The last several weeks had passed in a blur, with hardly any downtime. It seemed that the moment I finished handling one wave of enemies and processing them, another would pop up near instantly. I barely had any time to inspect their bodies or equipment, to the point where I’d started just tossing things randomly in a giant bin for later. Only the Tier 4 corpses were given more than a cursory look; the majority of the Tier 5 races weren’t likely to offer anything significant in terms of improvements at this point.
The rare moments of peace I had were spent upgrading both my main body as well as the spare body, which used the Agarian cyborg as the base. As a tentative name, I’d chosen to call the spare body as the Scout v1.
I wanted to keep the Scout v1 as lightweight and stealthy as possible, so major attachments were kept to a minimum.
Instead, I’d installed it with a range of general improvements, such as additional mana organs, another power core, and an extra Tier 4 brain. I also attached a set of gray, feathered wings to further increase its flight speed.
As a side note, I’d already tested using the wings on my current body and deemed them too inefficient and slow with how bulky the Onisha’s frame was.
Several auxiliary glands were added to enhance its stealth capabilities. One produced a scent that would mimic the surroundings, while another allowed manual control of body temperature, allowing me to minimize my heat signature.
Thickly padded feet were added to reduce the sounds of any footsteps and tiny, sharp protrusions were added to palms of its hands. Now, it’d able to silently crawl up any trees or similar surfaces without the slightest noise, which I’d tested using my own enhanced hearing.
Many unnecessary attachments were removed or stripped bare. Only about half of its original armaments remained, but every single one of its original stats had vastly increased, especially its agility. Its overall efficiency had improved, and with the addition of another power core, its Overdrive mode could be used for a much longer period of time.
Of course in a head-to-head battle, my main body was still the clear winner, but I now had an incredibly agile secondary frame with decent combat capabilities.
Most of the Tier 4 equipment I’d looted so far had actually been selected with the Scout v1 in mind. I was already pretty satisfied with how the main body was doing, and there was a limit to how much could be equipped at once due to mana constraints. As such, the Scout v1 was currently armed to the teeth.
The weapon I planned on using with it, a dull red blade, was one of the best finds I’d obtained so far.
The other pieces of equipment were also chosen carefully to maximize my ability to run the hell away, with one being purchased directly from the Shop.
The boots would be kept unequipped until needed, in order to take advantage of my padded feet.
For now, I hadn’t added any additional arms or legs, since I didn’t have any extra equipment that’d be worth the tradeoff. It was still very much a work in progress, but a necessary investment. If I wanted to be able to sell all the Tier 4 otherworlders I was currently holding in my little dungeon, I needed a different form than my current one.
The Onisha body was still too recognizable, even with all the modifications I’d recently made. I was currently marked for death for supposedly breaking some sort of pact that all the Tier 4 worlds had made, and I really didn’t want to deal with the hassle of having them track me down.
All the Tier 4 Nemeses that had come so far had been taken out quite quickly, without any time or thought to spare as to my identity. However, if a Tier 4 buyer arrived, there was a high chance they’d be able to put two and two together given enough time.
As such, I’d be using the Scout v1 for any transactions and swap back to the main body for any combat scenarios. If a Nemesis trade deal went south, I was highly confident in its ability to escape even against a group of Tier 4s.
Out of curiosity, I decided to check what the stats on the Scout v1 body was. It was good timing anyways, as the first Tier 4 buyer was arriving soon. Time for a test run.
“Alright Melchior, let’s do it just like before.”
“Very well, Master Adun.”
The Dorai bot whirred to life as Melchior took control of it. I tightly held the Void Dagger in my hand and held it to my neck.
Ah, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.
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Splurt!
A spray of hot blood gushed out as I swiftly decapitated myself for the second time.
Instantly, I felt blind and helpless.
The minds that kept me company.... now quiet. The many limbs that gave me strength... now gone. The extra organs that let me adapt to any situation... now still.
I felt naked. I was just a weak, helpless human again.
My vision blurred and I rapidly began to lose consciousness. I faintly felt Melchior lifting my head and carrying me through the air.
Plop!
I was dumped unceremoniously on top of the headless Scout v1 and immediately doused with a Greater Potion.
Ding!
Tendrils of flesh and fiber sprouted from my neck, connecting me to my new frame.
Thump, thump
Its cold heart began to beat anew. The two power cores hummed with a steady vibration as they came online and a dull glow briefly appeared over its metallic parts. My vision soon became clear and I felt a sense of control return.
A wave of relief washed over me and the brief sense of anxiety I’d felt disappeared.
In truth, I’d hated it. Loathed being reduced to my most base form, and at the whim of any being passing by. No longer hearing the soft whispers of flesh that didn’t belong to me. No longer feeling the gentle caress of my alien parts.
I hated that I was chained down by the last part of me that truly remained human. A hatred I should never have felt.
I fear that I am slowly.... becoming a monster. I thought I’d managed to stave it off with the addition of my extra minds, but this ran deeper than that. It was getting harder to keep sight of myself.
I took a deep breath and calmed my shaken nerves.
As I gingerly wiggled my new fingers and stood up, I felt an incomparable lightness in my body. The weight of the world seemed to have been lifted from me, and I felt as if I could soar to the heavens. Every movement I made seemed more responsive and efficient.
“Try to be a little gentler next time, will ya Melchior?”
“My apologies, Master Adun. I deduced that time was of the essence and utilized the most optimal series of actions to restore your life.”
Yeah yeah, I know you’re still mad I didn’t shell out the points for a better bot.
I then turned my attention to the Status screen and examined the Scout v1’s stats.
Not bad at all for the limited amount of modifications it had on it, compared to the Onisha body. If I activated the Fleet Ring and then Overdrive Mode, it would practically move at lightspeed.
For comparison’s sake, after all the upgrades I’d currently applied to the Onisha’s body, its stats were as follows:
The main body’s strength stat had increased by 5 compared to before, thanks to a stat boosting accessory I’d taken from a Tier 4 otherworlder. Now, the Onisha limbs’ true strength stat was a whopping 77, as my displayed stats were averaged. Originally the accessory should have capped out at a maximum strength of 70, but
My physique had increased by a few points with the addition of the shell I’d grafted to my back, but my agility had also decreased. Intelligence and mana had increased the most out of all but this came at no surprise; several brains and mana organs had been added.
The only reason I’d stopped attaching more was due to the severe diminishing returns I was experiencing from attaching additional minds. Each mana organ took up a large chunk of mental resources to control the flow of mana, and I needed to reserve space for other parts.
I stored the headless main body away into my Inventory and began to head back up to the surface. Right on cue, I received a message from Khaelen.
I turned around and walked back over to the turnip farm I’d planted in my cavern. I quickly found the otherworlder Khaelen had specified and dug it back out of the ground. The rest of the heads rooted in the floor continued to babble incoherently as I carried it away.
My new legs explosively shot forward and I nearly crashed into a wall before barely managing to catch myself. This new speed would take some time to get used to.
I continued to proceed back up the tunnel and found myself standing back on the Canopy’s surface within mere seconds. With a single bound, I took my position behind an extremely well-made wooden stall and began to wait.
As I sat there, I felt a small trace of nervousness. This was the first Tier 4 buyer I’d be doing business with, and I wanted everything to go smoothly.
Up until now, selling off otherworlders to their Nemeses had been quite simple. Any of our Nemeses’ companions that were Tier 4 were subdued instead of being killed if possible. Then, they were injected with a heavy cocktail of drugs and poisons that were purchased from the Shop or produced by me. One of the drugs that was purchased, Liar’s Bane, had the effect of forcing those that ingested it to tell the truth.
This coupled with the addled state they were in made it incredibly easy to interrogate them and find the details of their Nemesis, including the ID. There was however, one instance where a captured Tier 4 otherworlder had to be immediately killed upon discovering that their Nemesis belonged to a Tier 3 world.
Once their information had been revealed, they would be contacted with a message sent to their ID. In order to protect my own identity, Khaelen was in charge of brokering the deals and exchanging details. While many had been initially hesitant, they had been more reassured upon seeing the photos of their incapacitated Nemesis and Khaelen’s status as a lowly Tier 5 otherworlder.
Once a time had been agreed upon, I would bring the bodies up and complete the transaction. I could sense that many of them had come with more nefarious intentions, but they had all immediately backed down the moment they saw me.
Once I confirmed that the points had been sent to Khaelen, I would hand over the Nemesis and leave them to it. Usually they had to scrape and pool together all their points in order to pay the steep 50,000 points price but it was still quite the bargain in my opinion. After all, the price was in truth only 30,000 points, considering that 20,000 points were given for slaying a Tier 4 otherworlder.
However, these had all been Tier 5 otherworlders I’d been selling to.... judging from my past experiences, there was a good chance these Tier 4 buyers wouldn’t play nice.
I wasn’t looking for an excuse to kill them necessarily, but I was definitely going to err on the side of caution when they showed up. Try to cross me, and they’d face the combined wrath of over 50 Tier 5 otherworlders armed to the teeth.
Hm, maybe I should charge a premium to these Tier 4 buyers for the added risk? Or perhaps there was a safer way I could carry out the transactions?
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by faint sound of footsteps approaching.
“Are you the crazy bastard that’s been selling people off?”