I Became an Evolving Space Monster
Chapter 439

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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Chapter 439

｢Warped Abomination: Your flesh is familiar with beings beyond the stars. Some effects of your unique traits have been restructured. You can no longer use certain physical, special defense, and internal organ traits. Energy-based attacks now include bio-plasma and psychic power.

*Transcendent Awareness: You can sense biological reactions and emotions through intangible energy fields projected externally.

*Asymmetrical Entity: Physical prowess deteriorates, but energy manipulation improves.

*Note: With this, you've taken one step closer to the Threshold.｣

The unique trait Warped Abomination, forged from the attributes of Apex beings—or creatures on par with them.

It was drastically different in nature from the unique traits I had acquired before. That was because it was the only one capable of restructuring the effects of other traits.

‘Restructuring traits, huh.’

In the game, the only way to alter a trait’s effect was through fusion. The same applies here.

The closest precedent was Horizon of Nightmares, which slightly altered trait behavior—but even that was nothing compared to this. A new text box had appeared just to summarize the changes.

｢Would you like to review the changes caused by ‘Warped Abomination’?｣

‘Yes.’

Upon confirming, a flood of text unfolded before me:

｢Restricted Traits

① Physical Type: Claws, Reinforced Hind Legs, Heated Spine Spikes, Fins, Webbed Feet, Bone Beast, Monster’s Reinforced Wings, Humanoid Parasite

④ Special Defense Type: Stealth Movement, Refracting Carapace

⑥ Internal Organ Type: Reinforced Endoskeleton, Bioelectric Discharge Tubes, Berserker Synapse

*Restructured Traits

▸ Organic Evolution: ‘Clever Weakling’ has been replaced by ‘Unknown Usurper’.

▸ Unknown Usurper: Transforms into a miniature creature specialized in bodily transformation and mimicry. The reduced form never exceeds 2 meters. Only select traits may be used in this state, but unique bonuses are granted. Max duration: 7 days. Cooldown: 30 days.

Skinwalker: Consumes stored genetic data and specific organic matter to transform into an intelligent lifeform. Used genetic data cannot be recovered.

House of Flesh: In Skinwalker state, acquiring new organic matter extends the transformation duration. However, continued use requires meeting specific conditions.

Restricted Traits: Nesting, Environmental Adaptation, Multidimensional Being Traits, Unique Traits, and Apex Mark Traits

▸ Great Infector: Previous enhancement categories—Infection and Nest—have been replaced by Mental Corruption. You may choose up to 3 traits from the Infection/Nest categories to grant them special effects.

▸ Herald of Mass Confusion: Trait effects now influence the user’s energy field. Hallucinations apply more intensely to affected targets. You may designate a ‘Madness Bomb’ at will.

▸ Complex Spectral Body: The spectral form becomes a full-body octahedral structure, absorbing part of the unreflected energy.

▸ Heart of the Dragon: Consumes all energy produced by the heart to unleash a large-scale psychic storm. After the blast, you enter a dormant state for a period.｣

‘Still a lot to take in.’

To break it down: many of my physical-type traits had been restricted. Same with several from the special defense and internal organ categories.

Looking at the list, most of the blocked traits were directly tied to physical combat.

Which meant my close-quarters combat ability had dropped drastically.

‘Yeah… no way I can fight up close with this body.’

I glanced down at my wing-arms, now drastically shrunk. The once-imposing membrane was gone, leaving them devoid of grandeur.

And not just the wings. My combat limbs—the ones I used to walk or attack—had atrophied. Even the tiny forearms near my chest, meant for precision tasks, were now barely functional.

Supporting my body with them was difficult, let alone scratching my back or over my head.

As the limbs shrank, so did the width of the belly plate. What used to resemble a crab or spider now resembled a thin, elongated serpent.

That said, the way I moved was nothing like a snake.

I wasn’t slithering belly-down. I floated midair. My twin tails dangled downward, about half their length brushing the ground.

An intangible energy held me aloft. Just like Number 26, who flew with psychic power.

‘Otherwise I’d have to use the Erosive Tentacles like legs...’

With the carapace reduced, the Erosive Tentacles were now exposed. Six Tentacles, sprawled haphazardly across the floor like my tail.

‘Not easy, that.’

It was like trying to walk using shoulder blades. Extremely awkward.

Floating using energy control was far more comfortable.

‘Thankfully, I’ve adapted to this part quickly.’

The sensation was similar to linking with a Nest. The difference was that here, I had to control both my body and the energy field at once.

Still, my body had already reshaped to suit this, making the coordination surprisingly manageable.

While my trunk had regressed to the point that walking was difficult, the head and auxiliary structures beneath the jaw had improved.

My central head had grown massively. Including the head’s carapace, it had to be at least 6 or 7 meters long.

My full body now measured about 30 meters from head to tail—so proportionally, the head had become enormous.

Inside that oversized skull were newly formed organs that supported the brain.

‘Calling them sub-brains doesn’t quite fit… hard to explain.’

Lacking a proper term, I simply referred to them as Control Organs.

Their role was to manage the protective energy field around me, interpret and manipulate various waveforms, and more.

These control organs were also linked to the bio-pipes now relocated to the skull. These short, blunt pipes constantly exuded energy under the organs’ command.

Six horns, a control organ, and bio-pipes—my head was getting crowded, and naturally, heavier.

To support the weight, my once-snakelike neck had thickened and shortened significantly.

‘The side heads didn’t change much, though.’

Unlike the heavily altered central head, the left and right heads remained mostly the same.

The only change was the location of their necks.

Behind the oversized central head, there was an empty space—once occupied by monstrous Tentacles. The side heads had migrated to that spot.

The monster’s tentacles had in turn moved to the area beneath the jaws and between the joints, now resting alongside the auxiliary organs. Right now, a thick bundle of tentacles hung like a beard beneath the chin.

While both the auxiliary organs and tentacles had only changed position—not form—the new control organ had greatly enhanced their functions.

‘Even my psychic breath is way more powerful now.’

I looked up at the deep scar still etched into the ceiling.

The scar in the ceiling—left behind by a psychic breath aimed at a group of Outspacers.

It hadn’t even been a direct hit—just a glancing blow—and yet the damage was immense. At this level, it might rival the orbital weapon Raijin used by the Cult.

‘If only I could reduce its power, it’d be perfect.’

Increasing energy output was easy. The problem was doing the opposite: weakening it or finely adjusting its flow. Even after a month of possessing Warped Abomination, precise control was still difficult.

And it came with an unexpected side effect.

The humans who died upon seeing me—all of them had succumbed to my energy field.

More precisely, the culprit was Herald of Mass Confusion, a unique trait now permanently integrated into my energy field thanks to Warped Abomination.

The effect had become constant—and devastating. Any being without psychic resistance would have its brain melt instantly upon contact with the field.

The real issue was that this energy field did not discriminate between friend and foe.

That was why I couldn’t bring the Mother of the Sky with me.

Even though she had attained a high rank in deification and possessed resistance to mental attacks, she couldn’t fully shield herself from the field’s influence.

She didn’t experience hallucinations, but she did suffer nightmares in her sleep. She said they reminded her of the moment her husband—the Father of the Earth—had died.

I could see her spirit withering day by day. In the end, we had no choice but to separate.

Fortunately, the others were unaffected by hallucinations.

I glanced over at Number 26 and Adhai, who were gleefully smashing apart a building together.

Sea Demons and Red Gallagons were both immune to psychic-based mental interference. Number 26 itself had the ability to induce hallucinations, and Red Gallagons were equipped with invincible defensive traits.

In fact, Number 26 liked being near my energy field. It said it was happy because I reminded it of itself. That made sense—our appearances and movement styles were indeed similar now.

Adhai, on the other hand, clearly didn’t like my transformation.

From a Gallagon’s perspective, my current form was hardly what one would call ‘handsome’, so I could understand her reaction. Still, she admitted that my energy field gave off the aura of a powerful being—and that she did appreciate it.

PS-111 and Isabel were also unaffected, thanks to a special measure.

When PS-111 constructed Isabel and her sister’s bodies, it had modified their brains to handle psychic exposure.

‘Isabel wasn’t happy about that, though.’

When she found out later, she was furious. The two didn’t speak to each other for days. Of course, they’ve made up since then and get along fine now.

｢Resupply is complete. Please inform ‘the younger one’ that departure preparations are ready.｣

｢…Tell her I haven’t found anything good for my sister yet, so she needs to wait.｣

｢For reference, utilizing the MPS would allow us to acquire information far more efficiently than our current methods.｣

｢Oh, really? Then why don’t you do it yourself? Why are we even involved? What do you think, Amorph?｣

｢I believe it would be most efficient to achieve optimal out—｣

I placed the communicator down on the ground without answering.

｢Grurrr?｣

｢Grurr.｣

Yeah… There's still a bit of tension lingering, but things would smooth over soon enough.

In any case, the most noticeable effects after acquiring Warped Abomination had been twofold:

One, the energy field now infused with my unique traits.

Two, my severely weakened physical strength—counterbalanced by vastly improved mental abilities.

In short, it was a classic high-risk, high-reward transformation.

‘There are other notable changes too…’

But those would have to wait. For now, there were more immediate priorities.

I dismissed the text box and looked around.

There were two main objectives behind our coming here.

One was to recharge PS-111’s energy supply. Ever since it had fused Enhanced Prometheus with the brain of a Supreme Councilor, its energy consumption had surged dramatically.

Lately, it's been using even more energy—because I can no longer travel via faster-than-light flight.

The trait Monster’s Reinforced Wings had been restricted, so now PS-111 had to carry me using Prometheus’s functions. A small intake of organic matter and minerals wasn’t enough to sustain that.

We needed a separate method to acquire energy in bulk.

‘Like raiding a space city, for example.’

The place we were in—VA-04 system—was relatively well known in the game as a logistics hub for resource gathering. Since it offered both energy and supplies, it became our prime target.

‘Still didn’t expect to run into Outspacers here.’

Their sudden appearance had made this the only remaining location in the system where we could harvest energy.

Finding out why the Outspacers were here had become a new objective.

‘There’s no way they came here for no reason.’

From what I knew, this group of Outspacers was under the command of Rank 4 from the Returner faction. The Megacorps were completely under the control of the Dominion faction.

So I needed to figure out whether the Rank 4 had declared war on the Dominion faction—or whether VA-04 was attacked for some other reason.

If it’s the former, then I’d likely be running into Outspacers often while traveling through Megacorp territory.

‘And that means... a higher chance of encountering their Queen.’

Among Outspacers, the Queen isn’t just a reproductive center—she’s also a field commander. Due to the nature of their endless hordes, a middle-tier leader like the Queen is indispensable.

If the Returners and the Dominion were indeed at war, there would likely be multiple Queens deployed across the frontlines. With luck, I might secure another unique trait even before capturing Akira.

To track the Outspacers’ movements, Isabel and I had been searching through the ruins of the city, gathering intel.

‘Still, at this rate, we won’t learn much.’

None of the city’s survivors had lived after exposure to my energy field. Anyone who lasted more than a few minutes either killed themselves in a frenzy or had their brain melt into mush.

Though my mimicry organ hadn’t been restricted and still worked, it didn’t matter—there was no point disguising myself as a human if there were no humans left to deceive.

‘Unless...’

I retraced every bit of information I’d seen and processed so far.

The standing of this orbital base, the behavior and patterns of its owning family, the Edgerton family, the wildcard factor of the Outspacers—and…

‘The new ability I acquired.’

If I combined all of this… I could continue the investigation in a way that suited me best.

Having made up my mind, I sent a pulse signal to Isabel and PS-111.

｢You always do this when something big happens. You never say anything and just handle it all alone.｣

｢Criticizing based on information not within my memory cache will not yield a productive response.｣

｢And every time you're cornered, you say you don’t remember. Why are you even like th—｣

[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZ (You two, quiet for a second. I think it’s time to use Unknown Usurper.)]

｢Well said, Amorph. Wait—‘Unknown’ what now?｣

The pulse, fired from one of my enhanced monster tentacles, reached the two of them from afar. Once they registered the signal, they immediately stopped bickering.

｢Are you considering using your transformation ability?｣

[ZZ (Yeah.)]

｢But every time you use that, it consumes genetic data. You were saving it for emergencies, weren’t you?｣

True. But if ever there was a time to use it, it was now. I explained my plan and next steps to both of them.

｢Based on my analysis, this method would reduce energy consumption by up to 40%.｣

｢Not a bad plan. But isn’t it risky?｣

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (I’ve run similar ops before. It'll be fine.)]

｢Ah… yeah. Fair.｣

No objections.

The transformation form that had replaced Clever Weakling—one of the perks of Organic Evolution: Unknown Usurper.

Now was the perfect time to play that card.

***

"We are approaching the Edgerton Resource Management Hub."

"The distress signal?"

"Still active."

The operations room looked as though it had been carved from pure marble—ornate, extravagant.

The special rescue team commander, dispatched from the Edgerton family, gave a firm nod from the captain’s chair.

A month had passed since the massive assault. Battles were erupting all across Megacorp-controlled territory, and Edgerton was no exception to the Outspacer invasion.

In a situation where every single ship was invaluable, the reason for dispatching a rescue team was simple: extract information from survivors—intel about the enemy’s specs, scale, and tactics.

The Edgerton family specialized in starship construction. They excelled at analyzing threats and rapidly upgrading their vessels accordingly. The more data they could gather, the faster they could develop ships designed to counter the Outspacers.

"The Outspacers may have retreated, but we can’t afford to let our guard down. If you detect any anomalous biological signatures in VA-04, report immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

The state-of-the-art warship, a relic from the civil war era, cautiously closed the distance to its target.

Before long, the outer cameras captured the ruined remains of the orbital city.

"Tch. What a mess."

The rescue team commander clicked his tongue upon seeing the massive cracks splintering the city’s outer walls. Just from that alone, it was clear the city's defenders had fought fiercely.

Yet, regardless of how bravely they fought, their fate was already sealed.

They had lost. And once the survivors coughed up everything they knew, the Edgerton family would send them the bill—the formal claim for damages.

Considering what came after receiving that claim, death might have been a kinder fate.

"No unusual signals detected within the system."

"Good. Deploy the rescue shuttles."

The commander didn’t care what would become of those they rescued. At his command, the shuttles disembarked from the warship.

｢Rescue Team 1: Landed near Command Tower One.｣

｢Rescue Team 2: Entered the dome. Advancing toward Command Tower Four.｣

｢Gravity stabilizers still operational. Remaining oxygen in the area is at 25%.｣

｢Rescue Team 1: Synchronized with zone map. Beginning movement toward the bunker.｣

｢Rescue Team 2: Landing near Command Tower Four complete.｣

The rescue squads—composed of armored troopers in powered suits, hulking plasma-armed mutants, and combat androids—began their advance toward the designated bunker.

Back in the operations room, all eyes were fixed on the live holographic feed of the mission.

｢Rescue Team 1: ETA to bunker, three minutes eleven seconds. No other survivors detected so far.｣

｢Rescue Team 2: En route to target. Still no surviv—wait!｣

Just as the mission appeared to be going smoothly, a soldier from Team 2 suddenly shouted.

｢Rescue Team 2! We've found survivors! Repeat: survivors located!｣

"What?!"

The commander’s eyes widened in surprise. The report said the survivors weren’t inside the bunker—but outside.

In orbital cities, the domes are crucial—they protect the population and stabilize the environment. If those fail, survival rates plummet.

No one present had expected to find anyone alive just wandering the streets.

"Hold. Where exactly did you find them?"

｢In the auxiliary building next to the command tower. The Legal Affairs Office. They're claiming they were hiding in an emergency shelter.｣

"The Legal Office, huh..."

As one of the critical facilities, it did indeed contain an emergency shelter. They had likely survived by consuming the oxygen capsules stored inside.

"How many of them? And what are their capital designations?"

｢Ten survivors in total. Nine are Middle Capital conscripts, and one is a Third Capital with work history in Legal Affairs.｣

｢Rescue Team 1: We’ve secured three survivors who sent out the original distress signal.｣

"Have their identities been confirmed?"

｢Yes. Head of Emergency Rations, Chief of Fortress Battery One, and Lead Mineral Researcher. The overall director is presumed dead—likely perished during recon.｣

｢Rescue Team 2: Orders?｣

To that, the commander replied flatly, without a hint of concern.

"Secure all identified survivors. We’ll handle detailed screening on the ship."

｢Understood.｣

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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