Fortunately, that squad member had no time to care about any of this. He merely said in a broken voice:
"Don't—go out—the people who ran out discovered that the city outside—was in an even worse state than the military camp! That strange disease had spread long ago! The entire city—was about to become a dead city!"
As if to corroborate the squad member's words, a terrifying, inhuman howl rang out from a building not far away, a mixture of metal grinding and flesh tearing, before abruptly cutting off.
"Sir—I'm so tired—"
Endi stood frozen as though struck by lightning.
He suddenly recalled the inexplicable fatigue gripping him. A terrifying thought bit into his reason like a venomous snake.
Unable to hear what the two people beside him were saying anymore, Endi shoved away his adjutant, staggered back toward the military camp, and sprinted for the battleship docks.
His luck was good. He encountered almost no obstacles along the way, as if even his frenzied kin had chosen to ignore him.
At last, Endi rushed to his battleship and used the last of his strength to activate the emergency symbiosis protocol.
Icy mechanical interfaces pierced his body. The familiar sensation of connection came over him, but this time, it brought not a surge of power, but a bizarre feeling of losing control.
He lowered his head and saw his semi-fluid body metallizing at an unprecedented speed.
Moreover, that metallization carried a chaotic, twisted quality. It violently conflicted with his originally fine-tuned mechanical arm, as though two different wills were fighting for control of his body.
"Damn—wizards!!!"
With the last of his consciousness, Endi let out an enraged curse filled with boundless regret and venom.
The next moment, his mind sank completely into darkness.
His body fused with the battleship, becoming a