’t think I need to hide.’

Sensing with my auxiliary organs, I could see one person supporting the other. It seemed the female knight was still paralyzed, and the other was supporting her.

That means the enemy’s combat power is less than 0.5. No need to be cautious.

I moved towards them, sticking to the wall so the flow of water wouldn’t alert them.

I could hear the knight’s voice from beyond the passage.

“Squad Leader Yanek! Squad Leader Vickers! Damn, the communication is completely dead!”

“Ugh, uugh…”

“Oh no! Catherine, are you okay?”

“Uugh! Uh!”

“What?”

The knight didn’t notice me because he was focused on the female knight.

The female knight saw me first and reacted, causing him to look up.

I jumped down from the ceiling towards him. I crushed the knight, and the three of us rolled on the sewer floor.

“Eek!”

The knight quickly drew his Blade Claw to fight me.

However, the distance between us was too close for him to swing his arms. I grabbed his arms with my combat limbs and bit his helmet with my mouth.

“Uh, urgh?”

My jaw, strengthened by bite force, crushed his helmet. The reinforced glass forming the visor part shattered and poured inside.

“Ack, aack!”

As the helmet crumpled and pressed down on his entire head, and the broken glass pieces stabbed his eyes, the knight screamed.

His legs, which had been dangling and shaking in my grasp, soon became quiet.

After confirming the knight had stopped breathing, I removed my mouth from the helmet.

His helmet was completely crumpled, reduced to one-third of its original size.

“Ugh! Uuugh!”

The female knight, who had watched her comrade die, groaned.

I was about to throw the corpse I was holding to the floor when I noticed equipment I hadn’t seen on other knights.

‘A plasma launcher?’

The knight had a plasma launcher on his back. I untied it and held it in my hand.

‘You came very well prepared, didn’t you?’

I don’t know about other things, but the launcher is dangerous.

Even if I use the Hunting Emblem, taking two consecutive hits to the head would be dangerous due to its strong firepower.

‘It makes sense for the defense force to have launchers, but why the knights?’

The defense force, belonging to the defense fleet, are regular troops, so of course they have plasma launchers. From my memory, it was one of the standard weapons issued at the platoon level.

On the other hand, the Egerton knights don’t use plasma launchers.

Their main weapon is the plasma bolter. It lacks firepower compared to the launcher, but it’s much more versatile.

But that’s in the game, and this is reality, so it could be different.

Since they’re wearing reinforcement suits, it’s possible for individuals to carry and fire launchers.

‘I should use this.’

I took the launcher and turned to the female knight.

‘From what I saw earlier, it seems there’s a problem with the communication function.’

Massive psychic power can cause radio interference.

Of course, it’s not long-term. It will recover in about 10 minutes.

‘I need to handle as much as I can before that and get out.’

With the ground in the commercial district collapsing, many abandoned buildings would have been created.

I should consider using one of them as a temporary hideout.

‘Then what should I do with this female knight.’

If the communication function is in shambles, it’s awkward to use her as bait.

‘I’ll give her to the kids later.’

I don’t know how much longer they’ll have to starve.

Considering the kids who barely filled their stomachs with corpse feeders, it would be good to give them tasty food at this point.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve eaten almost all the knights myself.’

While my primary goal is to strengthen myself with genetic essence, it’s also necessary to grow them.

‘The knights were all nutritious.’

It benefits me if the kids eat and become stronger than before.

They are excellent combatants with outstanding potential.

I started eating the knight comrade first, leaving the female knight aside.

I removed the thick armor and tore out the firm muscles inside.

As I put the flesh in my mouth and chewed, I felt the chewy texture created by the delicate muscle fibers.

‘This person tastes like pork?’

To be precise, it tastes like pork neck meat.

Usually, when you eat neck meat, the taste is rich but a bit bland, but the knight’s meat had a good texture, making it even better than neck meat.

‘It’s strange that there are no pigs in Space Survival.’

According to the game setting, Earth became a wasteland due to nuclear war between the seven major corporations and governments.

As a result, pigs became extinct, and chickens are endangered species that only those of Prime Capital rank or higher can taste.

‘It’s a miserable dystopian world where chicken and pork belly have disappeared.’

I quickly ate the knight’s meat while having these random thoughts.

‘Tsk. Already finished.’

The last thing left was the knight’s wrist.

I was enjoying the familiar taste, so it’s a shame.

‘It’s a pity, but it can’t be helped.’

But I can’t not eat it.

Feeling that chewing would only leave me with lingering attachment, I swallowed the wrist in one gulp.

The moment the wrist passed through my throat.

“Predation effect activated! Successfully acquired ‘Feigned Death’ genetic essence.”

“Stole ‘Feigned Death’ from the biological characteristics of ‘Horned Hyena’.”

“Would you like to apply ‘Feigned Death’?”

‘Oh?’

Maybe it’s because I ate good food after a long time.

The semi-transparent text box that appeared for guidance somehow felt more welcome than usual.