Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Chapter 94

“How did this happen?”

Si-hyun, who had set up a bomb in the nuclear reactor, murmured as she watched the artillery battle unfold above the city.

There was no one present to answer her question. No one had anticipated that a war would break out in this space metropolis city.

“I found it odd that there were no reinforcements coming to the reactor.”

Before coming here, Si-hyun obtained a makeshift map created before the completion of the T&C Special Trade Center in the shadow market.

The map, made by the construction workers, showed temporary pathways used by labourers during the city’s construction. However, even if they were workers, few had reason to visit the nuclear reactor, so those secret passages weren’t connected to the reactor directly. Instead, they were connected to some parts of the underground tunnel that led to the reactor

Her plan was to infiltrate by piercing through a metallic wall close to the underground tunnels of the nuclear reactor. And so, as planned, Si-hyun and her associates safely accessed the underground route leading to the reactor via the secret passages.

Everything had gone according to Si-hyun’s expectations until this point. However, things started unfolding differently after reaching the reactor than what she had envisaged.

Normally, if there were issues with the nuclear reactor’s defense forces, additional support should have come. Si-hyun had prepared for them, but the reinforcements she anticipated did not arrive until the bomb installation was completed.

“Now I understand why they didn’t come.”

To be precise, it wasn’t that they didn’t come; they couldn’t come. Thanks to this, the terrorist plan using the bomb could be easily executed, but another problem arose.

“Akira might escape before the bomb detonates.”

Regardless of others, Akira Yujin had to be eliminated. If she missed this opportunity, she wouldn’t know when she could get rid of him.

“Akira Yujin?”

“Upon checking, Yujin’s flagship is still here.”

Long before the terrorist plan was devised, Si-hyun had planted a tracking device on Akira’s flagship while performing covert operations. This was to know his whereabouts instantly, no matter where he moved.

“Why hasn’t he left?”

Remembering the memories implanted in her mind about Akira, he was a very cautious individual. If there were looming troubles in the city, he would have left long ago, regardless of his dignity as the CEO of MegaCorp or anything else.

For reasons unknown, Akira Yujin was behaving differently from her memories.

He hadn’t left and was still in this city. That meant there was still an opportunity for her.

“Escape first. I have things to do.”

“Are you sure miss?”

“Akira Yujin must be eliminated from this place.”

“Miss, we’ll come with you.”

At Minseok’s words, Si-hyun nodded.

“Only I can face Code Black. You’ll be killed if you come with me and I won’t allow that, so hand over the detector to me.”

“...Miss.”

Minseok gazed at her with a strange look, as she vowed to eliminate Akira at the risk of her life. In Minseok’s eyes, rather than joy, an emotion closer to suspicion swiftly flashed by. However, it was a fleeting moment, and his expression soon changed to one of admiration.

“Miss, I wish you luck.”

Having received the detector from him, Si-hyun dashed toward where Akira was.

“Once I take care of him, next will be...”

Minseok seemed unaware, but Si-hyun knew he didn’t dislike her. The original Si-hyun Yujin had placed some sort of control over her clone and the fact that Minseok held those reins.

“Someday, without fail...”

Her eyes grew cold. They bore no resemblance to Si-hyun Yujin’s.

***

The corrupted city was being purified by fire. In mythology, gods sometimes unleash the fire of judgment upon humans. However, here, the fire created by human hands was destroying

everything.

‘Indeed, Eden’s speciality is their warships.’

Up till now, due to frequent clashes with the knightly order, it might be easy to assume their strength lay in ground forces. But the reality was different. The noble families excelling in land combat were the Yujin family, known for genetically modified soldiers, and the Garimelda family, famed for making the best reinforced suits in the MegaCorp. However, Eden’s expertise primarily lay in ship development.

‘Even in the game, Eden’s knights were close to special forces.’

In reality, Eden’s warship overwhelmed multiple T&C battleships alone. It wasn’t just superior cannons and shields; their size was larger, with excellent manoeuvrability. This gave them the upper hand despite having far fewer ships than T&C.

‘Reminds me of the old days.’

As an individual matures, they gain numerous traits and types, making them powerful enough to fight and win against fleets.

In my case, due to facing many enemies, I had to battle fleets since my early stages.

“But I’m still too weak for that. It’s reckless at this stage to engage in those battles. I need to evolve more to face multiple battleships.”

“Think about that later.”

Neither family seems to have the capacity to pay attention to us. So, we should take advantage of this opening and escape.

[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Everyone, run!)]

The knights seemed hesitant to enter the large building where we had hidden.

‘I must deactivate the reinforced suit now.’

Originally, in the game, reinforced suits were considered player equipment and couldn’t be removed. But this was reality. Unless it was an artifact-level gear transcending physical laws, a mechanically reinforced suit could be removed using physical strength.

I tore off the exoskeleton armor protecting Denver’s body with my combat arms. The gauntlets protecting the arms and legs weren’t critical, so I dismantled them roughly.

‘Just need to be careful with the power source and helmet.’

Activating my Ghost Claws, I carefully slid my fingers into the chest gauntlet of the reinforced suit. Avoiding the internal wires and mechanisms, I meticulously cut through the joints that secured the armor.

As I did so, the chest gauntlet cleanly separated, much like removing the shell of a crab’s back.

I pulled Denver’s body out from the detached armor. He was clad in a lightweight full-body suit of thin material.

Finally removing the helmet, I saw his eyes darting around. He seemed worried about what dreadful deed I’d do next. No need to worry; he’ll soon find out.

‘Now, with the smaller arms.’

I skillfully connected the power source and helmet of the efficient smaller arm gauntlets.

Thanks to the transcendental senses inherent to Amorph, coupled with my hijacking capabilities, understanding mechanical devices came easily.

As power flowed into the gauntlets’ power sources, a red light illuminated the visor on the helmet.

Carefully holding the chest gauntlet with the power source and the helmet, I concealed them inside a nearby container.

Denver, finally realizing my intentions, trembled uncontrollably.

‘There’s a signal chip in the reinforced suit’s helmet.’

When I first caught Denver, the signal chip I had turned off reactivated. Whether knights or warships, they’d have to focus on the signal from Denver’s armor. As soon as I finished my work, a voice echoed near the warehouse entrance.

“Contact from the warship! The commander’s camera has been activated!”

Without further hesitation, the knights rushed in. It was a close call. They’d surely rummage through the warehouse to find the armor themselves. Escaping with only the communication device from the broken gauntlet, I sneaked out through the opposite exit.

“Ugh!”

Denver struggled to communicate with his subordinates, but it was futile. To rid himself of the neurotoxin still in his system, he’d have to wait longer.

Exiting the warehouse, the kids hiding in a container welcomed me.

[ZZZZ ZZ (Let’s go.)]

Most of the ships I initially deemed safe via the auxiliary organ had left the city. There were only a few remaining, at best.

‘We need to hurry.’

Carrying Denver bare-handed, I moved with the kids toward the dock of the pier. Occasional snippets of the knights’ conversations came through the communication device, but they seemed unable to locate the signal unit in the helmet.

They still assumed I held Denver, unaware that the helmet might be stored separately in a container.

“Just beyond this container...”

There was a boat waiting for us beyond the containers.

Lastly, I used the auxiliary organ to check the boat’s status once more. It seemed they were hurriedly loading items. Nothing particularly alarming to worry about.

As I was about to pass by the container, my auxiliary organ alarm went off with a loud zing.

[Unknown danger lurks on the other side.]

[■■■■ targeting me ■■■■■■■]

Suddenly, my predator sense kicked in.

‘What was that?’

I quickly stepped back behind the container. While scenes flashed through like scanning through a fast-forwarded film, there was an odd noise overlaying them, almost like a mosaic, making it impossible to discern the exact danger.

[ZZZ (Stop.)]

「Why? What’s wrong?」

I called the kids. Something unusual seemed near the container, close to the boat. My predator sense had shown urgent threats up close before, but it had never presented such ambiguous images like just now.

That statement falls into one of two possibilities: either the opponent possesses a means to deceive the predator sense, or they are an enigmatic force beyond even the predator sense’s grasp.

‘...Either way, it’s not an easy opponent.’

The deliberation was brief.

[ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Let’s take a different path)]

I abandoned the idea of heading toward that boat. Regardless of the enemy’s nature, engaging in a fight here would mean missing out on all the boats.

‘There’s still one boat left, though it is different from the one I initially chose, but it’ll do the work.’

Smaller than the boat I’d picked, but not necessarily a bad choice either. I retraced our path with the kids and ran down a different route.

While running, I kept checking behind, half expecting a mysterious creature to be tailing us, but there was no one following us.

‘It was an opponent that even the auxiliary organ could’t discover.’

Fortunately, the dangerous monster didn’t pursue us.