Chapter 122: Research Center

"Do you want a legendary grade pet, right now?"

Upon hearing an unexpected question from Wil, Hyori was taken aback, "legendary grade pet?" and then asked, "Like the lion?"

"Of course not, that's a guardian beast. It can be only caught once. There's another legendary grade beast hidden in the wild. Do you want to try catching it?"

"There are two legendary grade monsters in the wild?" asked Hyori in a surprise.

Wil nodded with affirmation, "yeah, the second isn't a strong one like this but it is still a legendary grade Black Leopard. It's very fast, I should say..."

"Black Leopard," mumbled Hyori as she was considering catching it, right now but as soon as she heard the next sentence of Wil, Hyori's decision turned 180 degrees in a second. 

"Or maybe, you can just sell it in an auction, later. You can at least receive 50 million credits."

"Fif… Fifty million?" As Hyori's heart skipped for a second, Wil dropped another bomb, "well, if you sell it in a private auction, you might even bag 100 million credits considering the currency exchange rate of 1767 credits per silver."

"Hundred million?" screamed Hyori, losing the balance as she tripped on her feet, Wil quickly caught her, "be careful, will ya…"

"Thanks." After glancing at it once again, she asked, "What kind of crazy people would pay that much for this scroll? I mean, in the end, it's just a game, isn't it?"

"People like me," replied Wil nonchalantly before concentrating on the drops as he almost gave up on persuading her.

"Heavy armor and a helmet. Sigh… What a bad luck…"

Thinking of giving one more try, after throwing all of them inside the inventory, Wil looked at Hyori and said, "You can keep that as your share. If you want to try catching a legendary grade pet, I'll help you out.

And if you want to sell it, then, keep it until this upcoming Sunday. There will be a private auction in our Auction house at East Ocean City. I'll give you an invitation.

But, I should warn you though. They have a drop rate of one in ten thousand chances. So, you won't likely able to get another one in the future and since you already reached level-175, you'll be on your own from now onwards. Having a pet will make it easier."

Hyori nodded, "I got what you are saying. But, it's a bit hard for me to decide, right now. I need to think about it."

"Well, it's your wish what you want to do with it," replied Wil, shrugging his shoulders as he completely gave up persuading her, after glancing at her eyes that says 'money'.

"Ah, by the way, I want to ask what about your master and others?" asked Wil as they exit the dungeon and sat on top of Leon.

Sitting behind Wil, Hyori answered, "well, they were currently stuck in another kingdom. Is there any other way to transfer from one kingdom to another without the teleportation stone?"

Wil shook his head, "not that I know of. We'll just have to wait until the barrier opens. It's easy you know"

"Eh? They can teleport after barriers open? Didn't you say that it'll be very hard later because of enmity with other kingdoms?" asked Hyori with a surprised look.

Upon hearing it, Wil flinched a bit and looked away, "I said that? I don't remember it though…"

"You sounded as if we are going to become enemies for sure… You… lied to me, didn't you?" asked Hyori suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

"Wow… Hyori, look… How wonderful is that mountain from far away… You know at the top of the peak, I battled… Ah… my neck… Don't shake my shoulders… we are going to fall…"

*Roar*

***

Ares city;

On the outskirts of the city of Ares, lies a 100-acre campus that was under constant surveillance of the military.

The security was so tight that except for the president, the Defense Minister, and the researchers working there, no one can even enter the compound because of confidentiality.

As for exiting, even the researchers will have to wear a tracking bracelet or anklets on them so that they can be monitored when they were outside.

So, what was so secretive about it?

Well, on the surface, it is a research center where new drugs for incurable diseases are being developed. But, in secret, it is one of the two places where they develop new prototypes of various advanced weapons.

In the mid-afternoon, a dozen cars stopped before the gate but only one of them entered the compound. The car took a lot of turns, ignoring various buildings, and stopped before Z-Block.

After usual security checks are finished, a dashing middle-aged man in his mid-fifties was allowed to step inside the building.

As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by a robot, "good afternoon, Mr. President. Welcome to Robotics division of Mars Research Center."

He returned the greetings with a nod and proceeds towards the first floor with one of the researchers.

"I heard that you finished the prototype?" asked President Adler.

"Yes, that's true" The researcher nodded lightly with a worried look and then, spoke slowly as if he fears about the president's reaction, "but there are complications…"

"Complications?" A frown appeared on Adler, "didn't your head mention everything is fine, just an hour ago?"

"Well…" Because of huge pressure, the explanation he prepared was stuck in his throat, and ended up confessing the truth, "I apologize…" 

As they reached the lab, the president saw a couple of researchers are focusing on the chamber that locked a female humanoid robot inside, with a small tattoo on her neck and missing a right hand. A machine is replacing it with a robotic hand.

After the hand was fixed, a layer of skin generated on it and once again, her hand appeared like a human's.

"What's the situation? I heard there's a problem occurred," asked Adler in a serious tone.

"Mr. President? You are here." The head researcher greeted him first and then proceeded to explain, "It's a bit unstable, right now. We might need more time to stabilize its condition. I apologize for wasting your time," the head of this research facility bowed while the rest of them stayed silent, gripping their hearts in tension.

"It's fine." Adler waved his hand, gesturing them to relax. Looking at their prototype from the glass, a sigh escaped from his lips, "I understand that it takes a lot of time to build the actual product but I hope, at the very least, the prototype will be finished before my term is over."

The Head researcher nodded, "we understand."

"Sigh… looks like I rushed here for nothing." Feeling disappointment, Adler turned around and started to walk away to return.

Just when he was about to exit the lab, a young researcher, who was doing calculations in the corner, stood up while stretching his arms, "it's obvious that it would lose out of control with these normal A.I. If only there's an advanced A.I. that can control its consciousness, *yawn* it would be easy to stabilize it…"

"What did you say?" asked the president as he faced the young man.

"Eh?"

Looking at his serious expression, the head researcher quickly scurried towards them and asked, "Mr. President. Is there anything, wrong?" 

Ignoring him, Adler caught the young man's shoulders and ordered with seriousness, "Repeat what you said, right now."

"Uh… if there's an A.I. something more advanced than what we have, then, it might be possible to stabilize the prototype," replied the young man with confidence, although his legs are shivering non-stop.

"An advanced A.I." mumbled Adler and then turned his head towards the head, "Shunpei, ever heard of Aria?"

The head researcher was taken aback, "You mean the world's most advanced A.I. of Summersoft? NB0A1?"

"Yeah… What if you have Aria? Can you finish the prototype?"

The head researcher replied, "If we have the assistance of Aria, forget about the prototype, we can even launch the actual product in just a week without any issues…"

Upon hearing his statement, just when hope once again appeared in Adler, it was quickly dashed away with the head researcher continuing with, "but honestly it's quite risky to have it on board. The researchers over there are all the top graduates of Ares University. If they can't control it, I'm afraid there's a little chance even for us."

"Can't you just create another super A.I. like Aria?" complained Adler with a frustrated look. Clearly, he was becoming angrier by each second.

Shunpei shook his head with a sigh, "our research is still in progress. Originally, it was supposed to be over by now but because we are lacking enough staff and limited fundings, the A.I. project has been slowed down after we began focusing on this one.

Considering the current pace, It might take a year or two to create such an advance A.I. Even if we have its data and have huge funding, it'll still take several months."

The young researcher who was being silent voiced out his opinion, "what about upgrading a normal one, instead of relying on a that they will be synchronized perfectly?" 

Adler frowned, "miracle?"

The young researcher then explained, "The principle of sending consciousness into Virtual reality and a physical object is different. In the former case, your consciousness is still linked to your actual body through a medium like capsules.

But, in the latter case, it will be ejected from your brain and transferred to an artificial lifeless object. So, it's difficult for a normal one to guide it like how our brain does. Not to mention, Gynoid N12 is a special specimen. When she was alive, she's said to be the master of several arts that were known to be lost in history.

To tame such wild consciousness, it's best if we have a sentient A.I. but if it's just stabilizing, an advanced A.I. can also merge with the consciousness and by possessing both of their traits, stabilization can be acquired. If we consider Alea's theorem and then proceed with…"

As the young man started explaining his idea using a whiteboard and a computer, the head researcher is listening carefully and asking questions one by one. Meanwhile, Adler waited for them patiently on the side while having no idea what they are talking about.

One hour later,

After listening to his theory, Shunpei's eyes glittered, "that's genius… Where were you all this time Dr… by the way, what's your name?"

"Ah, I'm Richard Starves, just joined a week ago."

Shunpei then turned his head towards Adler, "Mr. President, if we have the data of Aria. If you can provide it, I'm at least 80% confident that we can finish the prototype by the end of this month."

"Hmm, if I use my authority, data isn't hard to collect but those damn ministers in opposition will chew me out in the parliament.

But. if this experiment is a success, there's a high chance I can continue for the next term. And if it still fails, then I have to say goodbye to my post soon. I have to take the risk," thought Adler for a while and then, nodded, "Leave it to me."

Taking one last look at the bumps on the metal door of the chamber, which is a clear sign of strong punches from the other side, Adler turned around and walked away.

As the president left, the researchers swarmed around the whiteboard and started discussing.

***

Deloris town;

Because of the construction of the new Scarlet district, and the extraordinary achievements of Wil, this little town attracted several free players, spies from all over the world, newbies, and small guilds, and is now bustling with over 20000 players of which more than half of them are visitors from other cities.

The streets are swarmed with players, especially Scarlet District, where four locations are very popular.

One is the bank that gives out loans with a mere 2% interest per week, the second one is a Battle Arena, where players can train for cheaper price and yet, getting a stronger training partner in return. It can also support 100 thousand of audience.

The third one is the training grounds, where a level-200 guardian is acting as an instruction to conduct lessons for those who are interested to learn battle strategies in exchange for a mere 1 silver per hour.

And the last one, which actually gets them enormous profits, is the teleportation point that only charges 30% of the amount compared to the default one at the temple in cities.

The biggest offer is that the teleportation fee from the Scarlet District of Deloris to East Ocean's district is only 10 silver, where they can shop further while it is free for Silvershapers, and Scarlet. 

Coming to the guilds, although a fairly amount of medium and large guilds from all the nine cities want to set up a branch since the mayor wasn't in town; their applications were still pending…

Two low-level players arrived in the town and started roaming the Scarlet district while having a discussion.

"With this amount of population, it's not less than any city," commented a non-combat player named 'Oak'.

The other one named 'Speedy' nodded in agreement, "Kiyumi-sama is right. This town is indeed one of the places to watch out for. Wow…"

Suddenly 'Speedy' stopped moving as continuous district-wide announcements were made by the Head manager, Milena.

*Ding. New Level 100-150 epic-grade equipment batch arrived at the store. A total of 38 are available.

*Ding. It's rush hour time. Silver grade and below equipment have a 50% discount and Gold grade equipment has a 20% discount. Lasts for 1 hour.

*Ding. It's rush hour time. Gold and above grade equipment can be sold at a 20% higher rate. Lasts for 1 hour. 

*Ding. Level-130 Legendary-grade light armor will be auctioned on the third floor until the next hour. The starting price is 50 gold and Buy out is 200 gold. Don't miss the opportunity.

"Is this a department store or something…"

Upon hearing the announcement, thousands of players, who were busy at other locations, rushed towards the biggest store that already has the third floor with 8 counters on each floor.

Meanwhile, at the Mayor's Mansion in East Ocean city;

"What can I do for you, your highness?" asked Ravus while serving tea with respect.

Sitting at the edge of a sofa, Wil leaned towards the table to take the teacup and a strange smile appeared on his face, "I'm here to ask you a favor…"

"Huh?"

A few minutes later, the city descends into chaos, and Wil suddenly became one of the most hated players on forums.