Chapter 66
Chapter 66
You heard me, check it right now.
***
A beat too late, the girl looked around and waved both her arms. This wasn’t that space passenger ship from back then—it was a laboratory.
“No, that’s not what I meant……”
Ray, smiling faintly, looked back and forth between Ga-on and the girl. There was no way she could have missed this strange tension in the air.
“Did you two know each other?”
***
Ray arranged some time for the two of us to be alone. I wanted to say it was unnecessary consideration, but seeing the girl’s face, which looked full of things she wanted to say, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse outright.
In the end, I had to move to the walking trail set up behind the research institute.
Sitting on the bench, the girl pushed back her hood.
At that moment, an intense scent burst forth.
It was like standing in the heart of a mountain forest.
It felt as if both body and mind were settling down.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Fetish.”
Fetish.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I tapped my chin for a moment. Her choice of words was that outrageous.
“That’s… me you’re talking about?”
“Who else would it be? You lack delicacy, you know. Delicacy. Even though you know how much effort I put in.”
“In what?”
“That right there—that’s what I mean by lacking delicacy!”
I let out a small laugh and sat down beside her.
“Ah, right. I’ll apologize for calling you phytoncide. But it’s a nickname that suits you.”
“I’m not phytoncide. My name is Noah Lee. Got it?”
Raising her index finger, the girl strongly asserted herself as if she were truly offended.
“Sure.”
I said I understood, not that I would call her that.
“And you, mister?”
“I’m not someone important enough for you to know.”
“Then I’ll take that as you agreeing to be called Mr. Fetish……”
“Baek Ga-on.”
With a helpless shrug, I gave in and answered.
“See? Isn’t it so much better when you’re honest?”
Only after I’d confessed my contact information and address as well was I finally freed from Noah’s nagging.
“You came here because of Professor Ray’s request, right?”
In Noah’s eyes, my abilities were beyond the heavens.
I just didn’t have fame yet—once I did, she thought it would spread in an instant. And sure enough, hadn’t I already grown enough to receive a personal request from Ray?
“Professor Preston didn’t really die in an ordinary accident, did he?”
At her bold question, I answered with silence. I couldn’t reveal details of a request to someone unrelated.
Since she hadn’t expected an answer anyway, Noah let out a sigh and began to ramble.
“Professor Preston shouldn’t have gone like that.”
“You must’ve known him well?”
“I only got into this school because of him.”
“Come to think of it, you said you’d carry on Professor Preston’s will. At your age, no less.”
My eyes narrowed.
Despite her young age, Noah was talented enough to breach the security of a space passenger ship.
But now that I saw her like this, it seemed her achievements as a professor far surpassed her skills as a Tuner.
“I happened to earn the relevant degree as well.”
“If you don’t mind, can I ask what Professor Preston left behind?”
“The last thing he researched was a biochip—an organic processor. It’s a material similar to a room-temperature superconductor.”
It was a topic I had also heard about from Owen Cummings.
Superconductors.
They referred to materials whose electrical resistance approached zero, resulting in no power loss. In other words, they allowed for the perfect use of electricity.
However, since they only manifested under special conditions, there were many limitations. Temperatures close to absolute zero had to be maintained. Depending on the application, the size and scale of the cooling apparatus inevitably grew larger.
But room-temperature superconductors were different. They could be used in ordinary environments.
That was the key.
The fact that they could be utilized anytime, anywhere without special conditions.
Since they could drastically increase the efficiency of all kinds of electronic devices, it was nothing short of revolutionary.
Especially—
“If you could design circuits that don’t generate heat even at room temperature, you could push android performance even further.”
“You know your stuff?”
I couldn’t exactly say I had learned it from the Mafia.
“That’s not all he prepared. In fact, Professor Preston’s main field was neuroscience. The real highlight was shortening computational processes using attention neural networks.”
Attention neural networks.
As the name suggested, it was a technology that observed and implemented every neural change occurring throughout the brain when a person focused.
And that—
“It means you can mimic human inspiration.”
“If it can be fully proven, it’s research that could make him the new father of artificial intelligence, following Isabella Lee.”
At that point, Noah let out an exclamation. After glancing around for a while, she leaned toward my ear.
“Could it be because of this? Interference from a megacorp, shocked by Professor Preston’s discovery?”
“As if that would happen.”
At her absurd imagination, I tapped her on the head.
Even if the research bore fruit, they could simply split the profits appropriately. Causing friction over it made no sense.
In the first place, it was X who had dealt with Preston.
An unidentified swordsman.
Unless I understood the principles behind his actions, I would inevitably fall behind.
That was why what truly interested me was the paper Preston had supposedly written.
“So, was the paper completed?”
“It’s still one step short.”
From Noah’s explanation, that was the only research Preston considered truly valuable. And yet he had obtained a vast sum of money. It was certain he had made a deal with someone.
And that deal must have been the fuse that brought in the assassin called X.
“Now I have to take over and complete it.”
“I’ll cheer you on.”
“Tha—”
Boom!
Noah couldn’t finish her words and curled up. An unexpected roar swept through the area. It was an explosion large enough to shake the ground for a moment.
Instinctively wrapping my arms around her, I turned my gaze.
The flames were rising from the outer section of the fifth floor of the Biotechnology Department’s annex research building.
It was the laboratory assigned to Preston.
***
When I ran into the lab, a groan escaped me. The interior was in shambles. Not only had the equipment been completely burned out, but even the floor had collapsed.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
Supporting Ray, who had collapsed in a corner, I spoke.
“Professor Ray?”
“I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. There was a sudden flash of light, and then this happened.”
Ray was rambling as if still in shock, but that was enough. It was obvious that the operation had focused on destroying the facility rather than harming people.
It was then that one of the assistants hesitated.
“Come to think of it……”
“Come to think of what?”
“Before Professor Ray arrived, someone from the control room came by. He said he had to inspect the system.”
“Inspect the system?”
At that moment, something came to mind.
“The cloud server.”
“Pardon?”
“You heard me, check it right now.”
At those words, the assistants who accessed the cloud server all turned pale.
“All the research data has been deleted.”
As expected.
Whether physically or digitally, it was clear they intended to completely erase every trace Preston had left behind.
“The one who did the inspection?”
“I only remember that he had a lot of beard.”
It would be more accurate to say he hadn’t paid close attention.
It wasn’t something I could blame the assistant for. Whoever it was must have taken sufficient precautions to move in and out of the research institute like that.
This was the work of a professional.
I rushed out of the lab, stopped on the skybridge, and looked out the window.
If my assumption was correct, the opponent would be confirming the results with his own eyes.
Sure enough, I felt a gaze from afar. At the man’s temple, there was a piece of metal protruding outward.
It was clear he had undergone Cybernetics surgery.
In a place filled with pure students, he was the only one emitting a foreign aura. There was no way I could miss him.
It’s him.
My instinct moved ahead of judgment.
Dropping straight down from the fifth floor, I landed and immediately broke into a sprint. As if he had noticed, he hurriedly fled.
Stepping off walls and vaulting over fences.
He didn’t hesitate to use a fence as a springboard to leap forward.
A series of parkour movements followed, as if he had practiced them thousands of times.
The place he headed for was the underground parking lot.
At first, I couldn’t understand why he chose an enclosed route instead of an open space, but by the time I followed him all the way, I realized his intention.
The lowest level of the underground parking lot.
In a corner where no one usually came, there was a door connected to the water and sewage system.
Seeing how he entered without hesitation, he must have designated it as his escape route from the very beginning.
The man’s choice was correct.
The water and sewage system, developed without proper planning, was not only tangled like a spiderweb, but sounds echoed through it like reverberations.
Of course, such tricks didn’t work on me.
What I relied on wasn’t sound, but vibration.
How long had I been running?
Without wandering, I followed the exact path the man had taken, and soon the surrounding scenery changed.
It was a sign that I had left Isabella Public University.
Perhaps he had stepped into a puddle along the way—faint but unfamiliar footprints continued beyond the shadows.
It was an extremely interesting clue.
At the end of it lay the Black Market.
And one managed by the Lucchesia Family at that.
I thought I understood his intention.
If it was within Mafia jurisdiction, then no matter how capable a fixer was, he wouldn’t be able to act rashly.
Does he want me to hesitate?
Unfortunately for him, he chose the wrong opponent.
Leaving skid marks across the concrete floor as I sprinted, I decided to take the initiative.
Now that I could guess his destination, there was no need to keep chasing him directly.
When I returned along a path I had used before, a familiar wall appeared. Normally, one would have to enter an access code into the control pad, but there was no need for that.
In the first place, I didn’t need one.
Bang!
I could simply break it.
Using the collapsing wall as a foothold, I leapt forward and immediately boarded the elevator. Reaching the Black Market in no time, I silenced my footsteps.
The sound of someone running could be felt beyond the wall.
A place surrounded by blast doors.
Since there was only a single path, confirming it with my eyes was impossible—but at this hour, at this moment, right now, there was no one else who would be in such a frantic rush.
Estimating the man’s position, I took out my new weapon from inside my coat.
An inner barrel formed by winding copper-colored coils, elegantly covered by an outer barrel.
The heavy barrel was closer to an electronic system composed of semiconductors and motors than to a mechanical one relying on springs and pistons.
That’s right—this wasn’t gunpowder-propelled. It was a Gauss weapon fired purely by magnetic acceleration.
Since it accelerated metal projectiles using electromagnetic force, there was no need to carry conventional bullets. All I needed were nail-shaped slugs.
As a result, the volume was drastically reduced—one magazine could hold as many as 100 slugs.
As long as the battery pack was charged, it could be used almost permanently. It was more than worthy of being called a next-generation firearm. However, due to yield issues, it had been scrapped—an unfortunate masterpiece.
The ultra-compact railgun ambitiously prepared by megacorp Jinjin, Qiongqi.
That was my new partner.