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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God]
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Chapter 52
‘It’s a tough fate.’
Even back on the research ship, Arnold Russell tried to kill Keisaragi Yujin, but I devoured him first.
Here, someone named Jade Russell brought a Gallagon for terrorism, but that Gallagon is now accompanying me.
‘They must have targeted me after seeing that I have a Gallagon.’
Since Adhai always rides above my head, it’s not strange for the enemies to think that way. In any case, the enemy’s attack has already begun. We need to be prepared to face it.
Currently, there are four enemies approaching, but the sniper is likely not among them.
‘The sniper coil gun has an effective range of 1.5 km. It’s highly likely that the sniper is at a high point beyond the boundary of the Harbor.’
Compared to regular sniper rifles, it’s not easy to consider it as having a long effective range, but it has a significant advantage in firepower and penetration. It can easily penetrate even the toughest part of my head.
Therefore, unlike other sniper rifles, the sniper coil gun snipes at relatively close ranges to exploit its advantages. The enemy probably shot me from a high point about 1 km away.
‘The problem is that I can’t pinpoint the sniper’s exact location’
Excluding the sniper, there are currently four entities within my sensory range. Three of them are relatively close, and one is further back.
From the incoming entities, I could tell that there were no androids, as there was no artificial skin smell and no faint electrical signals running throughout their bodies.
There was one person among the enemies who exhibited movements reminiscent of machines, but judging from the stronger smell of blood rather than a rubber smell from their skin, they were likely cyborgs.
‘Plus, there’s a cultist among them too.’
I sensed a faint flow of psychic power from the person in the back among the enemies. The quantity of power was slightly better than Adhai, but it’s still unclear whether they are strong or weak.
The reason cults’ psychic powers are frightening is due to their diversity and uniqueness. Cults are a rare species that have the potential for various types of psychic power techniques. It’s easy to fall prey to bizarre and extraordinary psychic power attacks by cults if you underestimate them.
‘To check their abilities, I need to see their appearance first.’
The auxiliary organs comprehensively analyzes various factors such as scent, sound, vibration, etc., to ascertain the opponent’s condition. It’s difficult to read every detail of appearance, so if you want to know their appearance, you have to look at it with your naked eyes. Under normal circumstances, I would rely on the auxiliary organs, but it’s different when dealing with cults.
‘Each horn signifies a specialized psychic power.’
Cults are a species where appearance is highly important, as it helps determine whether they have an aggressive style or a supportive style based on the unique psychic power of each horn.
In other words, horns are one of the few weaknesses among the many strengths of the cults.
Cult players also know well about the weaknesses of horns and usually deceive their opponents by trimming or hiding them. However, I was confident that the enemy would not do that.
‘Cults place a high value on their horns according to their beliefs. In the cult society, a person’s job is determined based on the appearance of their horns, so damaging the horns is considered a serious crime. So, unless they are players, they will never touch their horns.’
‘Even if they were to change the appearance of the horns, they would only go as far as decorating them like jewelry.’
While analyzing the enemies from a concealed position, something small flew towards me from a distance.
‘Grenade!’
I quickly moved away from that spot. Soon after, a powerful explosion occurred where I had been. The explosive force was immense, causing containers weighing tens of tons to fly into the sky.
The enemy didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding their rampage in this city. Otherwise, there would be no reason to fire a grenade that caused such a massive explosion visible beyond Harbor Earth’s boundary.
‘Ugh, this is going to be a headache.’
Currently, I am being tracked by the armed police. While William is helping to disrupt them, causing such a commotion will surely get us caught.
‘I need to clean this up quickly, anyway.’
Those who put me in danger won’t be spared.
‘So far, the detected enemies include cult member, cyborg, a heavy weapon user, a sniper… and one more?’
There was definitely one more, but their whereabouts weren’t visible. Since it wasn’t detectable by the auxiliary organs, it seemed like they were far away, waiting for an opportunity to attack.
‘Excluding the missing person, that’s four.’
I need to decide who to eliminate first.
‘It would be best to kill the sniper first, but it’s difficult under the current conditions.’
I have two long-range attack methods: the Spine Projectile Organ and the Monster’s Tentacles.
The monster’s tentacle consumes a lot of energy, so I can’t use it. In practice, the Spine Projectile Organ is my only long-range weapon.
‘If it’s the Spine Projectile, I can face the sniper, but…’
The problem is that the enemy is in a high place, while I am in a low position. Moreover, the effective range of the Spine Projectile is 500m. Compared to the weapon the other side is carrying, it has less than half the effective range. To fight properly, I need to somehow close the distance with the sniper.
Unless the enemies are fools, they won’t just leave me alone. The guy among them who is equipped with heavy weapons will most likely try to block my approach.
‘I need to find a way to get closer… oh no.’
The auxiliary device reported that the enemy’s armor-piercing rounds were coming through the containers towards me.
I immediately leaped towards the front. The bullet that aimed for my head once again failed to hit its target, only striking the barren ground.
‘Why would they shoot from a position where they can’t see me?’
This was clearly an attack that defied common sense. Just a moment ago, I was lying on the ground, completely hidden behind the container. To see me, they would have to either approach my position closely or go to a high point where the entire harbor view could be seen.
‘Could it be?’
I, who had figured out how the enemies were reading my movements, dashed towards the front. Within a few seconds, two grenades landed on top of the container where I had been. If I had stayed in that spot just a bit longer, I would have been swept away by the explosion.
As expected, the enemies are reading my invisible movements and coordinating. I know where this ability comes from.
‘It’s the Cult’s Soul Link technology.’
Among the psychic powers used by the Cult, there is a technique called “Soul Link.” It’s a psychic power that connects the senses of specific allies to assist each other. For example, if there are players A, B, and C, when A links their vision to B and C, all three share the same field of vision.
In the game, this effect of shared vision was often implemented in a mini-map format at the top or bottom of the screen, and it was commonly used by players who enjoyed support roles.
‘So, they might be a support type with Soul Link.’
If that’s the case, the enemy Cult’s horns are probably similar in appearance to goat horns. If they happen to have deer-like horns, it would be hard to guarantee their victory, but it’s probably not the case.
‘It seems all the enemies are sharing their vision.’
Coincidentally, the effective range of Soul Link is up to a radius of 700 meters, centered on the caster. It automatically disconnects if you go beyond that range. So, the sniper attacking me is most likely doing so from a location not far from the effective range of the Soul Link.
‘I can speculate the sniper’s location, but…’
While jumping between containers, the enemy’s attacks didn’t stop. Due to their indiscriminate attacks, the number of containers containing the genetic essence I need was rapidly decreasing.
‘I should deal with the heavy weapons specialist first.’
If this continues, there won’t be a single genetic essence left for me.
While running, I fired the Spine Projectile Organ behind me. The sharp, icicle-like biological bullets flew towards the enemy’s head.
The enemy wasn’t wearing protective gear on their body. There was no way to avoid my bone spikes.
Or so I thought, but my expectations were wrong.
“Hehe, I can’t just let it happen like that.”
The cyborg, wearing thick gloves, deflected the bone spikes with a hammer. I was more surprised by the extraordinary reflexes of the opponent than the toughness of the hammer.
‘It deflected that?’
For a cyborg to exert such strength, they would have to replace most of their body with machinery. This was a level that you wouldn’t see outside of the StarUnion, and I didn’t expect to encounter such a formidable opponent here.
‘These enemies are no joke.’
I had never anticipated encountering such a strong adversary in such an unexpected situation.
‘I need time to regroup.’
If I continue like this, I won’t even be able to retaliate once. Just as I was thinking this, an enemy protected by the cyborg fired a grenade at me.
‘Damn it.’
I was a moment late in dodging, and I was caught in the explosion. While my outer shell had some resistance to fire, it couldn’t completely negate the pain. I grit my teeth and kept moving despite the burning pain.
“Damn bug won’t die!”
Ignoring the enemy’s profanity, I took cover behind another container. While the enemy was reloading the grenade, I quickly assessed the abilities I had.
‘Due to that cyborg and the cult member, using the Spine Projectile attack won’t be easy. The Serrated Tentacle? It would render me defenseless if I used it in combat and got sniped. But getting into close combat isn’t a good idea either.’
Since close combat with Spine Projectile is difficult, my usually handy Neurotoxin attribute is sealed. Wing attribute is hard to use because of the sniper’s presence.
‘Is there any way… Ah.’
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. Fortunately, the container containing ‘It’ was nearby.
I moved to a large container not far away. I didn’t have the luxury of opening it gently, so I used my teeth and combat arms to tear the door open.
As expected, a huge beast was sleeping behind the iron bars inside the container. The creature, about 6 meters long including its tail, was covered with an outer shell that looked like it was made of metal, and it had six legs as large and thick as an elephant’s.
It was a baby Mountain Crawler, the offspring of the creature I had devoured, which was listed in the ledger created by the cyborg Las, the second cyborg I had eaten since coming to this city.
I bent the iron bars with my combat arm and entered the container. Inside, I activated my parasitic colony. Parasites that crawled out of my fingertips entered the Mountain Crawler’s ear canal.
Grumble!
Whether it was due to the strange sensation caused by the parasites or the animal’s instincts, the Mountain Crawler woke up. Its four large eyeballs looked around, then fixed on me.
[Grrrr…]
Whether it was the animal’s instinct or the influence of the parasites, it didn’t resist me.
The creature’s exoskeleton was much tougher than my outer shell. It still had a weakness in the lower part, where there was no armor, as it was a baby, but it was a living tank, to say the least.
I commanded the creature through the parasites.
Go out and rampage to your heart’s content.
[Grrrrr…]
It wasn’t a metaphor; it really sounded like a tank moving when the creature roared and jumped out of the bent iron bars.
As soon as it left, reinforced alloy rounds were fired at it, but piercing the incredibly tough exoskeleton of the Mountain Crawler’s back was a challenge.
“What the hell is this?!”
“It’s a Mountain Crawler!”
The sudden appearance of the beast left the enemies in confusion. While the Mountain Crawler bought me time, I left the container and ran in the opposite direction.
｢Are you okay?｣
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZ ZZZ (What about you guys?)]
｢Me and the little one is fine. The food is fine too｣
[ZZZZZZ (That’s a relief)]
While I was running, Number 26 sent a signal. Judging by their conversation, it seems like none of them suffered any attacks.
Considering that the enemies came here to find Gallagon, they seemed to have put the attack on Adhai on hold.
‘The problem is Number 26 and William.’
Enemies are unlikely to overlook anyone other than Adhai. They’ll try to eliminate me as soon as they have me under control.
Honestly, I don’t know about William, but Number 26 is a useful creature to me.
In the current situation, it’s not easy for me to protect Number 26. It has to fight alongside me.
‘It must have grown stronger.’
It’s hard to gauge Number 26’s level, but it has definitely improved since before.
I’d like to observe its strength in a safe place, but that’s not possible right now. I have no choice but to test its strength in battle.
‘I also need to handle the situation with their field of vision.’
Even if I concentrate on the auxiliary organs, I can only sense three individuals among the enemies. The sniper is far away, so I can’t detect them, but there is one missing.
‘There’s definitely more than one person in charge of the field of vision.’
Cult is in charge of the link, and there’s someone who provides a wide field of vision to everyone.
Among the enemies targeting me, there are two who handle the field of vision.
‘Right now, the sniper and three others are focused on the Mountain Crawler.’
This means that the defense of the remaining one is weakened. Of course, they probably have some hidden cards on their side, but in the current situation, there’s no other choice.
Having made my decision, I sent a signal to Number 26.
[ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ (Help that one, not me)]
｢The big one?｣
[ZZ (Yes)]
｢And the big baby?｣
[ZZZZZZZZZ (I have something to do)]
After instructing Number 26 to help the Mountain Crawler, I headed towards where the hidden enemy might be.
It’s not difficult to guess where the guy is hiding. My position among the massive containers can be easily detected, but when I’m inside the container, I can’t tell what he’s up to.
The enemy is watching us from a very high place.
And in this container yard, there’s only one place that’s really high.
The container crane.
There’s someone up there sharing their field of vision and overseeing the battlefield.
‘I could send Adhai and Number 26 over there…’
The reason I didn’t do that is because of a few factors.
First, we don’t know what kind of ace card the enemy has up there. Second, it’s not them but me who’s experienced in this kind of combat.
Even in games, there were more than a couple of enemies who used this kind of field of vision sharing to target me.
Fighting against such opponents, I learned one thing.
A way to effectively train those who depend on each other’s field of vision.
‘Using Gallagon to turn this city into chaos, huh?’
They’re terrorists who came to the space city to spread fear and chaos.
It seems like I have to show them what real terror is.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God]
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