Chapter 458

Chapter 458. Nero and Mecharshetentakel.

The problem with the Assimilation Assault Ship is that, structurally, it doesn’t have the raw firepower of a regular assault ship.

It’s literally designed to crash into enemy ships like a missile and take over from the inside, optimized solely for “capturing.”

Due to the size limitations of the assault ship class, its tanking ability is embarrassingly low.

Looking at this assault squad with the ridiculously complicated name “Mecharshetentakel,” I couldn’t help but feel a strange mix of emotions.

Honestly, I was tempted to just cancel their contract altogether. But after the assault squad finished warping and docked at the Tanhoizer’s facilities, I decided to hold off on that thought when “Nero,” the leader of the mercenary group, showed up at the command center.

And the reason was… well…

-*Clank, clank, thud!*

-*Creak, creak.*

“Huhuhuheh, ah, hello there…”

“Hmm.”

“N-nice to meet you, I’m, uh… the head of the Spiralus Research Institute… no, I’m in charge of Mecharshetentakel… Nero… heheh.”

“Hmmm.”

With a sinister appearance, green hair, purple eyes, and a somewhat messy lab coat over ordinary clothes, Nero floated in mid-air using mechanical arms that looked like they belonged to a spider-human hybrid or an octopus professor. Despite his hunched posture, his “science pouch” was so impressively large that it could rival even Pashtra in combat mode or Bendalope.

Putting aside all other thoughts, I greeted the gloomy science pouch Nero with a warm welcome.

“Welcome to our base and the neutral zone of the Central Zone, Leader Nero!”

“P-please call me Doctor… The assault squad is just for research purposes…”

Meanwhile, Bendalope, standing next to us, glanced back and forth between me and Nero before nodding and delivering her blunt assessment.

“As I thought, my assumptions about the Commander’s tastes weren’t wrong.”

==========

Anyway, after the welcoming ceremony (if you could call it that), while Nero—no, Dr. Nero—was being led around the base by Jessica, I decided to check his status window to understand the nature of the science pouch and the assault squad.

But when I looked at his stats, I realized why he insisted on being called “Doctor” instead of “Leader.”

—————————————-

[Nero]

[Level 50]

[Type: Large Army Melee]

[Traits: Mad Scientist, Gloomy, Research, Enhancement, Frail]

[Stats]

HP: N/A (Average Human)

Attack Power: D-

Physical Defense: D-

Magic Power: SSS-

Magic Defense: S+

Agility: A-

—————————————-

“What the heck is this?”

This was completely different from the status windows of other mercenary leaders I’d seen. There was no trace of traits like “Commander” or “Legendary General” that most mercenary leaders had.

Even though his type was “Large Army Melee,” his HP, attack power, and physical defense were either average human level or D-, while his magic power was ridiculously high, and his agility was also impressive.

From his type, traits, and stats, I could tell how Nero should be used and what the fleet’s concept was.

“Oh, this is just like Gryanarr.”

Nero’s concept, based on the “Large Army” trait and his pitiful base stats, was clear: he wasn’t meant to fight directly. Instead, like Gryanarr, he relied on the weapons or troops he created or commanded to do the fighting. You could call it a “command-type” approach.

And while Nero and the other superhumans were busy chatting, I checked the surveillance cameras in the command center to inspect the Assimilation Assault Ships docked at the facility.

From the outside, they looked like regular assault ships, but inside, they were practically no different from monster-style assault ships…

Even the exterior had something squirming—tentacles, veins, and the like.

The “Mecharshetentakel” base…

The concept of the mercenary group was automatically derived in my head as a fun and exciting bio-weapon experiment unit led by a mad scientist (or something like that).

And around the time that conclusion was drawn, our Dr. Nero was circling the base with Jessica and returning to the command center.

“Commander~ I was planning to develop something amazing this time~”

At that moment, Grigri Gryanarr, who always comes through another door to create something and drain the budget (resources and gold), boldly appeared riding their pet tentacle “friends.”

It seemed Jessica hadn’t gone to the Nest of Life, so Dr. Nero naturally turned their head toward Gryanarr’s voice.

Naturally, Gryanarr also noticed that I wasn’t looking at them but at something else, and their gaze shifted accordingly.

“Huh?”

“Oh my.”

“…”

“…”

The two mad scientists exchanged glances, not only at each other but also at the pet tentacles and mechanical arms they had brought along…

Soon, instead of moving themselves, they used their tentacles and mechanical arms to lift their bodies and quietly approached each other.

With an oddly intense and fiery gaze, they exchanged a firm handshake and silently nodded.

Then, without any additional words, they quickly scurried off together somewhere.

‘Wait a minute, now that I think about it, having Gryanarr alone is already tough, and now another mad scientist is joining the mix.’

I felt a creeping thought in the corner of my mind that I might have summoned some kind of “disaster.”

Of course, it was just a vague sense of unease, so I quickly shook it off, thinking nothing too strange could happen.

==========

But as they shouted, “Now it’s time for the best friend part,” Grigri and Nero Nero holed up in the Nest of Life.

Even though Grigri is good at everything, maybe because my faction is what it is.

Whether I liked it or not, the fusion of biology and machinery leaned more toward the “biology” side, which was inevitable.

When Nero, who also pursued the fusion of biology and machinery but leaned more toward the “mechanical” side, joined Gryanarr…

The balance shifted, and the brains of the two mad scientists went into overdrive…

With nearly unlimited resources and time, the two crazy doctors were able to do all sorts of things.

“Since when did the conveyor belt turn into living larvae?”

“Well, it can still be used for transporting goods, right?”

“Tentacles are popping out of the toilet!!!”

“It’s more comfortable and cleaner than a bidet.”

“Why are screws growing on plants, and gears rolling around?”

“It makes it easier to source parts.”

All sorts of crazy things were happening in real-time, and the transformation of the base through the Nest of Life became too extreme.

Some of the stored chimera test subjects mutated, and our superhumans suddenly found themselves filming “Death in Space.”

“Commander Icarus.”

“Ah, Leonard? What’s going on?”

“Actually, I wanted to talk about Marian, but… wait, sorry, let’s drink this first.”

-Gulp.

“Ahhhh♡ It feels like my whole body has turned into nipples!”

“Ahhhhhhh!!!”

Turns out, I accidentally added a 3,000x diluted TS potion to the iced Americano I was about to drink, and Leonard drank it, leading to the above situation.

With all sorts of incidents and accidents happening, I quietly called Jessica to bring the two of them over.

A moment later.

“I’ve brought the troublemakers, Commander.”

“…You know what you did wrong, right, both of you?”

“Ugh…”

“Sorry, Leonard didn’t mean to.”

I had to scold the two, who were restrained by Jessica and dragged in with their mechanical arms and tentacles, to restore all the modified parts of the base to their original state.