Chapter 312: Know It or Not (1)
Click, click, click.
Inside a room filled with wires. The light emanating from the monitors scattered everywhere illuminated the room brightly even without lamps.
An empty space where not a single person was visible. From within, a strange, gear-grinding sound echoed.
Only inorganic communication sounds, heard amidst the noise, regularly filled the silence.
Amidst the glowing signal sounds that had persisted for a long time, a sudden, indifferent voice began to intermingle.
[Signal lost confirmed. Our journey with Unit 8 ends here.]
At those words, various voices immediately erupted from monitors scattered around.
[What?! Really? No, it hasn’t even been three days since it arrived in Vulcan. Is it already broken?]
[All data transmission was lost 10 minutes after the report of encountering Adamant Thunder. It’s virtually a foregone conclusion.]
[The temporary space manifestation function is a technology not just anyone can use. When are we going to find another ‘suitable candidate’ and implant the technology?]
The technologies possessed by Gearsight have long surpassed the public’s level of magic engineering, but in reality, their full potential is rarely utilized.
A group of madmen who endure any conditions and penalties to reach technological singularity.
Technology realized beyond the concept of magic engineering transforms not into skills usable by all, but into superhuman abilities akin to an imprint.
Universality reduced to the extreme. As a result, a point comes where talent is needed more than research to properly implement the technology.
At some point, modifying one’s entire body to master the technology became commonplace.
However, even after undergoing the ‘modification’ stage to accept the technology, the suitable candidates who can properly use it are limited.
Therefore, among Gearsight’s researchers, only a very few were granted a proper ‘body’.
[It’s unavoidable. There aren’t many Numberings with combat capabilities like Unit 8… We who remain must finish the plan ourselves.]
Numberings. Suitable candidates who successfully receive Gearsight’s technology are assigned ‘numbers’ in sequence.
Unit 8, who confronted Adamant Thunder, was one of the masterpieces completed with a highly intricate method among such Numberings.
Since such a suitable candidate couldn’t even last 10 minutes and was so thoroughly destroyed that data transmission became impossible, it wasn’t difficult to assess how formidable an enemy this operation’s opponent was.
[Can Unit 8’s consciousness be recovered?]
[The cognitive data backed up on the network is almost half destroyed. Even if we fix just the body in this state, it’ll become an idiot.]
At the declaration of the voice that first spoke, silence fell upon the gathering.
This was because the meaning of those words was not difficult to understand.
Except for Numberings who were granted bodies, most Gearsight researchers exist as mere consciousnesses floating in cyberspace.
But doesn’t this mean that even the wanderers of the cyber-electronic world, freed from the constraints of reality, cannot guarantee survival against Adamant Thunder?
[So, encountering Adamant Thunder virtually means no coming back alive. This is a bit dangerous.]
[The intelligence unit’s forces collecting data are also on the verge of annihilation. Practically, no further progress can be expected.]
[Target achievement rate is currently 78%… It’s regrettable, but it would be best to conclude data collection at this point. Should we reduce the error for the remaining 20% through trial and error?]
[That would be good. There are plenty of samples. All we need is time.]
Beep, beep.
A vast cavity visible below the glass window in the room.
The sight of countless Defense Force soldiers lying on hundreds of beds placed within the cavity.
Long plug cords extending from the backs of their necks burrowed in, forcefully injecting immense volumes of data directly into their spinal cords.
“Ugh, ugh…!”
“Gurgle!!”
Processing speed and capacity too difficult for human brain nerves to handle. Some, unable to endure, bled profusely from their orifices and convulsed.
The researchers whispered, looking down at the scene through a camera installed in the cavity.
[Forced suitable candidate adjustment experiments through combat data injection. If successful, mass-producing Numberings won’t be impossible.]
[There aren’t many opportunities to experiment with such a number of superhuman forces. It would have been much easier if things hadn’t erupted in the Northern Continent.]
[It’s precisely because such a big shot has emerged that the Agents’ Divine Bow is also absent. It’s not an inconvenient situation.]
It wasn’t an empty boast. Due to the sudden abnormal phenomenon occurring in the Northern Continent, most of Gearsight’s core Numberings were having difficulty moving.
Though some Numberings, including Unit 8, were hastily summoned, confronting Adamant Thunder made the situation utterly bleak.
[Ultimately, it depends on Lieutenant General Treffen’s will. Is he still observing the situation’s progress from the dry dock?]
[To entrust the success or failure of this plan to that indecisive old man’s decision. I’m not too fond of it.]
[If we successfully complete the suitable candidate adjustment experiment starting now, the Lieutenant General will also consider it positively. An elderly superhuman stagnating at Level 7 wouldn’t be able to resist our proposal.]
[I hope so. Regardless of his foolish nature, Lieutenant General Treffen’s talent is real. If he accepts ‘adjustment’, he might truly reach Level 8.]
Simultaneously with the indifferent voice, the camera lens watching the cavity slowly rotated.
The magical power emanating from the soldiers seen through the lens was slowly transforming in an alien way.
[Artificial attainment of Level 8… If we can re-enact the grand failure of the Ascension Gate with our own hands, that wouldn’t be bad, would it?]
After it was confirmed that Aris Richellen had joined this operation, the Mobile Fortress assault operation began to proceed rapidly.
Lennok, Ilya, and Aris, who had reached Level 7 and established their own Mind Imprints.
Agent field response team agents and department heads with comparable organizational power. Finally, freelancers and mercenaries from the underworld.
The most crucial task was to block the Mobile Fortress’s advance into the undeveloped area and confront the main forces of the Defense Force.
30 minutes after most of the forces were sent ahead to replenish the power needed in that process.
A dozen or so individuals, specially chosen, boarded a spacious command vehicle and followed behind.
Lennok and Ilya, a few skilled freelancers and mercenaries who had reached Level 6.
And finally, Aris, who boarded last.
“Nice to meet you, Professor. I didn’t expect to see your face in a place like this.”
“I also heard rumors of a genius residing in the Sinclair Magic Tower. I look forward to working with you.”
As she, with a cold expression, swept back her golden hair and boarded the vehicle, greetings poured in from everywhere.
Her participation, as a leader of a Magic Tower and an endowed professor at the university, was immensely reassuring simply by her presence.
“Thank you. I’ll do my best not to be a hindrance.”
Aris calmly accepted each greeting, then glanced at Lennok and sat opposite him.
“……”
It was an odd sight; Aris exchanged greetings with others but didn’t say a single word to Lennok.
At her inexplicably cold demeanor, others also sensed the unusual atmosphere and quietly fell silent.
“…Are they acquainted?”
“They don’t seem very close.”
“Quiet. Unless you want to get caught between those monsters and have your back broken.”
Ignoring the hushed whispers coming from all directions, Lennok fell into thought.
‘Does she know? It’s not impossible.’
Aris Richellen was virtually the only person who knew Lennok’s true face and name and regularly interacted with him.
No matter how thoroughly Lennok distinguished between his Van and Lennok identities and established alibis, there was a possibility he hadn’t completely hidden it from Aris.
But isn’t Aris’s current response excessively cold, considering she might think Van is Lennok?
‘This is difficult…’
Who would have thought there would be something more challenging than reading and breaking an opponent’s psyche in a life-and-death struggle at the last moment.
Aris, who had been staring intently at Lennok’s pensive face, suddenly uncrossed her arms and extended her hand.
“We met at Dyke Corp.’s demonstration. It’s been a while.”
“…It’s a pleasure.”
There was one time he met Aris, who was visiting Dyke Corp. with university undergraduates on a field trip, while he was in his Van identity.
At that time, he had a simple magic duel with Aris at Dyke Corp.’s CEO’s suggestion, and it seemed Aris remembered that day vividly as well.
Lennok naturally returned her greeting, but Aris didn’t stop there, staring intently at Lennok’s face.
“……”
“……”
Awkward silence flowed inside the command vehicle.
Unable to bear it, Lennok broke the silence first.
“Is there something you need from me?”
“…No. It’s just that last time I saw you, I thought you were working for Dyke. I didn’t expect to see you in a place like this.”
“Many things have happened. Isn’t that how it is in this city?”
Aris smiled at Lennok’s calm reply.
“Is that so?”
“……”
Was it a slip of the tongue?
The conversation exchanged between them was merely a greeting about past events, rather than probing for anything specific.
However, too many things had happened since he first met Aris as Van, and both of them had changed greatly since standing in that hall.
Thus, Lennok couldn’t easily decipher what Aris’s reply meant.
“What’s with this atmosphere? You didn’t fight in that short time, did you?”
Pallard, who had entered the command vehicle late, looked around and tilted his head.
“I’d appreciate it if you could restrain yourselves until we see Lieutenant General Treffen’s face. We already have too much to do.”
“……”
“Let’s get straight to the point. Before the fortress assault operation, since experts of this caliber have gathered in one place, there’s something worth attempting.”
Pallard said, unfolding the operational table installed inside the vehicle.
“I pulled you all out specifically for that. Let’s hear the details directly from the Councilman.”
Whirr!!
Faint magical power surged above the operational table, and Meyer’s face appeared as a hologram.
[Greetings. It’s been quite a while since we’ve met like this.]
His appearance seemed somewhat emaciated from continuous heavy work. With a tired expression, he slowly surveyed the interior of the vehicle, then first extended his greetings to Aris.
[Professor Richellen. I thank you for deciding to participate in this operation. Considering your position, it must have been a very difficult decision. We will surely reward your efforts made for the well-being of Vulcan’s citizens.]
“I simply thought it was necessary to step forward before the chaos grew larger.”
Aris replied with a cold expression.
“Although I’m fed up with the City Council’s attitude of still hiding such a serious situation… the people living in this city bear no fault.”
A completely business-like demeanor, unlike the lively face he had seen in the laboratory until now.
Her resolute posture, leaving no room for any form of counter-response, clearly showed that Aris had not come to this place out of goodwill.
However, Meyer, without batting an eye at her chilly retort, simply nodded.
[Those very words prove how noble the Professor’s character is. There must have also been a cold calculation that others, excluding herself, would not be of much help in this matter.]
“……”
[Rest assured. I swear on my councilman position that your abilities will not be exploited in this manner again. This incident is, by all means, an extreme exception.]
Even after hearing Meyer’s words, Aris remained silent with a cold expression.
The fact that she, who practically had little connection to this city, personally stepped forward was due to a rational judgment that only a very few forces could resolve this situation now, with the Prohibition Edict not lifted.
Because she clearly recognized that fact, Aris could not refuse the earnest requests of the Agents and City Councilman, and decided to lend her strength to this matter.
Meyer, while observing her reaction, immediately changed the subject.
[Time is short, so let’s quickly confirm the matter at hand. While you all move towards the undeveloped area where the Mobile Fortress is advancing, I succeeded in gathering information from Sybrid Echo and securing a list of the councilmen who plotted my assassination in this affair.]
“That’s fortunate.”
The gazes of others momentarily turned towards Ilya, who had closed her eyes.
Ultimately, Ilya, through a deal with Lennok, persuaded the Sybrid Echo leadership to hand over the list of factions that demanded interference with the operation in exchange for their inclusion in this mission.
[From now on, we plan to appear before the Central Council based on the evidence we’ve secured, and formally demand the punishment of the councilmen who interfered with this agenda. So, before that, I need to tell you the facts I know in advance.]
There was little chance he, lacking personal combat prowess or special operational command ability, could be helpful on the field.
Since Meyer himself was aware of this, was he planning to intentionally target other councilmen in the Central Council, which was more his stage, to reduce negative variables in this matter?
While it’s impossible to know the extent of the power struggle among city councilmen, the war of nerves among politicians at the apex of the megacity would surely be significant.
Meyer was stepping forward to resolve that domain, which was difficult for Lennok to immediately grasp, by himself.
While he was lost in thought, Meyer’s words continued.
[Abandoned ruins aren’t the only things existing in the megacity’s undeveloped area.]
He continued, meeting gazes around him with calm eyes.
[Twenty years ago, since the time this city was prospering endlessly, officials in key city positions underwent many trials and errors. This was to move and hide the city’s power and secrets further outside, away from the increasingly cramped city center.]
“That means…?”
[Various secrets hidden in the areas designated as closed-off districts escaped to various parts of the undeveloped area along with the expansion plan. Nuclear power plants, human experimentation sites, corpse disposal grounds, military bases… Many attempts were made, regardless of the type and nature of the secrets, and all were buried in darkness with the abandonment of the expansion development plan.]
[Now, only their traces remain. But the Defense Force Headquarters read a different current from that past.]
Lennok, understanding the meaning of those words, sighed softly.
“So, wanting access to the closed-off districts wasn’t a lie in itself.”
[Yes… Contrary to what’s in the records, they must have succeeded in relocating some of the secrets that actually existed in the closed-off districts outside the undeveloped area. It’s certain that what Lieutenant General Treffen of the Headquarters is aiming for is also that part.]
He had declared war under the pretense of wanting the secrets within District 13, but in reality, Treffen already knew that those secrets had been moved outside?
If the Defense Force Headquarters was aware of a fact that even Meyer, a member of the City Council, only vaguely suspected, it would be impossible to ascertain how many people were directly or indirectly involved in this matter.
“Information about the closed-off district facilities that the City Council was pushing to relocate at the time would be necessary. Are we going to retrieve that now?”
“……”
If they had branched off separately with three superhumans who had completed their Hierarchy, and if the explanation heard so far was true, wouldn’t their purpose be just one?
Pallard grinned and nodded.
“Good intuition. Exactly as you said. From now on, we are going to raid the database where all the data from the city expansion development plan from 20 years ago is stored.”
“…What?!”