by Yoo Seong
“How about it? What did it drop?”
Ark asked into the Nymphe after taking care of the Blunder. The research centre had a small hallway that split into two big ones. The hallway divided to the left and right at the entrance. Ark guessed the difficulty of the research centre so he split the team into two so they could capture both passages at the same time. That’s because there was a time limit of 2 days in this mission. Ark and the Royal Guards were one team while Kaya and Slayer’s group were the other one. Kaya sent a communication and her voice seemed dissatisfied.
-Chet, it came out again this time.
“I’m sorry but what can I do?”
Ark’s lips went up as he spoke.
-Mana Battery Pack
Item Type: For Mana Charging
A battery pack used to increase the mana charging rate of the Rama’s battle suit. If the battery pack is operated then the mana charging speed of the battle suit will increase. This effect only applies to the Rama’s battle suit.
The ‘it’ that Kaya talked about was this battery pack! The reason for Ark’s smirk was because his Rama battle suit used mana. Apart from Melina and Park, the others all had federation battle suits. They recharged on mechanical energy not mana. And the current loot distribution of the party was the occupation had first priority! In other words, people who could use the item had priority. The Blunder didn’t only drop mana battery packs. The Blunder also dropped the ether battery packs for the mechanical battle suits.
The ratio was half and half. However the ether battery packs had to be divided between 5 people, including Kurakan, while Ark alone could monopolize the mana battery packs. So he had already gobbled up 4 mana battery packs! The battery pack was worth 10 gold so he had already packed 40 gold.
‘I don’t know why the Blunder only drops battery packs but……’
To Ark it was the perfect hunting ground! Of course he wasn’t just satisfied with the mana battery packs. This was a hidden laboratory on an abandoned planet so there should be more things he could obtain! These items couldn’t be everything.
‘Even if there isn’t any information on the magic camp or antimatter but there should be some special items hidden in the laboratory! I can smell the scent of a jackpot!’
Motivation gushed within him.
“Now let’s go to the next block!”
Ark grinned and walked along the passage.
Space 8
Operations Team
[TL] : For those who read the chapter early, I changed the name of the monster to Blunder.
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Wiing! Wiiing!
The blue beams quickly crossed the room. Sparks flew as the trajectory of light hit the Blunder and its health dripped out. And the next moment a sword cut its neck. The Blunder grabbed its neck and struggled.
Kuaaaaaaah!
It fell down and died.
“Phew, this place has been put in order as well.”
Ark looked around while holding his sword. It had been several hours since they’ve entered the hallway. Ark’s party steadily moved on while fighting Blunders in every block and occasionally finding items before entering a large room. This place was filled with monsters. It wasn’t surprising that 4 Blunders ran up as they entered the room. However they had experience fighting dozens of Blunders on the way here. Ark’s group used that experience to quickly take care of the Blunders. The work after the battle ended was obvious.
“Milan, Hegel, thoroughly search the room for anything!”
“Yes, Hyung-nim!”
“There are plenty of equipment in the room. The Blunder might also be hiding in a place we can’t see. Kurakan and Berad will keep watch while the others will search inside.
“Don’t worry!”
The members replied vigourously and scattered. Ark’s gaze turned towards the computers on one side of the room. There were dozens of monitors on the walk and a long desk with computers underneath. This clearly showed the purpose of the room.
‘There’s no doubt! This is the laboratory’s control room!’
Once again, the reason Ark had come to Impeltus was to find information related to ‘X’. And if he couldn’t find anything about ‘X’ then he should obtain a sample of Burahman ore. A secret laboratory was hidden in a place like this. It had been closed for a long time but things were still working.
‘And if this is the control room…..’
Data confirming the identity of the research centre might be left behind. The desk computers had been there for at least 10 years and most were badly damaged. Only 3 worked fine. All 3 turned on when he pressed the switch. A message appeared on the monitor.
-Please enter the password.
As expected, it wouldn’t be that easy. He connected the Nymphe to the computer.
-This door is protected with a security device.
Enter the security code or use Invaders to hack and release the lock. The password has a level 8 security rating. Your hacking skill is currently only Lv. 2 and you can only release level 1~6 locks.
“Hacking is always no use when it is needed.”
It was always a large difference. It was to the extent that he wanted to scream. But who could he blame? He was the one at fault for not diligently hacking. And in such situations the hacking skill wasn’t always necessary. Hacking was a 5 star rated skill. That meant it was a hard skill to learn. Of course, Ark wasn’t the only one in Galaxian who learnt hacking. There were other NPCs like Tori who could teach the hacking skill but it wasn’t common among users.
Information in Galaxian often had security devices attached to them. Not many users knew hacking so they wouldn’t be able to obtain such information. The law in a game was that if there was a problem then the answer would be hidden not far away. And Ark had already secured the answer before arriving at the control room.
-Hey Ark, I picked up some papers in a corner of this room. It says something about the control room that I don’t understand and a password is recorded underneath. I thought I would send a message to you just in case.
Kaya who had been moving on the opposite side sent him a communication. In fact this was normal. They swept through every corner of the laboratory and found a password. And it was information needed for the control room. This was the original method to capture the secret laboratory. Hacking was just one of several options that could be used to solve the problem. There was no need to waste time!
-******.
-The password has been confirmed.
-The security device has been released.
-The administrator account has connected to the central database.
“Bingo!”
Ark smiled and muttered. As expected, the message that Kaya sent was the password to the control room computers! Several data items were marked once the database was connected. Among them was an item marked ‘Impeltus’ Laboratory.’
“Shall I check out the identity of this facility?”
He chose the item and a large amount of information appeared on the monitor. The first thing that caught his eye was a map of the laboratory. Ark had noticed it already after spending several hours in this place but the laboratory was basically a tube-like structure. Two passages moved to the left and right in a circular pattern at the entrance but the eventually connected to one central passage.
“It isn’t as big as I thought.”
Most of the time was spent in combat and resting. They spent quite a bit of time exploring the small passage but the central passage was only 200 metres.
“The entrance was the 6 o’clock and we’ll meet Kaya’s group at the 12 o’clock position. And the control room is in the 1 o’clock location. If Kaya’s group progressed at a similar pace then we should’ve investigated 80~90% of the laboratory. Well time is limited so this is suitable for me……�
�
Ark’s eyes turned to the letters underneath the map.
-Impeltus’ Secret Laboratory-
A secret laboratory created by the galactic federation’s Operations Team. This main focus was the study and adaptation of the Rama’s Drones to humans. The Rama’s battle suit and its mechanism to increase the body’s abilities will be studied to create battle suits for humans…..
“Operations Team?”
It was a name he had heard before. It was when he had finished the R-14 tutorial and moved to Istana for the first time. The history of the federation was explained to Ark. It was 100 years ago in the mid-23rd century. The galactic federation that had just entered the universe was attacked by the Rama. The Rama were several hundred years more advanced so humanity was on the brink of extinction. Then the Operations Team appeared!
They were led by the genius scientist Lucian and the best scientists of humanity. Not only did they develop something to adapt to the space environment, the body coating technique was created to that they could exert a level of force equal to the Rama. Humanity stepped away from the brink of destruction and grew to match the Rama and Aschulat…..that was the explanation.
“Then this laboratory is affiliated with the federation?”
Ark made a disappointed expression. If this laboratory belonged to the federation then it wasn’t associated with the investigation. However Ark was interested in the reason why the laboratory was established. He didn’t know why the federation abandoned this laboratory but……
‘Battle suit!’
They were researching battle suits here! It was the Rama’s battle study they were studying.
‘Maybe I can obtain some useful information related to the Rama battle suit!’
Ark started to earnestly review the data on the computer. And he was able to find some material.
-# Senior Researcher’s Report ~01
I participated in the Operations Team led by Lucian decades ago.
After constant research, we found a way to extract DNA from extra-terrestrial life and fuse it with human DNA. The body synthesized the alien genes and allowed humans to adapt to any environment. This technique was called body coating. However, this body coating technology was limited when dealing with the Rama.
That’s because the Rama enhanced their body with the ‘battle suit.’ The battle suit strengthens the body’s capabilities by 100% like body coating. No, it expresses it even more than that. The Rama wearing battle suits can overwhelm humans in all environments.
Thus the next challenge of the Operations Team was to research the Drones that make the Rama’s battle suits. In order to develop battle suits for humans…..
-# Senior Researcher’s Report ~06
I finally succeeded in making a synthetic Drone battle suit for humans. The root of the Drone battle suit is mana. It allowed a human to absorb and use mana like the Rama. In addition, the battle suits places a significant burden on the human body that it can’t withstand.
Although research suggests that humans enhanced with body coating might be able to endure it. But a problem was found.
Humans weren’t capable of fully using the capabilities of the battle suit. The reason seems to be the innate qualities. The Rama have been handling the Drones who were mana creatures since birth so they were perfectly assimilated with mana. Of course, it also depends on the type of body coating that humans select. But the human body was a far distance from being able to fully use mana. The differences in physical characteristics and abilities presented an obstacle to using the battle suit.
While a human could use the battle suit, their basic capabilities weren’t as enhanced when the Rama used it. This effect showed a clear difference in practice tests. The researchers embarked on a study to rearrange the genes into a perfect combination to complement for these problems.
‘What does this mean?’
Ark’s eyes narrowed like a hawk.
‘Humans can’t exert 100% of the Rama battle suit?’
Ark never had such thoughts until now. No, he had been completely satisfied. He had obtained the battle suit by chance but the performance hadn’t varied that much from the federation’s battle suit. Well, it was a Rama battle suit so he was uncomfortable using it in front of the federation. But when considering that a battle suit was worth 1,000 gold, he thought it was worth the inconvenience. And he even raised the level of his battle suit last time. Yet now it was saying the Rama battle suit wasn’t appropriate for humans?
Of course, the Operations Team had done the research 100 years ago. Circumstances now could be different from back then. But there was something wrong now that he thought about it. The battle suit was a technology that strengthened the body coating ability as while as enhanced his physical capabilities.
‘There is a strange part.’
Ark had struggled against users wearing the battle suit. Valencia who represented the galactic federation. The Red Slaughterer who was a Rama. Ark had received a slightly strange feeling then. Valencia and the Red Slaughterer had a surge in damage and skill effect after wearing their battle suits. That’s why Ark had a hard time against the Red Slaughterer on Athamas. At the time he thought that their abilities had risen by a similar amount but blamed their different skills…..
‘Doesn’t the battle suit strengthen skills?’
He hadn’t known there was another problem! Other humans from the federation also used a Rama battle suit. They probably also didn’t know a penalty was applied. No, Ark hadn’t seen the effect of his skills rise so he definitely received a penalty.
‘Dammit, I thought I got something for free but it was a trap! No, something…..yes, there has to be something. This is what the laboratory was studying. So!’
Ark quickly went through the rest of the papers. He read a few more chapters!
-# Senior Researcher’s Report ~11
A terrible thing happened.
The attempt to perfectly rearrange and combine the human genes with the Drone has failed. There have been some successful cases but that is only 2% of the subjects. The remaining subjects had changed into hideous monsters. The team came to the conclusion that a perfect combination with the Drone genes can’t be created. The DNA from the alien life form is stronger than the human body so humans can’t perfectly use the Drone battle suits.
Fortunately I received a message that the laboratory dedicated to developing battle suits for humans had good results. Human DNA is combined with cultivated alien embryo cells to form a mechanical type battle suit. It is still in the test phase but one day it will have the power to match the Rama battle suits.
But the federation has already been cornered and can’t wait until that time. Even if the success rate is only 2%, if this laboratory becomes known that they will clearly force the experiment and cause numerous victims. So I’m going to join the human battle suit team and will seal this laboratory forever. Along with the victims called Blunder that I produced.
If someone finds the laboratory then I can only hope that someone developed more advanced body coating technology in the future……
‘There is a way!’
His eyes flashed at the contents. This research centre had developed a perfect way to combine human DNA and the Rama’s battle suit. Of course, the success rate was only 2%. The remaining 98% had their DNA eroded and turned into terrible monsters. The Blunder were these poor subjects! Ark had killed a lot of these terrifying monsters. It was also why the Blunder dropped incessant amounts of battery packs.
‘But that was when body coating technology was just developing. It has been more than 100 years now. And I received the 3rd generation body coating. Like it was stated in the report, the body coating has advanced many generations!’
That meant the probability of success was higher! No, the success probability didn’t matter. How could a user turn into a Blunder and wander around forever? If it failed then some penalty would probably be applied. But if it succeeded than his Lv. 2 battle suit could exe
rt 100% of its power. Ark wasn’t the type to miss this opportunity. Ark quickly returned to the map and looked it over. There was a large room attached to the laboratory facilities at 12 o’clock.
“Here! The central laboratory!”
Just as Ark was shouting powerfully.
–Ark, a raid!
The Nymphe vibrated and Slayer’s voice emerged. The moment Ark raised his head!
Kwa kwang! Kwa kwa kwa kwang!
An explosion shook his eardrums. He flinched and turned to the control room entrance that was shrouded in black smoke.
“What’s going on?”
“I-I don’t know! A grenade suddenly came flying!”
Kurakan coughed and replied from the distance.
“Grenade?”
Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!
Bewilderment spread on Ark’s face at the subsequent gunfire. The laboratory had been sealed for 100 years so the only ones present were the genetically engineered Blunder. And there were grenades and guns in the laboratory but the Blunder didn’t have the intelligence to deal with them. The only thing he could think of was a 3rd presence!
‘The federation aren’t the only ones looking for information about the magic circle and antimatter. The Rama and Aschulat are also looking for intelligence. The Aschulat are allies of the galactic federation. Even if the destination accidentally coincided, there is a low probability that they will attack. Then it must be the Rama! No way….did the Rama’s intelligence find out about this laboratory?’
That idea popped into his head. It didn’t matter who the opponent was. They had already started to attack. They were the enemy!
“Royal Guards, gather at the entrance to respond to the enemy!”
Ark ran to the entrance with the members. Kurakan and Kalliben were returning fire on both sides of the entrance. But the hail of bullets from outside was no joke. Dozens of bullets that caused flames were slamming into the metal wall. The soldiers near the entrance were wearing thick black armour, a black helmet and holding a gun and shield. There were at least 20 people!
