Back to the Lower Layer 2

Originally, the average temperature in the lower layer was below freezing.

This was because there were no Artificial Suns, and very few people were wealthy enough to run heating or generators.

Even if you tried to steal electricity, the energy management corporation would send an executor to confiscate taxes.

But now, the average temperature in the lower layer is quite high.

The average temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius, but areas close to the Artificial Sun can reach an average of 35 degrees Celsius, and some places even reach 49 degrees Celsius.

This was thanks to Alice, who created not just one, but two or three Artificial Suns on each layer, scattering light throughout the lower layer.

Thanks to this, conditions for farming were met, and it became easier to create forests and mountain ranges. Alice’s auxiliary personality, the construction giant drill tendril, even began reclaiming layers and land to create agricultural land and giant forests for human mental health.

And Ark’s technology can fully achieve conditions where people can live comfortably even if the average temperature approaches 50 degrees Celsius.

They can deploy ultraviolet protection barriers across streets and houses, or spray coolant across the entire sky to create an environment where humans can live without problems.

However, the problem was that these protective measures were only implemented in areas where the average temperature exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, and areas with an average temperature below 39 degrees Celsius were exactly where humans could feel the greatest heat while living.

“Ehehe.”

“Annoying.”

“It’s hot here. Too hot.”

“Ugh, equipment. Equipment authorization is needed…”

And in the area where humans could feel the greatest heat, there were countless middle-aged men.

No, to be precise, there were girls who used to be middle-aged men, trudging along.

They were the former executioners who had been captured by Alice.

“It’s hot even when I’m just standing still…”

“Ehehe…”

“Don’t make weird noises!”

“But it’s hot.”

“I feel like I’m melting.”

“I want to take my clothes off…”

They came to the lower layer with Alice.

And if they became Alice’s subordinates, they naturally had to act like subordinates.

The mission given to the former executioner middle-aged men was to restore order in the most difficult and uninhabitable areas of the layer.

“Ugh, an average temperature of 38 degrees Celsius…”

“Reclamation is not yet complete, and public order is not properly maintained, but the residents of the lower layer still live in such places. Because the security forces have not settled down, criminal organizations that have not been suppressed are causing disturbances everywhere.”

“We didn’t even need to come. Couldn’t you just send those demon security forces…”

“Ehe, they said we’re the most suitable?”

“Why are we the most suitable?”

The mission of the middle-aged men’s unit was to go to places where Alice’s eyes and ears could not reach and directly deal with wicked criminals or human traffickers.

However, if executioners with cyborg equipment all over their bodies were to move around, the area would naturally be put on alert, and criminal organizations would hide.

But what if, on the surface, only soft, bare skin-filled young girls -middle-aged men- were moving around?

From the perspective of criminal organizations, it would be just right to drool over, thinking, “Oh my, what a treat.”

“Hehehe, kids, do you want to be secret friends with us?”

“…H-Hii… I guess we are the most suitable?”

Thus, the middle-aged men’s unit received numerous solicitations within an hour of setting foot on the layer.

There were solicitations for prostitution, enticements for human trafficking, organized kidnappings, and even drugging synthetic frozen honey drinks they bought at a store to escape the heat.

“Ehe~ Kill them all.”

“It’s already frustrating to be in this body, but what’s wrong with the guys who lust after this body?”

“Hiii… Pedophiles. We have to kill them all…”

Since they were executioners who felt sympathy and pity for Sira, they were the optimal choice for dealing with criminals who lusted after children.

And in the center of the lower layer, the Grand Governor’s office.

Alice had a lot to do after returning to the lower layer.

【There are 134,967 pending complaints requiring final approval.】

【There are 458 riots of varying scales, 9 protests by minor party members demanding improved treatment, and please check the influx of criminals from external layers.】

“Ugh, I don’t want to work…”

【You don’t have to.】

“Really?!”

【It doesn’t matter what happens to the lives of the 583,481,114 residents of the lower layer currently measured. Even if they are betrayed and abandoned by everything in Ark, and only look to the Grand Governor for one more chance, their lives may collapse within three days at the earliest, but if Alice wants to be comfortable, of course, you don’t have to do anything.】

“…Let’s work.”

Anyway, Alice, feeling like she was coming home, had to bury herself in a new pile of documents as soon as she arrived in the lower layer.

She didn’t think of herself as particularly competent, and she thought that the title of Grand Governor was just a facade, but the three lives that Alice had lived were not spent meaninglessly.

Unknowingly, Alice had already found a way to exert her administrative capabilities in the best way possible from the memories, ideas, and habits engraved in her soul. Even though she lived with the phrase ‘I don’t want to work~’ on her lips, her work proceeded smoothly once she grabbed the documents.

Moreover, it wasn’t an uncomfortable android body, but she had now regained the body of the Demon King.

The base cells were synthetic magical metal cells, but she had regained her original body and reached a level where she could reproduce some of her capabilities from her prime. As her body became more comfortable, it became much easier to sit still and look at the layer’s administrative documents than before.

【Send the documents for District 38-1 to Sabrina. A criminal organization is said to have incited a riot by local residents in the eastern Mole Carrot layer district. The two dolls named should immediately suppress the riot and protect the lives and property of the residents.】

“Oh, it’s me. Aren’t you guys free? What? You’re busy adapting to your girl bodies? Don’t be ridiculous and get to work. You’re executors, even if they’re fake, right? Oh, okay. I’ll authorize equipment and weapons.”

Above all, Theresa still resided in Alice’s head.

She called herself a super-elite AI auxiliary personality, but for some reason, even now that she had become the body of the Demon King, Theresa was still faithfully fulfilling her role as Alice’s assistant.

Perhaps it was due to the magical engineering technology and formula engraved in the cells themselves.

Even though they looked like organisms, the metal cells were just taking the form of organisms, so it was a bit of a stretch to see them as real humans.

Thus, Alice was able to process the backlog of documents with Theresa quite easily in her absence.

Alice with her own body and eyes.

Theresa unfolds mechanical tendrils differentiated from Alice’s body to process multiple documents simultaneously.

In the past, Theresa used to process all 90% of the documents, now Theresa and Alice can accurately divide the work in half.

Thus, exactly 49 hours later, Alice was finally able to process all the piled-up documents.

Of course, it wasn’t completely over.

The population of the lower layer is large, and the area of the layer is the bottomless pit, so complaint documents are constantly coming up even at this moment.

Still, the accumulated documents were completely finished, so the suffocating pile of documents that felt like a full-circle procedure had disappeared.

“Sigh, from now on, I’ll have to hand over the final approval authority seal to Sabrina as well.”

【Are you sure? The division of power invites new corruption and disorder.】

“Sabrina is a demon.”

Demons are basically intelligent beings with individual egos and reason, but like bee or ant kingdoms, they show absolute obedience centered on the Demon King Alice, who plays the role of the queen.

According to Oriana, Alice, when she was an active Demon King, had essentially forced the sacrifice of the entire demon race to save the world, and the demons had all followed her words.

It was a bit surprising for Alice, who didn’t have those memories, but the important thing was that the absolute obedience system centered on the Demon King was maintained without shaking.

Only then did Alice realize why Sabrina had given her faith as soon as she first saw her.

Since she was a demon, it was natural to follow the Demon King.

And Sabrina, the number one executive of the Labor Party, would still faithfully spread the red ideology for Alice even if she received the final approval authority.

But what exactly is this red ideology that people are so fascinated by?

Alice suddenly had this thought.

It’s true that I started the red ideology, but honestly, I didn’t start it seriously.

In the first place, Alice doesn’t think of herself as a great thinker, and her knowledge of red ideology or communism is very fragmentary.

In fact, it was Sabrina and Theresa who started spreading the red ideology in earnest, picking up on Alice’s fragmentary knowledge and remarks such as ‘free distribution, common ownership, workers of all nations, unite!’

Sabrina had been hiding in the barony to avoid humans and had been ruling the demons for a long time, and in the case of Theresa, the words super-elite AI auxiliary personality were not lacking, so it may not be difficult to lay the ideological foundation assigned to her with just fragmentary keywords.

For reference, the Übermensch thing is thanks to the demons’ selfish absolute obedience to the Demon King.

Although the red ideology is the ideology of the sickle and hammer, such as common ownership and free distribution, since there was an Übermensch called the Demon King, the red ideology that Alice spread became something bizarre and inexplicable, a communist fascist, based on modern Earth.

Anyway, all that was left for Alice, who had finished organizing the paperwork, was a relaxing break.

“Aliceeeeee~!”

As if waiting for this moment, Alice’s eyes narrowed slightly at the high-pitched cry mixed with the nasal tones of a certain noble lady who burst into the Governor-General’s office, kicking the door open so hard it almost broke.

It’s not that she didn’t like the beautiful voice.

The problem was that Fira’s voice was so loud that it contained mana, and if the office window had been ordinary glass, it might have shattered.

It’s a good thing the office windows are all made of reinforced glass to prepare for terrorism…

“I really, really wanted to see you~!!!”

But why is she in the lower layer…?

Ah, come to think of it, Fira said she had transferred to the same Overseer division as me…?

The last time they parted was when Fira led the combat homunculus corps down to the lower layer after completing the mission on the Ruincrest layer, so it wouldn’t be strange for Fira to be here.

“Hwaaa! I worked hard while Alice wasn’t here! Even though it was my first time as a lower layer Overseer, which I wasn’t destined for, I endured it while thinking of Alice! But when I heard that Alice was caught up in a sudden misfortune on the Enchantment of the Fallen layer, how much… huh?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s nice to see you again, and don’t come too close… what, why. Too close… ugh.”

But Fira, seeing Alice, felt something and came very close.

No, beyond approaching, she suddenly hugged Alice tightly.

“Hey, why suddenly… cough.”

Ugh, strength.

So strong.

The body of the android tin can Alice was harder than ordinary Bolshevik Steel, and now it was an even stronger body, but the grip of Fira, who was hugging her, made her feel like a human being hugged by a gorilla.

Ugh, breath.

I don’t need to breathe, but cough… I, I feel like my neck bones are going to break.

“Demon King, nim…”

“Eh.”

What, why is Fira calling me Demon King again…?

But regardless, a tear trickled down Fira’s eyes.

She seemed so moved that her face, staring intently at Alice, was completely frozen, and she couldn’t even speak properly.

“What, do you… know me too?”

“Ah, no. Th-That is…”

Alice’s mind raced quickly.

‘Fira is a masterpiece of the maggot family, descendants of Beelzebub. She is also called the Beelzebub who appeared in modern times… And Beelzebub is an ancient demon and also a god symbolizing abundance and Gluttony.’

Ancient demon.

And demon.

Honestly, aren’t there a lot of connections?

Ancient demons may have been treated as high-ranking demons in the past.

In that case, the ancient demon Beelzebub would have served the Demon King or formed an alliance. It’s not strange for Fira to be influenced by Beelzebub’s memories engraved on Fira, not Fira herself.

“It’s really difficult if you suddenly come out like this without warning…”

“I-I’m sorry. Alice, I’ll explain everything to you…”

“Is it because Fira is a descendant of Beelzebub?”

“Ah, yes. Y-Yes…”

Fira’s eyes widened.

To be exact, it was a look that said, ‘No way, is our Alice this sharp!?’

No, why are you looking at me like I’m such an idiot?

It’s like I’ve been a useless existence except for my face all this time?

In fact, that was true from Fira’s point of view.

Alice was a bit special, but the biggest reason Fira was captivated by Alice was her beautiful appearance.

Of course, after that, she liked Alice even more after seeing her abilities and achievements.