138: How to Defeat Mechanical Intelligence

Today's update consists of three chapters.

This is the first chapter.

"Arrived. The situation on site... we'd better not use radio signals, right?"

"Yes, please don't. Be careful with your voice as well. We don't know where surveillance might be placed."

Teleportation complete.

I teleport to hide behind the trunk of a random tree, placing my foot on a branch.

Peering through the trunk and leaves, I see a large hole that seems to lead underground.

In size... it's roughly the width of a two-lane road in either direction.

Considering the path leading to the hole is no more than a wild animal trail, it's unlikely many people or things pass through here.

『Sata. Please check the surroundings from above—where we can't see from here.』

『Got it.』

I don't move the doll's mouth on-site, but speak only from the hair ornament on the Vilijanira side.

As for the surroundings...

"There are two holes that seem to lead underground—one large one right in front of me, and another located beneath the nearby cliff or just below sea level. Judging from the surroundings, the latter appears to be used more for transporting supplies and people."

"Any antennas or similar devices?"

I can't tell for sure with my own eyes. If there are any, they're probably disguised among the surrounding trees and rocks.

The area is completely covered in dense jungle.

And the base itself is located underground.

Even the delivery of supplies was being done through a hole situated dozens of meters below sea level.

That's probably why this base has remained unknown to anyone until now.

『Please provide the internal status.』

"Quite spacious... From a quick glance, it looks like several kilometers across and at least multiple levels. I've confirmed the presence of artificial human manufacturing equipment and a group of artificial humans in standby mode. All are armed, and there are definitely over a hundred of them. Additionally, there are armed submersible space vessels, specialized vehicles capable of plowing through dense forests, drones, tanks, and even hidden anti-aircraft guns—each type in multiple units."

"At this point, we're completely out of luck. You're preparing weapons with a device that illegally manufactures artificial humans."

"Yeah, that's true."

Still, they've got quite an impressive array of equipment.

They're better equipped than even the most incompetent space pirates—maybe even more so than a mercenary group.

Of course, compared to the imperial army, they're still pretty under-equipped.

"What about the computer servers?"

"There is. There's some kind of experimental facility deep within, and within it, there's a section lined with servers. I'm not very familiar with the details, so I can't be sure... but they're probably still operational."

"I see. Then we can assume Inakaini is definitely there, correct?"

Vilijanira nods in agreement with my words.

I'll check around to see if there's anything else worth reporting... Hmm, not really anything notable, though.

I did find a powered suit or two, but that's about it.

Honestly, this facility just doesn't feel alive at all.

The androids are all in low-power standby mode, scattered across various locations to minimize energy use, and maintenance is kept to an absolute minimum—there's no sense of people, no signs of daily life.

"So, what do we do now? If it's just about clearing this facility, I could probably handle it alone."

『If the opponent were a space monster imitation, that might work, but this time, even though it's an aberration, it's a mechanical intelligence we're dealing with. We should follow procedures designed for capturing mechanical intelligences.』

"Yeah, you're right."

Capturing or destroying a mechanical intelligence is always a hassle.

Ordinary mechanical intelligences, by their very nature, don't commit crimes, can't make copies of themselves, and can't easily transfer to another body—apparently this is how they were designed based on teachings from the Grand Mother and the Mother.

Therefore, it's not hard to imagine that an aberrant mechanical intelligence like this one would easily bypass those restrictions. If we don't manage to contain them while proceeding, neither capture nor elimination will be possible.

That's why they're so troublesome.

More so than even facing off against a cosmic monster, in some cases.

"Understood. Sata, please don't move the dummy from there."

"Yeah, yeah. Guess that's the kind of thing you'd bring up."

With that, the first wave descended from the sky—light raining down.

More precisely, blade-shaped special blasters were fired, carving a circular trench around the facility's perimeter.

The depth reached... is well over 100 meters.

In other words, even if there were communication cables running underground, they've been completely severed by now.

Of course, doing something like this would scatter massive amounts of heat and debris around, creating an environment where ordinary life couldn't possibly survive... but that's irrelevant to me.

'Continue pushing from the cyber side while simultaneously restricting the direction of the radio waves.'

"Is it a wireless communication blockade?"

As the second wave, specialized mods will be deployed across this area.

The mod's function fixes the communication destination for wireless signals within its range.

Additionally, communication using these mods is blocked, except for special cases like me.

The fixed destination this time... is likely the Imperial Army's private vessel.

Likely, within that cyber space, the machine intelligences, including Memokushi, are on full alert, ready to completely dismantle any heretical machine intelligence that recklessly intrudes with full power.

Therefore, with this setup, heretical machine intelligences can no longer escape from this facility through ordinary communication methods.

So, what will the heretical machine intelligence do now?

"Then, Sata. It's time for work. Crush everything that comes out of the hole in front of you, one by one."

"Understood. What about the facility?"

"Imperial military assault forces will be entering shortly, so stay out of it. We still don't know where the crucial evidence is located."

"Got it."

It seems the heretical machine intelligence has no choice but to hide within some kind of memory medium to escape.

Just as I had suspected, inside the facility, the artificial humans seemed to be sequentially transitioning into active states.