Chapter 115

Chapter 115 Chapter 115 “Hey, it’s time for the shift change.” “Ugh, thought I was gonna die of boredom.” “The acting captain called. Go before bedtime.” “Damn, is the guy relieving me of working on self-improvement? Why isn’t he here?” The pirates patrolling outside the ship grumbled and kicked the dirt in annoyance. The pirate taking over the shift smirked and teased him, Fịndd new updates at novelhall.com “No need to envy. He has to write a report about the cargo we sent a few days ago.” “Oh, that? Sending those captured Wolf slaves to the camp in the backwoods?” “Yeah. With the number of people being sent there, he probably hasn’t slept for days.” “Haha, idiot, should’ve written it earlier. He’s in deep trouble now.” They mocked their colleague who would be dealing with the aftermath of their actions while starting to gossip among themselves. It was a monotonous patrol duty carried out in three shifts. It’s unbearable without some chatter. “Let’s have a smoke break.” “The guy taking over should be here soon.” “It’s an e-cigarette anyway, what’s the difference?” “True.” The pirate who spoke first took out an e-cigarette from his pocket and pressed a small switch. Inhaling the thick synthetic narcotic in the cigarette deeply, he had a dazed expression. “Ah, damn, this is ecstasy.” “Let me have a drag too... huh?” The temporary street lamp above them suddenly flickered and went out. As the dim darkness descended, they turned on the headlights attached to their helmets. “What’s happening?” “Everything else is fine.” “What’s going on there?” “The street lamp went out here!” When a colleague from a distance asked what was going on, they waved their hands, claiming it was nothing. The street lamps above the distant colleagues were shining brightly. “Did the power go out? Why suddenly... damn!” “What’s wrong?” “A damn mosquito got into my ear!” The pirate with the cigarette in his mouth nervously scratched his ear and pointed the headlight towards the street lamp. “Huh?” “What’s this?” As the two examined the lamp, something strange caught their eyes. From under the buried lamp base, silver moss-like substance was emerging, spreading up to the top of the lamp. “Is this moss?” “Why moss all of a sudden? And why is the ground so damp when it hasn’t even rained?” As soon as those words were spoken, the wet soil began to stir. Soon, a brightly colored plant pierced through the earth. The plant looked like a vibrant red vine with tiny thorn-like stems running all over its surface. “What’s this? A mushroom? What is it?” “....” The pirate with the e-cigarette frowned at the mysterious plant. Despite its beautiful color, there was an inexplicable sense of discomfort about it. He took out a communication device and called his colleague, who was staring blankly at the plant. “Hey, we need to report this.” “...It’s beautiful.” “What did you say?” “I’m going crazy with beauty!” The pirate who hadn’t smoked a cigarette approached the plant with an ecstatic expression. Suddenly, the vine that had been still flew towards him so quickly that it wrapped around his face, invisible to the naked eye. “Oh, damn!” “Hehe...hehehe.” The pirate, who knelt down and pressed his face into the vine, was horrified as he looked at his colleague. He quickly activated the communication device, attempting to contact inside the cruiser. If only it weren’t for the voice calling him from a distance. “A woman?” Clearly, the sound he heard in his ear was the lustful moan of a woman. It echoed as if flowing out from inside a cave, but there was no mistaking it. He loved getting involved with women. “Perfect. Time to have some fun after a long time.” The pirate followed the voice with bloodshot eyes. He was so focused that he didn’t even realize that blood was flowing from his ears. “You damn idiot, you’re done now.” Following the voice, he leaped into the bushes. Along with him, a familiar sound reached his ears. The sound was that of mines buried around them being triggered. The flames of ultra-high temperature rose from the ground, engulfing him. ‘Is this the beginning.’ The nest installed deep underground reports to me. There are continuous vibrations of various scales happening on the surface. Lying leisurely in the nest, linked to it, I could observe everything happening on the surface. Pirates infected with ‘hallucinogenic bugs’ were jumping onto the mines, turning the area around the cruiser into complete chaos. Even the pirates who managed to avoid the surprise attack of hallucinogenic bugs were not unscathed. Because they were entangled by the tempting pheromones emitted from the ‘Sticky Lurker’ growing from the ground. As the name suggests, the Sticky Lurker is a carnivorous plant that approaches victims near the nest and devours them. It has almost no direct combat capabilities, but it entices enemies by emitting unique tempting pheromones, holding them in place. In the setting, the tempting pheromones emitted by the Sticky Lurker give the prey a euphoric pleasure similar to drugs. It doesn’t work on species with bodies replaced by machinery like cyborgs or androids, but it works very well on sentient species like humans. ‘Those who catch a whiff of this scent probably want to devour all the dirt.’ Moreover, I am currently in a state where I possess enhanced pheromone characteristics. Some of my physical characteristics also apply to the nest, so it is probably not easy for them to withstand the pheromones emitted by the Sticky Lurker. Because I used this characteristic a lot to seduce others before, some players in the community called me an ‘addictive moff.’ ‘It’s the fault of those who get caught.’ Anyway, as their colleagues suddenly go crazy, the heavily armored walkers guarding the perimeter will be extremely bewildered. The 5th rank Amorph player is infamous even in foreign countries, and she is aware of it. However, the mother of the sky’s attitude was clearly abnormal. She is also a ranker like Muriel, even 15th place above Muriel, a Wolf ranker. Even if the opponent had a higher ranking in the past, isn’t he just a fallen star now? Moreover, the mother of the sky she saw here was highly skilled. “She even learned Divine Manifestation.” Divine Manifestation is known as a challenging technique to learn among Wolf’s advanced skills. Muriel knew that the mother of the sky didn’t have a high enhancement level, unlike other players. She chose to live with the current residents, and amidst that, she managed to learn Divine Manifestation. That in itself shows that she is no ordinary player. “If I hadn’t brought that equipment, I wouldn’t have won.” Originally, it was a “weapon” brought to subdue the Earth Father. Anyway, Muriel couldn’t understand why the formidable mother of the sky feared the guy so much. “Surely, the two of them must have met and fought in a past game.” The reaction seemed to be exclusive to those who had encountered him and experienced something unpleasant. “Perhaps the mother of the sky suffered a devastating defeat. That fear must stem from those memories,” Muriel thought. “If that guy is as formidable as you say, you might not be safe either. If you don’t want to die...” “Tch! You killed my family. I’d sell my soul to Amorph if it means I can kill you!” “Hmm, is that so?” The excruciating torture was something Muriel, as the designer, knew very well. Yet, the mother of the sky remained unbroken. Muriel signaled the pirates to stop the torturous wheel. “How about we have a chat with your beloved family?” “What?” When she waved her hand, other pirates brought in Wolf captives. The Wolves, their throats bound by metal wire, were all young boys. “You damn bastard!” “Alright, brothers. Bring in the wheel.” “Stop it!” The pirates brought a wheel similar to the one used to torture the mother of the sky. Seeing the brutal torture tool, the young Wolf captives began to tremble in distress. “Let me ask you one last time. If you don’t answer, these Wolf friends of yours here will all participate in an organ exhibition.” “You damn bitch! You’re just like me! But how can you do such a thing!?” “Ah, noisy. Tell us quickly. Or else, might my brothers do something bad?” The mother of the sky could tell that Muriel’s words were not false. The malicious pirate leader still had enough cruelty left in him. “...I’ll talk. I’ll tell you everything, so don’t touch them.” “That depends on your attitude.” “What do you want to know?” “Have you ever fought against him? Tell me what happened.” Finally succumbing to Muriel’s threats, the mother of the sky began her story with a submissive attitude. “...You know about that, right? The Shepherd Planet Battle.” “The battle where four clans gathered on a deserted planet? The one where all hell broke loose because they wanted to capture one player... Ah. Don’t tell me?” “Yeah. That was a gathering to capture that Amorph player. I was the leader of the Savage Clan, one of the clans that participated.” Muriel was unaware that the mother of the sky was once a clan leader. This was because the mother of the sky was famous for rejecting membership offers from renowned clans in the game. “At that time, he wasn’t a ranker. He was just a Pre-Saint, and that’s all. So, we thought we would easily win. But...” “But?” “He destroyed our spaceship within an hour of entering the planet. He destroyed all the communication towers responsible for contacting external spaceships, leaving only one. Blocking our escape route was probably his plan. After that, one or two of us were hunted down by him in the jungle. He acted as if he knew our plans completely, making any strategy useless.” “...” “Skinned corpses? That’s just the tip of the iceberg. He ridiculed us in every imaginable way. Because of him, we fell apart, fought against each other. Well, that was probably his intention.” The mother of the sky spoke calmly, but strong emotions were deeply embedded in her words. “...A communication tower still remains, right? If you contact the outside, you can call for reinforcements.” “Kekeke, that’s right. Only one communication tower from one of the four clans remains. At first, we thought they had betrayed us since it was the only one left. But as time passed, we could rely on each other, waiting for the reinforcements brought by that clan.” The mother of the sky’s bitter expression revealed the subsequent events to Muriel. “Perhaps reinforcements never arrived as expected. However, the truth that came from the mother of the sky’s lips surpassed her expectations.” “Later, I found out there was a reason why that communication tower remained.” “What was it?” “He deliberately left it there.” “What?” “The clan members at the communication tower were already dead, and all this time, he had been imitating the clan members. He knew everything about our meetings and had been providing false reports externally.” “...” “After that, he deceived us multiple times. We couldn’t endure, suffered a complete annihilation, and my clan fell apart completely. We were so deceived by him that we couldn’t trust each other anymore.” Hearing those words, Muriel thought, “That Amorph player is truly insane,” and realized the dire situation she was in. “Well, anyway, it’s just a game....” “Yes, it’s a game. But this is reality. He emerged in reality. How can you be so calm when you have no idea what terrifying tactics he might employ?” “...Even so, I’m just a virtual entity!” “While you’re enjoying yourself here!” The mother of the sky’s scream interrupted her words. The impact of that momentary outcry was so terrifying that Muriel flinched. “He has already prepared everything to torment you. By now, the battleship may already be in his hands, right?” Upon hearing those words, Muriel began to feel rapidly uneasy. “Could it be? No, that’s impossible.” She tried to act nonchalant and called over a subordinate responsible for communication. It was to establish contact with the battleship. Due to the radio interference spread throughout the jungle, communication was only possible with special equipment, which took some time to connect to the battleship. After a while, the subordinate brought an activated communication device. Taking the device, she questioned the battleship with a voice unintentionally trembling. “Brothers, is everything okay on your end?” “Crackle, crackle.” Instead of an answer, the returning sound was just noise. When her gaze turned to the subordinate, he gestured that the connection was already established. “If anyone is alive, respond!” “Crackle, is that you? Crackle.” As the words came through the communication device, she felt fear and shivers.