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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s Disciple]
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Chapter 165
｢Hey, isn’t it too cold?｣
｢Cold｣ ｢Cold｣ ｢Cold.｣
As expected, Adhai and the Mother of the Sky began to shiver fiercely in the biting cold.And if that was not enough, currently, everyone was in a state of hunger as well.
‘It will be difficult to maintain the temperature with this spaceship.’
After the corrosion tentacles were released, the spaceship was completely destroyed. Not only the engines but also the metal walls that made up the hull were completely corroded. If a storm were to hit in this state, the ship would be shattered into pieces.
‘We need to hurry and find food and shelter.’
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Please help everyone)]
｢Just trust me!｣
I asked the most intact number 26 among them to take care of the others and stepped out of the spaceship.
The land covered in snow welcomed me. As I moved my combat arms, the thick layer of snow was swept away, revealing the ice underneath.
Smooth and shiny ice without a single crack. On its surface, the pristine state of me, without utilizing the characteristic of ‘organic evolution’, was reflected.
With six sturdy horns and a slender head reminiscent of a crocodile or a large cephalopod, beneath it, countless tentacles of monsters fluttered like fins.
Under the swaying tentacles in the wind, there were sturdy carapaces mixed with synthetic scales, wrapping around the body and six combat arms, two small arms near the chest.
Finally, beneath the ice, not reflected in it, a large, long tail that replaced my lower body was partially buried in the snow. Only the pincers at the end of the tail and the spikes attached inside them were poking out above the snow.
I sprinted across the snow-covered plain with a huge body ranging between 27m and 28m. The traces I left behind disappeared instantly thanks to the snow and hail constantly falling. If I didn’t have auxiliary devices, I would have been lost in no time.
‘The mountain range in the distance, should I go there? No, it’s too far. Instead…’
I stopped running and looked down at my feet.
Among the creatures inhabiting the ice planet, there is a species that lives beneath the ice. Even under ice so thick that its thickness cannot be determined, life exists.
‘There is a void under this ice.’
Confirming this fact through my auxiliary organs, I raised the pincers at the end of my tail upwards. I focused on the sensation of exerting strength on the muscles of my whole body.
Then, the scales and carapaces covering my body began to glow red. It was the effect of the ‘heat emission’ characteristic obtained from the previous Star Union supply line.
‘Originally, it was a cold-blooded temperature regulation characteristic.’
Unlike the original characteristic that simply warms the body, when acquired by an Amorph, it can convert internal energy into heat to emit strong heat like now.
The thickness of this ice is over tens of meters, and it is incredibly hard. With my physical abilities, I could easily dig through it with my bare hands, but it would take a lot of time.
‘Although the situation is energy deficient…’
Since I need to find shelter and food as soon as possible, investing energy now is the best option.
As the ice I stood on melted, steam rose. The thickest pincers and head carapace of the carapace on my body shone brightly like heated iron.
‘I think this is enough.’
I struck the ice with the hot pincers of the golden tail. As the hot pincers collided with the ground, immense heat and steam spewed out.
With a grinding sound, the thick ice melted rapidly. Somehow, it sounded like when you put pork belly on a hot grill.
‘Sigh. Seems like I’m really hungry.’
Having regained my appetite, I pulled out my tail from the ice hole. Inside the deep hole, there was only darkness.
Using the blunt claws scattered throughout my combat arms and body, I dug into the hole. Thanks to the heat emitted from my body and the melting ice, it wasn’t difficult to enlarge the hole.
After digging several hundred meters further down, the space suddenly widened.
I finally arrived at the underground space under the ice. I hung on to the ice ceiling and looked down below.
Although nothing was visible due to the lack of light, thanks to the auxiliary devices, I could clearly feel the structure of this place. The temperature in the underground space was higher than above, and there was soil and ice on the common floor.
‘There are living organisms here too.’
From the darkness beyond, the sounds of wriggling life could be heard. I utilized the suction cups attached to the fingertips to cling upside down to the ceiling and moved.
Not far from my position, there is a gathering of creatures. They are alert, emitting unique ultrasound waves to survey their surroundings.
‘Cave Goyle.’
Cave Goyle are creatures that live in underground colonies or very deep caves. They look like a combination of bats and primates, enlarged to about 3 meters in size.
Their vision has completely degraded, so they use special ultrasonic waves like bats to identify objects. They probably realized by now that I am in this colony.
‘They’re extremely vigilant.’
With a massive monster looming around 30 meters, crawling on the ice ceiling, it’s understandable they would be terrified. If I approach a little closer, they’ll probably all flee.
‘But…’
Right now, I have a way to deal with them.
Five faces dormant on my back..
I mainly use these faces to acquire and deceive enemy information, but the effect of this characteristic is also useful in combat. I can paralyze enemies by emitting powerful ultrasound waves.
‘The more developed their hearing, the more lethal the damage.’
If they were without ears, it wouldn’t affect them at all, but in this pitch-black space, creatures having bo ears are probably non-existent, henceI woke up all the Faces.
The five faces bound by my will all opened their eyes simultaneously. Black veins protruded on their pale, horrified faces.
Eventually, when they opened their mouths wide, a second mouth in the shape of a vortex protruded outward. From that mouth, equipped with tooth-like protrusions, powerful ultrasound waves were emitted.
Since the space was enclosed, the ultrasound attack was more effective than usual. My scales, emitting ultrasound, trembled, indicating its tremendous effect.
As I expected, chaos erupted among the Cave Goyles below.
Cakek! Caeaeak!
Cakeung!
Caeaeak!
The organs for detecting ultrasound must have all burst, as a strong smell of blood permeated the air.
In human terms, it’s equivalent to losing both sight and hearing simultaneously. The Cave Goyle group fell into panic and started attacking each other.
Confirming that the enemies were in disarray, I leaped towards the ground. My body, nearly 30 meters long, soared through the air and fell onto them.
Kwang?!
Kik!
Six Cave Goyles lying on my body died instantly. The Cave Goyles that hadn’t fallen on me rushed at me. Although I couldn’t hear, it must have been due to the impact of my landing on the ground.
One Cave Goyle on my back swung its hands down, aiming for my carapace.
Cave Goyles are strong enough to tear apart intermediate reinforcement suits with their bare hands.
‘So they’re often used as Hulk mutant materials.’
For other creatures, it would be an attack that would instantly shatter their entire body. However, my carapace remained unscathed with only a few scratches.
Cae…Caeaeak?
They probably anticipated blood and flesh, but the sensation felt strange at their fingertips, so the Cave Goyle tilted its head.
I bent my lower body and tail upwards. The pincer at the end of the tail grabbed the Goyle.
Keung!
When I applied force like that, the Goyle’s body went limp. Its hot blood and entrails spilled onto my back.
After that, it was a breeze. Within a few minutes, ten Cave Goyles all met their demise.
Although the smell of blood spread throughout the underground space, there were no creatures revealing themselves.
Judging this place to be safe, I finally relaxed.
The scent of hot blood and fresh meat tickled my auxiliary devices in the chilly air. Feeling the delicious smell of meat in my hungry state, even I involuntarily salivated.
‘Should I just eat one before leaving?’
Since no one is chasing me, it shouldn’t matter if I eat and leave.
Many thoughts raced through my mind, but I deliberately turned away. I retraced my steps along the icy path.
As I traversed the long stretch of ice and ascended upwards, there was no difference from before. The incessant snowfall, hail, not figurative, but literally sharp winds that could cut through flesh.
In this world where everything remained the same, I relied on my auxiliary devices to find the direction of the spaceship.
Amidst the wind as sharp as blades, there was a hint of metal smell. I followed the scent emanating from the spaceship.
Before long, I spotted a bluntly protruding pile of snow. Even though not much time had passed, the snow had already piled up to the extent that the spaceship was almost invisible.
Approaching closer, I heard the transmission of Number 26 from inside the spaceship.
｢Big guy?｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ (I have found food and shelter.)]
｢Wow! So fast! Amazing!｣
[ZZZ ZZ (Follow me)]
Shortly after, I heard the sound of metal crumpling from within the pile of snow, then the snow heap exploded as if blown apart. Revealed on the white snow was Number 26, enlarged to a size of 10 meters.
｢Ugh, please tell me we’re not far.｣
｢Cold｣ ｢Hungry｣ ｢Cold!｣ ｢Hungry!｣
Upon closer inspection, I saw that both the Mother of the Sky and Adhai were tightly hugging Number 26, buried deep in the soft, slimy body, shivering except for their heads.
From my experience, 26’s body temperature was always constant regardless of the surrounding temperature. So, placing it on my head or shoulder always gave a pleasantly cool sensation.
‘Would it feel warmer in such a cold place like this?’
Seeing them shivering here, I wondered if it would feel warm instead. If we lingered here any longer, both of them might suffer. I guided them into the hole dug underground.
As Number 26 and I braved the snowstorm, suddenly, Adhai sent out a warning telepathic wave.
｢Adult!｣ ｢Young adult!｣ ｢Danger!｣
[ZZZ (Adhai?)]
｢I｣ ｢Kin｣ ｢Detection｣ ｢Sky｣ ｢Flight｣ ｢Tracking｣
｢Huh? I sense something similar to the little one over there. Fascinating.｣
Trembling while emitting sense waves, Adhai. Then Number 26 also spoke similar words to Adhai’s.
Kin?
I looked up and glanced at the sky. Beyond the incessant snow and hail, all I could see was thick gray clouds.
I urgently called out to the Mother of the Sky.
The Mother of the Sky also seemed to sense that something was amiss as she turned her head upward. Her pumpkin-colored pupils slowly moved and then rapidly expanded upon reaching the vicinity of the mountains.
｢It’s a White Gallagon! It’s flying in this direction!｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (Hurry up. Everyone, get on top of me!)]
Seeing the trembling Adhai, it didn’t seem like they were coming here with good intentions. I placed Number 26, who was holding the children, on top of me.
Confirming that Number 26 had firmly grasped onto my body with its tentacles, I dashed at full speed.
[ZZZ ZZZZ (Hold on tight)]
｢Wow!｣
With all six of my combat arms and blunt claws scattered throughout my body, my body shot forward like a projectile from a cannon.
While running, I asked the Mother of the Sky.
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Where could it have come to by now?)]
｢If it’s at this speed, within 5 minutes? No, within 3 minutes, it’ll pass over us.｣
Even while soaring high, the White Gallagon can still see us. Though it’s still far away, it might not be long before it discovers our location while flying around this area.
‘Traces will quickly disappear due to the snow, but…’
It’s not the same for the hole. Since the entrance is so large, it will take a while for the snow to cover it up.
‘I have to block it.’
Arriving at the hole leading underground in an instant, I first pushed 26 inside.
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ (When you go down below, start filling up the stomach first.)]
｢Isn’t the big one coming down?｣
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ (A series of affirmative responses indicating having tasks to do. I’ll come down soon.)]
After reassuring Number 26, I covered the entrance of the hole with my body. Then, I extended my corroding tentacles to gather the piled-up snow around and scattered it over my body.
Only after the snow piled up on my body did I retract the corroding tentacles.
After finishing everything, I held my breath, and then I heard an alien sound of wind from above.
It was very faint and subtle, but it was clearly the sound of wings flapping.
The sound came and went slowly.
‘It’s here.’
The great beast known as the Dragon of the Universe was circling around me.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s Disciple]
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