novelraw Chapter 132
Chapter 132
Chapter 132
Omega Investment.
A mega-corporation specialized in investment, with no president, no executives, no employees.
In its massive tower, which rose a hundred floors high, there were no offices, no desks.
The only things that existed were the data processors that ceaselessly churned to produce nothing but ‘profit,’ the cooling devices to suppress the massive heat they generated, and the automated robots that carried out constant maintenance to prevent the aging systems from breaking down.
On days when the Anti-rain fell, if you flew above Sector A in a car, you could see a thick plume of vapor rising.
That was none other than the heat bursting from the Omega Investment Building, evaporating the pouring rain as it fell.
Because of that, even though the area around the building wasn’t officially designated as a no-fly zone, no aerial car dared to enter.
The turbulence there was so severe that if you weren’t careful, you could crash into something in an instant.
Sometimes, drivers unlucky enough to fall onto Omega Investment’s grounds ended up riddled with holes by its automated turrets. For that reason, it had become common sense among drivers never to take their cars near the Omega Investment Building.
Why wasn’t it designated as a no-fly zone, you ask? Who knows. That’s just how bureaucrats are.
“Omega Investment, huh……”
That corporation hadn’t been without a president or executives from the very beginning. In the early days, the programmers who developed ‘Motherboard’ had taken up management positions and led the company.
But once the executives began raking in massive profits under Motherboard’s directives, they cut off the human president and handed the CEO position to Motherboard. Then, Motherboard judged that “human executives are unhelpful in profit creation,” and fired every last one of them.
From then on, it grew by repeating stock trading on its own, generating profits, buying land, hiring construction companies, raising new buildings, and expanding the size of its data centers.
Perhaps fearing that the entire city would eventually be filled with Motherboard’s brain, the council hurriedly rolled out a few regulatory measures at the last moment.
Those shackles became the constraints that kept Omega Investment in its present state.
‘Now, it’s just an ordinary investment firm.’
One of the regulations enacted by the city government forced Motherboard’s data collectors to accept a certain ratio of ‘fake news,’ so she would make flawed judgments.
Thanks to that, Motherboard would sometimes make bizarre, ill-timed decisions that left her shareholders screwed over.
Every time that happened, small investors cried out to the government to “regulate Motherboard!” But at some point, Motherboard also figured out how to lobby politicians, and so those protests always ended without much result.
‘Omega Investment was one of the clear villains in the original story.’
Its investment scope was vast. Education, science, technology, culture, military—if it involved money and information, Motherboard’s golden hand would reach out without hesitation.
In the original story, as the hero’s constant exploits and the incidents surrounding him shook the market of New Valhalla City again and again, Motherboard judged that the hero was an obstacle to her profit generation, and tried to eliminate him.
With no way of knowing their exact enemy, the hero and his allies were gradually cornered into crisis. Yet they did not back down, facing the transcendent AI pulling the strings from the shadows.
‘The key I got from the Hunting Ground was the same one the protagonist used when he tried to infiltrate the Omega Investment Building.’
It was a truly curious situation.
When Araya of Ashita-kyo turned into my enemy, I had obtained the ‘Liberator’ from the Hunting Ground—an item tied to the ‘Android Rebellion’ Ashita-kyo stirred up in the Academy.
And now, the key.
Now that Omega Investment might have become my enemy, I had obtained the key to open Motherboard’s main computer room.
This too had been an extremely important item in the original story.
Could this really be coincidence?
Probably not.
‘There must be some kind of law at work here, something I don’t know.’
Of course, it was still too early to be sure.
In the first place, it would be rash to blindly believe, just from Serena’s words, that Omega Investment was behind the Transmigrator Alliance.
For now, I needed more information.
“Why did you think ‘that person’ was Omega Investment?”
“Well—”
Serena started to answer, then flinched as if realizing something, clammed up, and leaned back deep into the sofa with a frown.
Crossing her legs, she adopted an air of arrogance and glared at me.
“Wh-why should I tell you?”
“……?”
“I can’t just hand over information this important with no conditions attached. If the other transmigrators find out that I leaked this to you, they won’t let me go. They’ll use any means necessary to—”
“I’ll protect you, so talk.”
“Of course! Unlike the other members, who at least know each other’s faces, ‘that person’ has never once appeared before us. And their financial and intelligence-gathering capabilities easily surpassed most megacorps…… Ah. That’s not what I meant to say……!”
Once again, Serena grabbed her head, clearly torn in conflict.
It was quite amusing to watch. In the original, she hadn’t been this much of a comedic character.
Perhaps her transmigrator self was still strongly intact.
Anyway.
“So, in short, it was just speculation?”
“It was a process of elimination. Among the characters who appeared in the original, who else could exert that level of influence? We’ve already confirmed through one of our members that a transmigrator’s soul could reside even in an AI core.”
Saying that, Serena cast a glance at Ciel.
Ciel was the prime example that one didn’t necessarily need a human body. Still, I couldn’t help but sense a strangely displeased look in Serena’s eyes as she stared at Ciel.
“You stuck with Aaron from the start, didn’t you? How lucky.”
“That’s right~. Thanks to Aaron, Ciel has been able to do things she could never have dreamed of before. It’s been so much fun~.”
“Tch.”
Even Ciel’s innocent response seemed to rub Serena the wrong way.
For some reason, she had grievances that hadn’t existed in the original.
Since it didn’t seem all that important, I didn’t bother pressing her about it.
“So, your leader might be ‘Motherboard.’ What happened after that?”
“After that, it was just following orders without question. If that monstrous AI had gained even the knowledge of the original novel, who would dare oppose it?”
“I see.”
I nodded.
Then my next question.
“So, what’s your organization’s plan?”
“Eliminating Aaron Stingray was the plan.”
“Past tense, I see.”
“Well, I’ve already found out about you. The information ‘that person’ gave us doesn’t perfectly match reality either. If you don’t mind, I could introduce you to the others.”
“You mean join your alliance?”
“Mmm. Hearing you say it like that makes it sound like bowing your head and crawling at our feet. Just think of it as me giving you a heads-up so you can come without worries. It’s all gloomy old men now, but in the past, most were actually good people.”
“Also past tense.”
“I’m talking about before the ‘Synchronization.’”
Synchronization.
That was apparently what they called what I had gone through back in Act 4, Part 1.
Unlike me, they had no choice but to accept the changes to their personalities as they were.
If I had left things be, I would have turned into a hobbyist killer of a sociopath, so I had no choice but to desperately find another way. But for others, it was different.
Accepting a new self calmly, as Ciel had, might not have been a bad choice.
“There were a lot of characters who were ‘villains’ in the original, so yes, the group does feel a bit grim now. But if you were to join, nobody would object. Same for you too, Ciel.”
“I’ll follow Aaron’s decision~.”
At that, Ciel turned her gaze to me, and I fell into thought for a moment.
The Transmigrator Alliance.
Would meeting them really be the right decision?
What if all of this was just Serena’s lie, and in truth, it was a trap?
‘……Pointless worrying.’
I didn’t believe there was anyone in the Transmigrator Alliance who could threaten me now that I had regained the power of the strongest being in this world.
If they had such power, they would’ve tried to kill me on their own, like Araya, instead of forming an alliance with other transmigrators.
More importantly, I was the one who had claimed the ‘Point Mine’ called the Academy.
My position was overwhelmingly advantageous.
Perhaps, by giving away a little Contribution Points, I could make trades with them and profit in other ways.
And as Serena said, if those who had been ‘villains’ were among them, it would become much easier for me to adjust future developments however I pleased.
“I will meet them.”
“Yes. I’ll arrange it soon.”
If you want to catch a tiger, you go into its den.
For now, facing them head-on would also be convenient for setting my next plans.
“Do you understand, Evangeline? Do you remember how you must act when you meet the Chairman?”
“Introduce myself. Bow halfway and don’t meet his eyes carelessly. Don’t speak until spoken to!”
“Well done. I’ll be by your side to help you, so just quietly answer what you’re asked.”
“Don’t worry too much!”
The Stingray Chairman—wasn’t he the very one who had unleashed those ‘hunters’? Aaron’s father, and a man above even him. Of course, it was only natural to be cautious.
Evangeline quietly let Maria adjust the last touches of her dress. She could feel Maria’s hand trembling slightly with nervousness.
It was the first time Evangeline had ever seen Maria this nervous. Compared to how she was when facing Aaron, Maria’s emotions were far more unsettled now.
And because of that, Evangeline too felt her own chest trembling.
At last, the time had come.
Maria firmly held Evangeline’s hand as they walked down the hallway. Ahead, on both sides of the corridor leading to the Chairman’s chamber, massive men—easily over two meters tall—stood in formation.
“Please stop here.”
One of the giants blocked their way in front of the door.
He plugged a cable into Maria’s Socket HUB, made some adjustments, and then nodded.
“Secretary Maria. Confirmed. Please remove all modules currently displayed in your vision and place them here.”
Maria pulled several Combat Module chips from the back of her neck and set them on the tray the man held out. Meanwhile, another guard scanned Evangeline with an ocular scanner.
“Wait. The mana level is abnormal.”
Clack. Clack.
Immediately, all the men lined along the corridor turned their heads toward Evangeline.
Panels on their forearms opened, revealing small gun barrels.
The slightest suspicious movement, and the two of them would be riddled with bullets.
But fortunately—
“Let them in. That’s the order.”
The man who appeared to be in charge gave the command, and the guards returned to their original stance.
Their mechanical precision made Evangeline feel an indescribable fear.
“……”
“Let’s go, Evangeline.”
Maria soothed the girl, who looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, and led her inside.
The room was adorned with dazzling decorations, but none of it registered to Evangeline’s terrified eyes.
She saw only one thing.
The lone man in the center.
An old man with white hair, seated in a wheelchair.
“You’ve come.”
His dim, faded eyes turned toward Maria and Evangeline.
At first glance, he seemed like a senile elder on the verge of dementia. Yet deep within his pupils, Evangeline felt something dark and dangerous lurking.
‘A dangerous man……!’
Though wary, Evangeline followed Maria’s lead and bowed politely.
“Greetings, Chairman.”
“G-greetings, Chairman.”
“Heh heh.”
The Chairman smiled brightly at them—or more precisely, at Evangeline. Then, without warning, he asked:
“You are Evangeline, yes?”
“Y-yes, that is…… I mean, yes.”
“Come here.”
The Stingray Chairman lightly tapped his lap. He was telling her to sit on it.
Evangeline cast a furtive glance at Maria, who silently nodded.
Reluctantly, Evangeline crept closer, stiff with tension.
The Chairman suddenly lifted her and placed her on his lap.
“Heh heh. Heavier than I thought.”
“……”
The Chairman petted her for quite some time, as though she were a doll.
On the surface, he looked like a kindly grandfather doting on his granddaughter. But to Evangeline, it felt like a monster was licking her hair.
And then—
“……!?”
Evangeline sensed something from the Chairman’s chest, pressed against her back.
At that same moment, he whispered into her ear.
“Oh. You felt it too?”
“……”
“Whisper to me. What did you sense in me?”
“……A curse.”
Evangeline answered cautiously.
“A curse used by the Dragonkin.”