Ch.2929. Nano-Spirit

After completing the design of the bio-anti-psychic bomb monster, I was honestly a bit excited.

While until now I could only exert influence equivalent to a local warlord, from the moment this bio-anti-psychic bomb was created, I gained the ability to affect the political landscape of the entire Korean Peninsula.

Although my excitement didn’t last long and was extinguished by my trait of imperturbability (A), the aftermath of that excitement left me with a desire to create something.

So, using that motivation as my driving force, I implemented various ideas that came to mind, and in the process, I accidentally created an interesting object.

‘This… is amazing!’

It was a nano-Spirit, an ultra-small monster at the nanometer scale—a degraded psychic life form that could only exert physical force when assimilated with matter.

Nano-Spirit. Similarly, it’s a colony-type monster that assimilates with nanometer-scale materials. Under normal circumstances, it functions just like nanomachines from other media.

It’s possible to implant a control device in the brain to manipulate its form, and it can instantly change its internal structure, making it resistant to impacts—a feature that allows it to be overlaid on skin or armor.

Furthermore, by utilizing its ability to move fluidly, it can replace various precision parts. Except for the fact that it interacts through psychic energy, it functions almost identically to commonly depicted nanomachines.

However, if I inject a specific psychic wavelength into this Nano-Spirit, this monster disguised as a nanomachine instantly begins to mutate, assimilating with surrounding Nano-Spirits.

Let me give you an example with a passenger car made of particles inhabited by Nano-Spirits.

Legs made of flesh synthesized from metal using psychic power grow from the gaps between the wheels and the body, and a tail composed of metal segments grows from the rear of the vehicle.

The front of the car splits open, forming what could only be called a mouth, with sharp teeth and a tongue appearing between the gaps.

A single passenger car is reborn as a monster that could easily be classified as a Grade 7 monster.

Of course, beyond the example of the passenger car, I can transform anything into a monster as long as it’s a machine made with nanomachines using Nano-Spirits.

Parts made of flesh, like digestive organs or eyeballs, are created by sacrificing some of the Nano-Spirits possessing particles to change the particles’ properties to flesh, while parts that can be replaced with machinery remain mechanical.

Although it’s impossible to implement bio-cores or various ranged weapons—symbols of mid-tier or higher monsters—due to the energy limitations of the Nano-Spirits, chain weapons utilizing the nanomachine characteristics are certainly possible.

Moreover, if I were to create armored vehicles or tanks with these Nano-Spirits, I could even continue to use the bio-cores functioning as engines or the ranged weapons originally equipped on those combat vehicles.

Some powered suits can even control minor functions through control devices directly connected to the brain. If these control devices are also made with Nano-Spirits, they could reversely influence the brain and utilize the human wearing the suit entirely.

‘…But how do I use this?’

Despite creating such a useful tool, there’s no way to use it. Realistically, no matter how desperate a company might be, no one would use nanomachines of unknown origin in their products.

And among the people I’ve replaced so far, there are no mid-level executives from any company. Besides, even if I tried to secretly insert nanomachines somewhere, while Nano-Spirits might go undetected, the use of regular nanomachines would inevitably be detected.

‘Should I give up… but it’s such a waste.’

As I was reluctantly considering abandoning this project, I received an unexpected piece of news during a report from Tetra, who was acting as my secretary.

[Four days ago, we were able to target approximately 30 new researchers working at a new materials research institute who stayed at the motel we acquired for new employee training.]

‘…Oh?’

Just like that, a perfect opportunity to use these Nano-Spirits had fallen right into my lap.

※ ※ ※

In South Korea, which was in turmoil due to the war against monsters pushing down from the north, an unusual piece of news emerged.

It was that 37 young people who had resigned from South Korea’s largest new materials research institute had established a venture company called Nano-Tech.

If this were all there was to it, it wouldn’t have been particularly rare, though not common, and would have been largely ignored. However, there was a reason this news attracted attention.

Through a small media outlet, news spread that they had developed the world’s first nanomachines.

Of course, people who read the article initially dismissed it as another psychic-powered scam that had occurred several times overseas. But the moment news broke that they had formally filed a patent and received investment from Seonggwang Group, the atmosphere instantly reversed.

Questions arose about how these nanomachines worked, whether they were economically viable, and so on. As various questions were raised and false information spread across the internet, Nano-Tech finally released official information.

Starting with the fact that they were controlled by flowing psychic energy into a control device implanted in the head, they revealed that these nanomachines could replace everything from simple cold weapons to tank armor plates, and even various precision parts if the structure was simple enough.

During this time, it was revealed that these weren’t particularly weak in terms of bonding or durability, and they contained their own psychic energy, boasting several times the durability of ordinary metals against psychic attacks.

Despite such versatility, according to the data they released, if proper mass production facilities could be established, the unit cost could drop to a fraction of other nanomachines.

In other words, most people who heard this news thought it would be accepted as a kind of innovation, and this belief was strengthened when they unveiled a powered suit created through a technology-sharing contract with Seonggwang Defense (Seonggwang Group’s defense industry).

NS-01. This impressive powered suit, the first model in the Nano Suit series, takes the form of a thin black bodysuit in its basic standby state when not deployed.

However, the moment the wearer, who has the suit’s control device implanted in their head, activates the suit, a large number of nanomachines stored compressed throughout the bodysuit instantly deploy over the bodysuit, completing the appearance shown in the illustration above.

Basically, artificial muscle fibers form over the bodysuit, synthetic fiber skin forms over the muscle fibers, and dozens or hundreds of layers of armor plates and components made of nanomachines precisely position themselves over the skin.

This structure functions as an excellent advantage in itself because it fits tightly to the body, allowing freedom of movement, but it also has various other functions.

The armor plates can be reinforced at the moment of impact to provide stronger defense, and it’s possible to change the structure on the spot to create shields, hooks, or other simple weapons.

It even has excellent expandability, allowing for the attachment of additional bio-cores or the purchase of large quantities of nanomachines to reinforce it into heavy armor, and even partially equip various weapons.

Thus, NS-01, with performance levels that could easily rank among the top light-armored powered suits currently available, began selling like crazy from the moment it entered the market.

Beyond simply being used by hunters or the military, it was well-suited for VIPs to wear under their clothes or for their bodyguards to wear, thanks to its easy storage and ability to be equipped at any time.

As the performance of nanomachines was proven, many companies wanted to purchase them, and the nanomachines produced from the production lines expanded with funds obtained through the contract with Seonggwang Group were sold to various places and applied to products as fast as they could be produced.

Shinwon, Korea’s top armored equipment manufacturer, not only increased the protection of armored equipment using nanomachines but also achieved fully automatic loading of shells. JSJ, famous for hunter close-combat weapons, introduced a 15cm rod containing large amounts of nanomachines that could transform into any close-combat weapon.

Various automobile companies and aircraft developers also reached for this technology and began hastily producing new products, and it became trendy to make various metal products with nanomachines.

When it was revealed that these nanomachines could also be applied to fibers, using nanomachines became both a trend and a necessity in the fashion industry, and it even became fashionable to coat perfectly good items with nanomachines.

A nanomachine craze swept across the country, and this trend was no exception for Seonggwang Group, which had contracted with the original developer.

“Introducing our new model, SL-72 Iron Monster!”

They mobilized all their technological prowess to showcase a Titan Armor made of 79% nanomachines, with an impressive height of 14 meters based on a new species of Grade 4 Drake—specs beyond imagination.

In particular, this new Drake species is a rare bipedal type, allowing it to demonstrate enhanced action capabilities and agility compared to Giant Armors based on other monsters.

With the mimicry ability unique to nanomachines, they equipped artificial muscles and steel frames inside the armor plates and pistons, giving it very agile mobility and flexible movement despite its size.

Above all, this giant steel monster, mostly made of nanomachines, can accommodate any weapon as long as there’s space.

Modifications such as attaching missile pads to the shoulders or tank cannons protected by rotating turrets are basic, and it’s even possible to create hedgehog-like modifications by stuffing laser weapons into every available space on the body.

Designed from the start to easily exchange various modularized parts, it has options such as shedding armor to switch to high-speed mobility mode. This weapon alone has been evaluated as signaling a bright future for Seonggwang Defense.