059

Ep. 59

–

6 p.m. Port district of T&C Special Trade Center.

Normally, it would be time for workers in work clothes to move around diligently, but not today.

Instead, soldiers from the Defense Fleet and police from the security team were mobilized and waiting in the port district.

"It is said that the head of the Egerton family is visiting earlier than originally scheduled. There can never be any mistakes."

"of course! General manager!"

The city's ruler, Lyla Chamberlain, nodded silently in response to the crisis management team leader's answer.

Edgerton's matriarch is called the Black Lion by the public and shows off her bravery, but her treatment is slightly different among the upper echelons of Megacorp.

Lila defined Denver Egerton, a Martian nobleman, as follows:

'geezer.'

In general, people at Noble Capital and Prime Capital are not friendly to those below. It is common to regard subordinates as slaves or property, like Akira Eugene, or to treat them in an extremely businesslike manner, like Laila.

Prime Capital, which is so popular with the public, can be said to be the only head of the Egerton family.

'Thanks to you, this is the only one suffering.'

Layla maintained an expressionless expression on the outside, but frustration and anger were welling up inside.

The date Denver was originally scheduled to come was two days from now, the day before the meeting.

Nevertheless, the reason Lila prepared to welcome him so early was because she had received intelligence that Denver was arriving in the city earlier than expected.

'Because I enjoy surprise shows.'

It was clear that they had done such a trick to show off their specialness to the city's public.

However, I couldn't just leave him to come at any time. It was obvious that if she treated a popular guest poorly, the citizens would point fingers at Laila, and Saddam Chamberlain would be very disappointed in her handling of the matter.

'…a fox-like bastard.'

While Laila was suppressing her tantrum on one side, police officers from the security team were having a meeting on the other side.

"Has the security team in the port district been cleared out?"

"Damn, I had a really hard time because they said they came while the smugglers were going crazy."

"You did a really good job. Oh, and Mr. William, you did a great job tracking down the smuggler this time. If it weren't for that, I would have shown a disgrace to my precious guest. haha."

"…thank you."

"Hmm, you're still the head of the Port District detective team, so good news will come soon. You can look forward to it."

Although William was receiving everyone's congratulations, he felt very uncomfortable inside.

They don't know anything. How seriously dangerous this city is now.

'…Egerton.'

In the past, William was a soldier. The place where he worked was not a normal crisis management team, but a secret unit directly under Denver Egerton, who was coming now.

'It was a place to test the new Hulk mutant.'

Denver put great effort into maintaining secrecy because saying he would improve the Hulk mutant was the same as saying he would compete with the Eugene family.

So, all those belonging to that unit were given disguised careers. William was also recorded on paper as working in the crisis management team on board the Edgerton family's flagship.

However, in William's opinion, Denver was not a bad person. Rather, they were closer to good people and good people, which was not typical of Megacorp's ruling class. Officially, Denver denied the existence of a secret unit, but secretly took care of people belonging to the unit.

If it weren't for that incident, William and his colleagues would still be loyal to Denver and work under him.

'If only that damn bastard hadn't conspired with the test subject…'

One of his colleagues in the secret unit betrayed Denver. He escaped from the unit with the prototype of the new Hulk Mutant and went into hiding.

Fortunately for Denver and William, the news did not reach the Eugene family. However, due to confidentiality reasons, the unit was disbanded and William and his colleagues began new lives.

'If His Highness still remembers me…'

If I could convey to him the situation I was in, I might be able to solve the entity threatening this city.

While William was lost in thought, an alarm suddenly sounded from speakers installed all over the Earth.

It was a signal that a ship was coming in.

At the signal, the dark sky above the port district briefly shimmered. The double shield door installed in the port area was activated and affected the hologram.

Subsequently, a crack measuring well over 200 meters appeared in the sky. A huge shield door opened and a warship appeared, showing off its majesty.

The new warship was decorated with golden decorations and a white base. It was so enormous that it reached 700m in length and 100m in height, so much so that it could be seen from the borders of the Earth.

Thanks to the light pouring from the lights hanging on the dome-shaped ceiling, the warship was reminiscent of a hero's ship from ancient mythology.

"Finally, a new model has been released after 5 years."

Lila muttered as she saw the warship for the first time.

The warship descended at slow speed and landed on the Earth.

Then the ship's door opened, and men armed with silver armor, like knights from medieval Europe, walked out. It was Egerton's Silver Lion Knights, which no one in Megacorp knew about.

In fact, what they are wearing is not actual armor, but a high-grade reinforced suit painted in silver. Although it is far from medieval or traditional, it was deliberately decorated that way due to instructions from Denver, which values image.

'It's pretentious and pretentious.'

Lila clicked her tongue, but Denver's decision seemed to be well-received, at least from a layperson's perspective. Because all the soldiers and police on Earth were looking at the Silver Lion Knights with eager eyes.

The knights who got off the ship stood in a line, leaving only the middle. Among the knights, the knight wearing the thickest and largest armor on the far right raised a flag with a lion on it and shouted.

"Your Majesty Denver Edgerton, the great monarch of Mars and the Black Lion of Edgerton!"

Following his introduction, Denver was the last to get off.

In contrast to the other knights, a man wearing black-based armor with gold decorations. He was Denver Edgerton of Mars' Prime Capital.

Denver dismounted and removed the helmet from his head. A man with black skin and white teeth smiled and raised his hand.

Since it was Lila who had the soldiers and police on standby to respond to the other side, she winked at the crisis management team leader next to her.

As he hurriedly clapped, the soldiers and police officers in the port district cheered in unison.

Denver responded to the cheers of soldiers and police by lightly waving his hands. He passed through the ranks of knights leisurely, enjoying the cheers.

And finally, those at the top of Megacorp faced each other.

Lila was the first to break the short silence.

"Saddam Chamberlain's daughter Laila Chamberlain meets Denver Edgerton, the matriarch of the Prime Capital Edgerton family."

"It's been a while. "I never thought that a girl who was just a little girl not long ago would become such a wonderful lady."

"thank you. However, please call me general manager for now. "Denver."

Denver chuckled, looking at her smiling mouth but not smiling eyes. He looked around again and muttered in admiration.

"I want this. I also paid some attention to security. Saddam will be happy."

"I will take it as a compliment."

"Give reporters a reasonable amount of time. That's why I brought a prototype battleship."

"Reporters are already waiting outside Earth."

"Oh really? "That's amazing!"

Denver nodded with a proud expression. Seeing that carefree appearance, Lila internally gritted her teeth, but did not show it.

'Someday, definitely…!'

Within Megacorp, Noble Capital and Prime Capital are collectively called the 7 Great Families and 7 Great Nobles, but in fact, the gap between the two classes was quite large.

Only Noble Capital is eligible to run as CEO, and Prime Capital only grants voting rights to family elders and the head of the family.

However, even so, it is clear that Kingmaker also has considerable influence, so Prime Capital also actively utilized that authority.

Just like Denver Edgerton, who is laughing heartily in front of Lila.

Denver is rude to the subject who arrived earlier than promised by trying to promote the new warship, but it is just a public show. In reality, his intention is to test Laila, who is in charge of preparing for the board meeting.

This is to find out whether she and her family, T&C, are qualified to be the next CEO and whether she is a card worth betting on in the Edgerton family.

"Haha, there are still no gaps."

When she didn't react much, Denver laughed out loud. It was a signal that the first test was over.

Lila sighed inwardly and opened her mouth again.

"Please leave the rest to others and come with me to the administrative district. "I have a question to ask about the new battleship."

"I've come as far as I can, so I'll be sad if I just leave. "I'd like to say hello to the people here."

"…I'll wait."

It was obvious that he would do whatever he wanted to do anyway, so Lila did not stop him. Denver smiled and approached the soldiers and police.

Megacorp As Denver is recognized as a star by the public, there were quite a few soldiers and police officers requesting autographs. While the exchange was taking place in a not too bad mood, a familiar face caught Denver's eyes.

"No, you? Will…no. "Isn't it NH01?"

"…long time no see. majesty."

When Denver pretended to know by mentioning past code names, William lowered his head. Denver patted his shoulder to show that he was happy to see him, but then frowned as if something was strange.

"Was your body like this originally? "I wasn't this thin originally?"

"…."

Looking at Denver's worried attitude, he still had a crush on his former subordinate William.

'Your Highness will understand what my actions mean.'

William made up his mind.

"…please. majesty."

"huh?"

With those words, William pulled out a laser pistol and shot himself in the stomach.

–

'It's a hospital.'

From what I remember, there are a total of three large hospitals in Space City that can treat seriously injured people. There is one in the administrative district and the rest are all in the commercial district.

'The hospital in the administrative district is only available to those in the third capital or higher, so William can't go.'

The signal sent by the parasite is coming from the commercial district. Since the hospital and station are close, it would be better to go via the subway tracks.

'The route is done. The problem is that it's early evening now.'

Because it is a commercial district, there are still many people shopping on the streets.

It's good news that the hospital and the station are close, but since it's close to work, there are a lot of people in the station.

We plan to be proactive, but we have no intention of starting an all-out war with the city. Besides, if you kill a bunch of people at the station, the nest may be discovered.

'But there's still time to spare.'

According to the waves sent by the parasite, William is currently in a coma due to severe self-harm. In that case, it is highly likely that the medical staff will proceed with the task of keeping him alive first. Since saving people's lives is the priority, it should be considered unlikely that parasites will be brought out first.

'Still, it would be difficult to avoid finding parasites.'

Since you are hospitalized with serious injuries, you cannot hope for luck.

'The parasite is still reporting, so let's wait until night.'

While I'm waiting, I'll have to think about how to attack the hospital.

The hospital William went to is the hospital where he was admitted after the battle at the old apartment complex.

At that time, I did not approach the hospital, but instead sent armed police who were infected with parasites to take him out.

'Because there are a lot of androids in Megacorp Hospital.'

At Megacorp, a genetic modification doctor is in full charge of treatment for patients who are seriously injured or who require genetic modification, or for patients of Prime Capital or higher. Other than that, doctors do not take care of general patients except when boarding a ship.

Since most patients are treated with medical capsules, androids take charge instead of high-level personnel such as doctors.

'It's not a combat type, so fighting itself would be easy…'

Medical androids are a troublesome opponent in another sense.

'Everyone carries a call bell.'

When the medical call bell rings, it is immediately transmitted to the hospital's central AI and appropriate action is taken based on the AI's judgment. If the android rings when I attack, the police and soldiers will immediately come to catch me.

Because of these difficulties, the hospital is one of the most difficult places to attack in the game. Even though I'm good at infiltration, I don't really want to attack hospitals.

'If you don't have EMP or concealment characteristics, it's hard to go in…ah.'

Speaking of concealment, a good method came to mind.

Advanced reinforced clothing obtained from a sniper in the Port District.

The reinforced suit is equipped with a concealment function.

'Wouldn't the cloaking effect occur if I eat after activating the reinforced suit?'

Because it was lightly modified, it is made of synthetic fiber as the base, but I also mixed in a special metal to create concealment, so it is subject to my characteristics.

'The duration of metal absorption is more than 20 minutes.'

Originally it should have been 20 minutes, but now my body has been further strengthened with full organic characteristics. Since metal absorption is also subject to application, it can be considered that there is a leeway of approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

However, 30 minutes is neither too long nor too short. As the surveillance network within the hospital is tight, the longer it takes, the more disadvantaged I am.

'If we want to deal with William quickly, we need to know the structure of the hospital before entering.'

Fortunately, I have a way to find out about rescue in advance without having to go to the hospital myself.

I returned to my nest in the commercial district with the kids.

[Zuzuzu zuzuz (don't touch me)]

｢Are you trying to nest?｣

[Zu (yes)]

｢Little baby. You must not interfere."

"?"

Number 26, who had seen me do this on the spaceship before, was immediately convinced. The guy took Adhai and walked away.

'There's no need to increase the distance.'

There's no need to point it out since it's being considerate.

I lay down comfortably on the nest and placed my chin on the floor. My accessory organ also touched the sticky surface of the nest.

As always, I felt like my body was floating, but suddenly I was thrown downwards, as if I was being sucked into a hole.

Having played it many times, it is now a familiar feeling from the time of the link.

'Find a hospital.'

The auxiliary agency took my order and began searching for hospitals among those on the ground.

The sound of people walking down the street, the sound of people working in a store, the sound of chatting on the street. The first sense I caught was the sounds the city made.

The senses that followed closely behind were those related to smell. The smell of food in a restaurant, the smell of sweaty clothes of office workers, the smell of polluted air that has not yet been purified, etc.

In some ways, the commercial district may be the essence of this city.

In the flood of senses, I picked out the hospital-specific smell of cresol, which is commonly found in preservatives or disinfectants.

'An 8-story hospital located close to the station.'

Among them, William's location is the operating room on the third floor.

Seeing the strong smell of blood and human smell mixed with the smell of disinfectant throughout the entire third floor, it was clear that the operating room and intensive care unit were located together on the third floor. Once the surgery is over, you will be admitted to a nearby intensive care unit to recover.

'Everything will be resolved on the third floor.'

In addition, I also searched the hospital for areas where the server room and central AI computer could be located. The place where electrical signals were most detected was on the second basement level.

'good. 'This is enough.'

Finally, after understanding the overall structure of the hospital, I unlocked the link.

You are ready to enter the hospital. Now all you have to do is wait until night falls.

Before today passes, William will die by my hands.