Chapter 37: 037
Ep. 37
'Broker S. is a cautious man.'
If you call someone right away because they think it's ambiguous, you can see that he is a very cautious person. If the conversation with me had been even slightly suspicious, I would have canceled the transaction right away, but I was glad it went smoothly.
'Well, it's worth being cautious.'
After checking the USB that Lloyd gave me, I was able to guess his identity.
'He's a manager of seized items from the material storage team or a security guard from the port security team.'
They are the only two people who can take the seized creatures and put them on the ship through legal procedures.
The material storage team manages all materials that arrive at the port, so document processing will be easy.
Port guards can operate surveillance cameras. Of course, considering the current situation, it would be difficult to control all of them, so you could disable some of the cameras only when moving the creature.
'Maybe it's both.'
There is also a possibility that someone working in the material storage team bribed the security guard.
In either case, he is not a high-ranking person, but he is certainly not at the bottom, but is in a middle management position. And one who is smart enough not to get caught for long-term smuggling.
Simply put, he is not easy for me to kill.
There is one problem if the other person is an influential person.
'If you blindly eat them, you'll have a headache.'
It is different from people who are close to day laborers, such as Lloyd and Lars. If S is a middle manager, there are many people involved, so if he suddenly disappears, people around him will think it's strange.
Moreover, there are already more than two teams that he is believed to have lobbied for.
Smuggled animal control team and port security team. There may be other teams involved as well.
Criminals have a strong relationship with each other, so if he disappears, they will try to find him somehow.
Even if I pretend to be S and try to formally process my resignation, it is not easy for me to resign without permission if I am someone who is in charge of important work within the team. When someone calls me at work, I have a hard time dealing with it.
'However, there is a limit to taking away seized creatures through S.'
I told S that I had saved the customer, but of course that was a lie. The fee to be given to him is limited. Because the credits of those I ate are not that many.
Like most of the people living here in the residential district, they either work as day laborers or squander their daily credits in the entertainment district. The man next door still has some credit, but Lars barely has a penny.
'He's the one who even calls me when I say I'm changing the time. 'As soon as I know I don't have any money, I'll cut my losses.'
How can we use authors long-term without any problems?
Actually, it is not that there is no way. The problem is that you need a lot of luck.
'Outspacer's genetic essence.'
Among the characteristics of the outspacer, there is a characteristic that can solve this problem. If that characteristic is obtained through the predation effect, the Broker S problem will be easily solved.
'Once this deal is done, you can eat the outspacer. After that, let's look at the results and decide.'
The deal with the broker is already half done. Unless something goes wrong when we meet, there is no change in having an outspacer in my hands. Since there are many variables at the moment, it is better to use an outspacer and then rebuild future plans.
'Because there's a lot of work to do before I leave.'
There is still work to be done other than that related to the broker. Like Lars, Lloyd should also resign.
After killing Lloyd, I sent a resignation email to the smuggled animal control team using the communication device I kept with me. Perhaps because everyone had left work, there was no further contact from the team leader.
After finishing Lloyd's work, I looked at the clock and realized that it was already past 12 o'clock at night.
The appointment time is approaching.
I left the house, leaving No. 26 sleeping.
Since it was not an entertainment district, I didn't see any residents walking around. On the streets, only tired-looking police officers and androids were wandering around patrolling.
I carefully hid in the secret passageway underground, avoiding their eyes.
'It's a container loading dock.'
There are many cameras along the way. They may have taken steps to prevent some of the cameras from working because of illegal transactions, but you should avoid them as much as possible.
'Because electromagnetic waves can be detected with auxiliary organs.'
After coming out of the manhole, I focused my senses on my auxiliary organs. After evolving, the two tentacles under the chin, which had become longer and thicker, wriggled according to my will.
The smell of dawn with the lingering scent of asphalt, the smell of iron and aluminum coming from the forest of containers. The vibration of the subway, which is slightly felt on the floor, the pulsation of a huge city that operates at any time of the day or night.
The port district was still full of things that stimulated the five senses.
The auxiliary organ extracted the thin thread-like electromagnetic waves emitted by the camera among those that came from outside and stimulated the senses.
'Three cameras in front of here.'
As I was passing between five or six containers stacked up, I moved around while avoiding the camera. Some of the cameras had stopped working, as I expected.
'I also have a connection with the security guard.'
There was no need to pay attention to the camera that was turned off, so I just passed it by.
As I moved like that, I felt the movement of a living creature from afar.
There are a total of 10 people. Except for one, all the others were armed.
'under.'
I thought his vigilance was unusual, but I never thought he would bring his colleagues.
'I thought it would be resolved easily.'
I activated my mimicry organ and appeared before them.
Ten people standing under the red light of the electric light hanging on the container crane looked at me all at once.
Broker S, a fat male with a closely shaved head in the middle, looked at me and said hello.
"Are you here?"
"What about them?"
"ah. Never mind. "Because it's insurance."
Everyone's impression wasn't so bad that I could tell them not to worry. They were aiming their laser guns at me.
'A demonstration of force.'
Most of them were human cyborgs wearing reinforced suits, but there was only one annoying person.
'There's Wolff.'
Wolff is a humanoid intelligence that can transform and is a species of beastman with the head of an animal that we commonly know. As a half-human, half-animal creature, its physical abilities are far superior to those of humans and its senses are also sensitive.
Wolf, the woman S brought in, was already glaring at me with her nose wrinkled.
My mimicry organ functions as a pheromone. You can fake it by saying it's a Wolf, but the feeling of discomfort will be worse than that of other races.
'I need to finish it as quickly as possible.'
Nothing good happened when I stayed with Wolf for a long time. I got straight to the point.
"Where are the things?"
"The trade goods were put in a refrigerated container over there. "I will let you know the password once the deposit has been deposited."
"yes."
"You've done it all the time, so you know how to do it, right? "Enter your account here."
He handed me a laptop. There was a program floating there. It seemed like if you entered your personal credit account, the credit would be automatically sent to you.
I didn't have much trouble because I checked the credit account on the man next door's personal PC at his house.
'The balance was honestly close.'
The deposit was processed successfully. S closed the laptop with a satisfied face.
"With this, one headache is gone."
"Troublesome?"
"I mean the outspacer. I don't know what kind of weirdo he is, but he buys such dangerous creatures. "Cults are truly incomprehensible."
"Yes."
I chimed in with S, who was gossiping about a non-existent virtual being.
I don't know how it is in reality, but in the game, Cult and Outspacer are hostile to each other. This is true both in terms of story and game design.
Outspacer's ultimate goal is to return to his hometown, which was destroyed by Vortex One.
To do this, they need psychic power strong enough to cover the galaxy, so they accumulate psychic power by eating cults.
You could say that it would be possible to obtain genetic essence related to psychic power and apply it to the colony, but Outspacer has limitations in using some types of characteristics.
'Because outspacers cannot use psychic power.'
Due to the setting that the entire race was robbed of their psychic power abilities by Vortex One, Outspacers are unable to use all characteristics related to psychic powers. Except for the fact that it is resistant to supernatural attacks.
Thanks to its innate resistance, it can block weak psychic attacks, but is vulnerable to powerful psychic power techniques. In other words, Outspacer is equipped with only minimal supernatural defense measures and has difficulty responding to various types of psychic attacks.
'So Cult is a counter to Outspacer.'
Cult is truly an expert in psychic power. Among the playable races, this is the race that can utilize the largest variety of superpower technologies.
Even if Outspacer has psychic resistance, it has sufficient means to bypass it and attack.
Although physically weak, an Outspacer is capable of cultivating numerous legions of cult members capable of various types of supernatural attacks, but is vulnerable to supernatural powers. There has always been constant debate in the community about which of the two is more advantageous.
'From what you're saying, it doesn't seem like the two are particularly hostile in reality.'
You may be able to find out more details only when you meet the cult in person.
Anyway, my business with the broker is over, so I should leave here.
"The deal is done, so I'll go."
"hey."
"yes?"
"The person who broke through the cult is also the team leader, right?"
"yes? ah. yes."
"That guy isn't normal either. "Perhaps you could teach me, too?"
"What?"
"I'm talking about cult connections. From now on, I will take care of it whenever a deal is concluded with you. "Only for you, L, of course."
Perhaps because he is an influential broker, he also tries to negotiate with me. The longer we talk, the harder it is to deceive, so this is not a very pleasant attitude for me.
"I'm sorry, but I decline."
"Tsk. "It's a shame."
"then."
After saying hello to him again, I tried to leave, but this time someone else stopped me.
"for a moment. "Stop there."
"Kate? "Why do you do that?"
The person who set me up was, of course, Wolff. A wolf-headed Wolf named Kate approached me and sniffed me.
"He is a suspicious person."
"Is it suspicious? "How many times have you done business with L?"
"I don't know exactly, but he's hiding something."
"Hide it?"
S's expression turned cold after hearing those words.
"hey. "What does this mean?"
"yes?"
"Kate's sense of smell is better than other Wolffs. I heard the security team has a strange atmosphere. Could this be a trick? Everyone, catch that bitch."
The bodyguards guarding S slowly approached me, pointing their guns at me.
'Is this what happens in the end?'
As far as I know, Wolff cannot fully detect the effects of the mimicry organ in the game. I don't know if Kate is unusual or if Wolff's senses have become more excellent as she has become a reality.
'I'll think about that later. First, let's kill everyone except S.'
I hoped it would turn out well, but there was nothing I could do.
From here on, they brought it on themselves. I stabbed Kate next to me with my tail.
"Keheuk!"
She let out a strange scream like a wolf, and fell down with a hole in her thigh.
She was wearing a low-level reinforced suit, but that level of reinforced clothing does not have high defense power. Unless you are wearing a high-grade reinforced suit with its own built-in shield, it is difficult to block my attack.
"Kate!"
"You damn bitch!"
I left her unable to move due to the neurotoxin and ran towards the security guards.
In the meantime, a rain of lasers fired from eight gun barrels rained down on my body, but my body was strengthened with physical enhancement types and various characteristics. Of course there were no injuries.
I swung my fighting arm at the nearest human.
"Knock!"
'Second person.'
After smashing the opponent's jaw and incapacitating him, I fired a barbed bone at the other cyborg next to me.
The bullet, as sharp as an awl, not only passed through the cyborg's head, but also pierced the head of another human behind it.
'Four people.'
"That bitch uses camouflage!"
"Bow your head!"
"Hee hee!"
Before the two corpses fell, I jumped off the ground and into the air. The target is the tallest cyborg among the enemies. When I flew in, his complexion instantly turned white.
"Ouch!"
I pounced on him, knocked him down, and clawed him wildly with my four fighting arms. The thin reinforced clothing was torn helplessly by my sharp fingernails.
"Ahhhh! Help me!"
"Holy shit!"
In their eyes, it will look like I'm only swinging my arms and my allies are being torn apart by something invisible. Broker S, who saw the mechanical parts and internal organs inside the cyborg's body flying into the air, let out a strangled chicken sound.
"Fuck you! "It's too much for us!"
"I will stop it, so you evacuate the VIPs!"
A human with a scar on his face ordered the other guards. The three bodyguards excluding him began to run away with S.
"Aaaah!"
He stepped back and started firing at me with his laser rifle. Red bullets exploded on my body, but what he wanted did not happen.
My body right now is like a living tank. It is impossible to hurt me unless you bring a plasma weapon or at least a Gaussian weapon.
Realizing that the laser attack was pointless, he soon stopped shooting.
"shit…!"
He put away his rifle and took a small stick out of his pocket. It was the same model as the sonic blade used by the pirate who invaded the research vessel last time.
'Like the last pirate, are they part of the same organization?'
Space Dogs includes many retired soldiers and mercenaries. Seeing that their behavior and weapons are similar, it may be that they were in the same organization and took different paths after retiring.
'They both die to me the same way.'
"Even if I die, I won't be able to pass by here."
It's a great work ethic, but I have no intention of overlooking it. I swung my tail widely and swept the ground.
The scarred man saw my attack and jumped back, but my attack didn't end there.
A spine flew towards his abdomen. His pupils widened and he quickly raised his sonic blade to block the spikes.
My quickness was quite good, but my opponent was not good. The Sonic Blade was broken in two with a harsh metallic sound.
"this!"
I lunged briefly and hit his side with my head. The thick horns rising from the head pierced the fragile armored suit and ripped through the man's organs.
"Monster…"
I shook my head violently and threw him away with his horns. With half of his side torn off, he died before he fell to the floor.
"Woo wow…."
Kate, who was left alone, was trembling as she looked at me, her whole body paralyzed.
'Wolfra. It just worked out well.'
Wolff belongs to a playable race that can transform. That means it is counted as an evolution condition.
I approached her.
'There's no need to turn into Lloyd anymore.'
The resignation process has been completed, and future plans to contact brokers have been ruined.
Either way, Lloyd fulfilled his need, either by killing the Broker or by eating the Outspacer to gain his characteristics and using him.
Since the need to turn into Lloyd has disappeared, there will be no problem with consuming Wolff's genes.
I turned off the mimicry organ. As the small hole in the outer shell was covered with a film, the pheromones that had been spreading around disappeared.
"Oooooh!"
Kate's eyes shook greatly when she saw me returning to my monster form. She struggled to get out, but it was pointless resistance. Because the neurotoxin has become a net that is constricting her body.
I held her body tightly with four arms and opened my mouth wide.
"Uuuuuuuck!"
'Then I will eat well.'
My mouth opened wide like a snake and chewed her whole head. Her muscles trembled for a moment as if they were dying, but then relaxed.
'hmm.'
Wolff's hair was better than I thought. Except for that thick hair, it actually belongs to the delicious axis.
'It tastes a bit like cat.'
It feels like eating a juicy hamburger. Obviously, compared to when I first ate a cat, my threshold may have increased, but it doesn't give me such a surprising amount of joy.
'Let's enjoy the rest later.'
Unfortunately, S and the bodyguard who ran away remain. It would be better to eat them after dealing with them.
I collected the bodies lying here and there and placed them in a place out of the camera's range.
'good.'
After finishing cleaning up, the auxiliary agency is telling me that they haven't gone far yet.
The hunt isn't over yet.