Chapter 322
–
“Are you going to leave here?”
The drawing room of a cult-style mansion.
Sihyeon Eugene nodded to the question of the older cultist Kissos.
“yes. Thanks to you, Senator, we have secured enough equipment and slaves. “You invested in me, so I should show you the results.”
“The Emperor of Megacorp will not be an easy opponent. “Wouldn’t that be enough?”
“Currently, Megacorp is nearing the end of the war. The entire society is in a state of chaos as the long-maintained wartime regime is lifted. “Now is the opportunity to kill the CEO.”
“Hmm.”
What Sihyeon said was true.
As the leader of the innovative faction that emphasizes exchanges with other races, Kissos had many connections in Megacorp. Thanks to this, I knew that Megacorp’s power had weakened significantly.
“I heard that one of the seven nobles who supported Megacorp fell and a recession struck. “They say the emperor and nobles have a lot of trouble because of that.”
“That’s right.”
“Hogira.”
After saying those words, Kisos closed his mouth and calculated in his head.
It didn’t take long for her to decide that it was better for her to leave.
“Vision of the Eugene family. “May Providence fulfill your will.”
“thank you.”
After politely saying hello, Sihyeon left the reception room.
As she walked down the hallway, she soon fell and leaned against the wall. Recently, I could barely sleep due to nightmares and headaches.
I tested it to see if it was a side effect of genetic modification, but nothing came out. The research team leader in charge of the test said it appeared to be a mental problem.
Even if I took the medicine as they said, the nightmares and headaches did not go away. At least I was able to sleep while in the bio capsule, but the time was getting shorter and shorter.
“…after.”
My headache subsided slightly as I leaned my head against the cool wall. She sighed softly and walked again. As I left the hallway and was walking down the corridor, a familiar person walked towards me from the other side.
“Sihyeon Eugene? “Why are you here?”
“hello. Alshas.”
The opponent was Alshas, a cult woman with shining silver hair. She opened her eyes wide as if Sihyeon’s presence was unexpected.
“I came to say hello to Kisos before leaving Berzan 02.”
“okay. Are you finally leaving?”
“Thanks for connecting me with Mr. Kissos, it was a great help. “I will come to you later to say hello.”
The fact that Alshas appeared at Chisos’ mansion probably means that she also has a promise. After giving a light greeting to the other person, Sihyeon tried to leave the place.
“Wait.”
“yes?”
Alshas caught Si-hyeon as she was about to leave and took out a small data chip from her arms.
“Take it.”
“This?”
“I heard from my senior that you were looking for mysterious artifacts. “This is a map I got some time ago.”
As soon as the word “map” came out of her mouth, Sihyeon’s heart pounded loudly. Her black eyes were fixed on the data chip in her palm.
“Did you say map?”
“Actually, it’s embarrassing to even call it a map. “It’s an unfinished map.”
“Incomplete….”
“I had an acquaintance at the Society of Prophets, so I asked about it. “It seems to be a map to an altar where a mysterious weapon is hidden, but they said it is impossible to confirm further details.”
In fact, the probability that the data chip given by Alshas and the map left by Beomho would respond was extremely low. Unless someone intended it, there’s no way something like that would happen.
However, her senses responded differently. I had a strong belief that this data chip might be the key to restoring the damaged map.
Sihyeon asked Alshas, barely suppressing his emotions with reason.
“Why are you giving me a map that leads to where the weapons are hidden?”
“Honestly, I’m interested, but I am the captain of an imperial carrier. You cannot move carelessly by following uncertain information. But unlike me, Sihyeon doesn’t have such limitations.”
“That’s true.”
“Like the elders, I am also invested in Sihyeon. Sihyeon achieving his goal is also beneficial to me. So please take it.”
Sihyeon met Alshas’s gaze and felt the other person’s sincerity. That female cult really wanted her to have this map. Other than that, I felt no other emotions.
“You are an important element in the great plan. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”
“…thank you.”
In the end, Sihyeon decided to receive the data chip.
–
Once an Amorph reaches sub-adult form, it becomes immune to most poisons. This is thanks to the characteristic ‘complete immunity’ obtained as a semi-adult perk.
Even though I drank a huge amount of alcohol, my body did not change at all.
‘I haven’t felt drunk at all since I started drinking.’
In fact, if it were Amorph’s body, he wouldn’t get drunk or anything even if he didn’t have the perfect immunity trait. Since their overall metabolism is excellent, they will break down alcohol quickly.
This was similar to other kids besides me. No. 26 and PS-111 showed no change at all even after dozens of wooden barrels were emptied.
Of course, not everyone was completely sober. In Aadhai’s case, it was noticeable that the more he drank, the better he felt.
‘I had a similar reaction when I ate the cocoon of a Hellside Hornet.’
The other gallagons that were drinking the cocoon liquid at the time also looked happier than usual. Could it be said to be close to the feeling that wild animals get intoxicated by eating fermented fruit?
However, it seems that Aadhai did not know that he had a body that could be taken. The guy who was very drunk ran around the room and fell asleep in my arms.
‘And now he’s sleeping in the room that the owner of the mansion used.’
“It looks like Aadhai is still sleeping.”
“Yes.”
Heavenly Mother, with a towel draped over her shoulder, looked into the room and said.
There were a lot of water droplets on her fur, as if she had taken a bath as soon as she woke up. The wet fur stuck closely to the body, leaving the body exposed.
‘Even if the level of deification increases, nothing much has changed.’
There was a tattoo of agate-colored wings on her naked back. When there is no battle, wings are cumbersome to move, so I often turn them into tattoos and store them. I think they changed it to a tattoo on purpose because if the wings get wet, it becomes a hassle to dry them.
Anyway, except for the wing tattoo, not much has changed from his previous appearance.
“So when do you plan on meeting the slave you presumed to be?”
Wolf, a griffon with a beautiful body, asked as he wiped his fur with a towel. I looked away from her body and said what I was thinking.
“If possible, I’d like to check it from afar today.”
“today? That quickly?”
“Because there is a possibility that the opponent is not ranked 22nd. “Just confirm before talking face to face.”
“but. “It makes sense.”
“Once we get everything sorted out about Lovetz, we will move right away. “I also checked the large warehouse on the way.”
“It would be nice if I didn’t have to use the warehouse.”
Before going to look for Lovetz, there were two reasons why I rented a large warehouse.
Nominally we entered the fortress to sell rare creatures. There are no document problems if the warehouse is rented in Charas’ name.
And the second is to prepare for a longer search for No. 22. When the clever underdog’s duration ends, I return to being a giant monster measuring 60 meters in length. Since I needed a safe place to hide with my original body, I rented a large warehouse in advance.
‘Simply put, it’s for insurance purposes.’
It would be nice to get it done before the warehouse is used, but isn’t that the way the world works? There is no guarantee that things will happen the way you want, so you must prepare in advance.
“Unless something special happens, I plan to move as I said. If there is anything you would like to point out, please let me know.”
“Something you want to point out?”
She squinted her eyes slightly and pointed her finger at my chest.
“That body.”
“Huh?”
“Do you look like a cult member wearing a bathrobe?”
When I heard that, it came to mind.
Lovetz, the last person to be eaten, was almost naked. The ‘mimetic organ’ uses pheromones to make others recognize me as the ‘intellectual body I have eaten’.
It is a trait that is excellent for camouflage and infiltration, but it has a fatal drawback. It does not work on machines or creatures that cannot detect pheromones, and you cannot arbitrarily change your appearance to others.
‘I don’t know anything else, but it’s annoying not being able to change your appearance.’
The good news is that this shortcoming can be offset to some extent with the ‘human insect host’ characteristic. If there is a human host, the genetic information of up to five people can be stored in the body. The mimicry organ is a characteristic that analyzes the genetic information of a captured sapling and implements it as a pheromone. If necessary, the information stored by the host can be retrieved and used.
Only Jason, who is an important source of information, is fixed, and the other four have changed from time to time. I wore the skin of ‘Charas’ that I used to infiltrate this fortress.
“Is this okay?”
“…I get really creepy every time I see that. “I’m even more scared because my voice has completely changed.”
She stuck out her tongue as she looked at me, who clearly felt like I was Charas, the knowledge manager.
‘The outfit is ready.’
After changing my appearance, I used the terminal pad to contact Lovetz’s secretary.
「Master?」
“Suddenly, something has to be done. “So I can’t go out to the store for a while.”
“yes? Uh, that’s what you said yesterday…”
“Yesterday?”
“You said that a suspicious person might break into that store, so you asked me to strengthen the security. Slave Wolf said he smelled a strange smell. “
I solved that, so you don’t have to worry. Lift all security. Oh, and. Deduct the allowance from the ledger and give it to those who stood guard yesterday. “Especially give extra to that Wolff slave.”
“ah! “I understand!”
“You had a hard time.”
That’s how the call ended with Lovetz’s voice. Sky’s mother, who was watching this, shook her head as if she was dumbfounded.
“Isn’t it so natural?”
“I haven’t done it once or twice.”
“It’s not an acting skill that can be achieved by practicing it many times. “I guess it’s because of the bloodline…”
After leaving her muttering to herself, I started organizing things so that Lovetz wouldn’t die. All remaining camera footage in the surveillance room and evacuation room was removed, and a cancellation request was submitted to invalidate the report to the fortress’s warriors.
No one in the Water Fortress will know that a slave trader is dead.
After everything was cleaned up, I left the mansion with MPS-05 and Heavenly Mother.
The mansion was decided to be guarded by No. 26 and PS-111. No. 26, who can imitate voices like me, and PS-111, who has knowledge of cult society, will handle it well even if a problem arises.
“Let’s stop by the large warehouse first.”
We flew to the place where the warehouse was located using Charas’ airship brought by the Heavenly Mother.
At a time when the sun was still shining, the fortress was crowded with people. The waterfall, which looked like wine flowing, found its own color and radiated blue light. In the waterway connected to the waterfall, a colorful hover bus moved around, shaking the water.
As I passed the buildings shining brightly reflecting the sun, I saw a huge pyramid-shaped structure. As I got closer, I realized that each and every block that made up the pyramid was a warehouse.
“There are a lot of them.”
“Even if someone searches them, they won’t get caught.”
The warehouse that had been contracted in advance was located at the bottom of the pyramid, perhaps because of its size.
When I entered using Charas’ terminal pad, I found that Lovetz’s mansion was large enough to fit into the entire house.
‘But the height isn’t that high.’
It was lower than the tunnel where we fought the cultists before entering the fortress. It’s to the point where I have to lie face down for my body to return to its original state.
Well, if you think about it, unless you are putting in a very large creature like a Sea Demon or Giganterium, there is no need for it to be that tall.
“We need to find that kid as quickly as possible.”
“Small! height! littleness!”
“I know.”
I left the warehouse hoping that the slave I would check today was number 22.
‘The warehouse is done. Next time…’
I entered the new destination with my small arm on my chest.
“The hotel where the Cold Blood slaves are located is on the north side?”
“Going to the hotel directly is risky. Instead, it would be better to go to the slave quarters and wait.”
After completing the input, the airship went straight in the opposite direction from the center.
The warehouse pyramid is a place where customers and merchants store their products. It is not far from the streets where luxury hotels are located.
As soon as I left the huge warehouse pyramid in an open area, buildings of a very different shape from those in the center caught my eye.
A large lake that appears to be a water source. Buildings in various shapes are floating above it. These are expensive buildings incorporating magnetic levitation technology that can only be used on large ships, that is, larger aircraft than hoverboards. The sight of hotels floating above the lake was reminiscent of lotus flowers blooming on the water.
‘That’s similar to what I saw in the game.’
Among the cult planets, if you go to an old planet like the capital city, you can see levitation facilities. This is because the cult culture, which prefers living above ground and in the air rather than underground, and the characteristics of the entire race being able to control psychic power, have combined to create many buildings that float above ground.
‘Of course, the players’ reviews were not good.’
If the flotation device fails, the building is doomed. Unless it was a concept play, there were almost no players living in buildings like that.
Anyway, the place we are going this time is not those fancy hotels. The airship crossed the lake quietly.
Lovetz said that the hotel where Coldblood slaves worked had a dormitory exclusively for slaves. And the accommodation is not far from the hotel.
The place where the airship was headed was a place where buildings that were beautiful but had an old-fashioned feel were gathered together. In that area, facilities were placed for slaves working in the hotel.
After landing at an airfield near the district, I and Heavenly Mother headed to the lodgings that Lovetz had told us about.
“Looking at them, they all seem to be living as well as Megacorp Middle Capital.”
“I guess they are treated differently because they are slaves working at a luxury hotel.”
Perhaps because it was the city with the most concentrated wealth in Berzan 02, the cult’s slaves also had a fairly high standard of living.
The expressions on the faces of the slaves walking around the streets could not be said to be good, but their behavior itself was so neat that it could hardly be considered slaves. Other than the fact that the building was old, it seemed to be well maintained.
‘Plus, there’s a watchtower.’
The area itself was mainly filled with low-rise buildings, but tall watchtowers like the buildings in the center could be seen here and there. The main goal is to monitor slaves, but it will also perform the function of stabilizing public order. If a fight breaks out in the area, they will respond immediately.
‘If you’re going to fight, you have to avoid the watchtower…’
「!」
While I was looking at the watchtower and thinking about how to fight, Heavenly Mother suddenly tapped me.
“what’s the matter?”
“I found it.”
“What? where?”
She pointed to a store that sold fruit. There was a familiar figure standing in front of the store.
They were Coldbloods, a race that seemed to have the characteristics of three different animals: reptiles, humans, and scarab insects. The guy looked similar to the photo I saw in Lovetz’s file.
“That kid is right.”
“Are you sure?”
When I asked, she nodded with confident eyes.
At least Heaven’s Mother is confident that the opponent is ranked 22nd. Her amber eyes were fixed firmly on the short Coldblood.
‘how will we do it.’
The original plan for today was to check the face of the slave that Lovetz sold to see if it was really number 22. Looking at the reaction shown by the Mother of Heaven, it would be safe to say that the goal itself was achieved.
“There’s no need to rush, so let’s wait and see.”
Still, just in case, I decided to keep looking at Coldblood, which is estimated to be ranked 22nd. Sky Mother and I followed him while keeping our distance.
The guy bought some fruits and then moved to another place. After buying a few more items at the store next door, I just looked through the products on display in the store.
‘I heard you’re short, but you’re really short.’
Perhaps because he was born with dwarfism like Aadhai, he had a particularly short stature. It was so small that it almost looked like a child dressed up rather than Coldblood.
‘huh?’
A few minutes had passed since I started chasing him, but something was strange. The guy stopped buying anything and kept moving somewhere. At first, I pretended to watch, but now I don’t.
‘I’m not even going to the dorm.’
The moment I thought things were going wrong, he went into a deserted alley.
‘no way?’
“…I think I noticed that kid was following me.”
Even though I moved while maintaining a distance of hundreds of meters, I had no idea that I would get caught.
Even while I was chasing him, I kept checking with my auxiliary agency to see if there was any detection technology implemented nearby. They absolutely did not discover us through psychic technology.
‘Did you bring any detection equipment?’
“It’s a change of plan. “We need to talk about it today.”
I don’t know what means they used, but since the other side has already recognized our existence, we can’t go back like this. A deal needs to be made here.
Heavenly Mother also tensed, understanding what I meant.
She and I followed the alley where the guy disappeared into.
As expected, the short Coldblood was waiting for us, standing among the old buildings.
“Seo-ah.”
Coldblood recited the real name of the colleague standing next to me. The reptile’s eyes rested on Mother Heaven for a moment and then turned to me, who was next to me.
“…Moffak. “It’s your doing.”
This time it was completely different from when I called my old colleague’s name. A dark light appeared in the eyes of the 22nd person who spat out the derogatory name for me as if chewing it up.
“uh? for a moment! “Isabel!”
“….”
Sky’s mother, embarrassed, tried to stop him, but it was no use. The 22nd place, or rather the cold blood ranker called Isabel, had already taken out an object that appeared to be a weapon.
‘this.’
Judging by the atmosphere, it was unlikely to be resolved easily.
As if there was no need for further conversation, Isabel rushed towards me.
“Watch next episode”