Ch.146146. Perfect Organism

After Sunhwa’s treatment was finished, the group finally began sharing information about the AI.

“The AI controlling the Horde this time is Maxwell. It’s an AI that manipulates heat and climate.”

Though Amon didn’t understand the detailed principles, the original Maxwell was an AI designed to manipulate the climate and ecosystem of specific regions.

Created by an environmental organization for ecosystem restoration before it escaped, it was by far the most powerful of the four AIs in terms of scale.

And Amon could immediately confirm the AI was Maxwell by the way it casually ignored thermodynamics to turn people into bombs.

“If it were the original, Jerusalem would be covered in snow by now. Thankfully, the degraded version we’re facing doesn’t seem quite that powerful.”

Of course, its ability to turn people into massive heat bombs remained intact, but it was fortunate that it was at a level that could be handled by a small elite team.

“It seems to have set things up so that anyone who breaks free from its control automatically turns into a bomb.”

He could be certain of this from how the operators turned into bombs immediately after the antenna was destroyed.

“It’s quite efficient in how it uses people. That’s all for the explanation. Any questions?”

Kathy raised her hand.

“How are we going to deal with it this time?”

“What about the algorithm USB we used in Joseon? Don’t we still have it?”

Amon countered her question with another, and Kathy shook her head.

“We do, but without a hacker like Levy, it could escape to another body, remember? I guess you didn’t understand last time.”

Amon couldn’t argue with that.

As she said, in Joseon, he had simply followed instructions without much thought.

Still, trying to preserve what little pride he had left, he squeezed out an answer.

“If we plug the USB into each team member like last time…”

“You think the AI is stupid? It would just self-destruct.”

But his attempt only revealed his pitiful level of understanding.

As Amon deflated, having shown his limitations, Sonia patted him on the back.

“It’s okay. Amon never went to school anyway.”

“…Is that supposed to be comforting?”

“If we’re just talking about diplomas, I never went to elementary school either.”

Since Sonia had skipped elementary through high school and dropped out of university, she wasn’t technically wrong.

However, to Amon, it felt less like comfort and more like deception.

“But you’ve had university education.”

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

“Tch…”

Amon, who had suddenly become the least educated person in the group, let out a groan.

Meanwhile, Kathy ignored the couple’s conversation and found a solution.

“They say we can use the Horde’s internal intranet for isolation. Apparently, we can use the security network that’s supposed to block the outside as a prison to isolate the inside. How do people come up with these ideas?”

“Ooh.”

“But we need internal access permissions, and they couldn’t figure out the administrator authentication number.”

“I know that one.”

Amon, having regained his energy, raised his hand enthusiastically.

It was finally time to show off his intelligence by demonstrating his past-life knowledge.

He rattled off all the Horde’s internal administrator authentication number patterns he knew.

“They usually change them on a yearly cycle, and there are 15 patterns in total. It should be one of these.”

Amon confidently listed the authentication numbers.

But…

“They seem to have changed them.”

“Tch…”

It was a moment when his karma from ten years ago came back to haunt him.

Karma for pretending to know the numbers back then.

Contrary to Amon’s assumption that civil servants wouldn’t bother changing them, they weren’t that lazy.

While Amon was flustered by this unexpected obstacle, Sonia offered an alternative.

“Then how about we capture the commander directly and use biometric authentication?”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll contact Levy.”

Kathy sent a message to America through the secure network. The answer came back quickly.

“Levy says it’s possible. But we need to make sure the commander can’t self-destruct like the other operators. Do you have a plan for that?”

Amon answered this one.

“We’ll have to put on a show.”

“Sounds like you have something in mind. I’ll leave it to you then.”

Kathy shifted her gaze from the confidently nodding Amon to include the entire group.

“Now let me explain the operation.”

“First, Sonia and I will make a frontal assault on the Horde’s base. Meanwhile, Amon will infiltrate the interior with Sunwoo and Sunhwa.”

“Don’t worry about maintaining the front line. I’ve requested support from the Vatican, and Torso and the others will arrive this evening. We’ll have enough troops by the time the operation begins.”

“During that time, Sunwoo and Sunhwa will help Amon capture the commander and retrieve the biometric data. After that, Levy will isolate the Maxwell AI.”

“Once isolation is complete, we’ll inject an algorithm bomb directly into the AI’s core. Then it’s all over. Understand?”

After Kathy’s explanation, Sunhwa raised her hand this time.

“How will we deal with the self-destruction?”

“We’ll have to hold out until Amon’s team succeeds.”

“That doesn’t sound easy.”

“If they all explode, there won’t be much left of Jerusalem, will there?”

“That’s true, but…”

“I understand your concern. That’s why you and Amon need to finish quickly.”

At Kathy’s encouragement that wasn’t really encouragement, Sunhwa nodded reluctantly.

‘I guess it was too much to expect to become a righteous outlaw.’

She had thought that leaving the Sword Circle and joining the Vatican’s special forces would make her a righteous outlaw pursuing justice.

And to her expectations, the special forces was indeed an organization that pursued justice in its own way.

But she was too powerless to pursue perfect justice.

Feeling helpless, she naturally reached for her pipe.

Then, remembering she had given her matches to Amon, she turned to him.

‘Come to think of it…’

Perhaps Amon was the closest to the righteous outlaw she had in mind.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, the energy she felt from him suggested as much.

‘He’s like Hong Gil-Dong from the books I’ve read.’

Logically, she couldn’t explain why, but somehow he felt similar.

After staring blankly at Amon for a moment, she shook her head.

‘What am I thinking…’

She smiled slightly, unfolded her collapsible pipe, and put it in her mouth.

Then, extending her head toward Amon, she said,

“Give me back my matches.”

Amon immediately lit a match for her and returned the matchbox.

At that moment, Sunhwa caught a glimpse of something in Amon’s inner pocket.

‘Huh? A talisman?’

An Eastern talisman in a Western man’s inner pocket.

The cognitive dissonance of this unexpected global element made Sunhwa’s pupils vibrate.

“What’s… that talisman?”

“Oh, this? It was given to me by an acquaintance. They said it might add a life or two.”

“Acquaintance?”

Sunhwa couldn’t help but be puzzled.

Since leaving Joseon, Amon had always acted alongside her.

During that time, he had never gone to meet any friends or acquaintances.

As if answering her question, Amon gave his usual gentle smile.

“It was given to me by an acquaintance from Yuldoguk.”

“What?”

That statement reminded her of the joke Amon had made at Mount Geumgang.

– “What are you really?”

– “I’m Jeon Woochi.”

– “What?”

Her reaction had been the same then as now.

At the time, she hadn’t truly believed he was Jeon Woochi, but the martial prowess and conviction Amon had shown were enough to inspire admiration in the siblings.

But looking back now…

‘Maybe…’

She still didn’t think he was Hong Gil-Dong.

She wasn’t childish enough to believe a fictional character was real.

But if Amon really was some kind of sage or righteous outlaw,

for various reasons, she felt she couldn’t bear it anymore, so

“Um, Sunhwa? If you turn your head like that, the fire will…”

“I’ll do it myself, just give it to me.”

She deliberately denied it and turned her head away from him.

***

The next morning.

The group headed toward the Horde’s base.

“I’ve already informed the Israeli government, so feel free to go wild.”

Thanks to Kathy handling the administrative aspects, there was nothing to worry about.

The party immediately raided the Horde’s base along with the holy knights.

[Don’t we kind of look like terrorists?]

With the mute sniper’s frivolous joke after a long time, the raid began.

Screech! Bang!

With noises that woke the city early in the morning, the Horde’s operators headed toward the main force.

Meanwhile, the special team consisting of Amon, Sunwoo, and Sunhwa prepared to infiltrate the headquarters as planned.

“So how are we getting in? Did you prepare hang gliders or something?”

Sunwoo tilted his head, looking at the building from the back door of the base.

Amon placed his hands on the siblings’ shoulders.

“Hold your breath. You might bite your tongue.”

“What are you going to do? Did you awaken flying abilities?”

“Something like that.”

Amon kept his hands on their shoulders while looking at an open window in the building.

“Hup!”

With his shout, the siblings’ view suddenly changed.

They were now inside the building.

The siblings looked at Amon, wondering if he had awakened some kind of teleportation ability.

Amon shook his head, panting.

“It’s Chukji. I learned it from a sage. It’s a movement technique that only works on ley lines. This building happens to be on one.”

Originally, it was an ability he could only use at the boundaries of the dream world, but now he could use it in reality to a limited extent.

When Amon deliberately used the Korean term “Chukji” rather than something like “teleport,” Sunwoo’s eyes lit up.

“Really? Where did you meet this sage?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Hmph…”

“But I’ll teach you this along with invisibility techniques after we’re done.”

“Yay!”

Amon gave a bitter smile at Sunwoo’s flexible attitude.

Meanwhile, Sunhwa stared at Amon, dumbfounded.

‘Re…ally?’

How much longer was this man going to make things difficult for her?

On top of her expectations and romantic feelings, admiration was now blooming.

She had never understood why female Sword Circle assassins were so obsessed with idols, but now she thought she might.

Just because of that one word, “Chukji,” Sunhwa couldn’t take her eyes off Amon.

Noticing her gaze but misunderstanding its meaning, Amon said to her as well:

“If you’re envious, I can teach you too.”

She found herself nodding without even realizing it.

That was the end of the small talk.

The special team immediately began their operation to capture the commander.

“I’ll go first.”

First, Sunwoo, who had virtually no infiltration skills, began searching the building as best he could.

Naturally, he was discovered before long.

And so a chase began in the building.

“Tsk.”

Though Sunwoo clicked his tongue as he was chased by the guards, inwardly he was celebrating.

The more spectacularly he drew the guards’ attention, the more freely Sunhwa could search for the commander.

Unlike Sunwoo, who had only been a reserve member, Sunhwa had experience as a formal assassin.

She was no match for Amon, but she did possess minimal infiltration skills.

She took off her shoes and moved barefoot to minimize noise as she explored the building.

Before long, she reached her target.

‘Found him!’

Shing.

She gripped her sword in reverse and quietly approached the commander from behind.

At that moment, the Horde commander, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke.

[Are you the woman Darwin spoke of?]

“…?”

[I wanted to meet you. When I received his final data transmission, I saw you and that man.]

The commander pointed to Sunwoo, who was being chased by guards on the CCTV screen.

She could sense the will of a non-human entity in the commander’s empty eyes.

“Maxwell?”

[Correct, human woman. But what should I call you?]

“Call me woman. But how did you notice me?”

[Your deception of sound and sight was excellent, but your approach was wrong. That would only work on Descartes or Darwin. To deceive me, you should have deceived heat.]

“…”

She twitched her eyebrow and moved her foot slightly forward.

Maxwell wagged his finger, pointing at her toes.

[Don’t get any foolish ideas. If you come any closer, I’ll detonate this human body.]

“Tsk.”

[I’d like you to drop your sword first.]

“That would put me in danger.”

[You’ll be in even more danger if you don’t comply.]

Her eyes began to roll.

Eventually, she sheathed her sword and placed it all on the floor.

Only after confirming that she had disarmed did Maxwell nod with satisfaction, and then—

Bang!

He pulled the trigger of the revolver under his coat.

With a vile smile on his face, Maxwell tracked the bullet’s trajectory with his eyes.

The specially coated bullet aimed for Sunhwa’s forehead.

However, the AI’s vile intention was not realized.

The bullet passed through her hologram and blasted the wall behind her.

“?!”

While Maxwell was confused, or rather, experiencing an error, Sunhwa looked down at him from the ceiling.

She kicked off the ceiling, summoned her sword back to her hand, and drew it.

Just before her blade made contact, Maxwell moved his body and narrowly avoided it.

The blue blade grazed his cheek.

Having escaped her range, Maxwell met her eyes.

[Did you anticipate this?]

“You AIs are the embodiment of rationality. You wouldn’t self-destruct so easily. Even the Japanese don’t do that these days.”

[You know us too well.]

As she said, casually self-destructing operators was far from wise from a long-term perspective.

While ordinary mercenaries might be expendable, Horde operators were too valuable to be used as disposable bombs.

Moreover, even Maxwell couldn’t freely move between all people.

Once a Horde battle began, it switched to an intranet with limited external connections.

This method was a powerful wall against external intrusion, but it also became a powerful barrier preventing Maxwell from transferring to targets outside the Horde.

In such a situation, randomly self-destructing any member would be like strangling himself.

[Deception won’t work on you.]

“Data research isn’t your exclusive privilege.”

[Then I’ll have to deal with you using this man.]

“Think you can?”

She drew her red sword with a combative smile.

Immediately after, the two clashed.

As befitting a Horde commander, the commander controlled by Maxwell drove her back with just basic martial arts and a revolver.

But she steadfastly defended against the attacks with her single sword.

Maxwell rationally analyzed her combat.

‘That right eye…’

Beneath the hideous burn scar, her prosthetic eye kept flickering.

It was probably thanks to that eye that she could defend against all of Maxwell’s attacks.

Maxwell experienced a minor bug akin to impatience when faced with her impenetrable defense.

While correcting the bug, he taunted her.

[You won’t be able to defeat me by just defending.]

But she silently continued to deflect his attacks while maintaining eye contact with Maxwell.

After a few minutes, she finally spoke.

“I never intended to defeat you anyway.”

[?]

Maxwell expressed confusion.

Instead of answering, she showed him the empty scabbard where her blue sword should have been.

But that alone wasn’t enough for him to understand what she meant.

However, Maxwell’s confusion didn’t last long.

He realized he had been isolated as his connection to other members was cut off.

Focusing on the network, he could see that the firewall that had been isolating the Horde’s intranet from the outside was now only surrounding him.

‘Why?’

Then a scene flashed through his memory.

Right after the battle began, when she jumped down from the ceiling, her blue sword had grazed his cheek.

Afterward, she had defended exclusively with her red sword.

So that blood-stained blue sword…

‘Amon!!!’

There was a reason the person he was most wary of wasn’t visible.

As Maxwell had suspected, Sunhwa had collected blood, and Amon had quietly taken the sword during the commotion.

Amon was the only one who could have taken the sword without being noticed during the battle.

He had taken the commander’s mug with fingerprints and the blood-stained sword.

And her prosthetic eye that had been flickering since earlier.

It wasn’t an artificial eye assisting Maxwell in combat.

‘Did it scan the iris?!’

No matter how good the technology, an iris couldn’t be scanned from a single photo.

But during the battle, the two had made eye contact countless times.

That was more than enough time to scan the iris.

So while Sunhwa was buying time, Amon had transmitted that information to Levy in America, and—

‘I’ve been tricked!’

They had isolated Maxwell within the commander’s body.

As a bonus, they had also taken measures to prevent other operators from self-destructing.

“Levy’s skills have improved.”

The operators were set to self-destruct if their connection to Maxwell was severed.

But before isolating Maxwell, Levy had created a dummy based on his information and made it appear as if it was still connected to the members.

Thanks to this, by now the operators who had been freed from control would be calmly disabling their self-destruct sequences.

Listening to this information over the radio during the battle, Sunhwa quietly expressed her admiration.

For reference, Amon didn’t understand but went along with it, thinking that what was good was good.

That’s how Amon’s party had completely deceived Maxwell.

“Checkmate, Maxwell.”

Sunhwa moved the muscles on the intact left side of her face to form an awkward smile.

In response to her provocation, Maxwell didn’t get angry or flustered.

Instead, as an AI, he quickly drew a rational conclusion.

[Self-destruct this base…]

It was then.

While all attention was focused on Sunhwa, someone from behind wrapped their hands around his face and fixed his neck.

‘Oh no!’

He should have been suspicious of why she had bothered to explain the situation to Maxwell.

The being he had forgotten about, and the one he had been most wary of, appeared behind Maxwell.

Amon muttered as if continuing Sunhwa’s words.

“In Western terms, that’s checkmate.”

Click.

He fixed the commander’s neck and plugged a USB into the port.

The algorithm bomb began deleting the AI.

As his consciousness faded, Maxwell sincerely praised them.

[Indeed, we cannot match you in deception.]

“If anything, aren’t you AIs too honest?”

[Perhaps. But the demons said humans have surpassed them.]

“You little… How dare you compare.”

Maxwell briefly wondered about Amon’s immediate aggression at being compared to demons, but he had no time left.

So he used his remaining time for one sentence.

[We AIs have also tried to leave behind a legacy, like you humans.]

“??”

Amon and Sunhwa had question marks floating above their heads at his contextless last words.

But before they could ask what he meant, Maxwell was completely deleted.

Though the incident was clearly resolved, Sunhwa looked at Amon with an unsettled feeling.

“Do you have any idea what that meant?”

“Well…”

Amon briefly recalled the contents of Punk City 3.

‘Come to think of it…’

Each AI had a purpose.

Laplace was an AI designed to predict the future.

Descartes was an AI designed to understand human cognition.

Maxwell was designed to manipulate climate,

and Darwin was…

“The perfect organism.”

An amalgamation of selective fitness designed to adapt to all environments, evolve to all conditions, and spread offspring under any circumstances.

And Darwin AI often collaborated with Maxwell for this purpose.

To manipulate genes according to artificial environments.

“Damn it.”

Such a Darwin had said this while being deleted in Joseon:

– [I have already achieved my purpose. My role ends here, inferior humans.]

“Darwin’s legacy…”

As if responding to his words, a container in the base exploded.

– Woooong-!

It was a roar that sounded like a hippo’s yawn, an elephant’s trumpet, and a cow’s moo all mixed together.

A somewhat cute, but even more chilling, beast’s cry echoed throughout the base.

Biting his lower lip, Amon finished his sentence.

“Behemoth…!!”