Chapter 531

“My dear Andre~”

In the secret chamber beneath Zone 1 Research Area, Apheta 00 sipped on her cold coffee from the couch before smiling and saying,

“You’re good at reading people, but it seems they’re just as skilled at reading you. Judging from the aftermath, he probably guessed your plan and didn’t give the real location. Instead, he waited on a rooftop several kilometers away, watching the whole thing like a comedy show. Your plans were completely seen through~”

“…”

Ignoring Apheta 00’s mockery, Prince Andre remained silent for a moment before expressionlessly stating,

“What about what I asked you to investigate?”

“You mean food and water collection records, along with unusual travel logs? That got seen through too~”

Apheta 00 replied with a smile, “They seem to have anticipated that you’d use such methods to lock down their general activity areas. So, they stole many identity cards and checked different districts each time to avoid being tracked. As for necessities like food and water, there are no purchase or collection records. My guess is they’ve been stealing small amounts so as not to leave traces. Beyond that, any place where living in this city would inevitably leave marks, they’ve almost all been covered up. Anything they couldn’t hide, they’ve tried to confuse. While I found plenty of info, most of it can’t be verified for truthfulness, making it useless for tracking.”

“…”

So even those details were noticed? After hearing Apheta 00’s response, Prince Andre couldn’t help but rub his temples, feeling a slight headache.

It’s strange. That Leon clearly came from a very backward kingdom—a place without identity cards. People from there shouldn’t have such confidentiality awareness. The Scorpio Division got exposed because of their travel records.

But this Leon is different. He seems very familiar with these aspects, knowing how seemingly insignificant information can expose one’s whereabouts when aggregated. Hence, he hid extremely thoroughly, making things difficult.

While the Crocodile Kingdom isn’t large, it’s still a country. If they keep hiding, I might really have to make a big move to find them…

“How about it? Are you willing to hand over the entire kingdom to me now?”

Looking at Andre’s expression, Apheta 00 took another sip of her coffee and cheerfully smiled, “If you temporarily lift restrictions and let me control more than just computational power—giving me full authority over the kingdom—I could dig out those two little rats within fifteen hours, delivering them to you body and soul.”

“…”

Prince Andre glanced sideways at her upon hearing this, saying nothing, but his lips curled slightly into a mocking smirk, clearly expressing his thoughts.

“Don’t worry, even though you haven’t been nice to Auntie, Auntie still recognizes you as my nephew.”

Apheta 00 wasn’t upset, leisurely sipping her cold coffee while calmly stating, “According to your agreement with the Execution King Assembly, since they helped you, you’ll never have children. The Crocodile Royal Family will end with you, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t loopholes to exploit.

With the human alchemy technology developed by you and Apheta 01, we can mass-produce soulless shells. We can extract the brains of the best candidates to serve as main cores and use others for sub-cores.

With my computational power and the resources of the Crocodile Kingdom, within thirty years, we can create twenty thousand Apheta sub-units. At that point, you can definitely…”

“Shut up!”

Glaring coldly at Apheta 00, Prince Andre said with an unpleasant expression,

“Do you think I’m stupid? If I gave you full access, among those twenty thousand Apheta sub-units, there would surely be one using my brain!”

“Don’t worry, you’re not worthy.”

Apheta 00 smiled sweetly and said, “When you were young, I examined your brain. Although it’s well-developed, comparable even to Phelia’s, the parts that are advanced aren’t what I need. Based on active sectors, you likely have artistic talent, but when it comes to creating mechanical intelligence cores… I regret to inform you, the gap between me and Phelia is about seven hundred times greater than you. Using you as an Apheta sub-unit would purely be a waste of materials.”

“Dong dong dang dang~”

As Prince Andre narrowed his eyes and was about to retort, a lively instrumental sound suddenly played, followed by a familiar announcement over the loudspeakers in Zone 1 Research Area.

“Citizens of the Crocodile Kingdom, it’s time for the morning news broadcast.”

The sweet voice of the reporter briefly drowned out Prince Andre’s words.

“First, yesterday’s headlines: Scholar Bell Graham, who improved wireless remote exchange walkie-talkies, was attacked by roaming criminals… Ah? Who are you? You can’t come in here! Get out! All of you!”

Huh?!

Hearing the commotion over the loudspeaker, both inside the chamber froze momentarily. Prince Andre seemed to realize something, abruptly standing up with an incredulous look on his face.

“Sorry, we had no other choice but to seize this opportunity to speak to everyone… Miss Announcer, please take a break over here.”

A voice familiar to Prince Andre came through the speaker as the original announcer made a couple of muffled sounds before being moved away from the microphone.

“Citizens of the Crocodile Kingdom, I regret to inform you that our entire kingdom is now facing a life-or-death crisis.”

In bewilderment, the voice solemnly declared over the loudspeaker,

“Third Prince Andre not only plotted to assassinate King Fein but has also killed all members of the royal family. Now, he’s preparing to use new technology from Zone 1 Research Area to forcibly control the minds of all citizens, thereby…”

“Send reinforcements quickly!”

Realizing what Leon intended to do, veins bulged on Prince Andre’s forehead as he turned around and shouted,

“Seal it off immediately… No! Bomb Sector 19! Cut all transmission signals! Make him shut up!”

“I’ve already started!”

Apheta 00 bit her lip, looking furious as she said, “But at the start of the news broadcast, apart from the underground voice tubes, all fifty-two external signal stations in Zone 1 were cut off simultaneously. My commands can’t get through anymore.”

“WHAT!!!”

Upon hearing this, Prince Andre’s face darkened as he incredulously demanded,

“All fifty-two stations were cut off? Not a single one left? Didn’t you keep a hidden signal station?”

“How could I hide them?”

Apheta 00, whose mind seemed to lose control over her limbs in anger, snapped back, “The kingdom’s districts are semi-closed! Moreover, Zone 1’s core is underground, surrounded by high-rise buildings. If the signal stations aren’t high enough, they’ll be blocked outright. It’s even less effective than someone shouting! Tell me how you’d hide them!”

“Citizens of the Crocodile Kingdom, this is Princess Phelia, the sixth princess, and… the sole survivor of the royal massacre.”

As the two argued inside the chamber, a voice both were very familiar with sobbed accusingly,

“Andre has gone mad. To satisfy his ambition, he killed my father, killed my mother, killed everyone. Now, he plans to control everyone gradually through brain information chips and identity cards.

I… I have no family left. I implore everyone, for the sake of the kingdom and ourselves, rise up together to resist his tyrannical rule!”

(End of Chapter)