I Became an Evolving Space Monster
Chapter 427

——————

[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

——————

Chapter 427

The things crawling out of the pit came in many forms.

Some looked like filthy vagrants.

Others resembled everyday civilians.

Their clothes, body types—none of it matched. Yet they all shared one critical feature:

They wore the shape of humans.

But no one here truly believed they were people.

｢Damn it! Get these freaks off me!｣

Dozens of those things swarmed over a Monster Walker, piling onto it like flies on a carcass.

The Walker thrashed violently, trying to shake them off. Its plasma cutter sliced into torsos, its massive legs kicked away the wreckage. Gore splattered against its alloy armor in thick, wet streaks.

Had they been normal humans, that would’ve been enough.

But they weren’t.

Each time a body was split open or crushed, swarms of black threadworms spilled out from within—twisting, living wires of parasitic filth. The creatures burrowed into the gaps of the Walker’s frame, slithering into its joints and crevices.

Though Monster Walkers were sheathed in thick armor, they had to have articulation—vulnerable seams around limbs and hinges. As the worms wriggled deeper, the Walker’s movements slowed, limbs gumming up like rusted metal.

｢You pieces of shit! Get off!｣

｢We’re surrounded! They're everywhere!｣

The machines began to falter—but the enemy didn’t.

If anything, more were pouring out of the pit with each passing second.

｢For fuck’s sake! When is this going to end?!｣

And worse, they weren’t the only threat.

｢I’ll burn all you bastards to ashe—Guh!｣

｢Shit! Incoming! Stay alert!｣

A sudden green beam of energy lanced across the battlefield and slammed into one of the Walkers swarmed by them. The blast struck near the cockpit. The machine staggered, then crashed to the ground.

The attacker retreated into a nearby building.

What made the others hesitate—was what the attacker had been wearing: a battlesuit supplied by the Shino Group.

｢Wait, wasn’t that a launcher shot?!｣

｢He’s one of ours! Why’s he shooting at us?!｣

｢Chief, what do we do?! If this keeps up, we’re—｣

Amid the rising chaos and panicked chatter, a private channel from Sutherland opened to Shinobu.

But the situation had already spiraled far beyond what Sutherland could control.

Until his superior gave a command, he was paralyzed.

Shinobu didn’t bother responding. He simply shut the comm off.

Right now, he was speaking with someone far more important than a glorified puppet:

Pisces Twelve.

“…It’s the Amorph.”

｢Pisces Twelve. Confirm. You mean the same entity the combined MegaCorp–Star Union fleet tried to hunt down?｣

“Yeah. There’s only one bastard capable of this kind of shit.”

｢Inquiry. Previously recorded data suggests ‘the Amorph’ does not possess advanced cyberwarfare capabilities.｣

“It’s got a Screamer in its crew, doesn’t it? Probably had that thing do the hacking.”

｢Even a modified Screamer shouldn’t be capable of…｣

“Chikushō! That's all well and good, but as long as Amorph is here, we need to get the hell out of here!”

[TL/N: ‘Chikusho(ちくしょう)’ is japanese word which means ‘Damn it’. It was said in Japanese so I left it as it is.]

Shinobu knew his limits.

Even Akira Yujin—armed with a massive fleet—had failed to bring down the creature.

He stood no chance.

And this place… was clearly the Amorph’s nest.

Just look at the horrors swarming the Walkers—Hiveformers. That alone was proof.

There was no victory to be had here.

Only one viable move remained: run.

“Prep the orbital strike. I’ll escape in the meantime.”

｢What about Prometheus V2?｣

“…Tch. As much as it hurts, we’ll have to abandon it.”

Pisces’ question made Shinobu hesitate.

That weapon—Prometheus V2—was one of only two in existence within the Star Union.

The other was locked to defend Zax-01.

Effectively, this was the only deployable one left.

Leaving it behind was painful. But there was no choice.

“If he has it, you can bet he’ll use it as bait. Get caught in that, and it’s over.”

That bastard had pulled this kind of thing many times in the game.

There was no way Shinobu was falling for the same trick in real life.

“And as you know, the Amorph can’t use that weapon.

We can recover it after we kill the bastard.”

Prometheus V2—unlike the standard model—required a special component to activate.

And that component was something the Amorph could never obtain.

｢A rational judgment.｣

Pisces seemed to agree without hesitation.

｢I will initiate bombardment according to your decision. Evacuate the area within ten minutes.｣

“Ten minutes? Got it.”

With that, the transmission ended.

‘That should buy us some time.’

And Shinobu had something to do with it—something he’d been saving for the right moment:

his perk.

He reactivated the comms device he’d previously shut down.

“All units, listen up. From this moment, I’m in command. Obey.”

｢Huh?｣

｢Who was that just now?｣

｢Th-that’s the Boss! All units, follow his orders!｣

“If you can hear me, switch your comms to ship-grade frequencies now.”

The Amorph had seized control of the comms satellite. Using the public network was suicidal.

To prevent further leaks, Shinobu took full command, continuing his orders over the secure line.

“In ten minutes, the fleet in orbit will open fire on this entire zone.

You need to be out before that happens.”

｢T-ten minutes?! Understood!｣

The pirates, well aware of what orbital bombardment meant, moved without hesitation.

They scorched the oncoming horrors with plasma bursts as they began to retreat, step by step.

But something was wrong.

Barely half the Walkers had begun pulling back.

The rest stayed in place, still fighting the swarm as though nothing had changed.

“They’re buying us time. Ignore them.”

｢R-Right!｣

Those ones were bait.

Shinobu hadn’t sent them the order to retreat—intentionally.

Their job was to hold the enemy back long enough for Shinobu and his chosen group to escape.

The retreating pirates understood this unspoken message.

And none of them said a word.

But there was something they didn’t know.

‘Seven Walkers escaped with me. All handpicked. Skilled ones.

Perfect to use as meat shields later.’

With those seven Walkers, Shinobu sped toward the edge of the port.

Inside his shaking cockpit, he carefully pulled out a small ampoule.

It glowed with golden liquid—priceless, rare enough to purchase hundreds of planets.

Knowing its value better than anyone, Shinobu drank it without hesitation.

The fluid burned down his throat, and he immediately felt his body begin to change.

A signal: his perk had activated.

‘Perfect.’

His outward appearance remained the same, but he knew what had changed—

His entire body had now become a living beacon.

The truth was, Shinobu’s perk wasn’t suited for combat.

It didn’t help with survival, and the activation requirements were punishingly strict.

But when triggered under the right conditions?

Its potential was immense.

That was why so many Rankers from the Dominion faction had invested in him.

‘Amorph… Everything you did to me—I’m going to repay it. In full.’

In the game, the Amorph often turned its enemies against one another through manipulation and psychological warfare.

But this time?

This time it was the Amorph’s turn to be played.

Just as Shinobu wore a twisted grin, savoring his fantasy of revenge, something appeared in the Walker’s path.

At the outer edge of the port stood a creature—like a ghostly white will-o’-the-wisp—blocking their escape.

Behind it, a massive swarm of Hiveformers stood waiting.

｢T-Total Leader!｣

“…Tch. All units, prepare for combat.”

As Shinobu drew the dual blades mounted on his Walker’s back, the others followed suit, readying their weapons.

｢■■■■■■!｣

The white flame—the Amorph—unleashed a monstrous roar.

And in that instant, the Hiveformers surged forward like a tidal wave.

***

Meanwhile, Pisces—having ended her communication with Shinobu—immediately began the preparations for orbital bombardment.

There were 17 ships currently in planetary orbit, none of which had landed.

Among them, only five possessed the firepower to bombard the surface effectively.

But even those weren’t enough to eliminate the Amorph.

According to data from the Supreme Council, the Amorph had survived the detonation of a PMB (Particle Manipulation Bomb)—a weapon of devastating power.

Standard ship bombardments would barely scratch it.

Of course, Pisces’ XAX02-class dreadnought did carry PMBs—alongside many other destructive payloads—intended specifically for hunting the Arcane Orca.

But she couldn’t use them here.

Doing so would also annihilate Shinobu, still on the surface.

Shinobu understood this too. That was why he had requested a lesser strike—one unlikely to harm the Amorph.

Which meant… he had something else in mind.

“Orbital bombardment is just a distraction—meant to split the Amorph’s focus. He’s planning a counterstrike during that window.”

What that counterstrike entailed, Pisces couldn’t say for sure.

But she had a theory.

So far, Shinobu had never missed a target once he designated it.

His prey always behaved exactly as he expected. As if guided by some unseen hand.

If he truly had the power to draw in wild creatures…

Then this might be the moment to use it.

If he could summon the Arcane Orca, and pit it against the Amorph…

Regardless, whatever Shinobu was planning would become clear after the bombardment began.

Pisces spread her consciousness through the network, reaching out to take command of the remaining fleet.

“Hm?”

Just as she moved to take remote control of the other ships, she detected a foreign signal.

Four of the 17 vessels were experiencing a simultaneous unauthorized access attempt.

Someone was trying to do exactly what she was doing.

It was the Screamer—the one that had come with the Amorph—boldly trying to breach systems under her watch.

“… … …”

Had Pisces been human, she might’ve chuckled.

She was no ordinary entity.

She was Pisces Twelve, a technological singularity recognized by the Star Union—a Supreme Councillor representing billions of androids and cybernetic beings.

And this low-tier Screamer had the audacity to challenge her?

No. That wouldn’t stand.

Pisces made her decision: extermination.

Her mind—once confined within synthetic circuits—now surged through the communication lattice.

The virtual realm, constructed from machine languages and logic trees, began to bend and fold around her will.

The foreign signal, which had been attempting to seize control of the four ships, pushed back.

It deployed encrypted countermeasures, spawning layers of defensive programs in an attempt to hold its ground…

Pisces hadn’t expected her enemy to generate such advanced programs in so little time.

But it didn’t matter.

She was a Supreme Counselor specializing in information analysis and synthesis. To her, cyber warfare was as natural as breathing.

In an instant, she analyzed the enemy’s security structure and hijacked the control protocols.

The opponent tried to respond by spawning new defensive routines—but she preempted that by constructing a counterfirewall that neutralized the infiltration attempt altogether.

One ship, then two—Pisces reclaimed them in quick succession.

Only one ship remained under enemy control.

Perhaps realizing it was outmatched in cyberwarfare, the adversary changed tactics. Instead of trying to retain control, it redirected the last destroyer to physically attack Pisces’ XAX02-class dreadnought.

But Pisces remained calm.

She patiently began peeling away the destroyer’s override systems one by one. Soon, the hijacked ship ground to a halt near the dreadnought, completely under her control once more.

With the fleet restored, one task remained: eliminate the means through which the enemy had infiltrated.

The culprit was obvious—the communication satellite that governed this system’s network.

Currently, it was under the Screamer’s control. Leaving it untouched was far too dangerous; it could introduce unknown variables at any moment.

While preparing the orbital bombardment, Pisces simultaneously launched a direct intrusion into the satellite’s systems.

Its firewall was robust—painstakingly built. But against her, it was useless.

What looked like a deeply fortified digital bastion was shattered in a matter of minutes.

And beyond that wall… lay a final trap.

Unlike before, this wasn’t a program or security protocol.

It was a single encrypted block of code—encoded differently than everything else.

Pisces wasn’t fazed. Even code fragmented into hundreds or thousands of cyphers couldn’t stop her.

She broke it down in moments.

“…Hm?”

The decrypted content was not a program.

It was a message:

“The best hacking method is using physical force?”

“…What the hell is that supposed to—”

That’s when her real-world body—the one physically present in the ship—registered something.

Movement.

Inside her private chamber—where no one should be.

“?!”

She instantly pulled her mind out of the digital space and snapped back into her mechanical body.

Right in front of her—too close—a massive blade came swinging down.

She raised both arms in time. The impact sent out a shower of sparks as metal clashed against reinforced synthetic limbs.

Beyond the flash of heat and light, she saw it:

A woman’s upper body, with glowing red eyes, fused with the torso of a massive mechanical spider.

The assailant’s voice was calm, cold, and almost amused.

“Correct.”

The one who had been harassing Pisces all this time—

The red-eyed Screamer—had finally shown itself.

——————

[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

——————