26. The Rationalist

A grand underground complex, as secure as the best government bunkers could only ever dream to be. Thousands of tonnes of dirt and stone acted as a shield for the secret facility, while powerful magical forces hid it from the sight of most mundane and not-so-mundane eyes. It was truly a fortress out of legend.

This fortress, dug through magic and maintained with it, was known as Moria. The complex, originally intended as a location where rescued mutants could be housed, had become the home for Nazarick's main intelligence gathering operation and the place where most raids or other types of operations into the world above where launched.

Moria was also the only structure with a connection to the World Wide Web- also known as the Internet- at least of those officially controlled by Nazarick. This was both a vital asset and a great risk, as the chance of someone managing to track them through it was not inconsiderable. But if they wanted to have an easily accessible way to obtain public information there were no better alternatives.

The facilities that allowed one to access the Internet were of great use to Nazarick's denizens, from their intelligence experts like Demiurge to even simply curious NPC's, like Mare. These facilities were most often visited by those tasked with researching their new world and searching for any proof of the discovery of the secret that was Nazarick's existence. It was not uncommon to see half a dozen liches or demons working non-stop on the mismash of computers acquired during one of the many assaults on the surface.

The computers were collectively housed in one big room, deep inside Moria. The room was divided into small cubicles, like those of a regular office, and a number of modern amenities augmented with magic had been added to help with their tasks. From printers to an internal phone system.

But these were not all of Moria's computers. Separated from what was popularly known as the 'intelligence office', was one other room. This room was one quarter the size of the one dedicated to the intelligence operation and much more richly decorated. In it was located only a single computer, a high-spec and extremely expensive one, taken from the personal property of one of the staff members of the Toolshed, with close to a tenth of the available bandwidth dedicated to its use twenty-four seven. Everyone was explicitly forbidden entry without permission, for this was a room specially reserved for only one being.

This was Ainz Ooal Gown's PC room.

Currently, the room was occupied, its owner carefully typing on the keyboard, careful of his inhuman strength. The room was dark, but for the light of the LED screen, and there were no sounds but the soft 'tac tac' of the typing skeleton.

If any of Nazarick's many denizens, or even one of the newly gained mutant subjects, were to see the Great Ainz Ooal Gown they could not help but wonder what kind of great plan he was in the process of executing. Was he tending a trap for some unsuspecting enemy? Were Ainz's plans related to world domination through the international markets? Maybe he was in the process of releasing confidential data to destabilize enemy governments?

Of course, they would have been disappointed to learn that Ainz was not engaging in any of those things. His current pursuit was of a more... mundane variety.

"Yes! After so long, finally a win!" Exclaimed Ainz happily. He was not happy enough to trigger his emotion suppression, but he could somehow instinctively feel it was a close call.

The screen in front of him showed a red coloured message proclaiming Ainz's victory. The message was surrounded by discarded bullets, weapons and an assortment of colorful flags. It was a little over the top as far as Ainz was concerned, but he did admit to a lack of an aesthetic sense, so he was not going to complain.

"Umu, now that I say it out loud. I feel a little stupid for spending so much time on this."

Because while many may have expected something profound or grand, the truth was that Ainz Ooal Gown, leader of Nazarick and the new terror of Canada's underworld (or soon to be at least) was doing nothing more than playing a video game.

It had all started a few hours ago. Ainz had decided to resume his internet research after his previous one was cut short by the talks with Doctor Doom. The mysterious sorcerer had been much more agreeable than Ainz had expected, and even after Ainz had spied upon him, the man had not seemed to be angry. They had parted on good terms and promised to talk once again.

But Ainz was not one to waste time if he could help it. He had instantly put the NPCs on high alert and made them work on how exactly Dr. Doom had managed to push through their anti-teleportation defenses. While the wards were nothing compared to Nazarick's defenses, Moria was still their strongest fortress outside of the Great Tomb itself, and any weakness could spell disaster.

For this reason, Ainz had no time to continue using his computer, at least not until the current day.

When, after once again suffering through another of Albedo's reports, he had finally decided to renew his research, Ainz had come across a rather curious thing.

As it was, while Ainz's current computer had been heavily scrutinized and sanitized of anything harmful from its previous owner, no one had seen fit to delete the 'games' folder. This, Ainz hoped, could be due to a mistake done by some NPC or, as it was more probable, due to them simply not understanding what it was and deciding against deleting it just in case.

Regardless of the reason, Ainz had ended up spending more time than he had planned checking it out. While he was not really what one could call a 'gamer', most of his games' experience being limited to YGGDRASIL, Ainz was still thorough in everything he did and once he started on something he would perseverate until victory was his. For this reason, he had, after watching a few helpful tutorial videos, spent the entire afternoon playing the shooter. If nothing else, it had served to help him forget about his current situation for a few hours.

But now the time for playing was over and he had to get back to work. While he had enjoyed his time with the pre-created account, it was time for noobmaster69 to log off. So with great reluctance, Ainz closed the game and re-opened the browser.

At once, nearly fifty different tabs opened up. Everything from forums, to wikias and even a few newspaper sites. Meanwhile, a simple text, with a few thousand words on notes, opened on a secondary screen.

Now let's see, where did I leave off?

While Ainz had mostly focused on researching possible role models for his new position, he had not lost any chance to gather data about possible enemies, or even potential allies. The information of various 'superheroes' and 'supervillains' already filling his aptly named 'data book 1'.

Of course, some of this simply cannot be true. A monster invasion due to some child's drawings? The Illuminati? And this Spiderman, he may be a 'menace' but I can't be expected to believe he has been cloned that many times. Ainz sighed deeply. He was used to being fed false information in YGGDRASIL, especially what you could find on the web, but some of the things he was reading were too outrageous to be true.

But no matter what, he had to continue. Every last bit of data, every piece of trivia, or minor speculation. It could all one day become what stood between him and death, between all of Nazarick and destruction. He had to work like he had never worked before.

As Punitto Moe used to say 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles'. Ainz felt a pang of sadness at remembering one of his lost friends. While he still had hopes of someday meeting them again, he had no evidence of anyone else arriving to that familiar, yet so alien world alongside Nazarick.

But as quickly as it came, the sadness faded. Not because his emotion suppressor kicked in, but because Ainz had a mission, and he could not falter on it. It would be remiss of the memory of his friend to let simple emotions cloud his judgment, and impair him when it came to executing his duties. Ainz's responsibility was nothing else but Nazarick, and he would see to their security.

I will take care of them. For you, my friends.

Deciding to stop dallying, Ainz refocused on his research. He was currently reading through the many, many calamities and strange events that had hit Earth during the last twelve years.

Each one was more preposterous than the previous one. Some things were reasonable, or at least as reasonable as anything in that world was, like the attempts of a number of shady organizations at taking over the world. Ainz, after all, had come from a world where equally shady organizations had succeeded at this, so it wasn't much of a stretch for him to believe what he read. Other things were less so.

So, these astronauts just happened to obtain supernatural abilities, after being bombarded with radiation? That magical hammers had mind-controlled dozens of heroes to spread chaos over the world? That a billionaire weapons manufacturer had financed a technological superhero, out of his own pocket? Those things Ainz could believe. Those things were acceptable if one understood the new reality they resided in. The rest of what he was reading... wasn't.

The Earth is invaded how many times per year? This cannot be right! But as he continued reading, Ainz understood things were everything but 'right'.

City destroying fights, one villain popping up one after another. For every new hero, there were half a dozen new monsters to contend. For every saved building or stopped bomb, there was ten times the damage elsewhere. Ever since the 'Age of Marvels' had started with the creation of the 'Fantastic Four' the world had seen only chaos and destruction on unprecedented scales. It was a hellish thing, and something Ainz could no- would not, believe. The data existed, but it made no sense and he knew that when that happened, it meant only one thing.

"A misdirection."

During their height, Ainz Ooal Gown (the Guild) had engaged in such tactics more than once. The information war was one to be won before fighting could even start. What your enemy didn't know would hurt them more than any spell or skill ever would. To Ainz's experienced eyes, it was clear what he was seeing.

Everything, from the few superheroes whose origin was known, to the constant onslaught of villains and other world-level threats. It was clear someone, or a group of someones, was manipulating the entire world. Events were fabricated or orchestrated, and a show was put in for the masses. It was all about controlling what they knew and in that way, directing them to find the 'correct' answers.

Ainz had never seen something on that level in all his years of playing YGGDRASIL. He was sure he could only see it because of his outsider perspective, but it was obvious all the same.

Was he supposed to believe beings like 'SuperPro' or 'Combo-Man' were real? That the same alien species had invaded Earth yearly? That people guilty of destroying entire city blocks, were somehow allowed to live? It was all a ruse.

Even the event simply known as 'The Snap' was more believable, if even more impressive. It was much better documented and it dealt with greater powers than those of Earth. It had chilled Ainz to the core to know such power was loose upon the universe, but he nonetheless accepted it. The evidence of it actually having occurred was too numerous to simply falsify.

It was the same for others, like the heroine known as 'Squirrel Girl'. The facts were as improbable as everything else, but the evidence existed, and it was more ample and cross-referenced than anything else. For every supposed 'Skrull invasion', there were a hundred pieces of proof about Squirrel Girl's deeds.

In a few hours, Ainz's view of the world had changed. From a strange place where supernatural beings played at fighting each other, to something darker and more fearful. Some of Dr. Doom's words, which he had previously suspected were threats now made more sense. They were warnings.

There was a dark conspiracy at hand. One that Ainz knew, deep down and from the bottom of his non-existent heart, would one day threaten Nazarick. He had to prepare before it became too late.

It's not the first time a conspiracy against us has started and it won't be the last. But Ainz Ooal Gown always comes on top.

With his resolve made and his heart set, Ainz doubled down on his research like his life depended on it, because it may very well have.

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AN:

Sorry this took so long. I had a lot of midterms last week (and more on this one too) and then landed a (termporal) job for the weekend so I was kinda exhausted. Originally I intended to make the chapter longer, but Marvel has a lot of stuff to explore and I felt a longass exposition would be counterproductive to an enjoyable chapter.

Also, in case you are curious about some of the stuff I named:

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Phil_Grayfield_(Earth-616)

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Rick_Wilder_(Earth-616)

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Monsters_Unleashed_(Event)

Thanks to Deadpan29 (like always) and Guillocuda for the help.

Also, I'm not sure if Monday's chapter will be ready on time. I still have another midterm this week and have to prepare stuff for another two next week.