Infiltration

On the way back, third basement floor. A researcher was ordering two servants around, having them drag out a beastkin who refused to move from one of the cells.

Zord-kun and the others had been pushed to the back. They watched in silence, saying nothing… No, they'd probably already tried resisting. Zord-kun had a big bruise on his cheek and was unconscious.

The beastkin being carried out by the hazmat-suited researcher appeared to be dead. No visible external injuries… Which means they were probably already dead when we passed by earlier.

"Take it upstairs. It'll be used as food for the test subjects."

Oh. So this is going to become Annette-chan's meal, huh…?

Which means it'll eventually become Miitei-chan's meal too.

"Food? Eat? Nom noms?"

"Not yet, Miitei-chan."

And someday I'll turn these guys into Miitei-chan's food too. Still need to eat about twenty more people after all.

For now, though, I'll let them swim a little longer.

If they're going to Annette-chan's place, they must be involved in her research. Following them might lead me to some documents.

Quietly tailing them through the ceiling space, it seemed they were stopping at a different room before heading to Annette-chan's cell.

… A research room full of various documents. Is this where they conduct Annette-chan's research? I peeked in from the ceiling space.

Someone was sitting at the desk, pulling out and reading papers… That ominous horn was drawn on the pages.

"The cultivation is progressing smoothly. Fortunately, the rival Synthetic Magical Beast Project has stalled after their senior researcher died in an accident. There's no doubt that our Artificial Demon will be selected as the military's main force in the next competition."

I hadn't rummaged through the desk drawers when I searched earlier, so I'd missed this, but this was definitely the research room connected to Annette-chan.

"The activator?"

"Right here."

"Good. Inject it."

They were injecting something into the dead beastkin child's neck.

Activator. Judging by the name, it's probably something that stimulates that red horn.

… Should I just do it now? Eat them?

They look more like assistants than servants. All three of them.

My options are:

• Leave the researcher alive and make them talk

• Clean up everyone and investigate myself

• Continue watching without making a move yet

… I already ate a researcher-looking guy earlier, so maybe I'm done with the wait-and-see approach?

Should I act before I'm discovered?

Oh, but I have zero idea what's beyond the facility walls.

… Hmm.

…

That's it! I just had a great idea! If I get inside that hazmat suit, I could pretend to be human, right? A Slime disguised as a person.

If the suit's material is weak, I could punch a hole in it and slip inside to attack the person inside… That should work. Let me try it.

I moved stealthily and found a locker-like box. Yeah, this is definitely a locker. Inside was another hazmat suit. Perfect—I'll test if I can puncture it… Nnngh, even when I try to gnaw on it, it won't tear! Maybe because my attack is acid-based…

This hazmat suit seems resistant to chemicals. What a pain.

"Spirit-sama. There's a knife."

"Oh. You're right. Let me borrow it."

Fortunately, this is a research room. Various tools are lying around… I ate and dissolved all the tools from the first room, so all I have left in my inventory are glass shards.

Glass shards might've cut through it too, but for now I'll quietly borrow this knife. Successfully confirmed I can cut through the hazmat suit.

Alright, let's do this. I'll go for the one assistant who's alone, carrying the beastkin corpse out into the hallway…

Creeping up along the floor while extending a tentacle holding the knife…

… Oh wait, I could've just slipped in through the ankle opening. Didn't even need the knife. I'll stash it in my inventory.

"Hm? Did something snag on my foot—bleck"

I quickly stabbed his head with my spike tentacle. Supporting his collapsing body with my Slime mass. Man, so much to juggle at once! But this works! Now I just need to slip my main core into the hazmat suit too and…

I've hijacked this body!! I tried raising both arms. Heavy.

"Food?"

"It is food, but don't eat it yet."

Yeah, moving it like a puppet is tough, but I should get the hang of it.

"Miitei, this is how you move it. Can you do it?"

"I'll try. Let me."

I switched to Auto Mode… Yeah, clumsy movements.

Oh, she fell over.

Also wait, the halo is sticking out of the back—that's dangerous. Good thing I noticed before anyone else did.

"Nn… Nn! How's this!"

"Ooh, you're moving it, you're moving it."

"Hehe. I'm a genius."

She got the hang of it smoothly. Okay, this should be safe to switch to Auto Mode now. Also, Miitei-chan being all proud of herself is adorable.

"So, should we deliver this food to Annette?"

"Hmm, what to do… They injected that weird drug called an activator… Let's just eat it."

"Yaaay!"

Unknown dog beastkin child, rest in peace. Miitei-chan extended tentacles from below her feet while still in Auto Mode and went nom nom nom… Oh, the count went up to five. The body in this hazmat suit is being counted too.

So the heart or brain is the key…? Guess I can't just nibble on them without killing them to rack up the count.

"Humans are tasty."

"If you start finding them too tasty, I'm gonna worry about the future."

"I don't wanna be hated by Spirit-sama, so I'll be careful!"

Hmm, is the activator affecting Miitei-chan? She seems to be getting more energetic.

"Hey, did you deliver the food? Then hurry back."

"Oh?"

Assistant #2 in a hazmat suit called out to me. Fortunately, they didn't seem to see my back. That was close.

"…? Hey, you okay? You look like you're feeling sick."

But saying that, Assistant #2 approached… Crap, am I suspicious? Or are they just worried?

"Leave it to me, Spirit-sama. I can do it! … Heave-ho."

"Hoh?"

"Hey, you okay? Here, grab on, I'll lend you a shoulder— Hm? Blweh"

Miitei-chan leaned against them, then used the knife to slice open the neck of their suit, slipped through the gap, and pierced their head for the kill.

"… And then, Fission!"

"I'm Unit Two! Nom nom, I'll move this one! Leave it to me! Nom nom."

Wh-what!? Fission into Miitei-chan Unit Two!? Oh, wow. She's actually moving Assistant #2's body properly… It does look like someone who's feeling sick and wobbling around. But she just started moving it, so she should improve quickly.

Looks like this side is the main body, and Unit Two is an independent existence.

Oh, the count's going up too. It counts even when the other one eats.

"Can you make a Unit Three?"

"Nope. This is my limit."

So at least for now, two units is her limit… I don't understand the mechanics, but apparently up to Unit Two can share knowledge—or rather, consciousness.

While we were having this silent conversation, Unit Two's movements had already become more refined.

"How is it? Better?"

"Yeah, much better. Now you look like a normal person… I think? Yeah."

"Spirit-sama praised me. I'm happy! Sharing the knack with Unit One… Done, okay."

"Ooh. So that's how you move it. Got the gist now!"

Miitei-chan and Unit Two linked arms and spun around in a dance.

She's evolving smoothly! This growth rate… she's definitely gonna be a dangerous monster, isn't she?