Life Mission

Chapter 45

There are few mutants that show their identities in such a unique manner. Of them, only the hatchery follows heartbeats.

-[Of course.]

-[I think it is as well.]

The force members agreed with Cha Jun Sung’s opinion. They had each also experienced Life Mission for a few years. They knew how to distinguish between unique mutants.

-[Which stage do you think it’s at?]

-[Since it’s level D, 1st stage is highly possible and 2nd if it’s more evolved?]

-[That’s right. If it’s completely developed, it would not be 5000 points.]

It is a hatchery. It is nearly unable to fight but like its name, it consumes nutrients when it feels danger to produce mutants.

Hatcheries go through the nest in the 2nd stage and become a complete headquarters. Headquarters in the virtual version are whopping levels 5 to 7.

Cha Jun Sung had never seen a level 7 headquarters before either. According to rumors, only Nine Tail of the 36 rankers had caught one but he could not remember well.

The guy outside is a hatchery or nest. It would be better if it were a hatchery, as long as it is not an old nest with a level 4.

-[Seeing how it is waking up from hibernation, it seems it smelled the force members.]

-[There isn’t movement in the production. It hasn’t sensed danger yet.]

The radio became busy. It is easy for 100 people to get rid of a hatchery.

What they are reluctant about is coming across a new mutant during battle.

Mutants are each individuals. So most of them including the hatchery, do not like encroaching on other areas.

This is a variable. They could get in trouble if they let their guards down thinking that it is just a hatchery area. They must calculate all possibilities in every situation.

More is better does not apply in the case of mutants. If there are more mutants, there are only more disasters. Not having any is the shortcut to world peace.

-[I still see a few dark corners. Let’s throw a few more photothermal grenades.]

-[If possible, I’d like to get visibility and get by without fighting.]

They cannot bother it. It is important to deliver the message, ‘I want to get by this path. I don’t intend to impose on you.’

Instead of throwing the photothermal grenades, they were rolled out. 3 photothermal grenades lit up the rest area. The panorama came into sight, including the hatchery hanging on the ceiling.

-[Nest?]

-[Damn it!]

Thump.

It is a living being hanging ominously over a rest area exceeding hundreds of square feet.

It is like a wrinkled piece of meat with disgusting veins, bumpy thorns, and dozens of open wombs that give birth to mutants.

A hatchery has less than10 wombs. It has a short range, thin veins, and thorns that look as though they are not fully protruding. The one on the roof is immature.

The light red color shows this. Regardless of its evolution, the color gets darker the longer it stays. In the case of headquarters, it is a darker red than blood.

Even if it is freshly evolved, a nest is a nest. Therefore, it is definitely a level 3.

-[Does anyone know how many minutes it takes to pull a level 3 in the virtual version?]

-[It only takes a few seconds for level 1, 1 minute for level 2, and 5 minutes for level 3.]

There must be a Lifer other than Cha Jun Sung who knows because someone responded as soon as they heard the question.

-[How many wombs are there?]

-[26.]

It was hard for people other than the leading group to check the situation, so it was relayed by word of mouth.

-[It could pull out 400 mutants by itself. It looks like we’ll have to expect at least 2 mutants in level 3 as well.]

This is in the case of a fight. If they just get past this safely, they will not have to face even one.

-[Do you see a way out?]

-[Wait a second.]

The Lifers that were an issue to Chun Myung Ik had found a path using photothermal grenades.

With the force as the point, there were doors similar to the one they had come through to the east and west. They must be paths to places like warehouses.

In a direction slight off a straight line, a connection that they could go in and out of with ease was waiting for visitors.

-[I can see it. It’s difficult for us to assess this on our own, so please come and take a look for yourself.]

-[I’ll go up.]

The force members pushed their bodies against the wall. The passage is narrow but when they moved around a little, they could make enough space for Chun Myung Ik and a few others to get through.

When they arrived at the front, Chun Myung Ik looked in the direction the Lifers indicated.

-[We’ve found the right place.]

A rest area is a place to meet. Even if they had rode the cargo lifts into a different warehouse, they would have had to go through this one anyway.

It seems the road pioneering mission exists because of the nest. Since it is in the center, blocking the path to the latter half of the mission, they will need to either avoid it or kill it.

“Do you think the mission will be complete even if we avoid it?”

“I don’t think so if it’s pioneering.”

“Right? If we avoid it, it’ll stay alive. That’s not pioneering it. With time, it’ll multiply or develop into headquarters.”

The force members nodded to Park Jin Hyuk’s words without realizing.

It makes sense. What if when they received a sample takeover that is suspected to be a link, the starting point selection is always a tunnel? Every time they come, they would have to face the nest.

[Battle will be the worst possible situation. We will go in the direction of avoiding it.]

Chun Myung Ik thought on Park Jin Hyuk’s words before making his decision. They will go with the lower risk first. Battle is not the best method, it is the second best.

***

Cha Jun Sung who was passing through the rest area with the force members slightly tilted his head.

Boom boom!

The nest is moving. Is it because it senses movement in the area but not danger? They were being consistent without showing activity. Even if it noticed that they have a motive, it had no way to know what that is. Look. Does that bizarre creature have expression? It is just stuck to wall.

‘Throwing it is a problem too, but the middle falls and blasts if the bomb’s timing is off. In this battle, a bomb is a double-edged sword.’

The distance between the floor and ceiling is about 30m, higher than a 10 story building. This problem is not to be resolved with strength alone. There needs to be a sense for measuring distance.

Even with Cha Jun Sung’s muscular strength, he could not guarantee that he would get the timing right.

To only bring shock?

As a building type, the outer shell of the nest is tough and thick. The eggs is hatches are indescribably hard as well.

‘Confine them.’

There are 100 people in the force. It is a large space of almost 500 to 600 square feet, but a battle here would put shackles on the Lifers.

If they misuse the weapons, allies will be hurt. Weapons do not have eyes.

‘It’s the best way.’

A few Lifers kill the hatching eggs that fall one by one.

A few check from the rear. The Lifers cannot get mixed up no matter what. A level 3 that falls will keep several Lifers tied up.

If this happens, there will be fewer deaths. There is no guarantee for what will happen once they encounter it. It is all just prediction.

-[The situation at the tail-end?]

-[Groups 7 and 8 just passed. Now, only 9 and 10 need to pass.]

Soon after, the rest of the groups came over. The force went into a connected path. A change occurred while they were get farther away from the nest’s sensing range like this.

-[If you would like to complete the mission, you must get rid of the nest in the rest area.]

-[Ack!]

-[This is crazy!]

The force was in despair. What Park Jin Hyuk said had come true. They could not avoid battle. They reacted with sensitivity because the situation has a direct impact on their lives.

-[We’ll need to split up into teams. It is not a good environment for 100 people to start shooting.]

-[Are you saying that some people will have to go out and fight while others stay back and keep a lookout?]

-[If you have a twisted outlook like that from the beginning, our teamwork will only come apart.]

There are several conversations. There is one meaning in all of the conversations. ‘I don’t want to go out and fight, so you go out.’

It is different if the entire force goes out, but they do not want to take the initiative to go out and fight. Cha Jun Sung did not refute this either. He was the same.

-[Can’t we lure them into the warehouse?]

-[Oh! It would work if we take on a few with our large numbers!]

It is the method that Cha Jun Sung and Park Jin Hyuk used in Field of Meat. If they use that narrow passage, they could reduce the nest’s productivity for sure.

‘Will the nest be deceived so easily?’