Chapter 357
–
Asuka 44, with its active volcanic activity, had a very unique history as well as the planet’s unique environment.
80 years ago, the emperor of a cult empire suddenly went crazy and began committing tyranny. The emperor purged the capable councilors and priests and insulted the providence served by the cults. Meanwhile, the empire was almost divided as a new faction that worshiped the emperor took over the parliament.
The empire, which was already dying due to corruption, suffered a major decline due to the crazy emperor. Many cults left their disappointing homelands and migrated to Megacorp, and vast amounts of wealth flowed to other powers.
The mad emperor’s rule lasted for five years and then ended. The emperor, who had daily orgies with dozens of slaves in his villa, was assassinated by the last loyalists of the empire.
Unusually, among the assassins at the time, there was also a Space Dog from a cult. It is not known what role he played in the assassination, but it was enough to arouse the curiosity of many.
The cult fairy tale, ‘The Legend of the Pirate King Who Assassinated a Tyrant’, was created based on this incident.
So what does Asuka 44, with its story of a mad emperor and its extreme environment, have to do with it?
That is, Asuka 44 is the place where the emperor kept the slush funds to support his worshipers. Treasures in the imperial palace and part of the wealth accumulated by the emperor himself are hidden there.
After the emperor was assassinated, the imperial faction completely disintegrated and Asuka 44 was left alone for a long time. Until decades later, a young cult came to visit.
A room decorated more luxuriously than the imperial palace.
Wolff with the head of a mastiff is looking out the window.
The building he was in was equipped with a gravity control system, so it floated on lava. The outer wall was protected by layered shields.
Wolf looking out from the legacy left by the cult emperor, he was the administrator of this planet.
“Salman. “The new cargo is ready.”
When the servant standing at the door called, the mastiff-headed Wolff and Salman turned their heads.
“Are all the transporters ready?”
“yes. “We have prepared people who will not be surprised if they disappear at any time.”
“good.”
Salman left the room with his servant.
After passing through a hallway decorated with expensive famous paintings, they arrived at a very spacious space.
Unlike other facilities that gave off a feeling of extravagance and extravagance, there was no decoration whatsoever. The only mechanical devices were lights on the walls and a dome-shaped gate that replaced the ceiling.
Just looking at the scenery, it looks like a place where a spaceship docks. But what was in the center of space was far from a spaceship. A huge rocky mountain that looked as if it had been moved by a volcano filled the place.
And in front of that rock block, a creature had fallen.
The name of the creature that resembles a hedgehog and spits out lava instead of blood is Elemental Porcupine. It is one of the Apex creatures that inhabit this planet.
Salman approached the elemental porcupine holding the long spear given to him by his attendant. The huge carnivorous hedgehog, which was 13 meters in size, opened its eyes wide and glared at Wolff, who was much smaller than himself.
Salman approached the elemental porcupine and lightly stabbed it with his spear without saying a word.
“Guuuuu.”
A small growling monster. Salman didn’t care and went closer and placed his hand on the guy’s head.
Then something strange happened.
The elemental porcupine, which had been showing hostility just now, suddenly laid down on its side and exposed its belly to Salman. Not only that, he started making cute crying sounds. It was reminiscent of a pet dog that saw its owner return from an outing.
But no one here was surprised by that fact.
“Okay. Just treat the major injuries and send them to the ‘Empress.’”
“I will prepare right away.”
“Has Magmasaur been found?”
“Five volcanoes that are currently active are believed to be the result of magmasaur movements.”
“good. Put all your manpower into tracking Magmasaur.”
“All right.”
Salman, who had left the elemental porcupine to his servant, glanced at the rocky mountain.
“ah. And don’t forget to feed him too.”
“yep.”
With those words, Salman left from there.
Even while other servants came in and moved the elemental porcupine, the rocky mountain did not move.
–
「Delicious!」
「Taste」「Stimulating」
A banquet was held for the first time in a long time on a planet with unfamiliar scenery.
Number 26, which had grown larger, pulled out its tentacles and swept up the Lavalaptor, and Aadhai stuck a bunch of tentacles in place of its mouth into the prey and sucked out the blood.
Perhaps because they had not had a satisfying meal since leaving Aadhai’s hometown, everyone focused on feasting.
Even Mother Sky, who is passive about preying on wild animals, was enjoying Lavalaptor meat.
She first cut the Lavaraptor into pieces and then stuck the pieces of meat into the priest’s golden spear. Then, they placed it on the flowing lava and used the heat to grill meat.
When the surface of the meat was crispy and the fat between the pieces had melted and flowed out, she removed the spear and ate the meat.
“what? Why?」
[zuzuzuzu zuzuzu (it’s nothing)]
She noticed my gaze and neatly wiped her grease-covered beak. I tried to look good by eating well, but I quit.
‘Because it’s the same for me.’
After sailing at faster than light speeds for a long time without stopping, I was quite hungry. Although they stole a pirate ship, it was not enough to fill their stomachs. Even if there was a dragon’s heart, hunger could not be solved.
‘You don’t have to worry about this in games.’
“Middle baby, is that delicious?”
“Huh? “Would you like one?”
“Yes!”
“Here.”
The Mother of Heaven took out a piece of meat and handed it to No. 26’s tentacle. It pulled the tentacle towards its body and stuffed it with the meat. And her body glowed brightly.
「It tastes better!」
「That」「Tasty?」
「Yes!」
「Friend」「Me too」
「At some point, you said I was an ugly friend.」
「Negative」「Pretty friend」
「I don’t get fooled anymore. “Go away.”
“It’s a shame.” “It’s a shame.” “It’s a shame.”
Watching everyone happily eating, I also threw the Lavalaptor corpse into my mouth. The hot heat and blood with its unique flavor wet my tongue. Even though it is raw meat without seasoning, it has a spicy spicy taste. To compare it, it tastes like lamb grilled over an open fire with a moderate amount of cumin powder added.
‘What should I say about the feeling of chewing? It’s much softer than lamb.’
The texture was closer to rare-cooked beef than lamb, so there was actually quite a difference. Of course, the fact that the taste itself is good remains the same.
‘I also gained additional characteristics.’
After eating dozens of Lavalaptors, I was able to acquire one trait.
One of their biological characteristics is their well-developed hind legs. One of Lavalaptor’s strengths was absorbed into my body.
‘Reinforced hind legs.’
As the name suggests, it is a feature that improves the performance of the hind legs.
With the application of ‘reinforced hind legs’, the muscle mass in my legs increased significantly compared to before. And inside the leg, a new biological tube was added instead of a blood vessel. Every time you run or jump up, a special fluid flows through these tubes, reducing the strain on your leg muscles.
As the internal structure changed, the thickness of the leg itself became thicker than before. Originally, it was a body type that could stand on two feet, but now it can stand more stably.
‘It’s not a very necessary trait, but it’s better to have it than not have it.’
In fact, the traits I want to acquire on this planet can be obtained from other people.
The strongest Apex creature that can be found on a volcanic planet, ‘Magmasaur’.
It is a super-giant monster that constantly spews magma and fire from its body and is classified as a top tier among Apex.
What’s interesting is that despite its immense strength, it doesn’t eat meat. To be precise, it eats the energy emitted from lava and volcanoes. There are not many Apex creatures that do not eat meat, and the gnome is one of them.
‘Of course, just because you don’t eat meat doesn’t mean you’re weak.’
Magmasaur lives only in the depths of volcanoes, so hunting difficulty is quite high. Additionally, it is very difficult to deal with because it has unique abilities. I had a hard time catching it on my own in the game.
‘Well, that’s just a story in the game. It’s different here.’
Currently I am in much better condition than the game. My own qualifications are quite high and I have many friends who can help me.
‘The problem is that it’s not easy to find him.’
Due to the nature of it rarely coming out from the depths of the volcano, you have to go there in person.
And there are a lot of volcanoes here. It would take quite a bit of time to go in and out one by one to catch the Magmasaur.
‘We can’t waste time looking for him.’
There is a lot of work to be done on this planet. Catching Wolf Ranker, raiding the equipment storage of the Returned Sect guarded by him, and obtaining materials for equipment to be made to the Mother of Heaven, etc. There are more than just one or two things to worry about.
‘First of all, catching Wolf Ranker and obtaining the necessary characteristics is the top goal.’
It would probably be faster to find Wolf Ranker and other Apex creatures than Magmasaur. As I was reorganizing which target to aim for first, PS-111 approached me.
“It has been confirmed that the structure of the hind legs has changed to a shape similar to that of ‘Lavaraptor.’ “I request a dissection experiment to confirm the internal structure.”
[Zuzu (no)]
The guy had been looking closely at my legs through the red camera lens from earlier. I refused because I didn’t want to cut off my healthy leg, even if I was injured.
“I’m sorry.”
“If you ask me to cut off a healthy leg, of course I will be against it.”
Aside from saying it’s disappointing, PS-111 looks at my legs with narrowed eyes. Isabelle, seeing that, shook her head.
[Zuzu Zuzu (How does it taste?)]
“To be honest, it tastes better than any food I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
The guy stretched out his arm near his head and wiped his mouth, as if it was amazing to even think about it. Then, he stabbed the Lavalaptor on the floor with Gallagon’s clawed tail. In that state, the meat was placed close to the lava and grilled.
「Pretty little child」「Me」「Hana」「Give me」
“Ask for it? “I need to bake it, so just wait a moment.”
「Pretty little child」「Good」「Ugly friend」「Bad」
「… Look at that nasty snake lizard. Oh my. ‘
I’m glad you seem to be eating well.’
I also stretched out my fighting arms to eat another Lavalaptor. Just as I was about to eat, my accessory organ felt a slight vibration in the air.
‘what?’
I stopped eating and looked up. A small light is visible in the dark sky due to volcanic ash.
That’s not a star.
“Aimov?”
“Why all of a sudden…huh? Is that really possible?」
[Zuzuzuzuzzuzuzuzu zuzuzuz (It’s an airship. It’s coming this way)]
A mysterious airship is approaching this direction.
‘It’s an airship.’
There were no other naval aircraft or patrol ships visible nearby. It only takes a few minutes to organize that one thing.
‘no. Rather than that…’
This planet, which has not been terraformed at all, is not easy for humans to inhabit. So it is highly likely that the airship came from one of the few artificial habitats on this planet.
‘And in that residence, there will be the Wolf Ranker and equipment storage I’m looking for.’
If I follow that airship, I don’t have to fly around and look for a place to live.
After making up my mind, I hit the ground hard with my wing arm. The ground split open and a large hole formed where I hit.
[Zuzzuzu (everyone hides)]
They put the kids in it and simply covered it up by sweeping up dirt and rock fragments with the membranes of their wings. Then I jumped into the lava nearby.
The depth of the stagnant lava is not that great and cannot cover my entire large body, but I have a characteristic.
A ‘dark curtain’ that allows you to avoid detection by electronic devices, and a ‘protective color’ that activates when you remain stationary in one place for more than a few minutes. If you use both cloaking characteristics together, you can avoid getting caught by that airship.
While we were hiding, an airship passed over our heads. The place they were heading to was the volcano I used to enter the planet.
‘Do you have anything to do at the volcano?’
I thought it was just passing by, but it suddenly took a detour and landed near where we were. Then, two people wearing thick reinforced suits resembling space suits got off the airship.
“Why did Lavalaptors die in droves?”
“Weren’t you caught in a volcanic eruption?”
“This is not their territory. “There is no reason to come all the way here and die.”
“First, take a sample.”
Looking at the conversation, their identity seemed to be researchers. One person took tools from the kit attached to the abdomen and sampled the body, while the other held a lantern and examined the surrounding footprints.
Meanwhile, the researcher who was following the footprints with a lantern shouted in a loud voice.
“hey! “Look at the footprints here!”
“Why again…huh?! What’s this?”
“…Isn’t this Dradsong’s territory?”
“of course. “No one can go in there.”
“Miss, then what is this? “Are there creatures we don’t know about?”
“Are these not traces of Magmasaur?”
At that time, the name of a familiar creature was heard in the conversation between the two.
‘Dradsong and Magmasaur?’
“Nonsense. Would you say Lavalaptor is crazy and attack that guy? “They’ll just run away.”
“Then what are these footprints?”
“If I knew that, I would be here…huh?”
“why? “Did you find out what it was?”
“No, that’s not it. These footprints, why did they end here?”
“huh?”
The researchers who were following the footprints I made stopped in front of the lava where I was hiding. I can feel their eyes looking at me.
‘It just worked out.’
I was only thinking of secretly following the airship, but I had a better idea.
I just got up from my seat.
“Huh? “Is that thing moving?”
“earthquake….”
As soon as I got up, their conversation stopped.
I asked them, licking the lava flowing down the snout with my tongue.
“Magmasaur and Dreadsong. “How much do you know?”
I think these will be a useful guide.
A word from the author (author review) Please take care of zakuti.
Lava Raptor was set as an Apex creature in the previous episode, but was changed to a normal creature. Lava Raptor is not classified as Apex.
And on Thursday, the upload will likely be delayed due to personal circumstances.
If possible, we will upload it by early morning on Friday, otherwise we will supplement it on Saturday. Watch the next episode.”