Ch.307Half-Baked (1)

    After that, Sturm did not try to contact Eidel for a while.

    Instead, he focused on reorganizing his forces and restoring Aurore’s legion.

    This was a more difficult task than expected. Due to the tyrannical and bellicose nature of Darwin’s Legion, they would try to wage war even if their numbers increased only slightly.

    “I’m getting itchy,” the queen spat out again today.

    “Be patient a little longer. It’s not time yet.”

    “What a coward.”

    “Not a coward, but cautious.”

    “Same difference. Why are you dawdling? If we just keep waiting and that human manages to create a gravitational cannon and fires it at us, won’t it be the end for all of us?”

    “We’re continuing our sabotage operations to prevent that from happening.”

    For now, this was enough. Sturm was biding his time.

    “If my prediction is correct, Descartes’ Forces will soon come here and turn that galaxy into a wasteland. If we strike from behind during that chaos, we can surely gain the upper hand.”

    “What a brilliant plan.”

    Aurore checked the plant sarcastically. The plant that produced Darwin’s Legion monsters was still growing.

    Once the monsters consumed enough nutrients and hatched, overcoming Sturm’s steel forces would be no challenge at all.

    In truth, Aurore had no reason to harbor good feelings toward Sturm. After all, she had lost all her remaining forces to him.

    What Eidel von Rheinland had done to her was worse, so she was setting aside her grievances for now. After scorching the galaxy before her, she planned to take down Sturm as well.

    Of course, Sturm was aware of this.

    The two outer gods were allies, yet not allies. From the beginning, Darwin’s Legion and Maxwell’s Forces were like oil and water, impossible to mix.

    “Coward.”

    “Better than rushing in recklessly and facing defeat.”

    “Fine, let’s see how your way works out.”

    For the time being, their interests aligned. The two outer gods agreed to observe the situation and build up their strength.

    Soon, new forces were detected in the eastern part of the galaxy.

    “Who is it?”

    “Renatus’s forces, sir.”

    “So that sooty one has finally appeared.”

    The highest deity of Descartes’ Forces, who manipulates the minds of sentient beings. Divine name: “Lingering Chaos.” However, among other outer gods, he’s regarded as an oddball who only chooses to do strange things.

    “He was busy raping young stars for a while, so what interest brings him here this time?”

    “It must be because of Eidel von Rheinland, right?”

    “Yes, that must be it. He’s likely looking to taste him.”

    With Darwin’s Legion and Maxwell’s Forces gathered, it would be strange if the others, except for Laplace, didn’t come. Sturm secretly rejoiced that his prediction had been correct.

    With this, the Laniakea Federation was now bordered by massive outer god forces from three directions: east, south, and west.

    It was essentially an encirclement.

    “Eidel von Rheinland, you are finished now.”

    The time to launch the attack was drawing near.

    ***

    After our last meeting on the spaceship, Matonica no longer appeared before me. It meant that opportunist Sturm had taken a step back.

    Sturm doesn’t act unless he’s certain of victory. Also, rather than direct confrontation, he prefers to secretly target his opponent’s vulnerabilities.

    He’ll probably begin his attack when I’m at my weakest.

    From now on, it was truly a time attack. I had to create the gravitational bomb before the next phase began.

    Of course, I wasn’t free from interference during this process.

    [Rheinland’s research will lead humanity to destruction!]

    [He used excessive government budget to discover particles with no practical use. Something’s fishy.]

    [Launch a special investigation!]

    The cult that Sturm had been controlling behind the scenes kept slandering me under different names. And quite a few people were swayed by such criticism.

    [The budget for social welfare has decreased because of the gravitational particle discovery. On our planet, the basic income allowance has decreased for the first time.]

    [The rich are sucking the blood of ordinary citizens!]

    I have nothing to say when they put it like that. It’s true that the federal government has suffered major financial losses due to gravitational particle research.

    But even so, this is too much.

    [He seems to be colluding with other outer gods. Arrest him and investigate thoroughly!]

    Treating a person as an outer god’s puppet? That’s going too far. How much effort have I put into keeping the outer gods at bay?

    “Brother, you don’t need to take what others say too seriously. That’s all part of the steel outer god’s operation.”

    It was none other than Ireh who helped steady my mind whenever I was shaken by the news. As a senior “god-slayer,” she was helpful in many ways.

    “But there must be people who genuinely don’t understand, right? Knowing the future is quite sad.”

    “You have me.”

    Ireh looked up at me with her chin resting on her hand.

    “Even if the whole world doesn’t understand your actions, I at least know why you’re doing this research. So I can believe in you until the end.”

    “Thank you, sister.”

    There’s no point in worrying too much. When you’re in a high position, you’ll be criticized no matter what decision you make.

    As they say, whoever wants to wear the crown must bear its weight. If I want to create a gravitational bomb, I must endure the resistance from the outer gods accordingly.

    You know that famous Korean saying, right?

    If you’re willing to die, you will live; if you cling to life, you will die.

    To survive against the outer gods, you must be prepared to die.

    I focused only on what I could do. Unlike outsiders who didn’t know the details, physicists and mathematicians were consistently on my side.

    By interacting with them, I ingrained the formula “gravitational particle = outer god killing weapon” in my mind. I had to dedicate months to spreading this logic.

    I also had numerous discussions with Ireh. While collecting the unclaimed qi she had missed, she regularly discussed research topics with me.

    Although Ireh was only in her final year of college, we had actually spent more time together. As a result, her level of insight was no less than that of a PhD. I was immensely happy to have gained such a good colleague.

    The more I conversed with Ireh, the more elevated I felt. I was purely delighted.

    And there was someone who definitely disliked this.

    “Ugh!”

    Ireh complained of a headache.

    “Just a moment. I’ll get some medicine.”

    This symptom always appeared after talking with her for a few hours. There was no need to go to the hospital. I already knew what was causing the headache.

    I sighed and pinpointed the cause.

    “Cartesia.”

    [— The God of Wisdom and Curiosity is playing dumb.]

    “Please, don’t torment Ireh while we’re talking. This will only delay the creation of the gravitational bomb.”

    [— The God of Wisdom and Curiosity snickers.]

    Like a true outer god, there’s not even a hint of remorse.

    [“If you discussed it with me, it would be solved in 5 minutes.”]

    “I’ve already discussed enough with you. Now I need to focus on sharing it with others.”

    [“Is there really a need for that? You should lead directly yourself, youngster. Don’t you have the power to do so now?”]

    “Just because I have power doesn’t mean I should use it however I want.”

    Even now, the country is grumbling about lack of budget. Politicians need to be mindful of public opinion, so they won’t allocate budget for the gravitational bomb for the time being.

    [“Human research is complicated. I procured materials and conducted experiments all by myself.”]

    “We’re not like you.”

    Humans are fragile. We can’t do anything alone. No matter how much of a genius one is, without people helping by their side, they cannot fully utilize their talent.

    “And Ireh is my insurance.”

    [“Insurance?”]

    “Something might happen and I could die suddenly. So I need to establish an academic successor.”

    If there were already many collaborators, it might be different, but the gravitational bomb is still a concept that hasn’t even been born yet. Besides Ireh, who knows about the bomb’s existence along with me, who else could continue the work?

    “If I die, consult with Ireh next. Discuss whether the next vessel is suitable or not. She may not be as good as me, but she has high mental power, so she could be a good partner.”

    [“Partner, huh.”]

    I heard a clicking tongue sound in my head.

    [“Sorry, but I’ve never once thought of you as a partner. If anything, by creating the resonator, you’ve greatly reduced my options to possess other humans, which is quite vexing.”]

    “So what do you want me to do about it?”

    [“How impudent.”]

    Ding.

    As soon as the words ended, my status window updated.

    [— New Quest Registered: Complete the design of the gravitational bomb before the time limit. You must submit the content to a flagship academic journal and get it approved for publication.]

    [— Success: 30,000 Fron, 5,000 Coins, Correction of the God of Wisdom and Curiosity]

    [— Failure: <Chain of Subjugation> effect applied]

    [— Time Limit: 6 months]

    It’s been a long time since I’ve said this.

    I’m fucked.

    ***

    Considering the many tasks I had as a postdoc, six months was not a lot of time. To complete the design of the gravitational bomb and make it widely known to the scientific community within that period, I would have to work like crazy.

    [“If you come into the imaginary space and have a deep conversation with me, you might be able to accomplish it quickly.”]

    This is a trap. What outer god would eagerly offer to help with a quest they themselves set?

    Feeling a sense of crisis from Cartesia after a long time, I headed to the eastern region with Ireh and Sonia. A conference commemorating the discovery of the gravitational particle was being held at Callisto Academy.

    Additionally, I explained the situation to Ireh.

    “If you don’t do it within six months, you’ll become Cartesia’s slave?”

    “Yes.”

    Once a quest is set, I must complete it no matter what. Ireh and I frantically developed equations and sketched diagrams until we reached Callisto.

    Having Ireh as a collaborator gave me confidence that we could accomplish it within six months.

    [— The God of Wisdom and Curiosity frowns.]

    [— Notice: The quest completion requirement period has been changed.]

    [— 6 months (before change) → 4 months (after change)]

    “…?”

    Oh, really.

    Why are you suddenly doing this to me?


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