Chapter 1099 – Escape Plan

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“Huh… Why! None of the cameras in the mansion on earth are working!”

Darwin got angry and boom! And slams the console.

Kwasik! If you hear that sound, the panel will dent and the electronic devices around it, including the buttons, will be shattered quite spectacularly.

“Ah…”

Looking at her like that, Descartes expressed some regret.

Of course, it was not about Darwin’s anger, but rather regret about the machine she had destroyed.

“Explain, Descartes!”

And the arrows of her anger will originally be aimed at the person in charge of these electronic devices.

Then Descartes responded leisurely, but at the same time looking away and as if making excuses for her anger.

“That’s right… I haven’t been able to return to the mansion for several years, so I haven’t been able to maintain the mansion’s machines. Normally, precision machines like cameras need frequent maintenance. The problem may be that no one inspected them while I was away.”

“Then why didn’t you at least leave an explanation and go into hiding? You helpless old man!”

“Heh, heh…”

Descartes was so dumbfounded by Darwin’s anger that he just laughed.

“Thanks to you, we couldn’t even check how the expedition members came down underground!”

“So that’s it.”

Well, to tell the truth, it was unexpected that even Descartes could not see the image from the mansion properly.

In preparation for when I leave this place, I have inspected everything without fail, and the camera does not stop working on its own even if it is not maintained for several years.

‘Someone has precisely disabled the camera… That is to say. It must be the work of someone inside.’

If you were to think of an inner being prepared to cut down Darwin like yourself, the first thing that comes to mind would be ‘Laplace’.

However, Laplace would not have known the location of the camera, and even if he had known, it would have been close to impossible to destroy Darwin’s hidden camera.

Then who…?

‘Does this mean that there is someone else inside, besides us?’

Descartes felt a little uneasy as an unexpected variable occurred.

However, rather than pointing a knife at himself, he must have felt at least a little relieved that he had first acted against ‘Darwin’.

‘Well, either way. For now, the first thing to do is to calm Ms. Darwin down. If we continue like this, all our precious devices will be broken.’

In addition to her simply not being able to see what her mansion was like, the reason for her anger was the significant loss of her own troops.

Such soldiers could have been cloned in an instant in a culture tank, but the leap of evolution used in cultivation also has its limits.

“Mrs. Darwin. They can’t get this far anyway. The only ones who know how to get to the place deep inside this laboratory are you and me. We’re the only ones left now.”

“…”

Darwin glanced at Descartes’ words.

“If we don’t get out of here, nothing will happen.”

“That’s not important! If they use our absence as an opportunity to destroy all the underground research centers, all the essence of our research accumulated over 700 years will be lost! If that happens—”

“If that happens, the day when your eldest son will come back to life will be far away again.”

Descartes points out without hesitation what can be said to be the source of Darwin’s worries.

Darwin remained silent at his words, but Descartes continued his words without losing his cool at all.

“But that’s it. From the beginning, the purpose of our existence was to create a new body for ‘Adam’. At first, we were ‘returners’ who started with Plan Orpheus, but now we are preparing for the advent body through the selection holy sword ritual. We’re getting closer to achieving it.”

In some ways, it may be natural that it is easier to transform the living into a suitable vessel than to resurrect the dead.

“And didn’t my father promise? If he descends as the new god of this world, he will return Madam’s sons to their original form and create a world where they can live happily together.”

“…”

Darwin remembers the day he first met Adam in person.

What he remembers is the sacred light that filled his eyes and mind.

The voice of a transcendent being with almost infinite mercy.

Darwin lived with thoughts based on reason and intellect—

Darwin thought that faith was a meaningless illusion, an opium for the weak.

An absolute being called ‘Adam’. So much so that I have no doubt that he will keep his promise to me.

When he remembers his contract, Darwin will open his clenched fist as if regaining his senses.

“…”

“Well then, what do you have to do now? It is to protect Adam. The ‘vessel candidates’ have already been completed, so only the final adjustments remain, right?”

To his question, Darwin nodded slowly.

Candidate vessels created through experiments received from the exiled church in the royal capital.

Once the final adjustments they are receiving are completed, they will be sent back to the royal capital.

From then on, the selection ceremony for the sacred swords set in the royal capital begins.

Descartes seemed to remind Darwin that there was something he had to do for Adam first, rather than the ‘resurrection of the dead’ which was his original goal.

“The mutants you created have low intelligence and are individually bulky, but their abilities are not that strong. Rather than wasting the elixir of evolution to cultivate them… ‘Quality over quantity’ Why not care about it?”

“—Are you really asking me to use ‘them’?”

Darwin asks Descartes’ words as if he cannot believe them.

“Yes. In the end, it is most important to have actual battle data for the final adjustment. If the opponent is that ‘demon swordsman,’ the battle data against him will be of great help to my father in the future.”

Descartes’ words were like the devil’s temptation.

To tell the truth, Adam’s command was to send the vessel to the royal road where it was waiting for him ‘without a single scratch’ in preparation for the subsequent ceremony.

As such, the most important part of his plan were the vessels that would be used in the ritual of ‘selecting holy swords’.

However, no matter how much of a genius Darwin was, it was impossible to create beings with seven different personalities and special abilities in each field in a short period of time.

Even with cram learning using magic and elixirs, and even with various methods, the final adjustment took time.

Descartes talks about making up for it through practice.

Sure, it might be the fastest way –

Darwin looked into Descartes’ eyes, looking slightly worried.

The eyes beyond the lenses of the glasses.

And for a moment, when you think there is silence once again.

“… Okay. I guess you’re right.”

As she said that, she would turn away from Descartes.

Then he walks up to the side of the panel he broke and speaks while pressing a button.

“… It’s me. Open numbers 101 to 107 of ‘culture tank type A’.”

[From number 101… To number 107, is it?]

To the answer coming back from the speaker, Darwin would simply reply, ‘Yes.’

[But that tank…]

“Don’t say that again. You, too, can be sent to intercept the intruders along with the other cultures.”

Darwin briefly denies the question from the voice coming from the other side.

And she takes her hand off the button, ending her communication with the beyond.

“Descartes.”

“Hmm. What is it?”

“Let’s prepare to escape.”

Descartes looks a little surprised by her words.

“Intercept. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes. Thanks to what you said, I was able to calm down a little too. … Of course, this facility is important, but unlike ‘you’ who can one day return to this earth through the reincarnation factor, even if ‘they become strangers’. If I die, that will be the end.”

“…”

At Darwin’s words, Descartes would quickly adjust her glasses.

“The seven bowls, me, and you, after accumulating and adjusting actual data. Is this how much we need to escape… With your ‘Apsaras’? It’s possible, right?”

“Is it Apsaras? Of course, it’s possible.”

Descartes nodded to Darwin’s confirmation, but asked her a question, paying attention to her name that was not listed.

“But is that the end? … Your little son.”

“William has been mutated to the point where he cannot survive outside this facility anyway. If we don’t take him with him to escape, it will save us a little more time.”

In a way, Descartes reacted as if he was a little surprised by those words, which were even harsh.

Of course, the source of the ‘life forms’ she created, including her cultures, is none other than ‘William.’

In other words, it is her biological son who turned into a tentacle monster.

If you think about it, could it be that her values ​​toward her son changed as she treated her other cultures like tools?

Descartes would wake up thinking that something like that would never happen to Fleur.

“In that case. I guess I’ll have to go prepare to move Apsaras as well. I had finished ‘maintenance’ with the intention of intercepting this, but I feel regretful.”

“You can intercept me if you want. Of course, even if I do that, I will leave you here and leave with ‘Apsaras.'”

“That’s heartless…”

Descartes just shook his head as he said that.

001

[That’s how it happened, young man. Darwin plans to run away from this facility.]

Cleon returns to Laplace’s laboratory.

And Lila and Fleur, who followed behind her, heard a voice coming from a small toy robot.

[This message is recorded to be played when you enter this room. Unfortunately, there is no way to answer from here. From now on… I will be moving to a place where communication is difficult.]

“This old man…”

Cleon feels angry at Descartes’ actions of saying only what he wants to say and not providing any important information, but he suppresses it.

Even with Fleur next to me, I couldn’t say such strong words towards Descartes.

“Grandpa…”

Listening to the message that Descartes left, seeing Fleur holding his hand tightly as if various emotions were intersecting.

[However, I can tell you where Darwin is now and where he plans to go from now on. There is one more hidden space in this facility. Darwin may think you will never find it because only the executives know the way there…]

“You’ve made the lab like a fortress.”

“Shh. Lila.”

Cleon blocks Lila’s complaints.

Probably because I thought the words that come after this were the most important.

[After going down to the lowest floor accessible by elevator, there is a hangar where large items are stored. In fact, part of the floor is a hidden elevator, so you can get down there. I will be waiting there too.]

“An elevator again? Haha.”

Laila couldn’t bear it and said that, but fortunately Descartes’ message ended there.

As evidence, the magical response felt beyond the hole where the robot’s eyes should have disappeared.

Fleur stared at the robot for a moment, then carefully stretched out her hand and picked it up.

“Are you going to take it?”

“Yes. I will show this in front of my grandfather and tell him to leave a message that is easier to understand next time.”

At Fleur’s words, Lila would smile and nod her head.

“But, it was full of words that were difficult to understand. ‘Seven bowls’, ‘Apsaras’…”

Cleon looks back at Lila while saying that.

“I’m looking at you as if you were expecting that, and I’m sorry I can’t answer you properly, but it’s my first time hearing this word. The same goes for the word ‘Kadmon’ that I saw above… Isn’t it a coinage coined by Descartes?”

When Lila says that, Artis, who was listening to the story with her near the door, adds.

“That’s true about the back, but I think the front is a pretty meaningful word. According to what William said earlier, Adam’s purpose was ultimately a ‘vessel,’ right?”

In other words, according to Attis’ prediction, the ‘seven vessels’ were something prepared to be used as Adam’s vessels.

And the number seven was also a meaningful number that had appeared in the sacred sword selection ceremony.

“… Then, if we destroy the vessels here…”

“It means that there will be a major setback in Adam’s plan. Perhaps, the ceremony of selecting the Holy Sword itself may go wrong.”

At Artis’ words, Cleon stands up as if to say, ‘That’s it.’

“Darwin’s purpose is to take the time to deal with us with those vessels and accumulate actual data on the vessels. And in the meantime, prepare ‘something’ called Apsaras and escape from this laboratory. “

“Thanks to your grandfather taking this side, information was gathered easily.”

When Lila said that to Fleur, Fleur nodded slightly awkwardly.

… But is their grandfather really taking their side?

Aside from that, it seems like a lot of information is being intentionally withheld…

“Cleon! Help me!”

At that time, someone’s voice came rushing in next to Artis, who was standing in the doorway.

Although Cleon was startled, he felt a heavy weight on his body and could not help but stumble.

Almost as tall as herself, with enormous muscles in her limbs, she clung to Cleon’s arm, shaking her golden mane of hair.

“Nemeia…?”

Cleon was about to ask her what she meant, but he had no choice but to quickly turn his head away after seeing that she still hadn’t touched a single thread on her body.

“Nemeia, don’t run away!”

And then, Yuni came into the room chasing Nemeia.

In her hands, she was holding clothes bigger than her own height.

It was probably one of the clothes that Descartes had prepared.

“I understand that it’s Yuni’s preference to wear clothes like that, but…! I can’t wear them because my body feels itchy and stuffy!”

“It hurts, it hurts!”

When Nemeia said that and tightened her arms around her, Cleon could not help but let out a scream.

“Since I have taken on human form, I have to conform to human etiquette! What should I do if people around me look at me with strange eyes?”

“But…”

As for Nemeia, the gentle and dignified Queen of Beasts that was felt in her original form (lion) is nowhere to be found.

She looked like a slightly oversized girl and let out a whining voice.

“Please say something to Cleon too! Wouldn’t it be better to wear clothes?”

“No, Cleon will definitely accept me as I am! Cleon has seen all the precious parts of me!”

In the end, it became Cleon’s role to take responsibility and speak up.

“Oh, wait, what you just said could have been misunderstood…”

“Heh… Cleon. It looks like we get along quite well.”

At that time, an angry voice that seemed to contain fire was heard from behind.

Cleon looked back with a cackling neck, and there was Lila, who had struck Cleon with an iron fist earlier, preparing her second punch.

“Oh, no wait. Lila, wait!”

“Are you touching not just humans but animals? You beast!!”

Kwaang!!

Today alone, the second red uppercut exploded on Cleon’s back.

Pow! With that sound, Cleon had no choice but to fly into the wall and get hit.

‘I can’t make excuses…’

With the voice in his head saying, Cleon felt dizzy from the pain he felt from his back and front.