episode_0371

As a result, the V-Virus still remained at the level of theoretical discussion.

“Oh, it’s a joke! It’s not possible right away, is it? There are mountains of hurdles to overcome.”

The frozen high school girl doctor’s statement was ultimately just bluster. We, who had been momentarily swayed, put aside our imaginations at the realistic observation.

“Hmm, it’s not a meaningless idea though. Everyone’s constitution, genes, and Aether affinity are all different. Non-Awakened and Aether are like oil and water. We did need an emulsifier to mix the two well.”

“An emulsifier, huh.”

Not understanding what Bernike meant, I asked through the mouse.

The two researchers looked at each other once, then began to explain.

“It’s about optimizing the interaction between Aether particles and biological cell membranes. Amplifying magic waves at the cellular level, reconstructing the brain’s synaptic connections to stabilize consciousness expansion. It’s like a conversion adapter, changing incoming Aether signals into a form the brain can process.”

“Ugh, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

It seemed like a long explanation, but my head was spinning.

Seeing the mouse clutching its head with its front paws, Phoebe burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Is your head hurting? How cute!”

“If you’re going to talk in a language only you understand, don’t explain it.”

“Ah, alright! Really, I’ll explain it really simply. A non-Awakened commoner is like damp firewood. Can you use damp wood as firewood when you need a fire?”

“No, you can’t. Because it won’t catch fire.”

“Exactly. So you have to dry it out completely. That’s what Yurik Oppa and Bernike Unnie were trying to do. And I’m drenching it in oil so it burns even better. People are wood, artificial pathogens are oil. Understand?”

Simply put, turning people into Violet firewood, huh. I understood.

This fellow, although it was a somewhat strange and crazy idea, had something in common with us.

“I see. So, you’re making people into torches of democracy!”

Piling people up to make them firewood and burning them brightly.

There’s a saying that democracy grows on blood, so Liberty Violet’s avatar democracy will burn brightly, taking people as its firewood. That way, it will warm this dark and cold world.

「I see! We must become the Queen of Firewood!」

「The Witch of Firewood!」

Isn’t that a wonderful expression?

Our duty must be to make the world warm.

“…Democracy? I don’t know what that means, but it’s an interesting expression!”

I should stop chattering now.

It seemed like the others beyond the desk were starting to feel uncomfortable.

“Heh heh, it’s not something that can be done immediately. First, I should do what I need to do, right?”

“So, can you do it, Ajumma? The world must have changed quite a bit.”

I didn’t have high expectations.

Although she was a genius, she had been dormant for decades.

It would be a relief if she wasn’t too far behind.

As if reading my thoughts, Phoebe’s gaze sharpened. The corners of her mouth confidently turned up.

“Cut the worrying! I’m the one who rewrote this field of nanochemistry, you know? Those Foundation bastards who used my research as they pleased, this time I’ll teach them a lesson!”

The papers in front of her floated up for a moment before settling down. Her appearance overflowed with confidence. Well, if she doesn’t achieve results, she’ll just go back into Violet’s prison anyway, so she’s probably just boasting.

**

After the first meeting, I looked around the inside of the building. It was small but quite neat, which I liked.

“So, Ajusshi, how is it here?”

“It’s the best! Thank you so much! To be able to work in a place like this…!”

The Ajusshi, having just recovered from the shock of the V-Virus, was excited like a child again, wondering what was so good.

It seemed he was so happy to move from researching in a factory to a proper building.

「Ugh! Our home was blown away!」

「If they don’t listen, let’s cut their salaries and make them work 12 hours a day!」

Awakened Ones have extraordinary stamina, so it’s said that large clans typically work from 9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week.

If commoners are given plenty of stimulants available on the market and treated by Daphne, I wonder if they could also endure the 996 work system.

The Ajusshi, unaware of my plans, kept excitedly chattering about how wonderful everything was.

“Thank you, Boss-nim! For someone as lacking as myself to receive such support…! First, I will cleanly solve the infection problem. Then, I will definitely show results by revealing the true nature of the network so we can become stronger!”

Those eyes, overflowing with gratitude and expectation. It’s good to see.

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t the one who provided the money, but I decided not to explain that to the Ajusshi.

“So, how much stronger will you help us become? Like a Grand Mage?”

As soon as I finished speaking, the Ajusshi, unbefitting his age, shouted vigorously.

“Grand Mage? No. Can you be satisfied with just that?”

“Exactly! Stronger is better!”

“Perhaps… we might even reach the realm of a god!… Ah, of course, that’s just a metaphor. Please forget I said that…”

The Ajusshi’s hurried attempt to retract his words was indeed suspicious.

I decided not to question him further.

Because leaving it as it was seemed like it would lead to a more interesting outcome.

Firewood, god, nanomachine. Complex keywords slightly tangled in my mind.

「Goddess of Firewood!」

**

While vaccine development was in full swing, strange incidents were occurring at various Foundation strongholds.

“Conduct a full inspection! If even the slightest abnormal symptom is found, incinerate immediately!”

Cages were constantly being taken out and moved. Inside, experimental animals of various sizes and species were housed.

The anxiously howling animals were sequentially loaded onto carts and transported to the deepest isolation rooms of each stronghold.

In one corner of the room, a large, sleek, rectangular machine with several pipes and cylinders attached was situated.

The incinerator’s opening slid open.

The animals were put inside, cages and all.

As the door sealed, the device emitted a blue light and activated, and an operating sound echoed with intense vibration. The screams from within were drowned out by the flames and vibrating sounds and disappeared.

“Now, even experimental animals can no longer be trusted.”

One of the directors overseeing the series of experimental subject incineration muttered.

While sudden erratic behavior from experimental subjects was common in monster research or other experimental processes, there had been no precedent in Lumenexa’s history of non-sentient beings acquiring intelligence and organizing a rebellion.

“Even the Hellmen are unstable. If they are infiltrated…”

At someone’s remark, even the directors who had experienced countless crises felt a chill down their spines.

In a situation where even the heroes of the Great War barely endured with their unique mental fortitude, if such a situation were to occur, recovery would be impossible.

Director Kwabna, observing the situation, calmed his colleagues.

“Calm yourselves! Haven’t you all seen? Our satellite network precisely located their positions. They have already left the surface. The armed entities we witnessed are at best familiars; they would not possess self-infiltration abilities.”

“Are you sure about that? What if they’re not?”

“In that case, we can deploy the enhanced virus. The research lab we lost was merely one stronghold, and our mass production capability and research capacity are still intact.”

“Haven’t the immune test subjects already escaped? There’s a possibility of adaptation! No, what about the risk of that trait spreading?”

It was an unscientific hypothesis.

Nevertheless, they could not rule out the possibility of ‘what if’.

Because that assumption had already become reality. The fact that they had acquired the ability to infiltrate other entities and assimilate them into themselves was clear.

Furthermore, what if they adapted to the virus, and in the worst-case scenario, acquired the ability to re-mutate it and spread themselves?

“How could that be? That was during the experiment. The virus we mass-produced in the end has enhanced potency and can kill those test subjects too. Surely…”

“But they survived, didn’t they? That means they possess immunity in some way!”

As the overlooked parts were revealed, the people within the Foundation racked their brains.

“Let’s awaken more Hellmen.”

“That’s not enough! Let’s use the final project!”

Fortunately, the Foundation still had a last resort. The legacy of an otherworldly civilization that had confronted the invasion of an oppressive alien empire.

“Let’s activate Hekatonkheir. We’ll utilize its knowledge and manufacturing capabilities.”

A massive fragment of an alien warship, which the Foundation had painstakingly restored and enhanced by inputting collected data.

In the worst-case scenario, they would have to activate it, currently stored in the deep sea.

“…At this point, that seems to be the most reasonable solution. To what stage has the ship’s awakening progressed?”

“It’s still less than 50%, but we should be able to secure the level of functionality we require. We’ve certainly inputted enough initial knowledge.”

“Excellent. Let’s augment our unmanned weapon forces with the power of that artifact. It would be best for the task force to maintain the status quo for now.”

The Foundation began preparations to deploy their precious legacy.

“Let’s respond to proxy warfare with proxy warfare. We’ll track down their remnants to the very end and bury them from this world.”

The emergency situation had not yet ended.

**

Three days after the first briefing, the self-proclaimed Violet Biological Research Institute began to buzz with new researchers.

“Professor-nim, you said you’d give us jobs…”

“That’s right, this is your job. Be happy, okay? You’ll never be fired.”

There was a chilling hint of laughter in Bernike’s voice.

“Ugh…”

I saw the plump graduate students I’d met during the last Violet Navy exploration.

They had graduated, but that seemed to have turned out to be their undoing. They were tricked by Bernike, dragged here, and after having security spells cast on them, became research ‘slaves’.

Now, these poor fellows’ job was to implant chips into animals’ heads.

“Wow, when did she prepare so many people?”

“They’re smart but naive children.”

Bernike said, looking satisfied.

“They’re sufficient to participate in our great cause. They’re also tight-lipped. Prepare more space, as I’ll be bringing more in the future.”

Once the procedure was over, the chip-implanted monkeys moved to the next room. They docilely wore network access devices on their heads. With a flashing blue light, the monkeys opened their mouths.

“Ooh ooh! Where is this?”

“You are V-Monkeys! Welcome to the V-Animal Army as volunteers!”

The animals, having gained intelligence, immediately received new recruit guidance in the research institute’s basement.

As propaganda and network-based education began, the newly enlisted recruits cheered enthusiastically.

“Wow! We knew so little about animal democracy until now! It’s truly great!”

“Waaah!”

This research institute’s core tasks were broadly threefold.

The first of these was-

“Scale! Scale is everything!”

“Indeed! We need more avatars!”

It was the development of abilities through the construction and optimization of a larger Violet network.

Simply put, it was about increasing the number of avatars and finding more things that could be done with the network.

Currently, they were researching methods to block and disrupt the Foundation’s V-poison waves descending from the sky.

“Using magic-blocking materials…”

“How will we verify it?”

The second mission was the mass production of the V-Animal Army.

The key was to expand the size of the remotely controlled, autonomous army that would fight on behalf of us Violets, who couldn’t leave the Red Zone.

Fortunately, the chip implantation process was showing signs of developing into a more efficient procedure.

“Laphlaxia was looking for a way to replace bio-chips. In that case…”

“Ta-da! That’s where my idea comes in!”

In the future, it seemed highly likely that the cumbersome procedure of implanting chips in heads could be replaced by a simple injection.

“Look, Unnie! See this. You inject these artificial magic-affinity molecules into animals and expose them to waves. If you drench them in the pathogen that carries the democracy ideology you mentioned, the conversion speed becomes much faster!”

“Oho! That’s a good idea!”

But what was most urgent was the mass production of a V-antivirus to counter the malicious bioweapon.

-Sizzle!

The Corvus virus sample seized from the research institute was as deadly as expected.

As soon as my blood, airlifted from afar, came into contact with the virus, it instantly turned jet black.

“Let me tell you in advance, it’s not easy to create a cure for this. It’s a type that went all-in on lethality. Its molecular structure is also incredibly advanced! If this is war, we’re at a disadvantage from the start!”

The troublesome points didn’t end there.

“First, the animals are definitely immune! However,”

Phoebe flicked her finger in the air. A pen floated up, spun around chaotically once, then stopped.

Come to think of it, that fellow must have been an Awakened with a unique ability. Psychokinesis, imagine that.

“You need to know that it’s not immunity where they’ve truly adapted to the virus or where their immune system expels the virus.”

“Then isn’t that enough? In movies, if there’s just one immune person, they instantly make a vaccine.”

“Hehe! Silly Unnie. Drawing blood from an immune person or animal to make a vaccine is only possible in movies! In reality, it’s much more complicated.”

Unease began to subtly creep up.

“So, Ajumma. Will we lose to the Foundation?”

“No, we’ll win! Even if its form has changed, I made this!”

First, an initial procedure was carried out to verify why our V-animals had immunity. Unusually, even the V-animals had immunity before they encountered the experimental animals.

“…That’s strange. Did that ‘animal network’ medium play some kind of role?”

There was one strange point. The entire process of how the experimental animals became V-animals was a mystery.

However, judging by the similar surgical scars remaining on the animals’ heads, it was only a guess that they had previously undergone enhancement procedures like bio-chip implants.

“Anyway, just leave it to me!”

While various ideas were emerging, an unexpected item we had forgotten about reappeared.

“Why that?”

On the lab bench was the nano-enhancer that our mice had stolen in the previous operation.

I handed it over, wondering if she knew anything about it, and she seemed quite excited.

“The pace of technological development these days is truly astonishing, isn’t it? How much it accelerated while I was dormant…”

Phoebe floated the ampoule containing the enhancer around in the air. Beyond the sloshing blue liquid, her eyes, full of interest, sparkled with excitement.

“That sample you just gave me? I’ll try using that too. Something interesting just occurred to me. It’ll be a big help!”

“Do you have time to deal with that too?”

“Plenty!”

I’ll have to see how far she can go.

**

While these miscellaneous things were happening, we finally approached our original goal.

“The decryption is complete. We can now track the Foundation’s secret strongholds again.”

Irene handed over the analysis results sent by Helios. I was startled as soon as I saw the data.

“Mobile maritime bases? To think they were hiding something like this…”

The results of analyzing the encrypted coordinate data seized from the airships were astonishing.

The Foundation’s secret facilities we had been searching so desperately for were not fixed buildings, but mobile maritime bases.

Particularly noteworthy was a specific coordinate. This coordinate repeatedly appeared in various communication logs and flight records, and was managed with a high security clearance.

This location, situated somewhere distant from the Rustrum nearby sea area, was likely the Foundation’s core facility.

“Good, as soon as the vaccine is complete, we’ll immediately raid their headquarters!”

We’ll finish it by August at the earliest, or September at the latest.