Chapter 51: Ancient Aristocrat
shook his head, the last traces of blood at the bullet hole covered over by newly grown skin.
“Ugh, that hurt!” he said, in a tone as if complaining about the weather. “Bullets taste awful.”
retreated two steps, gun raised, the Robots’ muzzles already locked onto the target.
“What the hell are you?”
“Me?” smiled, a smile as gentle and refined as ever, as warm as a spring breeze.
But his eyeballs were slowly changing color, his irises fading from brown to a cadaverous grayish-white.
“You call me a monster, but the truth is, we were supposed to be the closest of partners.”
A gash split open on the back of his right hand, yet no blood flowed. A black spike pushed out from beneath the skin, a full thirty centimeters long, its tip glistening with a moist sheen.
“In the distant past, we, who were always in close symbiosis, were the original masters of this land.”
The spike continued to grow, from his arm, his shoulder blades, his back—like a shrub putting out branches, over a dozen black spines of varying shapes burst through his body.
His white shirt was torn to shreds, revealing a torso that no longer belonged to a human: the muscles were twisted, and dark red lines surged beneath the surface of his skin.
“Unfortunately, when He fell asleep, we too were forced to slumber.” rolled his neck, his joints emitting crisp cracking sounds.
“The result was that you degenerated so severely. Look at this body I have now. Even with all the enhancements I made, this is the limit.”
“It can’t compare at all to the perfect flesh of the past, much less the nearly extinct within.”
“So you set your sights on children?” stared fixedly at the monster before him, his voice utterly cold.
“Exactly. Though equally highly degenerated, the plasticity of young containers far surpasses that of adults,” spread his hands, a horrifying smile spreading across his mutated face.
“My compatriots will fuse more perfectly than I, become stronger than I.”
His gaze passed beyond , toward those children protected in the center by the squad members.
“They will have the ability to continue surviving in this dark age, and even to reign once more over this land.”
“So, why refuse?”
His eyes turned back to , as if he had discovered something. “You are nothing but hollow shells, lacking perfect thought mechanisms, possessing only simplified instinctive feedback.”
“You can’t create anything of real value. Your entire lives are spent chasing illusions, enduring torment amidst sensory stimuli that can never be fully satiated.”
“And all of this is simply because you are empty husks from the start. All true thought is accomplished by us.”
“We are your hearts, your souls. We were always one, symbiotic. So why resist?”
“Let us fuse into one, and rebuild that ancient civilization so unfortunately interrupted!”
[Symbiosis?]
[What a pity. We generally don’t interpret one-sided assimilation as symbiosis.]
[And if you were really so kind-hearted, why did you call this place a breeding farm?]
“Ah! I should have known fools always refuse to accept truths they dislike, not to mention you are merely a group of shells with defective minds.”
“Roar!”
With an inhuman howl, he moved.
His speed was inconceivably fast. Though still not quite matching the instantaneous burst of that , it absolutely surpassed the limits of humanity.
’s pupils constricted, but the squad members behind him reacted even faster.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
Several tongues of flame wove into a net, precisely covering the monster’s charging path.
didn’t take them head-on. Instead, relying on his superhuman reaction speed, he sidestepped and rolled out of the field of fire.
But he forgot that besides and the others, was present as well.
The Sentinels had locked onto him from the moment he started moving.
He was indeed fast, and his physical durability was astonishing, surpassing human limits. And yet, that was all.
The rotary cannons of the two Robots whirred simultaneously. A dense curtain of fire instantly engulfed ’s position.
High-velocity rounds struck the twisted, humanoid monster like rain. His chest, thighs, left shoulder—impact points appeared clearly in the Sentinels’ field of view.
Flesh was torn open, the black spikes shattered, fragments flying.
Yet the wounds immediately began to contract and heal, closing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His temperature was skyrocketing. Those dark red lines lit up like red-hot wires, repairing every injury.
Such heaven-defying regenerative ability was something had never seen before.
Previous ones like the or that unknown white-winged creature didn’t possess this level of recovery.
Still, as the saying goes, what good is it if only your health bar can dance? Out here, it’s all about ammunition supply and firepower coverage.
You’re just a cold-weapon user—what’s there to be crazy about?
The Sentinels immediately increased their fire output. The impact force of the sheer volume of bullets caught off guard, throwing him off balance.
And almost at the same instant, a high-energy laser shot from the belly of the “ ,” directly piercing ’s chest, burning a large hole through it.
Seeing the situation turn sour, he let out a pained roar.
“Fine… fine!” glared at the crowd, his face twisted. The tissue of his chest regenerated at a rate that defied common sense. “You’ve successfully angered me!”
“Though I really hate to disturb my compatriots’ development… but since things have come to this…”
“Everyone, time to wake up a little early!”
Simultaneously, detected the monster before him emitting infrasound waves below the threshold of human hearing.
But nothing happened.
The monster looked expectantly at the children, as if waiting for something.
Yet… as time passed, this expectation rapidly turned to confusion.
The children showed no change, only staring back at him with eyes mixed with fear, anger, and bewilderment.
’s expression stiffened. He couldn’t understand. At this point, his compatriots should certainly have responded, shouldn’t they?
What on earth was happening?
Unfortunately, he would never have a chance to find out.
[Laser, maximum power. Target coordinates confirmed.]
This time, it was sustained irradiation.
A charred black crater, two meters in diameter, exploded on the ground. An indescribable, burnt stench filled the air.
The entire person that was was vaporized by the extreme heat, leaving only a few minced scraps of flesh on the ground.
[Ding! has killed Tier-2 Special “Ancient Aristocrat” x1. gained: 800.]
[Ding! Special loot formula obtained: (Note: Not to be used excessively within a short period).]
[Ding! Six triggered: Exterminate the Remnants.]
[Mission description: A glorious civilization can never tolerate parasitism by alien remnants. For the purity and prosperity of civilization, please promptly purge these remnants of a bygone age.]
[Mission reward: 8,000,000 , Aerospace Carrier “Civilization Purifier” x1, Blueprints x1.]
How much? Staring at the reward amount of the newly triggered mission, nearly thought he had misread the digits.
With such a generous reward, the waters of this mission clearly ran deep!
vented a puff of high-temperature steam, only then suppressing his agitated mood.
On the other side, had already begun directing his squad members to clean up the scene.
“Squad One, collect samples. Squad Two, incendiary cleanup. Squad Three, maintain order!”
The squad members immediately stepped forward, using specialized containers to meticulously collect as much of the minced flesh around the crater’s edge as possible, sealing it for preservation.
Afterward, several members with flamethrowers moved forward and subjected the large crater, along with the surrounding area, to repeated incineration lasting several minutes.
Monsters with strong regenerative abilities always leave a lingering fear.
Physical deliverance must be as thorough as possible.
With the monster dealt with, ’s icy gaze swept over the ashen-faced survivors in the square.
“Now, everyone! Line up! Go to the Sentinels for preliminary medical checks!”
***
Taking control of a settlement of over five hundred people went more smoothly than expected.
After witnessing that overwhelming battle and the horrifying true form of “ ,” the vast majority of survivors wisely chose to comply.
Beyond that, the weight of the word “official” had not yet completely lost its power, at least up to now, which also brought considerable convenience to and the others’ management.
When night fell, the last child responsible for going out to gather supplies also dragged his exhausted body back from the dusk-shrouded town.
It was only when the pale blue was injected into his body that and all the squad members finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, no one was missed.
After that, had his team members take a headcount and register identities, while simultaneously cross-referencing information from the children and the minority who had actively broken away.
In the end, fifty-seven “relevant responsible parties” were identified.
Thirty-five people were exposed through mutual accusations among the crowd. The other twenty-two were caught through the children’s identification and the Robots’ “simple lie detection” function based on physiological monitoring data.
Ironically, aside from the monster , virtually none of those fifty-seven people had ever “adopted” these children. They couldn’t even be bothered to keep up appearances.
Or perhaps they too were afraid, fearing the children’s retaliation someday?
After all, the more malicious a person is, the more they imagine others to be as despicable as themselves.
“He’s not my kid to begin with, so why should I be nice to him? What’s wrong with using him?”
A bald man who had been identified, before being locked away in the basement, still stiffened his neck and shouted, “It’s his own fault he doesn’t have the ability to use me! Getting used by me, he deserves it!”
“So what if he’s a kid? He’s no blood of mine, I don’t care if he’s an adult or a child, I’ll screw them over just the same!”
“I just got unlucky, fell on hard times, and ran into you bunch of hypocrites.”
“If it were before, I could kill someone and buy my way out of it, let alone a few brats.”
Of course, those “family members” who had once “adopted” children weren’t much better.
They had simply wanted to cozy up so they could be the first to get the most supplies from those children every time.
It was easy to follow the good, and easy to slide into evil. Nothing more to it than that.
didn’t argue much with them, simply locking all fifty-seven into the wine cellar beneath the villa area. They would be the first batch of “clinical volunteers” for researching the mechanism of parasitism.
Yes, the children didn’t have the ability to use these people. But that was fine—they, the capable ones, did.
***
Over the following three days, took a full inventory of the entire settlement’s assets.
The result was not good.
There wasn’t a great deal of supplies here. The children’s abilities were limited, and there were always those who were quite wasteful.
So, after estimating the time, opted to temporarily tighten the ration distribution.
This immediately caused an uproar.
“I know the children are pitiful, but things are what they are. We have no choice!”
“They worked so hard to gather supplies, wasn’t it so everyone could live well?”
“Dying of starvation under your management would truly betray the children’s kindness,” a scrawny woman stepped forward and shrieked.
“You not letting the kids go out to find food shows no respect for their kindness at all. You’re just using justice as a banner to starve everyone to death!”
“Well said!” looked at her, nodded, then gestured to the team member beside him.
Pitch-black muzzles immediately aimed at her and the few others who had been stirring the pot.
“How could I possibly demand you starve to death in the name of justice?” ’s tone was very calm. “So, you can go ahead and work hard to earn your own food.”
“Off you go. Don’t let the door hit you.”
Those few, staring down the gun barrels, were so frightened their legs went weak. They immediately begged for mercy.
“I said, the door is over there.”
’s tone remained utterly flat. “This hypocrite can’t accommodate esteemed persons such as yourselves. Go outside and figure it out on your own. Do you understand?”
“Don’t make me say it twice!”
The woman’s face flushed bright red, her lips trembling several times. Ultimately, under the threat of death, she scrambled and crawled out the door.
Behind her, the rabble-rousers were also driven out altogether.
Now, the world was finally quiet. No one dared to deliberately stir up trouble again.
In the days waiting for support from the power station, also deeply realized the gap between this settlement and .
Two fuel generators were still running, but the power was barely enough for lighting and basic electricity.
The food reserves consisted mainly of instant noodles, canned goods, and compressed biscuits. Fruits and vegetables were extremely limited, relying entirely on the children’s previous scavenging, which had inevitably become more and more scarce over time.
Overall, it looked superficially prosperous but in reality couldn’t compare at all to Dawn’s facilities.
***
On the morning of the fifth day.
In the rear mountains of the settlement, at a spot marked as a restricted zone by the team, the ground suddenly began to tremble slightly.
Earth churned. A massive metal drill bit broke through the soil, slowly rising.
“Click.”
The hatch opened.
and his team members jumped out from inside. He took off his helmet and spat out a glob of dirt-laced saliva.
“Pah! Damn it, finally made it out! Grossed me the hell out!”
stood at the edge of the pit, watching the travel-worn . The nerves that had been taut for days finally relaxed.
Support had arrived.
“Why so slow?” tossed him a bottle of water.
“Don’t even ask!” gulped down half the bottle and wiped his mouth. “The underground path was crawling with bugs!”
“And some stank to high heaven. You didn’t see it. Let me tell you, this long, a millipede that huge—disgusting!”
He gestured with lingering fear.
“If this tunnel is going to be used for people, I had to clear it out properly first. So it took a bit more time.”
“Understood,” patted his shoulder. “Now that it’s open, let’s start the transfer. The children withdraw first.”
The evacuation plan was immediately launched in an orderly fashion.
The first to evacuate were all the children.
They would go directly through the underground passage to the for examination and surgery.
The second batch comprised those several dozen survivors who still had a shred of dignity and had actively parted ways with “ .”
They were even more deprived of supplies and deserved priority rescue.
The last batch was ’s group, along with the fifty-seven “clinical volunteers” they were escorting.
Three days later, everyone had departed through the tunnel. Only a single remained behind, detached from the formation to continue standing guard.
From ’s perspective, since some construction had been done here, it might serve as an outpost for the in the future.