Chapter 155

Hm, I was annoyed? Should I hit him?

‘Gasp…….’

I was startled at my own thought.

When had I become a savage?

Lately I had been spending my time beating people up, so it seemed I had unconsciously made relying on violence into a habit.

‘Get a grip, me.’

No matter how fit a body was, some said you didn’t have to use your brain; there was also the saying that one murder spared you from three instances of patience…… huh. That wasn’t it.

Anyway.

Of all people, the target was ‘Zyle Stormwalker’.

If I beat up a heavyweight opposition politician, this time a meeting with the Chief of Police might not be the end of it. I had caused several incidents recently, so I resolved to restrain myself from relying on force.

……Just this once, as the last time.

“Module Online: [Cloud Spider]”

I had already confirmed the target.

I snapped my fingers and fired the threads.

Hundreds of threads split apart and spread across the conference room like a spiderweb, binding the bodies of those who resisted me tight.

“Ugh!”

“W-wait…!”

When I tugged an arm lightly, their bodies floated up into the air. Five people in total, including Zyle Stormwalker, were hauled toward me upside-down like silkworm cocoons.

At the same time, through the sensation transmitted along the threads, I succeeded in discovering what they had been hiding inside.

“Oh-ho.”

They had been concealing various weapons.

One had a micro-pistol and a vibrating blade hidden inside his coat; another had stashed a machine gun inside an otherwise ordinary-looking body.

“What were you planning to do to me with this?”

“N-no, sir! This is just for self-defense!”

That was probably true.

If they had genuinely intended to ambush me, they wouldn’t have bothered filling out the questionnaire and behaving conspicuously. It would have been far more effective to put me at ease first and then strike me from behind.

Besides, the weapons they had were pitifully inadequate.

The fact that I had only just realized the existence of their weapons meant they weren’t even enough for my ocular scanner to automatically flag an alert.

At that level, they wouldn’t pierce my skin armor.

Still, the fact that they had been hiding weapons was a fact. In other words, how I chose to interpret that fact could give me the “justification” to deal with them as I pleased.

“You intended to kill me, then?”

“N-no! P-please spare me!”

“I was wrong! I’ll name the culprits right now!”

Those who openly showed defiance lacked backbone. If they were going to surrender this easily, it would have been easier for both of us if they had simply obeyed me from the start.

While I was pondering that,

“Release the others.”

Zyle Stormwalker said.

“They merely followed my orders without much thought. I don’t think they intended to harm you. The responsibility lies squarely with me.”

“Hm.”

I met Zyle Stormwalker’s eyes.

Unlike the others, there was no trace of fear on his face.

No, more precisely, he seemed to be suppressing fear with courage.

He was a man who acted according to conviction, and threats wouldn’t work on him.

The fact that he still resisted me meant he believed doing so was the ‘right’ thing.

Suddenly I was curious.

What on earth was this man thinking, refusing to cooperate with me to the end?

At Zyle’s request I released the other four collaborators and sent them back to their places. I kept only him bound and tried to talk.

“Speak freely. I’ll give you a chance.”

“……It’s simple.”

Zyle, who had glared at me for a moment, answered in a calm voice.

“I still cannot trust you.”

“Why?”

“Because you were the villain in the original work.”

“Still bringing that up.”

“To be specific, all of the power you possessed originated from the Stingray Group.”

His voice grew increasingly heated.

“This time I will ask you back. Can you relinquish everything you have now?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The Stingray Group is an evil corporation. You, who are rooted there, would inevitably be a villain as well.”

“Ridiculous.”

I scoffed.

“According to your logic, why did you continue to follow the Motherboard — who led you transmigrators and was not an ordinary human — even after knowing her identity? The Motherboard who was the villain in the original story?”

“You ask a foolish question, Aaron Stingray. I never followed the Motherboard. Or at least, not after I learned that the leader’s identity was the Motherboard.”

“Interesting claim.”

“You may not believe me, but I was sincere. Even if you think I proposed the ‘Special Law for Adaptees’ at the Motherboard’s instruction, I pursued that law because I genuinely believed it would help this city. Independent of the Motherboard.”

“……Continue.”

“Very well.”

Zyle Stormwalker continued with an unruffled expression.

“To my eyes, there was no meaningful difference between the Stingray Group and the Motherboard. I was ashamed of the fact that I once followed her commands, thinking her a leader. If I had to choose, however, I judged Aaron Stingray — you — to be more dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Because the Motherboard could be regulated by ‘law’, whereas you could not.”

“…….”

Only then did I fully understand Zyle Stormwalker’s thinking.

In simple terms, it was a false equivalence.

It wasn’t that he obeyed the Motherboard but not me; he believed both were bad, so he steadfastly intended to do what he thought right.

“Even if you had no such intention, you owed a great debt to the Stingray Group. All the power you hold came from there, so you couldn’t simply sever ties. Otherwise…….”

Zyle looked at me and asked.

“For the sake of this city, could you give up your current power, status, everything you possess?”

“I could, if need be.”

“What did you say……?”

He seemed surprised by my frank answer; Zyle Stormwalker’s eyes widened a little.

“W-were you serious?”

“Did you think I wanted to rule this world? If I wanted that, I wouldn’t bother with this nonsense. More simply, if I killed everyone here, wouldn’t that solve the problem easily?”

“…….”

It seemed he hadn’t thought that far, and his words trailed off.

Honestly, if I had only cared about my own safety, why would I have bothered creating the Special Class, looking after the kids, or paying attention to relationships with the other transmigrators?

“Don’t be mistaken.”

I declared.

“If I had the will to, I could kill everyone here and it wouldn’t matter. I already have the power to take this entire city as my enemy and still win. The only reason I don’t is simply because I don’t ‘wish for it’. Just because I stand at the same height as you, do you really think that makes us equals?”

“……”

The air instantly turned cold.

Even Zyle Stormwalker, who had maintained his composure all along, stiffened a little.

That should have been enough pressure.

I released the threads and lowered Zyle Stormwalker to the floor.

Sitting down, he rubbed his freed arms and asked,

“Then… what is it you truly desire?”

“Figure it out yourself.”

Fandom.

Of course I couldn’t say that, so I brushed it off vaguely. But there was one thing I couldn’t leave unsaid.

“I’ll tell you one thing for sure.”

I declared to them.

This city was mine.

Because it was the world I loved more than anyone.

Whether it was the Stingray Chairman, the Dragonkin, the transmigrators, or even beyond them, the Author who had created this world itself—

“Whoever destroys my city, dies.”

Thus the conference ended.

It didn’t seem like anything useful would come out for the time being, and the mood suggested it was best to wrap up there.

‘It wasn’t without harvest.’

I had managed to form a plausible hypothesis about the Hunting Ground’s system, and I had also succeeded in firmly imprinting the gap between me and the other transmigrators.

It seemed there were still some who felt uneasy about me, but I believed that would resolve itself with time.

‘They’ll listen to me now, for the most part.’

At the very least, I didn’t think anyone would go off on their own, make a stupid move, and get themselves killed.

Just the fact that I had shackled the transmigrators’ behavior with a certain degree of control made this meeting quite a success.

‘Now, what’s next…….’

Act 3 of Part 2.

It was time to proceed with Miyu’s episode. Still, with all the butterfly effects, I wouldn’t be able to reproduce the original scenario perfectly; I’d have to make some adjustments.

‘How can Miyu grow?’

How could I draw it so that this timid, reclusive genius girl, who only cared about machines, would finally stop fearing humans and reveal herself to the world?

As I was still wrestling with that thought—

“Dear husband~♡.”

“……”

“My lord~”

“……”

“Darling?”

“……”

“Aaron…”

“What is it?”

“You’re so cruel……”

Serena whined with a gloomy face.

Cruel? What nonsense.

Honestly, this woman wasn’t in her right mind either.

Sorry, but we weren’t married.

No—saying “not yet” made it sound like there was a chance we would be, so I had to correct that. Serena and I might have been collaborators, but we weren’t “like that.” We were just strangers.

“So, why did you call me?”

“It’s been a while since we met, so how about having dinner together before heading back? I know a really nice restaurant…”

“I’ll pass.”

“You’re so cruel……”

Serena drooped again.

“Do you know how much I’ve been working for you through my father? It’s not like I’m asking for some great reward. Just one dinner—”

“Aaron Stingray.”

It was then.

Cutting Serena off, Zyle Stormwalker addressed me. Perhaps because of our earlier conversation, his expression toward me seemed slightly softened. Still, I couldn’t quite say he “trusted” me yet.

“Could I ask for a bit of your time?”

“Hey, mister.”

Serena shot Zyle a sharp glare.

“Can’t you see I was saying something important first? Right now, the two of us—”

“What’s your business?”

Ignoring Serena, I answered him instead.

Serena, again muttering “You’re so cruel,” looked saddened, but honestly, her behavior was too heavy for me to respond seriously. I wasn’t thinking about marriage at all.

“If you’re busy, I can delay it.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter!”

“Which is it, then?”

I shot Serena a look telling her not to butt in, and she withdrew with fake sobbing sounds, “Sob, sob.”

Truly, she was a beauty… a pitiful beauty in many ways.

“……It doesn’t matter. Speak.”

“Would you care for a game of chess with me?”

“Chess, huh.”

It could have just been about chatting while playing a game, but this was Zyle Stormwalker. I knew well what kind of character he had been in the original work.

“Is it the ‘thing’ I think it is?”

“Yes. Correct. [Deep Dive Chess].”

“The stakes?”

“Memories.”

Zyle Stormwalker said to me,

“Would you mind if I peeked at some of your memories?”

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