Chapter 145

This time, Aaron, the one in charge of the [Showcase], was unable to attend.

Lexus couldn’t grasp the full details, but judging from the scraps of news he saw, he could roughly guess the situation.

“Our employer must be busy too~”

With no other choice, Lexus took on the role of coach for the Special Class. On the day of the [Showcase], he stood in the VIP observation deck, waiting leisurely for the battles his students would unfold.

‘The result is obvious.’

Earlier this year, Lexus had already watched the footage of the duel between Irie and Donovan. In the video, Irie was, as he already knew, a radiant raw gem of talent itself, while Donovan, on the other hand…

‘…he was just average.’

Lv.4 Arcane Module [Flame Cannon].

Being able to handle a module of that level skillfully did prove he wasn’t just some random thug on the street, but compared to Irie, it was no contest.

The last duel had proven it. Irie, who was nearly Pure Spec, had utterly crushed him.

No matter how hard Donovan tried, unless he was completely reborn, he could never be a match for her.

‘Besides, our Student Council President has grown even stronger since then.’

Her gear had been upgraded solidly, and she had newly equipped the Lv.4 Arcane Modules [Thousand Pound Weight] and [Thorn Armor]. On top of that, during the vacation, the Stingray scholars had received additional training, and among them, Irie even got private tutoring.

It was a fight she couldn’t possibly lose.

‘Of course, Militech must have something up their sleeve to openly challenge us to a rematch… but still. I wonder just how much stronger someone who had nearly maxed out his Substitution Rate could have gotten in just half a year.’

The limit of Substitution Rate was 70%.

From the last [Showcase] footage, Donovan’s Substitution Rate already looked close to that limit.

It was like trying to further strengthen equipment that was already maxed out, or like trying to fit a new Tetris block into a completely full board. The closer the Substitution Rate got to the limit, the harder it was to grow.

‘Did he slot in a new module to his existing Module Ring? Or did he scrap it entirely and rebuild his combat style? If it’s the latter, then he wouldn’t have had enough time to adapt to the new modules.’

As he was running through the calculations in his head, the [Showcase] finally began.

Both sides’ fighters appeared at their respective starting points. And the moment he laid eyes on Militech’s students, Lexus couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘What the hell…!?’

When Lexus’s Ocular Scanner Module focused on Donovan, warning alerts started popping up wildly in his vision.

[Warning. High-energy detected!]

It was an alarm that hardly ever triggered.

It only reacted to top-tier fixers in the industry, high-ranking Mafia executives, or someone like Aaron Stingray.

But now, in Lexus’s augmented eyes, he saw unbelievable amounts of energy seeping out of Donovan’s body like smoke.

Even an ordinary person might not see it, but their body would feel it just standing near him. Donovan’s body was practically a walking nuclear fuel rod. Anyone without proper defenses would have their somatic cells collapse just by being nearby.

‘What the hell did they do to him…?’

That much energy could only mean one thing: they must have shoved a Game Changer-level module into his socket. That had to be Militech’s ace for this Showcase.

But rather than feeling nervous, Lexus frowned and spat out curses.

“Those crazy bastards! What the hell did they do to a kid’s body?”

Game Changer-class Arcane Modules, naturally, were not only incredibly difficult to produce, but also had extremely limited compatibility with human bodies.

Simply put, the body couldn’t withstand it.

Even if they forced compatibility during production, if the body itself couldn’t handle it, it was nothing but pearls before swine.

Thus, to fully wield a Lv.5 Arcane Module, years of preparation were needed. One had to augment the body with supplementary modules or cyberware, and train it to endure such massive energy.

But right now…

‘He won’t last long.’

The fact that energy was leaking everywhere like that meant he couldn’t control it properly. He looked just about ready to be devoured by his own power. Even maintaining that state was already close to a miracle.

Yet Donovan’s face was perfectly calm. Even if his bones were being crushed and his flesh torn apart, it wouldn’t have been strange—yet his expression didn’t waver.

‘What the…!’

Lexus switched camera modes.

Click. A new lens covered his retina. His eyes now penetrated Donovan’s skin, letting him see internal organs and cyberware devices clearly.

And then he realized it.

The reason this rookie could suddenly appear with a Lv.5 Arcane Module.

The reason he could hold such overwhelming power without a single change in expression.

“An Over-Augmented…!”

His body, plastered with every kind of cyberware and module imaginable—

Had long since exceeded the limits of a human being.

Ting! Tiiing! Tiiing!

Countless bullets flew at me, threatening to tear my body apart. But not a single one pierced my Skin Armor, and I didn’t even feel pain or stinging.

Sparks flared wildly, but I didn’t even feel the need to counterattack. I simply ignored it all and tore open the main entrance of the Omega Investment building.

Crrrrrack!

As the alarms went off, the security shutter slammed down—but the moment I touched it, it ripped apart like paper. Even as guard drones and turrets fired nonstop, I paid them no mind.

…Well, to be honest.

At first, I thought about destroying them, but their firepower turned out to be weaker than expected. Since I hadn’t fully adapted to my new module yet, I didn’t want to waste strength, so I just left them be.

The result? I ended up leading them along like the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Besides, I was only ‘forced’ to flee into the Omega Investment building, wasn’t I? It definitely wasn’t because I thought, ‘Huh, these bullets actually feel like a massage?’ or anything like that.

With the drones trailing after me, I pushed deeper inside, only to find a sight completely different from what I had expected.

‘This isn’t meant for people to walk through.’

If it were an ordinary office building, there’d be a main lobby, a reception desk, elevators, or emergency stairs.

But Omega Investment’s building was an entire brain for the Motherboard.

On the first floor, there was only a single narrow corridor just wide enough for one person. On both sides were special glass windows, and beyond them, huge box-shaped machines were packed in tight.

The heat they gave off was so massive that shimmering heat haze rippled beyond the glass.

The heat was vented out through ceiling fans, and all sorts of cooling systems were constantly working to regulate the machines’ temperature.

There wasn’t an inch of free space beyond the glass. Palm-sized drones buzzed around like bees, maintaining and repairing the equipment nonstop.

“Oooh…”

The interior stretched so far that I couldn’t see the end. This same scene probably repeated all the way up to the hundredth floor.

A fully automated system, untouched by human hands—

Even though this was enemy territory, I couldn’t help but admire the sight.

But I couldn’t let myself be distracted forever.

‘The outside was sturdy, but from inside…’

Module Online, [Cloud Spider].

I drew out my weapon—my very identity.

A black glove wrapped around my hand, and invisible threads began to extend from my fingertips.

Just then—

[Admiration. You actually made it this far, Aaron Stingray.]C

The drones that had been surrounding me and attacking suddenly froze in place, and soon a mechanical synthesized voice began to sound. Right, there was no way that thing would just sit quietly here.

But I wasn’t about to play along.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was an accident.”

[Speechless. Do you intend to keep making such pointless excuses?]

“I only ended up here while trying to escape the attack.”

[Straight face. That joke isn’t funny.]

“Seems you didn’t predict in your simulations that I’d come here.”

[Denial. Of course I predicted it. Even your making such a foolish choice existed as a low-probability future. I saw it, and I prepared countermeasures.]

Wiiiiing–!

Once again, shutters came down.

This time, it was as if it intended to trap me here completely. But if it thought it could stop me with something like this, it was gravely mistaken…

[Countdown initiated.]

[Until reactor overload…]

[19 minutes 55 seconds]

[Declaration. Aaron Stingray, out of all the possibilities I considered, you chose the worst option.]

She continued.

[To maintain my AI Core requires an enormous amount of energy. Therefore, beneath the Omega Investment building, a nuclear fission reactor is installed.]

[Warning. So I warn you. If you leave this place, or if you refuse my proposal, the countdown will not stop.]

At the same time—

Wiiiiing–!

Countless cameras, including those attached to the drones, turned to aim at me.

[This scene is being broadcast live on the NBS network channel. Aaron Stingray, the citizens are watching to see what choice you will make.]

Ding. A new alert.

When I clicked it, a new internet window popped up. It was a video site, and on the screen, my figure was being filmed from multiple angles.

On the right side, the live chat scrolled rapidly.

??

What is this?

Isn’t that Aaron Stingray?

What kind of broadcast is this?

☆Free 19+ Adult Video Site☆ → Click link: https://…… ….

As I silently watched the video, I spoke to Ciel.

“…Ciel?”

[Yes, Aaron~!]

“Is this real?”

[Yes. The footage is being broadcast live~ It’s the official NBS channel~]

One of the biggest major broadcasters.

I hadn’t expected it to pull something like this.

That insane AI wasn’t joking. If I kept fighting, it looked ready to blow up the reactor even if it meant destroying itself. It was a blatant warning of a nuclear explosion.

And broadcasting the entire process—so that if anyone survived the explosion afterward, they’d live the rest of their lives cursing the name ‘Aaron Stingray’… That seemed to be its plan.

Mutual assured destruction.

If you destroy me, I’ll destroy you too.

That kind of thing.

“Well, well…”

If I alone retreated, it meant the tens of millions living in New Valhalla City would be spared. No matter how much Aaron Stingray’s sociopathic personality resurfaced, even he would find that a heavy burden.

Truly, this AI was remarkable.

How could it always pick out only the things that people would hate most?

Honestly, what I had expected was completely different.

From the original knowledge, I already knew the Motherboard’s AI Core Control Room was at the very top of this building. My first plan had been to ram straight into it with a flying car and go directly into the control room.

But the building’s outer wall was too solid, so plan one failed.

With no choice, plan two was to break through the security drones and climb floor by floor from the ground up.

I had pictured fighting through powerful defense robots or mercenaries Motherboard had prepared, defeating them one by one like climbing a tower until I reached the top.

Something like—

“Ha ha! Don’t boast about beating the one on the 4th floor! I’m far stronger than him! You’ll get no further!”

…with each floor guarded by a gatekeeper. But, as expected, Motherboard came up with a countermeasure I hadn’t anticipated at all.

‘Tch. As expected, an AI knows nothing about romance.’

If it had set up such a stage, I might have gotten carried away and, in the end, forgiven it and spared it.

But it couldn’t be helped.

A tin can is a tin can.

I’d just have to blow it away.

‘Now then…’

I weighed my options.

Which module should I use?

[Cloud Spider]?

No good. It was great for utility, but too lacking in power to wipe everything out at once.

[Techblade]?

That wouldn’t work either. Its power was sufficient, but its attack was linear, far narrower in range than I wanted. On top of that, I didn’t even know this building’s structure properly, so if I slashed indiscriminately, it could cause too much collateral damage.

In the end, it had to be ‘this one.’

Well, I’ll admit part of me thought, ‘This is my chance. If not now, then when will I get to use it?’ But still, in this situation, this one really was the best fit.

Having made my decision, I took a deep breath.

Then muttered softly.

Module Online. [Black Out].

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep