𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕𝟖: 𝐃𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 (4)
Euryale variants’ core alone, the Ycloquasar showed a sign of confusion for the first time.
➖This is. . .
In the first place, there was no Kreion in the largest Euryale variant’s core from 257 days ago.
He had been in another, ordinary Euryale’s core from 257 days ago.
🔷🔷🔷
This is a story between Kreion and Lopez 258 days ago.
The two transcended beings put their heads together and devised a plan.
“If all of them are already extinct, and the Ycloquasars have surrounded our perimeter, then there is nothing we can do.”
“What if it’s just a little bit earlier, when they are still engaged in a fierce battle?”
“We will provide the Ycloquasar’s information and technology to the Believer. Believer is beyond the sealed space.”
“We’ll fight again. . . Well, that would be the best case scenario.”
“The point is how we can find the Ycloquasar which is watching us somewhere in this sealed space.”
“That’s simple. We make them come to us if we can’t go to them.”
There was only one way to make them come.
“Do you mean to use bait?”
“It’s clear what those bastards want.”
Lopez pointed his finger back and forth between himself and Kreion.
“Those bastards who are trying to harvest everything in our heads. They don’t like anything else. So, if we prepare and cook the situation well, they will inevitably rush in.”
“They will rush in if we expose ourselves unguarded. However, they might even see that as our bait strategy.”
“How about putting on a play? You and I head to the end of the sealed space, acting as if we are exhausted from ‘time’ as they intended, and then we start an argument with each other.”
“Are you saying we should let things escalate into a violent conflict, creating a situation where the brain of one of the two will be destroyed?”
“That’s right.”
Kreion closed his eyes tightly. He thought about it for about 2 seconds, then opened his eyes again.
“That is a plan that greatly underestimates the Ycloquasar.”
“I know. No matter how well we create a situation that seems plausible, they will certainly suspect us. However, even if they suspect us, if a situation arises where the brain of one of the two of us is destroyed, they will have no choice but to intervene.”
“I agree with that idea. . . When they try to harvest, we must completely absorb the power of War Harvester in a way that they would never expect.”
Lopez recalled the moment when the Ycloquasar targeted him and blew up the Phase Assault Troops’ ships one by one.
“. . .If they harvest us, they will try to make physical contact.”
“What’s your basis for that?”
“They have already infiltrated my communication network and later even your wave network. They poured their voices into our heads, pressuring our minds and spirits with words. But that didn’t end the harvest. They insisted on destroying my ships and continued the battle.”
“If that had completed the harvest, there would have been no need for them to fight anymore.”
“That’s right. That’s why the Ycloquasar must clean up the fleet around us as much as possible and try to make physical contact when they harvest us.”
From the perspective of physical contact, the Chimeraz have powerful means of attack.
“We’ll infect them from the inside then. We’ll hide micro-sized Chimeraz bio-bombs in the Fractal bridge and my own body.”
“Are you volunteering to be the bait?”
One of them had to risk their life to be the bait. Lopez was the first to speak up, saying that he would be the bait.
“What will you do if you die in vain?”
“You watch over me.”
“You?”
“The people.”
Even in this situation, he asked him to protect humanity, the people, rather than himself, and smiled bitterly.
“And the machine and lifeform barrier is protecting our fleet from their transmission, but you have to control the barrier. In many ways, it’s right for me to be the bait.”
“Don’t make excuses.”
When Kreion glared at him like that, the smile disappeared from Lopez’s mouth.
“Excuses?”
“You’re looking for a reason to live, so you want to rest in death.”
Lopez chuckled at that.
“When did I say I was going to die? I’ll just lure them enough to let them harvest the source of infection, and then I’ll escape.”
“You must be ready to step into the gates of death without hesitation.”
“Don’t twist my words.”
“Then I’ll ask you a question from a different angle.”
“What?”
A terrifying question related to the Ycloquasar.
“When we used space as a weapon, they responded with even more powerful space. And when we used time as a weapon, they responded with even more powerful time. The fleet’s attacks, phase assault bombs, and Planet Weapon were all blocked in similar ways. The strategic means we have tried on them so far work only the first time, and they don’t work the second time.”
“. . . .”
“Therefore, ‘infection’ may no longer work on them. If infection doesn’t work, there is no way to steal and absorb their technology and information.”
“It’s impossible to hack. If infection doesn’t work. . . Well, is there any other way?”
Surprisingly, Kreion found another way.
“We have reached the stage where we must infect their ‘minds’, not their ‘bodies’.”
🔷🔷🔷
Lopez groaned inwardly.
‘As expected, infection doesn’t work. . .’
War Harvester survived the bio-bomb even though it was holding Fractal’s infected bridge.
Kreion’s voice shouted in the dark network.
➖Lopez. . .! You have to escape!
“No.”
Eventually, Lopez’s bridge was completely absorbed into War Harvester’s interior.
Crash!
The ceiling and walls were crumpled and torn like thin aluminum plates. Through the cracks, milky white fluids penetrated like greedy hands.
Thud! Thud. . .!
The artificial humans and humanoids inside the bridge pulled the trigger, but milky white fluids sprang out from the floor like tentacles, wrapping around and crushing them.
➖Get out of there right now! At this rate. . .
“Be quiet.”
Don’t say anything.
The plan to infect their bodies has failed.
‘We can’t let them find out about the second plan.’
Kreion’s voice in the dark network fell silent as if it understood.
Crack!
Finally, the milky white fluid’s grip wrapped around Lopez’s arms and legs, clinging to his entire body except his head.
【Administrator. Did you really have to do this?】
Crackle, crackle. . .!
As if cooking food, the parts of Lopez’s body except his head began to melt away. It was getting rid of unnecessary flesh.
‘Transcendencer.’
【I regret it.】
‘Thank you for being with me.’
【I was supposed to stop Administrator’s Chimeraz project.】
‘Don’t say that.’
【I resent myself for not being able to foresee such a future. And I resent Administrator for wanting to die for the sake of other beings.】
He gave the order with his mind becoming hazy due to lack of blood.
‘If we win. . . You become a part of the Believer.’
【Why should I do that?】
‘It’s my last order.’
【I am an artificial intelligence. Without Administrator, I am. . .】
‘That’s why I told you to become a Believer. You have become a transcended being like us.’
【I repeat, I am an artificial intelligence. I do not ‘exist’.】
‘You are an artificial intelligence, but you have thoughts and feelings.’
【I find it difficult to understand.】
‘That is proof that you exist.’
Thud. . .!
Eventually, Lopez’s head was enveloped in the milky white fluid. His vision was filled with white, turning everything pitch black.
‘This is as far as I can see my end. . .’
He felt the Ycloquasar’s mind frantically digging into his own mind on the verge of death.
‘Kreion. You may have forgiven me, but the Chimeraz didn’t. . . I could tell just by looking at the gazes of their leaders staring at me. . .’
That’s why.
“This is right.”
This is right.
‘If I die like this, your race will. . . Sincerely become one with the people.’
By giving up this tenacious life, the Ycloquasar could be caught and the future of the people could be secured if they won. That’s why.
“This is enough. . .”
The mind, infected by being connected to Kreion’s wave network, even to his brain.
It was a bomb in the mental realm that could not be simply defined by words such as hacking, infection, or brainwashing.
“This is a really good trade-off.”
So the Ycloquasar didn’t just swallow the bait.
They swallowed the ‘poison’ disguised as bait.
🔷🔷🔷
Before the intergalactic war with the Lomro-or, Kreion and the Believer spoke in the conference room.
“I will give you a piece of advice. If you master the transcendence, you will be able to use the fluctuations as a means of mental attack.”
“Does that mean the Believers possess mental abilities?”
🔷🔷🔷
In this universe, a mental attack was not a convenient means that could be easily carried out by recognizing the opponent like superpowers or magic.
If the Believers were mentally superior to the Ycloquasar, they would have attacked the Ycloquasar using mental means. However, the Believers were unable to do so.
On the other hand, Kreion was able to attack the Ycloquasar using mental means after succeeding through a complicated plan and difficult procedures.
What that meant was,
At least at this moment, Kreion was equal to or superior to the Ycloquasar in terms of mentality. It also meant that he had surpassed the mentality of the Believer.
Kreion had hoped that Lopez would end up being a bait.
But he eventually realized that he had become toxic.
‘Knowing that you’ll die if it doesn’t work. . . . ‘
He had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this, but in the end, he had to go this far against the Ycloquasar.
➖What is this. . . . . .?
The Ycloquasar aimed at Euryale, the largest mutant, which was Lopez’s next target, but Kreion wasn’t there,
The Ycloquasar’s mind, which was momentarily focused on that part, was overwhelmed with a sense of bewilderment,
And that tiny waver in its mind was exposed as a vulnerability.
At that moment, Kreion realized that the location of Lopez’s mind was the location of the Ycloquasar’s mind.
➖Kreion. . . .
➖Was this your real plan. . .?
The Ycloquasar’s mind was located in the center of the War Harvester. The antimatter power source the size of the inner core was their brain and server.
➖Wait, Kreion! Let’s do this.
➖We will accept you as a part of us. We will make Lopez’s mind a part of us and exist together. Then we can all be one.
There was no way that Kreion would be stopped by such words.
‘I will kill you all.’
➖We don’t have to fight each other. I didn’t suggest this to any other members of the Lanikea Supercluster.
➖You can be the Ycloquasar too. If you want, I’ll make all your children a part of us. It would be a pretty good trade for all of you.
‘The trade is already over. You little b*stards.’
The War Harvester couldn’t move from its spot. It couldn’t even deploy the gravitational field that had been blocking the Chimeraz fleet and the AI fleet’s attacks.
Then the Transcendencer following Lopez sent a mechanical voice in a low voice.
➖Kreion-nim. I want revenge. I will follow you as the administrator until the Ycloquasar is extinct.
The AI fleet, which had lost its administrator, restrained the War Harvester with a gravitational field.
The War Harvester, cornered, tried to self-destruct, but Kreion stopped their self-destruction.
‘The Caycaconick. . . . Conda. . . . Conda bloodline. . . . ‘
➖Kreion. You still have a chance to choose.
‘Galgaras, the Vtol, the Reptured, Teptorm, the Drataiden, Controller, the Quakacor, Queen Karcon. . . . ‘
➖You will regret rejecting our offer.
‘Phlegeth, Berne, Gorrm, Drexus, Pyisa, Jiannettera, Equillocke, Lopez. . .!’
The Ycloquasar’s mind inside the War Harvester was gradually being consumed by Kreion’s mind.
“You guys had abilities superior to any group, more than enough abilities that you didn’t have to do this. . .!”
The pure white surface of the War Harvester is gradually turning black like that of Xenotera.
“You slaughtered the intelligent beings of this universe like they were less than livestock without even talking to them. . .! You killed us and destroyed everyone’s planets and stars. . .!”
The entire surface of the War Harvester turned black. As the AI fleet began its orbital bombardment, the defenseless surface shattered, and Shockphonia and Drop Cysts rushed back into the shattered wound.
“You intended to continue doing such things now and in the future, so how long did you think you could live safely?”
Hit by both the inside and the outside, the War Harvester’s body, which formed its weapon, was eventually infected by the Chimeraz.
The Ycloquasar tried to escape by self-destructing to avoid the infection, but Kreion didn’t allow it.
So the Ycloquasar chose ‘suicide.’ It was to kill their own minds as quickly as possible before their minds were completely transferred to Kreion.
Then their minds came into Kreion’s hands, and their strangely pure white bodies were infected by the Chimeraz and became the Chimeraz’s.
Kreion, in the heart of Euryale, lost strength in his legs.
Thud!
He braced himself with his two hands on the floor and gasped for breath.
His head felt like it was going to burst.
It was much more painful than the moment when he used his mental power to control the legion beyond his limit when he fought the Vehlpciaarct and handled the bio-barrier. His head was so painful that he could forget all the loss, sorrow, and anger he had been holding onto until now because it felt like bugs of other species were swarming in his head.
“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. . .!”
Kreion grabbed his head and screamed over and over. It was an unbearable pain, as if every nerve cell in his body was being stabbed with a needle and as if hot tar was being poured into every crease in his head.
“Ugh. . .! Uhhhhhhhhhh. . .! Uhhhhhhhhhh. . .!”
Too much information was pouring in, and he wanted to pull out the brain behind his eyeballs and throw it into space. Or, he wanted to open his skull and scratch his brain with his fingernails.
But I had to digest it.
I had to understand it.
If my brain vomited, I would have to lick up all the vomit and swallow it.
“Uhhhhhhhhhh! Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. . .!!!”
➖Kreion-nim. In case you need help. . .
“Shut up. . .! Godd*mmit, shut up!”
➖I’m sorry.
The bio-armor that was one with his body suddenly trembled and fell off. The muscles all over his naked body contracted so hideously as if he was being electrocuted, revealing abnormal blood vessels.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
He closed his eyes, closed his eardrums, and forcibly blocked out all the sensations in his body. Even if he was thrown into a void where he couldn’t feel anything without a body and focused only on his mind, it was a hell in his head that was difficult to endure.
Saliva dripped and tears flowed. His body, which had never felt the cold of the deep universe, trembled like crazy, and his body, which didn’t feel hot even when a nuclear storm hit his skin, complained of burning pain.
“Ah. . . . Aaaaaaa. . . .”
Like that, he screamed and moaned like a wreck for about 3 hours.
“Huff. . . . . . . Huff. . . .”
Only at the end of it was his mind, which had finished digesting, able to understand the Ycloquasar.