Chapter 19
Chapter 19
‘Lucky me.’
I acquired a total of three traits in the lab. Despite consuming over 500 samples, the predation effect only triggered three times. It was an unlucky outcome by any measure, but I was still satisfied.
‘I met the conditions for type acquisition, and besides…’
Since I also secured useful traits. It’s not just about filling up the numbers but also having traits that can be actively used in combat.
The new traits I’ve gained are ‘Natural Regeneration’, ‘Serrated Tentacles’, and ‘Contamination Organ’, totaling three.
Among them, the ‘Natural Regeneration’ trait had merged with my robust vitality to become ‘Regeneration (Fusion).’
‘I was aiming for psychic-related traits next, and this worked out well.’
Amorph can’t protect their body by wearing armor, so healing-related traits were more valuable than anything else. With them, he could quickly recover from significant injuries.
As long as I have the ‘Regeneration’ trait, I wouldn’t die unless my brain is destroyed. It might take some time depending on the extent of the injury, but I would eventually recover.
The only exceptions were attacks using psychic powers or special weapons.
‘Serrated Tentacles and the Contamination Organ are good traits too.’
I focused my strength on the upper arms of my combat limbs. Thin, long tentacles with saw-like protrusions emerged from my palms. These tentacles, with serrated edges, could easily tear through a person as if they were slicing through butter.
‘Normally, it’s a trait I don’t use much because of its fragility.’
But things would be different once I acquired the type. When upgraded by the Physical Enhancement Type, these serrated edges would become sturdy enough to pierce through the hull of a spaceship. Normal soldiers wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
I retracted the tentacles that had extended from my hands.
‘Lastly, the Contamination Organ.’
This time, it was the lower arms’ turn, not the upper ones.
I bent down, placing my palm on the floor. Brown slime and clusters of spores flowed out from holes in my palm.
The ‘Contamination Organ’, in simple terms, was a trait that turned me into a walking nest. Whenever I wanted, spores identical to those in the nest could be ejected.
The difference was that with the Contamination Organ, I could apply some of my traits to the spores I created.
In other words, I could create spores that emitted neurotoxic substances, produced acidic fluids, or enhanced the regenerative effects of my body. With this ability alone, it would be possible to turn the entire spaceship into my fortress. It was a perfect ability for dealing with powerful enemies.
From tentacles to spores, any one of these abilities would terrify a sane human who witnessed them. However, I was extremely satisfied. After checking the new traits one by one, I temporarily set down 26 on my shoulder.
A translucent text box was waiting for my response. I had only one response to give.
‘Accept.’
As soon as I accepted, changes began in my body. Bones twisted, breaking through the chitinous exoskeleton. The outer layer swelled up like it had absorbed water.
Since it was all a natural change, there was no blood or pain involved. It felt like the surface skin and muscles were adjusting to the transformation, similar to stretching.
Unlike when I evolved into a fluid, the transformation due to the type didn’t take long. After the mutation was complete, the translucent text box appeared before me again.
[Race: Unidentified Aggressive Space Morph
Status: Metamorph
Objective: Survive (1st Evolution Successful)
Possessed Traits – Physical Related (Applied Type): Wings, Chitinous Exoskeleton, Regeneration (Fusion), Neurotoxin Glands (Fusion), Reinforced Exoskeleton, Acidic Blood, Enhanced Reflexes, Mimicry, Serrated Tentacles, Contamination Organ.
– Psychic Related: Predator Sense (Fusion), Psychic Organ .
Type: Physical Enhancement Type]
[Currently, there is only one type available for specialization]
[Psychic Enhancement Type (2/6)]
Upon acquiring the first type, the traits were reclassified according to the type requirements.
Thanks to obtaining the Physical Enhancement Type, there was a message next to the physical-related traits stating, ‘Type Applied’.
Furthermore, looking below, I noticed that the number of required traits to secure the Psychic Enhancement Type had increased from 3 to 6.
‘Tsk. Type penalty.’
I knew it, but seeing it now made me slightly disappointed. Amorph could acquire types without any restrictions, but with each increase in the number of types held, there was a penalty.
The required number of traits to obtain a new type doubled. For example, if I had obtained the Psychic Enhancement Type first, the required number of traits for the Physical Enhancement Type would increase from 10 to 20.
Alternatively, if I unlocked a different type from my current situation before the Psychic Enhancement Type, it would require 12 traits for the Psychic Enhancement Type.
‘So, there are cases where you deliberately delay unlocking types.’
It’s because haphazardly unlocking less efficient types could lead to a situation where you can’t acquire the important ones.
If this were a game, I would have put more thought into the timing of type acquisition. The increase in the restriction for obtaining difficult-to-acquire psychic-related traits to 6 was burdensome.
But here, it was reality, and a battle with pirates awaited me. There was imminent danger, and procrastinating to get stronger and then dying would be pointless.
‘Okay, enough of that. Let’s see what has changed.’
For a while, I would have to rely on the Physical Enhancement Type, so I needed to check how much I had improved. The first sensation I felt was heaviness.
Previously, I felt agile and flexible, but now it was different. My entire body felt heavy and solid. How should I describe it? It felt like going from a leopard to a rhinoceros.
‘Well, it’s inevitable. Given the additions I’ve got.’
Currently, my head was covered with thick armor similar to the exoskeleton of the chest. My arms and legs, apart from the joints, were wrapped in thick, sturdy biological armor.
Perhaps to support the increased weight of my body, I had grown a bit taller. My height, which used to be around 1 meter, was now over 1 meter 50 centimeters. Legs with the Enhanced Reflexes trait had become much thicker compared to other parts.
I tried placing my hand on the wall, and I could still climb the wall or crawl on the ceiling. However, there was no way to avoid the thudding sound. The strategy of killing the sound and ambushing the enemy became impossible.
Finally, one of my main weapons, the tail, had also grown under the influence of the type.
The length of the tail was just shy of 2 meters. It has almost doubled in size now.
‘It’s a medium-range attack method. That’s great.’
There had been several occasions when I was in danger because of the distance when ambushing the enemy.
To me, both the tentacles and the tail were like a godsend.
?It’s big! Big!?
While examining my body, 26, who was beside me, showed signs of astonishment. From its perspective, it must have seemed like I had suddenly grown.
[ZZZZ (It’s grown)]
?Grown? What do you mean??
[ZZZZZZZ ZZZZZ (The offspring has become an adult)]”
?Offspring? It’s a baby. A big baby! Baby!?
26 repeated the word ‘baby’ while looking at me.
‘It called me a baby.’
Well, it wasn’t entirely wrong. Biologically speaking, as a metamorph, I could be considered an immature organism, so the definition of ‘baby’ was quite fitting.
Of course, the parents raising an Amorph baby would probably want to die.
I’d like to explain more about my changes, but it seems impossible to match it with its limited vocabulary. I’ll teach it when it learns to speak properly someday.
I lifted 26, who was hopping around energetically, back onto my shoulder to head to our next destination.
?Baby, where are we going??
Thunking footsteps echoed through the corridor. If there had been crew members here, I wonder how they would have reacted to the sight. Would they burst into tears at the sight of a monster they couldn’t handle? Or would they rush to the escape pods?
‘Well, let’s find out now.’
Regardless of what happens, one thing is certain.
They will regret and lament ever getting on this ship and wonder why they thought of boarding it.
***
***
A day had passed since the disaster in the bridge’s command center
.
At any other time, the crew members would have mourned for those who had met a tragic end, but right now, they couldn’t afford to.
The rumors were gradually spreading, and the Metallic Gremlin, or rather, something even more terrifying, was swiftly devouring the life forms inside the ship.
Humans are resilient creatures, but when faced with something unbearable, they lose their minds.
Less than a day after the disaster, another attack by the monsters occurred. This time, It invaded the cafeteria, slaughtering over fifty unarmed soldiers.
With more than half of the defending forces onboard the research vessel dead, Captain Samuel locked himself in his quarters with the remaining soldiers.
Officially, it was stated as concentrating defense in one location, but in reality, it was abandoning the remaining personnel. The number of abandoned individuals was rapidly decreasing.
Inside the research ship, shrouded in an unknown and monstrous presence from outside the cosmos or born from experiments, it was hell.
The medical room’s recovery chamber.
Dr. Wei, the Temporary officer of the research team, was inside.
Thanks to MegaCorp’s advanced medical technology, he could quickly regain consciousness. However, it also meant that he had to face the situation he did not want to confront.
Permanent loss of vision and sense of smell, half of his facial skin damaged, loss of taste due to residual effects of neurotoxin, and severe speech impairment.
Wei wanted to believe that he was having a nightmare. Why did he have to suffer such agony? He was just a kind human who had lived a life similar to others at MegaCorp. Of course, not without being responsible for the deaths of quite a few who had worked under him to reach the position of senior researcher, but that’s how they all lived.
In competition, losing meant dying.
Wei wanted to end his own life, but the life support devices in the recovery chamber wouldn’t let him. The only action permitted to him was to look down at his pitiful state.
In this manner, suffering every second and every hour, he belatedly noticed the changes around him. The sounds of doctors that had tormented his ears until a moment ago had completely disappeared. Apart from the signal sound produced by the vital check machine, there was absolute silence.
‘What’s going on? What happened?’
In a medical room with critical patients, this kind of silence was never a good sign.
The endless, eerie silence was shattered by the sound of something moving. Wei initially thought it was the sound of combat boots. But it wasn’t. The footsteps were much heavier than those of a human, causing the entire medical room to vibrate with each thud.
Thump, thump, thump, echoing throughout the medical room.
With each vibration, Wei’s body trembled violently. An unfriendly presence was approaching, and he wanted to flee, but he couldn’t. The painkillers automatically administered by the life support devices rendered his body unresponsive.
Then, the footsteps finally ceased.
Wei, unable to see, could still sense that it was nearby. Its breath, its growling. He had an intuition that the thing beside him was the same monster that had attacked him in the command center.
It had come all the way here to end his life.
Initially terrified by the strange sensation of something crawling on his head, Wei had expected it to kill him. However, his expectations were way off.
The entity now atop his head was squishy and soft. It flowed down his entire head like chocolate syrup drizzled over a round bun. The sensation was utterly out of place, and for a moment, Wei was perplexed.
But then, he felt excruciating pain throughout his face. It was as if someone was branding his face with fire. In the sensation of his head melting away, he silently screamed.
‘Ugh, agh! Someone, please! Someone, end me!’
If it weren’t for the oxygen respirator attached to his mouth, Wei would have suffocated in less than five minutes. Or if the painkillers and healing agents being injected into his body weren’t there, he would have gone into shock immediately.
Ironically, all these factors were working against Wei’s desire for a quick death. Fate didn’t allow him a peaceful end.
It took an hour before Wei was granted release.
***
[Are you done eating?]
?Yeah.?
I lifted 26, who had finished its meal and revenge, onto my hand. Over the course of a day, it has gained quite a bit of weight.
[How does it feel to have taken revenge?]
?Revenge? What’s revenge??
[You ate the one who tormented you.]
?Food. Tasty.?
It seemed like 26 didn’t possess higher-level emotions like revenge. Either it hadn’t learned it yet or it was inherently impossible for it to think that way.
‘But this is reality, so who knows.’
Originally, a creature that couldn’t even speak was now conversing casually. Moreover, considering how researchers were particularly interested in it, there must be something unique about it.
‘It’s not evolving into a Seed Demon or anything, right?’
Seed Demons were creatures that, like Bubble Amoebas, existed only on the Ocean Planet. They resembled Bubble Amoebas in appearance, but were over 30 meters in size and had numerous tentacles hidden inside their bodies.
Because of their similar appearance, there were often discussions in the community about whether Bubble Amoebas and Seed Demons were related. Of course, in this game, there was more than one creature that looked similar, so such claims were meaningless.
Number 26, who had no idea what I was thinking, emitted a signal towards me.
?Hey, I’m full?
A faint light emanated from its body. To the best of my knowledge, that expression meant it was tired.
Now, with it looking more chubby than chubby, I lifted it onto my shoulder and left the medical room.
Outside the medical room, in the corridor, there was no sign of the cleanliness and futuristic appearance that had been there before.
The corridor was filled with dirty, mold-like brown stems. From the ceiling and walls, spores were being spread like watering a cursed garden teeming with life. It looked more like the interior of a decaying, insect-infested tree trunk than a metallic conduit.
Having taken control of half the ship, I set out to find my next prey.
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