Ch.89Crossroads (1)

T&C Special Trade Center’s port district.

A spaceship glided smoothly into the earth as the shielding door opened.

The ship, which landed stably at the dock, had the Möbius strip mark—the symbol of House Yugin—printed on its exterior.

As the spaceship’s door opened, crew members carrying metal hard cases disembarked quickly.

“We don’t have time. Hurry with the preparations.”

“Yes, Mr. Minseok!”

The Asian man commanding the subordinates was Minseok Yujin.

He once served Junwoo Yujin and is currently the butler of Siheyon Yujin.

The henchmen serving Siheyon Yujin moved in perfect unison following Minseok’s orders.

They opened the hard cases and began assembling the components inside.

“Miss.”

While his subordinates initiated their work, Minseok bowed to the woman who disembarked last.

Wearing a white bodysuit, she was Siheyon Yujin, the master of everyone present.

“The work will be completed within 5 minutes, and we’ll depart immediately.”

“…”

Siheyon didn’t answer and looked around.

‘Something’s strange.’

Though the port district was filled with countless warships and vessels visiting the city for the council meeting, there were hardly any people in sight.

Even the androids occasionally visible weren’t ordinary.

Seeing they had three arms, they were clearly combat androids, yet they were handling tasks that should have been done by regular workers.

‘A major incident I don’t know about has occurred.’

Considering the widespread android-phobic sentiment within Megacorp, having this many machines working instead of people was definitely not a normal situation.

‘If there’s such a shortage of people, it’s one of two things. Either a massive accident caused tremendous casualties, or…’

An unidentified epidemic.

Before coming here, she had learned through the media that the Egerton Knights had committed a disgraceful act.

‘But the Silver Lion Knights’ destructive actions are unlikely to be the cause.’

Being from the shadows herself, she knew well that Egerton’s Silver Lion Knights consisted of genetically modified humans.

They were powerful, but not enough to reduce this space city’s population to this extent.

They would be defeated by the defense fleet’s ground forces due to their insufficient numbers.

Moreover, the media hadn’t mentioned any large-scale killings.

Since House Zhao was at odds with Egerton, they wouldn’t have remained silent if Egerton knights had massacred civilians on a large scale.

That left only one answer.

“Tell everyone to activate their power suits and wear masks.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s an epidemic going around.”

Seeing that her White Maiden suit wasn’t reacting, it wasn’t an airborne disease.

Those present would inevitably have to contact certain humans for their mission. To avoid infection, they needed to prepare now.

When Minseok gave the order, the working henchmen simultaneously activated their power suits and put on masks.

‘Did another faction carry out a terrorist attack?’

While she could think of some factions, none of them were terrorists who used biological weapons.

‘Akira Yujin is still here.’

House Yugin, being masters of genetic manipulation and biotechnology, was quite proficient with virus-based biochemical weapons.

If the head of such a house was unaware that an epidemic was spreading in the city, this virus was extraordinarily dangerous.

‘Or perhaps he knows and remains silent.’

That cunning old monster was certainly capable of such a thing.

Mentally pressuring the general manager through the council meeting to prevent them from focusing on the city.

Of course, valuing his own life above all else, he would have taken measures to avoid infection.

“It’s complete.”

Minseok’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

Before her now stood a complex mechanical device assembled by her subordinates.

It was a Gremlin torpedo made by Star Union, which Siheyon’s henchmen had modified into a time bomb.

Originally, the Gremlin torpedo was designed to neutralize enemy warships, with a structure that released nanomachines upon explosion to devour all surrounding metal.

Siheyon’s subordinates had modified it to spread far more nanomachines over a wider area than the original.

“Good work. Let’s move.”

Now they would install this bomb in the heart of the city—the underground reactor.

‘Hmm?’

While moving with her subordinates, Siheyon detected a strange flow of psychic power.

‘Cult? No, that’s…’

A very alien psychic power flashed momentarily from inside the city and quickly disappeared.

‘Could it be?’

“Miss?”

When Siheyon stopped, Minseok called out to his master.

She looked alternately at the bomb and the city center.

One was Siheyon Yujin’s long-cherished wish.

A golden opportunity to eliminate Akira Yujin while simultaneously eradicating House Yugin’s adversaries.

On the other hand…

“Miss, we must move right now.”

“…”

This should have been a choice she couldn’t waver on.

After all, she was Siheyon Yujin.

After standing silently, she finally made her decision.

“…I had something to think about. Let’s go now.”

As she moved, she glanced one last time toward the city center.

‘I’m not certain if it’s him. Even if it is, he couldn’t survive a collapsing space city.’

‘That thing’ which had killed her would be buried along with the city’s collapse.

‘…But if it somehow survives.’

Then she would personally break the chains binding her.

–

After using Psychic Breath twice in quick succession, I barely managed to hold onto my fading consciousness.

Despite unleashing power comparable to the White Gallergorn’s breath, the Necrofector didn’t fall.

“I, I am the greatest…”

With its outer skin completely torn away, revealing only bones and muscles, it staggered a few steps before collapsing.

Its heartbeat slowly decelerated before stopping completely.

The Black Shroud enveloping its body returned to its original form, resembling black mourning clothes.

‘Phew.’

Having been focused on my auxiliary organs, I only felt relieved after confirming the creature’s death.

‘That was a terrifying enemy.’

I couldn’t have won alone.

‘No. 26 was a great help.’

Also, Adhigh, who went to face Code Red in my place, did his part well.

I looked at No. 26.

He was still vigilantly watching Black’s corpse, making sure it wouldn’t come back to life.

Sensing my gaze, he sent me a wave asking if I was okay.

[Zzzzz zz zzzz(I’m fine. How about you?)]

“I’m fine. Wounds like these heal quickly.”

As always, he worried about me before himself.

As I was about to send him a wave of gratitude, I felt a change in my body.

‘The Hunt’s Mark has ended.’

I felt both relieved it hadn’t ended before killing Black and disappointed I couldn’t eat the corpse.

‘Still, obtaining even one of Black’s genes would be beneficial…huh?’

My thought couldn’t complete itself. An incredibly intense instinct completely dominated my mind.

‘W-what’s happening?’

A terrifying hunger struck my mind, almost driving me insane.

I thought I was used to it after experiencing it several times, but this was on a different level.

‘Could the fatigue and side effects from Psychic Breath…’

Suddenly everything seemed pointless.

I was just hungry.

“Big one! Eat quickly!”

Someone was speaking nearby, but I couldn’t quite understand.

It’s a strange feeling, but I can smell something appetite-stimulating in the voice.

And true to my expectations, fragrant meat appeared before me.

I swallowed the chunk of meat in one gulp.

‘Not enough.’

Text boxes appeared before my eyes, saying something, but I couldn’t understand what.

More importantly, I was hungry.

Why must I be so starved?

‘If you need something, take it.’

A saying I’ve heard since childhood.

If you need something, take it. That’s the life of a victor.

“■■■, ■■ ■■ ■■■■■!”

‘There it is.’

A chattering voice. Eating that should satisfy this terrible hunger.

The moment I thought that, more food appeared before me.

Compared to the previous food, this smelled strange. So strange that even though I was hungry, it wasn’t appealing at all.

‘Shut up and eat it.’

Suddenly I remembered my childhood.

If I don’t eat now, I won’t be able to eat later. I must eat.

I forcibly stuffed the tasteless food into my mouth.

As my stomach filled a bit, my mind wavered.

Eat it all now. No, what am I… No. Still not enough. Wait a moment. I can’t wait!

‘There’s a delicacy emitting a good smell right in front.’

No, wait.

I don’t know why I thought this, but that delicacy has thorns.

I shouldn’t eat that delicacy. No, I should. If I eat it, I can obtain the essence I desire. I shouldn’t eat that. There’s no time to wait.

I pounced on the delicacy.

An intoxicatingly delicious aroma tickled my auxiliary organs.

‘What thorns?’

Indeed, there were no thorns at all.

“■■■■, ■■ ■■!”

The back of my head itches because of its noisy behavior. No. How could food have a mouth to make noise? Stop it now. It’s all an illusion.

‘I’ll enjoy this meal.’

I was about to open my mouth when I stopped. It’s prey?

‘I’ll enjoy this meal!’

No.

It is…

“■■■, it’s okay.”

The wave it sent travels through the tentacles at the back of my head. The formless signal is transmitted to my brain, which interprets its meaning.

‘Eat quickly!’

I closed my mouth. A single tentacle protruding from its body gently stroked my jaw.

Then my auxiliary organs and its tentacles intertwined gently.

I felt a small spark at the tip of my auxiliary organ. Simultaneously, a text box appeared before my eyes and shone brightly.

Two lights reminded me of an extremely important fact.

‘No. 26?’

The moment I realized who I was pressing down, the world brightened.

The fog in my head cleared, and sensation returned to my body.

I was still hungry enough for my stomach to ache, but it wasn’t the mind-losing hunger from before.

I released my grip on No. 26.

‘What just happened?’

My actions just now were far from my own will.

‘Was it the combined fatigue from Psychic Breath and the Hunt’s Mark side effect?’

Psychic Breath consumes mental energy to its limit.

When fighting in the apartment before, I lost consciousness after using Psychic Breath.

Thanks to the Complete Organism and Psychic Enhancement Type effect, my limit for using Psychic Breath increased to twice.

Moreover, I should have fainted after using it twice in succession, but thanks to my traits and type effect, I could maintain consciousness.

But it seems the fatigue from Psychic Breath and the loss of reason from the Hunt’s Mark side effect created a negative synergy.

The mental adverse effects were incomparably worse than usual.

To be precise, it wasn’t just adverse effects—my instincts had completely taken over.

‘Good grief. I must never do this again.’

The double overlap of two traits’ side effects was far more serious than I could have imagined.

“Big one?”

Thinking I had regained my senses, No. 26 called out to me.

I had almost eaten No. 26 against my will.

I immediately apologized to him.

“I’m fine!”

[Zzzzzz zzzzzz(I went crazy just now. I’m really sorry.)]

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m just glad you’re back to normal.”

Though he glowed as if everything was fine, I carefully examined his body.

Fortunately, I hadn’t attacked No. 26.

If I had attacked him trying to eat him, the problem would have been much more serious.

‘No. 26 doesn’t have healing abilities.’

Unlike me, it takes him a long time to recover from injuries. A fatal wound would be the end for him.

After checking several times, I couldn’t find any new injuries on his body apart from those sustained while fighting Black.

I was startled by some blood-covered tentacles, but detecting the smell, I realized it wasn’t his blood but Cult blood.

‘He must have gathered Cult corpses from the surrounding ruins after Black.’

He had done his best to bring me back.

Feeling gratitude and an indescribable emotion, I suddenly recalled the numerous text boxes floating in the air.

Looking at the text boxes, one particularly bright one caught my eye.

“Humanity Activated!”

It was the Humanity trait I had acquired when eating the pirate before.

A trait I had thought useless until now had played a crucial role at a critical moment, though I wasn’t sure what exactly triggered it.

‘It definitely activated when I touched No. 26’s tentacle.’

I tried to touch No. 26’s tentacle again to recreate the situation.

“Big one, little one is coming.”

[Zz(Huh?)]

No. 26 subtly withdrew his tentacle and pointed at the sky.

As he said, Adhigh was flying toward us.

‘Oh no.’

With several patrol ships trailing behind him.