Chapter 73

chapter 73

operation camp set up in the commercial district.

a facility temporarily established for the joint operation between the eden knights and the city defense forces.

there, denver was observing the operation command of the crisis management team.

although denver was an outsider, the atmosphere was not bad. he was the head of the prime capital eden, but at the same time, he was also a hero who had participated in various wars.

understanding the nature of a soldier well, he tried to avoid actions that would annoy the defense forces as much as possible.

the defense forces also appreciated his consideration and treated him warmly.

the friendly atmosphere of the operation camp was disrupted by a new visitor brought by laila.

“haha, long time no see, mr. denver.”

“ahem, wei zhao.”

the newcomer to the camp was a blue-haired yellow-skinned man.

his name was wei zhao. he was the head of the zhao family, which competed with the eden family for dominance over mars.

denver looked at him, who casually took out a cigar indoors, with a somewhat complicated expression.

“... what brings you here?”

denver, who was friendly to everyone, couldn’t do the same for the people of the zhao family.

the two families had been fighting for hundreds of years to become the sole ruler of mars. it was not the first time they had experienced bloodshed in the conflict between the families.

even now, in the main city of mars, invisible struggles between the two families were in full swing. so, it was natural that their relationship was not good.

wei, who revealed hostility, responded to denver with a relaxed smile.

“no, i heard there was something interesting going on. i’m one of the journalists, so if there’s a new incident, i should cover it, right?”

denver looked at laila’s face, who came with wei.

her expression was also icy. it was clear that he had requested it forcibly, even though she did not want it.

‘just at a time like this....’

the zhao family owns the largest newspaper, daily mars, within megacorp.

news of an accident in the special trade center would have been delivered long before the board meeting.

“everything is under control, wei. there doesn’t seem to be anything here that would attract your attention, right?”

“haha. don’t be so disappointed. i’m here because of the vote, too. i can’t miss the opportunity to judge whether the target of the vote is legitimate or not.”

“....”

wei zhao supports the reelection of akira yujin.

as far as denver knows, the zhao family is divided into those who support akira yujin and those who do not.

in other words, from wei’s perspective, it is most important to reveal how incompetent akira’s competitor, samdam chemblin, is.

that way, the public opinion within the family can be unified.

‘...i hope vicus does well.’

if something goes wrong with the most influential leader of the yellow press in megacorp here,

the plans of samdam and denver will be completely ruined, and they will have to wait for the next council meeting.

in laila’s case, she may have to take responsibility and step down from her position as general administrator.

“anyway, this is my problem, so don’t worry about it, mr. denver. hm? hey, what’s that camera over there?”

wei, who silenced denver, questioned the crisis management team leader with a cigar in his mouth.

“it’s the personal camera of the platoon leaders of each defense forces detachment participating in the operation. it allows us to easily check the progress of the operation here....”

while the crisis management team leader was responding, the entire camp shook violently.

“an...an earthquake?!”

“everyone, be careful!”

the earthquake, which shook everything inside, including computers, equipment, and people, quickly subsided.

however, those who were in place all had bewildered expressions.an earthquake in an artificial structure floating in space.

the first to regain composure was laila, the ruler of the city.

“contact the dome manager immediately and confirm if it’s due to a meteor collision.”

“understood.”

the secretary hurriedly ran out of the camp.

wei, who was embarrassed by the wind that caused him to fall alone, got up with a stiff face.

“...i heard t&c is highly regarded for colonial development. is it always like this?”

“no, it’s not. this is the first time.”

“it has to be trustworthy.”

“laila, wei, calm down. this vibration seems to have come from the ground. crisis management team leader, can the units below confirm?”

at denver’s request, the crisis management team leader gestured to a communication soldier. the soldier quickly sent a message underground.

“this is the operations headquarters. is everything okay down there?”

[defense force team 1. zzz zz... no injuries...zzz zz ...confirmed. no issues with the vice commander and the knights... zzz zz...as well.]
[zzz zz...defense...zzz zz...team 2. sewer collapsed...zzz zz...some casualties...zzz zz...reported. currently undergoing treatment for injuries.]

[defense force team 3. collapse phenomena around the camp and...zzz zz...ground collapse occurred... zzz zz...personnel in the underground area...zzz zz....in a state of lost contact.]

“communication is unstable. send additional support to team 2, and tell team 3 to try contacting again.”

“yes. this is the operations headquarters....”

while the communication soldier was conveying the crisis management team leader’s instructions, denver, although he didn’t show it outwardly, was quite startled internally.

‘there’s no one in the underground except for those who went down with team 3.’

currently, denver’s knights are participating in the defense force’s operation in the form of reinforcements. the support structure was divided into three squads to support the operations of each defense force team.

all three squads set up a joint camp with the defense forces on the surface, and among them, vicus and jacob of squads 1 and 2 were commanding members on the surface. only tennessee, burning with revenge, went directly underground. he even volunteered to be the bait.

denver left the camp for a moment, pretending to have something to do.

“ah, ahh!”

the knight screamed as the helmet crushed his entire head, and broken glass shards stabbed into his eyes.

his legs, which were swinging wildly while being held by me, calmed down after a moment.

confirming the knight’s breath had ceased, i released my grip and pulled away from the helmet. the helmet was completely crumpled, reduced to one-third of its original size.

“ugh! ugh, ugh!”

the female knight, who had witnessed her comrade dying beside her, let out a whimper.

she tried to throw the body she was holding to the ground, but at that moment, an unfamiliar weapon appeared from another knight.

‘a plasma launcher?’

the knight was carrying a plasma launcher on his back.

i took the launcher from his back and held it in my hand.

‘you came well-prepared, huh?’

i don’t know about other things, but a launcher is dangerous.

even if you wear the symbol of a hunter, if you get hit by more than two shots in a row, it can be dangerous because of its powerful firepower.

‘if it’s a defense force, having a launcher is appropriate, but why would the knight’s order have it?’

if it’s a defense force belonging to the defense fleet, they naturally possess plasma launchers.

as far as i remember, it was one of the ceremonial weapons issued on a squad level.

on the other hand, the eden knights don’t use plasma launchers.

their main weapon is the plasma bolter. compared to the launcher, it may lack firepower, but it is much more versatile.

however, that’s in the game; here, it could be different.

since she is wearing reinforced armor, she might be able to personally wield the launcher.

‘i should use this.’

i grabbed the launcher and looked back at the female knight.

‘from what they were saying earlier, it seems like there’s a problem with the communication function.’

huge psychic power can cause radio interference.

of course, it’s not permanent. it should recover in about 10 minutes.

‘i need to handle as much as i can before that.’

with the collapse of the ground in the commercial district, there must be many ruins of buildings.

i should consider using one of them as a temporary hideout.

‘then, what should i do with this female knight?’

if the communication function is a mess, it’s vague whether i can use her as bait.

‘i’ll just give her to the kids.’

i don’t know how much longer they’ll have to starve.

giving them a delicious meal now, considering that they filled their stomachs with corpse maggots, would be better.

‘come to think of it, i’ve practically eaten all the knights.’

strengthening myself with the genetic essence is the top priority, but it’s also necessary to grow them.

‘since the knights were all rich in nutrients.’

if the kids eat and become stronger than before, it’s a benefit for me.

they are excellent combatants with outstanding potential.

leaving the female knight behind, i started devouring the comrades.

i stripped off the thick armor and tore out the sturdy muscles inside.

putting the flesh in my mouth and chewing, i felt the chewy texture created by delicate muscle fibers.

‘this person’s meat tastes like pork?’

to be precise, it tastes like pork neck.

usually, when you eat neck meat, the taste is rich but somewhat dull, but the knight’s meat had a better texture, surpassing pork neck.

‘there are no pigs in space survival, it’s strange.’

in the game setting, the earth became a wasteland due to nuclear warfare between the seven major corporations and various governments.

as a result, pigs became extinct, and chickens, endangered species, can only be tasted by those above the prime capital class.

‘it’s a pitiful dystopian world where chicken and pork belly are gone.’

i quickly devoured the knight’s meat while having such thoughts.

‘sigh. i’ve already eaten it all.’

the last thing left was the knight’s wrist.

it tasted familiar, so it felt good, but it was regrettable.

‘it can’t be helped.’

it’s not like i can choose not to eat.

i swallowed the wrist in one gulp as i thought that.

the moment the wrist passed through the throat.

[predation effect activated! successfully obtained ‘apparent death’ genetic essence.]

[extracted the ‘apparent death’ from the biological characteristics of the ‘hound hyena.’]

[do you want to apply the ‘apparent death’?]

[pr/n:- apparent death is a behavior in which animals take on the appearance of being dead. it is a form of animal deception considered to be an anti-predator strategy, but it can also be used as a form of aggressive mimicry.]

‘oh?’

is it because i haven’t had a tasty meal in a while? the translucent text box that appeared for guidance felt surprisingly welcoming, more so than usual.

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