I Became an Evolving Space Monster
Chapter 436

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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Chapter 436

｢Is this Sihyun Yujin the same shadow we met at Verzan-02 last time?｣

“Yeah.”

“You know that woman?”

“I’ve crossed paths with her several times.”

I’d fought her directly twice, once on the spaceship where I first woke up, and then again in the underground burrow on Verzan-02.

“She’s part of the Shino Group too?”

“No. She was only briefly involved in the early days. Later, she switched to another cartel under Akira’s orders.”

When I first encountered her, she was affiliated with some pirate cartel. It seems she had worked with Shinobu for a while before that.

“So what did she tell you?”

“Well… I don’t know if you’re aware, but even though she’s a shadow, she’s not on good terms with Akira. She believes Akira stole the headship of the Yujin family from her.”

Now that he mentioned it, I remembered.

One of her subordinates I’d met back in Adhai’s former homeland had said something similar.

Sihyun’s goal was to reclaim the position of head of the Yujin clan that Akira had usurped.

“She said Akira has a place she visits secretly from time to time.”

“A secret place?”

“Yes. She supposedly goes alone, without any attendants or even her private ship.”

“Why would she tell you that?”

“She tried to recruit me to fight against Akira. That’s when she shared that info.”

Sihyun must have thought Shinobu was just a regular spacedog and tried to win him over. But knowing Akira’s power, he’d refused immediately.

“Alright. So where is this place?”

“Actually… I turned her down midway through, so I didn’t catch that part. But I looked into it myself. Just a moment...”

Shinobu received a device from the Mother of the Sky and typed something in.

Coordinates popped up. A location.

“The Megacorp junkyard.”

“You know it?”

“I’ve been there in the game.”

Megacorp operates a whole star system as a junkyard for solar system waste scrapped space cities, decommissioned ships, hazardous industrial materials all launched into space at faster-than-light speeds.

The Megacorp Junkyard is a makeshift planet formed from the accidental clumping of that waste.

｢She went into the Megacorp Junkyard?｣

“I once went there to build a secret nest.”

｢…No wonder no one could find you.｣

Mother of the Sky shook her head.

Even in the game, getting into the junkyard was notoriously difficult. Thick clouds of orbiting trash surrounded the place, making approach nearly impossible. Even metal-obsessed Metallic Gremlins avoided it.

I had managed to build the nest, but entering and exiting became such a hassle that I eventually gave up.

And she goes there regularly, alone? That’s far from normal.

For someone as cautious as Rank 3 to tolerate the hassle and danger, there must be something valuable there. If we can exploit it, it could be key to capturing Akira.

Still, one thing bugged me.

“You never told Akira you knew about this place?”

“No.”

“Why not? Aren’t you both in the same ruling faction?”

“She could stab me in the back someday. I have to keep a card or two up my sleeve too.”

He looked at me like he couldn’t believe I’d even asked. It wasn’t the parasite forcing him to speak the truth, he genuinely meant it.

‘Right. That’s the kind of guy he’s always been.’

Even in the game, he was infamous for always clinging to whichever powerful figure could protect him, constantly switching sides. That personality clearly hadn’t changed.

“Then I assume you know some of the other members’ weaknesses too?”

“Well, not exactly weaknesses, but I do have some useful information…”

Still, it meant I had a valuable informant now. I’d call that a win.

Anyway, I’d heard enough of what I needed. Time to start planning how to take down Akira for good.

‘But before that…’

Something popped into my mind.

“You went to the ZER-11 conflict zone to hunt the Arcane Orca, right?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“What was your backup plan in case the hunt failed?”

The Arcane Orca isn’t something you take down easily. Even with special perks, success is never guaranteed.

He’d hunted multiple powerful Apex creatures before. He must’ve had contingency plans like scouting info on another Arcane Orca, for instance.

At my question, his eyes shifted uncomfortably.

“Uh, are you asking because you want to know where another Arcane Orca might be?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I did get information on a second Arcane Orca while gathering intel, but… there was a bit of an issue.”

“Issue?”

“The Wolf tribe chieftain who knew about the Arcane Orca suddenly died…”

It seemed he tortured a Wolf for the info and ended up killing him.

｢…….｣

Mother of the Sky clicked her beak sharply. Her expression screamed that she wanted to tear him limb from limb.

“Anyone else know besides the chieftain? Any records?”

“They were, um… primitive. They passed down history orally or through woodblock prints. We burned the prints after photographing them, and we eliminated the rest of the useless ones.”

“And the data from those prints, where is it?”

“Pisces the High Commissioner was in charge of it. Since you defeated her, you’d probably know.”

He was only half right.

I had defeated Pisces, but before she died, she deleted most of her data.

Even PS-111, after opening up the High Commissioner’s head, hadn’t found anything about the Wolf tribe’s prints.

‘Wait. Hold on.’

The prints were gone, but there were still Wolf survivors Shinobu didn’t know about the ten children saved by the Mother of the Sky.

As I turned my head, I locked eyes with her.

｢I’ll ask the children.｣

She’d had the same thought as me. She sent a message through her communicator.

Within minutes, a soft light blinked from the device. Her face lit up with relief as she read the reply.

｢You know who ‘Tané’ is, right?｣

“The Wolf with the jackal’s head?”

｢Yes. That child is the next chieftain. Apparently, he’s memorized all the woodblock records. If we give him the proper tools, he said he could recreate them right away.｣

The moment I heard her words, my next move became clear.

“Ask Tané and PS-111 to work together. Have them find where the Arcane Orca might be.”

｢Understood.｣

“And you.”

“Y-yes?”

I extended one of my winged arms and picked Shinobu up.

“You said you knew the weaknesses of the other members, right? Start talking. One by one. Right now.”

“…Yes.”

His face turned pale; he must've realized his days were numbered.

But with the parasite inside him, resistance was impossible. All he could do was force a smile and obey.

‘Unexpectedly, I’ve been handed a second chance.’

Capturing Akira will come after I secure the new unique trait.

I smiled down at Shinobu.

***

A reception room bathed in refined, solemn beauty.

A young woman and a black-haired man sat across from each other, sipping wine.

“Phew…”

“So? How does it taste like the vintage wine crafted to commemorate the headship inauguration?”

Chloe Garmelda closed her eyes to savor the flavor, then gave a slow nod.

“That Wei bastard his personality’s a mess, but the guy sure knows wine.”

“I’m glad it’s to your liking.”

“What do you think? If Li wanted the position of family head, I could help make it happen.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to decline.”

“Right, you’re involved in something more important. No wonder the headship isn’t appealing.”

Li Zhao bowed silently in response. Chloe let out a short laugh and set her glass down.

“Well then, how’s the recent project progressing?”

“Thanks to the data we secured two months ago, it’s moving smoothly. The subject has a psychic power adaptability exceeding cult-level standards, and it’s showing promising results even in environmental simulations.”

“No, not that one. I meant the other project.”

Li hesitated at her words. After glancing around the empty reception room, he replied cautiously.

“Is it alright to speak of it here?”

“It’s fine. No one’s listening in right now.”

“…The ‘Dream’ project, under the Supreme Leader’s direction, is progressing well. Also, we recently made significant strides in stabilizing the ‘World Engine’.”

“Oh? So that’s why you’ve been dodging my calls.”

Its official name is Jacob’s Dream, often just called ‘the Dream’. It’s a top-secret project overseen by both Chloe and Zubaka. Not even Akira, the leader of the Ruling Faction and CEO of Megacorp, is aware of it.

More accurately, the project has been disguised as a supplement to a long-running plan Akira’s been preparing. It’s being conducted in Star Union territory, far from Megacorp’s oversight, to ensure Akira never finds out.

“Once the World Engine is completed, the whole project will wrap up quickly. How much longer do they estimate?”

“According to the researchers, at least one more year.”

“A year, huh. Maybe it’s because the old man’s in that state, but progress really has picked up.”

Chloe took another satisfied sip from her glass.

Li poured more wine into her empty glass and asked quietly:

“Still no improvement with the CEO?”

“I checked yesterday. No change.”

“An ‘unknown coma’, they said. Strange that even the Yujin family’s tech can’t identify the cause, let alone treat it.”

Two months ago

Akira had led a mixed fleet of Megacorp and Star Union ships to subdue the Amorph. But instead, he was defeated. Thankfully, he hadn’t been devoured… but a different problem arose.

On the return trip, Akira was ambushed and fell into a coma. While the ship’s logs identified the attacker, how he had been struck down remained a mystery.

And of course, no ordinary assassin could do that to Akira. Both Chloe and Li were well aware of that.

“Could it have been the Amorph?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

Chloe shook her head, rejecting the idea.

If it were that insane monster, it would've just devoured Akira on the spot. It wouldn’t have let him live.

After all, Akira is practically a treasure trove of genetic essence.

No, the culprit wasn’t the Amorph. It had to be someone else.

‘…There is one guy who comes to mind.’

Beomho, a powerhouse ranked seventh, and the leader of the Returners.

His unique perk is the ability to control others’ minds. It wasn’t impossible that he had sent an assassin to target Akira.

Of course, that was just speculation. No need to say it out loud.

And truthfully, whoever the culprit was didn’t matter to her.

“Well, thanks to that, the upcoming election just tipped in our favor. If things continue like this, T&C will secure the CEO seat.”

“That would certainly accelerate our project’s progress.”

The two exchanged silent smiles and raised their glasses.

Just as the glasses were about to clink, the hovering chair Chloe was sitting in lit up.

“Hm?”

“What is it?”

Someone from the Garmelda household had sent her a message despite her earlier command to delay all correspondence until after the meeting.

‘Who dares…?’

She scowled. And just then, a knock came at the reception room door.

“Who is it?”

“This is the assistant to Chief Researcher Li Zhao! I have urgent news!”

“Come in.”

At Chloe’s command, the door slid open automatically.

A sweat-drenched Asian man rushed in and whispered hurriedly into Li Zhao’s ear. At the same time, Chloe finally opened the message from her family.

‘What the hell is this?’

“L-Lady Chloe!”

Li Zhao sprang to his feet, flustered. But she didn’t scold him she was just as shocked.

“Simultaneous Outspacer incidents within Megacorp territory?”

“That’s not all! T-The Cult Empire is under Outspacer attack as well!”

Outspacers appearing simultaneously in both Megacorp and the Cult Empire.

She knew exactly what that meant.

‘…That lunatic Empress!’

A major event, repeatedly recorded in the histories of both factions

The Great Outspacer Assault… had just begun.

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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