Chapter 204

Chapter 204. Bright and Healthy Tentacle Dungeon Exploration. (3)

And just like that, the three superhumans and one researcher moved to the research lab, and not long after…

Icarus… I could see a long-awaited message appearing before my eyes.

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[Quest]

<<[‘Ancient Base Ruins’ Exploration! Clear!]>>

—————————————-

“Oh, looks like we finally made it through.”

“The internal structure seems more complicated than I thought.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

Given that it had likely been “very” many years since the interior had undergone transformations and erosion.

No matter how smart Gryanarr or Oxianor are, it’s only natural that it took a while since the map itself was useless.

In fact, considering that, we cleared it faster than expected.

So now that the quest was cleared, I felt my heart flutter at the thought of spinning some sweet, confirmed rewards as soon as those three returned.

But shortly after…

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[Linked Quest]

[The Traitor’s Scheme!]

[Content]

[The researcher your superhumans rescued from inside the giant monster turns out to be the mastermind behind the top-tier biohazard incident at the facility.]

[Upon discovering this from the data the superhumans obtained, the researcher is now mobilizing all the base’s power and defense systems to destroy the evidence!]

[Objective]

[Send additional reinforcements to rescue (?) the superhumans trapped inside the base.]

[Warning!]

[The maximum number of deployable personnel is 3.]

—————————————-

‘What the heck is this?’

Seeing the sudden linked quest, I cursed internally, wondering what kind of nonsense this was…

“Jessica! Tell Ignis, Partia, and Belial to head to the asteroid base immediately!”

“Yes, Commander!”

I decided to throw in the rest of the superhumans on standby, excluding Pashtira, who was unsuitable for internal combat.

But just as I was about to deploy them, Partia hesitated for a moment and then…

“Commander, how about deploying Pashtira in my place this time?”

“Huh?”

“Excuse me?”

Out of nowhere, she suggested deploying Pashtira, whom I had deemed unsuitable, instead of herself.

Of course, upon hearing this, Pashtira herself said:

“Senior, are you trying to prevent me from spending some quality alone time with the Commander?”

With that, she boldly declared that it would be better for Partia to be deployed instead of her.

“If I leave you alone, it’s clear you’ll cause a great offense to the Savior and the Vice Commander, Pashtira.”

“Oh, come on♡”

“Then was buying a large quantity of condoms at the base market recently just for balloon play?”

“Sorry, I’ll go.”

As Partia’s confession (?) continued, Pashtira immediately volunteered to join the rescue team.

And of course, the initial three deployed were only meant for “internal exploration” and “investigation.”

They were literally wandering around the interior, which had no map, searching for a “research lab” whose location was unknown.

But the newly formed trio, given their personalities, had no intention of investigating the infected and mutated research facility covered in flesh…

-“What a bizarre place. I feel like burning it all down.”

-“Isn’t the Commander’s order the priority right now, Belial♡?”

-“Since the vanguard has already cleared the way, let’s just get to the destination first.”

Thanks to Gryanarr, Oxianor, and Smeragi, who had smashed through all the hostile creatures and obstacles in their path as the vanguard…

I heard about them finding the “Research Facility Building” much, much faster than expected.

…No, they literally broke through in a straight line from the entrance to the “Research Facility Building,” reaching the destination at almost 10 times the speed.

But upon arriving at the Research Facility Building, their feet were immediately bound.

-“Commander, do you see this?”

“Ah, I can see it very clearly.”

The reason was that, starting from about half of the Research Facility Building, a thick, fleshy wall that looked incredibly sturdy was tightly sealed off.

Moreover, the entire surface was densely covered with sharp spikes that looked like they could tear through human flesh with just a light touch.

It seemed like the structure was designed to explode upon receiving a certain level of damage, just like reactive armor, and harm the attacker.

Of course, the exploded reactive armor parts naturally regenerated, quickly filling in the gaps.

Thanks to this, I started wondering how on earth we were supposed to deal with this…

-“This is exactly my specialty, Commander♡”

“Ah, right.”

As a substitute, Pashtra fired a beam cannon, adjusted to a moderate output, scattering shots like buckshot.

The reactive armor-type self-regenerating barrier, or whatever it was, crumbled under Pashtra’s firepower.

But even though the barrier was taken down more easily than expected, I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Belial, just in case, be fully prepared.”

-“Understood, Commander.”

Of course, seeing me like this, Jessica tilted her head in confusion.

“Commander, why are you so tense?”

“Is that so…? Maybe…?”

“…”

Seeing Jessica, who was oblivious to the cliché, I shook my head and quickly responded.

“Think about it, Jessica. Didn’t our allies suddenly lose contact, and we came in to check on them?”

“Right.”

“If this goes according to cliché, the first three who went in might be hypnotized or brainwashed and end up fighting the follow-up team.”

“Oh.”

“Of course, that’s just my imagination, and it’s highly unlikely to happen.”

“…Huh?”

Of course, while I was saying this to reassure Jessica, deep down, I was thinking, ‘What if it really happens?’

If it really did happen and someone ended up dying, wouldn’t I just be a rookie who lost a superhuman while trying to play hero?

So, without realizing it, I continued to agonize, ordering the three to stay tense and proceed inside.

Following my orders, Ignis, Belial, and Pashtra entered, and soon after, I finally got to meet the culprit of this incident, ‘Researcher Rain.’

But I’m not sure if this is a blessing in disguise or just disappointing.

Instead of the cool entrance I was secretly hoping for, where Rain, the mastermind, would appear, brainwashing our superhumans and mocking us…

-“Ughhh… Eek!”

-“Now, now, just hold on a little longer… Oh my, Ignis, Belial, and Pashtra too? What’s going on here?”

-“…?”

Instead, the three who entered first were either betrayed or ganged up on, kneeling on the ground with Gryanarr on top of them, sticking syringe-like tentacles into their ears or other strange places, making them scream.

Of course, Belial, who was sent to ‘rescue’ them under my orders, looked bewildered but calmly responded.

-“Well, we… came here under the Commander’s orders, thinking you were in danger.”

-“Ah, we were indeed in danger.”

-“It wasn’t a wrong call. If we had let our guard down, we might have suffered heavy losses.”

And with Belial’s words, Ignis and Pashtra nodded beside her.

Soon, instead of Gryanarr, who was busy fiddling with the traitorous researcher’s brain, Oxianor and Smeragi began to briefly explain how the situation unfolded.

-“To put it simply… it was because our compatibility with her was just too bad, to the point of being polar opposites.”

-“Hmm?”

“Hmm.”