Chapter 267:

Chapter 267:

-

"Yes, she hasn’t arrived yet. Ahem, I'll be ready. Then."

The light on the floating rhombus-shaped obelisk faded, and it slowly descended to the ground. Cynthia confirmed that it had stopped functioning and disconnected the wires attached to it.

“Phew.”

She let out a brief sigh and picked up an apple sitting on the luxurious table.

An apple. Originally from Earth, this fruit is now only grown in the bio-domes of Mars. In the distant past, it was a common fruit, but now only the wealthy can easily enjoy it.

Without hesitation, Cynthia took a bite of the rare fruit. Its sweetness filled her mouth, with a tartness that lightly tingled her tongue—a refreshing sensation. For someone who had never tasted an apple, it might have been quite moving.

However, Cynthia's feelings were different.

She had come from a world where apples were a common sight. In that world, the home she could never return to, she often ate this fruit.

The sweetness she tasted now was the flavor of longing.

'...It won't be long.'

There were others in this world who shared experiences like hers. Once, there had been dozens of them, but now only a few outsiders remained. Most of the factions that had once existed had dissolved, leaving only three.

Cynthia belonged to the faction of outsiders who sought to remain in this world and rule over the lesser beings—the "Dominion Faction". This group was made up of beings from advanced civilizations such as the Megacorps, the Star Union, and the Cults.

However, Cynthia harbored a secret that even her faction members didn’t know.

'Once he sends his chosen one here, this role of mine will be over.'

Ever since she had arrived in this world, Cynthia had never once desired to remain. She would do anything to return to her home—even if it meant killing or deceiving other outsiders, or "players".

With the apple still in hand, Cynthia stepped out onto the ornate terrace. Below her sprawled the vast view of the space fortress.

On one side, the artificial lights from countless shops were almost blinding, while on the other, a vast area was shrouded in complete darkness. Above her, the fallen mining planet reflected light, casting its gaze over the fortress.

The view of Kesha Arma was more awe-inspiring than beautiful, yet Cynthia felt no emotions stirring within her.

'Just a bunch of data...'

The true faction Cynthia belonged to was the "Return Faction", whose goal was to clear the game and return to their home world.

After briefly gazing at the city, she clicked her tongue and stepped back inside.

Had she stayed just a little longer, she might have noticed.

The black smoke rising from the shadowed, lightless area.

-

"It’s over."

I picked up the stray ankle left behind by someone unknown and shoved it into my mouth.

"I didn't expect them to have a hardline communication system."

Because of the psychic power laid out by Number 26, all wireless communication in this underground storage facility had been completely blocked. That’s why I had been so at ease. I didn’t anticipate that the pirates had installed an EMP-resistant hardline network.

"It would've been a hassle if they had managed to contact the outside."

Fortunately, the hardline system only connected the five sections of the underground storage to each other. It seemed like they hadn’t extended it to the outside due to cost.

"They probably never thought this place would be breached."

After all, this storage facility was guarded by over a hundred mercenaries, hundreds of androids, and double-shielded doors over a meter thick. No pirate would have thought this place could be breached unless there was a full-scale war.

"Unless, of course, the one doing the breaching is a monster over 20 meters tall."

Who could have imagined that a giant creature would tear through the meter-thick doors one by one to raid the storage facility?

Before I arrived here, I personally broke through the storage entrance and the shielding doors of Section A. Right now, I possess the traits necessary to break through even the thickest of doors with ease.

If I were to take everything here, I could obtain enough traits to create at least one unique trait. With luck, I might even acquire enough for two and fulfill the conditions for evolution.

I pulled up the unique trait synthesis list I had opened before coming to the fortress.

「Transcendence Material List: Reinforced Skull, Gallagon Horn, Spiked Tail, Protein Assimilation, Clustered Skin Tissue (Not Obtained)」

「Transcendence Material List: Inorganic Digestion, Reaper’s Maw, Bone Beast, Hell’s Vision (Not Obtained), Ultra Control (Not Obtained)」

"I think I can complete the first fusion formula here."

There wouldn't be much issue creating the first fusion formula as a unique trait, but the real challenge lies with the second formula. It requires hard-to-find traits, making it difficult to recklessly use the Transcendence System on it.

"Especially that Reaper’s Maw."

Thanks to the "Reaper’s Maw," I can obtain genetic essences just by consuming a creature's head. If I were to lose that trait, collecting genetic essences would become a real problem.

You might think I could just acquire it again, but that’s not easy either. The material for the Reaper’s Maw, the "Jaw of the Essence Reaper," can only be obtained by consuming semi-mature Amorphs or Outspeicers.

On top of that, traits like "Inorganic Digestion" and "Bone Beast" are also difficult to come by. From what I can see, if these traits were combined, they’d form an incredibly powerful unique trait, but the rarity of the materials makes me hesitant to proceed.

"Well, it’s not something I need to worry about right now."

I can just gather the materials and synthesize the unique trait later. I’ve faced similar situations before.

Plus, right now, countless genetic essences are waiting for me inside those containers. Who knows? Maybe while I’m consuming them, a new fusion formula will emerge.

"Now that I think about it, I need to gather something for Number 26 too."

Since I’ve already confirmed what I need to consume, now it’s time to find food for Number 26. Although there’s a vast number of creatures stored here, not many of them would be useful to enhance a Sea Demon like it.

Still, there are a few that seem like they could bring about meaningful changes, so that’s a relief.

"Huh, there are some marine creatures?"

I have no idea how they managed to capture them, but I spotted several deep-sea creatures. Of course, there aren’t any colossal monsters like the Pale Mask, but there are several small to medium-sized rare creatures, each under 10 meters long.

Up until now, I’ve never fed Number 26 any deep-sea creatures besides the Pale Mask. This might be a good chance to try something new.

"Let's feed it this, this, and maybe this one too."

After checking the list thoroughly over ten times, I finally decided what I would consume and what I’d give to Number 26.

"Alright, let’s start from Section B...."

“I trust you haven’t forgotten about me.”

「Right! Friend is hungry too!」

"Ah."

Just as I was about to stand up, I lay back down after hearing that.

Ten minutes later, I had selected all the creatures suitable for both of them.

[ZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Let’s go eat.)]

「Great!」

“I’ve saved the selected list to my data.”

[ZZZ ZZZZZ (We’ll start from Section B.)]

With that, I began the ritual I always perform before harvesting a delicious meal.

A trait that now feels as natural as if I’ve had it from the start.

A trait that has accelerated my growth faster than what would have been possible in any game.

The "Aspect of the Hunt."