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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 449
‘As expected, they’re leaving without a clue.’
In the distance, a thin beam of light shimred faintly in the darkness.
A subrsible, roughly the size of a small patrol ship, was cutting through the deep-sea currents, completely unaware of what was silently tailing them from below.
‘Well, normal humans wouldn’t be able to see anyway.’
Right now, I was using two traits simultaneously to conceal myself.
First, the Dark Shroud, which spread like smoke to mask and the others.
This special substance expelled through biological pipes nullified detection systems. Ideally, it would cover a much wider area, but the intense water pressure limited it to just my imdiate surroundings.
What made up for that shortcoming was my unique trait, Sinister Mimic.
Besides enhancing the Symbol of Hunt trait, Sinister Mimic granted an exceptional camouflage ability. Thanks to it, my body hidden within the shroud had morphed to resemble the surrounding terrain.
The outer shell now mimicked the texture of the icy sea floor. The massive cephalothorax and back-tendrils had been shaped into ridges, making look like just another hill on the seabed.
Many creatures had traits for mimicking their surroundings, but nothing ca close to Sinister Mimic. Its disguise was so flawless, even PS-111 with caras embedded in its eyes would struggle to detect .
‘There’s no way ordinary biological eyes could see through this.’
The effect even adapted to environntal shifts in real ti replicating the shifting seabed and flowing currents perfectly. Despite several close passes, the subrsible had detected nothing.
Which ant tailing the enemy was no problem at all.
‘Except for one thing.’
The only hassle was that everyone had to cling tightly to as we moved.
None of my companions had reliable stealth capabilities. To evade gacorp’s detection systems, they had to remain within the radius of my Dark Shroud.
So PS-111, Isabel, and Adhai were all pressed close against .
PS-111 had folded its wings like a beetle and clung to my tail. Isabel, with her long and slender body, hugged the seafloor and used my bulk as cover.
Adhai had a similarly slim build, but her large wings made things trickier. She was also using her Red Armor to withstand deep-sea pressure, making her stand out even more.
So I wrapped my arms around her, keeping her completely hidden from view.
[ZZZ (You okay?)]
｢Can’t move. Feels tight. Armor… focus… uncomfortable. Still…｣
She had been grumbling through her thought-waves, but suddenly paused. Then, she rested her head against my inner chest.
｢…Sotis, it’s not so bad.｣
I had been worried, but judging from her thoughts, her mood seed fine after all.
[ZZZ (What about you two?)]
｢No problem.｣
｢Condition nominal. Adaptations optimized for extre environnts.｣
The Screar sisters replied just as they had in space projecting psychic waveforms instead of speech.
Unlike her still-learning sister, PS-111’s signals were clear and precise, likely a result of having a High Councilor’s brain transplanted into her systems.
With everyone accounted for, I tilted my head up and looked overhead.
Near the edge of the Dark Shroud, a small pink jellyfish floated leisurely.
It was Number 26, our only companion born and raised in the ocean.
Being back in a familiar environnt seed to suit it far better than dry land ever had.
‘Can’t bla it.’
Sea Demons can function on land, but their true habitat is the deep sea. Just from looking at their physiology, it’s obvious they're not built for land travel.
If anything, Number 26’s ability to move about on land is the strange part.
‘Glad it’s enjoying itself.’
There was a strange warmth in watching it swim so happily.
Number 26 had done so much for , yet there wasn’t much I could do in return. The best I could offer was to find so prey it might enjoy.
‘If only there were oceans near Adhai’s ho…’
Unfortunately, there are no oceans near the Gallagons’ habitat.
There’s a hot spring fed by geothermal rivers and acid rain, but that’s hardly the sa thing.
‘Could I maybe make one myself using a trait?’
I was still thinking over whether one of my abilities might allow that, when Number 26 swam over.
｢Big One, there’s no food here. Not a single bite.｣
Its thought-wave carried clear confusion.
‘True.’
As far as I know, there are no Sea Demons native to NOX. But there are other deep-sea predators. Things like the Pale Mask, which I’ve encountered before.
There should be plenty of marine life forms in the deep sea. If we’ve co down this far, it’d be normal to see at least a few creatures swimming around.
But so far, the only living thing we’ve seen is that subrsible up ahead.
‘It’s got to be one of two things.’
Either that sub is deliberately following safe routes or gacorp has already wiped out everything dangerous in these waters.
Neither option is far-fetched.
The first thing gacorp players usually do when building a base is cleanse the surrounding ecosystem. It’s all about eliminating risk and collecting genetic samples along the way.
This research facility may have gone through the sa process.
｢I wanted to give Big One a present.｣
[ZZZZ ZZZ (It’s fine. Let’s keep looking.)]
｢Okay.｣
If the base owners already cleaned out the wilds, we’re not likely to find anything out here. But inside the facility that sub is heading to there might still be sothing edible.
‘Though we probably won’t be able to hunt it.’
A sha, but I’ll have to look forward to the coming battle with the Outspacers instead.
So we quietly continued trailing the sub.
A few hours later, a faint glimr appeared in the pitch-black sea ahead no bigger than a grain of sand.
‘That must be it.’
As we got closer, the subrged research facility slowly ca into view.
Several dozen kiloters beneath the ocean, a massive man-made structure sat anchored to the seafloor. That was the deep-sea base.
Its design was striking an enormous toroidal structure wrapped around a central do. Like soone had cut Saturn in half and dropped it underwater.
‘That’s huge.’
Not quite the size of a planet, but the facility was well beyond standard specs. Just the outer ring alone looked to be twice the diater of a typical orbital city.
｢Never seen… a base that big.｣
｢Scale exceeds gacorp’s standard research complexes.｣
Isabel and PS-111 each voiced their thoughts. I agreed. Even in the ga, I’d never seen an undersea city that large.
‘And the layout’s odd, too.’
Typical underwater bases include massive elevator towers and communication arrays to connect with surface facilities.
But this one had none of that.
Being a secret base, they must’ve deliberately removed entry points to control traffic.
‘Let’s get closer and take a look.’
I stopped trailing the sub and slowly changed course toward the base.
Then PS-111 spoke up.
｢Amorph. A problem has occurred.｣
[ZZZZ (What is it?)]
｢Base communications network… The security level is extre. Cannot intercept or disrupt.｣
[ZZZ ZZZ Z (Not even with your signal disruptors?)]
｢Correct. No effect. Direct connection is only viable thod.｣
This is the sa system that can hijack battleship comms and even tap into satellites with ease. For PS-111 to say it’s impossible the security must be on another level.
‘So what now…?’
There was no way to sneak in from here. A facility that monitors the entire ocean wouldn’t fail to detect damage to its structure. If sothing triggered an alert, they’d call for reinforcents imdiately.
‘Using the infected is off the table.’
The hosts carrying the parasite are currently back at the surface facility, far from here. Bringing them all the way down to infiltrate this place? No way. It’s not viable.
In that case, it’d be faster to figure out a way to infect soone inside the base instead.
‘Wait a second…’
An idea flashed through my mind.
‘Co to think of it, I haven’t used that since the Great Infector changed.’
The Unique Trait Great Infector allows to select infection- and nest-type traits and imbue them with special effects.
Thanks to that trait, I’d once been able to release acidic fungus as a breath weapon or spray machine-corrupting microbes in cloud form.
But after rging with the Twisted Abomination, the effect of the Great Infector changed.
Before, I could strengthen up to six traits: three infection-type and three nest-type.
Now, I could choose up to three traits from either category and grant them a special effect called ‘Psychic Contamination Boost’.
This change had reset the traits I’d previously enhanced like Parasitic Hive and Acidic Fungal Glands. I hadn’t reassigned them since, simply because I hadn’t needed to.
‘Looks like now’s the ti.’
I summoned the text box.
[Great Infector]
You are one, yet many.
｢You may select up to 3 traits from the Infection/Nest Enhancent categories and grant them a special effect.
*Psychic Contamination Boost: Unassigned, Unassigned, Unassigned
*Note: Once all effects are granted, traits cannot be swapped until the enhanced traits are removed.
*PS: Depending on perspective, the individual may beco the collective.｣
All slots were marked as ‘Unassigned’. But I already knew which trait I wanted to empower.
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ (Can you tell where the comms equipnt is located?)]
｢Precise estimate unavailable.｣
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (Just need the general area and sector.)]
｢That much is possible.｣
I began slowly circling the periter of the facility. Along the way, PS-111 pointed out spots that likely contained communication terminals.
Once I had a good idea of the layout, I set the trait I had in mind Gremlin Moss, a fused trait that had proven useful against machines.
‘If it still spreads like a cloud, that would be perfect.’
Or maybe, given the new ‘Psychic Contamination’ modifier, it might behave differently, sothing linked to psychic influence.
‘Either way, I’ll find out by using it.’
[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (You two, back away for a mont.)]
They might get caught in the effect. I distanced myself slightly from the Screar Sisters and moved toward one of the locations PS-111 had indicated.
Then I activated the newly enhanced Gremlin Moss.
A strange shimr began to flow from my body light spilling beyond the edge of the Dark Veil.
Tiny glowing motes, like fireflies in the abyss, drifted out into the open waters and slowly descended onto the icy crust.
｢Wow! Sparkle-sparkle! It’s so pretty!｣
Number 26’s gleeful pulse resonated around .
And it was beautiful visually. The way those glowing motes glimred on the ocean floor was srizing.
But what my energy field detected told a different story. The Gremlin Moss had nothing in common with real fireflies or anything innocent.
Ominous sparks drifted slowly outward, then began to creep, inch by inch, over the human-built structure coiling into cracks and seams like living fog.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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