「Won!」
「Grrrr!」
Number 26 glowed on top of the Magmasaur’s corpse. The ‘right head’ next to him also let out a cry of joy as if in agreement.
「Grrrrr」
‘Left Head’, who broke his back after being kicked by the enemy’s front foot, also participated in the ceremony. It was a serious injury that could have resulted in amputation, but the guy was still fine. Wounds are treated with ‘superior homeostasis’, a characteristic of internal organs.
‘It’s okay to split up and fight.’
Using ‘Hydra Split’, I can separate my two heads and have them fight together for 60 minutes. Perhaps because it inherited my habits and fighting style, it moved well on its own without me having to give any commands.
‘Some of the characteristics can also be used.’
Each head that gains a new body can use the characteristics related to the body, special defense, internal organs, and environmental adaptation. Clones can also become stronger as I grow. In fact, hasn’t their survival ability increased significantly thanks to acquiring superior homeostasis?
‘It would be nice if I could share all of my abilities, but that would still be greed.’
I looked at the guys enjoying the joy of victory.
Although they were divided in the representation state of hunting, the reinforcement effect was not reflected in them. It looked like an adult Eimorph with only one head. It would be nice to have synergy if the effect of the symbol of hunting was applied, but it is disappointing.
‘Well, this much is strong enough.’
Magmasaur is notorious for its excellent defense and physical specifications among Apex creatures. If it were game, it would have taken more than a few days to hunt it.
At that time, the corpse of the Magmasaur that had fallen wriggled.
It does not have the resurrection ability to come back from the dead. The part of the neck that was lying on the floor started shaking, and something elongated came out from where the head had blown off.
“If you win, will you let me out?”
The being that escaped the corpse was Isabelle. The guy, whose entire body was stained with dark red blood, stretched out his arm near his head and wiped his face.
[Zuzuzuzu (Thank you for your hard work)]
“Here, I play the role that ‘Blood River’ plays in the game.”
As the guy said, one of the ways to attack Magmasaur is to use the Blood Reaver. By somehow inserting the Blood Reaver into the enemy’s body, it continuously drains their life force. Aside from the disadvantage of taking a long time, this method is the most effective.
[Zuzuzu Zuzuzuzu Zuzuzuzu Zuzu (It’s better because it’s more efficient than Blood Reaver)]
“I hope that just because your body has become like this, you won’t treat it like a real machine.”
Isabelle grumbled briefly and sucked the blood from her finger. Just by looking at it, it looked like something out of a human, but I don’t think there’s any need to point it out.
‘For now, the guy has been sorted out.’
Now it’s time to check Salman’s side.
After the antimatter bomb exploded, Heavenly Mother and PS-111 would have headed there. If he survived the explosion, he would be fighting right now.
‘I think it’s okay to send these guys away now.’
The two clones enjoyed the joy of victory with No. 26. The guys were now gorging themselves on the loot.
The reason I haven’t used Hydra fission before is simple. This was because they were concerned about being caught in the enemy’s surveillance network.
Duplicates cannot use traits that can nullify enemy detection, such as ‘Dark Shroud’. In a situation where the enemy’s base remained intact, I couldn’t expose my secret weapon, so I deliberately didn’t use it.
‘But not now.’
Salman’s base was destroyed, and the communications satellite went to Adhaj for clearance. Since all means of communicating with the outside world have been blocked, there is no need to move cautiously anymore.
‘Should I send those two away first?’
While I’m here eating the corpse, I’ll send some guys to check on the condition of the Heavenly Mother and her group.
‘Do you know where Salman’s base is? ‘Go and help.’
The eyes of the two adult Eimorphs who read my will turn to me.
「Grrrrr.’
「Grrr….’
The guys kept licking the corners of their mouths with their tongues, as if they were disappointed that they couldn’t eat meat. Of course, since they were under my control, they never refused my orders or anything.
The head on the right handed me a magmasaur head cut in two. Then it spread its wings wide and flew upward with the left side of its head. They soon disappeared into a black cloud.
「Where are you going if you don’t eat the babies?」
[Zuzuz zuzuzu zuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu (It’s because I have work to do. They’ll eat later.)]
「Later?」
[Zuzuzzu zuzu zuzuzu (So they eat first) )]
[Yes.]
Not at all.
‘Where then…’
When eating an enemy in a game, taste was not a consideration. The sense of taste cannot be realized with a VR device.
But not here. Every time I try a new food, I always look forward to what it will taste like this time.
I gathered the magmasaur’s head, which had been split in two, and took a bite.
The first sensation I felt was hardness. It felt like I was putting an unshelled walnut in my mouth. Its skull was so hard that its teeth couldn’t even sink into it.
‘I should eat it like I ate Ice Horror.’
Having given up on chewing on the skull, I decided to target the lower jaw area first.
They chewed the tongue and the flesh inside the mouth, avoiding the thick jawbone. The tough leather was torn, and moderately cooled blood flowed out along with the flesh.
‘hmm.’
The outer leather is hard, and the inner leather is tough. Of course, I thought the flesh would be equally tough, but it wasn’t.
‘It’s an interesting texture, isn’t it?’
The flesh close to the leather had a chewy taste, and the further inside it became, the softer and oilier it became. It had a very interesting taste, especially because it was layered with warm blood.
How should I explain it? It feels like eating a meat stew with rich flavor and scooping up the broth and a piece of meat together. The sweet juice that comes out every time you chew the meat, and the deep taste of blood. I like it all.
And lava fragments stuck to the leather. Every time you chew this, the herbal-like scent spreads out, which is another delicacy.
‘Do you like it.’
It’s been a while since I’ve had food with multiple layers of flavor like this. I had a similar feeling when I tried ‘Pale Mask’ before.
‘As expected, it doesn’t disappoint this time either.’
After eating the entire lower jaw, leaving only the bones, I started eating the rest. The thin bones were broken and the brain and flesh inside were scraped out.
At that time, number 26 approached me. Looking at the color of its body, it seemed like it was curious about what the food it had just caught tasted like.
「Big baby, is it delicious?」
[Zuzuzu (try it)]
Hearing my wavelength, it transformed its tentacles into a shape similar to a shovel. Isabel then inserted the deformed tentacle into the wound and dug out the flesh.
“and! it’s good! it’s good!”
The guy who tasted the meat rose into the air and spun around in place.
[Zuzuzu zuzu (Do you like it?)]
「Yes! It’s delicious!」
[Zuzuzuzu (Thank goodness)]
「Let’s eat it together with the small baby, the middle baby, friends, and the babies!’
[Zu (yes)]
The size of the magmasaur is about 300m. Even if you exclude inedible parts such as bones, it is an enormous amount of food. Eating just one front leg is enough to easily replenish the energy used to divide Hydra. If everyone eats together, they will be able to eat well for at least two days.
“Little friend, you eat too.”
“I already ate a lot, so it’s okay.”
“You have to eat more to grow bigger.”
“You want me to grow bigger here?”
“Only then can I punish bad people!”
“I can’t deny that.”
While No. 26 and Isabelle were chatting, I finished the remaining lower jaw.
The upper jaw was eaten in the same way as the lower jaw. Avoiding thick bones, breaking thin bones and scraping out the brain and flesh inside.
At that moment, when I had emptied every last drop of brain fluid, a text box appeared in front of me.
“Predation effect activated! Successfully acquired the ‘Destroyer Carapace’ genetic essence.」
「Take over ‘Destroyer Carapace’ among the creature characteristics of ‘Magmasaur’.」
「Do you want to apply ‘Destroyer Carapace’?」
‘Good!’
I was nervous that I would fail to acquire the characteristics like last time, but I am glad. Plus, it just so happened to have the trait I was aiming for.
‘Destroyer Carapace.’
Among the characteristics that Magmasaur possesses, there are a total of two that are helpful to Aimorph.
One is Destroyer Carapace, a physical attribute, and the other is a unique attribute that allows it to emit ion lightning. Neither can be obtained from other creatures.
The reason I aimed for Magmasaur was to create unique characteristics through the transcendence system. Since the unique characteristic cannot be used as a fusion material, I wanted Destroyer Carapace to come out instead.
‘Then learn it….’
Just as I was about to apply the trait, I felt a strange sensation in the auxiliary organ under my chin.
‘what?’
Currently, I am in a state of hunting, so all of my auxiliary organs are protected by a bone shell. It is not normal to receive such stimulation in such a state.
I left the text box alone and focused on the auxiliary organs. This weak tingling feeling was somehow familiar.
‘Definitely not long ago…ah.’
I remembered.
It feels similar to when I first used Hydra Divide and linked my senses to the clone. At that time, when I thought that I wanted to control the split left side of my head, my auxiliary organs throbbed and rang like they do now.
‘I don’t want to do that now, so what happened?’
Is there something they want to tell me? I focused my attention on the signals picked up by the auxiliary organs.
Consciousness leaves my body like when I link with the nest. Is it because of the distance? It used to be linked quickly, but now it takes quite some time.
‘I’ll have to remember that.’
After a few tens of seconds, I felt a strange floating sensation throughout my body. Coolness sweeping over the shell, volcanic ash and embers flying. The senses are connected to the two heads flying above the clouds.
‘Why did you call me?’
I checked the surroundings to see if I had encountered an enemy ship that had avoided the explosion, but there was nothing special. I couldn’t feel anything above, so I focused my consciousness below.
‘huh?’
Now I know why they called me.
On the ground, various creatures such as Vulkarox, Lavalaptor, and Stoner are running in one direction. It was a strange situation where they were predator and prey, but they just ran without fighting.
‘no way?’
The movements of the animals in that group were clearly abnormal. It was as if his reason had been taken away by someone.
And there is only one being on this planet who can control wild animals at will.
The equipment manager of the returning faction.
‘I was wondering how you knew I was here.’
I guessed that was the case after seeing the anti-matter bomb being moved, but now I’m sure. All of those animals you see below are under its control. It was probably laid out everywhere to prevent intruders.
Moreover, the direction in which the strange combination of swarms was heading now matched the direction in which my clone was flying.
That means Salman is inviting them to come near him.
‘This is not the time to be like this.’
If the opponent calls for reinforcements, Heavenly Mother and PS-111 will inevitably be at a disadvantage. I instructed both heads to keep flying and then cut off the link.
‘Before leaving….’
The text box has been waiting for my answer since a while ago.
When I selected OK, Apex’s genetic essence began to permeate my entire body.
Mutations occurred in various parts such as the carapace, outer shell, and intestines, but the goal was the same.
Becoming a better being.
“Watch next episode”