Chapter 79


    “Akira sir, We’ll soon arrive at the T&C Special Trade Center.”


    Akira Yujin, who was taking a break in the special capsule that regtes his body, opened his eyes at the voice of his subordinate. As the capsule opened, a young woman approached him.


    She was astonishingly beautiful butcked any emotions in her eyes. She held the position of Code ck among the shadows of the Yujin family, making her one of Akira’s closest aides.


    Without any expression, she handed Akira a towel and a ck beverage.


    “How much time has passed?”


    “It’s been a week since we started the journey.”


    “We’ll be a daytepared to the scheduled date.”


    He didn’t ask what happened or why they were dyed. The shadows would have handled it well. In the ship they were on, the gship of the Yujin family named ‘Heaven Sword,’ three shadows were on board to escort Akira, not just Code ck but also Code Red and Code Blue were performing security duties somewhere inside the ship.


    Akira casually tossed the towel aside and left the capsule room.


    Code ck, leaving the handling of the capsule room to the others, followed behind Akira.


    As they walked towards the bridge together, Akira spoke suddenly.


    “The T&C Special Trade centre. It was thriving even before I became the head.”


    “Is that so?”


    “They called it ‘Hwamu Shipilhong (花無十日紅)’ which means When the moon bes full, things are bound to tilt.”


    [Note:- “花無十日紅” is a Korean idiom that trantes to ‘Flowers Bloom for Ten Days Without Withering.’ This expression conveys the idea of predictability or inevitability, suggesting that certain events follow a natural course, much like the cyclical nature of flowers blooming and the full moon rising. It symbolizes the fleeting nature of moments and serves as a metaphor for the impermanence of life’s pleasures.]


    Before Akira Yujin, who had been re-elected as CEO three times, two families held the longest reign over the MegaCorp throne: the Veda family, famous for android and AI development, and the Garmelda family, renowned for enhancedbat.


    In the early days of Mega Corp, the Veda family monopolized the CEO position, but they rapidly declined after the rise of the StarUnion. Currently, the Veda family barely maintained their status under Noble Capital.


    In contrast, the Garmelda family, who received support from the Elders of the Eden family, sustained its dominance as the CEO of the MegaCorp for a long time.


    Following Garmelda, the next influential family among the noble capital was T&C.


    As they held significant sway in space development, T&C never lost its top position in Noble Capital.


    “At that time, the Yujin family didn’t have much influence in the upper ss of the MegaCorp. Some mocked us as a family which belonged to the lower sses.”


    While slightly exaggerated, what Akira said wasn’t entirely inurate. The impact of Yujin’s cheap gically modified food for the lower-tiered capitals was substantial. In fact, Yujin’s share in Megacorp’s food supply was almost 50 percent.


    However, despite its importance in Megacorp, the Yujin familycked influence over other Noble Capitals. As one ascended in the capital tiers, the consumption of gically modified food sharply declined.


    As a result, during the council meetings for the CEO selections, the Yujin family frequently faced defeat from the other families.


    The turning point for Yujin was when their Hulk mutants were deployed on the front lines.


    The previous generations actively pursued using gically modified soldiers in war due to their potential. And it was during Akira’s time as the new head of the family that they finally saw the fruition of that strategy by selling the Hulk mutants to other families.


    Of course, there was opposition within the family to Akira’s decision to sell what was essentially a secret weapon, but he wasn’t worried. Yujin’s gic modification technology was unparalleled.


    Other families attempted to develop the Hulk mutants but failed due to technological shorings.


    “Recently, Eden’s coward seems to be ying games, but it’s unlikely that it will reap fruits.”


    Akira utilized his shadows to scout for information on various families within the MegaCorp, so he already knew what the Eden family was nning.


    “Are you referring to the Silver Lion Knights?”


    “That’s right. Mixing just two or three genes and bbering about the essence of gic modification technology, isn’t it rather amusing?”


    If Denver listened to this, he would have been greatly infuriated, but Akira had the right to say such things.


    In fact, Code ck standing before him now justified this.


    Those belonging to the shadows were ultimate biological weapons synthesized with over dozens of gic types.


    “It seems T&C’s snake intends to only take out the filling through Eden, but they started wrong from the first button. It would have been better if they supported our Yujin family.”


    Of course, the likelihood of Samdam, who coveted the CEO position more than anyone else, forming an alliance with Akira was low. Even if he requested, Akira wouldn’t haveplied with it.


    During their non-verbal conversation, they arrived at the bridge.


    The soldiers on the bridge, who were focused on their duties, quieted down and bowed their heads when they saw Akira.


    “Hehehe, it seems this council meeting will be truly enjoyable.”


    Akira, who sat on themander’s seat on the bridge, smiled looking forward to the uing council meeting.


    ***


    ‘A Gic storage. It’s been a while since I’ve been here.’


    Under the blue lighting, dissected bodies of creatures were visible in various ces.


    Some were stacked on stainless steel tables, while those resembling human bodies were vacuum-sealed in stic hanging from hooks on the ceiling.


    The eerie feeling from the lighting and the creepy scene were just like in a game, but there were two differences: the cold breeze from the air conditioning units on the walls and the smell emanating from the bodies.


    These sensations were beyond what a game could provide.


    “Now that I see it for real, it gives a very ufortable feeling.”


    There was an incident where I once ambushed users hiding among corpses in here, and they questioned why I always popped out in scary ces.


    At that time, I couldn’t fathom why they were making such ridiculousints, but now, it was definitely an atmosphere worthy ofint.


    “T-the gic list you requested.”


    The team leader, who was under my control because of the parasite inside him, handed me a terminal pad.


    I had requested it beforeing here to find out what was in the gic storage.


    ‘I need to pick out what to consume first.’


    In the unlikely event of an unforeseen urrence, it might be challenging to obtain gic samples.


    Hence, selecting and consuming what was necessary first would minimize losses in case of an ident.


    ‘Let’s see.’


    Using my small arms, I carefully checked the list disyed on the pad.


    ‘Hmm.’


    The variety of species held here was less diverse than what I expected. There were just numerous samples collected from the same species.


    ‘But that’s not necessarily bad.’


    Even considering only the traits obtained from humans, there were more than one or two.


    The same went for other creatures.


    Even if the number of species was limited, each creature could offer various traits.


    ‘I should target samples from species that have beneficial traits.’


    I scrolled down the list slowly, inspecting it meticulously.


    Initially, I thought the list was unsatisfactory, but midway, I noticed two creature types holding traits I needed.


    ‘A Metallic Gremlin? And…’


    The sample of the other creature that caught my attention was something I could never obtain here under normal circumstances.


    ‘I understand the Metallic Gremlin, but…’


    It was puzzling why T&C possessed a sample of a creature posing a significant threat to the space city.


    Metallic Gremlins, as a species, had the negative trait of ‘Dwarfism’ throughout their entire race. Just as Amorph couldn’t interact with other races, Metallic Gremlins could never grow taller than 1 meter, no matter what they did. Even the tallest among them, the King Gremlin, was around 1 meter 50 centimeters.


    “They probably injected the dwarfism trait to make their employees weaker”


    While I could understand the Metallic Gremlin, I was quite puzzled about how ‘that’ sample was obtained by T&C.


    “How… did you acquire… this?”


    “It’s a sample collected while dissecting the smuggled animals.”


    The world is vast, and there are many people, indeed.


    ‘I hadn’t expected someone to smuggle ‘that’ .’


    When considering its size, we’d need a container at least five timesrger than the harbor Earth’s containers.


    ‘Well, there are people smuggling Mountain Crawlers and Gallogons, so why not?’


    I roughly agreed and nced over the rest of the list.


    Apart from the two creatures, there didn’t seem to be any other organisms with particrly important traits.


    ‘Still, obtaining its genes would yield tremendous results.’


    It’s because that specific creature possessed traits that could help me unlock a new type.


    Getting that type would significantly expand what I could do.


    ‘Especially since it grants the ability for space travel.’


    Quietly chanting with excitement, I selected around 30 samples and instructed the team leader to get them.


    As expected, the team leader, who saw ‘that’ gic sample, showed signs of concern.


    “Is..is this the creature you’re referring to?”


    “Five samples of a rare species require a p-permit. Perhaps something else…”


    “No.”


    Even if it meant giving up everything else, ‘that’ had to be collected at all costs.


    Ultimately, the team leader left the Gic storage with a distressed expression.


    “What… What should we do?”


    “Wait.”


    Even with the assurance of doing nothing, the faces of the three researchers were filled with anxiety.


    Unfortunately, they had only one future left.


    A sacrifice to calm the aftermath of the ‘Symbol of Hunt’.


    ‘But how can I lure the Cult members here?’


    It’s better to consume it while the effects of the ‘Symbol of Hunt’ persist.


    It’s an opportunity to obtain valuable traits in the psychic category.


    “I remember each surveince team had a total of three members.”


    If I could pull all three simultaneously, it would be ideal, but the probability was low.


    ‘One must always remain in the control room.’


    The original n was to lure Cult members into the Gic storage using the researchers and inject the parasite in them when they arrived.


    But after seeing the list, I decided to change my ns slightly.


    ‘If I acquire traits from Metallic Gremlin, I can be more proactive.’


    Metallic Gremlins possess a trait like an EMP that disrupts all the machinery in their vicinity.


    With that trait, it wouldn’t be difficult to seize not only one Cult member but also control the management room.


    So, deliberately increasing the chance of extracting good traits, I requested multiple samples per organism.


    There were a total of 8 samples each for Metallic Gremlin and ‘that’ in the storage.


    Meaning, I had 8 opportunities to acquire the traits of those creatures each.


    ‘Of course, if all I get is dwarfism, it’s a total loss


    However, even with dwarfism, I could deploy various strategies, like navigating through venttion ducts or ambushing enemies by hiding in human corpses. In this Monument, where there were many spaces essible to small bodies, dwarfism wasn’t a bad trait for assaulting the building.


    ‘The problem is, in this game, once you acquire a trait, you can’t discard it.’


    Unless the transcendent system eliminates the dwarfism trait, I’ll be unable to exceed 1m in height until I reach ascendant.


    With numerous adversaries ahead, some needing to be subdued by force, dealing with them alone won’t be easy with a small stature.


    ‘Though I don’t n on acquiring it anyway.’


    “I’ve brought them.”


    While pondering how to handle Cult members, the team leader returned.


    He ced the capsule containing the samples on a stainless steel table.


    ‘Great. Shall we begin then?’


    I activated the ‘Symbol of Hunt’.


    “Eek?!”


    As my body rapidly grew, the researchers inside the Gic storage gasped in awe. My exoskeleton covered my eyes, and my horn grew evenrger. My body swelled, reaching nearly 5m from the initial 3m. Thanks to the tail’s corresponding ergement, thebined length of my body and tail nearly approached 10m. Combat-ready arms sprouted, resembling shields at the wrists and two bone-ded arms emerged from my back.


    “Grrrr…”


    I growled softly, feeling the overwhelming sensation throughout my body.


    One of the overwhelmed researchers seemed on the verge of fainting, whimpering,


    “Uhh…”


    Then came the rising smell of ammonia. But no one med him; they all had identical expressions.


    Ignoring their reactions, I used my smaller arm to pick up the capsule containing the samples.


    The surface of the capsule was inscribed with the words ‘Skywhale’.


    ‘Shall we unlock a new type then?’


    I needed the traits of ‘that,’ the Skywhale, the most. I ced the capsule with the gic samples of Skywhale in my mouth. The capsule broke inside, and the essence of the gic material permeated my body.


    ‘Alright. Sess…’


    [Predation effect activated! Sessfully Obtained ‘Space Flight (Iplete)’ gic essence.]


    [Extracted ‘Space Flight (Iplete)’ from the biological traits of ‘Skywhale’.]


    [Do you want to apply ‘Space Flight (Iplete)’?]


    [Note: Cheats are not allowed.]


    [An urgent message has arrived.]


    As always when the predation effect urred, a semi-transparent text box appeared. This time, it contained additional information.


    ‘What? No cheats allowed? Seriously?’


    I hurriedly opened the urgent message.


    [When the predation effect is triggered for a sample during the ‘Symbol of Hunt’, only Iplete units of gic essence will be obtained. Topletely acquire a trait, the predation effect targeting the same trait from the same sample must ur twice.]


    [Note: This is for bncing the Transcendence System.]


    ‘Crazy.’


    I have faced a lot of adversities since I arrived in this world. At the beginning I had panicked because of the unfamiliar body and struggled to survive against those adversities.


    Furthermore, there were situations unfamiliar to me in the game, and I had found myself in danger.


    But I, as the sole yer among the Amorphs who had entered the ranker level, utilized my experience and knowledge I gained over a long time of ying as an Amorph to ovee obstacles.


    Hence, I had forgotten that Space Survival was an insanely challenging game.


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