Chapter 14: 014
I linked sentience to the nest and spread it throughout the ship.
The structure of the ship and the movements of the people inside were conveyed to me in detail. The auxiliary organ quickly analyzed their movements in order to comply with the owner's will.
If we assume that a spaceship wandering in space is a living thing, then I am no different from being a parasite on the brain of an inorganic living thing. Because he knows what happens on the ship as well as the ship's owner.
An auxiliary agency reported to me that the captain and team leaders were gathering on the bridge.
'He probably intends to lead from the bridge.'
Like them, I too am making plans in my nest above the cooling room.
'How should I respond?'
First, let's consider the enemies' starting point.
There are only a few vents large enough for an adult male to pass through. The three largest ones are the agricultural area vent, the hangar vent, and the armory vent, and the rest are a little over 1m or less in size.
However, it is unlikely that they will gather in one place and depart. Because the search speed decreases.
'On the other hand, the number of operators is too small to depart from all three locations at the same time.'
So there is a high possibility that you can start from two places.
'There are 6 people. It's not a large number of people, but it's not a small number either.'
In any case, the ventilation passage itself is a difficult space to conquer with a large number of people. They probably decided that it would be effective to adopt a small elite strategy that compensates for the shortcomings of a small number of people with good equipment.
'I think I'll come wearing mid-level reinforced clothing.'
The model is unknown, but it is likely to be the same level or lower than the one worn by Arnold. If I fight from the front, I will suffer quite a bit of damage.
'After the fork, there is a section where the width of the passage decreases.'
Depending on the facility, some places require good ventilation, while others do not. Places such as cooling rooms are well-equipped with air circulation facilities and have wide ventilation passages, but this is not the case in most places.
'The narrow passage is not suitable for humans to travel through.'
This is the height at which an adult male would have to bend down. It may be better than crawling, but your combat power will inevitably decrease. Not only is it difficult to use weapons, but the uncomfortable posture makes it difficult to utilize the effectiveness of reinforced clothing.
'We'll surprise you there.'
The major roots of the plan were roughly established. Details must be coordinated based on the enemy's armed status and movements.
It looks like they are ready too. I can feel their movements.
As I expected, there were two places where they set foot. The runway vent was the armory vent.
'Then let's go greet the guests.'
After disconnecting from the nest, I stood up.
Anyone who targets my nest tonight will die.
–
"This is A1. "Team A operation begins."
"B1, report."
[This is Zuzu B1. Team B operation begins. Zuzu｣
"B1. "The transmission status is not good, so check."
｢Zuzu, B1. I understand."
Bridge situation room.
The hologram in the center of the situation room showed soldiers moving, divided into six sections. This was the result of real-time transmission of the on-site situation from the tactical cameras mounted on the soldiers' reinforced clothing.
Arnold, the crisis management team leader, watched the soldiers rush into the vent with the leaders.
'The person who killed Lady Kisaragi is probably the bastard.'
Originally, it was something he should have done. There were no changes to the plan itself, but I had no idea what kind of variable he would be.
It is a dangerous creature that killed 8 people, including Yujin Kisaragi.
Other people seemed to think that the material management team leader was the culprit, but he could be sure.
The material management team leader was killed by the monster a long time ago.
'monster. Eliminate variables as much as possible.'
This ship must not experience any disruption until it reaches the Space Dog, or rather its owner, Sihyeon Eugene.
Arnold's owner is preparing a grand plan. If the plan is successful, Megacorp's history will change.
Yoo Seong's ship is taken over by C-08 pirates. That is the first step in the grand plan established by the owner.
'You will be dead before the end of the night.'
While I was glaring at the holographic image with a cold gaze, a report came from the field.
｢A1. There was a fork in the road ahead. Move to the right. ｣
｢B1. There was a fork in the road here too. Move to the right. Zuzu｣
｢B3. Zzzzz. The transmission status is not good. I will fix it and follow along. "That's right,"
"This is the situation room. B3. "Please join us as soon as maintenance is completed."
Perhaps because it was like a blood vessel on the ship, the passage was like a maze. At that moment, the AB team all faced a crossroads.
"The route is complicated. Everyone, please move carefully."
"This is the situation room. "It's okay to be slow, so search thoroughly."
｢A1. I understand.｣
｢B1. "I understand."
Five of the six white marks on the map received the command and moved slowly while searching.
"hmm?"
Arnold, who was looking at the screen, felt strange. This was because the B3 camera, which was under maintenance, did not move.
"Check the B3 camera."
"All right. This is the situation room. B3. "Check the camera status."
｢….｣
"B3. This is the situation room. Repeat. "Check the camera status."
"It's okay."
With those words, the screen moved again. At first, he was a little dizzy and shaken, but soon regained his composure like other soldiers.
"B3. How is the reception?"
"It's okay."
As B3 reported, there was no more noise. His mark moved to where the other B team was.
"B2. "Join the B3 behind you and move."
｢B2. I understand.]
The B3 mark on the screen has become closer to the B2 mark. The moment the two were about to overlap, a scream came from the communicator.
"B2! "What's going on!"
"Ugh! He appeared! "B3. "
Contact with B2 was lost. "Report the situation."
"He dragged B2."
"There is nothing on the screen. Please explain in detail."
"It's impossible to check because it suddenly struck."
B2's camera was only dark. The communicator was probably broken, so no sound was heard.
The feeling of anxiety spread like an epidemic in the situation room. The captain and team leaders were mumbling about what was going on, and the signalman continued to try to contact B2.
While everyone was panicking, Arnold looked at the black screen and gritted his teeth.
'It ended so quickly?'
The soldiers wearing mid-level reinforced uniforms were unable to respond and were attacked. It was never easy for even a skilled assassin to kill him that quickly. Until now, I thought it was a bit dangerous wild animal, but I was completely wrong.
The enemy is a much more agile killer than he thought. Arnold, who reset the monster's abilities, gave instructions to the signalman.
"Pass it to everyone. If anything moves at all, fire immediately."
"yes. manager."
The signalman relayed Arnold's orders, and the nervous soldiers' answers came from the communicator.
Team A was searching for the monster, and Team B's B1 and B3 were chasing the missing B2. I could see them moving diligently on the screen, but there was no trace of B2 at all.
'If we continue like this, we will all be destroyed individually.'
In the end, Arnold decided to abandon B2. The signalman relayed Arnold's words to Team B.
"This is the situation room. B3. "Stop searching for B2 and join B1."
"I understand."
"B1. "Join B3 and begin searching for B2."
｢B1. "Okay."
B3's mark turned to B1. The distance between the two marks on the screen gradually narrowed. When there were only a few steps left before we could see each other, a radio call came from B1.
｢B1. "I hear something."
"This is the situation room. What exactly does it sound like?"
｢B1. I'm not sure, but someone is getting close. Because it is a crossroads, it is impossible to check accurately.
"B3. Join B1 as soon as possible. Repeat. "Join us as soon as possible."
"I understand."
A tense situation. It was B1's voice that broke the silence in the situation room.
｢B1. The identity of the sound is B3. I can hear his voice now.
"Phew."
Someone breathed a sigh of relief at those words. Arnold, who had kept his eyes wide open so as not to miss the slightest glimpse of the enemy, was also relieved.
"phew. This is the situation room. B1. "Report once you have joined B3."
｢….｣
"B1?"
｢B3 has been dragged by the enemy.｣
"What?!"
The atmosphere in the situation room changed drastically upon hearing B1's sad news.
Even Arnold, who was always cool-headed, had a hard time maintaining his composure as the situation continued to overturn his expectations. He pushed the signalman away and put on the headset.
"I'm the team leader. "Please explain the situation in detail."
"It happened so quickly that I couldn't confirm it."
"Damn it! Does it make sense that you can't see it when it's right in front of you?"
"I'm sorry."
Two people have already disappeared. However, because they kept repeating that they couldn't see B1 and B3, Arnold became irritated.
He threw away the headset and thought about the fidgeting signal soldier.
'How could you not know when you were next to me? Moreover, nothing was captured in the video for both B1 and B3. Unless you intentionally avoid the monster and film it, it's impossible…no. for a moment.'
Arnold suddenly remembered a scary assumption. He put his headset back on with a stiff expression on his face.
"I'm the team leader. B1. "Please give me your official name."
"Yes?"
"I repeat. B1. "Please issue a rank statement immediately."
｢….｣
There was no answer from B1. The leaders also froze when they realized what Arnold was trying to confirm.
"You got caught? Suddenly,
B1's communication channel was cut off. A black hand appeared in front of the camera and then the screen cut out.
"This is A1. How on earth is the situation going? ｣
"…."
｢This is A1. "Please answer from the situation room."
Team A's team leader's bewildered voice filled the situation room, but Arnold could not say anything.
–
'For now, Team B is over.'
I stepped on the signal flag attached to B1's armored suit and destroyed it. There were three headless corpses next to me.
The original plan was to hit the narrow passage behind the fork in the road. While outrunning the enemy to prepare for an attack, an idea occurred to me.
It's about using superpowers.
I got a hint from a conversation with a bubble amoeba.
I can talk to him through special waves produced by my psychic organ. If so, I thought it might be possible to disrupt wireless communication equipment that communicates through frequencies, but it worked quite well.
The waves I sent out caused noise in B3's equipment, which was at the very back. He was forced to separate from the group to work on the machine, and as a result, he became easy prey.
'It was easy after that.'
Even when his entire head was ripped off by the fighting arm, B3 couldn't even lift a finger. It was due to the effect of 'Neurotoxin Gland', a newly acquired fusion trait.
When you have neurotoxin glands in your body, everything, including fingernails, claws, teeth, and body fluids, becomes extremely poisonous. If you are hit by this poison, you will go into shock or your entire body muscles will become paralyzed and you will be unable to do anything.
It may seem like a powerful debuff trait at first glance, but it was a non-mainstream trait in the game. There are so many creatures with transcendent physical abilities that they have not been able to see the light of day.
'But not here.'
Unless you are a specially modified human, it is impossible to block the neurotoxin. It's to the point where if you're alone and get hit, you can almost say you're dead.
From then on, it was all smooth sailing. I used the 'mimicry' trait to pretend to be B3 and approach other team members.
Everyone was on high alert, but they probably didn't know that the person coming, claiming to be an ally, was Aimorph. Thanks to their impoverished imagination, I was able to fill my stomach with joy.
'Is Team A next?'
I put the head of B1 in my hand into my mouth and set off. As the cerebral cortex exploded in my mouth like refreshing juice, strength filled my body.
For the first time in a long time, the four fighting arms joined forces with the legs to crawl through the narrow passage. Even while crawling, the auxiliary organ under the chin constantly checked Team A's movements.
As if they had received instructions from above, they were moving slowly, intent on examining even the dust on the alloy.
'On full alert.'
Team B suffered without knowing anything about me, but that's not the case. It's only natural because they would have known that I imitate human voices.
'Shall we use the information to our advantage this time?'
Many people say that knowledge is power, but is that really true? Knowing in moderation is actually poisonous.
I hid not far from the crossroads. Soon the enemies will pass by here.
Then, light fell on the dark steel passage. The light emanating from the helmet light of the leader clearly illuminated the fork in the road.
"A1. There has come a crossroads. Let's move to the right."
They didn't know I was hiding nearby. If you don't know, you should tell me. I shouted loudly in B1's voice.
"Here! "Help me!"
"The enemy! "Start shooting!"
As expected, A1 immediately gave the command to fire. Three team members started shooting lasers in my direction with the laser guns they were holding.
While they were pouring firepower into the area where I was, I fell into another passage next to it. If you go straight this way, you can go back behind them. I mobilized all six limbs and quickly moved to the enemy's rear.
"Cease shooting!"
"This is the situation room. Check the enemy's status.
"A1. All right."
A1 walked forward, not knowing that I had already left. The other soldiers were only watching his back, fearing that he might be attacked.
I pounced on the A3, which was neglecting its rear guard.
"Ugh!"
"Back! "There is an enemy behind us!"
"Stop shooting! "Our team is captured!"
"shit! Shoot! "Shoot me now!"
The ventilation shaft was filled with the screams of pain from A3, who was being held by me, and the shouts from the terrified team members and Arnold in the situation room. I had no intention of staying in such a noisy place for long, so I paralyzed A3 and then retreated.
｢A1! Shoot immediately! "It's an order!"
"Let's start shooting!" "Start shooting!"
Belatedly, the enemies fired laser guns. A fire net made purely of energy filled the passage. Even though I was agile, I couldn't avoid them all, so I got hit by a few shots.
It was beyond painful, but I gritted my teeth and left the place.
"A2! Report to the situation room! "There are injuries!"
"Withdrawal is not permitted! "We must catch that guy."
"You bastard! "What should I do, squad leader?"
"…Damn it, give first aid to A3 and chase after him."
As I hide in the dark, I hear their voices. I don't know how good of a medical kit they brought, but it won't be easy to detoxify my neurotoxin.
While the enemies were taking a moment to maintain their health, I also checked my physical condition.
'Thanks to the chitinous shell, there are no major injuries. But it hurts a lot.'
Since the enemy was a trained soldier, the areas I was hit were the chest and head. This was because the accuracy was corrected due to the effect of the reinforced suit.
'I was in trouble because of the reinforcement suit correction.'
If it were a normal animal, it would have died from the attack earlier, but I am an Amorph. The hardest parts of Aimorph's body are the frontal forehead and the exoskeleton surrounding the chest.
In addition, it is now further strengthened with a chitin shell. These two parts are as strong as titanium alloy, the ship's material, and cannot be pierced by laser weapons.
Even though the enemy was in a panic, I fired as I had been trained and suffered little damage other than pain. It would have been dangerous if they had shot the tail or arms.
'One person was dealt with.'
There is food left for 2 people. It's unlikely that we'll be attacked again here, so we'll have to use another method.
Now that I think about it, there is a suitable place to slaughter them. A place I had in mind when I first made my plans. It's a narrow passage.
'Let's lure them there.'
I raised my fingernail and made a small cut on my arm. Smoke rose from the floor of the passage every time black blood dripped.
This is a spider web. A trap set by a spider to catch its prey.
The prey that followed without thinking will eventually realize that they have been caught in a web of destruction.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone