Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

"...Was he trying to attack just now?"

After regaining his senses, Pigal looked at Levi, who was still alive despite being kneaded into a ball, and whose body was even taller than Tomat's own. He subconsciously swallowed and a chill ran through his body.

She could break hands and feet, as a female Reboba naturally possesses far greater physical abilities*, but to act so decisively in this torture-like manner—even torture wouldn't involve this level of physical torment, just to disable the other person's mobility—is far too ruthless.

"Yes, but I don't know any delicate techniques to immobilize others."

Tomat responded to Pigar, while looking at the palm that had previously felt a stinging sensation.

There was no bleeding; only a very small amount of surface skin was scraped off.

And even if he did pierce the skin, Tomat wouldn't give him the chance to take the item out.

Furthermore, Thomas didn't think the other party could produce any results; otherwise, Warfarin's ambiguous "Berserker Potion" development project wouldn't have failed so abruptly.

"What about those mercenaries? It seems like people outside have noticed the commotion."

Thomas asked how to deal with the mercenaries who had inexplicably followed Levi.

Although they have not yet shown any intention to attack, the people leading them have ultimately revealed their hostility, and leaving them alone will eventually become a threat.

"What can we do? Even if we were really deceived by Druitch, these mercenaries are committing a crime that deserves to be punished for harassing my father's people and land."

Pigal was now preparing to order his guards to arrest everyone outside.

But Thomas suddenly stopped him, and the guards had no choice but to stay and wait for the current lord to make a new decision.

"The mercenaries must know this too, so this scientist probably assured them of something that would allow them to stay in the vicinity without any resistance, such as 'give up the main culprit and the lord will not hold you accountable' or 'I will not kill them for this' or something like that."

Tomat speculated in front of Pigal, but even she, with her impulsive nature and tendency to resolve many things by force, could detect some flaws in his words.

"Why should the mercenaries believe his guarantee? It's much safer to just ignore this guy and withdraw from here than to risk continuing to Changquan Town with him."

“That’s right. For them, running away would probably be the best option, but they didn’t. Mercenaries who are driven by profit and prioritize their lives above all else, they believed a scientist’s flawed guarantee and came here. What else do you think is possible?”

Tomat did not dismiss the questions Pigar raised, but instead continued to guide her thinking.

"Wait, you mean...!?"

Pigal suddenly realized a problem she had seriously overlooked.

Previously, because she was too concerned about Druucci's situation, she did not press the suspicious scientist about "a certain thing".

It was information about the group of suspicious monsters he created.

Levi transformed the creatures and even humans around Longspring into dangerous monsters called Aberrations.

In fact, based on this alone, according to the law, anyone who desecrates a corpse should be sentenced to death.

However, Pigar, who was overly concerned about what his brother, a traitor, had done, had subconsciously ignored these things before.

Just like Tomat's existence, which should have threatened to drive the mercenaries away.

Those who should have left are still here, perhaps only because they have been subjected to "another kind of threat".

"Crack...crackle..."

This is a sound that sends chills down the spines of anyone familiar with it.

The Geiger counters carried by the Rainbow Team members who remained in the courtyard suddenly went off again, catching them off guard.

*From their appearance, Pigal and Drouchi are hyenas (like Spotted, but less beast-like). Hyena communities are matriarchal societies, with females being larger and stronger. G2s are also larger than males (in other words, Pigal might have a penis, though strictly speaking, it's not a G2, just a pseudo-G2).

[Event] Originium Dust Operation: Chapter 19 This is my escape route!

The sound of the Geiger counter echoing in this world has already linked the Rainbow Squad members with the monsters from before.

The fleeting noise in the second-floor lobby had already alerted Black, whose senses were sharpened by film, to something amiss. Accompanied by the sound of the Geiger counter, the others immediately went on alert as well.

But everyone was inside the courtyard at the moment, and they didn't notice anything unusual. The guards were also puzzled.

Only a very few of the lord's guards, who were on watchtowers atop the wall for protection from the wind, noticed the "oddity" not far away.

The mercenaries who had been gathered together now appeared somewhat disorderly. Although they hadn't been in very orderly formation before, they were at least relatively calm, sitting or standing not far from the royal palace, waiting for Levi to finish his negotiations.

But now, they all clutched their heads, and cries of agony and screams carried on the wind to the ears of the people at the Wang Chief's Mansion.

Their upturned eyeballs were filled with crimson, and large amounts of blood bubbles gushed from their mouths and noses. Dark blue veins were visible on their skin. Even the mercenaries, whose bodies were covered in fur or scales, erected something to cover their skin. Their twisted gait could no longer support their bodies, and they collapsed to the ground, convulsing wildly with their limbs, as if the immense pain had spread from their heads to every corner of their bodies.

"My head... ahhhhh... it hurts so much... ahhhhh!!!"

The skin, fur, and scales were torn apart by the swollen flesh beneath, and from the cuts emerged pieces of bright red, pulsating tumors exposed to the air.

Then, hard, lumpy masses, like those formed on the bodies of patients with Oripathy, burst forth along with the tumors, tearing through clothing and armor.

"Something's wrong!!!"

A guard's shout put everyone on high alert, and the Royal Guards rushed out of the door one after another, followed closely by the Rhodes Island and Rainbow Squad operators.

They watched as the swaying monsters gradually straightened up, then turned their faces, now obscured by tumors and crystals, toward the royal palace.

"Herding...herds...?"

Franka recalled a scene from long ago, when she fought against the infected controlled by Reunion cadres in Lungmen.

"No, this is more like the forbidden technique of the Lycan King of Letania... but it still feels somewhat different."

But now they don't have enough time to make any more assumptions.

Because no matter what technology transformed them into monsters, the only constant is that the other side is always the enemy.

"Although I fought them in the safe house before, witnessing them transform from humans...tsk, could it be that Levi has already learned 'Originium Arts'?"

Such inhumane atrocities, even without sufficient evidence, still suggest that Levy was responsible for aiming a gun at the ashes of these creatures known as mutants.

"Hey, if he did it, won't the two guys upstairs get into trouble?"

Blitzkrieg, based on Ash's deductions, believed that something might have happened to Tomat and Pigal on the second floor.

"Don't worry about them! Focus on the enemy!"

The newly transformed mutant, roaring furiously, charged straight toward the gate.

Those tanks that had witnessed the terrifying charging power of certain mutant variants were positioned at the forefront of the infantry, their weapons mounted and triggers cocked.

The lord's guards armed their swordsmen with spears and formed three ranks of shield-bearing spearmen, while the archers nimbly scaled the walls and drew their bows.

These people did not object to the addition of Rhodes Island operators and Rainbow Squad.

A group of well-armed personnel were standing in the same position as them, and they had no reason to refuse to provide support.

"Shoot the arrow!!!"

Arrows rained down, and the arrows fired from the powerful bows used by King Sargon's guards were no less powerful than the firearms in the hands of the Rainbow Squad.

Even though they didn't have a significant numerical advantage, their distance advantage against the mutants, who couldn't attack from a distance, was enough to allow them to reap wheat like a sickle during the charge. After a volley of arrows, they left a large number of mutants pinned to the spot, no longer able to move.

The well-trained guards held a significant advantage over the mindless monsters.

This is not the previous offensive that combined mercenaries and aberrations. No one will rush up for a troublesome entanglement, there will be no snipers watching your head all the time, and no warlocks will suddenly unleash attack spells.

"Although I don't know how he did it, this guy probably used this method to threaten the mercenaries who wanted to leave to continue cooperating with him."

The people below had a significant advantage, and Tomat had no need to support them.

He simply stared at the group of mutants, a strange sense of unease rising within him.

"It's unclear how he triggered this 'mutation.' Even if he made such a remote control before he fell unconscious, turning everyone into monsters and then passing out himself, it would be meaningless if he successfully sampled me."

"Maybe they just want to fight to the death?"

Levi, his body twisted, remained motionless on the floor, while the number of aberrations outside was rapidly reduced along with their offensive. Despite some doubts, everyone felt that the incident was finally about to end with a final riot.

"Keep firing, watch out for those small chunks of flesh that have detached from the body!"

But a shout from below, and the sight of guards and agents focusing their fire to eliminate the small objects crawling on the ground, made Tomat suddenly realize something.

"Those tumors...can detach themselves from the immobile body and then attach to a more suitable body? Is that the 'original body'?"

Tomat asked Pigal.

Previously, when Tomat came into contact with these monsters, they were all blown to pieces, so he didn't pay special attention to these things.

Looking at the battle below, a bad feeling crept into Tomat's mind.

"Yes, I've never seen a creature exist in this form before. It's truly a blasphemous art..."

As Pigal was expressing his feelings, Tomat approached Levi.

He crouched down and tore open Levi's sleeve; it was the arm that had launched the unexplained attack on him earlier.

On that withered arm was a hideous, sunken scar, as if something had forcibly drilled out of it, leaving a huge hole.

"We've been tricked. The thing he threw out earlier was actually his real body. These monsters weren't meant for a fight to the death; they were probably just there to buy time. The thing that flew out of his hand has probably already escaped."

Tomat shook off Levy's arm, the second time today.

The so-called attack was nothing more than Levy's escape route.

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I updated 10,000 words today, can you praise me?

[Event] Originium Dust Operation: Chapter 20 You're Awake!

“I don’t think someone capable of doing something like this would leave mercenary sorcerers alive to help him control these monsters.”

Thomas tried using his aura sensor to search for any suspicious auras nearby.

"If no one is controlling these monsters, they will attack each other. The fact that they can't launch such a coordinated attack means that someone must be controlling them..."

The air of the residents, the air of the guards, the air of the infected, the air of the operators, the chaotic air of the aberrations...

Too much interference nearby prevented Tomat from confirming the result he wanted.

"His control is unlikely to be too far away, so the pieces of flesh that split off from its body should still be nearby."

Tomat walked out of the door at a leisurely pace. Meanwhile, the battle in front of the royal palace had become one-sided. The warriors, too focused on the battlefield in front of them, did not notice him approaching from behind.

"Staying here is not a wise move, and the total number of monsters is not enough to hold out for long."

What are you talking about?

Following Tomat down to Pigar, he was quite puzzled by Pigar's self-talk.