The deeper parts of Sector 404 were so saturated with toxins that even the most advanced mercenary scanners went insane there — pixels danced like drunken flies, and signals dissolved into a wall of white noise.
But Astra Nova Luna moved forward confidently, without slowing her pace.
Thanks to the "Passive Lung Filtration" she had just purchased from Thanatos, her body functioned like a perfect biological machine. Every breath separated pure oxygen from poison, turning the lethal fog into something that felt almost like a refreshing breeze.
Her throat no longer burned.
Her lungs sang.
"We're close," she whispered, pressing against a wall and staring at a peeling sign that read "Warehouse Block B-12." The paint had long since flaked away, but the letters still glowed with a ghostly green light, as if warning: Don't enter, idiot.
[CAREFUL, MY REAPER. YOU ARE ENTERING A ZONE OF HIGH ACIDIC CONCENTRATION. THIS IS NOT JUST A CYBER-BEAST. IT IS A WALKING BIO-CHEMICAL FACTORY. IT PRODUCES DEATH ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE. AND IT SEEMS… IT HAS ALREADY SMELLED YOU.]
From inside the dark warehouse came a loud, wet hiss — exactly like a valve opening under high pressure in an old chemical plant.
A second later, a thick stream of viscous green liquid burst from the doorway.
It splashed onto the floor just centimeters from Astra's boots and immediately began eating through the concrete with an angry hiss, leaving smoking holes the depth of a palm.
Then it crawled out of the darkness.
Slowly.
With a revolting, wet scraping sound.
The Acid Crawler.
A gigantic centipede the size of a truck. Its body was covered with transparent chitin bubbles. Inside each one, a corrosive substance churned and glowed bright green like a radioactive cocktail.
Instead of a head, the creature had a cone made of organic tubes constantly releasing toxic vapor. Hundreds of tiny leg-tendrils scraped across the floor, leaving trails of corrosion behind them.
Its "eyes" — if they could be called that — were two black pits dripping with the same green substance.
Inside Astra's mind, an analysis appeared instantly, cold and precise.
ANALYSIS: ACID CRAWLER (RANK: ELITE MUTANT)
Traits: Long-range acid attack, corrosive aura
Soul value: 4.5
A pleasant chill of excitement ran down Astra's spine. Her eyes glimmered in the half-darkness like fragments of moonlight.
"Almost five souls for one corpse?" she laughed quietly.
"Now I understand why nobody's entered this warehouse for ten years. All the smart hunters ran away long ago… and here I am, playing with chemistry. Thanks for not being stingy, Thanatos."
[HA-HA-HA, MY BOLD LUNAR STAR. I SAW YOU SMILE. YOU HAVE ALREADY TASTED BLOOD — AND YOU WANT MORE. BUT BE CAREFUL. YOUR SHOTGUN IS ONLY STEEL AND PLASTIC. ONE HIT FROM ITS ACID AND YOUR WEAPON WILL BECOME USELESS SCRAP. AND YOU… I WOULD HATE TO LOSE MY FAVORITE VESSEL ON THE VERY FIRST DAY.]
The crawler lashed its tail — a segmented whip covered in spikes.
The strike hit nothing but air.
Astra had already rolled beneath a hanging steel cable, sliding across the wet floor.
The creature didn't stop.
It began methodically flooding the area with acid, spraying wide streams that cut off escape routes. The floor hissed and bubbled beneath her boots like a living wound.
"He's smarter than he looks," Astra muttered through clenched teeth, pressing her back against a massive concrete pillar. Acid was already eating through the edge of her coat.
"He's not just attacking. He's herding me into a corner like a rat. Smart bastard."
[ACTIVATE "DEATH SIGHT," AVATAR. DO NOT LOOK AT THE ACID — IT IS ONLY A DISTRACTION. LOOK AT THE FLOW OF ENERGY. AT WHAT KEEPS THAT MONSTER ALIVE.]
Astra focused.
The world lost its colors again, becoming gray and flat.
But this time she saw an entire network of pulsing channels — thick glowing veins pumping acid from the crawler's belly to its nozzle.
At the center of its body, beneath layers of armor plates, pulsed the core pump — a bio-organ the size of a fist. It glowed bright crimson, like a heart ready to explode under its own pressure.
"If I hit that, it'll blow itself apart with its own acid," she realized instantly.
"But getting close… that's suicide."
"Thanatos, I only have 0.3 souls left. Can I borrow some power? Just for one shot?"
The god's voice laughed softly inside her mind — deep, velvet, predatory.
[GODS DO NOT GIVE LOANS, MY REAPER. WE ARE NOT A BANK. BUT… FOR YOU I WILL MAKE AN EXCEPTION. I CAN TEMPORARILY AMPLIFY YOUR NEXT SHOT USING YOUR OWN BLOOD AS A CONDUCTOR. THE PRICE — SOME OF YOUR STAMINA. YOU WILL BLEED FROM THE NOSE AND YOUR HANDS WILL SHAKE FOR AN HOUR. READY TO RISK IT, BEAUTY?]
"Deal," Astra replied without hesitation.
"Just make it look cool, handsome. I don't want to look like a drowned kitten afterward."
She burst from behind the pillar.
The crawler reacted instantly — a massive jet of acid shot toward her like a green storm.
But instead of dodging, Astra thrust her left hand forward.
Dark energy from Thanatos surged from her palm, forming a brief shield of absolute blackness.
The acid shattered against it with a violent hiss, splashing harmlessly against the walls.
At the same moment, she raised the Peacemaker-7.
"Choke on your own poison!" Astra shouted.
The shotgun's barrel ignited with violet fire — Death energy merging with the buckshot.
The blast was unnaturally loud, like a tank cannon rather than a handheld weapon.
The shell tore through the crawler's chitin like wet paper and struck the bio-pump directly.
One second of absolute silence.
Then—
BOOM.
The crawler exploded from the inside.
Its own acid detonated through its body, spraying a towering green fountain that slammed against the warehouse ceiling.
The walls screamed.
Concrete melted like wax.
Astra dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.
Her left hand trembled violently, and a thin stream of warm blood ran from her nose.
The price of borrowed power was steep.
But she paid it with a smile.
[THE HARVEST… MAGNIFICENT,] Thanatos purred with genuine admiration.
[DID YOU SEE THAT, MY GIRL? HE BLEW UP LIKE A CHEAP FIREWORK. I AM PROUD OF YOU. MOMENTS LIKE THIS ARE WHY I AWAKENED.]
From the creature's remains burst a massive gray vortex — nearly black, thick like bonfire smoke.
It slammed into Astra's chest.
Heat surged through her veins.
Her exhaustion vanished instantly. Strength flooded her muscles, and the small wounds on her hands began healing on their own.
RECEIVED: 4.5 SOULS
TOTAL BALANCE: 4.8 SOULS
STATUS: NEW SHOP LEVEL UNLOCKED
Astra slowly stood up, wiping the blood from her face with the back of her hand.
In the center of the smoking crater, among the debris, lay a steel case — the very object the crawler had been guarding.
It was slightly melted but intact.
"Looks like I made more money today than I planned," Astra smirked, walking toward it.
"Thanatos, what about that Primary Regeneration upgrade? I think I earned it. And don't even think about bargaining, god. I just blew up an entire death factory for you."
[OH, MY GREEDY STAR… OF COURSE YOU DID. I AM OPENING THE SHOP NOW. TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANT. AND AFTERWARD… TELL ME HOW YOU PLAN TO SPEND THOSE SOULS. I LIKE IT WHEN YOU BECOME EVEN MORE DANGEROUS. THE NEXT MONSTER IS WAITING. OR DO YOU WANT TO KISS ME IN YOUR MIND FIRST?]
Astra laughed — short, rough, but genuine.
"The kiss can wait until I'm a goddess. For now… let's upgrade."
"New Eden is waiting for its Reaper."
She opened the case.
Inside, something expensive gleamed.
And the hunt continued.