139: Seizing the Facility

Today's update consists of three chapters.

This is the second chapter.

"Here they come...!"

"「「「———!?」」」"

Artificial humans emerge from within the facility.

Not just randomly, but fully armed—specialized vehicles, powered suits, military-grade blasters, and more.

Yet, as they come out, I extend my main body's arms around them, effortlessly squeezing and crushing every single one from within.

The main body's arms were also coated with the ink that disabled mods, rendering even their shield mods useless—completely wiping them out in one fell swoop.

"Still, I suppose they won't be rushing to the next one so quickly."

Perhaps because the vanguard unit had vanished in an instant.

The androids still lingering inside the facility clearly looked confused, hesitating as if unsure whether to move forward or not.

In this case, it's the heretical machine intelligence that's confused, not the artificial humans.

Based on my analysis of the mods used for manufacturing and educating the artificial humans just moments ago, their mental structure showed absolutely no emotional fluctuations. They were designed to accept both their own and others' deaths without hesitation, and to execute their creators' commands with virtually zero delay.

With such a mental framework, it's impossible to be shaken—no matter how much they might want to be.

"Vee. I assume you understand, but the only thing I can contain is this hole. The underwater passage, of course, but if they escape through ventilation shafts using small drones, I won't be able to track them."

"I understand completely, so please don't worry, Sata. The Imperial Army and the mechanical intelligences are already working on a solution."

Well, if a direct frontal approach isn't possible, considering alternatives is only natural.

Meanwhile, inside the facility, some androids are on guard, ready to respond to my intrusion, while others are attempting to escape through underwater passages using spacecraft, and still others are hurriedly assembling some kind of machine.

I don't know the minimum size required for an information medium capable of housing mechanical intelligence... but considering the Memoqui, something on the scale of a human head should be sufficient, so we can't afford to be careless.

Thus, I relayed my concerns to Virijanila.

"...Seems that way."

And, as expected from Virijanila, whether one should call them the Imperial Army or mechanical intelligence, my concerns had been well within anticipated parameters.

A thin stream of blaster fire was raining down from above, apparently burning something deep within the forest.

Several underwater combat-specific fighters were also waiting in ambush beneath the surface, and in the main view, I could see them sinking a spaceship attempting to flee.

"Here they come."

"Captain Sata, please keep watch here while we carry out our suppression operation."

"I understand. Though it's unusual to give instructions to a professional like yourself, please be careful."

"Thank you for your concern!"

At that moment, several dozen Imperial soldiers in powered suits, accompanied by infantry troops, appeared behind me.

They deliberately made noise as they approached, and whenever I turned my gaze toward them, they immediately projected holograms from their information terminals to display their affiliation.

It seemed they were indeed the assault force coming through this route.

Just to be sure, I checked with Vileganiara, and there was no mistake.

"Hmm, I don't know... it's getting a bit unsettling being this smooth this far in."

'What do you mean?'

Even if it's heretical, it's still machine intelligence. We already know from the incident at the training ground that it possesses high computational ability. I just wondered if something like that couldn't predict the current situation.

『That's a reasonable concern, naturally.』

The assault team's combat... well, it's going smoothly.

They're decisively overrunning the artificial humans.

No issues seem to be arising from the other routes either.

If there's been no trouble this far... it's almost making me uneasy, wondering if we're missing something.

"What do you think, Vee?"

『……If I may offer my personal opinion, I believe even the heretical machine intelligence, Inakaini, might have been just another lizard's tail.』

"So, in other words... you're saying that the heretical machine intelligence was used to eliminate the Narianipotz family, who had been corrupting the Narianitech noble house for years, and then even that heretical machine intelligence itself was discarded? That would mean the servers still running inside the facility... are still active?"

Yes, I believe this might be a move by the true mastermind to escape unscathed. Of course, if the imperial army and the machine intelligence really put their minds to it, they could recover data even after completely erasing the server or physically destroying it—up to a certain extent, at least. But if the mastermind is already accounting for that possibility, then, regretfully, we might not be able to catch them after all.

Troublesome...

The real mastermind?

Indeed, under these circumstances, it's understandable to be on guard—such a scenario is quite plausible.

But then again.

"If the true mastermind is genuinely behind this, then it seems they could just discard any线索 at will. We wouldn't even have a clue, let alone uncover anything—nothing would be visible at all."

"That's right. It is a peculiar situation. Ah, yes. Just one thing to mention to Satu: my eyes felt the threat had disappeared the moment I returned inside the ship of 'Sexy Mi azuma' after cutting out the incident at the training ground. So... "

"I see. From that perspective, the current situation seems to be growing increasingly complicated, like a lizard shedding its tail... And there's also the possibility that they were wary of Vee's eyes... though that's just a tentative thought."

"That's exactly how I see it."

"This is really a troublesome situation..."

Hmm, I don't know... it felt like the situation had become clearer, but now it's somehow more confusing again.

Still, if there really is a mastermind behind all this, who could it be?

Vee's eyes, a result of accumulated generations of body-enhancing mods, emit a faint greenish glow around them.

It's obvious to anyone watching that her vision has been significantly enhanced.

But even knowing she's been so heavily enhanced, refusing to even perceive something for a single instant and fleeing anyway... that's not normal, is it?

『If only Inakai could just turn into some space monster right here and now, we could narrow down the identity of the mastermind, and it would make things a lot easier.』

『Haha. Well, I suppose it would be easier. If something appeared right now, I'd just handle it myself.』

Then, while maintaining vigilance in this manner, I was lost in thought with a calm and composed mind.

"Ah..."

"Huh?"

"... "

"Sat? Wait, no way..."

"A pseudo-space monster has appeared..."

The familiar sensation of interference using that spatial leap technique.

It resembles 'Vanilla OS', but there's a distinct feeling of it transforming into something entirely different.

The scene of a heretical mechanical intelligence residing in a server, merging with countless artificial humans to form a single entity.

"……. Abandon efforts to secure the data. Eliminate it for certain. I'll handle the explanation with the imperial forces."

"Understood. I'll deal with it with full force."

I teleported to the front of the entity, which had formed within the server room and ultimately took on a shape resembling A.I.