Chapter 252

Chapter 252

Kim Hyun-soo stood by the window and looked down over West District.

West District was a city made of steel.

Of course, it was not actually built entirely from steel, but it gave off such a strong metallic impression that it looked like a city of steel.

Kim Hyun-soo liked that metallic feeling.

This dry and rough sensibility was something pure humans could never understand.

On the streets where night had fallen, countless people were moving about.

There were quite a few mechanized Awakened among them, but most were ordinary humans.

Kim Hyun-soo murmured,

“Do they know what I gave up to protect their purity?”

After gazing at West District for a long while, Kim Hyun-soo walked to the elevator.

CLANK!

The elevator doors opened with a harsh metallic sound.

When Kim Hyun-soo stepped into the elevator, the voice of the Three-Legged Crow rang out.

―Where shall I take you, Master?

“To the laboratory.”

―Yes, Master.

WHIRRR!

At the Three-Legged Crow’s answer, the elevator descended at a terrifying speed.

If an ordinary person had been inside, the dizzying sense of floating would have made their legs tremble.

But Kim Hyun-soo stared straight ahead without the slightest change in expression.

THUD!

A short while later, the elevator stopped.

When the doors opened, a vast space appeared.

Countless advanced pieces of equipment and researchers busily moving about.

This was the laboratory on the tenth basement level.

At the center of the laboratory stood a massive lump of rock.

It was the rock Golem they had hunted and brought back after conquering a dungeon not long ago.

Countless researchers were gathered around the enormous rock Golem, conducting their research.

WHIRRRR!

A saw blade spinning at frightening speed was cutting into the rock Golem’s chest.

Because of that, sparks and stone powder flew in every direction.

CLANG!

Suddenly, the toothed blade that had been spinning smoothly shattered, sending fragments flying everywhere.

Fortunately, none of the researchers were injured.

That was thanks to the protective magic circle spread around the Golem.

The researchers clicked their tongues as they looked at the broken saw blade.

“Ah, fuck. It’s hard as hell.”

“How many times has this been already?”

They grumbled as they replaced the broken saw blade.

They looked quite used to this situation.

Kim Hyun-soo approached them.

“You still haven’t extracted the core?”

“Ah! Chairman?”

“When did you arrive, sir?”

The researchers, who belatedly noticed Kim Hyun-soo’s visit, hurriedly bowed their heads.

They called Kim Hyun-soo, the Western Overlord, Chairman.

In truth, Kim Hyun-soo did not care about titles.

What mattered to him were results, not what others called him.

“What is the work progress?”

“Only about fifteen percent so far.”

“Slow.”

“I apologize. The rock Golem contains a large amount of special metal, so the saw blades keep breaking. Because of that, progress has not improved.”

“Special metal?”

Kim Hyun-soo’s eyes gleamed at the researcher’s answer.

On Earth as it was now, metal was an extremely rare resource.

Since most of the world had turned to sand, obtaining metallic materials was not easy in itself.

If one dug hundreds or thousands of meters into the sand, one might eventually find a layer of rock. Then one could extract the rock and separate the minerals contained within, but clearing away the tremendous amount of sand covering the surface was not that simple.

It would be possible if one poured in an enormous amount of money and manpower. But even if mining succeeded that way, the chances that the rock would contain the desired metal were almost nonexistent.

It was far more likely that one would simply mine a heap of useless rock.

Moreover, countless monsters lived beneath that damned sand.

The representative example was the Sandworm.

If that creature sensed vibrations in the sand, it would rush over like mad no matter how far away it was.

On top of the sand, it was a monster that a hunting team could catch without much difficulty, but beneath the sand, it was almost impossible to hunt them.

The problem was that beneath the sand, there were monstrous creatures that could not even be compared to Sandworms, all teeming in vast numbers.

If one ran afoul of such creatures, an exploration team or mining team would be annihilated in an instant.

Ore mining was a gamble with high risk and almost no chance of success.

Dungeons, on the other hand, were different.

Every substance mined from a dungeon was a rare metal that could not be obtained on Earth.

Because of that, anything metallic was brought out in its entirety, no matter what it was.

Kim Hyun-soo murmured,

“I thought rock Golems were useless, but is Grade A different?”

“From what we have identified so far, even the magic circle used to move the rock Golem was made of a metal that has never been discovered before. If we can only understand the principle behind this magic circle......”

“You mean we could make Golems too?”

“Yes! It would be impossible for them to operate on the sand, but if we use them as tanks when conquering dungeons, we should be able to reduce casualties.”

“Hmm!”

Kim Hyun-soo looked intrigued.

They had conquered dungeons with Golems several times before. But this was the first time a Grade A rock Golem had appeared.

A Golem was like a robot that moved through magic.

It acted according to commands input into it, without any will of its own.

There was no existence better suited to be used as a tank.

The researcher spoke with an earnest expression.

“This is the first time we have secured a Grade A Golem. The essence of Kurayan civilization is contained inside it. If we can uncover its secrets, we will be able to make a new leap forward.”

“For example?”

“The operating principle behind Golems and our mechanical bodies is not different.”

“You mean upgrades are possible?”

“Yes! If we study the ore mined from the rock and the magic circle, our mechanical bodies will be upgraded by several stages.”

Those final words struck Kim Hyun-soo’s heart.

For mechanized Awakened, upgrading each part was more important than anything else.

At present, West District’s upgrade research had stagnated.

In such a situation, the researcher’s words were like welcome rain in a drought.

“What support do you need?”

“Well......”

“Speak.”

“Please assign an AI to us as well.”

“An AI?”

“Yes!”

The researcher who had worked up the courage to speak swallowed hard.

That was because he knew that the degraded-copy AIs of the Three-Legged Crow were assigned only to Kim Hyun-soo’s trusted aides.

The number of degraded-copy AIs was limited, so none had been assigned as far as the laboratory.

Kim Hyun-soo spoke to the Three-Legged Crow.

‘Do we have an AI to spare?’

―There is Black Tortoise.

‘Black Tortoise?’

―It was the AI assigned to Mr. Cha Jin-cheol. After Mr. Cha Jin-cheol died not long ago, it returned to me through the return protocol.

‘Then why is it still here? Normally, would you not absorb it again or reassign it?’

―There is an impurity mixed in that has not been analyzed.

‘An impurity?’

―Yes! Something that does not exist in Black Tortoise’s original data is mixed in. So I have isolated it separately and am analyzing it.

‘Then why did you not report it?’

Kim Hyun-soo’s voice turned cold.

If something like that existed, he naturally had to know about it.

―I apologize. The analysis has not been completed yet, so it was pushed down in the reporting priority.

‘The analysis still is not finished?’

―Yes!

‘Are you saying it is taking this long to analyze with your abilities?’

―I apologize. There is also the matter of Mr. Cha Jin-cheol running out of control inside the dungeon, so I am analyzing it carefully.

In that instant, Kim Hyun-soo’s expression hardened.

He also knew that Cha Jin-cheol had been taken over by the Dungeon Boss, run out of control, and been killed by Zeon.

That was because the Awakened from West District who had participated in conquering the dungeon with him had told him.

‘Did Black Tortoise not activate the return protocol before Cha Jin-cheol went berserk?’

―Correct. Fortunately, it severed the connection before the rampage and returned safely.

‘Then is there not no problem?’

―Even so, it must be confirmed.

‘Until when?’

The Three-Legged Crow’s capabilities surpassed even the supercomputers of the old era.

It could dig through and analyze most magic circles or data in an instant. The fact that such a Three-Legged Crow had still not analyzed this data was somewhat disconcerting.

―Because it is being isolated and analyzed, it seems it will take quite some time.

‘So there is no telling when it will end.’

―I apologize.

‘Can you assign it here first and analyze it at the same time?’

―I do not recommend doing so.

‘Why?’

―Once it is assigned, my control will weaken.

The main unit of the Three-Legged Crow existed deep underground.

Even deeper than this place on the tenth basement level.

The Three-Legged Crow had isolated its own degraded-copy AI separately.

Its core was the same, but it had created a space like a kind of prison and separated its consciousness.

If it did not do so, the consciousness of the main unit and that of the degraded copy might later become mixed.

After hearing the entire report, Kim Hyun-soo stroked his chin with his hand.

All the researchers were watching him.

They had not heard the conversation between Kim Hyun-soo and the Three-Legged Crow.

That was because the entire conversation had taken place inside Kim Hyun-soo’s consciousness. Because of that, their sense of expectation had reached its peak.

They knew that if a degraded-copy AI was assigned to them, the speed of their research would change.

Kim Hyun-soo said to the Three-Legged Crow,

“Assign Black Tortoise to them.”

―But......

“If a problem occurs, delete Black Tortoise. That much is possible, is it not?”

―It is not difficult. What is difficult is analyzing it while preserving the data.

“Then assign Black Tortoise to this man.”

―I will obey your command, Master!

Kim Hyun-soo looked at the researcher who had first offered the suggestion.

“What is your name?”

“Ah! L-Lee Su-myeong, sir. My colleagues call me Dr. Lee.”

“Good! Lee Su-myeong. From now on, you are Black Tortoise’s operator. A chip will now be implanted in your body, and Black Tortoise will be downloaded into you, so open all your firewalls.”

“I-It is an honor.”

An expression of delight appeared on Lee Su-myeong’s face.

He was already excited at the thought of downloading an auxiliary AI.

As soon as the chip was implanted, he released all the firewalls protecting his mechanical body.

An enormous amount of data was downloaded in an instant.

“Ugh!”

Lee Su-myeong’s face twisted in pain.

He had overloaded from accepting too much information at once.

Such an immense amount of data poured in that it felt as though his head might burst. But that lasted only a moment. Soon, his mind cleared, and he heard someone’s voice.

―Master!

No one told him, but Lee Su-myeong instinctively realized that the owner of the voice was an AI.

“B-Black Tortoise?”

―Yes! I am Black Tortoise, the AI that will assist you from now on, Master.

“Ohh! At last, I have an AI of my own.”

Lee Su-myeong was so moved that he forgot Kim Hyun-soo was right in front of him, while the other researchers looked at him with envy.

An excited Lee Su-myeong immediately ran to the Golem.

He intended to begin the research with Black Tortoise right away.

He was truly the very picture of a mad scientist obsessed with research.

It was not only Lee Su-myeong.

All the other researchers also crowded around Lee Su-myeong and resumed the research.

Kim Hyun-soo watched them for a moment, then turned away.

The fact that an impurity had entered Black Tortoise weighed on his mind a little, but since the Three-Legged Crow was watching it continuously, there should be no major problem.

No matter how outstanding Black Tortoise was, in the end, it was nothing more than a degraded copy of the Three-Legged Crow.

If the Three-Legged Crow made up its mind, erasing it would take only an instant.

That was why he had downloaded it into Lee Su-myeong despite knowing that there was a slight problem.

Just then—

―Master!

The Three-Legged Crow, which had been silent for a moment, spoke.

“What is it?”

―A special guest has arrived at Mechanic Paradise Hotel.

“A special guest?”

―Zeon is currently meeting Mr. Kim Mu-yeong.

“Zeon? You mean the Sandmancer?”

―Correct. That Zeon.

Kim Hyun-soo’s face, which had already seemed as if it wore a metal mask, turned even colder.

“Zeon and Kim Mu-yeong. So those two have met.”