Chapter 48 – Landfill (4)

Chapter 48 – Landfill (4)

[Translator – Late Dreamer]

[Proofreader – Seeker]

Chapter 48 – Landfill (4)

I paused for a brief moment, lost in thought.

I had no idea how to explain Eve’s existence.

‘Eve’.

The super-intelligent AI that I named.

Actually, at first, I was going to name her ‘Adam’.

But due to the strong objection of the AI, at that time, it became her current name.

I subtly rolled my eyes and looked ahead.

Catherine was staring at me, her eyes waiting for an answer.

It seemed like it would be difficult to move on without explaining.

Right now, at this very moment.

The pressure to answer was conveyed directly through her gaze.

...Hmm.

Well, there was no reason to keep Eve’s existence a secret now.

In the first place, the reason I hid Eve’s existence wasn’t anything special.

It was a matter of my conscience.

During a mission with all my colleagues.

I had brought along an ‘AI’, a potentially dangerous entity, without anyone knowing.

Of course, it was a different story now.

After spending some time with Eve.

I was convinced that this AI wasn’t such a bad being.

I won’t deny that the streaming donations from Eve, deposited into my account had a certain positive influence.

Anyway.

In the end, this was just my perspective and thoughts.

Perhaps my colleagues’ views could be different.

In the worst-case scenario.

They would advise me to immediately remove the data module and neural computer chip for information cleansing.

And of course, it was assumed that physical action would follow that advice.

I collected my thoughts, and Catherine waited for me.

Eve, too, seemed to be reading the mood, silently observing the situation without saying a word.

And in this situation.

The only person who could move freely was the Vice President of a certain megacorp.

“...Um, excuse me.”

In the silence, William Kojaka carefully raised his hand to express his opinion.

“It seems like the explanation will take a while, but could I have a glass of water? Because of the terrible smell, and my throat is a bit dry.”

Being addressed formally by the Vice President of a megacorp felt better than expected.

But I wasn’t so flustered as to say it out loud.

I silently nodded.

“Of course, it’s fine. We only rescued you, Mr. Vice President, for our own purposes. We have no intention of holding you captive.”

Now that it was clear this wasn’t a Smile John, there was no need to restrain the Vice President’s actions and provoke him.

I added kindly,

“If you go outside, there should be an orc. If you ask him for water, he’ll probably give it to you.”

“...Yes, I understand.”

He would need time to process the situation as well.

Perhaps not yet fully calmed down.

William Kojaka walked away, stumbling slightly.

Now with that, it was just the two of us left.

I decided to tell Catherine everything honestly.

If I lied here.

One lie would lead to another.

The situation would only get worse.

Taking a slow breath, I opened my mouth to Catherine.

“To explain about Eve, first of all-”

It was then, as I continued my explanation.

The orc, Four-Eyes, came rushing in from outside the room.

If my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

He was holding William Kojaka’s arm behind his back. It was clear to anyone that he was restraining him from moving.

His speech, which had been formal, changed back to his usual vice president tone.

William Kojaka busily moved his fingers in the air. It seemed like he was manipulating a visual interface.

But that action didn’t last long.

“...You’re saying we’re out of signal range? That can’t be right.”

It didn’t take long for his expression to harden.

“...Is it possible that there’s no signal here?”

“That’s impossible, everything works.”

There was no reason for there to be no signal just because we were underground.

Actually, this was something I had expected to some extent.

Ever since we entered the sewers and went underground.

The no signal indicator had been flashing in the corner of my vision.

The last time I had received a transmission was from Natasha after we left the crashed airship, and since then the signal had been completely dead.

I assumed that they had probably spread a radio jammer across the entire landfill.

I smiled and offered the vice president two options.

“Are you going out? Or what?”

“...”

He couldn’t contact his staff outside.

And in a situation where Ninja squads were scouring the entire landfill, aiming for his life.

There was only one option he could choose.

“...Alright, then can you escort me to the inner part of Neon City, specifically to the Kojaka headquarters building?”

The mercenary spirit within me awakened.

I smiled and joked.

“How long have you been looking into it, sir?”

It was a phrase I had heard many times before.

Right now, I’ll give you the chance to hire Neon City’s strongest mercenary (Catherine) at a low price.

This was a beneficial move for us as well.

If the true identity of Smile John was the chairman of Kojaka Corporation, we would be at a loss as to how to deal with him.

In such a situation, if the Vice President could help us.

We would have more options available.

Also, the Vice President had enough motive to hold a grudge against Smile John.

The atmosphere around us relaxed a bit.

I pulled up a chair and sat down to make a plan on how to proceed with work from now on.

Then.

Catherine, who had approached me from behind at some point, gently placed her hand on my shoulder.

I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and check her expression.

Catherine’s voice reached my ears.

“...Explain it to me later.”

“...Yeah.”

She was talking about Eve.

Thanks to the orc who appeared while twisting the megacorp Vice President’s arm, we had moved on.

But honestly, how long could I go without explaining?

...I’ll have to explain it to her later when we’re alone.

I thought to myself.

***

Going up to the surface where the Ninja squad was searching was clearly a ‘bad move’.

Waiting for someone’s help like this was just a ‘mediocre move’.

Then what was the best ‘good move’?

I gathered everyone and explained.

“We’re going into the Neon City underground through the sewers.”

William Kojaka fiddled with his empty cup and replied with an uneasy expression.

“...Isn’t that dangerous?”

I nodded casually.

“Murder drones roam around, broken cleaning robots eat people, and there are a lot of homeless people and mutated contaminants.”

“...Then.”

“But it’s still much better than dealing with a ninja squad on the surface.”

“...”

It was true.

Surely they wouldn’t follow us into the sewers.

[Translator – Late Dreamer]

[Proofreader – Seeker]