Chapter 513
Chapter 513
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 513
Chapter Title: Mad Scientist (2)
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The secret laboratory in the pocket dimension continued its routine day, just as always.
The anomaly that shattered the everyday calm arrived abruptly, at a moment no one could have foreseen.
Thud—
A heavy thud echoed softly from the central control room at the heart of the laboratory, where the Master AI resided.
It was the vibration caused by the weight of a metallic figure that had appeared out of nowhere, as if a film reel had been spliced together wrong.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Intruder detected— Intruder detected—! Startled by the sudden intruder? Not the emotionless Master AI. It reacted without a moment's delay.
Sirens blared from all directions as emergency lights flashed wildly.
"Haha, this is noisy as hell."
But such countermeasures did little to resolve the situation.
The Master AI's domain was the heart of the secret lab, not equipped for repelling enemies from the start.
Responding to this unforeseen emergency would inevitably take time—
"Could you quiet down? It'll be over soon!"
—but Hesperon, the intruder in the Titan suit, had no intention of waiting patiently.
Clank— Hiss—!
> Pop-pop-pop!
Panels across the suit opened, unleashing cables that shot out in every direction.
In the blink of an eye, the cables smashed through nearby machinery and burrowed inside. Exposed wires at their tips intertwined with circuits one by one, linking the AI system directly to the Titan.
It happened in seconds, as if prepared in advance the moment he appeared.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Hacking attempt detected. Emergency response protocol activated. Of course, the Master AI didn't just sit idle.
This superintelligence, sourced from a future civilization and meticulously refined by the Doctor, was a monster ranking in the top tier even by the standards of the entire civilized world.
Hacking via direct connection? Defending and counterattacking was child's play for it.
...Under normal circumstances.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Firewall deployed to maximum. Interception system de... de... de, activating. Bypass route set... canceled. Retrying... canceled. The problem?
His opponent was no ordinary foe either.
The initial fierce exchange lasted only a few minutes.
From some turning point, the security systems began falling one by one.
Soon enough, victory was decided in an instant.
'Whoa, this is impressive.'
Hesperon, controlling the Titan, clicked his tongue in admiration.
Messages scrolling across his mechanical right eye were dizzying, but the smoother-than-expected progress filled him with satisfaction.
'The combo of "Deus Ex Machina" and curses. First time using it properly like this.'
The pitch-black curse energy, an ability least associated with machine civilizations, slithered along the cables into the AI's circuits like a virus.
Once errors spread throughout the system, it chained into Deus Ex Machina—the skill he'd gained from defeating the Doctor in their clash.
'Overwhelming superiority over all elements from technological civilizations, huh? True to its name.'
The synergy of those two powers not only reversed the disadvantage but crushed the board entirely.
Using the power gained from the Doctor to devour his lair? Without it, he'd barely bought time...
'Now things are different.'
He could feel it.
As the Master AI's corruption progressed, control over the lab's facilities rose sharply.
And that meant...
Whirr— Thud-thud-thud!
"Kuh! What? The Mother AI already...!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Settings changed. Lethal mode activated. "Critical anomaly detected. Master AI presumed corrupted due to series of events. All units, beware terminals connected to central control system."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Access privileges reset. Eliminating impurities within the facility. Boom—!
Noisy explosions echoed from outside the central control room where he stood.
Infighting had broken out among the security personnel rushing in response to the Master AI's alarms.
"Ahaha! This is awesome!"
Hesperon grinned brightly and manipulated something. The front panel split into sections, displaying live feeds from inside the lab.
Chaos roiled across the screens—far from the peace of moments ago. He smirked.
"Phase one: exceeded expectations. Next up..."
The commotion here would have reached the Dungeon Master, the Doctor, immediately.
No matter how busy, he'd come running.
Hesperon selected and enlarged one of the split screens.
"Time to cast the bait."
The screen showed a space most familiar to him, after spending the longest time there in the secret lab.
Boom! Bang—!
Beyond the screen, a fixture installed for smooth operations shattered, fragments scattering everywhere.
It was triggered by a slight movement from the being quietly sealed at its center.
A nearly 4-meter-tall monster blending machine and flesh in a demonic form.
Mecha Demon, for short.
The Doctor's prized masterpiece had sensed the anomaly in its home base and finally opened its eyes.
A pair of glaring red beams shot from its eyes as the demon bared its mouth, packed with vicious fangs.
The next moment.
💥 ROAR! 💥 [Graaaaaah——!] The roar came not just through the speakers—it shook the entire pocket dimension, ignoring distance and soundproofing, a bellow of pure rage.
ZZzt—
> Bang! Hiss—
The moment the spiritual cry erupted, noise flooded every panel in the central control room. Small blasts and black smoke erupted from spots here and there.
The external commotions caused by the corrupted Master AI halted abruptly, a strange tension blanketing the entire secret lab.
"Mm."
Hesperon furrowed his brow slightly with a grunt.
The Titan protected him from most of the shock, but the lingering waves were no joke.
And the hostility within them was aimed at...
'Quite the distance, yet it sensed me. Didn't expect such rational judgment.'
A domineering aura that would crush anything living or not in its path.
How many in the world could stand unfazed against that malice directed at them?
"...Looks like the homeowner returned early from his outing."
At least he was proudly one of the exceptions.
Besides, he wasn't the one meant to face that monster anyway.
'Faster reaction than expected. Must be scared shitless.'
Breathing lightly to steady himself, he ignored the demonic pressure coiling around him and focused on the intensifying system control struggle.
"Not that it's too late already."
To return the "gift" he'd received several times over.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Kahahaha!"
A refreshing burst of laughter.
The demon, eyes just opened, slowly shifted its gaze to the side.
"Whoa~ Fancy seeing a familiar face. Never thought I'd run into you again like this."
The tone brimmed with delight, like reuniting with a friend.
But the Mecha Demon instinctively sensed it—the thick madness clinging inescapably.
Whoosh—
The Mecha Demon tensed for battle in an instant, ferocious aura surging from its entire body.
Surrounding equipment didn't just explode—it crumbled to dust. Yet the demon, focused solely on its foe, ignored the destruction.
[Grrrrr...]
A low growl escaped the crouching demon's maw, like a beast facing its predator, brimming with wariness.
In response, the bare-chested, muscular man with a lion mask—Harley—approached with a sly grin, sauntering casually.
"Oh ho? As expected, inheriting part of the main body's True Karma means those fun memories with me are flooding back, huh?"
The Southeast Asian battle where the Executioner had died.
Harley, who played a key role in that death, cracked his neck and strode forward confidently.
"Pfft! Heard about it. That Doctor guy made you to hunt me down?"
Using the killer's remnants to catch the killer? What a sick hobby.
Of course, their fight had been interrupted externally, so technically, it was a draw on record.
"Then how about we settle who's superior once and for all!"
Crunch! Crack!
Bones and muscles twisted with sounds of expansion.
In moments, he'd grown enough to look slightly down at the Mecha Demon, a feral smile on his lips.
"Though the answer's already obvious!"
Harley's thick thighs swelled dramatically.
The next instant.
————!
With a deafening boom and shockwaves sweeping everywhere, the lab's partition walls—designed as "indestructible barriers"—shattered in unison.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Immense shockwaves laden with energy battered relentlessly, shaking the entire secret laboratory.
Boom—! Crash—!
Amid collisions like the world collapsing, the Doctor surveyed the wrecked lab and gnashed his teeth.
His fluorescent yellow eyes blazed with uncontainable fury and madness dripping visibly.
'How? What trick did they use?'
He couldn't comprehend it.
This pocket dimension housing his lab was inaccessible by normal means.
His permission was required for entry, and even breaching dimensional walls meant climbing layer by layer from the dungeon entrance.
Yet.
'How did they bypass everything and infiltrate the lab!'
Impossible.
The very "laws" of this dimension were structured that way from the start.
Ignoring them meant...
'Whew, root cause later. First, damage control.'
The Doctor took a deep breath to calm his rising agitation.
A true intellectual stays objective and solution-oriented in any crisis.
To douse the immediate fires, he accessed the Master AI's backdoor via the terminal in his prosthetic body.
Regain lab control first, then act. That was the plan to wrap things up quickly.
But.
"Hm?"
Things didn't go his way to the end.
His eyebrow twitched.
"...You again."
The Masquerade hacker he'd indirectly clashed with once.
He'd suspected as much.
Only someone of that caliber could hack the Master AI.
What the Doctor hadn't anticipated was...
'I'm losing? To this body?'
The opponent's abilities had grown monstrously since their first encounter—beyond comparison.
Even with his top-tier trait Deus Ex Machina, he couldn't seize the advantage despite going all out.
"How?"
How many times had he uttered that doubt?
A hollow laugh escaped as he snarled fiercely.
He had excuses, of course.
Unlike him, reliant on a built-in terminal, the foe had full control of central facilities. Those bizarre curses caused constant errors too.
But even accounting for all that.
The decisive reason was one.
'Why does that bastard have "Deus Ex Machina"?'
The enemy had newly acquired it— the exact same power he'd uniquely possessed until recently.
That unbelievable fact muddled his mind.
'A returner awakened a new skill on Earth? That finicky one, no less?'
Absurd.
Yet it happened.
Thus, one conclusion.
'...Hah, suspected as much. Still getting heavy system support, huh? Very generously.'
Their close fight had likely triggered some awakening.
Eyes closed to soothe his bitterness, he breathed deeply.
Sorting gathered intel, he sought solutions swiftly.
But in this situation, only one option remained.
"Tch, no choice then."
Support from the Oath of Reverse Heaven had been requested long ago.
Given his position, aid wouldn't take long—but he couldn't rely solely on it.
His home was being trashed live, and his "child," nurtured with care, was at risk. He couldn't just watch.
They might flee when backup arrived.
"Fine. Since it's come to this, how about a mid-term checkup on how well our Mecha Demon has grown?"
Decision made, no hesitation.
In adversity, only absolute force breaks through.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Midway through their heated brawl.
"Huh?"
A gut instinct halted Harley's movements abruptly.
The Mecha Demon froze too.
Sudden silence descended.
[Hoo.]
Breaking the eerie quiet.
💥 ROAR! 💥 [Aaaah—! Perfect. Simply perfect!] The very familiar tone leaked from the shuddering Mecha Demon's mouth.