Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 257:

–

After the Wolf who had been commanding the Satuah members left the port, five pirates approached the ship. Although they pretended to be looking elsewhere, their eyes kept glancing at the vessel.

“Am I right or what?”

“…It’s definitely strange that there’s not a single guard watching the ship.”

While the ruling Marcio Cartel would never tolerate chaos within its territory, they didn’t crack down on every minor crime. The guards at the port conducted only the most basic checks, not caring about each ship’s security.

In other words, every ship had to take care of its own defenses. Looking around, pirates or mercenaries could be seen guarding their ships.

But there was no such thing around the Satuah Cartel’s assault ship. There was no movement outside or inside the vessel.

It was as if the ship was completely deserted.

“Looks like we could go in.”

The wide-open door beckoned the pirates, urging them to come in without worry.

After ensuring no one was watching, the five pirates climbed the steps leading to the entrance of the ship.

“Heh, this is going smoothly.”

“We could just take this ship and leave, don’t you think?”

“Don’t get carried away, you idiot. How the hell would you even pilot such a huge piece of crap…”

As they exchanged banter, the pirates went silent the moment they stepped inside.

Only minimal lighting illuminated the corridor. As expected, there was no one inside, but none of the five expressed any joy.

There was something unnervingly unsettling about the dim-lit hallway.

“…Goddamn, this place is creepy.”

“Are they nuts? They came here in this thing?”

If it had just been dark, none of them would have been afraid. They were, after all, space dock regulars who roamed the infinite darkness.

But this ship was different. There was an inexplicable sense of dread lurking within.

“Let’s check things out quickly and get out.”

The pirate with dyed green hair suggested, and the others nodded without a word.

They all felt the ominous air but couldn’t bring themselves to leave empty-handed. They started moving down the shadowy corridor.

The temperature inside wasn’t particularly low. The life-support systems were still running. Yet, the pirates felt an inexplicable chill, as if cold air seeped into their very bones with every breath.

The smell was another strange factor. It wasn’t the unwashed stench of pirates or the odor of smuggled animals. There was an odd, unsettling scent pervading the entire ship.

It was the kind of smell that should have hit them the moment they set foot on the metal steps. Yet, none of them had covered their noses before crossing the doorway.

It felt as though the ship had been waiting for them to board. They didn’t speak of it, but all shared the same thought.

Despite their instinctive fear, nothing actively threatened them. As they moved forward unhindered, they finally came upon a large iron door.

“This should be the cargo hold, right?”

“…Let’s see what’s in there.”

A pirate with a cybernetic eye pulled out a terminal. Connecting it to the door’s cables, he quickly hacked through the lock.

The heavy iron door creaked open, revealing a pitch-black cargo hold.

“Turn on the lights.”

“Not sure we can do that without messing with the ship’s computer.”

“Damn it, really?”

Cursing, the pirates drew their laser pistols, each equipped with a small flashlight on the end.

“Damn, it’s dark in here.”

“Maybe it’s the paint? That’s probably where that smell is coming from.”

“Quiet, both of you. Let’s split up and search.”

“Agreed.”

If the flickering hallway lights had been unsettling, this room was much darker and far more disturbing. Staying here any longer would surely drive them mad. They spread out to search for valuables as quickly as possible.

‘…It felt fine when I first came in.’

The green-haired pirate, relying on the light from his gun, regretted his decision as he moved between the iron cages.

It wasn’t as if they were raiding a rich ship, and this vessel mainly dealt in slaves. Why had he thought it was worth checking out?

In hindsight, it was suspicious that the Satuah bastards didn’t leave any guards behind. Those guys had visited this place more than once.

“Come on, there’s got to be something… huh?!”

He gasped. His light had fallen on something inside one of the iron cages.

“A statue?”

At first, he thought it was a person and was startled, but upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn’t.

Inside the cell was a statue, a human figure sculpted from a translucent, crystalline mineral.

“Damn, thought it was a person.”

The green-haired pirate stepped into the cell and touched the statue. It felt cold and solid, just like any inorganic mineral.

‘It’s incredibly well-made.’

The craftsmanship was so exquisite that the statue almost seemed alive. Especially the expression—it had its eyes and mouth wide open, as if it had witnessed something terrifying, making it look full of life.

It was as if a living person had been instantly turned into a statue.

‘This could be worth a fortune.’

“Hey! Come over here, you guys!”

He wasn’t the only one who had caught the scent of credits. He stepped out of the cell and ran to where his comrades were.

And thus, he failed to notice that the eyes of the statue were now fixed on his back.

–

“We could make a tidy profit even if we just take a few of these.”

“Don’t be greedy. If we take too many, they might notice. Let’s just grab three for now.”

Inside the scattered iron cages were statues that resembled humans. There had to be at least a hundred of them.

Their efforts in wandering through this creepy place had finally paid off. The five pirates stood in front of the statues, clearly satisfied.

The idiots who couldn’t even maintain basic security wouldn’t notice if a few statues disappeared. Confident in this, the pirates began moving the statues.

“We lift on three. One, two, three!”

“Ugh, damn, this is heavy.”

“Come on, lift it properly… whoa, whoa!”

The statues were extremely heavy. Even with four adult men, moving them was a struggle. In the end, one pirate slipped, and the statue toppled over onto the floor.

“You stupid bastard!”

“Sorry.”

“Shut up, all of you! If it gets damaged, the value will drop!”

The pirate with the cybernetic eye checked the fallen statue for any damage. Fortunately, there were no cracks. As he sighed in relief and looked at the statue, he suddenly had a strange feeling.

The human statue appeared as if it would scream at any moment, its expression dynamic and full of life. And that face—it seemed oddly familiar.

“…Does anyone here have contact with the Poncha crew?”

“Poncha? Weren’t they wiped out by that cult?”

As the green-haired pirate mentioned, it had been about a month since all contact with the Poncha Cartel had been lost. The pirate with the cybernetic eye knew that, too.

But he asked because the fallen statue’s appearance bore a striking resemblance to someone from the Poncha Cartel.

‘It’s definitely that guy from Poncha.’

Here, on a ship that had lost contact two months ago, they found a statue identical to a member of the Poncha Cartel who had supposedly been wiped out just a month ago. What could that mean?

‘…What the hell is going on?’

Something had gone terribly wrong. His instincts screamed that they needed to leave immediately.

At that moment, the green-haired pirate called out to him.

“…Hey.”

“What?”

“These statues… were they always looking this way?”

“Huh?”

All the pirates looked up at once.

The light from four flashlights illuminated the iron cages scattered throughout the cargo hold. The statues stood just as they had earlier, frozen in place.

Except for one difference—their eyes.

Every single statue was now staring directly at them.

“Holy shit!”

“Don’t shoot, you idiot!”

“W-We need to get out of here now! This place is dangerous!”

“Wait! If we leave like this, we’re not taking anything!”

“Damn it! Grab it quick… hey, where’s the other guy?”

Come to think of it, there were five when they entered, but now there were only four.

“H-Huh? When did he disappear?”

“Who cares about that right now?”

“Screw the credits, let’s just run for it!”

“He’ll make it out on his own!”

Instead of searching for their missing comrade, they sprinted toward the door that led out of the cargo hold.

The cargo hold wasn’t particularly large. It shouldn’t have been difficult to escape outside.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that assumption was wrong.

‘It just keeps going?!’

He had been running long enough to be out of breath, yet there was still no door in sight. The pirate with the cybernetic eye switched his lens to night vision mode, but still, no door appeared.

‘The others? Where did they all go?’

His comrades, who had been running alongside him just moments ago, had vanished. Panicking, he looked around. Instead of his companions, he found himself surrounded by the statues, all staring at him with an eerie, unyielding gaze.

His skin crawled under those chilling eyes. He tightened his grip around his handgun, though he wasn’t sure how much it would help. But without it, he felt like he might just die from sheer terror.

“…Gulp.”

Swallowing hard, he began to cautiously walk between the iron cages. With each step he took, the eyes beyond the bars followed him.

He had spent his life bathed in the hatred of those he had pillaged. But the eyes staring at him now filled him with a fear he had never felt before.

As he trembled and walked forward, a figure suddenly emerged before him. It was the green-haired pirate who had disappeared earlier during their attempted escape.

He nearly shot his comrade in his panic and yelled in frustration.

“Damn it, I almost shot you!”

“……”

The green-haired pirate stumbled toward him without a word.

As he got closer, the pirate with the cybernetic eye felt his blood freeze.

“……! ……! ……!”

The translucent crystal material he’d seen on the statues was now spreading over the green-haired pirate’s neck and mouth.

It wasn’t that the pirate wasn’t responding on purpose; he simply couldn’t speak anymore.

The green-haired pirate grabbed the other’s collar, his eyes desperately pleading for help as his body continued to harden.

“Aaaaah!”

The pirate with the cybernetic eye shoved his comrade away and stepped back. Now he understood what these statues were made of.

This ship was cursed. He didn’t know what kind of ritual the Sattua crew had performed, but it was clear this vessel had returned from a place darker than hell itself.

As he came to that realization, the eyes of all the statues surrounding him shifted upward. Even the fallen comrade’s gaze turned to look above his head.

The pirate with the cybernetic eye sensed something hovering above him.

He was too terrified to look up, but his curiosity refused to obey his fear.

Slowly, he raised his head.

There, ‘something from hell’ was staring down at him.

–

｢You have a twisted hobby.｣

Mother of the Sky sighed as she observed the five newly added pirate figurines.

‘Do I?’

I hadn’t really done much to those who had boarded the ship. I ended things quickly, only using two of my recently acquired unique traits.

｢Herald of Chaos: Reality is dictated by perception. Spread psychic power to distort the senses of all sentient beings within a 500-meter radius. Randomly implant a ‘Madness Bomb’ in one of the affected beings.

*‘Madness Bomb’: Disrupts the target’s senses and mind, turning them into a lunatic. When they die, the ‘Madness Bomb’ effect transfers to the nearest sentient being.

*Note: Effect is reduced on creatures with psychic resistance. Agility significantly decreases while using this trait.

*P.S.: Don’t trust reality too much.｣

｢Medusa Engine: Injects silicon-based microorganisms into the target, altering their genetic makeup. The altered being crystallizes in stages over time.

*Note: This can only be used upon direct contact with the target.｣

One of these is a transcendent system trait, while the other falls under the ‘Environmental Adaptation’ category. There’s another unique trait I’ve developed recently, but it’s not something suitable for this situation.

‘Obtaining the Medusa Engine was a real hassle.’

I had to face off against a Black Gallagon, one almost as strong as Odd Grad. The fight took two whole weeks.

But the reward was well worth it.

[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZ ZZZ (You know they’ll be useful.)]

｢…Yeah, I suppose you’re right.｣

I wrapped one of the statues with an invasive tendril.

‘This one should do.’

It was one of the pirates who had intruded into the cargo hold while I was resting.

After the others had fled, I stayed behind, using ‘Herald of Chaos’ to distort their senses, ensuring they couldn’t escape.

The pirates, whose cognitive abilities had completely deteriorated, were either running in circles on the spot or wandering aimlessly along the walls of the cargo hold. They probably thought they were escaping effectively, but that wasn’t the case at all.

‘Once they’re inside, they’re trapped in the palm of my hand.’

Clinging to the ceiling, I used the tendrils equipped with the ‘Medusa Engine’ to turn the maddened pirates into quartz statues one by one.

The Medusa Engine worked by implanting silicon-based microorganisms into the target’s body. These microorganisms would rapidly transform whatever they infected into a substance resembling crystal.

In other words, as the name implies, it turns the target into a mineral lump. The only way to prevent this was to remove the microorganisms before they could spread.

If they couldn’t stop it? They’d be trapped forever in a prison of flesh, just like the statues in this cargo hold. This wasn’t a trait that could be obtained from anything less than an apex predator stronger than even a Black Gallagon.

‘It pairs well with my other traits.’

The opponents crystallized by the Medusa Engine became quite useful in various ways. For example, they could serve as raw materials for the Mimicry Organ.

I opened my mouth wide and bit into the crystallized pirate. The hard crystal shattered, and a sweet, juicy flavor spread through my mouth, much like biting into a candy with liquid inside.

The body of the pirate, who once had green hair, slid down my throat, past my digestive tract, and began to nourish me. During this process, my dormant Mimicry Organ awoke and absorbed his genetic information.

After dropping from the ceiling, I landed on the floor without making a sound and walked toward the pirate who had wet himself in terror.

“W-who are you…?!”

The pirate with the cybernetic eye was trembling with fear and confusion.

Right now, he would be seeing me as his green-haired comrade. His mind might recognize that I wasn’t truly his companion, but his body would reject that interpretation.

Thanks to the ‘Form Dominator’ trait I acquired a few months ago, the efficiency of my Mimicry Organ had improved significantly.

Previously, I had to rely on pheromones to confuse the target’s senses. But now, the psychic power seeping from my pores cloaked my body in a false image, using telekinetic energy as a sort of living optic camouflage.

It was as if I wore a psychic-powered optical device, making me nearly undetectable to cameras. Even if photographed, I’d only appear as a distorted shape, much like a ghostly image, but that’s far better than being captured as a monstrous figure.

Ever since I left the Dragon’s Nest, I had traveled across multiple star systems, devouring countless sentient beings. For the more important individuals, I preserved their genetic data using the Parasite Worm Organ within my body, while those of lesser value I turned into statues using the Medusa Engine, just like now.

These were all meant to be tools for future invasions of other planets or ships.

“What about the others?”

｢They’re in the container. Number 26 is staying still, but Adhai seems hungry.｣

“I should bring her something to eat.”

Using my wing-arms, I lifted the pirate with the cybernetic eye. Trembling, he started begging.

“P-please, spare me! Please, spare me! Please, I beg you….”

I had initially planned to offer him to Adhai as a snack, but a better idea suddenly struck me. I asked Mother of the Sky in a gentle tone.

“We’re visiting this place in our reality for the first time, right?”

｢Yeah. Originally, this was a cult’s space fortress. I’m not sure why it’s changed like this.｣

“In that case, we’ll need a guide.”

“W-what?”

His eyes widened at my words.

Though I had used parasites to dominate the guards, I still had a few left.

The illusion covering my body wavered slightly, and a black, eel-like creature crawled out from my combat arm. The pirate’s face turned ashen at the sight of the wriggling parasite slithering toward him.

“W-wait! Hold on! Wai—aaahhh!”

The parasite coiled around his face, and then, with a swift movement, burrowed into his throat. As it wriggled through his throat and toward his brain, the pirate’s eyes and nose began to bleed.

A moment later, with a blissful smile, the pirate bowed his head to me.

“I serve my new m-m-master, master Amorph! I serve Amorph! Long live Amorph!”

｢…Wow.｣

Now that I had moved to a different fishing spot, it was time to change the bait as well.

Adhai’s snack would be replaced with the fish we caught using this new lure.