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Chapter 12

“Hey, Scott. It’s dinner time. Let’s go grab some food.”

“Ah, just let me finish this.”

The blond man called out to the black-haired man working by the fighter. Scott, as he was known, put down his wrench and got up from his spot.

“How much longer do we have?”

“It might take overtime.”

“Ugh, damn it.”

The two of them joined others on their way to the cafeteria.

“I still don’t get it.”

“What?”

“Why are we tearing apart the planes as if we have a war to fight?”

Pincher, the blond man who was chewing on synthetic meat that resembled an eraser, furrowed his brow.

“Scott, do you always have to bring up work during meals?”

“Isn’t it strange, though? Pincher, you should think about it too.”

‘Here we go again.’

Scott, who never tired of spinning bizarre conspiracy theories, made Pincher sigh.

“What’s the latest one?”

“I’ve heard something. They’re trying to capture Metallic Gremlins from above.”

“Metallic Gremlins?”

Pincher scoffed as if it were absurd.

“Yeah. Do you really think we can take down Metallic Gremlins if we encounter them? The high-ranking capital guys may be tough, but they’re not stupid. Instead of fighting, they’ll probably run away.”

“You should listen to people until the end. Apparently, Metallic Gremlins are already on board. They know about it above, and they’re determined to catch them.”

“What?”

“Have you noticed the strange smell in the air lately? They say it’s the scent of Metallic Gremlins.”

“This is unbelievable…”

Pincher shook his head as if it were ridiculous.

It was true that there had been an unusual odor inside the ship lately. However, if the air were genuinely contaminated, the ship’s AI would have reported it long ago. Pincher had never heard of any air quality issues until now.

“Just listen for a moment. Someone from the kitchen team said that people on board have been disappearing one or two at a time since last week.”

“Heh, what nonsense.”

He had entertained the idea, but it was just as he expected. Pincher couldn’t believe Scott’s baseless chatter.

The ship had a crew of 222 people. It was not a large number, and if one person disappeared per day, it would hardly be noticeable.

And are the people above idiots? There’s no way they’d just sit still when their subordinates are disappearing. As Pincher mentioned, the higher-ups might be jerks, but they’re not stupid.

Pincher had tried to dismiss Scott’s delusions, but there was someone who interjected into their conversation. It was Cameron, who was sitting next to them.

“I’ve heard similar stories too. They said the materials management officer went missing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Thanks to that, the cargo container manager got promoted to acting head.”

“See! Pincher, I was right.”

Scott was delighted to have someone else agreeing with him. On the other hand, Pincher’s expression twisted as if he had bitten into something sour.

“Fine, let’s say people are disappearing. Why are the higher-ups just sitting still?”

“They say even the top brass knows everything, but they’re hiding it to prevent the crew from panicking.”

“Exactly, it’s because of the Metallic Gremlins!”

“Metallic or whatever. Even if they’re causing trouble, what does it have to do with fighter maintenance?”

Cameron shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know about that. I’ve only heard that people are disappearing.”

“Well… Are they trying to maintain discipline by manipulating the crew?”

“Ugh, you’re such a nutcase. That’s just like you.”

Scott scratched his head with a foolish expression, and Pincher clicked his tongue.

After dinner, the technical team members returned to their workstations.

Time passed, and before they knew it, it was nighttime.

One by one, team members left for home, and the spacious cargo container, which had been bustling earlier, fell silent as if all the commotion had been a lie.

Scott and Pincher were wrestling in a corner, focusing on a fighter.

“Scott, I’m going to grab some late-night snacks. What do you want to eat?”

“I’m good. If there’s synthetic booze, bring that.”

Scott was busy undoing a screw under the fighter. The surroundings were so quiet, as if everyone had left for the day except for them.

“Scott.”

“Yeah?”

As he was changing a part, someone called him.

“Cameron?”

“Come here for a moment.”

“I’m in the middle of something right now.”

“It’ll just take a moment.”

Scott was busy as hell, and Cameron’s call was annoying. He had promised to give a piece of his mind to anyone who bothered him with something unimportant, and he reluctantly crawled out from under the fighter. In the spacious area, all he could see were fighters and toolboxes; Cameron was nowhere to be found.

“You call someone and then disappear?”

“I’m right here. Come quickly.”

Cameron’s voice popped up at the right moment, as if he were trying to inform Scott.

“In the maintenance bay?”

He was quite an irritating guy. Scott grumbled as he made his way to the maintenance bay.

When he arrived at the bay, the lights were off.

“I stopped by here, didn’t I?”

He cocked his head, wondering if he had been mistaken, but then he heard Cameron’s voice from inside.

“Scott, over here.”

“Why is it so dark in here, and what are you doing?”

“I’m looking for something. Hurry up and help me.”

Scott pressed the switch in the maintenance bay, but it didn’t turn on. It seemed like it had been turned off from the central control room since it was late.

He reluctantly took a flashlight from his belt.

The bright light illuminated the dim interior of the maintenance bay. It wasn’t a pleasant atmosphere. Shelves of metal parts were stacked with tools and seemed like they could spill at any moment. On the floor, there were discarded cigarette butts and dried synthetic alcohol stains, making it look quite filthy.

Moreover, there was an odor in the maintenance bay. The air was filled with various unpleasant smells, such as the metallic scent of oil clinging to tools, the smell of solder from the soldering iron, and the stench of unwashed men.

In the midst of this familiar yet repulsive scent, Scott sensed something strange.

“What’s this smell?”

Being someone who handled metal parts every day, he could recognize it. In the air of the maintenance bay, there was a scent reminiscent of a metallic tang, but there was something else mixed in.

“Where the hell is this guy?”

“I’m over here. This way.”

It was strange. The voice that had been coming from the door just moments ago was now coming from inside.

Following the voice, he passed through the narrow space between metal shelves. In the pitch-black space, nothing could be seen without the flashlight.

He was walking, relying on the light from his hand, and nearly stumbled.

“What the hell?!”

Scott had stepped on something, which turned out to be a rolling screw. After regaining his balance with difficulty, he realized something important.

Even he, containering the flashlight, couldn’t see properly due to the darkness. If that was the case, what was Cameron doing in the pitch-blackness?

The conversation they had in the cafeteria earlier came to mind.

The Metallic Gremlins roaming the ship, and the missing crew members.

With a trembling voice he didn’t even realize he had, Scott called out to Cameron.

“C-Cameron?”

There was no response.

Just as Scott was about to turn to flee, it appeared right in front of him.

***

“Scott?”

Fincher, who had brought some late-night snacks, found it strange that there was no one around the fighter. Although Scott was acting a bit strange, he was a friend who always diligently performed his duties. He never left his post when there was work to be done.

“Scott!”

Fincher called Scott loudly, and his colleague’s name echoed in the quiet hangar.

“Over here.”

As if answering, his voice came from somewhere in the distance.

“Where are you? I brought synthetic alcohol.”

“I’m in the maintenance bay. Come over here.”

“The maintenance bay? Why did you go there again?”

“I’m looking for something. Help me out.”

Correction: Scott was good at work, but he could be quite annoying in his personal life.

Fincher grumbled as he headed for the maintenance bay.

“Why aren’t the lights on, and what are you doing?”

“I’ve got something to move. Help me.”

“Ugh, you idiot. Seriously.”

Fincher entered the maintenance bay, containering a flashlight. In the dimly lit area behind the shelves, Scott’s flashlight could be seen.

“Hey, what are you doing?… Huh?”

Scott was not there. Only the tools were left behind, abandoned.

“Why is this here?”

Fincher picked up Scott’s flashlight. There was no sign of Scott anywhere in the vicinity.

At that moment, a drop fell on the back of his neck.

“What’s this?”

Thinking it might be a leak, he touched the back of his neck. The liquid that had fallen from above was warm and sticky.

He examined the liquid on his palm with the flashlight.

“Blood?”

His palm was soaked in bright red.

The liquid that had fallen from the ceiling was droplets of blood.

Realizing this fact, he swallowed hard. His trembling flashlight pointed upward.

And there it was.

Dangling from the ceiling, containering Scott, was a creature that looked like a Gallargon, a dragon from mythology. The mythical dragon was now tearing Scott apart and devouring him.

The dragon reached out towards Fincher as its last memory before Scott was taken away.

Since that day, no one had seen those three members of the technical team.

***

‘Did I have a talent for fishing?’

I sat in the dim maintenance bay, chewing on a human leg. The owner of the leg had been torn off with the spine and was sprawled out.

‘Imitation. It’s quite convenient.’

The voice of the person whose leg I was chewing on, named Fincher, flowed from my mouth.

Imitation.

Among the creatures that the Material Management Team Leader had tried to smuggle, there was a creature called a Red Worm larva.

The Red Worm is a gigantic worm that only lives on desert planets and possesses a highly rare ability. It can mimic the voices of other creatures. This ability evolved as a means to effectively hunt other creatures in the harsh desert environment.

I devoured a Red Worm larva that had been stored in a container and luckily obtained its genetic essence. Thanks to that, a highly complex vocal apparatus has now taken residence inside me.

‘The downside is that my ability is a downgrade compared to the original.’

Unlike the Red Worm, I couldn’t mimic any voice I wanted. I could only mimic the voice of the last creature I had consumed. I couldn’t mimic the voices of Scott or Cameron, who I had eaten before. Additionally, I could only speak in short sentences or words. If I tried to speak a little longer, growls would mix in, creating strange sounds that weren’t quite human or monster.

‘But it’s still a pretty good ability.’

Instead of low growls, a clear adult male voice came out of my mouth, which felt strangely fascinating and awkward.

I tested my voice a few times and thought about my next target.

‘Tomorrow, I should eat someone from the cooking team. Was his name Pierre? We may not be close, but it doesn’t matter.’

Even if they were unfamiliar, if they called out to me, they would inevitably pique my interest.

Tomorrow night, I should fill up with this friend named Pierre.

He won’t know. He’ll die because he said something unnecessary to Scott.

After finishing my meal, I went out to the runway and entered the ventilation duct on the wall.

‘Should I stop by the lab before going to the nest?’

As I crawled along the passage, I headed towards the laboratory.

It was to see Experiment subject 26, the Bubble Amoeba.

As I got closer to the lab, I received a wave from him.

｢Hello.｣

The tentacles on the back of my head vibrated softly. Until now, I had thought that psychic abilities were useless.

Unexpectedly, I found that through psychic abilities, I could communicate with other creatures via waves.

When playing games, I always pursued efficient gameplay, so I had never paid any attention to characteristics that had minor effects like this.

‘I never intended to have the ability to communicate with Bubble Amoebas.’

It seemed like a trait that would be more useful to Bubble Amoeba enthusiasts than to me.

At any rate, now that it had greeted me, it was my turn to respond. I focused my mind on the back of my head. The tentacles wriggled, gathering invisible energy.

[즈즈즈(Hello)]

I didn’t even need to see Experiment subject 26 to communicate now, and something new had come to light.

‘His vocabulary seems to have expanded.’

As far as I knew, Bubble Amoebas weren’t creatures known for evolution. Once they reached maturity, they mainly grew in size without any significant evolutionary changes.

However, this particular one seemed to transcend the limits of its species, conveying complex and seemingly impossible information. Moreover, its communication skills were improving significantly with each encounter.

‘They said they are doing psyonium experiments. Is there an effect I don’t know about?’

I wasn’t sure if it was a psyonium issue or if the creature had some special abilities. In any case, since the creature’s growing intelligence didn’t seem to have any adverse effects on me, I decided to stop worrying about that particular issue.

[즈즈 즈즈즈즈(Sorry. Trouble with food today.)]

｢What’s the trouble?｣

[즈즈즈즈즈(Can’t get any.)]

I could sense a frustrated wave of emotion coming from the creature. I understood it perfectly well. After all, the only source of joy for the creature, which was subjected to experiments all day long, was the calorie bars I brought.

‘But I can’t get him any more calorie bars now that I’ve grown in size.’

The current security in the lab was at a level just below a nuclear reactor or a cooling room. After the research officer’s death, the security team had tightened the lab’s security to the maximum level.

Thanks to that, the ventilation ducts above the previously secure laboratory have become risky. I had vibration detectors installed inside the laboratory, so it was clear that I would be caught if I moved carelessly.

In this situation, there was nothing else I could do except have a conversation with subject 26 from a distance.

[즈즈즈(Are you okay today?)]

｢I’m struggling. It hurts.｣

Since Keisaragi’s death, the psyonium experiments had been at a standstill. The subordinates continued the experiments every day, but they didn’t inject as much as before. Of course, that didn’t mean subject 26 was fine. Even in small amounts, psyonium was a highly toxic substance to the body.

[즈즈(Going)]

｢Goodbye. Take care.｣

‘Sigh, hang in there.’

It’s not that I didn’t want to help, but the risk was too great. Even if I had gained powerful abilities, going head-to-head with the crew of this ship was impossible. At least, I had to become an Ascendant to engage in guerrilla warfare. Once I became an Ascendant, I could easily wipe out the unit that received the enhanced suits.

‘The problem is that the conditions for Ascendant evolution are strict.’

To evolve into an Ascendant, I had to kill and consume 10 individuals from each of the two intelligent species that players could control. Since there was only one suitable target on this ship, which was humans, Ascendant evolution was impossible.

‘There are pirates, but I don’t know how that will turn out.’

Whether I could evolve depended on which cartel the space dogs around here belonged to. If I encountered a human cartel, it would be useless.

‘It will take several more days at least.’

Judging by the atmosphere on the ship, it wouldn’t be long before I encountered space dogs. The engineering team members I had devoured were staying up all night repairing the fighter planes.

As I was heading towards the nest, a group of people passed beneath me. They were soldiers and the crisis management officer.

“I have some business to attend to, so I’ll be on my way.”

“Yes sir!”

The soldiers bid him farewell, and the crisis management officer continued walking alone towards some destination.

‘I should probably consume the crisis management officer as well.’

Although he seemed like a tough opponent, I decided not to postpone it any longer. Even if I didn’t consume him immediately, it wouldn’t hurt to gather information about his weaknesses or daily routines in advance.

I followed the crisis management officer.

He was heading to the fitness training room. Inside, soldiers and crew members were diligently working on their physical fitness.

‘What’s this? Is he Planning to exercise?’

In an instant, after changing into workout clothes, he sat down in front of an exercise machine and began his strength training routine. I watched for about 10 minutes, wondering if there would be any changes, but he was only pumping iron vigorously.

‘Sigh. I should check on someone else.’

There was no need to watch prey exercising. As I got up to leave, he finished using the machine, took something out of his pocket, and set it down on the machine’s platform.

‘A phone?’

It was a small phone in the shape of earphones. He held it in his hand and looked around, making sure no one was paying attention to him. After confirming that no one was bothered, he plugged the phone into his ear and resumed exercising.

His actions piqued my interest, so I focused my auxiliary senses on him.

“Th…contacting… C…nearby…”

His voice, which had been sporadic, gradually became clearer.

“Yes. The plan is proceeding as scheduled. Yes. Yes. Really?”

‘A plan?’

“An order came from the family? Oh, no, of course not. How could I ever doubt it?”

For a moment, a perplexed expression crossed the crisis management officer’s face, but he quickly regained his composure.

“In any case, it’s going well. Miss Keisaragi has already been eliminated. The ship will arrive at C-08 as planned. Yes. All of Captain Samuel’s orders have been recorded.”

‘What?’

“Yes. Yes. That’s fine. Everything is in accordance with the will of the family, I mean, with Captain Jung Woojin’s will. I’ll take responsibility. Yes. I understand. Goodbye.”

After hanging up the call, he once again focused on his exercise. He appeared to be a dedicated fitness enthusiast, but my suspicion of him reached its highest level.

‘I thought he was a straightforward guy, but he’s a real fox, isn’t he?’

I knew that the crisis management officer had convinced the captain to make contact with the space dogs.

However, based on the conversation I overheard, he seemed to have much more planned than just that.

Whether this would benefit me or backfire on me remained to be seen.

I quietly observed him from the darkness.