Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 317
"Passage granted."
As the security officer's communication ended, the massive metal door opened. The airship passed through the terminal without any interference.
To enter the "Water Fortress," made up of a bio-dome-like superstructure, one must pass through several gates. The outer walls of the dome are layered like space fortresses or orbital habitats. However, the scale is incomparably larger. The distance between the gates alone spans several kilometers.
And just now, we passed through the last gate in the outer wall.
｢Phew. Thankfully, everything went smoothly.｣
“Good job.”
Mother of the Sky, sitting in the cockpit, let out a sigh of relief. Aside from the moments when I had to step in, she had taken care of most of the work, so it must have been quite exhausting for her.
｢Your death was the reason the defenses were relaxed.｣
“That’s a strange way to put it.”
｢Really? I think you died at just the right time.｣
True to her joke, the enemies would likely think I was dead. That was what I intended.
‘It wasn’t originally my plan, though.’
Two factors allowed me to stage the scenario of "the Amorph killed by a Thunder God's attack." Without those factors, I would still be in the middle of battle with the enemies.
‘Especially that trait. I never expected to gain something like that at this point...’
｢Finished?｣ ｢Can I leave?｣ ｢Is it okay if I go?｣
At that moment, the mental waves from the back tickled my monster's tentacles. It was Adhai, who had been spending time in the iron-barred prison.
She seemed to find it harder to stay still for long periods than being confined in the cage. At first, she used her tentacles to diligently groom the scales on her wings and tail, but now she was just sprawled out, lying down.
Number 26 was relatively calm, but its body color wasn’t looking too good. A dark pink color meant it wasn’t in a good mood. Like Adhai, it was also feeling terribly bored.
[ZZZ Z ZZZZ (Wait just a little longer.)]
｢Already｣ ｢I’ve waited a lot.｣
｢I’m bored. My friend is just sleeping. There’s nothing to study.｣
Number 26 poked at the dormant body of PS-111 with its tentacle. In fact, PS-111 had been helping with the operation by connecting cables to the airship, but Number 26 had no way of knowing that.
[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (If you wait patiently, I’ll give you a gift later.)]
｢A gift?｣ ｢What kind of gift?｣
｢What kind of gift?｣
[ZZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZ (It’s something you guys will like.)]
The scale of the Water Fortress is dozens of times larger than the combined streets of Glory and Light. Naturally, there are many more creatures handled in the city. While searching for the 22nd-ranked, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let them taste some rare creatures.
But it seemed that they wanted something other than food. Adhai, lifting her long neck slightly, pointed at me with her front paw.
｢Gift｣ ｢Big elder｣ ｢Something like that?｣
｢I want something shiny too!｣
[ZZ (Hmm?)]
｢Big elder｣ ｢Your body｣ ｢Changed｣ ｢Feel｣ ｢Unique｣
｢That’s right. The shiny, jiggling thing that moves is amazing.｣
"What does that mean?"
Mother of the Sky was the only one who didn’t understand their words. The others, unaffected by the Mimicry Organs, quickly noticed the changes in my body.
Right now, I had transformed into a "Clever Weakling."
The physique resembled a centaur, with fur covering my entire body, and the heads on either side of my central head clinging to my body like armor. It was the same as when I had transformed before.
However, there were two noticeable changes.
First, when looking at my arms, only the small arms near my chest remained functional. This was due to the deactivation of the "Parasite Colony" trait.
More importantly, the change that occurred in the carapace near my chest.
If you look at the current chest carapace, you’ll see silver, wave-like patterns shimmering on it. The silver patterns that appeared on the black, monochrome carapace resemble the Milky Way. These patterns, etched across my chest, also extend to the small arms near my chest.
Though it’s hidden by fur right now, these patterns actually start from the inside of the chest carapace. To be more precise, they are connected to my heart the Amorph’s heart, not the "Dragon’s Heart."
The reason for this sudden change lies in the "Plunderer’s Amorphous Polyhedron."
While fighting against Si-Hyun Yujin, I devoured a component from her equipment that resembled a crystal. As a result, the "Leech’s Hand," which I had previously possessed, was replaced by a new equipment-related trait.
This new trait is called "Void’s Dice."
Void’s Dice is quite different in nature from the traits I obtained through the Plunderer’s Amorphous Polyhedron.
The "God's Whip," which channels the Thunder God’s power, and the "Leech’s Hand," which steals the life force of enemies, are both combat-oriented traits.
On the other hand, Void’s Dice doesn’t directly relate to combat. If this trait existed on its own, it would be completely useless.
‘It was quite surprising at first.’
Si-Hyun’s weapon can destroy genetic essence. I had assumed that the component would have a similar effect, but it turned out to be something entirely different.
Actually, to be precise, it’s far better.
This trait is one of the most powerful I’ve ever possessed.
‘When activated, it resets the cooldown of all traits to their initial state, as if they hadn't been used.’
When Void’s Dice activates, the silver patterns spread across my entire body. Once these patterns fully cover me, the cooldowns of all traits disappear.
Thanks to this, even traits that I hadn’t been able to use yet, like the "Revenant Organ," and the restrictions from the "Organic Evolution," which had just a few minutes left on cooldown, were all reset.
‘That’s not all, though.’
The most impressive part of this trait is its additional effect.
While the silver patterns are spread across my body, the cooldowns and restrictions of my traits vanish. This means that when Void’s Dice is active, I can freely use all of my traits.
I’m sure of this because I saw it firsthand in the text box. The duration of the effect lasted no more than 3 minutes, but during that time, all the restrictions of my traits were completely empty.
Because of that, I was able to use both "Symbol of Hunt" and "Variable Bio-Weapon" simultaneously, maximizing my defense. This allowed me to withstand the Thunder God’s attack and immediately escape using hyper-speed navigation.
‘Traits that reset cooldowns are really rare…’
One of the Vortex Ones possesses a similar trait, but it’s incredibly difficult to acquire, given the nature of the opponent. I remember struggling to obtain that trait when I played the game.
Other than that, the "Revenant Organ" is the only trait that can remove cooldowns.
Of course, Void’s Dice isn’t perfect it has one downside.
｢Plunderer’s Amorphous Polyhedron (Void’s Dice) (66)｣
That number floating in the translucent text box is the cooldown for Void’s Dice. I have to wait 66 days before I can use it again.
‘Considering it’s called Dice, it seems like the cooldown might be random.’
I can’t be certain until I try it again, but for now, it’s unusable. Judging by that number, I think the cooldown is the downside of this trait its timer seems to change randomly.
‘The cooldown part is a variable, but...’
The trait's effect is so powerful that it hasn’t been much of an issue. Now that I have this trait, I can use a much wider range of strategies than before.
‘Where on Earth did Si-Hyun get such a weapon?’
Both the weapon she used and the component that became the core of Void’s Dice never existed in the game.
Since this is reality, there could be things I don’t know about. I’ve encountered many things that didn’t exist in the game before, so it's not that strange.
Still, considering that, her weapon is unbelievably powerful. It almost seems like something created by a player.
‘Is she somehow connected to the Rankers?’
The first thing that comes to mind is the Ranker who is hostile to Si-Hyun, the third-ranked, but it’s probably not him.
In my memory, he was a self-righteous person even in the game. I’ve used his personality to my advantage several times when fighting him.
Would such a narcissistic person hand over something so dangerous to his enemies? It doesn’t make any sense.
‘These aren’t even Rankers from this planet.’
Since he came after me alone, it’s unlikely he’s related to the 22nd rank or any cult Rankers on this planet. If that were the case, they would have teamed up to attack me already.
‘I’ll have to confirm Si-Hyun’s situation after I find the 22nd rank.’
By now, Si-Hyun must have been summoned by the cult to inform them of my death.
Although I saw it from outside the area where the Thunder God’s attack landed, she’s a genetically modified human. Even from a distance, it’s highly likely that she saw me vanish.
From her perspective, she would have seen me take the Thunder God’s attack, twist in pain, and then completely vanish.
The Cult and the Rankers will have no choice but to accept the false information she provided. After all, she was the last one with me before the Thunder God’s attack started.
Even if the enemies become suspicious and thoroughly search the area, there will be no trace of me. The energy reaction from my hyper-speed navigation would have been buried by the Thunder God’s strike.
‘Who would even think I used hyper-speed navigation while being hit by the Thunder God’s attack?’
Even Mother of the Sky, who was with me, didn’t expect it. It’s unlikely that any enemy Ranker would think to investigate the trace of hyper-speed navigation.
‘Even if they manage to find it, it’ll be too late.’
My airship has already entered the Water Fortress. Even if they scour the outside now, it’s too late to find me.
｢I want to sparkle too.｣
｢Me too.｣
As I was lost in thought, I could feel their presence.
I’m sorry to them, but the Plunderer’s Irregular Polyhedron is impossible to pass on.
‘Besides, it’ll be hard to find such a weapon again.’
[ZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZ (I can’t give you this, but I’ll find something better.)]
｢Really?｣
｢Promise?｣ ｢I promise.｣
[ZZ (Okay.)]
Upon hearing my confirmation, they seem delighted. Adhai wagged its tail happily, and Number 26 changed its body color to bright pink.
‘Ugh. Things are going to get busy now.’
I had originally thought about getting some rare creatures to feed them, but after seeing their reaction, I’ll have to find something even better.
At that moment, the dark front window lit up brightly.
The darkness cleared, and the first thing to appear was a large ivory-colored building. There were massive buildings so tall they blocked the view of the rooftops, towering over us.
And beyond the forest of buildings, I could see a colossal waterfall. A massive stream of sky-blue water cascaded down from a gigantic structure.
That’s not a naturally occurring waterfall. Just like the bio-dome, it’s an artificial waterfall built on a massive structure, a masterpiece of the cult’s architectural engineering.
｢The water is floating! It’s so cool!｣
｢Dwarves｣ ｢Many of them.｣
There were numerous aerial canals around the waterfall. On the canals, many hover boats were constantly moving, transporting cult members from the ivory-colored buildings.
Between the canals and the buildings, there were dirt-covered roads, and large trees were neatly planted. Cult members dressed in light attire were walking among the trees.
The Water Fortress I faced was a unique blend of ancient ruins and a futuristic city.
｢It’s much more impressive than in the game.｣
[ZZZ Z (I know, right?)]
A city with a blue waterfall set in the middle of a red sand desert.
I had finally succeeded in entering the Water Fortress.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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