Estimated reading time: ~6 minutes
Chapter 95
「Y-yeah, it’s all going according to plan.」
「I don’t think that’s the case though.」
「……Right, I had no idea about that. Not even a bargain sale would gather that many fusion entities.」
「What on earth are you planning to do? In the first place, it was unreasonable to try to promote an ordinary person who knows nothing. On top of that, with the recent rapid evolution of the enemy, do you really think we can defeat ‘UYK’ in the next two rounds?」
On the night of May 27th, three figures are gathered in a corner of the New Technology Exhibition hall. One is Reina, leaning against the wall in her usual casual attire. Another is Momiji, wearing a coat over her pajamas, clutching her head while replaying a video on the terminal in front of her. The last is Professor Nagashaberi from Hereafter Corporation, standing in a suit with a perplexed expression.
Naturally, they have gathered to discuss the citrus matter. Originally, no one thought the Infinite Horizon Conquest operation would be able to reach that far. It was merely a field survey for the final battle. In the first place, compared to before, the year 2055 has seen a dramatically different level of military power, with the evolution of the fusion entity Apollyon and the widespread use of small-scale NMMs. Nevertheless, the success rate remains at 7%, and they were unable to obtain information about the depths of the Infinite Horizon, which forms the basis of their predictions.
Upon closer examination, the reality is completely different. Through the actions dubbed 「Flying Nuclear Away」 on the internet, they easily succeeded in infiltrating the depths. This means…
「Yeah, I combined Kanji’s livestream footage frame by frame with an estimate of the ejection velocity, and this is the result… I see, it’s definitely the head.」
The data is transmitted to the terminals in the hands of the three. Although the 3D map has many holes, a rough shape can be predicted when viewed from a distance. Namely, it’s the head of a giant lizard. It has engulfed all of Russia and Hokkaido, centered around the Sea of Okhotsk. Until now, satellite imagery data had been captured, but it was always shrouded in a dense fog that made proper observation difficult even when viewed from space. However, with the successful low-altitude filming in the depths this time, they managed to estimate the position of one eye. By combining this with the discovery of the nose and what would be the canine teeth in humans, captured by the American and Paris servers, they succeeded in identifying the overall orientation and size of the head.
The head alone is estimated to be several thousand kilometers. Reina can’t help but sigh at the sheer size of ‘UYK’, which is so large that it distorts the Earth from being a sphere. Putting aside the evolution and fusion entities, it’s simply too big. How much effort will it take to defeat it just based on its size? However, finally understanding the full scope of the enemy is a major step forward. Until now, even its appearance was a matter of guesswork.
In gaming terms, it’s like having solved the issues of not knowing the map, mid-boss information, and save methods. However, Professor Nagashaberi finds it hard to believe that they can defeat ‘UYK’ with just two more updates at this rate.
「In response to Professor Nagashaberi, I’ll say it’s possible or impossible, but it doesn’t matter. We have no choice but to do it since we arbitrarily promoted Kanji.」
「Well, it started with the intention of keeping him alive, but before we knew it, it had grown to this extent. Where was the initial point of compromise supposed to be?」
「That’s the other purpose of the fake Orange plan. Other companies try to thoroughly crush individuals who attempt to leak information, even using underhand tactics, so we created Orange as a cover. Then, as the amount of data claimed to be from Orange increased, it would become unclear who the real Orange was… That was the plan. But it all disappeared as a result of Kanji’s rampage.」
Reina claps her hands absentmindedly, recalling the plan, while Momiji looks at her with an exasperated expression. Professor Nagashaberi feels anger rising within him. The agreement with them was to defeat ‘UYK’ with three updates. However, upon closer examination, ‘UYK’ has undergone an abnormal evolution. He wonders if this was a complete disaster from the start.
Originally, this agreement was made in Ver2.01 in a half-threatening manner. Naturally, when Professor Nagashaberi returned to the company, he received severe reprimands. At the same time, some within the company even suggested taking the possibilities brought by the ‘Reformists’ and cooperating with them. Although he maintains control for now, it’s impossible to completely unify the thoughts of all individuals.
「Well, first of all, the weakness of the fusion entity copies is the cockpit, and we’ve also figured out the data for communication jamming. From the next round, we can ensure secure communication by encrypting and removing specific noise.」
「……Will that really allow us to clear the game? Indeed, we’ve gained a lot this time, such as practical data on the resource recycling system from Ver2.00, efficient mass production methods for the fusion entity Apollyon, and piloting data by humans possessing Machine Beast cores, as well as the small-scale NMM defeating the Moon UYK. These are certainly significant achievements, but I can’t shake off my doubts.」
Professor Nagashaberi keeps asking questions. No matter how far he goes, he is also someone who despairs at the future of destruction and tries to stand up against it. As someone who has been researching since before the ‘Base Collapse’ that occurred prior to the formation of the ‘Reformists’, he desperately wants to believe that hope is indeed hope. Momiji laughs and replies, 「It all depends on tomorrow.」
Tomorrow is the day of the tournament. It’s also the beginning of the ‘Scorch Wars’.
「I’ll do my best tomorrow. Then I’ll blackmail the ‘Reformists’. In the end, we’ll face the final battle. The path is clear. That thing is ready, right?」
「……The activation conditions are limited, but the login device for ‘Reverse Dive’ is complete for now.」
「Alright, then it’ll be fine. Let’s do our best!」
Just as Momiji tries to forcefully conclude the conversation with a smile, Reina interrupts her with a shrug.
「You’re ignoring the flood of messages from Kanji about the truth of ‘HAO’, aren’t you? Also, I don’t really think you can control Kanji.」
In response to Reina’s question, Momiji maintains her smile and answers. Her face strongly shows resignation, and the other two can roughly imagine what words will come out. However, they have no choice but to listen, and what emerges is indeed what they expected.
「I don’t know about either of them!」
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