novelraw Chapter 194
Chapter 194
Chapter 194
[Paradise Verification Project].
Even Benedict, who oversaw every aspect of the research, did not fully understand why such a name had been given to this project.
It had been named personally by none other than the Stingray Chairman himself, and Benedict had merely obeyed his father’s order without question.
—“Can you kill your brother?”
Those few words held everything within them.
It was the question Chairman Drake had asked before banishing him to this secret laboratory.
Chairman Drake was a man who refused to waste even a single cent or a single second on anything useless.
Benedict, who had already failed countless times and disappointed his father, knew that if he refused, he would lose even the last chance given to him as the Chairman’s son—and be branded a perfect “failure.”
If that happened, he would lose everything he had left, falling from the Stingray Family’s second son to a life of ruin.
Benedict had no choice.
He knew this decision would one day earn Aaron’s wrath, yet he had to answer his father’s question.
—“Yes. I can.”
From then on, everything proceeded swiftly.
Benedict became the director of a nameless secret laboratory—so classified that even during his tenure as a senior executive in the Technology Division, he had never known it existed.
There wasn’t even a single human employee there. The facility was operated solely through computers and androids, defended by automated systems designed to ward off the Mystics.
On the first day of his appointment, the very first thing he did was to review the contents of the ongoing [Paradise Verification Project].
He received all accumulated research data from the computer and began reading—and from the first line, he could only gape in shock.
—“The research began… a hundred years ago!?”
The research had started long before Benedict—or even his elder brother Aaron—had been born. That fact alone stirred a deep curiosity within him, and he continued reading as though possessed.
—“So, there were human researchers back when it began…”
At the time, AI and android technologies had not been as advanced as they were now, so human labor had been indispensable.
But all the early researchers were now dead—most due to “accidents.” Judging from that fact, and that the facility now operated entirely on automation, it was clear the Chairman had them all eliminated.
Such was the secrecy of this research.
—“I suppose… if I fail, I’ll die too.”
Until the research succeeded, he would be trapped in this laboratory for life. If he ever tried to escape and return to New Valhalla City, the Chairman would personally execute him.
“This research aims to transcend the limits of human consciousness and observe the extradimensional space in which the Mystics dwell (hereafter referred to as [Paradise])…”
[Paradise].
Such a vague research outline.
As a scientist, he could only describe it as madness. Just imagining how much wealth had been poured into this over the past century made his head spin.
Having seen the traces of this insanity firsthand, Benedict was once again convinced of just how deranged the man known as the Emperor of the business world truly was.
—“It’s been stagnating for about… twenty years, huh.”
For the first eighty years after it began, the research had been slow but steady. Though it hadn’t reached its ultimate goal, its byproducts had found applications in numerous fields.
Aaron Stingray’s signature combat modules—[Cloud Spider] and [Techblade]—were among them. In fact, Aaron himself, as well as Benedict and Kallia, were all products derived from this research’s byproducts.
But at some point, progress had plateaued, yielding the same results repeatedly. Worse yet, it had stalled at merely “Phase One.”
—“A hundred years, and still stuck on the first phase… unbelievable.”
The ultimate goal of the research was “proof of Paradise.”
The process was divided into three phases, each given an abstract name:
Phase One: Creation.
Phase Two: Transcendence.
Phase Three: Verification.
The intermediate goal of Phase One, “Creation,” was to produce a “perfect human.” In other words, while the quality of these artificial humans had improved alongside technological advances for the first eighty years, progress had completely stagnated for the past twenty.
—“Will I be able to complete this before I die?”
Even as that doubt crept in, a strange certainty welled up inside him—a conviction that he could be the one to finish it.
—“Good. Let’s do this.”
Benedict immediately began his reform.
He gradually changed the experimental procedures that had fallen into stagnation through repetition.
In the process, the dormant genius and creativity within him began to awaken—and at last, the long-stalled gears began to turn again.
But he couldn’t do it alone.
Human creativity is born through interaction. Technological innovation comes from cities, not the countryside; great inventions arise not in a hermit artisan’s workshop, but in universities full of ordinary minds.
No matter how much of a genius he was, he couldn’t master every field and process. He needed collaborators—ones with creativity beyond that of computers that merely recombined data into predictable answers.
So he concealed the true nature of the [Paradise Verification Project] under other names, recruiting experts from various fields.
For six months, those experts provided him with results and data—unaware of what they were truly contributing to.
Even his creation of AI Miyu, modeled after Miyu’s brainwave patterns, had been for that purpose.
He held countless academic discussions with AI Miyu, refining his theories, and at last began to accelerate the research that had been stagnant for decades.
And finally—
Phase One: Creation had reached its final stage.
“Finally…!”
[Congratulations, Mr. Benedict!]
AI Miyu smiled brightly as she congratulated him. He smiled back faintly, twisting his lips as he rose and walked toward the reinforced glass window, gazing slowly down at the laboratory floor below.
There lay a city.
“How much time remains?”
[Completion is expected in approximately seventy-two hours.]
“Tch. Now that it’s near the end, I’m getting restless.”
He hadn’t felt this impatience when the goal was far away, but now that it was within reach, excitement began to burn within him. How could he calm this fluttering feeling over the next three days?
“Haa… I need to stay composed. It’s still only Phase One.”
If it had taken a hundred long years to complete the first phase, who could say how long it would take for the second to yield meaningful results?
To lose focus over progress that made up barely thirty percent of the total would be foolish.
Still, it was a fact—he had solved a riddle that no one else had cracked in twenty years. Even if he postponed celebration, he could allow himself a brief moment of joy.
He should tell the chef robot to prepare something special for dinner tonight.
Just as he was about to say so—
His android assistant suddenly spoke.
“Mr. Benedict.”
“…What is it?”
“Aaron Stingray has begun to move.”
“……”
A short silence.
Benedict checked that his ears hadn’t betrayed him, then slowly spat a curse.
“……Damn it.”
“What should we do?”
“You actually found this place in the end?”
“It seems so. Based on the information passed along by the City Guard and our deductions, they should reach here within twelve hours.”
“…….”
Phew.
I sighed deeply.
But I wasn't surprised.
I had known this would happen sooner or later. A few months ago, while collecting Miyu’s brainwave data, I had already realized I had accidentally stroked the whisker of a sleeping lion.
At the time I had panicked, but not anymore. Over the past three months I had worked hard and taken considerable measures to prepare for this situation.
“Stop them by any means.”
The research wasn’t finished yet.
But I only needed to buy a little time.
If I completed just the first-stage research, everything would be solved. Once the “perfect human” was finished, even Aaron wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“I’ll show you, Father.”
That I could kill my own brother.
Who, then, would truly be worthy of succeeding the Stingray line?
“You’re here.”
We were more than five hundred kilometers from the destination.
A barren wasteland stretched endlessly—no buildings, no people, not even a single tuft of grass.
Because of that I could spot the flying armored vehicle approaching from high above without much trouble.
I pushed myself up from the sports car, and Ciel sat inside with her seatbelt fastened, asleep. To be exact, she was more like in power-saving mode.
Eventually the armored vehicle landed near where we were. When the door, which had been tightly shut, opened, Vladimir Kharitonov appeared from inside with a peculiar chill.
“Ugh……”
Dust rose in small puffs as soon as his shoes touched the dirt ground. A little dust stuck to his shoes and Vladimir’s face crumpled. Having lived a life of privilege within the city, this natural environment was unbearably unpleasant for him.
“I didn’t expect you to come in person.”
“I didn’t trust you.”
Vladimir answered.
“Come to think of it, it wouldn’t suit my temperament to hope you returned safely with the ‘information.’”
“Like a pet hoping its owner would come back.”
“I didn’t put it that way.”
“Just joking.”
Tsk.
Vladimir clicked his tongue as he looked at the sports car. He seemed bothered by Ciel sleeping in the passenger seat.
“And that woman?”
“She’s a wizard supporting this operation.”
“That thing is an android, isn’t it?”
“She’s not an ordinary android.”
Ciel looked no different from a human at a glance, but she couldn’t deceive a high-level Adaptee like Vladimir Kharitonov.
“What on earth were you thinking bringing her?”
“She’s useful.”
“…Tch. Take care of her yourself.”
Vladimir fell silent, apparently not wanting to argue further with me.
“Let’s transfer to this vehicle for now.”
“All right.”
I woke Ciel and we transferred into the transport that Vladimir had arrived in. The sports car I had come in switched to autonomous driving and headed back toward the city.
The armored vehicle’s door closed, and Ciel and I sat across from Vladimir. As I rested my back against the seat, a strangely familiar feeling washed over me.
“This looks like a scene I’ve seen somewhere before.”
“You know it well. It’s exactly the same composition as when you crashed the armored vehicle last time.”
“You’re nitpicking.”
“You treat 15 billion credits like someone’s dog’s name.”
It had been a joke, but Vladimir attacked it ferociously. Ciel, unable to stand it, stepped between us to calm things down.
“P-please calm down, both of you—.”
“Who does a tin can think it is, butting in!”
“Vladimir.”
I spoke low to the one who was shouting.
“That one is mine.”
“……Now you protect and assist machines as well?”
“…….”
“Tch, fine.”
When I glared at him without another word, he clicked his tongue and set the armored vehicle in motion. The vehicle began hovering with a slightly heavier feel than the sports car.
The vehicle accelerated, and after a while Vladimir spoke.
“When we enter within the radar detection range—five hundred kilometers—I will activate the concealment field. After that, do not interfere with anything until we arrive, no matter what.”
“Understood.”
I quietly nodded, and the conversation stopped there. After a while an alert announced that we had entered within five hundred kilometers of the target, and Vladimir crossed his legs and murmured without a word.
“[Module Online.]”
An invisible energy concealment field enveloped the armored vehicle. It was a fairly sturdy, seamless barrier. Vladimir must have put considerable effort into manipulating the module so precisely.
“…….”
“…….”
But it wasn’t exactly the atmosphere for compliments, so we kept our mouths shut. We still had five hundred kilometers to the destination.
No matter how fast the flying armored vehicle was, it would easily take at least an hour to arrive.
Thinking that this chilly atmosphere would continue for that long made me shiver slightly, but not to the point I couldn’t bear.
We remained silent, praying that the vehicle we were in wouldn’t be picked up by the secret laboratory’s radar.
How long had it been like that?
Suddenly Vladimir shouted.
“Ah……!?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t speak to me!”
He jumped up from his seat and began berating someone near the driver’s area. It sounded like Russian; it was the first time I’d seen him use another language.
After returning to his seat with a flushed face, Vladimir sat down somewhat more restrained than before. He even fastened his seatbelt tightly.
I asked.
“What happened?”
“…….”
Vladimir seemed to hesitate, as if wondering whether he should say it or not. Then, with an expression that looked like his pride had been stung, he muttered.
“……We’ve been detected.”
A cold sweat ran down Vladimir’s cheek.
Then red warning lights inside began to blare loudly.
[Warning! Missile lock on!]
[Warning! Missile lock on!]
[Warning! Missile lock on!]
Hmm.
I activated my ocular sensors and looked out of the vehicle. Far off, something like a speck was streaking toward us, spitting sparks as it flew.
“Oh—so it’s a missile.”
A missile was flying toward us.
This was intense from the very beginning.