-
Second Command''s underground banquet hall.
Normally, this space would remain vacant, but not today.
Representatives from the gxy’s major powers—Megac orp, the Cult Empire, and the Star Union—were gathered in the hall. Each of them was dressed in luxurious attire and indulging in an equally opulent feast.
Everyone present was a key client of Montana Marcio.
Originally, the n was to invite them to the banquet hall after the auction had begun, but the schedule had been deliberately moved forward.
This was due to an unfortunate incident that had taken ce in the fortress.
Montana''s business heavily relies on illicit operations, something the guests were well aware of. Should Montana falter even slightly, these representatives would immediately turn to alternative sources.
That’s why Montana had to do everything in his power to keep them appeased—at least until his subordinates resolved the issue in the underground storage.“How is the meal, everyone?” Montana asked.
The guests responded with silent nods. Their expressions were neutral, not hostile, but far from friendly.
There had been a problem in the underground storage, where their precious goods were being kept. Because of this, the mercenaries they brought with them had already gone to the storage area to confirm the safety of the items.
The reason the guests hadn’t left immediately was because of their status. None of them truly belonged to the upper echelon of society. Instead, they served as proxies, intermediaries who handled the dirty work for their respective factions. They were responsible for overseeing illegal transactions, making them a type of high-level employee.
Naturally, if the goods werepromised and the deal fell through, they too would face consequences. While the Cult Empire might be more lenient, those working for Noble Capital or Prime Capital could face unknown repercussions.
Thus, leaving the banquet immediately wasn’t an option—not until the safety of their goods had been confirmed.
So, they stayed, trusting in Montana’s assurances. Some were hoping he would handle things smoothly, while others were frustrated by the inconvenience, and still others were calcting how they could profit from the situation. Though they smiled, intricate calctions yed out behind theirposed facades.
Montana was no different. He too was running endless calctions in his mind. The damage from the incident was already unavoidable. However, he wondered if he could somehow turn the crisis to his advantage, oveing it spectacrly and cementing a favorable image in their eyes.
He had weathered many challenges before. This time would be no different.
As he convinced himself of this, one of his subordinates cautiously approached him.
"Chairman, sir..." The subordinate hesitated.
"What is it?"
"I have an urgent report. I can’t exin it here..."
Leaving the hall in front of all these guests would be an unwise move, one that Montana normally would have refused.
But then he noticed his subordinate’s hair, soaked with cold sweat.
"Haha, it seems the matter has been resolved. The main course will be served soon, so please bear with us a little longer," Montana said with feigned calm, before allowing his subordinate to guide him out of the banquet hall.
Once outside, however, hisposure shattered.
“Are you telling me we’ve lost contact with all the forces sent to the military port? All of them?”
The worst-case scenario Montana had considered was a significant loss of manpower in the storage area.
But the situation had spiraled far beyond his imagination. Not only had the storage area fallen silent, but even the reserve forces stationed at the military port were now unreachable.
“We managed to get in touch with some of our guys around the port, and it’s aplete disaster down there. Monsters are running wild, ughtering everyone theye across…”
“……”
The situation was dire. It was the greatest crisis he had faced sinceing to power over the fortress.
‘There''s no time to waste.’
“I’m heading to the main control room. You stay and tend to the guests.”
“Understood.”
Sending his subordinate back to the banquet, Montana took the elevator along with his security detail.
The control room was on the 10th floor. As the elevator ascended swiftly, Montana, with his heavy frame, pressed the button with a sense of growing urgency.
-
After dealing with the forces gathered at the storage area, I directed the mutated beings toward themand center. The reason I didn’t apany them was that I had business at the military port.
‘There should be more reserve forces there.’
The pirates I attacked on the train were all heading to the station near the military port. There’s nonding space for patrol ships or hover buses around the storage area for security reasons.
So, the enemy likely gathered arge number of forces at the nearby military port, nning to deploy them incrementally based on the situation.
‘If I can turn all of them into mutants, conquering the fortress will be much easier.’
The mutants would take care of reducing the enemy’s numbers on their own. Moreover, if I could seize control of the military port where their ships were docked, their means of defense would be severely diminished.
For these reasons, I had asked PS-111 to infiltrate the port and carry out some preliminary work.
Now, as I arrived at the military port, I could see the results of its efforts.
“Ugh, ughhhh…”
“Blegh! Cough, cough…”
All around the port, pirates, mercenaries, and various criminalsy sprawled on the ground. PS-111 had hacked the port’s environmental control systems, throwing everything into disarray.
It had first distorted the gravity, making it difficult for the enemies to move, and then lightly dispersed a poisonous gas. Thanks to this, thebat effectiveness of the forces gathered at the port had plummeted.
“Quick, request reinforcements from themand center!”
“Damn it! Thems are down!”
“Stop wasting time! Release the Hulk mutants and hold him back!”
The only downside was that not all the enemies had been subdued. Some had acted quickly after seeing theirrades copse.
Mercenaries and pirates donned gas masks and injected themselves with enhancers, managing to withstand both the gas and the gravity. The Hulk mutants, presumably brought in by Megaorp, wore specially designed bio-masks and were unaffected by the poison.
‘Not a bad response…’
But picking the lesser of two evils doesn’t change the fact that both choices lead to the same end. Having chosen to fight, these enemies had only two possible futures left.
To die, or...
“Open fire!”
The enemy forces, hiding behind buildings, unleashed their full firepower at me. Tungsten rounds from Gauss rifles, depleted uranium shells from storm guns, and physical-damage projectiles, alongside pulse grenades and energy sts designed to disrupt electronics, came flooding my way.
Yet, only a few managed to reach me. All the physical rounds hung motionless in midair.
“What the hell?!”
“What’s going on…?”
Had they been from the Cult, they might have realized why their bullets were suspended in the air. Number 26, hovering above me, was using its powerful psychic abilities to catch every projectile.
[ZZZZZ (Don’t kill them.)]
?Sure.?
Number 26 leapt down from the metallic ceiling with a light thud. The moment itnded, all the captured bullets ttered to the floor.
Standing protectively in front of me, 26’s body rapidly grewrger. Massive fins sprouted from below its torso, while countless tentacles extended from above.
In mere moments, it had grown into a towering monster, 25 meters tall. Its body was covered in innumerable eyes, each one swiveling independently to track the enemies’ positions.
“……”
“……”
None of the enemies could move. The overwhelming terror of something beyond theirprehension gripped them, paralyzing their will to act.
In the dead silence, 26’s attack began.
A surge of intense psychic energy radiated from its body, and its elongated tentacles mmed down onto the buildings above.
“Everyone, scatter!”
“Gahhhh!”
The building, where about ten people were hiding on the roof, copsedpletely under its strike. It wasn’t hard to predict what had be of those inside. The remaining enemies, upon witnessing this, barely managed topose themselves and began to shout in panic.
“Hulk Mutants! Release the Hulk Mutants!”
“Kill it!”
The Hulk Mutants, wearing bio-masks, emerged with rough, heavy breathing. Number 26 stood confidently in front of me and unleashed its psychic power at them.
“Kuuu?”
“Kuack!”
Four Hulk Mutants were simultaneously lifted into the air. Their bodies trembled violently before their limbs were torn off as if subjected to carcheoryeol-hyeong, quartering).
“How can we defeat that monster?!”
“We have to run, now!”
“Everyone, retreat—kraaagh!”
The pirates who tried to flee had their legs twisted 360 degrees by Number 26’s psychic grip. The others, rather than helping theirrades, were too busy worrying about their own safety.
‘Looks like I don’t need to step in.’
As expected, Number 26 was fighting well on its own, even without my intervention.
I extended my tentacles and injected the mutation virus into the enemies who were still alive. The pirates, screaming as bones jutted out of their thighs, fell silent as soon as they made contact with my tentacles.
They shed their weak past selves and became something new. The desire for ughter set them free.
“Kikikikiki!”
“Groooaargh!”
The newly created mutants charged at the dismembered Hulk Mutants.
‘It would be great if I could mutate the Hulk Mutants as well, but it''s a shame.’
The mutation virus wasn’t entirely ineffective, but the results had been underwhelming when I tried it on them. Perhaps it was due to theirplex gic makeup. Instead of a desirable transformation, the mutation went in a less favorable direction.
I gave up on the Hulk Mutants and focused on mutating the living mercenaries, pirates, and other humans.
By the time Number 26 had subdued the enemies, I had been busy enough that the number of mutants had grown to hundreds. I used the ''Messenger of Mass Confusion'' to direct their movements.
?Little one, not that way, go over there.?
“Kikikikiki!”
asionally, some strayed from the group, but Number 26 would capture them one by one. Their necks or waists snapped under its power, and the survivors staggered back to join the rest of the mutants.
‘The harbor seems mostly cleared now.’
I had mutated the dozens of criminals hiding in one of the buildings and nned to merge them into therger group.
‘Is this enough?’
As I pondered that, a sudden sh of light burst from a long cylindrical building in the distance.
A massive beam of light, intense beyond measure, shot toward us, instantly obliterating dozens of the mutants I had created. The force was so great that even I was pushed back a few meters, despite not being in the direct line of fire.
‘Damn!’
What just hit us was one of the fortress’s internal defense cannons. There are six in total, with two installed at each of the threemand centers, and this one had fired from the secondmand center.
‘It seems themand center has realized what’s happening.’
The mutants were still on their way toward themand center. They hadn’t acted because of the mutants but rather due to the loss ofmunication with the military port.
‘But I didn’t expect them to fire the fortress cannon so quickly.’
The fortress cannon is only activated when the situation bes extremely dire. It was designed for scenarios where enemies had breached the fortress itself, and its firepower is immense.
They might know about the mutants, but they don’t know about me. Their response is faster than I anticipated.
?Are you okay, big one??
[Z ZZZ ZZ ZZ ZZ (I’m fine. I’ll shrink down again.)]
Number 26, worried about me, shrank its body back to a smaller size. It could likely deflect the fortress cannon’s beam using its psychic powers, but it would be a risky move. Since there are two cannons, blocking one might leave it vulnerable to the other, which would be fatal.
‘I’ll have to use that.’
I had nned to save it forter, but the situation leaves me no choice.
It’s time to use mytest unique trait, Complex Spectral Structure.
The second cannon at themand center would fire soon. Before that could happen, I activated my unique trait.
As the trait activated, a wave of heat shimmered above my body, like invisible mirages rising into the air. The mirages began to condense into a transparent, disk-shaped shieldrge enough to cover both me and Number 26 at its maximum size.
The disk-shaped mirage gradually solidified and started bending and dispersing the surrounding light. The multicolored, shining disk was simr to my appearance when in the Abyssal Hues state, though slightly different.
Whereas Abyssal Hues gives off a somewhat ominous feel, this light appeared more like something born from a natural phenomenon, simr to light refracted through a prism.
At that moment, another sh of light came from themand center.
A psychic-powered beam, far faster than a Gagon’s breath attack, shot toward the transparent disk floating above me.
What happened next was something the enemies could never have expected.
The beam, blocked by the invisible barrier, scattered into countless rays of light, flying off inpletely different directions.
The disk-shaped mirage, no, Complex Spectral Structure, had one main ability:
‘Reflect energy-based attacks.’
?So shiny and beautiful!?
The meteor shower of light illuminating the fortress and the city burning beneath it.
Just as Number 26 said, it was a truly beautiful sight.