Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 423
A door that opens automatically with a word.
The true ‘owners’ of the Sino Group are calling him.
‘…Damn it.’
He regretted his choice to follow them in the past, but there was nothing he could do. He could only curse inwardly.
Soaked in blood in an instant, Sutherland staggered inside.
Common, the head of the Shinoroku Cartel, had not been able to sleep properly for several months.
Insomnia for a cyborg. It was a funny joke, but it was true.
It all started the day his stomach was replaced with a mega-corp mining ship.
A few months ago. As usual, he was following the set route when he happened to find a mining ship passing by.
He was happy to earn some credits, but the monster that appeared soon after ruined everything. The monster destroyed the pirate ship, planted something in the heads of the survivors, including him, and then left.
At the time, he thought he was lucky to be alive, but he was wrong. The ‘something’ that had entered his head began to inflict pain periodically. The pain, which came at random times, made it impossible for him to live a normal life.
Furthermore, if he tried to remove the ‘something’ or tell anyone about it, he would be in even greater pain. It was as if he was being told not to dream.
Since the day he encountered the monster, Common’s life had quickly deteriorated. He was just living in a prison in his own body.
He was able to endure it because he was a cyborg, but the others were not. All the others except him had gone mad and jumped into space to end their lives.
Was that why every day was like hell? He wasn’t particularly happy to receive the summons from the head of the Sino Group.
So far, the operations planned by the head had always brought great benefits. It would be the same this time, but Common couldn’t be happy. Credits wouldn’t heal his pain.
Of course, it was absurd to disobey the head’s summons. Immediately after receiving the contact, the Shinoroku Cartel moved.
And today is the day Common joined the Sino Group fleet for a week.
“Boss, we’ll arrive in 10 minutes.”
“…….”
“Boss?”
Common, who had his eyes closed, came to his senses when he heard a voice calling him.
“They said there are 10 minutes left until we arrive at our destination.”
“Destination?”
Common opened his eyes and looked around. He could see pirates in reinforced suits sitting in a row inside the large transport ship.
Only then did he realize what he had been doing.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh, uh-huh. I was just thinking for a moment.”
“Yes?”
“Okay, I got it. As soon as everyone lands, be ready to move.”
“Yes.”
A few dozen minutes ago, the head of the Sinoichi Cartel gave him an order. He was told to go and repair the terraforming facility that was managing the atmosphere on AG-01.
So he was on his way there with his men in a transport ship, but he had fallen asleep.
‘I took a nap?’
Until he came here, he had never slept comfortably. It was because of the damn intruder in his head.
But after landing on this planet, the headache disappeared completely.
The ‘something’ did not die or escape. For some reason, it stopped working after landing on AG-01. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to fall into such a deep sleep.
‘Fuck, I don’t care why.’
Now that the ‘something’ is quiet, this is my chance. As soon as I finish this, I have to get rid of it right away.
They said that this planet used to be a testing ground for Hulk mutants. In that case, there must be some high-performance surgical equipment. If I ask the head of the Sino group who came here first, I’ll get the answers I need.
“What should we do?”
“Huh?”
The mechanical voice of his subordinate woke him up again.
“Huh?”
When he came to his senses, there were pirates wearing helmets in front of him. The space he was standing in was not a transport ship either.
The floor was covered with water, and the space was so dark that the only light came from the headlights attached to the pirates’ helmets. He could hear the fierce sound of the wind outside.
They were inside a ruined terraforming facility.
“When did I get here…?”
As he asked himself, he slowly remembered what had happened up until now.
The transport ship landed safely in front of the terraforming facility through the rough weather. As soon as they got off, the members of Shinorock’s organization rushed into the facility.
On the way, one of his subordinates was unfortunately struck by lightning and oxidized, but the rest entered the first floor of the facility safely.
They were all intense memories that were hard to forget. It wasn’t even something that happened a long time ago, but something that had just happened.
It was definitely not normal to forget that.
“Where should we start the repairs?”
“…”
“Boss?”
“Are you okay?”
However, he couldn’t give up here.
If he went back like this, he would not only fail to remove the being in his head, but he would also be reprimanded by the head of the Shinichi. If the guy were to report this to the head of the Sino Group, the situation would get worse. If he was unlucky, the Shinorock Cartel might be expelled from the group.
‘That must never happen!’
In order to remove ‘something’, he had to finish the repairs.
“…You guys, go down to the basement and check if the reactor and facilities are intact.”
“Yes!”
“The rest of you, go to the situation room upstairs.”
The pirates moved quickly after receiving the order. The lights attached to their helmets quickly moved away. He ran up the stairs with the rest of his men, including Common.
The stairs were so dark that he couldn’t see an inch ahead. Even when he turned on the headlights, everything looked black, making it difficult to tell what was the stairs.
Was it because of the sound of the wind coming from outside the building? The atmosphere was very gloomy.
Even if he was a ruthless criminal with no conscience, he couldn’t help but feel scared. This damp space was stimulating the primal fear of living beings. The backs of the pirates climbing the stairs were instantly soaked with cold sweat.
‘…Damn it.’
Common was also anxious, especially because of the memory loss he had suffered in succession.
The stairs that seemed to go on forever, and the pitch-black darkness beyond, seemed to devour his memories.
“Boss.”
“!”
He was startled by the voice of his subordinate in his helmet.
“Boss, it looks like there was a bomb explosion.”
“…I see.”
He wondered if he had lost his mind again, but fortunately, it wasn’t this time.
When he looked in the direction his subordinate was pointing, he saw that part of the stairs leading upstairs and the outer wall of the building had collapsed. From the traces, it seemed to have been forcibly torn off by some powerful force.
“Hey. What’s on this floor?”
“Uh, there’s nothing but a break room for the administrators here and upstairs.”
I heard that the reason for the trouble here was because of the separatists’ surprise attack. If they were going to bomb it, it would be more reasonable to target the floor where the important facilities were located or the terraforming facilities themselves. There was no reason to target this place.
‘It must have been a surprise attack by the Separatists that caused the trouble here. If they were going to bomb it, it would make sense to target a floor with important facilities or the terraforming equipment directly. There’s no reason to target this kind of place.’
Fear-filled screams rang out through the speakers in their helmets. Common hurriedly tried to give orders.
‘We’re not related to this, are we?’
It was his job to get this facility functioning normally. Just as he was about to pass it off, someone whispered in Common’s ear.
‘Come here.’
‘!’
Startled, he looked back.
“Who was that just now?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Who was talking?”
“Huh?”
“We didn’t say anything?”
There were only the men he had brought with him on the middle of the stairs. He couldn’t see the owner of the voice even after checking below.
“What the hell…”
‘This way.’
The voice rang out again. Common snapped his head up and looked up.
“That way! There’s someone up there!”
“Huh?”
“Boss?”
“You damn fools! Get up there quickly!”
The pirates followed orders, though they were bewildered. They jumped over the collapsed stairs with their enhanced physical abilities and went upstairs. Common also followed his men into the corridor upstairs.
“Why are you suddenly doing this?”
“There’s an intruder besides us.”
Everyone tensed up at the word intruder.
This building had been empty ever since the Separatists’ terrorist attack. There was only one group of people who would sneak into this dangerous place.
“…Weren’t those guys all wiped out?”
“Those damn Shinonis. Did they leave this mess for us to clean up?”
The pirates cursed and searched the rooms connected to the corridor.
This building was filled with facilities and machines for climate and environmental control. There was very limited space that the facility manager could use privately. There weren’t many rest facilities to speak of.
However, there was no trace of the intruder.
“There’s nothing here?”
“No, there’s one place left.”
“Huh?”
Common pointed to the end of the corridor. There was a large elevator door that was tightly shut.
“They could be hiding in there.”
“Even so, that’s a bit…”
“Or maybe they’re dead.”
“No.”
The pirates headed straight for the elevator at the sight of their boss aiming a plasma rifle at them.
“Open it.”
The men who had brought the plasma cutters stepped forward and began to open the closed elevator door. The green light illuminated the dark corridor for a moment, and the thick metal door opened with a clang.
The pirate in the lead checked inside the empty elevator.
“I can’t see anything?”
“Did you check properly?”
“Yes. I checked again and… Huh? I can see something!”
The subordinate who had been looking down the elevator shaft found something and bent his waist inward.
“What is that…”
Suddenly, something large sprang out from the inside.
It was a sickly white hand. The hand, which was larger than the elevator, grabbed the pirate and disappeared down the elevator shaft.
“Whoa?”
“What was that just now?”
The other pirates, who had been watching blankly, gradually realized the reality. The fact that a non-human being had just snatched their comrade away.
“Mo, monster!”
“Damn it! I can’t contact them!”
“Boss! What do we do!”