Chapter 68: 068
Ep. 68
[Zuzuzu Zuzuzu Zuzuzuzu (Guys, wake up and eat)]
｢Wow!｣
｢Food!｣
After looking around, I woke up the kids.
Six carcass catfish to feed them.
I brought it all together, including my fighting arms and the small arms and mouth on my chest.
[Zuzuzuzu Zuzuzu Zuzuzuzu (I'm going to eat everything and go somewhere else)]
｢To make a house?｣
[Zu (Yes)]
As always, it's number 26, which is easy to understand.
It caught the catfish with its tentacles and stuffed it into its body. Because of the translucent body, it was clearly visible that the entire catfish was melting.
"It's delicious."
As befits No. 26, who is not a picky eater, he ate a catfish in no time.
On the other hand, Aadhai's eyes narrowed as soon as it sucked the blood of the carcass catfish with the tentacles of its mouth.
｢Food｣｢Tasteless｣
This is the first time I have seen Gallagon's expression distorted like that. He seems to have more emotional expressions than Aimorph, who has no facial expressions other than moving his mouth.
｢Taste｣｢Poor｣
The guy shook himself off and was disgusted because the taste was so bad.
'Well, it's a bit like that.'
Among the foods I ate after becoming an Amorph, the most delicious thing was a calorie bar.
That is, until you eat carcass catfish.
I brought it to you, but it is clearly true that it was not tasty. I had no intention of saying anything about Aadhai's complaint.
But No. 26 doesn't seem to think so.
It pulled out its tentacle and slapped Adhai on the head.
｢Pain!｣
｢Big baby is also big because he ate a lot. If you want to be like a big baby, you have to eat everything."
"I" "Grow" "Want" "
Okay."
"I" "Grow" "Grow" "Adult" "Know" "Possible"
"…."
"Pain! ｣
Well, it seems like they get along well, so let's leave it alone.
After waiting until they finished eating the carcass catfish, I took the kids to the next location.
In this sewer, treatment facilities for sewage purification are placed in the middle of each passage.
Here, bulky foreign substances are first filtered out through dead bodies and small sewage treatment facilities, and then transferred to a very large sewage treatment plant located deep underground in the city to purify the contaminated water secondarily.
'I checked and there are no detectors except in places where there are small sewage treatment facilities.'
The detector seemed to only send a signal when there was an object nearby that was too bulky for a small sewage treatment facility to handle.
I looked from a distance, but the carcass catfish did not send any signal as it moved.
'With my size, I'll definitely get caught.'
Aadhai, the smallest among us, will narrowly escape the conditions of the detector.
'Even if I don't get caught, it's dangerous to build a nest around the detector.'
Since there is a small sewage treatment plant nearby, it is very likely that the city manager will come to inspect it regularly.
If you're unlucky, people might come today, so you can't build a nest in a place like that.
'Is this enough?'
The point where I am planning to build a new nest is at a similar distance from both the manhole and the sewage treatment facility.
The water depth here is relatively low, and there is a protruding part of the wall, so there is space to step on. Me and No. 26 are fine, but Aadhai is not an aquatic creature, so he needs a comfortable space to rest.
[Zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzu (I'm going to build a house, so wait)] After saying
"Okay"
to the kids, I climbed up the wall and up to the ceiling.
All the nests I had laid before were destroyed while I was sleeping.
'It's as expected.'
The enemies quickly discovered the secret passage. They must have removed my nest as they searched the secret passage.
So I'm thinking of building a new nest here in the sewer.
'If it were any other time, I would have laid it on the floor.'
Usually, they waited until the mucus from their bodies hardened to form a nest, but not this time. You have to create a nest by directly applying the mucus that is excreted.
'Because the nest cannot be installed in the water.'
When placed in water, the mucus is diluted and does not harden. Instead, it does not matter if the nest stem and spores enter the water after completion.
'Still, water is a good medium.'
The nest understands the surrounding objects and environment through various types of stimuli from its surroundings.
If you are in contact with water, you can easily observe a wider range than usual through the vibration.
In the current situation where it is difficult to wait for the nest to expand, water is an effective tool to strengthen the function of the nest.
'Then let's begin.'
I used my arms to smear the mucus that had started to come out of my body onto the ceiling.
The highly viscous mucus flowed down and hardened like a stalactite. The slime that flowed down the wall of the round passage stretched out like a tree trunk and slightly touched the surface of the water.
An hour after starting to build the nest, the basic frame was completed.
The new nests that have formed on the walls and ceiling will grow in size on their own without me having to touch them.
'good.'
After seeing that the nest was slowly expanding, I pressed myself against the ceiling. After fixing it firmly with the hands and feet to prevent it from falling, the auxiliary organ of the jaw was linked to the nest.
The nest grabs hold of my spirit and pulls me in. Instead of Aimorph's small body, this gigantic artificial structure felt like my body.
Information about the liquids flowing through the city's veins and the impurities within them permeates my mind.
In the darkness without a single light, corpse catfish rush towards dead bodies and prey without even knowing their names.
All that lies beneath the feet of the bright and splendid city is an inexhaustible amount of darkness.
As I looked around the sewer, paying attention to the catfish that were eating corpses like anglerfish, my senses caught something unexpected.
'person?'
Suddenly, the presence of people was felt throughout the sewer.
At first, I thought it was a secretly dumped body. However, seeing that it moves randomly rather than following the waves, it is clearly a living person.
'Someone came in here?'
That many people at once?
'I need to find out.'
I released the link and jumped into the water.
｢Where are you going?｣
[Zuzuz zuzu (I have something to check)]
｢Okay. "I'll wait."
I told No. 26 that I was going out and headed to the place where I detected human movement.
While I was submerged in the water, I felt that the flow of the waves had changed. When I slightly lifted the auxiliary organ above the water to sense the air, I could hear the sound of people far away.
'It's not just one or two people.'
Where I am currently is at a crossroads.
Among these, the movements of 10 people were detected on the left and 3 people on the right. Judging by the unrefined movements and tremors in their voices, the opponents were all civilians.
'Why would an ordinary person come here?'
I lowered myself again, dived, and moved to the right passage where there were few people.
A quiet sewer, except for the sound of water.
The noise made by three people echoed there.
"Fuck, are you sure that if you survive here, your repayment will be completed?"
"That's what I heard."
"It's better than lazing around in the Niimi entertainment district. Fuck, do you know what happened to all the kids who came with me? "They all turned into raw fish alive."
"Ugh, that's fucking creepy. You idiots. "What is here that made them send us?"
"I don't know what it is, but they keep their promises. "If we survive safely, we are all free."
"Ugh, that idiot is good. "Your head is like a flower garden."
Three men are approaching this direction, talking to each other.
They came to this dirty place bare-chested, without any protective clothing. Oxygen masks that covered the entire face were the only tool that protected them in this polluted space.
"You used to mess around in the entertainment district, but now you're messing around in shit."
"Stop complaining. "Everyone be careful because the depth of the water is getting deeper."
"Fuck, I have a phobia of water, motherfuck…"
The passage I'm in is relatively deep by human standards.
They started swearing when the height of the waste material, which was up to their waists a little while ago, suddenly jumped up to their chests.
"Fuck Amy Cobb! "Why don't you get me some protective clothing!"
"Be careful not to let the pistol get wet! "That's all credit!"
"I'm in debt, I'm a mess, and I'm freezing."
They each held the flashlight and laser pistol in both hands high enough to keep them from touching the water.
I thought as I dived to the bottom, avoiding the light of the flashlight.
'Not the manager.'
Those in charge of the space city's infrastructure are all high-level officials. There's no way you can enter the sewer with such flimsy equipment.
Moreover, what one of them said is at stake.
'Reimbursement?'
In Megacorp, the term 'reimbursement' is used in two senses. One is repayment, which is used in the dictionary sense, and the other refers to the work that must be done by those 'employed' by Megacorp.
People employed by Megacorp are divided into three categories.
Individuals with huge, unmanageable debts, criminals who have committed serious crimes, or humans on a farm planet that breeds employees.
Employees are treated as livestock resources rather than humans.
The employment period is until Megacorp determines that sufficient profits have been made. Until then, you must unconditionally follow whatever Megacorp tells you to do.
'In the community, we jokingly call it a company.'
Due to the setting, the mercenaries used by Megacorp players are all employees. Just as there are many cases in the game where mercenaries are used for scouting or as meat shields, most of the employees die before completing repayment.
'And the setup is that the debt will be passed on to family or relatives.'
Personally, I think it's a bit too much, but I heard that it was welcomed by users who like a dystopian feel.
'Anyway, those guys seem like employees.'
Employees are practically lower than slaves, so they cannot leave their jobs without permission. In other words, the fact that they are here means that someone deliberately ordered them to send them here.
'Let's watch a little more.'
There is no need to attack right away since the enemies' armament is worthless anyway.
I slowly approached them while submerged. The waves swayed slightly in response to my slow movements.
"omg!"
"what's the matter?"
"Something just moved in the water."
"Hey, don't fucking do that!"
"It's just us, what kind of bullshit are you talking about?"
"No, really! "Something really moved there!"
｢Chijik Article 15. What's going on? "Why did you stop there?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
"The other group continues to move. It seems that Article 15 is not active in meeting its obligations."
"Oh no! "I'll move right away!"
The person in the lead repeatedly lowered his head to the small communication device attached to his chest.
After the communication ended, the man seemed so angry that he hit the person next to him.
Blood flowed profusely from the top of the head of the person hit by the flashlight being struck on the head.
"You bastard! If you want to become Yukhoe alive, do it alone! "Don't involve us too!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Stop fighting, you crazy bastards!"
As expected, they are bait.
I can roughly guess who set the bait here.
'The Knights of Egerton.'
There is no doubt that they are manipulating the people who came here recently to welcome the board of directors.
'Still, I didn't expect to find it so quickly.'
Enemies are tracking my movements faster than I expected.
The fact that the Knights know about the sewers means that the city's leaders also share the operation. In that case, it would be worth sending heavily armed knights and soldiers, but they are not doing that.
'I don't think they were worried about casualties. 'There's definitely something up there.'
In any case, killing three people here is on hold.
It's still unclear what their plan is, and unless the enemy is stupid, it's obvious that they've decided to use bait.
I stayed still and did not move from my spot.
The three passed me, trembling in anxiety and fear.
"look! "You idiot, you have nothing."
"Did I see it wrong?"
"Cough, I feel like I'm already feeling unwell. Let's finish it quickly and let's go."
I quietly followed behind them.
On the way, a person with keen senses shined a flashlight behind me, but I didn't get caught.
This is because the water was so dirty that it was impossible to see anything inside.
As we continued to follow them, we came to an intersection/cavity where several passages were connected. There were 60 people in similar clothing waiting there.
Among them stood a knight wearing heavy silver armor.
If you go any closer, you might get caught. I did not enter the cavity, but stayed behind the wall, except for the auxiliary organs.
"I think we're all there."
The driver was not aware of my presence and picked up the communicator.
"This is Article 3 Tennessee. "No abnormalities for all 60 people."
"Crackling, this is 1 trillion Vickers. No abnormalities for all 80 people."
"Jacob, Team 2, Chijikgi." "5 people have not arrived yet and are waiting."
"This is Team 3 Tennessee. "Jacob, the signal is not good, so please check."
"It's going to crackle."
I looked around with my auxiliary device while eavesdropping on their conversation.
I feel multiple footsteps above my head. Judging from the orderly movements, it appears that all of the people up here are soldiers.
'There is a manhole nearby, so they are trying to use this as a base.'
Based on the information I overheard, there are a total of three enemy bases.
When I linked to the nest, the other two were not felt. The locations of the bases seemed to be quite far apart.
A method of setting a wide search point and slowly narrowing it down to a specific point. The enemies are trying to surround me.
'I'm trying to entice them to eat the bait and force them into a certain area.'
Just like fox hunting.
The difference is that they released multiple baits instead of hunting dogs.
Every time I take the bait, the knights and army will continue to establish a siege.
Then, at some point, when the siege is complete, that is when the subjugation operation to kill me is carried out.
"Tree 3 Tennessee. "Operation awaiting."
｢Chijik 2nd group Jacob. "Everyone has gathered."
"1 trillion Vickers. Confirmed. We will begin the evil spirit hunting operation. Let's all take the bait."
"Everyone heard, right? "Move quickly."
"Yes, yes!"
The knight, calling himself Tennessee, ended the communication and gave orders to the men.
Although they were openly treated as bait, none of the people here showed signs of resistance.
'It's only natural since there's a bomb in his head.'
To be precise, it is an extremely small chip that emits electromagnetic waves when it receives a specific signal, but its effect is no different from that of a bomb. Because if you disobey orders, your brain will be cooked.
The baits began to go back the passage they came from with gloomy faces.
The three people who guided me here also turned around and tried to walk down the passage they had passed through. Then Tennessee called them.
"there."
"yes?"
"My head is bleeding. Why is that? "Have you been attacked?"
"Oh no. "This guy fell…"
"Tsk, that's pathetic."
When Tennessee clicked his tongue and gestured, the three bowed their heads and moved again.
'Hmm.'
When the bait stops in place, a communication comes directly from headquarters. I'm sure because I saw it in person when I was following the three people earlier.
It is highly likely that their bodies have chips embedded in them that send signals based on movement. Perhaps the command given to the baits is to move continuously without rest according to a set route.
'Then, if someone dies or is unable to move, then knights and soldiers will be dispatched.'
But just that sight.
The base side is not aware of even minor injuries to the bait.
'This is going to be fun.'
A sewer where communication is unstable, a situation where information between each other is limited, and a battlefield that is dark and full of obstacles.
These are all things that suit my taste.
'You're going to hunt me?'
That's a funny thing to say. I really like that hunting too.
We will find out who will become the fox after this hunt is over.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone