MTLNOVEL Chapter 249
Episode 249. Seven Ancient Gods (3)
The smell of food made me hungry.
The 33 steaks I ordered for Popo arrived. The Popo flock sat orderly and reverently in front of their bowls, eating the steaks.
The training ground was quiet.
Nanami sat next to me.
“It’s fascinating.”
“What is?”
“How the dogs went silent so quickly.”
“It’s hard to eat while moving.”
I should have steak for dinner too.
I glanced at one of the Popo. The Popo seemed to notice me staring and looked up at me after a while.
“Popo-sensei, don’t you want anything?”
“Huh?”
The Popo mumbled but didn’t give a meaningful answer. It just tilted its head and smiled. I looked at Nanami.
“What do you think it means?”
“How should I know?”
I see. The Popo seemed to lose interest in my question and buried its head back into the bowl. I wondered if the Popo even had any desires.
Maybe the Popo doesn’t want anything specific. What do dogs or cats even want? A new blanket? Toys? Chew treats? An owner to play with? It’s not like the Popo would demand human sacrifices.
Nanami shrugged beside me.
“No progress. They’re cute, though.”
“Yeah.”
I fiddled with my hair. Let’s move on from the Popo for now. There are still six gods left to deal with.
“Um, Popo-sensei, clean up your bowls.”
The Popo started moving one by one.
I told them to clean up their bowls.
The Popo neatly stacked their bowls in the corner of the training ground. Seeing this, they’re better than humans… No wonder dogs live such comfortable lives.
“I should have steak for dinner.”
“Yeah.”
“Nanami, want to join?”
Nanami tilted her head.
“Why me?”
“You said dogs live the good life.”
No need to overthink it. Buying steak isn’t hard. Nanami thought for a moment and then nodded.
One Popo climbed onto my lap.
The third god. Dr. Chloe.
Dr. Chloe was temporarily assigned to the Safe Artifact Management Department in the Research Division. Of course, she wasn’t actually given any real work.
We assigned a monitor.
This was my plan to isolate Dr. Chloe. Pretending to give her work while keeping her away from dangerous artifacts and under surveillance.
I know Dr. Chloe is extremely dangerous. But right now, she’s just an octopus in an aquarium connected to a serving robot.
I didn’t think she was in a dangerous state right now. I looked at the person I had assigned as her monitor.
“So, Paper Yang.”
“Yes.”
“After a few days of monitoring Dr. Chloe, any results? Anything unusual?”
“No.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Well… Dr. Chloe is stuck in an aquarium, moving around on that super slow robot. Nothing particularly dangerous or special.”
I doubt that.
“Dr. Chloe, in her octopus form, subdued several American agents in Nevada. We don’t know exactly how, though.”
“Hmm.”
“Think about it.”
Paper Yang pondered for a moment.
“She showed a lot of interest in artifacts.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
“Dr. Chloe was most curious about me. More than anything else. Who I am, why I joined the Foundation, how I met Dr. Kim.”
That’s understandable.
“I told you before, right? Foundation veterans don’t know what ‘normal’ is.”
“Yes.”
“Dr. Chloe is even more so. She doesn’t even look human. I doubt she’s seen a normal person in the last decade.”
She’s an octopus.
“That’s a pretty extreme case.”
“So, what did you tell her?”
“I answered honestly. I graduated from university, heard about a job as a secretary for a high-ranking official, and came to the Foundation’s Seoul Branch.”
“I see.”
I was curious. How did a normal person see her? What did Dr. Chloe want? What was her reaction?
“Did it turn into a sincere conversation?”
“Yes. Probably.”
Dr. Chloe is a monster who has lived for decades. If she wanted to, she could easily manipulate someone.
“You know not to believe a word Dr. Chloe says, right? She’s not human, after all.”
“Yes.”
Let’s get to the point.
“Did you figure out what Dr. Chloe wants?”
“No.”
“What did you do while getting paid, then?”
“I played with Dr. Chloe.”
That’s important too. I sat down and scratched my head. The important thing now is figuring out what Dr. Chloe really wants.
It might be surprisingly mundane or simple.
“Ask her what she wants. It could be something simple or complex.”
“But why is it important what Dr. Chloe wants? She’s just a talking goldfish, right?”
Well… Dr. Chloe isn’t just strong or smart. She’s a link to divine beings. She’s the daughter of an outer god.
The analysis confirmed that.
I went to see Dr. Chloe.
“Hello, Dr. Chloe.”
“I heard something happened at the Osaka Branch.”
“Yes. We fought.”
Dr. Chloe was wandering around the Safe Artifact Management Department. Still in her aquarium on top of the serving robot.
The serving robot moved very slowly.
“Dr. Kim.”
“Yes.”
“I heard you made a big move. Well, I understand. In the end, fear is the driving force behind keeping the Foundation branches under your control.”
The multiple eyes in the aquarium stared at me. The curvature of the aquarium made Dr. Chloe’s eyes look grotesquely magnified.
I shook my head.
People don’t always act out of fear. Fear freezes people.
“What they want is a solution to the problem. What I need to provide is a solution. Fear isn’t a good motivator.”
Dr. Chloe narrowed her eyes in the aquarium. She had more than one or two eyes. Several.
“Well, people who pretend to be good like that kind of talk. Fear is an excellent motivator. Dr. Kim, you know that too.”
“It’s not that fear isn’t powerful, but it creates as many problems as it solves.”
“I knew you’d say that. People who refuse to bend their beliefs start wars. You might not think it’s you.”
I picked up the aquarium with both hands.
“Whoa.”
“I didn’t come to fight.”
“Then?”
“Well, today I came to hear what you want, Dr. Chloe. Maybe your thoughts have changed.”
“Ah. So that’s why you sent that chick to me. I thought you sent her to waste my time. An outsider. An operator.”
“Paper Yang?”
Instead of nodding, Dr. Chloe raised a tentacle outside the aquarium and twitched it.
“That fool. She talked so much. It was exhausting. Always asking questions, being noisy. Blocking the robot’s path.”
“I sent her to help you.”
“She wasn’t much help.”
Dr. Chloe muttered something. I leaned against the serving robot and looked at the aquarium.
“Anyway. What do you want, Dr. Chloe? I thought I offered to help you rise to a high position in the Foundation.”
“You did.”
“Is that what you want?”
“That’s good too.”
I don’t know how Dr. Chloe is speaking. She has no mouth or tongue.
“First, can you move me to a proper robot? Honestly, it’s embarrassing. I feel like a giant robot vacuum cleaner.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Don’t play dumb. It’s been days. I know you can get me a proper robot body. An android or something with arms.”
I nodded.
“What, don’t trust me? You seemed to trust me when you needed me on the battlefield. Now that you’ve won, are you throwing me away?”
“Oh?”
“This isn’t about trust. It’s about how you treat your hunting dogs, Dr. Kim. How you wield your power.”
That might be true.
“If you were Dr. Chloe, would you have spared her? Honestly, no, right?”
Self-contradiction. With Dr. Chloe’s radical and utilitarian methods, attacking me with that logic won’t get her what she wants.
“You’re just like us!—you might want to say. But you and I both know that’s not true. Right?”
Dr. Chloe crossed her tentacles and rolled her eyes. Dr. Chloe lost today’s argument.
At least she’s small enough to fit in my palm. She’s kind of cute.
“I’ve already reviewed it, so I’ll give you a robot. A decent one. I was thinking of a quadrupedal robot about the size of a person.”
“When did you make that?”
Was it a robot for genetically modified hamsters to ride? I heard the explanation, but it wasn’t very convincing.