Chapter 176

Chapter 176

Chapter 176

Awakened Adhai and the Mother of the Sky, with only their heads remaining, stared blankly at the Screamer, PS-111.

「Look, everyone! My new friend!」

[Pleased to meet you, wild creatures. I am PS-111. I serve as the main controller, ‘Sea Demon,’ and the sub-controller, ‘Unidentified Hostile Organism.’ Please take care of me.]

“Don’t call me ‘Unidentified Hostile Organism,’ just call me Aimo for short.”

[Confirmed. Changing the code name of the sub-controller.]

Perched atop Number 26, the Mother of the Sky, seeing the human woman introducing herself, opened her mouth in astonishment. Her gaze wavered and then turned toward me. It was a look asking if what she thought was correct.

‘Yes, what you’re thinking is correct.’

While the eagle-faced Mother of the Sky was surprised, Adhai kept nodding as if something was odd.

「Adult」 「Me」 「Question」

[ZZZ ZZZZ (What happened?)]

「That」 「Speech」 「Strange」

Adhai immediately noticed that the wavelengths emitted by PS-111 were awkward.

[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Because it is injured.)]

「Injured.」

[ZZZ (Probably.)]

I don’t know what PS-111 originally looked like. The Screamer I hunted was a lower model, the S model, so it probably looked different from its original form.

‘Whatever it was, if only the head remains, it should be considered fatal.’

Of course, PS-111 is unlikely to feel pain due to injuries. Thanks to its Sea Demon genes, it can relocate vital organs. From the outside, it may seem like only the head remains, but inside, there are the brain and basic digestive organs.

However, explaining this to Adhai would be too complicated, so I decided to skip it.

「That」 「Injury」 「Serious」 「Pity」

[Since you’re older, please help it more.]

「Me」 「Older」

Though I didn’t ask directly, it’s highly probable. In the game setting, Screamers don’t live more than a year.

PS-111 is a new model Screamer, but even so, the likelihood of a long lifespan is low. At best, it wouldn’t have lasted more than a few years.

Anyway, having heard my words, Adhai, whether it was fascinating to see a younger organism than herself or not, ran eagerly toward Number 26 and PS-111.

[Based on the external analysis of the wildlife, ‘Green Gallagon’ matches 78%.]

「Little one, befriend your friend.」

「Sick child」 「Pity」 「Help」

“Friends should also get along with little ones. Got it?”

[In accordance with the main controller’s command, reclassify the grade of ‘Green Gallagon (78%)’ to sub-controller 2 ‘Little One.’ Please take care of me. Little One.]

「Sick child」 「Speech」 「Strange」 「Me」 「Education」 「Possible」

「Yeah! Little One is nice!」

「Thank you for Little One’s support.」

The sight of three monsters brimming with personality chatting amicably with each other was quite intriguing. Especially Adhai, who seemed quite different from her usual self when with the Mother of the Sky. She was showing a warm attitude towards PS-111.

「Is she feeling a sense of responsibility for seeing a younger creature than herself?」

Or perhaps she’s judging based on similar physical defects to hers.

As I watched the creatures getting along well, the Mother of the Sky called me over.

「What’s going on? Taming a Screamer, was that even possible?」

[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (I didn’t do it.)]

She seemed puzzled by the existence of friendly Screamers. It wasn’t unreasonable for her reaction since they always appeared as enemies in the game. I would have likely thought similarly if I hadn’t seen it myself.

I summarized the recent events for her.

“Did Number 26 say that it’s a new mutant Screamer, and it took over its control?”

[ZZZ (Yes.)]

[A special metal device has been detected from the little one.]

「Don’t touch that. It’s brought by the big one.」

「Adult」 「Friend」 「Both」 「Available」 「Sick child」 「Confirmed」 「Desire?」

[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (Absorbing that device will help with quick recovery...)]

The three monsters, huddled together, started chattering with signals and mental waves. Seeing them seemingly getting along caught the Mother of the Sky off guard.

「...You, surprisingly, are good at collecting monsters.」

[ZZZ (Yeah.)]

「I thought I was used to this kind of thing.」

If another player saw this combination, they’d go crazy. She murmured softly, but I didn’t bother replying.

The three of us who had been talking for about an hour fell asleep again. The Mother of the Sky, perhaps exhausted from consecutive battles since morning, quickly dozed off too.

The only beings awake in the nest were me and the headless Screamer, PS-111. It swam through the swamp that surrounded the nest and approached me.

[Amorph. Aren’t you going to sleep?]

“I have things to think about.”

Earlier, I had tried to look into the newly opened ‘Trait Enhancement’ system before bed. Since Number 26 had slipped out of the nest without my knowledge, I decided to check it out now.

After sending PS-111 away, as I tried to display a translucent textbox, it floated in front of me.

“Do you have something to say?”

[Yes. According to the information obtained from the Middle One, this 70L-grade Tactical Backpack belongs to Amorph. Is that correct?]

It pointed with its small metal leg to the backpack containing the equipment I secured from Muriel. Inside the bag that Adhai usually carries on his back are the ‘Divine Spectre’ and eight ‘Blood Rivers,’ the only-grade weapons of the Star Union.

The ‘Devourer’s Amorphous Polyhedron’ obtained by killing players and devouring unique-grade equipment has the effect of converting them into unique traits. Thanks to this, I currently possess the trait ‘Scepter of the Gods’ after absorbing the cult’s orbital weapon, the ‘Brain God.’

Since the Divine Spectre and Blood Rivers could also be used for consumption, I carry them around.

“That’s mine indeed. Why do you ask?”

[I need three ‘Blood Rivers’ metal mechanical devices inside. If you absorb those devices, you can expect a significant increase in combat power.]

“Absorb?”

[Entities above mid-terminals are granted extensive self-recovery authorization to respond to concentrated attacks from enemies. Therefore, when the necessary materials are secured, they can be used for recovery.]

Listening to its words, I remembered the Screamer that killed the Winter Walker on the ground. It tried to replenish its needed energy by eating the corpse.

‘Is it possible to consume equipment, not just meat or psychic powers?’

PS-111 seemed to be able to consume metal, weapons, equipment, and so on, similar to me. Perhaps its superior, Pyra Eleven, also possesses the same ability.

“Why bring up such important information now?”

[According to the information obtained from the main controller ‘Sea Demon’ and the Middle One, this location is not safe. To protect the main controller, combat functions need to be restored as soon as possible.]

I glanced sharply at PS-111. It didn’t seem like it intentionally omitted important information when I looked at it.

‘Even if it wanted to hide it, it wouldn’t have brought it up now.’

It didn’t seem like it was lying, but I couldn’t just hand over the Blood Rivers. With no idea how powerful it would become after absorbing the powerful unique-grade equipment, and with only eight Blood Rivers in my possession...

‘Three of them would be practically half.’

Since I have to use them in the fight against the Black Gallagon, I need to make a careful decision.

As I pondered what to do, I felt a very faint vibration from the auxiliary organ under my chin.

‘What was that just now?’

A vibration coming from a place quite far from here. It felt different from an earthquake.

With a bad feeling, I flipped over and linked the auxiliary device to the nest.

My senses spread from the surface of the swamp under the nest to the entire underground space. Cold walls of ice, chilly air flowing through the passages, and pits formed by the clash between me and the Ice Horror.

As my senses, monitoring the vast underground space beneath the ice plains, licked it like a tongue, I caught another vibration.

With a thud, the ice and rock piles blocking the passage disappeared in an instant. And there, followed by the flow of psychic powers and the lingering scent of metal weapons.

Realizing what this meant, I sprang to my feet.

‘Enemies!’

Multiple psychic power users had entered this underground space.