Upon arriving in the outskirts, Nouel strolled around, noting the stark contrast in the buildings’ conditions compared to the city center.“So filthy and repulsive. This place is more suitable for waste disposal than being a settlement for the residents,” Nouel commented directly, murmuring quietly as he observed the surroundings.“AI, provide me with visuals and statistics for this area.”Upon issuing the command, a holographic screen appeared, displaying everything Nouel had requested.Nouel examined the city’s security system through the holographic screen, revealing something not shown in Deliphora’s city center. It appeared that only the central area was protected, supporting his suspicion. In the outskirts, security or the personnel monitoring the city’s tranquility wasn’t a top priority. The distressing conditions of the inhabitants were seemingly neglected.The AI assistant scanned and revealed that more crimes occurred in the outskirts than in the city center. This was due to
The cyborgs had already surrounded Nouel, brandishing sharp weapons and firearms that, in reality, were considered junk by Nouel. Hence, he grinned mockingly as he saw these weapons being used to intimidate him.The smile he displayed infuriated the cyborgs, making them angry for feeling underestimated. The leader of the group glared at Nouel with rage and spoke harshly, “I truly hate that kind of smile. You will regret it.”Nouel waved his hand dismissively, maintaining an indifferent and unconcerned gaze. Then he retorted, “Quit talking and come attack me.”“Die!” shouted one of the men leading the thugs, thrusting a short sword directly at Nouel’s chest. Seeing the slow and feeble attack, Nouel made no effort to evade. The short sword stabbed into his armor, and instead of penetrating his body, it shattered as if made of glass.“What? How is this possible?” asked the startled man. Of course, the other cyborgs were equally surprised, it was certain that this was the first time they
For several minutes, Nouel wandered through the slum area incognito, activating a hologram projection. He arrived at the river area, where wastewater threatened to flood the settlement. Although the river was about twenty meters wide, the high volume of wastewater made it clear that it was nearing the riverbank.This condition caught Nouel’s attention as he approached the river. For some reason, the waste wasn’t directed through underground pipes, instead, it flowed through the river, heading outside the city.“Wow, isn’t this really bad?” Nouel murmured, observing the rising water level. His glasses scanned the liquid waste.“Boss, our scan indicates that the city is likely to be flooded by this waste,” the AI assistant reported after scanning and analyzing.“I know, you don’t need to explain that,” Nouel said curtly.Nouel then surveyed the surroundings, walking closer to the river with waste. Such scenes were commonplace. For some unknown reason, the authorities chose the river as
Nouel was not at all surprised when more than twenty cyborgs arrived at the location. He remained calm, as if welcoming their arrival with his expression.In response to the arrival of the men confirmed to be cyborgs, Nouel quipped, “Well, it’s amusing to see someone admitting they’re foolish.”“That’s not what I meant, damn it, you’re really asking for trouble,” the cyborg man immediately got angry with what Nouel said. He had just arrived, and he was already mocked, making him furious.“That’s what you said earlier, claiming to be foolish.” Nouel teased the man even more.“You bastard.” The leader of the group gritted his teeth, clenching his right hand made of machinery.Nouel himself reacted casually, not responding to the stranger’s actions.“By the way, why did you come here? This isn’t a party for fools and an ugly face contest,” Nouel said casually, mocking the cyborgs who had just arrived. Even though their numbers exceeded twenty, he remained relaxed. He had faced many rebel
The thugs or, more precisely, the cyborg thugs had various branches and levels. This time, Nouel wanted to go directly to their headquarters, where the main and most significant boss resided. He aimed to settle everything so that no more groups of people would disturb his peaceful time.Having successfully confronted and forced the previous cyborg leader, Nouel was guided to the central headquarters where the top leader of these cyborgs was located. As expected by Nouel, the place was not much different from the buildings standing along the city wall area – messy and uncared for.Inside a relatively large hall, some ordinary residents seemed to be waiting in line. One person was kneeling in front of a man not wearing a shirt, with his upper body visibly filled with machine components, clearly portraying the appearance of a cyborg.“What kind of boring drama is this?” Nouel commented in his mind, expressing his opinion on the ongoing scene.“Boss, we detected some dangerous firearms. W
Seeing that only one opponent remained, the cyborg leader, Nouel immediately glared at the man.“Come on, I’m tired of small talk with you,” Nouel challenged the top leader.“Don’t be arrogant just because you’ve managed to bring down my people,” said the man, still confident in his ability to win despite witnessing his opponent’s skills. He pulled out a machine gun capable of firing many bullets at once. Nouel smirked mockingly.“Feel free to smile, this is your last day in this world.” Proudly, the man activated the machine gun, firing large bullets rapidly. Nouel, activating his shield, walked calmly despite many bullets hitting the shield.The machine gun could shoot fast and powerful bullets, capable of penetrating concrete or metal walls with a certain thickness. However, it turned out the weapon wasn’t strong enough to penetrate Nouel’s created shield.“Damn, how does he have such a strong shield?”Simultaneously, the cyborgs Nouel had previously knocked down began to rise one
Nouel swiftly navigated through the slum area, intrigued by the sudden information. He ran, avoiding every human and robot that was active at that moment.Nouel came to a halt and stared at the holographic screen that appeared before him. “Can you explain more about what you’ve found?”“This is a power surge from the main energy source that was once used by humans as the primary reactor to activate war robots,” the AI assistant continued to provide information about the detected anomaly.“War robots, in other words, this involves radiation and significant explosive power?” Nouel asked, expressing concern.“Exactly.”“What happened?” Nouel inquired again.The AI Assistant then reported, “Something accidentally triggered this energy source. Possibly a slight vibration, air temperature, or a mouse passing by unintentionally. In essence, there’s a high probability that this energy source will explode.”“So, this energy source needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Whether I like i
Just emerging from the underground area where he exited the abandoned house, Nouel was greeted by several cyborg thugs he had defeated earlier. They were accompanied by two well-dressed men—obviously, these were city officials—and armed bodyguards, along with robots units.It was unclear how they managed to locate Nouel. Whether there were traces he left behind, information from the residents, CCTV monitoring, or some tracking method capable of finding Nouel.Nouel deactivated his helmet and the oxygen mask he wore. He whistled upon witnessing the arrival of these people, the number this time was not as large as before, but these individuals held positions of authority.“You came much faster than I expected, two minutes earlier to be precise,” Nouel murmured softly when he noticed the many people surrounding him, denying him access to escape.“Is he the one?” One of the men in formal attire, resembling a city official, pointed towards Nouel.“Yes, he’s the one, the troublemaker,” said
Nouel was in the garbage area, in a slum district where there was a massive landfill site originating from various areas, especially the city center, resulting in the landfill site being mountainous. The landfill site was located outside the city walls, and Nouel had already made a hole to enter and exit the city through a secret passage.“What are you doing here?” Dvliericht asked, having managed to catch up. He looked uncomfortable walking on the pile of trash, his gas mask protecting his entire face and head looked worn out and unfit for use.“Looking for the trash I need.” Nouel answered without looking, digging through the garbage. Since Nouel had been forced to stay in the shelter by Dvliericht, the two young men had developed a close friendship, despite having very different and somewhat contradictory personalities.Dvliericht placed his hands on his hips and scanned the surroundings. “We shouldn’t be here, if the city patrol catches us, it could be dangerous.”“In that case, k
Armed with his newly acquired weapon, Xander began attacking the pursuing robot troops. Thanks to his long experience, Xander could shoot accurately, causing the robots to fall one by one. He took precise aim, picking off the robots one by one.“Wow, you’re really good, so accurate with your shots.” Velia praised and appreciated Xander’s actions through the earpiece.“It’s not enough yet, there are still some robots evading my attacks!” Xander exclaimed, then explosions were heard, destroying the walls of the long corridor.“Keep it up, Xander, we’re approaching the exit!” Velia cheered, seeing that their exit route was close ahead.“Of course, I’ll keep attacking until all the ammo is gone!”When the rover vehicles finally reached the end of the escape route, they immediately halted. Xander and several others hurriedly got out of the rover and attempted to close off the escape route. They collectively tried to seal off the passage.Some others disembarked and headed towards the aircr
Inside the underground headquarters, after Xander delivered this information, everyone immediately started packing, which naturally took a very long time as everyone was unprepared for evacuation.“The aircraft is completed, but it hasn’t been tested yet. Should we still go?” Dimitri asked, concerned about the aircraft’s condition, which hadn’t undergone testing yet.“Yes, we don’t have time anymore. Regardless of the aircraft’s condition, we’ll use it. It’s risky, but we have no other choice.” Makarov replied.“Let’s hope we make it.”Elsewhere, inside a large cargo aircraft, Volkov and his forces of robots and cyborgs, who were aware of the underground building being used as a headquarters, were preparing for their attack.“See, I told you this would work.” Clerick smirked evilly at Darina. “Instead of capturing and torturing one of them, it’s much better if we follow them discreetly and install a tracker on the target.”That’s how Volkov found out about the secret project being wor
June 9, 2094Time passed quickly, years went by, and humans had grown accustomed to synthetic food. Numerous factories were established in all four cities, and cyborg projects began to be implemented. Initially, it was limited to body parts like hands and legs, then expanded to organs like eyes. After the success of the project applied to Vera, cyborgs started to appear all over the city.Due to the special requirements for humans to endure the surgical process, the limited number of cyborgs created across the city meant they weren’t dominant yet. Only a few hundred existed, mostly composed of city security forces, not commercially available to ordinary residents. Therefore, despite the success, Volkov continued experiments and developments to make the cyborgs he created more perfect and applicable to all humans.While working on advancing cyborg technology, Volkov accidentally discovered several individuals recruited by Dimitri and Makarov. He was surprised by this development becaus
For several days, Vera refused to eat, she continued to rage. Although she couldn’t get up and walk, her hands were still healthy, and she tried every way to end her life. She was depressed and desperate with her life.Some time later, Volkov came and comforted her. However, Vera didn’t respond, despite being continuously ignored like that, Volkov kept trying to console and strengthen her resolve.“I know you’re very desperate with your body condition. But you can’t torture yourself like this continuously.” Volkov spoke gently and softly, truly reflecting like a man who could be relied upon by Vera, who really needed it.After ignoring Volkov for a while, Vera finally spoke up, asking him a question. “Professor, what would you do if you were in my position?”For a moment, Volkov didn’t respond, he glanced briefly out the window, then turned his attention back to Vera, calmly and softly speaking to the teenage girl. “I think I would also feel desperate, and I would also want to die. Bu
Thanks to advanced medical technology, Vera, who suffered serious injuries due to Darina’s actions, was able to regain consciousness quickly. Severe injuries that should have put the teenage girl in a coma turned out to heal much faster. Unfortunately, there were still limitations in the equipment and technology applied at the hospital, as they couldn’t yet cure serious injuries resulting in physical disabilities. And that’s what happened to Vera, the injuries she sustained left her whole body permanently disabled.For a few seconds, Vera glanced around, her eyes feeling very sore as she looked at the ceiling of the room. The light in the room wasn’t dazzling, yet Vera’s eyes still felt sore and irritated.Vera closed her eyes, trying to move to pull the blanket, but she had no access to her body, she couldn’t move any part of her body.“What’s this? I can’t move my body.”Vera tried to turn her head sideways, but she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t move her head even slightly. Failing i
Finnick, Darina, and Clerick were already in position, monitoring the movement of the electric car driven by the small family from a distance. Volkov himself was opening a transparent tab as if he were working on something.“Okay, I think the subject has taken the bait. I don’t see any other humans within a 1-mile radius, we can execute the mission now.” Darina murmured while observing the small family through the scope of the sniper rifle she was aiming at the car. She herself was lying prone on the rocks, positioning herself strategically for the attack.“Moreover, this area is highly prone to accidents,” Clerick replied, standing next to Volkov. They were amidst the trees of the forest, monitoring using long-range binoculars.“Yeah.”On the other side, atop a tree, Finnick was adjusting the control of the machine device he had created. “My puppet’s status is stable now, we can act anytime.” He informed.“Good work, wait for the signal.” Volkov replied.They spent a few more seconds
While Clerick was working, experiments were postponed. Darina and Volkov focused on being doctors at Hudson Hospital, they appeared very kind and friendly to the staff, nurses, and the patients they treated. This made no one suspicious or even think that they were evil people who had conducted various experiments that violated ethics and humanity.In addition to their friendly nature, their work was also very good and fast. Their surgical skills were very reliable and made them among the most trusted doctors. They also interacted quite a lot with every patient they treated, so almost all patients could get to know them well.Unbeknownst to them, two days had passed. This was the day when Clerick would present the results of his work.“Huh, it’s also enjoyable to train in acting by playing as a good and holy doctor.” Darina stretched her body. This time she was in the elevator going down to the lab, a man named Finnick who also worked there immediately shook his head.“I thought you’d
Hudson Hospital.A five-floor hospital, it was one of the major hospitals in Lycaelus City, admitting more than one new patient daily with various conditions. The hospital was always bustling with patients, and the number of nurses and medical staff working there was substantial.At this hospital, Ferdinand Volkov worked on his project. Whenever someone underwent amputation, they would be offered artificial limbs. Those who wanted to live normally would readily accept the offer. Similarly, those in need of organs would be offered either donor organ transplants or artificial organs. Since waiting for a donor or purchasing existing organs was costly, patients tended to opt for Volkov’s artificial organs. Besides being more affordable, easier to care for, these artificial organs and limbs had several advantages over those of regular humans. Gradually, over the years, Volkov’s cyborg project began to take shape.Unbeknownst to anyone, many of the surgeries to implant organs and artificial