Chapter 234 - Evolution

Published on

Jun 18, 2023

•10 min read•127 views

Jefferson commanded Fearless to open up the shelter below the rest area. This was originally created to store any special items they might discover.

Because the shelter had a passageway connected directly to part of the rest area and it didn’t need one to open any steel doors, it was a fast and safe place for everyone to get to and use as a shelter. After all, there was still a Captain Reginald at large out there.

“Fearless, get me all the weapons I can get. I want weapons that are easy to carry and with as much fire power as possible,” said Su Jin.

He wanted to get the most destructive weapons available, but such weapons required approval from at least five Level 1 access holders. Three of them had died at the same time and Reginald had gone missing, so it was impossible to get five people to approve this request.

Besides, they were now cruising in outer space, so he didn’t really dare to use something that was too powerful. If he destroyed the entire spaceship as a result, everyone was also going to die.

By this time, Su Jin had already dashed into the fighting area and Fearless had already listed all the weapons he had asked for. All sorts of weapons were available, since the Fearless had gone through a fierce battle at the Hiding Place of God previously and had even used nuclear missiles there. It wasn’t surprising that they had weapons that could be handled by just one person.

Each weapon came with a manual, but Su Jin didn’t have the time to read all of them, so he could only get Fearless to continue filtering the weapons for him.

“Fearless, prioritize fire power, time it will last in a battle, and how convenient it is to carry. Also, I need single man-portable defense equipment.”

“Filtering the items… filtering complete.” Fearless had sorted through the items available and had finally picked out two weapons of attack and the white wearable armor that Jefferson was wearing.

One of the weapons resembled a submachine gun, but it used a laser instead. It was able to hold two energy sources and last through a small battle.

The other weapon was a long knife made from a special sort of metal. It looked like a katana, and the blade gleamed brightly.

The only armor was an extremely lightweight one that was made from a special sort of material. It was easy for even the ladies who didn’t have to fight to wear and be well protected.

“Fearless, get me as many as you have of all these.” Su Jin was pleased with this weapon selection.

“I’m sorry, but your level of access will only allow you to have five items,” replied Fearless.

Su Jin blinked in shock and asked, “What if I get Captain Jefferson to authorize me?”

“When Fearless was launched into space, a policy was made to guard against anyone with ill intentions or any other unforeseen situations to hurt the ship and its crew. You cannot retrieve anything from this area with another person’s authority. Even if Captain Jefferson gives you orders, he has to request for these items himself, and he has a limit of 50 items,” explained Fearless.

Su Jin punched the wall in frustration. Was this actually a way in which the Handbook could prevent the owners from joining forces? In other words, the Handbook already had other preventive measures in place and did not allow owners to make use of other weaponry and the like available in the Challenge.

He got Fearless to hand him the maximum number of items he could get, found a box, stuffed everything in, and ran out again.

While he was running as quickly as he could to the rest area, the shelter was already in chaos.

Arkas was trapped in his part of the spaceship, but he was getting through the ship very quickly. The worms he controlled were terrifying. The corrosive liquid they produced could eat through steel easily.

“We need to get to the fighting area! There are weapons there! Once we get a hold of weapons, we’ll be able to defend ourselves!” yelled the leader of Team Volcano Mountain loudly. Since the Handbook disallowed them from using their own items, he had to think of another way to defend himself.

A lot of people inside the shelter agreed with him. They unlocked the doors and ran out from the rest area to the fighting area in groups.

If Su Jin were here, he would have cursed that team leader for being despicable. Arkas was trapped in a place they knew about, but there was a missing Reginald who was nowhere to be found now. Bringing so many people out of the locked shelter was basically allowing these people to become an easy target.

But that was exactly what the team leader was hoping for. The higher the number of targets appeared in front of the aliens, the lower the chances of himself being targeted.

Meanwhile, Jefferson got a shock when he saw what was happening. He used Fearless to tell the people leaving the shelter to remain in the shelter since it was still safe at the moment.

But only a small minority chose to return to the shelter. Most of the panicking crew weren’t going to listen to the instructions of someone hiding in some unknown place, or worse still, someone who could possibly be hiding in a place a hundred times safer than themselves.

Their only aim was to get their hands on some weapons. Doing that was the only way they felt safe.

Everyone started running rapidly toward the fighting area and Team Volcano Mountain hid themselves in the middle.

Just then, chaos suddenly erupted. A black shadow shot itself into the crowd like a bullet. That was one of those worms.

The worm accurately stabbed itself into one man’s throat. Human skin couldn’t stop it at all. Its corrosive liquid could eat through everything in an instant, including human flesh and blood.

Pfft! That man’s head exploded like a smashed watermelon just a second later.

“AHH!” Screams and shouts could be heard as everyone became frantic and tried to run in all directions. The worm had landed more or less in the middle of the crowd, causing the people to escape in various directions instead of in just one direction.

At the same time, more worms started appearing. Each of them were able to leap onto a person’s throat accurately and kill them in seconds.

The crowd ran like they had all lost their minds. None of them had the time or energy to think about which direction the fighting area was in. All they knew was that they had to get out of this place right now.

The worms were dry and skinny when they killed their first victim. But after that, they would become fatter and grow claws of iron.

These fattened and moistened worms would evolve faster and faster after that, making them kill at a higher rate.

A one-sided massacre was now happening along the corridor. The nearly 200 strong crowd realized that they couldn’t even defend themselves against their attackers. Also, the worms continued to evolve as time went on. After it killed a certain number of people, it would change in shape and its efficiency in killing a person would increase. The only thing they could do was to run while the worm was busy killing someone else.

Team Volcano Mountain lost two members in the chaos too. One of them had their head cut off by a worm that had evolved to a stage where it resembled a cockroach, while the other member had been stampeded to death by the panicking crowd. Only the team leader, the member wearing gold-rimmed spectacles and a middle aged lady survived.

They were Handbook owners after all, so they didn’t feel too flustered by what happened and continued moving toward the fighting area. They knew that they had to have weapons in order to survive.

Meanwhile, Su Jin was still on his way back to the rest area. He had no idea that the crowd had been shifted to the shelter.

But he suddenly froze in his steps even as he ran at top speed toward the rest area. He braked so hard, a cloud of white smoke rose from the floor.

“Show yourself! I know you’re here!” Su Jin called out. All his hair was standing on end again as he sensed danger near him.

Shortly after he said these words, a strange looking man stepped into the light.

Perhaps it wasn’t accurate to call this fellow a man anymore. He looked more like a lump of moving flesh that had a human head fixed on top of it. And even that human head was problematic, because he had compound eyes like an insect.

“Captain Reginald!” Su Jin could guess the identity of this monster in no time.

“That’s right! You are no ordinary person, alright. No crew onboard the Fearless can run at the speed in which you were running at earlier. I checked the boarding records just now and I’m sure you’re not someone else impersonating as you. So… I’m very curious about you!” Reginald’s compound eyes reflected a strange glint as they focused on Su Jin.

Su Jin was rather surprised. His eyes widened as he said, “You’re actually still sentient? Or rather, you still have a personality.”

“Of course. I’m just evolving – I never lost myself,” said Reginald proudly.

An anger burned in Su Jin’s eyes. He said angrily, “Since that’s the case, why did you bring harm to your own kind?”

Reginald paused for a moment before laughing loudly. “HAHA! I think you’re a little mistaken. If you evolved from apes, would you still think of the apes as your own kind? I’ve already become a higher lifeform, so what do you mean by “my own kind”? What a joke! And actually, I’m helping all of you by doing this, but you’re all just unable to appreciate the beauty of evolution, so you can’t understand, that’s all.”

“Oho! So, I actually have to thank you for killing my friend?!” Su Jin flung the box he was carrying on his shoulder to the floor and grabbed hold of a long knife made from a special alloy.

Reginald nodded without hesitation. “Of course. You will thank me for this. Once I make you one of us, you will thank me!”

Su Jin narrowed his eyes, and an arrow made from water suddenly shot out from Reginald’s mouth. The arrow moved at a very high speed, but Su Jin’s reaction was faster. He wielded his knife and sliced through the arrow while moving toward Reginald.

Reginald did not panic and was very pleased with Su Jin instead. He laughed and said, “Hoho! What a wonderful body you have. I can’t believe a normal human body has been able to evolve to this extent. I evolved by changing my body, so I’m envious that you’ve managed to keep yours. If you became my comrade, I wonder how much stronger we could become!”

Su Jin ignored Reginald’s words. He brandished his knife so many times and so rapidly, it was as though he had a few dozen knives. The glint of the blade covered Reginald and he had chopped the fellow into several pieces within seconds.

But even after he was done chopping Reginald up, Su Jin did not feel the slightest bit more relaxed. That sense of danger nearby was still there. He watched as the pieces started merging together again like a liquid and formed Reginald once more.

Su Jin blinked in surprise and immediately brought the knife to his nose to take a whiff. His eyes instantly lit up. So, that’s how Captain Reginald restored his body.