Chapter 294

Those watching from a distance might have only seen the deafening explosion, but the girls in the helicopter saw it all. While Takina was focused on the reconnaissance results shared by Nana and was constantly scanning the houses under the pilot's guidance, a giant flower, two meters tall, silently sprouted from the water tower. As its white petals sliced through the sheet metal like blades... and something resembling a long spear projectile was aimed at the helicopter from within the flower's stamen.

"... Adaptation, is that what you mean? It's not just a biological concept, but even tactical actions are now tailored to specific situations... This feels more like... than just monsters harming beasts, it's more like..."

It feels similar to facing a human being... or an intellectual being?

Seeing that Typhon didn't elaborate on his guess, Takina tapped her earpiece to get the pilot's attention as well.

"Whether it is or not, it's confirmed that Seaborn possesses active mobility... There were no biological reactions in the water tower before. They probably crawled in through some water pipes, and then suddenly mutated inside the water tower to launch an attack on us..."

While talking, she finished firing an entire ammunition belt, changed a barrel, and switched the belt to the 1,000-round ammunition backpack on her back. Takina then removed the massive vehicle sights and replaced them with a taller holographic sight, subsequently activating the laser designator and gun light integrated into the scope.

"It's now confirmed that all large enemies that can be breached through the main windows have been eliminated, but the detection signals Typhon, you stay on the plane and continue to provide external fire support. Pilot, please prepare to drop Mika and me into the battlefield from above."

Because Takina used the word 'deployment' instead of the conventional 'airborne' deployment used in leapfrog operations, the pilot paused for a moment and double-checked Takina's statement before receiving an affirmative reply:

"Yes, drop... not airborne, but landing... you fly over there, we'll disembark ourselves, and then you just need to continue following Typhon's instructions."

Mika made eye contact with the pilot upon hearing Takina's statement, but the pink-haired idiot didn't react much... After all, Seaborn had just shown something like a long-range ballista, and if the other side had constructed a more covert launcher, even Mika couldn't guarantee the safety of the plane's landing... This specifically refers to the safety of the plane itself and the precious pilot.

Seeing that the two persisted, the pilot began to turn around and prepare to fly over the battlefield. With the flight announcement of "30 seconds to go!", Mika, who was also standing at the door of the plane and holding onto the handrail, looked at Takina's equipment with slight concern.

The general-purpose machine gun, which is not light for Aegir, the 1,000-round ammunition backpack, which is not much of a hindrance to Aegir movements, the body armor and body armor suspenders, which are only good enough to keep them moving, and the ceramic helmet with extra armor plates, which is hardly lightweight.

Although Mika's own attire wasn't exactly light either, Mika was quite confident in her physical abilities... but could this long-haired, straight-haired junior handle it?

While worried, Mika recalled her junior's less-than-smooth experiences with tasks since graduation and felt that as a senior, she should encourage her... So the pink-haired Angel patted Takina and said the words her manager often said to Nana:

"It's alright, as long as you're prepared, death won't come for you!"

"That's exactly what that person said?"

"Nana said this..."

Mika cleared her throat with two coughs, trying her best to imitate Nana's voice when she was still in her emotionless phase:

"I am their Grim Reaper."

As the pilot counted down to ten and the warning lights in the cockpit turned red, Mika took another look at her junior. Seeing that the other's expression had clearly softened, Mika smiled with satisfaction... She could encourage her juniors like Nagisa did.

"Then I'll leave the rest to you, Typhon."

Mika and Takina waved to Typhon, who looked completely bewildered, and as the cabin lights and the pilot's countdown reached zero, they jumped out together.

Unlike Mika, who crashed onto the roof like a weight falling into water, Takina was overloaded with magical units after jumping, and her entire body began to fall slowly in a visible manner.

Just as Mika said, Takina was indeed well prepared.

The overloaded spellcasting unit on her shoulders emitted an orange-yellow Halo. The blue spells, which were originally meant to withstand strong attacks, began to isolate the air and create turbulence as if they were physical entities under the overload... It was as if four one-meter-long wings made of blue magical light had appeared out of thin air above her head, extending beyond her shoulders. The mechanically square grille and the gaps within it that constantly adjusted with speed were all trying to create a deceleration structure for Takina.

But... it was too fast. For Takina, the descent speed was still too fast.

Although even Durin could freefall from a height of up to ten meters without carrying any extra weight... Takina is currently fully armed, and her physical examination results do not indicate outstanding physical condition.

If we had to compare, her performance was probably similar to that of Weedy, the 'delicate woman' of Rhodes Island. But it was Takina, an operator who was not considered strong by many, who accomplished a high-altitude drop without equipment that no one with a stronger physique could have imagined.

First, the fuel canisters secured to her chest and lower back were pulled by the magic. Then, as the girl was about to land, four pillars of fire suddenly shot out in the opposite direction. Finally, as Takina landed, the four fuel canisters, which had burned out instantly, clattered to the ground.

Seeing that Takina had landed safely from a great height, Mika happily gave her a thumbs-up, and Takina responded to her senior with a thumbs-up gesture after catching her breath.

Clearly, even congenital physical defects are not without the possibility of catching up.

If Takina witnessed the vast difference in physical constitution between herself and Nana in Columbia, then... now Takina can say that she is reaching out with all her might, trying to touch that light that belongs only to Angel.

Meanwhile, a very hot cat in the command post, more than ten kilometers away, saw this scene through Starlight and the Penguin Squad's combat recorder. She is now shaking her head frantically at the Doctor and Emerald Feline, who is connected via the internet... She firmly denies that she has corrupted Nana's junior.

In the short time it took to exchange a few words at the command post, Takina picked up her gun again. Mika and her companion nodded, then kicked open the rooftop door with a shotgun and fired to blast away the passage that had been sealed off by biomass.

As if entering the body of a creature from another world, the two members of the Starlight Group entered the building, while Typhon, who was a kilometer away on a helicopter, pulled her giant bow at an angle. In her vision, the points of light representing the enemy inside the building surged into the upper floors like a torrent.

"Those monsters seem to have been stimulated... a large number of biological reactions are gathering at the higher levels."

[We see it, Typhon, help create a terrain where we only need to defend one road!]

Looking at the marked staircase in his line of sight, Typhon nodded, and then—a bolt of lightning struck from a clear sky! Black lightning tore through the sky, and one of the staircases leading to the top floor immediately disappeared.

The ultimate reason for the monster rampage in the entire building is that Medic, dragging his giant sword and leaving a trail of fire behind him, has already arrived on the third floor.

After glancing at the Starlight Team's report that they had begun engaging in combat, Nana heard the sound of machine guns firing again from above and nodded to the Thunder Team members behind her.

"Keep moving forward and wipe out all the monsters here."

PS: Waaaaaaah!

P(Six) Ling Er San Si Ba Bao SS: A person who has appeared but hasn't written any serious plot yet ↑

PSS2: I got distracted while writing, and ended up revising it over and over again... I shouldn't do this at the beginning of the month...

9th Lungmen Seafood: 336 Seaborn = Evil

Wearing protective boots, Nana and the members of Thunder Team continued their advance, trudging through the sticky 'fungal carpet,' amidst deafening gunfire from both upstairs and downstairs.

This thing that transforms the building into a nest like another dimension, but is actually just the metabolic waste of the Seaborn, looks as strange as the Seaborn itself. Although it is a secretion, it seems to have life of its own, and when it clumps together, its properties change from the original 'membrane' to a more complex life form.

Some adhered to the floor and walls, forming a base, while others curled and wriggled, becoming conduits for transporting nutrients. The enlarged biomass looked disgusting, but it was undoubtedly a nutrient similar to 'fat'. In Nana's view, they were like residue shed from the host, not even worthy of being called parasites. But these things, which were like 'dander' in their life activities as biological individuals, turned around and stored nutrients for their original hosts after leaving the host, outputting energy in reverse.

Even Nana, who thought she had seen most of the conditions on this land, would instinctively reject this result, which was originally beyond question, after making some guesses about the substance tentatively named 'Nethermark' based on the Halo.

Who understands this? Skin cells that should be dead start absorbing nutrients and then reconnect to the scalp, attempting to photosynthesize and plump up on their own?

This is like comparing cancer cells throughout the body suddenly developing self-awareness, realizing the patient cannot die, and then frantically feeding the host.

The so-called "Nethermark" are things that do things that seem eerie no matter how you look at them. They don't conform to normal life evolution, nor can they be explained through conventional biological relationships... making their abnormality immediately apparent just by looking at them.

The good news is that Nana didn't find anything particularly difficult to deal with when fighting these guardians of 'nutrients'.

So far, aside from the Starlight Squad's report of a case where the Sea -Seaborn attempted to 'adapt' to their tactics and methods, resulting in the Nutritional Mutation Node being blown into the sky by a single-use Originium Artillery, all the Seaborn Nana has seen are mimics of animals that can be found anywhere in the city.

For example, there's the rat with an exoskeleton, but so fragile that it's easily crushed with a single step; or the dog with an exoskeleton and a mouth that transforms into a bird's beak; and then there are... the human remains used to try to communicate with their own side through dark blue blood vessel links, but just looking at them is enough to send chills down your spine.

Is it 'adaptation'? Or 'imitation' of humans? Or simply provocation? It doesn't really matter now... For this kind of building that stores a large amount of biomass nutrients, Nana already knows what to do: burn it completely, leaving not a single cell behind.

It's a pity that Lungmen is still quite restrained in its use of heavy firepower, otherwise the team in charge of the annihilation battle wouldn't be the Starlight Team... but rather a certain little white Feline resembling a cloud.

Compared to the current inefficient method of attacking each floor one by one, having Nana or Rosemary use Tactical Unit to completely destroy the entire support layer and gaps below would be the most tactical move that aligns with the concept of 'disinfection'.

Unfortunately, the deployment in Lungmen was already a major issue that caused 'residents' astonishment' and generated a large number of inquiries for the Guard Bureau, to the point that the relevant officials had to hold a press conference for the entire Great Yan territory... As for directly deploying Tactical Unit to carry out 'disinfection' on a block-by-block basis, that would probably not only be a major issue for Lungmen, but for the entire Ministry of Revenue and even the Ministry of War, which would lead to impeachment.

To be fair Great Yan isn't Victoria, Nana doesn't think they have that kind of tradition of 'making residents feel protected'. But their current practice of limiting Rhodes Island's firepower intensity is somewhat reminiscent of the 'standard four-stage crisis response tactics'.

With various ridiculous jokes swirling in her head, Nana irritably evaporated part of the Netherworld Nethermark in front of her with her Lava Greatsword, and then forcibly tore off the Netherworld Mark that was trying to 'stick'... or rather, fill the gaps in the soles of her Nethermark with tiny tentacles, trying to restrict everyone's movement. The movement was as if she were walking in a mud pit.

Although Miss Assassin was still unclear about the situation of Mika and the others on the top floor, Nana now understood that Seaborn's strongest means of stopping her here did not seem to be those strange crustaceans, but rather the thick fungal carpet beneath her feet.

"Seriously, don't we have a better way to get rid of these Seaborn metabolites?"

"... I think those 'Seaborn' all crawled out of this carpet of flesh and blood. If we can remove these things, it seems like we can decide the outcome?"

Nana glanced at Seaborn, who had stopped attacking their side, and made no comment on Franka and Liskarm's conversation, but the gunfire upstairs did seem to be getting more intense.

"If it were just a monster, at least you could see its weaknesses from its structure, like its head, chest, and abdomen... But these... Nethermark, even if you cut them into pieces, you can't sever their life force..."

As Jessica spoke, she anxiously touched the extra magazine pouch at her waist again, because her ammunition was already more than half depleted, and her attack frequency was no longer as intense as it had been at the beginning.

"... It's like an endless weed..."

"In Aegir's records, those monsters called Frightfish, each with its own unique appearance, were Catastrophes that could change the color of the sea... White bony plates replaced the waves, and the vast expanses of Seaborn even stopped the sea from churning, and even the sea breeze stopped blowing... They could change the environment to the point that they could make 'Seaborn' replace 'nature'... What we are facing now is not even a fraction of the most difficult situation recorded in the records."

Watching Nana explain while scorching the ground with her new weapon, emitting the aroma of roasted meat, Franka, who was also wielding her Thermite Sword to try and clear a path but with little success, said speechlessly:

"So, do we have any highly effective herbicides or anything like that we can use here?"

"Leaving aside intelligence, the reconnaissance team has only just finished collecting samples... Even if the Doctor is incredibly gifted, it's impossible for him to pull out something that wasn't even there before... Let's just be patient for now."

As she spoke, Nana raised the greatsword in her right hand, as if to drive its contents to spew out... The heat catalyzed by the magic unit was indeed shooting out in all directions like mica-colored flames, but perhaps because Seaborn's fat was particularly difficult to ignite, the brilliant flames only burned for about ten seconds before disappearing as if they had encountered an automatic fire extinguisher.

As for Franka's imitative attempt to set fire to the Thermite Sword system, it failed to ignite the Nethermark at all... At some point, Seaborn's deaths were all due to pure physical damage... Even when Nana dragged the giant sword on the ground, it only applied a layer of charred carbon shell to the surface of the Nethermark, instead of extinguishing it as easily as flames devouring white paper at the beginning.

"So, how do we kill these tightly connected chunks of flesh?!"

"... a... mixer?"

Hearing Jessica's sudden idea, Franka turned around with amusement:

"Maybe flattening it with a road roller would be a solution?"

"No, there must be biological Pollution..."

As the three members of the Blacksteel Team continued their rambling discussion, Nana, looking at the increasingly dark and secluded passage before her, raised her greatsword and reminded Liskarm:

"Watch out! Defensive stance!"

As a professional Mercenaries, Liskarm's movements were actually quite fast. Almost the instant Nana reminded him, the small Shieldguards raised his shield in the direction Nana was guarding... But because Jessica's formation change seemed impossible to keep up with, Nana moved her body to the left to block the exposed half of her body behind her, while drawing her pistol and firing a burst of shots at the end of the corridor.

Nana's shooting skills are undoubtedly excellent, but seeing the bullets either ricocheting off the rounded shells or hitting the opponent's body without any reaction... it's clear that against that huge figure who was crouching low but almost filled the entire corridor,.45 caliber ammunition no longer had any lethal attributes.

Actually... compared to the seemingly sturdy red and black thorned armor, the unsettling scythes swinging from the auxiliary 'arms' were one thing, but the most unsettling thing was the device on the head that unfolded like a flower, with the central eye resembling a javelin.

Is that a beak for pecking? Or is it just a mutated form, simply an organ that looks like a spear?

The moment they saw it clearly, everyone connected it with the 'Flower-shaped Anti-Aircraft Cannon' reported by the Starlight Team. But seeing that the enemy only screamed and rushed over after taking a burst of pistol bullets instead of using the javelin to skewer herself and Jessica behind her, the assassin finally breathed a sigh of relief... But just as everyone's attention was drawn to the monster directly in front of them, chitinous spikes the size of crossbow bolts suddenly shot out from the dark shadows on both sides of the corridor.

Are these Seaborn's crossbowmen?

Perhaps. Nana didn't know if crossbowmen in the sea needed dynamic vision like those on land. Anyway, while the assassin was leaping and slashing at the giant monster, Jessica was also firing grenades at the shadows.

Just as Nana turned around to check the situation while brandishing her flaming greatsword, Jessica also twirled her incandescent Thermite Sword.

"Seaborn has started using ranged attacks against us... Do you think that monster is a cat or a dog?"

"Captain Medic, aren't you missing the point?"

Franka paid little attention to Nana's helpless attitude, after all, this fat fox always seemed to be asking for a beating... And compared to Liskarm, who was still somewhat shaken from the sneak attack, only Jessica understood Nana's unspoken meaning:

"... They look a lot like people..."

Nodding, Nana glanced at the pantyhose that were slightly stained with Nethermark, took out a small medical staff, carefully dried them, and then removed them. Afterward, she checked on everyone's condition.

Apart from the fact that Liskarm was in the tanking position, had several swollen scars on his body, which were unclear whether it was due to an allergic reaction or simply from being contaminated with too much of Seaborn's bodily fluids and fragments, Nana gave them emergency treatment.

"A height of about 1.5 meters, a head that has turned into a launcher... Although it's distorted, you can still make out some limbs, like 'hands and feet'... Coupled with the change in tactics to 'ambush,' Nana is probably suggesting that they've started using tactics... Is this what Seaborn calls 'adaptation'? Battlefield adaptability?"

"... This is more like a tactical change... Starlight Team, Penguin Squad, please be aware of any unusual activity around you?"

[The Starlight Team is operating normally, but the enemy is still launching a fierce attack, and their machine gun ammunition could run out at any moment!]

[Ah... Kong and I are with everyone else. Chen and the others went to cordon off the building with the police cars from the Guard Bureau... Nothing seems amiss.]

"... Then, please look for units similar to 'Commander'... The monsters have suddenly changed from being impatient and attacking people on sight to being humanoid monsters that ambush from the shadows... Is this due to different 'materials' or a difference in tactics? Our understanding of Seaborn is still very superficial..."

Watching Nana reload the pistol, Jessica pressed the slide stop button, making a crisp click as the smoking Firearms Arts clicked, then tilted her head in confusion.

"Material?"

"... Didn't Jessica notice?"

"What?"

"Whether it's the rats and dogs that attacked us before... or the humanoid creatures created by humans now... they're all things derived from existing organisms... I'm wondering how much material they still have left."

As Nana spoke, she used her greatsword to roast the remains. As the charred bones were gradually peeled from the muddy flesh by the high temperature, Jessica gasped, covering her mouth as she looked at the 'crossbow launcher,' which, though deformed by external force, was originally a modified human skull.

"... That's so unfair!"

Silently watching as the remains were stripped of what were originally human parts, Nana didn't accept that they were indeed of human origin, unlike Jessica... After all, just as Liskarm had said before, these monsters all emerged from the vesicles of the Nethermark, and were clearly different from the human remains that had been obviously eaten.

The lead hunting dogs from Seaborn also emerged from the vesicles and seemed to have no connection to dogs anymore... Nana felt that these things were probably not 'human' from the beginning, but rather some kind of template designed by Seaborn to fight against humans... rather than some leftover scraps that were repurposed for combat.

After all, Seaborn are living organisms. Are those vesicles some kind of nest? Or are they simply uterine-like organs?

Would destroying these things stop Seaborn continuing production?

Just to be on the safe side, regardless of whether Seaborn is the kind of species that Nana thinks can be 'produced' at will through the Nethermark... given that my understanding of it is still not deep enough, it would be best to destroy everything related to Seaborn.

But as Nana slowly carbonized the Nethermark with the mica-colored greatsword, the Starlight Squad at the top sent a report of ammunition depletion and the need to enter the alert zone, and the outer reconnaissance team sent a report... intercepting the report of monsters that had acted like dogs during the previous battle.

"... The efficiency is too low."

Reflecting on herself in this way, Nana frowned slightly as she looked at the Nethermark that still covered at least half of the walls and ceiling of this floor:

"This won't completely eliminate them... Medic is calling Chen. You're aware of the battle situation. Can Rhodes Island employ more effective tactics?"

[For example?]

"... tactical equipment..."

[... Rejected. Although I know you all worked very hard, if it's an enemy of this caliber, it should only take a short time to defeat, right?]