novelraw Chapter 202
Chapter 202
Chapter 202
“B-Benedict killed Benedict?”
Ciel asked, almost running to keep up with me as I strode quickly down the corridor. Her breathing sounded ragged, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the leisure to slow my pace for her.
Without slowing down, I replied.
“Just so you know, it wasn’t suicide.”
“Murder, then… Was it a clone?”
“……”
Even I hadn’t fully organized my thoughts yet. There was simply too little information to work with.
There’s no way I could fully grasp the truth of an insane experiment that’s been going on for over a century—just by skimming through a few documents, especially when I’m no expert.
So this was only a theory.
A hypothesis I built based on the knowledge I possessed as a “Reader,” combined with the hints I found in the research materials and the memories I experienced here.
But reaching that conclusion required going through several steps.
“First. What’s the name of this experimental city again?”
“Honeycomb City.”
“And the meaning of ‘honeycomb’?”
“Honeycomb… a beehive.”
“Right. Bees produce a special substance called ‘royal jelly’ to raise a queen bee. A larva that continues consuming royal jelly beyond a certain point develops reproductive capability and matures into a queen. Doesn’t that sound… familiar?”
“Ah…!”
Alpha, Beta, Gamma.
The same kind of thing happened in this experimental city called Honeycomb City. Here, scientists applied electrical stimuli and drug experiments to embryos and fetuses, selecting only the superior subjects to grant them the ruling rank — the “Alpha Class.”
To create the “perfect human.”
“What the bees produce is a ‘queen bee,’ but what’s being produced here is the ‘perfect human.’ In other words, their goal is to recreate the ‘mythic human’ based on the genetic data of the ‘evolutionary human.’”
The mythic human.
Humans before the original sin.
Only such beings could find [Paradise].
But there was a fatal flaw in that.
“A flaw?”
“Who decides what a perfect human is?”
“Well, the Director, I suppose?”
“Then is Benedict a transcendent being? Does he have the insight of one? Can he define and select those closest to the ‘Primordial Human’ using the same criteria as a creator?”
“N-no, that’s… ah!”
“Right. He was merely a ‘better human.’”
Honeycomb City had three classes.
Alpha, Beta, Gamma.
Beta outranked Gamma.
Alpha outranked Beta.
And above Alpha—someone even higher existed.
“In this city, they didn’t dispose of obvious ‘failures’ like the Betas or Gammas. There was only one reason for that. The concept of hierarchy had to exist—for there to be something to measure superiority against.”
You needed to know what was higher to desire ascent. You needed to see what was lower to avoid falling.
“And among the Alphas, some exceptional ones would surely have uncovered the truth of this experimental facility. They would have realized that they weren’t survivors of the catastrophe from 200 years ago—merely test subjects.”
Then what would happen once they learned the truth?
What would someone do if they discovered that there was someone above Alpha, Beta, and Gamma—someone arbitrarily judging and ranking them?
They’d become curious.
They’d dig into who that person was.
And perhaps, eventually, they’d succeed in uncovering the Administrator’s identity.
Then, upon facing that so-called “Transcendent,” they might come to believe that being wasn’t all that different from themselves—maybe even inferior.
And then they’d start thinking…
Maybe it was fine to take that place.
Hence the conclusion I reached.
“All of this—every step of it—is part of the experiment.”
I continued speaking.
“The humans of Eden were free from disease, hunger, pain, and all negative emotions—most of all, death itself. The ultimate goal of the [Paradise Verification Project] is to recreate that state of being through biotechnology.”
“R-right?”
“And God granted such humans the right to name all animals—authority to rule over all creation. So, could a mere ‘evolutionary human’ ever control such transcendent beings?”
“……!”
“The [Paradise Verification Project] isn’t limited to this Honeycomb City.”
This was nothing more than a breeding ground.
A place to test worthiness.
And that worthiness was—
“The right to rule the entire world.”
It referred to the superhuman ability to transcend the small world of Honeycomb City and dominate it—to go beyond, to rule over New Valhalla City under Chairman Stingray, and ultimately, the whole planet.
“I told you before, Benedict, Kallia, and I were byproducts born from the process of this experiment.”
“Yes, that was in the records…”
“We were likely the most outstanding subjects to emerge from centuries of experimentation. That’s why we were acknowledged as Chairman Drake Stingray’s ‘children,’ granted the right to inherit his empire. But Benedict… he disappointed the Chairman.”
In other words, his qualification was revoked.
He’d been sent back into this cage under the sweet pretense of “one last chance.”
“He must have worked tirelessly for the Chairman, not knowing a thing. His talents were exceptional, after all—he likely succeeded in accelerating the once-stagnant project.”
And in the end, Benedict did it.
He created something greater than himself.
And as a result—
“He was dethroned by his own creation.”
[That’s correct, brother.]
At that moment.
A voice echoed from somewhere.
Unfamiliar—yet strangely familiar.
“…Benedict.”
Had he been eavesdropping on our conversation?
There hadn’t been any detectable devices nearby.
But it seemed I was wrong. Soon, a holographic projection appeared before us. A man who looked eerily similar to Benedict—but whom I’d never seen before—greeted me.
[It’s been a while, brother.]
“It’s our first time meeting, isn’t it?”
[Perhaps. Or perhaps not.]
“I see. So, you inherited his memories.”
[Oh… sharp as ever, I see.]
Benedict marveled.
[I didn’t expect you to reach the correct answer so quickly. Indeed, I can see now why the Benedict before ‘me’ feared you so much. It’s a pain having inherited even the useless stuff.]
It didn’t seem like a lie.
His voice trembled oddly.
It was a clear sign that he was afraid of me. I observed that and asked.
“Did you meet Drake Stingray?”
[If you mean Father, I did not meet him in person. Instead, shortly after I reached this place, he contacted me first.]
“What did he say?”
[He asked whether I could defeat you.]
“And?”
[I answered that I could. Then he gave me some advice. He told me it would be better to inherit the previous Benedict’s memories, and he warned me to be careful of you. He even said this.]
Before Benedict spoke, I already knew what he would say.
Chairman Drake Stingray had tested me and said this.
“From now on, you are my son.”
[From now on, you are my son.]
Our voices overlapped.
Well, it was obvious.
For Chairman Stingray, the contents of what he called “children” probably didn’t matter much.
Whether a transmigrator like me took Aaron Stingray’s body, or a new ‘Alpha’ individual inherited Benedict’s memories and pretended to be him.
“So, what will you do?”
[The obvious. I will kill you and gain the qualification to leave this cage. And someday I will kill the ‘Emperor’ as well and take that place.]
Chairman Stingray probably hoped for such a scenario too. No matter how many times I thought about it, it was an undeniably mad idea.
“Negotiating with you seems difficult.”
[Don’t say that if you never intended to negotiate in the first place. Brother, you want to warn Chairman Stingray by destroying this facility, right?]
“That’s true.”
[And there can only be one queen bee. If multiple princess bees are born at the same time, they bite and fight until one dies.]
“You talk a lot. Trying to buy time?”
[…….]
Benedict’s mouth twisted faintly as if I had hit a sore spot.
If he had been confident he could definitely beat me, he should have played his strongest card from the start instead of feeling things out halfheartedly.
Leaving documents in the Director’s office, or appearing as a hologram to have this conversation—those were likely attempts to buy even a second.
“Is your weapon not finished yet?”
[……Well, hiding it would be pointless. As you said. I admit it. My hand is still somewhat lacking.]
Benedict nodded at my words.
[But that doesn’t mean I’m admitting defeat. There are plenty of ways to stall. It seems you’ve noticed a few things too.]
“You mean preventing me from blowing the whole facility up? Not a bad move.”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“[Mystics].”
I answered.
“When we arrived here, a massive defense system greeted us. Having such a system meant the facility was close to the realm of [Mystics]. And if I were to tear this facility down entirely….”
[You mean destroying even those. Correct. It would mean there’d be no way to stop the nearby monsters. And if, while destroying the facility, drugs filling the air of a million-population city leaked out and affected the monsters?]
“No one could predict what would happen.”
No one could forecast the outcome.
Of course, Ciel and I could be immune to the drug because we had the [Poison Immunity] module and an android body respectively, but no one knew what effect the drugs leaked from the destroyed city would have on the [Mystics] outside.
Perhaps they would have no effect, or on the contrary, the deaths of a million test subjects might not be the end of it.
[I thought you might not know, so I wanted to warn you, but that was unnecessary. Shall we get started then? If you wish, we can continue this conversation more, but….]
He didn’t seem inclined to continue.
With that, Benedict’s hologram image vanished.
Kugugugugugung.
At that moment, an unknown vibration shook the floor. The corridor’s structure we had been walking through began to shift, and a large gate suddenly appeared ahead of us.
Wiiiiiiiing!
The gate opened and someone appeared from the other side. It was an opponent I hadn’t expected.
“…Vladimir?”
Vladimir stood on the other side.
For some reason his appearance had changed considerably. Beside him stood a woman I had never seen and a child with a frightened face.
Damn it.
I immediately realized what Benedict was thinking. I quickly deployed the Cloud Spider to prevent them from coming out of the gate.
Only then did Vladimir seem to notice my presence.
“Aaron… Stingray…?”
Vladimir was bewildered.
Then, unexpectedly, the floor beside him opened and an unidentified case rose up. The case opened, releasing thick smoke, and small chips appeared.
“Combat modules…?”
[Nice to meet you, Mr. Vladimir. I am Benedict, the manager of this laboratory.]
Benedict spoke gently to the startled Vladimir.
[I will give you a chance.]
“A c-chance?”
[If you do me this favor, I will let you take your family out. The condition is simple. Equip those combat modules and knock down Aaron Stingray. They are groundbreaking modules created for you by that genius girl.]
“W-what are you saying…!”
[Are you still drugged? You’re slow to understand. You only have to do the thing you’ve long desired, aren’t you?]
Then Benedict said with a laugh in his voice.
[You understood the gist, right? From now on, kill each other.]