Chapter 229

“Is this enough…? I mean, isn’t it totally fine?”

While soothing my zombie computers that were desperately looking for a host, either to give follow-up commands or to request a re-update of their program purpose, I thought that this alone was sufficient.

Looking at the sorted signal list, it seemed that around 300 to 400 infected devices were swarming the surface, and instead of trying to control each one individually, it would be better to let them learn on their own. Yes.

Surely now is the time to actively move, so keeping some processing power available can’t be the wrong judgment.

Ah, but you haven’t forgotten to take control of the Dreadnoughts, have you?

I’m not quite sure how those that I couldn’t sneak away during the first hacking attack ended up right in my grasp, but the thought of letting them loose makes me a bit scared that I could really end up buried alive underground.

Regardless of what anyone says, in this back-and-forth situation, I must hold onto the reins of the strategic weapons firmly.

Bang!! Bang!!

“Cough!? If you had some trump card, shouldn’t you have told me earlier!”

Bullets flew in from an angle. As I pulled back from where a bullet had lodged in the side of the monitor, I became aware that if I stepped back, the enemies could flood into the room, prompting Leonar to fire in a threatening manner as he shouted awkwardly.

As if there was ever a reason to hide anything from himself while I might have prepared something separately.

In fact, I had been refraining from releasing the virus all along because such indiscriminate proliferation or unintended effects could arise, but the outcome that came when an emergency situation hit left me with no option to backtrack.

Fortunately, it worked positively; it wasn’t as if I had expected this situation and had laid out any plans… Hey! Leonar, that’s just gaslighting!

“I didn’t know it would match up like this, you know?! And while I can sense the robot legion, I have no idea about the other intruders. Is there any chance they’re the reinforcements you called?”

“Aren’t you the one with the well-informed vicious dog on your side? I had no time or trust to bring in outsiders. The underlings from the market would be in a difficult position if they were involved in such a thing, so I didn’t inform them at all!”

Clank, fwip!!

While we were chatting briefly, I thought that we had let a gap form again, and so I activated my abilities to check the looming shadow of the Exatech forces.

Each defense facility in the hallway—from small multifunction drones and security shutters to the mini turrets systematically installed by Exatech and high-voltage electric fields.

Instead of letting them miss suitable opportunities, I turned everything on without holding back, equivalent to screaming, “Shit!” or “Damn,” and various praises echoed through.

Indeed, taking away someone else’s equipment, especially when I’m in control, comes with an exquisite flavor of using it. Hmm.

This realization reinforces the notion that as I gain real-world experience in an unexpected manner, hacking superhuman abilities without gaming constraints can be utilized rather viciously.

I could understand why people in this industry often slip into the paths of genuine criminals.

Even with a history in law enforcement and being a law-abiding citizen like me, the sense of anxiety that they might get involved in wrongdoing and mischief feels palpable; I wonder how elite professionals manage to hold on.

Hmm? Why is someone like that caught terrorizing the Exatech facility?

…Shut up. It’s all Leonar’s fault, anyway. Since he enticed me, it’s only right that the employer bears the responsibility for any incidental accidents.

Not all! Just some!

“So, the ground firepower is rather being dominated by you?”

“…I’m sorry, but could you express it as ‘we’ instead? It makes my head hurt feeling like I’m being blamed for all these illegal acts.”

That was a serious correction on my part.

I didn’t know which part of my response pleased him, but Leonar smirked and decided on a course of action.

“There’s a storage room, including a permanent research staff residence, along the way to access the nearest ground entry, E-07. We can stop by there briefly… You focus on securing the entry, while I’ll call the existing droid units this way and open the path. Any objections?”

“None whatsoever. If I were hoping to ask when we’re going back, it would be another matter!”

That worked out nicely. I wasn’t sure if he still had lingering attachments to the original objective, or if he simply thought that escaping safely was enough.

Nevertheless, it is certainly true that the facility’s personnel are lacking.

Not just pure droids, but even the armed combatants in the reserve are being drained and consumed, so it would not be presumptuous to say they’re ‘running low on steam’ by this point.

If that’s the case, securing breakthrough power and pushing forward suggests that we can escape from this dead end surprisingly easily.

Crack!

Leonar ruthlessly tore off a wide section of a medical device, which had only just been chipped in paint despite being exposed to several rounds of live fire, perhaps intending to use it as a makeshift ballistic shield.

The hanging wires and cracked connections looked shabby, but it was certainly reassuring.

Damn, he has quite the bicep strength. I’ll have to ask later if the parts are commercially available and whether they can be compatible with Zero.

“…….”

He slightly nodded his head toward me, suggesting he was ready to move, and I likewise rubbed my numbed legs and drew my pistol.

It appeared he intended to take the frontline generously.

However, even if I followed stealthily, I mustn’t disregard the possibility of getting hit by a stray bullet in the heart of enemy territory.

So what should we do to ensure our safety even slightly? …What should we do? We need to adopt a vicious mindset and beat our way through cruelly.

Boom!

“What the fuck!!”

“Watch the front! No, concentrated fire!! They’ve revealed themselves…!”

As Leonar burst through with enough force to shatter tiles, soldiers who had been clearing debris from the fallen shutter and various unmanned systems shouted.

Seriously, even if they’re in their own home turf, aren’t they wasting time too carelessly?

Crack, crackle. Crackle—!!

As expected from Exatech. Thanks to using a ridiculously powerful generator befitting a sanctuary of engineering believers, they still had a surplus even with all the electricity they were pulling.

Of course, the internal circuits would surely have been left in tatters from excessive overvoltage… Sadly, this isn’t my property.

A concentrated white flash, blue electricity racing along the walls.

The dazzling white night phenomenon unleashed a barrage of bullets just before engulfing the soldiers, all of which ricocheted off the shield (or whatever) that was swung boisterously, literally frying them.

“Guh….”

“….”

The enemy soldiers filled in the hallway all fell sprawled on the ground. A smell different from gunpowder wafted up, foul and nauseating.

Why is it that in those famous cartoons or Christmas specials, the villains scream gleefully when they get electrocuted?

But expecting any noticeable reaction from someone exposed to high voltage in reality is quite a cruel expectation, wouldn’t you say?

Just a momentary stiffening; chillingly, once they collapse, it’s forever done.

They can never rise again. That one moment of failure to act left their internal organs scorched completely; they’re no longer a living entity. Just a protein that used to be human.

“Hmm, quite clean. I believe it was done by someone confident in precise control.”

“That’s quite the insult! You happen to be right behind me, you know?!”

He exclaimed in fright at the instant lethal waves that passed before his eyes, but I was also confident enough to launch that attack. The basic materials of the facility’s interior are insulators, and the main conductor, the electric coil, was only among them.

Grabbing outstretched hand, I leap over the increasingly dense debris.

And then I run.

I keep running. It could be said that I barreled through almost non-stop.

The sporadically appearing soldiers posed no hindrance whatsoever, not even able to get a grip on my feet, forcing me to manage my poor stamina and breath. I’m dying here!

Instead of a proper squad or unit, one or two guards who were lightly engaged were obliterated by Leonar’s punches, leaving me to witness their bodies explode. I hadn’t seen something like that since the upgrade on that one Omens! Ugh.

Leonar continuously relayed the accomplishments of the Houndroid and drone units, but the situation between the ground and us seemed not too bad since our smooth advance led us to the elevator.

“Perfect. Things are going smoothly. Just around this corner is the central elevator. Anastasia, you just need to ride it up to the secured ground floor.”

“Gasp… Hah! Huh? Just me??”

“As I said before, I’m going to stop midway and lead the remaining forces to check the residence…!!”

Suddenly, abruptly interrupting the smooth flow.

His arm, which had stretched back just before the corner, grabbed my shoulder as I gasped heavily. He was in such a hurry that he was practically jamming his other fingers into the wall to stop himself.

Honestly, it was an excellent judgment.

A bunch of soldiers who had noticed us galloping through the corridor revealed themselves, and out of nowhere, a blockade was set up in the underground lobby, which had little to defend aside from elevators.

Bam!

“Electra, Gibson…!!”

“Wait, what? Are they still down here?”

In the midst of a loud commotion, unflinchingly bringing up heads.

More precisely, Leonar displayed the skill of just slightly poking the camera attached to the monitor to change his field of view, rumbling low.

It was true. Purely based on the time spent, excluding the few minutes I took for my task, I hadn’t been delayed at all, so it made sense to run into them again.

Then, almost more surprisingly than the thought of ‘What were they doing without taking the elevator,’ I pondered again and gradually realized that…

Before I left the room, I had incapacitated every facility connected to the network just as a token of gratitude!

“Maintain your positions! Keep firing continuously so they don’t dare to come out!!”

“Shit! I told you, it’d be better to head for the stairs instead!”

“……………No. I absolutely cannot give him up.”

Amidst the clamorous uproar and authoritative commands, I heard a somewhat familiar voice.

I’d say it hit directly in my eardrum. A nervous man, and a woman who was still ranting closer to a haunting tone.

Consequently, what would have been a brief search operation… Of course, I can’t completely rule out the possibility that Leonar personally took them out while I was deceived like that.

Anyway, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if his eyes flipped for wanting revenge for those he intended to delay for the next chance.

“I had no plans to concede, but those guys, oh, is it possible to kill Electra, who you are familiar with? I can’t just let this twist in my gut slide by without taking action.”

“Uh….”

It seems he hesitated to leap into close combat against a fully armed force without knowing their specific armaments and munitions, reluctant, humorously rifling off a joke about concessions asking how he ought to proceed.

Kill? Me? Directly kill Electra?

Seeing as she is quite the psycho, if she remains alive in a vital position, one could only imagine the deranged and outrageous course of revenge she might concoct, so it makes sense to take care of her.

Surely if one cannot differentiate between unnecessary killings and absolutely essential murders, this situation undoubtedly falls under the latter category.

He proclaimed to make use of me as some test subject, so there would be no bounty issued, and no official entry and exit records would exist either. As long as I can silence Electra and whoever this Gibson is, I believe the rest can be brushed off as public infrastructure manipulation.

Besides, this time I wouldn’t even have to risk returning to the crime scene. I had already wrecked most of the accessible database through the lab’s computers.

Yet my hesitation in providing an immediate answer stemmed from the ambiguity of having a means to deliver a lethal blow.

If a spacious lobby that one would hope to defensively equip appropriately, I expected nothing but piles of useless cameras in my field of perception.

Ugh, using up calories and energy to keep the network connection isn’t worth it.

As for the droid units… If they were here already, Leonar wouldn’t have bothered to ask me if there was a way out. Dismissed!

Ultimately, my means of attack remained quite limited.

Instead of suddenly awakening precise shooting skills with just my pistol to deliver headshots, I would have to abandon physical measures and rely on electronic attacks again.

Slowly, I closed my eyes and envisioned an immense bundle of nerves.

Each strand was a path I could extend and advance through. I felt around as if searching for a route extending from the hub without navigation.

Hey, zombie computers! I’m not looking for you, so please stay still.

Are you pretending to dig deep with Dreadnoughts and talking about how you’d be coming down 50 meters underground right now…?

“Ah…?”

I found a strange hole. I was slow to notice since I had never encountered such a scenario before.

It was made by someone else, constructed, and a narrow crack fell into my hands just a beat late.

A weak current that Electra had dug with a brainwave generator a long time ago to induce my unconsciousness still remained in a damp state.

If used well… it could easily lead to a conclusion that would be cruel to the victim. Probably.

The only caveat was the potential for mental blending I might endure when hooliganizing into someone else’s brain.

It would be great to just spit out the virus and resolve the matter, but I was dubious whether the code would be sent correctly along this dried-up stream or if the intended effects would be realized.

The surest way would be to solidify the connection before triggering it.

“Damn! Should I just go for broke?! If successful, it would definitely lessen the headache!”

Specifically, it would be half-baked.

A dilemma, a struggle. However, the risks seemed incredibly small compared to the gains that could be won.

The only concern that immediately came to mind was that I might need to witness part of Electra’s twisted and disgusting mind and memories. Honestly, I thought I could tolerate that.

“Ha, just wait for a moment. I’m going to concentrate… please keep watch in the meantime.”

“As much as needed. I’ll block it even if my head shatters.”

And so, I went for it. With the lighthearted resolve that nothing would go too awry.

Now, here’s the problem.

The path is always bi-directional. Just looking at instances where she and I clashed in the mental world makes this painfully clear.

Moreover, the famous Nietzsche once said, “If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

So, if the abyss were to rise from its seat and look down at a tiny human, what scale of disaster would that pitiful being endure?

Whereas my previous mental contact with Helena was a relatively mild, considerate fusion related to a peaceful phenomenon, I hardly thought about what to compare my invasion with a harsh heart. Electra is someone that must be dealt with, so there was no need to negotiate.

When one world crumbles another, I learned that such a thing leads not to mere bullet wounds or electrocutions but to far more brutal fates.