Chapter 51

chapter 51

jade, who had left the house, was waiting for his comrades in front. around the time he finished smoking two cigarettes, a black sedan appeared in the distance. jade waved his hand with a cigarette in his mouth, and a dignified-looking midsize sedan approached him.

the car came to a halt, and jade opened the front passenger door. inside, a woman with goat horns and white hair was behind the wheel.

“you said to come secretly.”

“just in case, bringing an inconspicuous vehicle might raise suspicion.”

the woman’s name was jeanette russell. her appearance clearly indicated her cultist background.

“anyway, for all five of us to ride, this size is necessary.”

“...well, you’re not wrong. what about the others?”

with a tongue click, jade got into the passenger seat. as he did, a man in the back seat revealed himself, removing his camouflage.

“dwayne russell. i received orders and have returned”

“it’s been a while.”

with a gloomy appearance, dwayne russell, a lanky man, had been assigned the role of a sniper among yujin’s subordinates who had infiltrated this place. that’s why he was wearing an enhanced suit with optical camouflage effects added.

originally, an advanced enhanced suit was something akin to powered armor. however, the suit dwayne was wearing had been modified at great cost, to the point where it couldn’t be compared to the original.

in return, its defensive capabilities had significantly decreased to the level of an intermediate enhanced suit, but that wasn’t a significant issue since dwayne’s role was to support his teammates from the rear.

“all that’s left are frost and hope.”

“frost is in the entertainment district, and hope is...here he comes.”

a man with a sporty haircut, hope russell, was carrying a cello bag and heading there way. hope went to the back of the car and tapped on the trunk.

“open it.”

“it’s an expensive car, you know.”

jeanette grumbled as she opened the trunk. hope, who had put the cello bag in the trunk, sat in the rear seat.

“it’s been a while, everyone.”

“no problem with the weapons, right?”

“of course not. to be honest, i’m not sure if we’ll even need them.”

“don’t let your guard down. you never know when an unexpected incident might occur.”

“yeah, yeah, mom. dwayne, my man, how have you been?”

hope casually brushed off jade’s advice and struck up a conversation with dwayne, who was sitting next to him.

“ugh, that bastard is annoying every time i see him.”

“why are you picking a fight again, you bitch?”

“...jeanette, don’t talk nonsense. let’s just get going.”

“got it.”

the russell children, who had infiltrated the t&c special trade center, always operated as a team. with over dozens of operations performed together, they could rightfully be called a veteran team.

“jade is right. soldiers must always be prepared.”

dwayne russell had the most soldier-like personality among the team members. he was responsible for rear support and sniping.

“what’s the point of those weapons? they’re useless if we run out of ammo. superpowers are way better than that.”

jeanette russell, the focal point of the group, was not only a cultist but also possessed an incredibly powerful and rare ability.

“you stubborn bastard. you’ll come to your senses when a grenade explodes under your ass.”

hope russell, who handled various weapons but specialized in using explosives, was a hot-tempered individual. however, in combat, he was more reliable than anyone else.

“...you guys fight every time you meet.”

the leader and demolition specialist, jade russell. thanks to receiving the metallic gremlin genetic material from si-hyun yujin, he could destroy almost all types of metals.

lastly, there was frost russell, who played the role of the vanguard in the team, although he was not present at the moment.

they each had their own specialized roles and, having operated together for a long time, they had a well-established synergy. however, it was difficult to say they had a good relationship with each other. jade, who played the leadership role, was the only one who got along with everyone, while the others had a more distant relationship with each other.

‘they’re fine during missions, but outside of that, they’re always like this.’

nevertheless, they were all professionals and had clear boundaries between work and personal matters. so, jade didn’t intervene much in their interactions.

the car speeding through the late night came to a halt near the entertainment district’s border. after a short wait, a cyborg sprinted from the distance.

“i’m the last to arrive.”

“long time no see, frost.”

“nice to see you too, jade.”
the cyborg, frost russell, hopped into the back seat with a cheerful smile. however, the expressions of the others in the back seat soured as soon as he got in.

“crazy, who did you pick up again?”

“huh? tina?”

“yeah, this bastard. he reeks of blood.”

“hehe.”

all the people in the car were experts in killing, having each taken the lives of hundreds of individuals, but frost stood out with his extraordinary intuition.

‘even when there’s no mission, he keeps killing people.’

frost, who had undergone over 80% of full-body modifications and was closer to an android, was a unique cyborg among the russell family. as the one responsible for close-quarters combat in the team, he was the most violent member among the russell family.

among cyborgs who had shifted to becoming space pirates, there were often cases like frost’s. they involuntarily turned into machines, which shattered their minds, leading them to seek only extreme stimulation.

for instance, torture, murder, and acts of violence towards others, among others.

generally speaking, among the converted cyborgs, 80% chose the path of space pirates since they were closer to the space scum in terms of their mental state. the remaining 20% came to places like the t&c special trade center, where ‘entertainment’ was well provided. frost fell into the latter category.

‘still, he doesn’t seem to have any issues with mission performance, which is fortunate.’

frost was known to selectively kill only those who could be killed when not on a mission, so jade wasn’t particularly worried. the constant smell of blood emanating from him was a burden, though.

“we’ve arrived.”

jade, lost in thought, was interrupted by jeanette. through the front passenger window, they could see a stack of containers piled high.

“get out and get ready, everyone.”

while i watched attentively, number 26 devoured ten waking woods. it seemed more active, probably because it was full now.

「i’m full.」

[zzzz zzzz (just one more)]

「okay.」

i didn’t expect number 26 to eat all of them anyway. there was another waiting behind it. adhai, perched on top of my head, was patiently waiting for its turn, drooling in anticipation.

[zzzz zzzz (just a little more patience)]

「i」, 「patient」, 「patient」.

[zzz (alright)]

i petted adhai once to express my gratitude.

in the meantime, number 26 was digesting the eleventh waking wood. when there were almost no remains of the waking wood left in its pink, semi-transparent body, number 26 suddenly began to tremble.

‘!’

its body started to expand. i was momentarily startled, thinking something was wrong, but fortunately, there was no sign of it being in pain.

number 26’s body swelled, and its shape changed slightly. it used to have a round, bun-like appearance, but now the upper part had become thicker, and small fin-like limbs had emerged at the bottom.

the original three tentacles had increased to six, and its body size was much larger, approximately 60 cm in length. while it used to be smaller than adhai, it had now reversed.

‘it looks similar to the sea demon.’

if it grew its body to around 20 meters and made the fins much longer and thicker, it would be a combat form similar to the sea demon.

number 26 seemed unfamiliar with the changes in its body as it moved awkwardly with its small fins. its small fins looked quite cute compared to its body size, but i knew better. those fins would later transform into incredibly brutal weapons that couldn’t be compared to the saw-toothed tentacles.

as number 26 wandered around the container, it looked at me strangely and then lit up its body, as if something was amiss.

「the big baby got smaller.」

[zzzz zzz zz (no, it’s you who got bigger)]

「i got bigger?」

it seemed like this was the first time it had experienced something like this, and the little one didn’t quite understand. i explained my own changes to it using a metaphor.

[zzz (yes)]

「wow!」

the little one jumped up with joy upon realizing that it had also grown. not only had its volume increased, but its weight had also gone up, causing the container to shake slightly.

‘i should be careful when taking it with me for surprise attacks.’

before, i used to carry it on my shoulders or head, but now that seems impossible.

after the celebratory ceremony of joy, number 26 retracted its tentacles and legs into its body. when it did so, it returned to its original bubble amoeba form, only larger.

「i’ll protect the big baby!」

[zzzz (thank you)]

i petted it in appreciation. its change in size had noticeably altered its texture. previously, it felt like a water balloon, but now it had a softer, plush pillow-like sensation.

“...the monster got bigger.”

william, who was watching number 26 from outside, murmured with a troubled expression.

watching the transformation of number 26 seemed to stimulate adhai, and it poked my head with its hand.

「adult」, 「me」, 「want」, 「grow」, 「too」.

[zzzzz zz zz zzzzz (if you eat, you’ll grow too.)]

「good」

honestly, i didn’t know how gallagon grew. since it wasn’t a typical organism, i assumed it required specific conditions, but i couldn’t be sure at the moment.

‘gallagon might be related to creatures with psychic powers.’

after acquiring the type, i would also need to consider gallagon’s growth.

the remaining walking woods were all consumed by adhai.

after finishing our meal, we left the container. as i was about to send william away and leave, several scenes flashed before my eyes.

[reinforced alloy rounds pierced my head.]

[i died.]

‘what?’

the predator sense suddenly kicked in, and i quickly turned my head.i quickly turned my head as a bullet tore through the tentacle behind my head, narrowly missing me.

‘someone is attacking.’

i focused on the sensations from my two tentacles below my chin, and using auxiliary sensors, i determined the source of the attack. my entire sensory perception was directed towards my auxiliary sensors, which analyzed the flow of air disturbed by the passing bullet.

in the distance, near the boundary of the harbor earth, i sensed something. the distance was too great for me to pinpoint the exact location.

‘sniper!’

i gestured to the others and william to take cover behind the containers and rapidly changed my position. there were no more shots from the enemy’s direction.

‘why all of a sudden?’

since william wasn’t saying anything, it wasn’t likely to be the police. the journalist who was following me had died not too long ago, so it wasn’t likely to be someone connected to her.

‘a round powerful enough to pierce my head, and not a regular gun.’

there is only one plasma weapon-class sniper rifle that uses reinforced alloy bullets- sniper coil gun.

‘not many people in this city would have a sniper coil gun.’

if someone did, the heavily armed police would have brought it. if this were during the council, the newly arrived security personnel might have had them, but the council was still several days away.

‘who would want to assassinate me with an expensive weapon like this?’

as i considered this, one person came to mind: arnold russell, the man who had nearly killed me on the research ship.

‘... he came for gallagon.’

of all the days, it had to be today. and it seemed like he wasn’t alone.

within the detection range of my auxiliary sensors, four unfamiliar individuals were approaching.

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