Karin is nearby? And the treasure too?
I couldn't easily understand why Karin and the treasure were in close proximity.
Perhaps the group that kidnapped Karin possessed the treasure. If so, it would be killing two birds with one stone.
I pulled out the treasure map from my pouch. It showed a red circle at the spot where the river split into two branches. A river could be seen not far away.
Just as I was about to move through the air, X's voice rang out.
[Detected powerful energy from Deathworm's corpse. Do not leave Deathworm's corpse for energy extraction.]
Energy extraction...?
"You're not planning to drink this bastard's breast milk, are you?"
Imagining X extracting milk from Deathworm's corpse made my skin crawl, making me want to escape this thing immediately.
[Energy for evolution can be obtained from the corpses of the strong. The extraction method differs from that of the Qualified One.]
"Evolution?"
Without responding, X shot a bright light toward Deathworm's corpse. The entire body gradually began to glow.
[Extracting energy from Deathworm's corpse. Completion imminent.]
Deathworm's corpse emitted an intensely burning light. Moments later, the light faded, leaving only ashes where the corpse had been. They scattered effortlessly into the air, leaving nothing behind.
A violent wind surged through my body, making it impossible to regain composure. Everything beneath my skin felt swollen.
Instead of pain, I felt extreme euphoria. My heart pounded violently from this intense sensation I'd never experienced before.
A massive explosion echoed through my body with a "Kwang!" The explosion shattered into fragments that absorbed into every part of me.
Cheerful notification sounds chimed consecutively as the skill window opened.
[Stealth Skill upgraded from Lv.1 to Lv.5.]
Attacks during stealth now guarantee critical damage.
Critical damage during stealth increased by 300%.
Duration adjusted to 10 minutes, cooldown to 60 minutes.
[Minigun Skill upgraded from Lv.1 to Lv.5.]
Ammunition changed from 7.62mm to 12.7mm.
Base attack power increased by 400%.
Effective against medium-sized monsters.
[Hardcore Saw Skill upgraded from Lv.1 to Lv.5.]
Added fire attribute attacks.
Base attack power increased by 600%.
"Huff... Huff... You scared me, bastard. You should've warned me about this."
Scolding the utterly tactless X, I checked the skill window.
The energy extracted from Deathworm must have been enormous. All skills had jumped four levels at once. Though I'd need to test them, the adjusted stats clearly indicated tremendous power growth.
After my body heat subsided somewhat, I moved through the air to locate my target. Finding the river fork proved easier than expected. Upon approaching, I saw an old factory.
Karin and the treasure wouldn't just be lying in an open field. If she'd been kidnapped, there must be their hideout!
The subsequent alarm confirmed my intuition.
[Karin is inside the old factory.]
[Treasure is inside the old factory.]
As I'd thought. For some reason, Karin and the treasure were in the same location.
From the air, I scouted the factory perimeter. About twenty unfamiliar gang members stood guard with guns.
"X, display their faces."
Instantly, twenty faces appeared on the screen. They had red eyes like Ghouls, just as Rosa had said.
"What the hell are these things? Ghouls?"
But apart from their eyes, they looked too human to be Ghouls. Their skin wasn't melting, they possessed the intelligence to use guns, and I saw them conversing.
[Targets belong to Beast King Eden's faction. Distinct from Ghouls. The Creator named them 'Oist.']
"The Creator? Oist?"
[The Creator made new lifeforms, including myself. Oist are among them.]
"So where's this Creator bastard?"
X paused before responding.
[Information inaccessible.]
"Fuck."
Though X didn't give the answer I wanted, hope emerged. Finding that bastard and seizing X's Administrator Privileges might be easier than defeating the Conquerors of the New World.
Regardless, for now I'd eliminate these Oist bastards and rescue Karin and the treasure.
I moved above the guards at the factory entrance. Clouds conveniently obscured the moon, making stealthy movement easy.
Let's see how much stronger I've become.
I drew Hardcore Saw. Flames clinging to the blade writhed ominously. Not wanting to make noise, I didn't activate the switch. Aiming at one bastard's head below, I dropped vertically with full weight behind the strike.
Pajajak.
The bastard split apart like firewood. Hardcore Saw was so sharp I didn't even feel resistance. Before my feet touched ground, I swung again, severing the remaining bastards' necks.
I'd massacred the entrance guards in moments. The slaughter-like combat made it difficult to gauge my actual growth.
After hiding the corpses in a nearby dumpster, I entered the factory.
"Ugh."
Upon entering, nauseating stench and metallic blood odor assaulted my nose. Fluorescent lights on the ceiling flickered endlessly as if dying. Countless empty rooms contained dust-covered equipment scattered haphazardly. From the hall beyond the corridor came metallic grinding sounds - "Wing~"
"Kyaaaaaaah!!"
A terrified woman's scream followed.
Someone's here.
Activating Stealth, I moved silently toward the hall with cautious steps.
The hall contained dozens of women caged in iron bars and three dangerous-looking men.
Before a white-haired man sitting on a sofa, a voluptuous brunette performed a terrified striptease. Desperately shaking her prized augmented breasts to gain his attention, but his expression remained bored. Seeing this, she hastily crawled to him on all fours and pulled down his zipper with trembling hands.
"Boring."
Before his words faded, a man with grotesquely developed arm muscles grabbed her hair in two handfuls and lifted her into the air.
"Hiiiiik-!! Hikkyaaaaaaaah-!!!!!"
The woman screamed horrifically.
Sucking her breasts, he experimentally pulled her hair several times before saying in an excited voice:
"Hehehik-, I wanna see you naked."
He yanked her hair with terrifying force. Her skin couldn't withstand the pressure and tore.
"Kyaaaaaaah!!! Kyyaaaaaah!!!"
She wailed in agony.
The man began peeling her skin with practiced movements. Her skin peeled away inverted from her body.
Jjijijik- Jjijik-. Jji-jjijijik-.
Her screams grew more desperate as skin peeled away. Soon he completely flayed her. Satisfied, he held up the skin and laughed.
The skinless woman rolled on the floor in agony, screaming death throes.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!!!!"
A man holding a massive Heavy Kitchen Knife nearby stomped her back with his heel.
Bpajajak!
A horrific sound followed. Likely her spine breaking. With a light "Keok" groan, she stopped moving.
The spine-breaker began splitting her body with the Heavy Kitchen Knife, extracting organs. Beside him towered piles of meat reaching the ceiling.
While these madmen continued their atrocities, I carefully searched the cage but found no sign of Karin.
There might be other rooms holding captive women. Though I couldn't abandon these women to die, finding Karin came first.
But for a while now, I'd felt the white-haired man watching me. Impossible - he shouldn't see me while I'm stealthed.
At that moment, something sharp flew toward me. Reflexively deflecting it with Hardcore Saw broke my Stealth.
The white-haired man looked surprised seeing me materialize.
"I was wondering where that milky stench was coming from. So it's you?"
Shit. Can't let the women get caught in the fight. Need to relocate.
Thud!!
Horrific pain exploded in my abdomen. I saw writhing massive arm muscles. His fist had struck my stomach.
Kwadangtangtang!!
I saw the corridor ceiling. Couldn't breathe.
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