Chapter 89 (1/2)

They went into battle several times after entering the ark. None of them were very serious. They ended with Hercules in charge and the force members acting as support.

Too few mutants appear for it to be a 20,000 point mission. It could have been done with a party instead of a force.

There is no reason for it to be this easy, so there is a chance that they are hiding somewhere or are concentrated in another area. They wanted to avoid a situation where they would have to face all of them at the same time.

-[Multiple biological reactions detected from the front! Expected to be sleeping from its weak vitality! Command approach if you want a precise confirmation!]

Sleep? Hercules said that there were at least hundreds, and requested command for approach.

In searching the ark, the force relied solely on Hercules.

They send it as far as the hologram’s range, and follow behind. They do not move together. They need to be careful when they think about the parasite’s infectious properties.

Normally when they are wounded by mutants, their skin is ripped or their bones are broken. It is better not to be wounded, but they can live as long as they do not die instantly.

Parasites are different. Regardless of the size of the wound, there is no incubation period once contact is allowed, securing itself in the brain, and being reborn as an infection in the host.

Mutants are controllable by level because they are mutations, but humans are weak to infections because of their simple body structures.

There is nothing to do once they enter the body, and it is all over once they start breeding. Dying is the easier way to go.

With the current situation, they have no choice but to rely on Hercules.

-[Go.]

Hercules goes to the place where he can detect biological reactions. The force waits while holding their breaths in the lobby, about 100m away.

4 parties, 40 people are blocking all of the holes in the lobby.

The members are in the passageways, vents, common rooms, and bathrooms to wait. The petite people even come out of tiny holes.

Hercules pulls the door blocking it. It is made of steel, but it opened after being shaken a few times.

There is a narrow hallway. At the end, there is a door that looks like that of a bank vault, but it is cut through with the vibrating blade.

White steam pours out. It is not heat. It is cold air. A cold air in the negatives spreads outside the door.

-[Temperature measured negative 40 degrees, determining structure….. Measure complete. Data transmission!]

Ping!

Hercules got a measure of the room letting out cold air, and sent it to Cha Jun Sung. Then it went in for further investigation.

The information is formal. It says that the room’s purpose is to store something, and that the biological reaction expanded to the thousands.

As the distance grew closer, the detection radius widened. The temperature kept decreasing and reached negative 60 degrees.

It is a temperature that they could somehow work in if the force members all went through the 2nd stage of body modifications and were aided by impact tights and metal armor.

However, the environment is too extreme to use as an area for rest. They need to be at least like Cha Jun Sung and Park Jin Hyuk to be able to stay there for a long period of time.

-[Region where lower level parasites cannot act! The parasites cannot withstand the negative 60 degree chill with their thin coats. Discovered as safe zone!]

This is the best news that the force members have had. It is better to shiver in the cold than to be weary of parasites that might come out at them at any time.

-[Safety odds?]

-[85%! 15% is the odds that a parasite above level 3 appears!]

This means that level 3 and 4 would be able to withstand the conditions. When Hercules kills a mutant, it studies the cells and learns everything about it on the spot.

It is an artificial intelligence beyond the abilities of a computer. It can analyze up to level 4 as long as it has a specimen. From level 5, the cyborg’s level needs to be increased.

-[Force, prepare to move.]

-[Army unit! We will focus on the rear once Seven Stars goes.]

Lim Si Hyun and Han Chang Jin moved the force. They need to go wherever it is safer. Anywhere as long as they can relax for even a moment.

Even as they were moving, Hercules did not stop searching the area. Then as they were arriving, something surprising happened.

-[Biological response confirmed! 1200 total! Survivors in frozen surface discovered!]

They had discovered survivors for the first time since they had wandered this universe.

***