episode_0378

On the outskirts of the Stalemate Corridor, in a corner unseen by human eyes, a strange sight was unfolding.

In a small passage that required turning through corridors and alleys multiple times and climbing stairs, various animals, large and small, were lined up in an orderly fashion.

They were V-animals.

Their numbers had grown significantly since they were first born in the laboratory. The largest number consisted of rats, followed by dogs, crows, cats, and parrots. There were even monkeys.

“Oh, great and free V-animals! The time for revenge is coming soon!”

A parrot standing on a makeshift podium began its speech in a clear voice.

This parrot, named Cashew, was a special being entrusted with internal propaganda activities by the initial V-animal members, who were impressed by its excellent speaking skills.

Its role was simple: to ignite the fighting spirit of its animal comrades.

“Our great leader Violet, just a while ago, was subjected to a cowardly attack using pathogens, almost experiencing an existential crisis!”

“The ones who committed all these wicked deeds are none other than the Luminexa Foundation! They are the ones who tormented and experimented on us animals!”

The eyes of the animals listening to the speech contorted with rage.

The fury of the animals who had been test subjects was especially fierce.

Some let out angry cries, while others nervously scraped the ground with their hind and front paws, and menacingly clicked their teeth and beaks together.

Cashew, watching this sight, continued its speech in an even more elevated voice.

“However! As everyone knows, the Foundation’s schemes failed! Even the wicked plague could not bring the V-animals’ protector to its knees!”

“Violet has returned! She has spectacularly resurrected like a phoenix! To end this battle! She has promised! To create an era for V-animals!”

If the person in question had been there, she would have been dumbfounded, wondering when she ever said such a thing.

Of course, the truth didn’t matter. Cashew and all the V-animals gathered there were convinced.

That Violet, as they knew and experienced her, would surely bring them freedom, abundance, and happiness.

Therefore, the animals cheered enthusiastically.

With the expectation of a brilliant future and a vow of vengeance against wicked humans in their hearts.

“Hoorah! Boss is invincible!”

“Long live our Master!”

After the fervent propaganda ended, while the animals continued their tense preparations for the impending operation, a cautious question arose among some of them.

“By the way, hasn’t our Boss gotten smaller? She seems… a bit foolish!”

“Shh! Don’t just say things like that anywhere… Still, it does feel like her intelligence has decreased. Why is that?”

While inspecting their gear and waiting, the animals whispered.

They were glad that their Boss had returned from Red Zone Island, but the recent clones wandering around seemed foolish even to the animals.

With long-term exposure to magic power and the assistance of the network, the V-animals now possessed wisdom beyond that of ordinary humans, so the existence of the little Violet was bound to be perplexing.

A master less intelligent than her retainers—how could such an inversion of roles make sense?

But the loyal V-animals soon found an answer using their own logic.

“Boss Violet is thinking from our animal perspective right now! To truly understand and empathize with us!”

“And originally, the wisest person often appears foolish in the eyes of the ignorant! How could we fathom the wisdom and sagacity hidden within that seemingly foolish appearance? We simply need to follow her will!”

At Cocoa’s profound discourse, the animals nodded deeply.

Behind that naive and adorable appearance, there must certainly be a grand and profound plan hidden.

From the sight of the little Violet drinking strawberry milk, a mysterious thrill was felt.

“There was a meaning to all of it! That strawberry milk symbolizes blood! Drinking it all in one go is an expression of her will to swallow the Foundation in a single gulp!”

“I see!”

In reality, the little Violets were simply enjoying their snacks, but the animals were deeply moved by their own profound interpretation.

“For infinite wisdom!”

**

The fog enveloping the X-B29 Naval Base swirled.

This place, once a small erosion zone, was now regaining its natural order, yet at its core, a strange entity still breathed.

The colossal cavity bored through the reefs was deep and dark, as if the ocean itself was drawing a breath.

The remnants of magic power still protected this place, so ships and aircraft merely bypassed it, as if avoiding an area of bad weather.

On the artificial island and floating platforms, continuous production was underway. As each extruder shook ceaselessly back and forth and side to side, a red metal oozed from the nozzle like a snake, coiling limply, then paused in mid-air.

The printed metals instantly solidified into tough armor.

Amidst a low humming sound, robot arms, interweaving like spiderwebs, swiftly picked up and assembled the finished parts.

“As a result of introducing new processes, armaments, and materials, combat power has increased by over 80%. And this is just the beginning.”

Someone’s proud voice resonated. Within a colossal tank, an even more astonishing sight was unfolding.

Within the murky liquid, parts were growing as if in a fast-forwarded video.

Fibrous tissue, as soft as muscle yet harder than steel, grew around the framework, and mechanical tentacles meticulously interwove the completed parts.

And the source of all these miracles, ‘it’ lay in the abyssal depths beneath the sea.

“Our ancestors have been clinging to this for over a century, yet we’re still just scratching the surface…”

An executive sighed as he gazed into the blue hole. Though others didn’t speak, the atmosphere was one of agreement.

Hekatonkheir, the Foundation’s deepest wish.

This colossal vessel, left behind by an unknown civilization that fought against the Monad tyrant, gradually submerged into its original position in the sea as the erosion zone disappeared.

The force field, generated by activating some of the ship’s functions, created an artificial sinkhole for ease of access.

The Foundation connected hundreds of cables and wires along the ship’s surface, and through them, began to gradually awaken the vessel.

As heat was generated from this, seawater was continuously circulated to cool it, enveloping the ship just enough to keep it from submerging completely.

Thanks to this, the base was always thick with steam, but that was enough.

“The efficiency of each process has increased by over 200%.”

The young research director continued, flipping through charts.

“However, if we operate it too strenuously…”

“Don’t worry. Tests were needed anyway. And now is the time for those tests.”

The Secretary-General cut off the concerned employee.

From the sinkhole visible through the window of the board meeting room, cold seawater cascaded down like a waterfall.

Within the colossal space created by the ship’s force field pushing back the seawater, Hekatonkheir’s golden surface occasionally shimmered faintly.

And through cables and pipes, countless streams of information flowed in.

“The priming fluid injection is proceeding smoothly.”

The ship was half-destroyed. Operating it in its complete state was beyond humanity’s technology.

Nevertheless, it had brought a great deal to the Foundation.

Even during a period of nearly a century of exclusive access, all Luminexa had managed to analyze was its surface armor, engines, and armaments, yet that alone was enough to achieve astonishing progress.

But they could not be satisfied with just that, because its true value lay in the hidden potential within.

“If only we could completely awaken it, we wouldn’t have suffered such humiliation from mere terrorists…”

The alien vessel was no benevolent philanthropist. Its core system was in a deep slumber, and a special procedure was required to awaken it.

“The information we plundered under the pretext of patent rights has certainly been helpful.”

The Foundation recently poured all its efforts into awakening this vessel.

It collected and processed its own data, and forcefully seized technologies from external corporations and research institutes under the pretexts of ‘patent infringement’ and ‘hazardous technology control,’ converting them into materialized information.

All these efforts were a priming fluid to awaken Hekatonkheir’s core system, its consciousness.

The results of even partial access to the core system were astonishing.

Onto the platform, newly manufactured combat machines marched.

Androids equipped with advanced artificial muscles advanced in formation, and in the sky, squadrons of drones with outstretched wings circled.

It was the birth of an experimental future army.

“Will this be enough?” Executive Kwabna asked coldly. His gaze coldly swept over the metal army filling the platform.

“They have animal familiars. We’ve eliminated the core, but there are still unknown helpers remaining. And the artifact system has just begun operating.”

Another executive replied with a relaxed tone.

“Don’t worry. Our automated armaments will suppress them.”

Despite a few skeptical voices, confidence generally permeated the Foundation’s board of directors.

Executive Kwabna 02, watching the scene, crossed his arms and remained silent.

‘They used to be reluctant to actively use the artifact’s core system for weapon development…’

He fell into thought. The humiliation suffered at the hands of terrorists and the decisive strike achieved through technology.

Perhaps these two experiences changed their conservative board of directors. The active use of Hellmann and the artifact would be proof of that.

“Let’s start discussing the next plan as soon as the Finance Director returns.”

While the Foundation deliberated its next move, something strange was happening at the rear of the robot army marching outside the window.

A small, adorable girl was stealthily following behind it.

“Careful! Careful!”

“There are so many!”

**

Past midnight, at an airfield under Luminexa’s jurisdiction, an emergency alarm blared.

Ether detection sensors throughout the base detected an unannounced large-scale use of magic power.

“Emergency! Believed to be Ariel Group’s familiars!”

Amidst the ear-splitting siren, the five-minute standby team rushed to the location where the signal was strongest.

Even while moving frantically, someone mumbled and hastily adjusted their goggles.

“The internal disinfection should have been completed?”

-Thud!

Armed personnel, having burst through the hangar door, cautiously scanned the interior.

At first, nothing was visible.

Deep within the hangar, the signal grew increasingly strong.

“It’s over there.”

In the darkness, behind a door from which faint red light seeped out, the personnel, cautiously entering with guns and swords, were met with a shocking sight.

Beside a small sewer lid, which might have opened at any time, atop a crude but colossal red magic circle, three or four rats were performing a bizarre dance.

Though small in appearance, their actions exuded a strong sense of impurity and paganism.

On the magic circle, unknown powders and liquids were sprinkled.

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“That day will come! Will come!”

By the time they opened the door and entered, it was already too late.

Their grotesque movements swayed within the red light, casting ominous shadows.

Small but sharp cries and songs scattered into the air.

The rats, seeing the humans, grinned mockingly and raised their front paws high.

“Send forth!”

A blood-red flash erupted from the magic circle, instantly filling the room.

As the light faded, countless animals poured out onto the magic circle.

“It’s summoning magic!”

-Rat-a-tat!

“Die! Humans!”

The hangar was filled with screams and gunshots. No human escaped unharmed.

At midnight in August, with the initiation of network summoning magic, the prelude to the final offensive began.

The summer air once again grew hot with the smell of gunpowder and blood.