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Chapter 36

A seemingly ordinary-looking woman was wandering around the alley. Contrary to my expectations, Ras’s colleague turned out to be a woman. When I saw the name Lloyd, I had assumed it was a man.

‘Well, there’s no law that says women can’t go to a place like this.’ At first glance, she might not seem like she could attract a single flower, but who knows what happens when you go to places like this? She might be pulling in guys left and right.

I got up from my seat and waved to her.

“Here.”

“Why on earth did you want to meet in a place like this?”

“I can’t just openly discuss things like that.”

“Well, I guess you’re right. But…”

Lloyd approached me. She had been wearing a friendly expression just moments ago, but now she raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you retired, and yet you’re still dressed like that?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that a work uniform you’re wearing?\'”

She pointed at my body as she spoke. Since the pheromones from my auxiliary organ don’t affect me, I have no idea how I appear to others.

I’m not affected by the pheromones of the mimicry organ, so I don’t know how I appear to others.

‘In the game, when you use the mimicry organ, the target appears in their state just before death…’

When I devoured Ras, he was inebriated and wearing his work clothes, not having changed his attire.

Listening to Lloyd’s words, it seems like even in reality, the mimicry organ mimics the appearance of the target just before their death.

‘The mimicry organ mimics clothing too.’

While the auxiliary organ acquires genetic information and creates hallucinogenic pheromones based on that, it doesn’t rely solely on genetic data. It also incorporates information from other senses like the auxiliary organ, sight, and so on, to create much more precise hallucinations.

It gathers visual information like clothing, shoes, buttons, wrinkles, and sends that information to the auxiliary organ, which then overlays it on the body it constructs based on genetic data. This means it can only apply the attire that the consumed target was wearing, and it’s impossible to change their clothing in the hallucination.

‘This could be an unexpected issue. If the clothes don’t match the situation, it might raise suspicions.’

In the game, there’s no concept of clothing that doesn’t match the situation. Players rarely change into combat gear just because they entered a city. So, in the game, no one ever realized something was amiss because of suspicious attire.

‘This is the real world, and that’s what makes the difference. I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’

If Lloyd hadn’t pointed it out, I could have been in big trouble.

I circled around her briefly.

“Well, I didn’t have any proper clothes to wear.”

“Tsk, you should’ve dressed properly. A guy who retired and—huh?”

She paused as if she was going to say something else but then bit her tongue and frowned.

“I’ve been smelling something strange since earlier…”

“Enough with the unnecessary talk. Do you know about the broker?”

“Are we going to talk about that here?”

“Bars have too many ears,” she said.

“Isn’t it about spreading rumors?” I replied.

She nodded and took out a USB drive from her pocket.

“The information related to the broker and our transactions is in here. After a day, you won’t be able to access the files, so make sure to take a look.”

“That’s quite strict.”

“Well, it’s a somewhat sensitive matter. I’ll send you the broker’s contact through the communication device.”

She took out her communication device, and the dim, narrow alley was momentarily brightened by the small device’s light. She inputted the contact information and pressed send. My communication device in my hand vibrated.

‘S?’

On Ras’s communication device, there was an initial ‘S’ and a phone number as a message. It seemed like they intentionally referred to each other by initials in case one of them got arrested.

“That’s it for this. Now, let’s go have a drink or something,” she said.

“Sure.”

As I was looking at the communication device screen, she playfully tapped my arm.

“You, of all people, suggesting we go for a drink… Huh?”

She was taken aback by the sensation, which was completely different from a human’s touch. The auxiliary organ could fool the visual senses, but it couldn’t deceive the sense of touch. When someone touches me, they can feel my actual body. She probably realized something was amiss when she touched me.

That the person waiting for her in the alley was not Ras.

“You, you, what the…?!”

Lloyd stammered, stepping back. I had received the information and contact for the broker, so she was now useless. I wrapped her with my long tail as she attempted to flee.

“Help… Ugh!”

She was about to scream, but I blocked her mouth with one of my combat arms. She seemed perplexed, as if something invisible had grabbed her. She knew that the person she saw with her eyes wasn’t Ras, but the pheromone effect still held. Her sense of touch recognized the restraint as multiple arms and tails, while her vision continued to perceive me as Ras. Perhaps she felt as if she were being held by two arms and the rest were invisible, causing her confusion.

“Uh, uh, uh….”

Lloyd sent a pleading look. Her previously ordinary face was now stained with tears and mucus.

She might have looked pitiful, but my decision remained unchanged. I put more force into my tail, and her waist twisted. Her eyes lost their vitality, and her head drooped.

‘A corpse to be dealt with here.’

I devoured Lloyd right there. The taste of Lloyd was utterly ordinary. It was neither good nor bad, just a mediocre flavor. To be honest, it was slightly better than the sandwich from the neighbor’s house, where Ras used to live.

‘Now, I can transform into Lloyd. Next is…’

I should contact the broker. I needed to go home, check the USB, and decide whether to meet with the broker or not.

After licking up every last drop of blood on the ground, I returned to the secret passage.

｢Food smell.｣

[ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ (Ate and came back)]

｢What about mine?｣

‘Ah.’

I should leave some for Number 26 next time.

***

Sanders, who worked in the Materials Storage Team at the Harbor Zone, had a side job. His job was to provide unusual creatures to cater to the refined tastes of the high-ranking individuals in MegaCorp. In simple terms, it was smuggling, a crime, but Sanders didn’t consider it wrongdoing.

‘Having an ability and not using it would be a sin,’ he thought, firmly rooted in the mindset typical of someone from MegaCorp. Under this line of thinking, he chose a job where he could put his position to good use. Since he had frequent interactions with the Smuggling Animal Surveillance Team due to his work, Sanders proposed a mutually beneficial arrangement to their team leader, who readily accepted it.

The arrangement involved Sanders receiving information about confiscated creatures from the Smuggling Animal Surveillance Team. He would then manipulate the records at the storage facility to transport these creatures to other planets. This corrupt collaboration between the two public agencies continued for over a year. Eventually, Sanders became a broker with enough influence to have connections with the police, if not for the Board. By now, he could have earned enough credits to immigrate to another planet if it weren’t for that damn Board.

“Damn it. All because of that damn Board, I haven’t had a chance,” he grumbled. Since yesterday, there were 30 days left until the Board meeting. Thanks to that, the security level throughout the city had increased significantly, making it extremely difficult to transport creatures discreetly.

‘Those bastards. After all the money I’ve spent, they still won’t let me through,’ Sanders fumed. Although it was an order directly from the Harbor Zone authorities, the government officials had no choice but to comply. But Sanders had no knowledge of this fact.

“Hey, Sanders. Not heading home yet?” a colleague asked.

“I’ll leave later.”

“Alright, take care.”

After confirming that the other employees were leaving, Sanders took out his personal laptop from his bag. When he entered the laptop’s password, a list of creatures intended for smuggling appeared on the screen.

‘It’s all about the money,’ he thought as he saw every item on the list marked as ‘scheduled’. Originally, his plan was to finish loading these creatures onto a ship that would depart for another planet this morning. However, with the increased surveillance, he had no opportunity to intervene.

With increased surveillance in the Harbor Zone, even goods leaving the Zone fell under the watchful eye of the security network, affecting brokers like Sanders. As a result, creatures that should have been transported earlier were still soundly asleep inside the Harbor Zone’s containers. Despite only one day passing, the losses were staggering, which left Sanders cursing under his breath.

At that moment, Sanders’ communication device rang. The screen displayed the letter ‘L’.

“Damn. I did mention that the atmosphere hasn’t been good lately.”

The message from L was brief—a request for an Outspacer trade.

‘Someone actually wants to buy this?’

Sanders raised an eyebrow in surprise. Outspacers were extremely dangerous creatures, and those willing to trade them were exceedingly rare.

Of course, smuggling them was not unheard of. After all, the Outspacer that had been stored in the Harbor Zone’s cryogenic facilities had originally been seized by the Smuggling Animal Surveillance Team.

However, since the seizure, no one had ever approached Sanders with a request to trade an Outspacer.

As Sanders pondered this unusual request, another message arrived.

‘Hmm. A cult in the Administrative Zone is interested in purchasing.’

Normally, Sanders facilitated trades himself, but this time it seemed that the client had been found on the other end.

‘Probably arranged by the Smuggling Animal Surveillance Team leader’, Sanders thought. He had considered the team leader competent, but it appeared they had connections even in the Administrative Zone. Sanders couldn’t help but be impressed.

If it was a cult, Sanders could understand their desire for an Outspacer. Cults had a penchant for collecting rare creatures and peculiar artifacts.

‘Being in the Administrative Zone is fortunate. No need to transport it off-world.’

If it had been a request to send the creature to another planet, he might have refused, but moving it within Earth’s boundaries posed no significant problems.

Sanders quickly replied to L, providing the meeting location, time, and the required credit amount. The location, as usual, was next to the crane in the Harbor Zone’s container yard, and the time remained the same, set for 10 PM.

As Sanders started to lose interest, he received another response.

[…How about moving the meeting time to early morning?]

Wrinkles formed on Sanders’ forehead. Time had always been determined by him, and there had never been a case where the other party requested a change. If he missed this opportunity, the smuggling operation would fall through because the roles were always clear—Sanders was A, and the other party was B.

‘But why?’ In a period of intensified surveillance, the sudden request for a trade from the other side, coupled with a time change, seemed highly suspicious.

After a moment of contemplation, Sanders pressed the call button. The phone emitted a tone, followed by a thud and the sound of the other person’s voice.

[Hello.]

“Hey, what’s going on?”

[Huh?]

“You’ve never requested a time change before.”

“Oh, that… I have to work overtime…”

[Overtime?]

Sanders was about to ask why the sudden need for overtime when he suddenly paused. It reminded him of something a colleague had mentioned not too long ago—someone had caused quite a commotion trying to smuggle a Mountain Crawler.

“Is it because of the Mountain Crawler, by any chance?”

[Yes, everyone’s going crazy because of that.]

“Ugh, they’re really making an effort. So, should we reschedule for a different day?”

[They insisted on getting it as soon as possible.]

“Okay, then. They said 1 AM, right? Let’s meet then.”

Having understood the situation completely, Sanders ended the call.

If he wanted to secretly smuggle the Mountain Crawler, he needed to manipulate both the storage documents and the transfer documents, so he turned on his work PC.

However, while working on the manipulations, he suddenly had an odd thought.

‘Even if they’re cultists, why would they want to trade in the middle of the night?’

Once doubt crept in, it tended to linger. While their request didn’t seem unusual, Sanders couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.

‘I need insurance.’

In the midst of his internal conflict, he grabbed his communication device again and dialed a number.

“Hey, listen. I think I’ll need you to come with me. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know the place? Meet me by 1 AM.”

The person he contacted was the leader of the security team he had personally hired.

Since Sanders’ work often involved illegal activities, he frequently found himself meeting dangerous individuals. In such cases, he would gather his security team and go to meet the person.

‘I don’t know what kind of trouble this is, but they better know what they’re getting into.’

Sanders’ group of security members consisted of former military and police personnel, all of whom were exceptionally skilled in combat. Furthermore, thanks to generous investments, every member was equipped with advanced armor and laser weapons. While some clients had posed threats in the past, showing them the human weapons he had hired usually made them reconsider.

Especially for someone dealing with the daily mess of smuggling animal excrement, encountering armed guards was a relief.

Everything was under his control. Sanders returned to his work with a sense of assurance.