Chapter 292

The head of the Saint K. family, a member of the Noble Capital, Walter’s nickname is ‘The Oddball’.

Although Akira Yujin, the current CEO of Megacorp, is also treated as an eccentric, the context in which Walter is called ‘The Oddball’ is slightly different.

There are two main reasons why Walter is considered an oddball.

The first is that, despite being the head of a Noble Capital family, Walter has never undergone any genetic modification. While he uses advanced weapons and precise mechanical devices, his physical body remains pure.

Just as the people of the Yujin family trust their bloodline, Walter believes in the inherent purity of the human body itself. The Saint K. family, generally quite conservative in nature, has very few members who, like Walter, avoid any kind of body modification.

But this alone isn’t what makes Walter so peculiar. There’s another factor that makes him even more unusual.

He enjoys hunting monsters—dangerously powerful monsters, to be precise.

Typically, the heads of Noble Capital families might engage in hunting as a sport or a form of leisure, but they don’t go hunting monsters. The death of a head of family can have a devastating impact on their clan. After all, isn’t the downfall of the Edgerton family partly due to losing their head of family to TNC?

Yet Walter, fully aware of the risks, goes hunting the most dangerous creatures—without the benefit of genetic modifications, and with nothing but his own physical body. Had he not been a skilled hunter, he would have died dozens of times over by now. Of course, to other Noble Capital families, he undoubtedly seems like a madman, an oddball.

Interestingly, despite his unusual hobby, Walter maintains good relationships with other Noble Capital families.

He hunts monsters for the thrill of the hunt, but he’s not interested in acquiring their genes. Thus, the rare and powerful creatures he captures are sold to other families.

In a way, Walter resembles a bounty hunter, but paradoxically, this very trait prevents him from being targeted by other family heads. Except for the Saint K. family, no other family has any particular reason to dislike him, since he regularly provides rare creatures to them.

His good relationships with the other family heads, despite his eccentric nature, is the second reason he’s called ‘The Oddball’.

This eccentric Noble Capital heretic is now meeting yet another strange being.

In the reception room aboard Akira’s flagship, Cheongeom.

A middle-aged man with black hair and an elderly man with snowy white hair sit across from each other at a table.

Unlike the thin, wiry middle-aged man, the elderly man is massive, with a physique that could only be described as imposing. He stands more than twice as tall as the middle-aged man, his limbs thick with muscle, as wide as an adult’s thigh.

A man whose body is so well-maintained that it’s hard to even call him elderly—this is the eccentric Walter Saint K..

“The head of the TNC family asked me”, Walter said, holding up a piece of steak with his fork. “With Noble Capital’s genetic modification technology, you could create the perfect meat. Why do people insist on eating the flesh of living animals?”

He took a bite of the steak, speaking between chews.

“He said that flavor is essentially information. When we eat meat, we’re not simply satisfying our tastebuds—we’re consuming the ‘information’ embedded in the meat itself.”

Walter paused for a moment, chewing thoughtfully.

“Whether it’s meat from an animal slaughtered just an hour ago or meat from an animal raised for years on a farm, the taste is the same. But we don’t perceive it that way. The eating habits, experiences, and the intangible values that come with the meat from a farm-raised animal cannot be replicated.”

“Did that brat actually say that?” the middle-aged man asked.

Walter nodded, still chewing.

“Experience defines the essence of things. Isn’t that just a common saying?”

“Hmph, seems like something he’d say. From a business perspective, of course.”

At Akira’s cynical response, Walter chuckled softly and swallowed his bite.

“As I said before, preparations are complete.”

“Fast. Very good.”

“The ‘best prey’, he says. It’d be nice if it’s worth the price of ten Gigacrackers.”

Some time ago, Walter had made a deal with Akira at the Dispute Mediation Team’s headquarters. Since then, Walter had been preparing something.

That preparation was moving ten Gigacrackers to a specific star system.

Even for Walter, a genius and a head of family, using ten Gigacrackers—vital assets for his family—for personal reasons was quite a burden. If Akira hadn’t invested an enormous amount of his own personal funds to cover the cost, Walter would never have taken such a step.

“Why move them there? Does he have something to do with Vortex One?”

“No. It’s even more terrifying than Vortex One.”

“...Are you serious?”

Walter, having finished his steak, frowned at the unbelievable statement.

Vortex One is a monster that cannot be caught through conventional means. It takes the combined efforts of at least two families—either from the Noble Capital or the Prime Capital—to even attempt to subdue one. Walter knew this all too well, having barely escaped a hunt for one many years ago.

To hear that there was a creature even more terrifying than Vortex One was beyond his comprehension. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of creature that might be.

“Oh, I’m serious. The one I’m talking about is the second most dangerous being in this universe.”

The "second most dangerous being".

It was a subtle phrase, but it made Akira's words seem even more plausible. Intrigued, Walter licked his lips and crossed his arms.

“Hmm.”

“You’ll find this even more interesting”, Akira said, snapping his fingers.

At his signal, a woman dressed in black appeared out of nowhere, handing Walter a small chip and a computer pad. Walter inserted the chip into the pad, activating it, and a massive amount of data appeared in holographic form.

“Quite a lot of information here. A being like this couldn’t possibly have gone unnoticed until now.”

“Yeah, I’ve controlled the information in Megacorp’s database. Other families, other heads of families don’t know about this.”

Akira was openly admitting to monopolizing the information, but Walter didn’t point it out. After all, other families were likely doing the same.

“This thing will definitely come to that location. It won’t be long now, so prepare accordingly.”

「Really?」「Are you sure?」

[ZZ (Yes.)]

「I」「Want to see the little ones!」

Now that the enemy had lost its trail, there was no harm in stopping by the planet where Adhai’s kin had migrated.

‘It would also be nice to visit where 26’s friends are, but that’s probably difficult.’

The planet PH-101, where 26 had once gained the power of a Sea Demon and communed with several Bubble Amoebas.

That planet had been designated a holy site by the cults, making it difficult to bring a Gigacracker there. The cults would never allow it to go unchallenged.

「I want to see the little ones flap around too!」

Fortunately, 26 didn’t seem to mind visiting Adhai’s kin. In fact, it appeared to be in a good mood at the thought of seeing the little Blue Gallagons.

Finally, when Akira looked at the Mother of the Sky, she simply shrugged her shoulders in response.

‘It’s settled then.’

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (To where Adhai’s kin are located.)]

“Understood.”

With a short response, Adhai bowed her head deeply. The light in her red eyes seemed to fade away.

Thanks to multiple modifications to its mechanical parts, PS-111 could move its body freely while controlling normal ships. But when it came to the Gigacracker, which was far larger and had far more facilities to manage, it was too much to control in the same way.

「Then, prepare for superluminal travel.」

[ZZZZ ZZ (I’m counting on you.)]

The voice from the ship’s AI echoed, mixing with several other voices. This was due to the synchronization with the auxiliary organ, which I had set up to assist with various tasks.

[ZZZ Z (Wait a moment.)]

「Hmm?」

[Z ZZZ ZZ (I need to tell you something.)]

As I withdrew the heads I had placed in the command room through the hallway, I called out to the Mother of the Sky. She returned to her griffon-like humanoid form and followed me, walking over the debris I had created as I moved.

「Being too large is also a problem.」

[ZZZ (Indeed.)]

I was glad that the Gigacracker was so big and sturdy. Thinking about this, I led her to the cargo hold.

「So, what’s this thing you need to talk about?」

[ZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZ (I think we need to adjust our immediate goal.)]

「Goal? Weren’t you aiming for ascension?」

[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ (That was the plan, but it’s been postponed.)]

She tilted her head, seeming confused by my words.

[ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (I saw another vision while evolving.)]

「You mean the memories from before? Did you see something like that again?」

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZZZ (It wasn’t just memories. Another 'me' appeared and tried to kill me.)]

「What?」

I went on to describe the vision I had experienced.

The one where I was caught between the lines of reality and illusion, experiencing intense pain, as if the two worlds were one and the same.

The other ‘me’—an entity telling me to choose between killing myself or being killed.

She listened, her eyes serious and silent throughout the entire explanation. After a long pause, she finally spoke.

「...How do you plan to confirm it? I haven’t reached that stage myself.」

[ZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZ (I’m thinking of asking other players.)]

「Other players? Are you going to hunt players now?」

[ZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZZ (No. Before that, I’ll start with this one first.)]

「This one?」

I reached into my own body and retrieved the genetic essence that had been stored for the longest time.

The second player I had hunted and successfully killed—the one who had already slain two other rankers.

The patron of Muriel and the enemy of the Mother of the Sky.

The being emerged from the cocoon that had formed near my back and legs, cracking open and falling to the floor.

“■■ Ugh, A, Amorph-sama, did you call for me?”

The humanoid insect, reborn from the genetic material of Cult Player Jason, bowed deeply before me.